Chapter 1 Yukikawa Tsukino knows
For me, anime and manga were the fuel that kept me alive.
The number of works I’d collected over the years was countless. When I started high school and moved into my one-room apartment, the crystallization of my entire life—my collection—towered within its walls.
That room was my sanctuary.
A sacred castle, surrounded by the ramparts of bookshelves, untouchable by anyone.
“Hey, can you grab that manga over there?”
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that a popular gyaru from my class would end up practically living in my home.
◇◆◇
—I just wanna go home already.
A week had passed since starting high school.
Even though it was after school, Class 1-A was buzzing with energy despite the end of homeroom.
Everyone was desperate to form groups, eager to avoid the loner life.
While I was getting ready to leave, they were busy bonding, aiming for the perfect high school experience.
As for me, Nagai Kentaro, I didn’t fit into any group.
No, to be precise, I didn’t even try to.
It’s pathetic, but I’m terrible at socializing. Being around people drains me in a way I can’t explain.
Rather than stressing over what others think, I’d much rather lose myself in analyzing my favorite works.
Today, I had to pick up a new manga volume and watch the anime I recorded last night.
Being an otaku is surprisingly busy work.
I slung my bag over my shoulder, ready to head home.
—That’s when it happened.
“Hey, which karaoke place nearby is the cheapest?”
“Probably Big Mike by the station, right? It’s pretty affordable if you go during free hours.”
“Hmm… guess that’ll do for today.”
The conversation drifted from the seats behind me.
I could tell who was talking just by their voices.
It was the popular crowd, the ones who’d already claimed the top spot in our class hierarchy.
“I’ve been so in the mood for karaoke lately~”
The girl speaking in that cutesy, almost whiny tone was Momoki Haruru.
Taking full advantage of our school’s lax rules on uniforms and hair, she’d dyed her hair a vibrant pink—a textbook gyaru.
“Totally get it. Sometimes you just wanna belt it out like crazy.”
The guy who responded was Onijima Koichi.
Rumor had it he’d been training at a boxing gym since middle school. A ridiculously good-looking athlete, he was the most intimidating guy in class—at least from my perspective. In reality, he seemed to have plenty of friends.
—And then, there was one more.
Among the popular group, besides Momoki-san and Onijima-kun, there was one girl who stood at the very center.
“Hey, hey, is Big Mike okay with you, Tsukino?”
“Hm…? Yeah, whatever. I don’t care.”
The voice of the girl called Tsukino was, as always, laced with a lazy drawl.
—Yukikawa Tsukino.
She was the de facto leader of the group, holding the final say in their decisions.
Why did she wield such power? Simple: her beauty was on another level, far beyond what you’d expect from a high schooler.
A strikingly full chest, a slender, toned waist.
Long legs stretching out from a short skirt, paired with glossy silver hair.
Add to that her porcelain-white skin and piercing blue eyes—it was like she’d stepped out of a 2D world.
I hadn’t heard it directly, but word was Yukikawa-san was a hafu, a returnee from abroad.
Apparently, her family was loaded, too.
When someone’s world feels that far removed from yours, you stop caring altogether.
To me, Yukikawa-san was like a celebrity on a screen—dazzling, but distant.
“Alright! Big Mike it is, then!”
Sounds like they’d settled on a plan.
I’d ended up eavesdropping on their whole conversation for some reason. Shaking it off, I stood up from my seat.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous.
Having people to hang out with is obviously better.
Being alone is easy, but it’s not like I love being lonely.
“Uh, you coming with us? Nagai, right? That’s your name?”
“…Huh?”
Caught off guard by Momoki-san’s sudden invitation, a strange sound escapes my lips.
“Huh? That’s, like, hilarious,” she says, laughing for reasons I can’t fathom.
Apparently, I’m being invited to hang out with the popular crowd.
All eyes from the group turn toward me, though some carry a clear “Why’d you invite him?” vibe. The atmosphere is far from welcoming.
Their stares snap me back to reality, and after a brief pause, I calm my momentarily excited heart.
“Sorry, I’ve got plans after—”
“Oh, wait! Why don’t we all go as a class? Like a bonding thing! I’m, like, so smart!” Momoki-san interrupts.
“…”
I’m not close enough to her to call her out for not listening.
The moment she mentions “the whole class,” every shoulder in the room twitches.
