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 atmosphere was buzzing during lunchtime in the gymnasium. Every student present was a spectator who had come to see the basketball match between me and Kaneda.

Well, it’s probably because Kaneda had been loudly announcing it throughout the school since yesterday.

Kaneda must be planning to dominate me in front of this large crowd, humiliating me and breaking my spirit.

Everyone here probably came to relish the sight of my pitiful defeat.

“Go Kaneda-kun!”

“Crush that introvert!”

Amidst the ceaseless cheers for Kaneda, derisive laughter could be heard. Kaneda grinned before me.

This hostile environment, these countless piercing gazes… among the spectators, I could see Kurokami and Shirasagi looking concerned. Come to think of it, they scolded me quite a bit yesterday.

They’ve also been very considerate, helping me warm up. I really have inconvenienced them.

…I need to put their minds at ease quickly.

Kisegi, who’s usually with them, isn’t around… She probably isn’t interested in competitive stuff like this.

I look at Kaneda’s overly confident face.

“Come on, try to get past me, Sato-kun.”

“Then, I won’t hold back.”

In an instant, I dribbled past Kaneda’s half-hearted defense.

“Wha—?”

Kaneda was so slow to react that he was left standing still, only turning around a beat later.

“What? He got past!”

Ignoring Kaneda, who seemed to be chasing after me, I leapt powerfully and slammed the ball into the ring.

With a resounding thud, the gym fell silent for a moment.

Letting go of the ring, I landed and looked around. Everyone was dumbstruck.

“Kaneda-kun, that’s one point for me.”

“Huh, wha—?”

The spectators erupted again, but this time they were cheering for me.

“That was a dunk, right? Sato jumped so high!”

“Kaneda couldn’t react at all!”

“Go Sato!”

“Awesome!”

Now, it’s 1-0 in a game up to 3 points. What’s your next move, Kaneda?

“Argh!”

This time, he came at me, giving it his all. His eyes were shaking. Kaneda is clearly rattled.

It’s his turn to attack.

“You think you’re hot stuff, huh?!”

No problem. My eyes are reading all of Kaneda’s movements. With a little feint and a change in pace, I easily evade him.

“Ah—”

Again, Kaneda let out a pathetic sound.

“What? He took the ball from Kaneda!”

“Kaneda is getting destroyed!”

“Is Kaneda going to lose?”

“What? Isn’t Kaneda the ace?”

“Is Kaneda actually not that great?”

Kaneda, why do you think I challenged you at basketball, the one thing you’re good at?

When you get crushed at something you’re confident in, your spirit breaks, and you can’t recover.

In middle school, I broke many people that way.

Someone once told me that my strengths are my extraordinary “visual” and “auditory” senses, along with an exceptionally high “absorption ability.” Once I learn a technique, I immediately integrate it into my skill set, applying it in a way few others can.

Many called me a prodigy or a freak. And many were jealous of me…

I know that talent can hurt people and make you lonely.

That’s why I’ve decided to crush you here with my overwhelming skill.

So thoroughly that you’ll never get cocky again.