Life In The Reverse World

After leaving the student cafeteria, Harutaki said goodbye to Ren, Haruto, and Miho. He returned briefly to his homeroom before hurrying toward the unused classroom he had already visited twice before.

Harutaki: Are you free to come to the unused classroom? – Read

He had just sent the message to Nogami via LINE when he received a reply saying she was already there.

The gifts he had bought yesterday were all neatly wrapped and packed into his backpack. He planned to use the remainder of lunch break to deliver them to Nogami, Sae, and Sanada.

Clatter.

The sliding door of the unused classroom was pulled open, the crisp sound of the rail drawing the attention of the three beautiful girls inside.

“Hey, good afternoon.”

Harutaki held the strap of his backpack against his chest with one hand and waved at them with the other.

“Well, if it isn’t a rare guest. Afternoon,” Sae replied cheerfully, waving back with a grin.

“Couldn’t wait to come see me, huh? Such a clingy little idiot dog.”

Nogami sat at a cluster of pushed-together desks with her legs crossed. Her skirt rode up slightly, revealing the smooth curve of her thighs. The pale skin reflecting in the sunlight was dazzling enough that Harutaki had no choice but to avert his gaze.

Even so, no matter how hard he tried not to look at Nogami’s legs, the selfie he had seen last night surfaced in his mind on its own.

If Nogami wore black stockings in real life, wouldn’t she be even more captivating than in a mirror selfie?

Sanada wore her usual gentle smile, but the moment that teasing tone slipped from her lips, Harutaki knew she was up to no good.

“Still want to help Izumi pick up her chopsticks? Too bad, Hoshikawa-kun. You’re late. We’ve already finished lunch.”

“Please, let me pick up your chopsticks instead, Sanada-san. I really, really want to pick up your chopsticks.”

“Oh my, what a shame.”

Sanada covered her glossy pink lips, shiny with lip balm or lipstick, and tilted her head slightly, replying in an exaggeratedly coy tone.

“I prefer cats to dogs who pick up chopsticks.”

“Meow?”

“Ugh, gross. Don’t be creepy, Hoshikawa. You didn’t come all the way here carrying a bag just to mess around, did you?”

Nogami shot him a look of disgust, crossed her arms, and haughtily demanded an explanation.

Still, recalling Harutaki’s joking tone just now made her heart stir a little.

She did like dogs, but clingy cats were pretty cute too…

Imagining Harutaki approaching her with a proud expression while acting spoiled, she unconsciously lifted onto her toes, rubbing her crossed thighs together.

Seriously… I literally just got it out of my system last night. So why does seeing this guy again today make me feel like this…

“Since we’ve known each other for over a month and I still hadn’t given you anything, I went to the mall yesterday to pick something out. I don’t know if you’ll like them.”

Harutaki set his backpack on a desk in the middle of the classroom, explaining as he took out the wrapped gifts one by one.

He wasn’t stupid enough to say he bought them on the way back from a date with another girl. That would be suicide, not gift-giving.

“J-just because you’re giving me a present doesn’t mean I’ll give you any kind of reward.”

Nogami turned her head away, muttering awkwardly, though her eyes kept drifting toward the gift boxes on the desk.

“Ah, thank you, Harutaki,” Sae said brightly.

She accepted her box without hesitation, but just as she was about to open it, she paused and looked up.

“I can open it right away, right?”

“Yeah. They’re nothing expensive, so don’t be disappointed.”

Rip, rip.

Rip, rip.

For a moment, the quiet unused classroom filled with the crisp sound of tearing wrapping paper, oddly soothing to the ears.

“Such a scummy playboy vibe…”

Murmuring the tease under her breath, Sanada looked down at the gift in her hands and found herself momentarily lost in thought.

What Harutaki had given her was a box of a very popular fruit tea. It wasn’t particularly creative, but both its positioning and price were perfectly appropriate. It was almost exactly the sort of gift she herself would choose.