“Everyone’s in, right?” she asks the room again, and classmates start gathering around her.
Caught near the popular group, I’m swept up in the crowd, unable to break free.
“We can come too!?”
“No way! We totally wanna go!”
“Cool, so… maybe thirty people? Wonder if we can book that. Lemme call real quick,” Momoki-san says, pulling out her phone to make the reservation.
This is bad. It’s turning into a full-class outing.
How do they even think of going to karaoke with this many people?
—They’re all desperate to cozy up to the popular kids…
I’m the one calling them the “popular crowd,” but it’s obvious to everyone else too—they’re at the top of the class hierarchy.
Looks, influence, everything—they’re unmatched.
Everyone probably dreams of joining their ranks.
At the very least, the eyes of those flocking to Momoki-san’s call are burning with the hope of getting closer to them.
“Sweet, got a big room booked! Let’s head to the station!” she announces.
Classmates grab their bags and file out of the room.
There’s no way to say no in this atmosphere.
“…Hey, Nagai-kun.”
“Huh?”
Just as I reluctantly start following the crowd, a voice calls out from behind. I turn around.
There stands Yukikawa Tsukino, the leader of the popular group.
The unexpected encounter freezes me in place.
“You don’t actually want to go, do you?” she asks.
“…Huh?”
“I mean, if you do, that’s fine… just got a vibe, is all,” she says, peering into my eyes.
What’s the right response here?
If only I were the kind of guy who could come up with a clever reply.
“Haru… oh, I mean Momoki-san. She can be kinda pushy. If you don’t wanna go, you gotta speak up,” Yukikawa-san says, showing concern for me.
Despite her cool exterior, maybe she’s kinder than she seems.
“…It’s fine. I don’t hate the idea,” I reply.
“Really? Alright then,” she says with a tilt of her head before leaving the classroom.
It’s true—I was planning to ditch this invite moments ago.
But seeing this unexpected side of Yukikawa-san sparks a flicker of curiosity in me.
I’m not delusional enough to think I could get close to her.
Still, because of her, I feel like maybe—just for one day—I could try something different.
That’s all it was.
My whim turned to regret almost immediately.
♪~
At the karaoke place, the mic’s been passed around from one end of the room to the other.
Right now… yeah, it’s Oda-kun’s turn to sing.
Momoki-san and her crew, who organized this, sang their hearts out at the start but are now chatting and fiddling with their phones. From the looks of it, they’re already bored.
Some people, desperate to impress the popular crowd, pick gag songs, but they fall completely flat.
Those who give up start forming their own cliques, settling for the second or third tier.
I know I’m not one to talk, sitting here doing nothing, but I think it’s a smart move.
Chasing dreams you know will only bring pain is better avoided.
—Come to think of it… Yukikawa-san hasn’t sung at all.
My gaze drifts toward her, where she’s messing with her phone alongside the others.
Her bare, crossed thighs almost draw my eyes, but I force myself to look away.
She doesn’t seem to be enjoying herself at all.
Could it be… when she talked to me in the classroom, was it because she didn’t want to come either?
—Nah, no way.
As the leader of the popular crowd, she doesn’t have to go along with anything she doesn’t want to.
One word—“This is lame, let’s bail”—and she could bend the whole group to her will.
“…Hey. Nagai-kun, it’s your turn,” a voice says.
“Huh?”
I snap my focus away from Yukikawa-san.
Momoki-san’s standing in front of me, holding the song-selection tablet.
“Huh? Pfft, you’re so funny,” she says.
“Funny how…?” I ask.
“Funny’s just funny! C’mon, it’s your turn, so pick a song already.”
“…”
I take the tablet from her.
I don’t know why she’s singling me out, but now that I’ve got it, I can’t exactly not pick something.
What to do…
Being handed the tablet directly by Momoki-san has drawn the popular group’s eyes to me.
It’s like they’re expecting me to perform a party trick or something.
But I made up my mind. Just for today, I’d try something new.
If nothing changes after this, I’ll call it quits.
“C’mon, hurry up!” Momoki-san urges.
Spurred on, I start searching for a song.
Why is she hovering over me while I pick, though?
Even if she’s bored, messing with a loner like me can’t be that fun.
—This’ll do…
I find the song I’m looking for and send it to the machine.
