Oneshot: Surely No One Can Be Happy

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Translator: Soafp

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Ah, this is really annoying.

The girl in front of me is blushing and wriggling as if she’s trying to be coy, and it’s making me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

And then, there are these two meddlesome, airheaded options who showed up uninvited. They’re seriously irritating.

(Should I have just ignored it…? Best case, it’s a fake confession for a punishment game. Worst case, it’s a real confession…right?)

I’ve experienced countless fake confessions before, so I’ve honestly gotten used to it. In middle school, I, Atsushi Takagi, was a “professional fake confession victim.”

Thanks to that, I’ve almost completely numbed myself to the mental damage.

On the contrary, I even turned the tables on them sometimes…

The look on those idiots’ faces back then was priceless… (distant look)

Oh right, this isn’t the time to be daydreaming.

I need to figure out how to handle this situation now.

Some people say that an after-school confession event is a scene every student dreams of, but I completely disagree.

…Why, you ask?

Because they don’t consider the other person’s convenience at all, arbitrarily setting the time and place, and then forcing their one-sided feelings on you.

And if you don’t reciprocate, they’ll spread all sorts of nasty rumors about you.

It’s still manageable if the person who sent the letter is waiting alone at the meeting spot.

But this time, after being kept waiting for ages, there are two unnecessary options stuck to either side of the main body.

If this were a shooting game, this would be like having triple the attack power. Before I knew it, this place turned into a battlefield with bullets flying everywhere, seriously.

…Enough joking.

From experience, when there’s unnecessary meddling by these types of girls, rejecting the confession will definitely lead to trouble.

First, they’ll ask “Why?”

Then, “How could you?”

And eventually, “You made ○○ cry! Unforgivable!”

Finally, they’ll fabricate some bizarre fetish you supposedly have, spreading around, “He’s a dangerous guy. Stay away from him”… and so on.

This is the standard template.

Incidentally, if I ignore the contents of the letter, I’ll just be branded as “an unreliable guy who can’t keep promises. Die.” This results in being labeled as “unreliable” for a promise I never agreed to in the first place, but looking back, this might actually be the least damaging option. I messed up.

Ah, this is really annoying.

I check the face of the girl, who is still fidgeting without saying a word, once more.

…Yeah. I have no idea who she is.

Judging by the badge on her chest, she must be a lowerclassman.

The same goes for the two options on either side.

Since I don’t participate in club activities due to personal reasons, I barely have any interaction with students outside my own grade.

At most, maybe at my part-time job…but I’m in the kitchen, so I don’t really interact with customers either.

…Should I bet on the slim chance that they are here to ask me to introduce them to a certain upperclassman?

That’s still pretty rude, but it might be the least damaging for me, so I might be willing to forgive them.

“…Hey, Yuu. Stop being so silent and speak up already.”

“Eeh~? But, but…”

“It’s fine. Yuu, you can do it! Takagi-Senpai is expecting you, too.”

What is this farce… Hey, can I just go home now?

I hold back those words and wait… What am I even doing?

This time is such a waste… I have work after this, you know… I seriously need to earn my living expenses.

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“A-kun!”

Feeling a vague and indescribable irritation in my gut as I passed through the school gates, a voice suddenly called out from behind, and I felt that irritation rise up into my chest.

Ah. Today is definitely a cursed day…

The person who called out to me was my childhood friend Eriko Tada, the one who had orchestrated the first fake confession against me.

“Hey, A-kun!”

Ignoring Tada’s voice, I continued walking towards my part-time job.

“Having a childhood friend like you is the worst. Don’t ever talk to me again!”

After being relentlessly teased by my classmates over the fake confession in my second year of middle school, I remembered those harsh words from my childhood friend and renewed my vow to follow them faithfully.

I mean, I don’t feel like dealing with someone like her now anyway.

I went through the trouble of enrolling in a high school two cities away to avoid seeing anyone from middle school ever again, so why did she have to follow me?

Last year, we were in different classes, so I let my guard down. I never imagined we’d end up in the same class in our second year… There’s no god in this world. And if there is, they’re definitely my enemy!

“Hey, stop ignoring me, A-kun!”

…Annoying.

I can’t stand hearing this damn girl’s voice, I can’t stand seeing her face, and I definitely can’t stand talking to her. It’s incredibly stressful.

But I hate the idea of being stalked all the way to my part-time job even more. There’s no way I want her to find out where I work.

“Shut up, Tada. You’re the one who said not to talk to you ever again.”

“Don’t call me Tada. Call me by my name like you used to, A-kun.”

Even though we’re speaking the same language, the conversation just doesn’t connect… What is this feeling of dread?

I don’t know what her goal is, and I don’t want to know. I just want to get to my job as soon as possible.

“No way in hell. What’s with you suddenly acting all weird…”

“Don’t say such sad things, A-kun… Why? You used to be so kind…”

“The one who destroyed that kind version of me is you. What nerve you have to say that.”

“That’s…! I wanted to apologize to you for that… so I’ve been…”

Tada trailed off, fiddling with her fingers and looking up at me with a coy gaze.

…Haahhhhh. So annoying.

I don’t feel any affection for this damn girl anymore, so all I can think is how annoying she is.

“I don’t need your apology. If you really feel even a little bit sorry, then just leave me alone.”

I chose a distant school, worked hard to earn my own money to live near the school, all so I wouldn’t have to see anyone from middle school again.

But this damn girl, for some reason, decided to follow me. There’s no way I can forgive that.

“Don’t say that. Please, A-kun. Let’s hang out like we used to. Okay?”

Clinging to my arm, my “former childhood friend” and “current damn girl” was forcibly shaken off with all my strength.

Don’t touch me, you’re filthy.

Like we used to.

Like before…huh.

She’s got some nerve to say that after completely destroying everything.

“Haah. Having a childhood friend like you is the worst. Don’t ever talk to me again.”

“Ah…”

(Why do I have to be the one getting hurt here…)

Ignoring the sound of her sobbing, I hurried on my way to my part-time job.