Minako wasn’t like Chouko, someone who had never received gifts before.

On the contrary, thanks to her looks, figure, and socially adept persona, she had always been extremely popular among boys. She had received countless love letters, confessions, and gifts.

She never explicitly rejected them, nor did she return the gifts. She accepted everything.

At first, she refused across the board. But after realizing that some boys, once rejected, would spread rumors about her being promiscuous, a slut, or a compensated-dating gal, she soon found herself ostracized by other girls as well.

In that case, she might as well make full use of those stupid boys.

Minako gradually grew accustomed to the sense of superiority that came from being pursued and fawned over, especially when even the “normie elites” admired by other girls gathered around her. She sank completely into that pleasure.

Someone causing trouble? No problem. The boys chasing her would handle it.

Girls excluding her? No problem. The boys those girls liked were all around her anyway. If they wanted to get close to the object of their affection, they had no choice but to curry favor with her.

And yet, even though she had long since seen through all of this, why did her heart ripple again upon receiving a gift from Hoshikawa?

Heart fluttering?

Liking him?

Don’t make me laugh.

What boy hadn’t groveled and flattered her before? So why was Hoshikawa acting so indifferent toward her, as if she were just an accessory attached to Izumi?

She could see it clearly. Even Sae probably ranked higher in Hoshikawa’s heart than she did.

Toward Hoshikawa, Minako felt nothing but irritation… and feelings she couldn’t quite put into words herself.

Was it envy?

Jealousy?

Or perhaps admiration?

There was nothing wrong with fruit tea as a gift. But compared to the expensive items she had received before, its value was negligible. At best, it would end up like Valentine’s chocolates, tossed into the trash.

And yet… ever since fruit tea became popular on Instagram, Minako had genuinely been thinking about drinking it for skincare purposes.

Such an excessively calculating guy. Just like her.

Well, not exactly the same.

Recalling their exchange in the multipurpose restroom at Shibuya PARCO, she couldn’t help curling her lips slightly, letting out a silent scoff.

Overly clever, yet unrealistic. A self-important idiot.

Still, she thought, Hoshikawa did have the capital to be self-important. A guy this interesting… she was actually looking forward to seeing the despair on his face when he met a tragic ending.

With Izumi and Chouko already ahead of her, the “Hoshikawa Harutaki” stock had reached its peak price.

If she invested now, the potential cost would be impossible to predict. But the downward trend was clearly visible. All she had to do was wait until the stock crashed to rock bottom, then buy in at an extremely low price.

“Thank you. I was actually thinking of trying this brand of fruit tea recently.”

Minako continued smiling sweetly, perfectly maintaining her socially adept persona.

“Wow, this is awesome!”

After opening her gift, Sae let out a delighted cheer as she looked at the assortment of candies and traditional sweets inside.

She rarely went to popular or large malls. When she did, it was usually tagging along with Izumi and Minako. Her happiest moments were sitting with the two of them in dessert shops or restaurants, eating to her heart’s content.

Snacks were one thing, but the candies and wagashi Harutaki bought her were limited items sold only at specific mall locations.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it!”

Sae set down the box and lunged forward, wrapping Harutaki in a big hug.

The scent of girl’s antiperspirant filled his nose as her firm yet soft body pressed tightly against him. Though her chest didn’t look large, the weight he felt was completely at odds with her appearance.

“S-Sae! Girls shouldn’t just throw themselves at guys! Get down right now!”

Nogami, who had been hesitating over whether to open her gift, reflexively clenched her hands. The wrapping paper tore apart in an instant.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Harutaki said, clearly enjoying himself, forcing down the smile tugging at his lips. “Sae and I are good buddies. Hugging between bros is totally normal.”

“Huh? Harutaki, your delusional ‘good bro’ is back again? If something’s wrong with your head, why don’t I help fix it for you?”

A familiar elbow jabbed sharply into Harutaki’s side, catching him completely off guard.