“That’s an Abso song!” Momoki-san exclaims.
“You know them?” I ask, surprised.
“Duh, who doesn’t know Abso these days? …Though I don’t know the song you picked.”
Absolute, or Abso for short.
They’re a Japanese rock band, popular enough to perform on year-end music shows—a true superstar act.
Recently, they’ve skyrocketed even further with theme songs for blockbuster movies.
But the song I chose? Probably no one here knows it.
It’s from TwentyKnights, an anime considered Absolute’s dark past—a track used in the show.
The premise sounds heavy: twenty knights fighting to the death until one remains.
But that weight is surface-level. In reality, it’s a trash anime where forgettable characters die for no reason.
It’s so poorly received that the odds of anyone here knowing it are next to zero.
Even Absolute seems to treat their involvement as a black mark, never performing the song live or including it on albums. It’s a rare track.
—Honestly, it’s one of the only Abso songs I know…
My music taste is predictably otaku—mostly anime songs.
Singing a straight-up anime tune felt too embarrassing, so this was my compromise.
—If I get through this, I’ve met my quota… Just get through this!
I repeat it to myself like a mantra.
Emptying my mind, I sing the song with flat determination.
My singing’s probably awful.
Yet, for some reason, Yukikawa-san and Momoki-san listen to the whole thing without touching their phones.
“—Huh, that’s a pretty good song,” Momoki-san says, taking the tablet back and returning to her seat.
I survived my turn, but honestly, the vibe’s gotten even worse.
Because a popular girl talked to me, the second- and third-tier groups are shooting me suspicious glares.
A total nobody like me getting attention from a core member of the popular crowd?
They’re not happy about it.
—Time to bail.
I tried something new, but nothing’s changed.
I thought maybe I’d find the courage to talk to someone, but nope.
It is what it is. I didn’t expect much to begin with.
Standing up, I head toward Momoki-san.
“Sorry, I’ve got stuff to do, so I’m heading out,” I say.
“Oh, for real?” she replies, glancing at Onijima-kun.
“Onijima-kun, how much was it per person today?”
“Oh, uh, free time’s 1,200 yen each,” he says.
“Got it. Nagai-kun, mind leaving 1,200 yen?” she asks.
I nod, pull the exact amount from my wallet, and place it on the table.
“Thanks. See ya at school,” she says.
“Yeah, see ya,” I reply, quickly leaving the karaoke place.
I speed-walk to the station, waiting for the train on the platform.
I’m exhausted.
What was Momoki-san’s deal with me, anyway?
If she said she was just teasing the loner, I’d almost believe it.
—Guess people don’t change that easily…
I thought this was a chance, but I’m just running from the awkwardness, heading home alone.
Pathetic. But if you asked me if I want friends enough to endure this, the answer’s no.
“Haa…” I sigh, sinking onto a bench and staring at the sky.
If I could live without needing anyone’s help or relying on anyone, I wouldn’t have to suffer like this.
Hating myself for thinking that way only makes it worse.
In my gloomy mood, a line from TwentyKnights pops into my head.
“I wish tomorrow would never come.”
“—That’s a great line, isn’t it?” a voice says.
“Yeah, it’s the one thing that show got right… wait.”
A voice that shouldn’t be here jolts me to my feet.
There, panting and flushed, is Yukikawa Tsukino.
“Haa… finally caught up. You walk way too fast,” she says.
“You… followed me? Did I forget something?” I stammer.
“Not a forget thing. I just wanted to talk to you, so I chased you down,” she says.
“Talk… to me?” I ask, bewildered.
“What’s with that ‘no way’ face?” she teases.
“I mean, we’ve got, like, zero connection,” I say.
“We connected just now,” she replies.
“…?”
“You know TwentyKnights, right?” she asks.
My eyes widen in shock.
I’m floored. TwentyKnights coming out of her mouth?
I’ve said it before, but that anime’s obscure as hell.
It’s old, and the chances of a high schooler knowing it are slim.
A gyaru like Yukikawa-san knowing it? I never would’ve guessed.
“I love TwentyKnights,” she says. “So… I wanted to talk to someone who might get it.”
“…No way,” I mutter.
“Can we chat? Just a little?” she asks.
Too stunned to think, I nod.
From that day on… my life starts veering in unexpected directions—
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