I Won't Be a Loser

Take someone like Kotonoha—though she doesn't have a boyfriend yet, she's undeniably popular at school. With her adorable looks, wealthy background, and top-tier grades upon entering, she embodies perfection. Her shy personality might be a bit of a flaw, but to most boys, that probably just makes her even more charming.

Then there's Setsuna. Compared to Kotonoha and even Sekai herself, she seems a little underdeveloped in certain areas. But what she lacks in physical maturity, she makes up for in academics, consistently ranking among the top students in class. More importantly, she successfully started dating Haruto, the boy she had been interested in.

Looking at these contrasts, Sekai couldn't help but feel stuck in an awkward middle ground. She wasn't as outstanding as Kotonoha, nor did she have a sweet boyfriend like Setsuna. The thought exhausted her.

With a sigh, she rested her head on the table, silent and unmoving, as if life had drained from her—except for the occasional blink of her eyes. Watching her dramatic display, Setsuna calmly put down her glass of lemon tea, picked up her pen, and flipped open her homework.

"You're not even going to comfort me a little?"

Sekai slowly lifted her head, blinking at the girl across from her.

Without looking up, Setsuna clicked off her pen cap, scanned the questions on her worksheet, and finally closed her eyes for a moment. Then, she glanced at Sekai's expectant expression and spoke in a flat tone.

"You're cute. We have a quiz tomorrow, so let's finish the homework first and review the material afterward."

"...Ugh. So perfunctory."

Sekai sat up straight with a sigh and reluctantly opened her own workbook.

Kotonoha, who had been thinking about offering words of comfort, hesitated. She wasn't sure how to chime in, but seeing Sekai bounce back so quickly made her feel a bit awkward. Her gaze shifted toward Setsuna, still uncertain about the dynamic between the two. In the end, she chose to remain silent and quietly resumed working on her own assignment.

"You don't have to worry too much about Sekai," Setsuna said, turning another page. "That's just how she is. Even if she gets a little down, she'll recover in no time."

Kotonoha looked up in surprise, glancing at Setsuna, who remained focused on her notes, her pen moving steadily across the page.

"I can hear you, you know~ Loud and clear~"

"Well, it's true, isn't it? It's not like I'm talking behind your back."

"Even if I don't mind, I still feel a little hurt. So… as compensation, help me with class duty tomorrow!"

"No."

The immediate rejection came without hesitation. Setsuna finally looked up and met Sekai's gaze.

"Absolutely not happening."

"Ugh..."

Sekai pouted, momentarily deflated as she slumped over her workbook.

Kotonoha, watching their playful exchange, felt a small pang of envy. Without a word, she lowered her head and continued working through her problems in silence.

The three of them suddenly fell into silence, each focusing on the homework in front of them. As they worked, they occasionally asked each other about certain problems, and after nearly an hour, they finally finished their assignments.

"What should we do next?"

"Weren't we supposed to go over tomorrow's test material—"

"Ah! Let's go to Setsuna's house!" Sekai interrupted excitedly. "We still have time, and I don't know what else to do. Let's just stop by for a bit and then head home afterward!"

"..."

Setsuna's eyes flickered slightly as she looked at Sekai. Visiting her house? No, that wasn't the real reason—Sekai was obviously aiming for a chance to go to Haruto's apartment instead.

Before Setsuna could refuse, Kotonoha glanced at her and nodded lightly.

"Sure, I don't mind."

Setsuna opened her mouth but, seeing the two of them looking at her expectantly, let out a silent sigh and reluctantly began packing up her things.

Sekai and Kotonoha exchanged a quick look before happily gathering their belongings as well. Once they ensured they hadn't left anything behind, the three of them left the café together.

After bidding farewell to Saionji Youko, Sekai linked arms with both Setsuna and Kotonoha, leading the way toward the Kiyoura household.

"By the way, has Miyamizu-kun made it home yet?"

"Why are you asking about Haruto?"

Setsuna shot a glance at Sekai, whose arm was wrapped around hers. She could already guess the answer—this had nothing to do with his whereabouts and everything to do with her true intentions. And yet, they weren't even at her house yet, and Sekai was already showing her true colors.

"I was just wondering what Miyamizu-kun is up to. If he's free, wouldn't it be nice if he joined us for our little study group?"

"He has other things to do. Let's just leave him be."

"What kind of things?"

Setsuna had no idea what Haruto was doing at the moment, but instead of answering, she simply glanced at Sekai and fell into silence.

As the two of them continued their conversation, Kotonoha, who had been walking beside them, found herself at a loss. She didn't know how to join in, so instead, she let her gaze wander elsewhere.

The last time she had stayed over at Sekai's house, she had already realized that both Sekai and Setsuna seemed to like the same person. But that person—Haruto—was now Setsuna's boyfriend.

Kotonoha had met him before. He did seem like a kind and gentle guy. But because of her fear of men, she had always kept a careful distance from him, never allowing herself to form any deeper thoughts about him. To her, he was just an acquaintance—nothing more.

