Life In The Reverse World

The gloomy weather, heavy with the feeling that dark clouds were pressing down on the city, was blocked outside by a single thin pane of glass. Inside the unused classroom, it was lively enough to feel like a party. The girls’ laughter and chatter overflowed with cheer, utterly unaffected by the oppressive scene beyond the window.

“Wow, it’s so cute! A puppy!”

Leaving Harutaki behind to nurse the pain in his side, Sae rushed over the moment she saw Nogami unwrap her gift. She scooped up the plush toy and examined it from every angle.

Its body was round and plump like a gas canister, covered in dense honey-colored fur. Beneath its protruding nose, a small pink tongue dangled cutely in midair.

“It’s a Shiba Inu! Harutaki, how did you know Izumi likes dogs like this?”

Sae turned back curiously to look at him. Beside her, Nogami was just as eager to hear the answer.

There was no way Hoshikawa could know that she secretly liked playing with her Shiba Inu plush at home… right?

“More importantly, it’s strange that Hoshikawa even knows Izumi likes plush toys at all,” Minako said.

She quickly ran through her memories of their time together, but couldn’t recall them ever mentioning Izumi’s preferences to Harutaki.

“That’s because Nogami—”

“I told him!”

Sensing that Harutaki was about to bring up that night, Nogami immediately cut him off. Her cheeks slightly flushed, she stiffly forced the conversation onto an entirely different track.

“I-I mean, it’s just a Shiba Inu plush, okay?! I’ve got tons of these at home, piled up in the corner collecting dust. Such a boring gift… b-but… out of politeness, th-thank you… and I’ll return the favor later, so look forward to it, idiot dog… of course, that’s just proper social etiquette!”

After stumbling through her explanation, it was as if all the strength drained from her body. She flopped down into her chair.

“Then I’ll look forward to it,” Harutaki replied earnestly.

Seeing how awkward Nogami was being didn’t irritate him in the slightest. If anything, it made him want to laugh.

How was she this cute just from receiving a gift?

He had chosen the Shiba Inu plush for two reasons. First, it was reasonably priced, and Nogami had mentioned liking plush toys. Second, based on how often she called him an idiot dog, a perverted dog, or a stupid dog, it was pretty obvious she preferred dogs.

And besides…

“I left a little surprise for you too. Check it out when you get home.”

He figured that seeing Izumi’s reaction when she discovered the “surprise” would be the best return gift he could ask for.

“Eh? What about me? Isn’t there any more surprise for my gift? I want one too,” Sae complained as she chewed on a matcha strawberry mizu shingen mochi.

“Hm… a surprise where you gain weight if you eat everything without exercising?”

“If it goes to my chest, that’s fine.”

Her straight-faced response instantly sent Nogami and Sanada into fits of laughter. Soon after, the girls gathered around, urging Sae to share the delicious wagashi with everyone.

“Here, Harutaki. You should have one too.”

Without much hesitation, Sae shared her gift. After all, Harutaki had bought plenty. She picked up a milky-white mochi and popped it straight into his mouth, making sure he wasn’t left out.

…

So stupid…

She really wanted to go back to lunchtime and slap herself.

Even though she already had a similar Shiba Inu plush. Even though that one was more expensive and more refined than the one in front of her.

This was the first gift he, Hoshikawa Harutaki, had ever given to her, Nogami Izumi.

She should have thanked him properly. She should have expressed how much she liked it, even if only out of politeness.

Yet in the past, whenever she received gifts from her parents’ acquaintances or visiting guests, she could always put on her sweetest, cutest smile and say “Thank you, Uncle” or “Thank you, Auntie,” drawing endless praise and laughter.

But when it came to Harutaki, she couldn’t be honest about her feelings at all.

She couldn’t even show him the smile she used for those adults. She didn’t want to brush him off with a fake, insincere expression.

Just imagining that her words might make him dislike her caused her heart to feel as though invisible hands were squeezing it tightly, a faint pain twisting inside her chest.

This was completely different from how she felt toward her parents, toward Chouko, Sae, or Minako.

The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming. A childhood memory surfaced in her mind, of that boy with a name that sounded like a household pet.

What if Harutaki ended up distancing himself from her like that too? What would she do then?

But Izumi didn’t want to ask, and she didn’t dare to ask.

She regretted it. She regretted casually asking Harutaki that night whether he liked her. Even now, it made her tongue freeze up.

Thankfully, Harutaki had smoothly dodged the question. She felt relieved, grateful that it was him, someone who hadn’t fallen into the trap of her terrible personality and cruel joke.

She was Nogami Izumi. Confessing to a boy on her own initiative?

Don’t be ridiculous. There was no way something like that would ever happen.

If he had actually answered yes back then, she was sure she would have instantly turned cold, rejected him, mocked his lack of self-awareness. Their relationship might have ended right there, becoming strangers from that point on.

But as they spent more time together, she gradually noticed that while her heart still raced, it was a strange feeling, different from the thrill she got from bullying others.

Was it “liking” him?

Was it admiration?

She couldn’t tell whether she liked Harutaki as a person, or whether her feelings came from admiring someone stronger after being defeated by him.

And did Harutaki really like her?

Izumi had always been painfully aware of just how awful her personality was, how frightening and detestable she could be.

Would Harutaki truly like someone like her? Or was he just like everyone else, like the foolish boys dancing in Minako’s palm, coveting her looks, her body, even her family background?

She was a genius. From a young age, she understood that she lived in a world full of flattery and hypocrisy. Aside from her parents’ love, everyone who approached her did so with some ulterior motive.

To cling to the Nogami family’s power.

To win her parents’ favor through her.

Even to steal the Nogami family’s “inheritance.”

Eager courtship was fake. Fawning friendship was fake. Riding on her coattails for influence was fake.

Only the fear and despair on their faces when they were bullied was ever real.

Perhaps her feelings for Harutaki couldn’t even be called “love.”

Or perhaps he would become the first boy she ever loved, and the only boy she would ever love.

Whether this feeling was truly love or romance, she needed more time to be sure. At the very least, everything was moving in a good direction for now.

If, someday, Harutaki really did like her, and she truly liked him too, then she hoped he would love not just her appearance, but her inner self as well. She wanted to become a girl whose inner self could be loved as well.

“Mmm…”

After bringing back the Shiba Inu plush she had left drying on the balcony since morning, Izumi glanced again at the Shiba Inu plush Harutaki had given her.

She had carefully wiped it down with disinfectant wipes, but still, the old one felt more reassuring to use.

Yet as she played with it, imagining his face, something suddenly came to mind.

Harutaki had said that the gift wasn’t just a Shiba Inu plush. There was also a small surprise.

“A surprise?”

She picked up the plush and shook it, but didn’t notice anything unusual.

“Liar… there’s no surprise at all.”

Treating the Shiba Inu plush as if it were Harutaki himself, she vigorously kneaded its round, adorable face.

“I like you~(suki)”

“Wah?!”

Th-that was Hoshikawa’s voice?!

Hearing that suddenly familiar voice, Izumi shuddered as if struck by electricity, her whole body tensing up. She instinctively bit down on her lower lip to keep herself conscious.

She tried repeating what she had just done, squeezing the Shiba Inu plush Harutaki had given her once more.

“I like you~”

“Nguh……”

“I like you~”

Ten minutes later, Izumi ground her teeth as she viciously cursed that bastard of a scumbag in her heart, all while gathering up the bedsheets and the towel she had laid down to protect them, stuffing everything into the washing machine.

…..

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