11 - Sorry, i'm not into guys

"Ueda-san..."

"Yes...?"

"I like you! Please be my girlfriend!!" The boy immediately bowed after confessing his love, his face flushed, and with an expression full of hope, he looked up at me.

His eyes sparkled, as if his entire world would change if I accepted his confession.

It's been two weeks since we started high school...

This is the ninth time—

"Sorry, but no."

The boy's hopeful expression instantly shattered when he heard my reply.

Honestly, I did feel a bit bad for him. But what can I do? I'm not into guys, so... Obviously, I had to turn him down.

I thought it was something serious when a member of the student council suddenly approached me. I figured I must have caused some kind of trouble somewhere.

He asked me to meet him behind the school after classes.

But it turned out to be— another confession?

I was worried for nothing...

I sighed.

At first, I tried to be a little kind to the first person who confessed to me, I mean, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings too much. So, I tried to comfort him a little.

I used to be a guy, so I somewhat understand how it feels to be rejected by a girl.

I gave them a small glimmer of hope, acting as if they had a “chance” when in reality they didn’t.

But— instead of getting fewer confessions, it made people like them increase.

Among the nine people who confessed to me, there was even one girl. I don't even understand anymore what was going on.

That’s why this time, I had to be firm.

"Once again, I'm sorry. But I'm not interested in guys," I said briefly. I turned around immediately and left him, frozen in shock.

Besides, what I just said wasn’t a lie.

I’m a guy, so... Heh! Of course, I wouldn’t be interested in someone of the same gender.

***

Pat!

"Aah!! Nagi, stop! Come on... Hey!" My face flushed as Nagi held my head, even though he hadn’t done anything yet, but my mind had already wandered.

It's his fault because lately, Nagi has been stroking my hair for no apparent reason.

"What’s the problem?"

I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Nagi idiot! We’re still in the cafeteria, you know?! It’s embarrassing if people see us!"

My words didn’t seem to reach Nagi at all. He just smiled mischievously, not moving his hand from my head, but also not doing anything to me either.

If you don't plan to stop, at least do something!

Wait... that’s not what I meant... Damn, why am I hoping to be petted?!

Feeling suddenly annoyed, I vented my frustration by lightly hitting Nagi's chest, though softly, it was enough to make him shout, "UHOGH—!!"

Akane, who had been watching us, just smiled faintly at our continuous bickering.

"By the way, why did you call us here for, Akane-san?" I asked, curious.

"Of course, to have fun ♡."

"I'm serious."

A few minutes ago, Akane sent us a message through her phone. She wrote, "PLEASE!! I NEED HELP! ASAP$!@!!"

Akane made it seem like she was in a dire situation, so of course, Nagi and I became worried about her. We immediately rushed to the location she sent.

But— when we arrived, she was waiting for us with a smile on her face, calmly drinking a carton of milk. Completely unaware of how panicked we were.

"Hehe ♡ it’s not a big deal. I want to start a club. So, I need your signatures to fill this form," Akane said, handing over a piece of paper that had a club registration form written on it.

"Eh?"

SPIRITUAL CLUB.

The club’s name— it feels so Akane...

I hadn’t joined any clubs yet because, honestly, I didn’t know which one to choose.

Truthfully, I wanted to join the same club Nagi was interested in, but most of its members were guys... There's no way I could be the only girl in there, right?

But I also didn’t feel comfortable joining an all-girls club. They talk about romance twenty-four hours a day. No way I could survive that...

"Here." I handed the paper back to Akane after signing both mine and Nagi's names.

"Hey! I didn’t agree to join!"

Nagi tried to snatch the paper back, but Akane quickly pulled it away. "Sorry, Nagi-kun. But the minimum requirement for starting a club is three members."

Well... Since Akane’s spiritual club didn’t have any serious topics, maybe we could use the clubroom just to hang out.

Honestly, eating lunch on the school roof wasn’t as comfortable as it used to be. It’s getting more crowded each day...

Maybe the clubroom will be a nice alternative spot— huh?

But... aren’t all the clubrooms already occupied?

"Akane-san, I have a question. Where are you planning to hold this club? Aren’t all the rooms taken?" I asked curiously.

"If I tell the principal I need a clubroom, maybe he'll shut down one of the existing clubs and kick all the members out," Akane said with a straight face. I couldn’t tell if she was serious or joking.

"Seriously..?"

"Just kidding."

She got me again! Somehow, Akane is really good at keeping a poker face.

She always jokes with a serious face, making me startled, even scared sometimes. The Akane I used to know wasn’t a girl who played with people’s feelings like this...!

Maybe because she’s the daughter of a wealthy businessman, she has to always maintain her graceful image in front of others. I know it must be exhausting...

"Pfft..! Relax, Yui-chan. Why do you look so serious?" Akane chuckled, even wiping away tears from laughing too much.

I don't understand why Akane is laughing now... Maybe rich people's sense of humor is different from regular folks..?

"After I submitted the form, the teachers said they would give us one of the empty rooms at the end of the hall."

"You mean the storage room...?"

"Exactly!"

WHAT?

TO BE CONTINUED.