Crossover: After deciding to give up, i became popular

Some things can leave you amazed or entertained at first, but if you experience them too many times, they lose their charm. This was especially true for films.

Titanic was undoubtedly a well-crafted movie, but its commercial appeal was all too obvious.

A talented yet impoverished young man meets a rich young lady by chance, falls in love, faces hardships, and ultimately affirms their feelings…

The ending—whether happy or tragic—didn't matter. The journey alone was enough to captivate most viewers. No one cared about the innocent supporting characters, like the woman's fiancé or the man's childhood sweetheart. In real life, these would be the people who stayed with the protagonists till the end, but art had its own rules.

"That's why I don't like this movie," Kanade Natsukawa declared bluntly.

As he and Iroha Isshiki stepped out of the theater, he wasted no time sharing his critique.

Perhaps his personal experiences were influencing his opinion. He could no longer hold Titanic in high regard—it felt too much like pandering to the audience and overly romanticizing love.

It didn't resonate with him anymore.

"Senpai, you're such a boring guy! You're supposed to agree with the girl's opinion in moments like these!" Iroha pouted, poking him repeatedly in mock frustration.

Kanade ignored her antics and asked curtly, "What's the next activity?"

His demeanor was as if he were checking off items on a to-do list.

"Ugh…" Iroha shot him a small glare.

"Next up… let's get moving a little!"

"Right before lunch? Are you sure you want a physical activity?" Kanade asked, puzzled.

Having just watched an emotional romance movie, wasn't it more fitting to find a cozy spot to relax and reflect?

"That's exactly why we should exercise a bit first! Food tastes better when you've worked up an appetite!" Iroha explained, pointing toward a nearby sports center.

"Let's go, Senpai!"

"…Fine."

Kanade sighed, resigning himself to her whims once again.

Inside the center, they settled on playing table tennis. It wasn't too exhausting and still had its fun moments—assuming both players were evenly matched.

"If Senpai loses, you're buying lunch!" Iroha declared confidently. "Oh, and by the way, I haven't played since middle school, so go easy on me, okay?"

"I'm in the same boat." Kanade glanced at her, immediately seeing through her ploy.

Pretending to be weak upfront, so she can blame her loss on being out of practice? Fine, let's see how this goes.

He braced himself for a long, back-and-forth game. However, it quickly became clear that Iroha wasn't just rusty—she was completely hopeless. She struggled even with his basic serves.

"Don't tell me… you don't actually know how to play, do you?" Kanade asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

"Don't underestimate me, Senpai! I-I'm just… really out of practice!" Iroha stammered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"Your turn to serve. Bring it on."

"Sure." Kanade shrugged, thinking to himself that there was no way she'd surprise him.

"Oh, by the way, Senpai, do you have a crush on anyone? Here comes my serve!"

"No."

Kanade effortlessly returned her serve as he answered, his expression calm.

"…"

Iroha froze, then immediately puffed out her cheeks in protest. "Why don't you even hesitate when answering?! You're supposed to pause and think about it!"

"What's there to think about? It's a simple question." Kanade shrugged again, finding her reaction exaggerated.

He didn't feel close enough to her to lie about something so trivial. The truth was that he wasn't sure if he liked anyone—or if he could even confirm those feelings.

Besides, wasn't chatting during a casual game normal?

"Ugh… let's keep going!"

Refusing to give up, Iroha tried to pull out all the stops. She made funny faces while playing, struck overly cute poses, and even tried sneak attacks, but nothing worked.

The only thing that mildly distracted Kanade was the occasional flutter of her skirt as she moved. After a few glances, even that stopped phasing him.

"And that's 3–0. I win," Kanade announced calmly.

"Ugh, I only managed to score a few points…" Iroha's shoulders slumped, her disappointment evident.

It was understandable—she had been thoroughly outmatched, and now she'd have to buy lunch as a result.

Kanade kept his mouth shut.

In truth, he'd held back significantly. If he had played seriously, she wouldn't have scored a single point. But saying so would've been unnecessarily cruel.

"Senpai, you're way too good! You should join the school team or something!"

"No, you're just bad," Kanade replied bluntly.

He wasn't school-team material by any stretch. Back in class matches, he'd always been one of the weaker players.

"Hmph! It's all Senpai's fault! Pretending to be bad just so you could make me buy lunch!" Iroha accused, poking him in the side with her finger. Her tone was playful yet accusatory.

"Senpai must have a crush on me, huh? Trying to get my attention this way, right?!" she teased, batting her lashes dramatically.

"Absolutely not," Kanade said firmly, blocking her pokes with his hand and shaking his head.

After a moment of silence, Kanade casually said, "For lunch, I feel like having omelet rice."

"Ku-ku-ku… Oh, Senpai, you're too naive! I said, 'If you lose, you're buying.' I never said anything about me paying if I lose!" Iroha smirked triumphantly.

"…" Kanade raised an eyebrow. This girl is so slippery.

Turning to face her directly, he said nothing, simply staring at her intently.

"W-What are you looking at? Staring at me won't—"

"Stare…"

"Okay, okay! I'll pay for lunch!" Iroha caved, flustered by his unrelenting gaze. "But my poor allowance… sniff…"

Satisfied, Kanade nodded.

He wasn't unreasonable. He'd treat her to something later in return, but for now, he intended to enjoy the reward he'd earned fair and square.

Notes-Read advances chapters in patreon.com/Shadow_D_X, i have finished uploading the whole series in patreon, a total of 274 chapters you can find it in the collections, thanks for supporting me and special thanks to all the patrons for joining