I’m a Shy Loner and I Was Confessed to by a Beautiful Girl Who Has All the Boys in School Smitten, but It Turned Out to Be a ‘Fake Confession,’ So I Politely Declined. As a Result, I Ended Up Learning About Her Hidden Side and She Started to Cling to Me

The change happened right after I arrived at school.

“Huh…? My indoor shoes are missing.”

My indoor shoes, which should have been in the shoe locker, were gone.

Huh? Did I lose them? Did I accidentally put them somewhere else yesterday?

For a moment, such thoughts crossed my mind. It’s probably a way to avoid considering certain possibilities.

But it was futile. With mental anguish, the answer that came to my mind was “bullying.”

Probably, no, definitely the work of Kaneda. He must have been extremely annoyed by my actions during yesterday’s karaoke competition.

But honestly, I was prepared for something like this. Knowing Kaneda’s high pride, he would use his minions to do petty things like this.

I found my discarded indoor shoes just a minute before the bell rang.

“Sato-kun! You came to the classroom late today.”

“Ah, yeah… I overslept.”

Shirasaki-san started talking to me. Normally, I would be genuinely happy, but right now, nervousness is making me sweat.

This is bad. I’m standing out for the wrong reasons.

“Sorry, I need to go… to the restroom.”

“Oh, sorry for holding you up.”

I quickly left the classroom.

“…!?”

On my way to the restroom, someone suddenly drop-kicked me from behind, and I fell over.

Ow.

I couldn’t break my fall, and pain ran through my body.

Looking up, I saw Kaneda and his minions smirking down at me.

“Hey, hey, Daiki, are you okay doing this?”

“Yeah? It’s fine. This guy’s a loser, a social misfit, and disgusting. We can do whatever we want.”

They laughed and went back to the classroom. I wiped the footprints off my butt and went to the bathroom.

Things like my textbooks disappearing, slanderous words written in my notebook… Kaneda and his gang harassed me when Shirasaki-san and Kuromiya weren’t watching.

Or maybe they used their female minions to create situations where they wouldn’t be noticed.

“Strike—Shoot!”

“Awesome! Kaneda-kun, you’re a hundred out of a hundred!”

“As expected from the basketball club!”

Even after school, they left all the cleaning duties to me and threw paper scraps and balls at me, as if I were a target in a game.

Kaneda is certain that I won’t tell Kuromiya and Shirasaki-san about the bullying.

He understands the pride of the victim himself, who doesn’t want it to be known that they’re being bullied as much as possible.

If only I have to suffer, then that’s fine.

I probably won’t talk to Shirasaki-san or Kuromiya anymore.

By the time I become a third-year student, the class will change, and Kaneda will get bored of bullying me.

It’s just one year of hardship.

It’s only one year in a long, long life. It’s not a big deal.

“You’re being bullied by that idiot Kaneda, aren’t you?”

On the second day after the bullying started, Kuromiya immediately caught on.

During lunch break, as I was eating alone as usual, a panting Kuromiya confronted me.

“W-What are you talking about…”

“Then why were you late this morning? And why are your indoor shoes dirty? Why aren’t you eating where you usually do? Can you explain all this?”

“Uh, well… that’s…”

I’m doomed. Kuromiya is convinced that I’m being bullied. She’s probably asking me for confirmation.

“…Hana has noticed it too. Yayoi is helping, so the three of us were looking for you.”

This is the worst… the two people I absolutely didn’t want to find out have found out.

“It’s because of the karaoke competition, right?”

“…”

Taking my silence as a yes, Kuromiya showed an expression as if she’d made up her mind.

“Don’t worry… I’ll stop the bullying.”

“…You can’t mean…”

“That’s right, I’ll… just date Kaneda. What’s the big deal? I’ll just be his seventh girlfriend. I’ll just think of it as a rental girlfriend situation and make him lose interest as quickly as possible.”

She’s saying it like it’s no big deal, but it’s a lie.

Kuromiya is lying.

“If I have to become his girlfriend, I’d rather pick up a cockroach with my bare hands.”

Kuromiya, who said that much, is trying to sacrifice herself for me.

Shirasaki-san probably feels responsible for it too.

No, this can’t happen. This is something I’ve done, so it’s only natural for me to clean up the mess.

“Kuromiya… thank you. I’ll just take that sentiment.”

I stood up, making a certain decision.

“Just the sentiment? Wait, where are you going?”

Ignoring Kuromiya’s voice, I ran straight to the classroom.

What matters most to a bully, or rather, to a high-ranking popular kid? Is it fighting prowess? Intelligence?

No, the most important things are vanity and status.

BANG! I opened the classroom door with force. Naturally, all eyes focused on me.

Kaneda is… it seems he doesn’t have his minions with him. Maybe he’s looking for me to bully me.

“What are you doing here?”

“Kaneda, what you’re doing is really low-level. Honestly, it’s annoying. So I’ve decided to crush you.”

“…Huh?”

“Why don’t you play basketball with me, one-on-one?”

If I can crush him in basketball, the one thing he’s proud of, his reputation will be shattered. Then nobody will pay attention to him anymore.

That’s why if I crush him in basketball, that’s all there is to it.

“Fine… I’ll make you the laughingstock in front of the entire student body.”

You’re on? That’s my line. I’ll show you why I was called a prodigy.

Whether it’s basketball, karate, piano, or whatever, it doesn’t matter.

I’ll crush you with my talent.

The match with Kaneda will take place during tomorrow’s lunch break.