Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093087669863852/episodes/16818093093053038148
Tokyo’s prestigious private high school, Hoshikai High School,…… that high school I was at before, was a very famous high school in the country.
“Hoshikai High School means …… that Haruki might be…”
“…That’s right. Until last year, I was also aiming to get into Toto University.”
Every year, this High School produces the most students in the country who pass into Toto University, which is considered the most difficult university to enter.
It was the best preparatory school in Japan and the best environment for studying in Japan.
“Then why did I stop going to school,……, although that may be a little hard for the genius-skinned Noeru to understand.
“…. It’s okay. Continue.”
Noeru listened to me with a quizzical look on her face.
“Of course, I didn’t enter that High School with half-hearted feelings. To begin with, entering that High School requires a ridiculous amount of study time, and the cram school costs money. Still, for students living in Tokyo, I admire that High School. Every year, a huge number of that school’s students pass into Toto University, and the popularity and rate of admission is amazing.”
“I agree. The special program about that high school that was on sometime ago said that the people who get into that high school are all monsters.”
Yeah…… it was actually literally all about the monsters.
It’s not that it’s a super-preparatory school, but it doesn’t mean that there are only hard-working students around.
Just like in a normal high school, there were cheerful guys who talked all the time about girls, sports teams who did muscle training, and even nerds who only talked about manga and games.
Even so,…… it was a world where it was normal for all of them to score 90 or above in all subjects when it came to tests.
There is no way that a test at the most difficult level of high school would be easy, but none of them made a single careless mistake, and they were all monsters who got near perfect scores with unbelievable ease.
On the other hand, if you make a mistake and score in the 80s, you will have to take a remedial class after school.
That’s where I was – I was limited to getting an 80 or so every time I took the test.
“I’ve been studying hard to get into that high school since junior high school, so getting into that high school has always been my goal. But …… everyone around me who passed the entrance exam started out by getting into that High School.”
“Getting into that High School was the start……”
“The other guys took it for granted that they were going to get in, and they were all monsters who only thought of it as a stepping stone. If you were put on the same playing field as them, and you were the only one whose ability and talent were far below theirs, it would be very depressing, wouldn’t it?”
“That may be true,……, but Haruki was aiming for Tokyo University, wasn’t he?”
“……I’ve already lost confidence in myself. By getting in there. The pride and confidence that I had inside me.”
In fact, after I entered there, I lost my confidence, hated myself, and stopped going to school. I started to completely shut myself away in my room.
I hated studying, and all my classmates around me seemed to be human beings and not human beings.
“I realized that I had no right to be in that high school. I lost all my self-confidence, so I stopped going to school, ran away and ran away and ran away, and finally I came here. This is …… my story so far.”
After I stopped going to school and became a recluse, I began to be more afraid of becoming a cripple than disappointed in myself.
I told my parents that I wanted to transfer from that High School to this high school in the countryside.
My parents were more concerned than opposed. And of course, my grandfather and grandmother.
I had been shut in and out of school for more than half a year, so there was no way I would suddenly change like a new person, and living on my own would be difficult.
But I wanted to escape anyway.
I wanted to get rid of the me that was in Tokyo, and I wanted a completely new me.
“I’m sorry,……, but looking back on it like this, I really feel like a loser.”
“………”
“…… Noeru?”
“……Yes, you’re right. That’s very lame. You’re so lame for even denying who you are now.”
Noeru suddenly stretches out one arm and grips my chest tightly, and brings her face closer to me.
“N-Noeru, Noeru!”
“You’re shining right now. Even though you admit that you were once defeated by those around you at that High School, you’re working hard in a new place and in a new way.”
“That’s…but.”
“I don’t want you to deny who you are now! Because who you are now!”
Noeru’s eyes were somewhat hot as she spoke.
“You are the only boy that …… I have ever recognized.”
Slowly, the hand that gripped her chest is lowered.
(I see,…… Noeru really recognized me,…….)
If I myself deny such a me, it is the same as denying Noeru. …… Is that why Noeru got angry?
“I’m sorry, Noeru,……, the bad part of negative thinking came out, didn’t it?”
“I know, …….”
“But you know, I sure was lame when I first came here.”
“Were you listening to what others were saying? You belittle yourself like that again…”
But Noeru forced me to join a group of gals, and that’s when I got my confidence back.
I speak my mind.
When I first came here, I was definitely a loner, I didn’t fit in, and I was so twisted that I was depressed even with the good-hearted Sayu.
But then I met Noeru, and we spent more time together over meals ……, which helped me fit in with the rest of my classmates.
I am the person I am today because of Noeru,……, and I have nothing but gratitude for that.
“So thank you, Noeru.”
It was a sincere expression of gratitude.
Normally I would be too shy to tell Noeru, but right now I just wanted to tell Noeru.
“…Oh, if you want to thank me, show it with your attitude. For now, let’s have steak tonight.”
“Ej? I’m just going to grill fish.”
“No, I don’t want it! No! Make it steak! If you don’t make steak, I won’t go to your house anymore!”
“I don’t care.”
“No!”
I’m so sorry, it’s a pain in the ass. …… I probably shouldn’t have thanked this person.
“But, well, preparations for the school festival have begun in earnest, so maybe I can have a steak today to cheer up the economy.”
“Phew, ……, I won.”
“What for?”
“Hey, you two!”
As Noeru and I were talking, I heard Sayu’s voice from behind me.
“I ame because I heard from Konomi-chan that the two of you went to return the key to the home economics room. Hey, are you heading home now?”
“Ou. Oh, by the way, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with us.”
“No, Haruki.”
“Why not?”
“Eh, What? Are you two having dinner together again today?”
“Yes. I promised Haruki and I would have a luxurious dinner together today.”
Noeru said that on purpose, making a face filled with pleasure.
“No, I haven’t specifically promised anything like that, and I’m grilling steaks today, if you’d like to join me, Sayu?”
“Oh, you don’t mind!? Yay, steak!”
“Hey, Haruki!”
Sayu raised her hands in joy, while Noeru pinched my cheeks in dissatisfaction.
“Haruhara-san, why don’t you read the atmosphere a little bit, my steak is one less.”
“Noeru-chan is always being sarcastic with me, so I’m just getting back at her!”
The two of them are the same as ever.
The relationship between the two major girl groups has yet to improve.
[Chapter 1 complete]
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