Now, hearing Sekai suddenly bring up Harutoin conversation with Setsuna, Kotonoha couldn't shake the feeling that this topic was treading dangerous ground. So instead of getting involved, she chose silence and looked away, trying to focus on something else.

But the moment she turned her gaze, she spotted a familiar figure in the distance.

At first, she simply felt that the person looked familiar, but she couldn't immediately place where she had seen them before. Narrowing her eyes, she focused her attention on that figure.

A school uniform she didn't recognize, a vaguely familiar hairstyle and back… When he turned slightly toward the girl beside him, Kotonoha caught a glimpse of his face.

Wasn't that the very "main character" Sekai and Setsuna had just been talking about?

With another girl?

Kotonoha's eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. The girl standing next to Haruto was unfamiliar, wearing a different school uniform—one that didn't belong to Sakakino. But something about it rang a bell…

Wasn't that the uniform for Toyosaki Academy?

And Haruto just so happened to attend Toyosaki.

There was no mistake—she had recognized him correctly.

As Kotonoha stared at the two figures, she saw the unknown girl suddenly lean into Haruto, pressing her body against him. Their intimate behavior left her momentarily speechless.

"What's wrong, Kotonoha?"

Sekai and Setsuna had continued walking ahead, but when they realized Kotonoha was no longer following, they turned back and noticed her standing still.

"Uh… No, it's nothing."

"What were you looking at?" Sekai furrowed her brows in confusion and followed Kotonoha's line of sight. But all she saw was a wall with some advertisements—a cute cat poster, a few scattered flyers, and the usual pedestrians passing by.

"Nothing, I just spaced out for a moment. Sorry."

Kotonoha wasn't sure what she had just witnessed, and without understanding the full picture, she hesitated to bring it up to Sekai and Setsuna.

Her gaze briefly landed on Setsuna's face. The girl seemed to sense something was off and tilted her head in confusion. But before she could ask, Kotonoha quickly lowered her head and walked forward, catching up with them.

"Kotonoha sure has her weird moments sometimes," Sekai chuckled.

Hearing that, Kotonoha could only force an awkward smile. She glanced at Setsuna beside her, only to find that the girl was still staring at her. The moment their eyes met, Kotonoha quickly averted her gaze.

Noticing this strange reaction, Setsuna narrowed her eyes slightly, sensing something was off. She turned back toward the direction Kotonoha had been looking at just moments ago.

But there was nothing there.

After a brief moment of silence, she decided to let it go and continued walking toward her house with the others.

Meanwhile, across the street, inside a small flower shop—

"What's wrong, Haruto? You suddenly dragged me in here. Did you see someone familiar?"

Ichika smirked as she looked down at Haruto, who was still holding her hand.

Haruto had pulled her into the shop the moment he spotted those three familiar figures walking nearby. At the time, it had been purely instinctive. But now, looking back on it, he was starting to regret his decision.

Letting go of the girl's hand, Haruto looked at the person in front of him, fell silent for a moment, and let out a slow sigh.

"No, it's nothing."

Ichika glanced down at her hand, where he had held her just moments ago. When he grabbed her hand earlier, her heart had been pounding, but now that he had let go, she felt a tinge of disappointment.

"Really? It didn't seem like nothing~ You looked pretty weird just now," she teased.

Despite the small disappointment in her heart, Ichika kept her usual playful smile, even going as far as to tease Haruto.

"May I help you?"

A store clerk approached them with a friendly smile, looking at the two students.

"What flower is this?"

Ignoring Ichika's teasing, Haruto pointed at the flowers in front of him and asked the clerk.

"These are hydrangeas."

"Do they have any special meaning?"

Haruto wasn't very knowledgeable about flowers, so he casually asked about their symbolism. If the meaning was good, he figured he could buy some as a gift for Setsuna.

The clerk glanced at Haruto, then at Ichika, who was smiling beside him.

"Hydrangeas symbolize coldness, resilience, aloofness… and also fickleness and betrayal. If you'd like, I can wrap them up for you."

Ichika chuckled. "Hey, Haruto —'fickleness'! Sounds like a perfect fit~ Want to buy them?"

"..."

Haruto remained silent for a moment, glancing at the clerk's polite smile and Ichika's mischievous grin, then turned to look at another flower.

"What about this one?"

"This is a morning glory. Its meanings are 'fleeting love' and 'bond.'"

Haruto thought the flower looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen it before. Only when he heard the clerk's explanation did he suddenly remember. But… wasn't that meaning a little strange?

First "fickleness," and now "fleeting love"?

"Fleeting love, huh~? You want this one?" Ichika smirked.

"Forget it."

After asking about two flowers and finding neither had a particularly good meaning, Haruto shook his head and turned to leave the shop. Ichika followed after him.

"It's getting late. Let's call it a day. You should head home soon, or your sisters will start worrying," Haruto said, looking back at her.

"Well, I had fun going out with you, Haruto. But yeah, it's getting late. Let's wrap it up here for today. See you~"

Since he had already decided to go home, Ichika didn't try to keep him any longer. She waved at him and walked off ahead.

Haruto returned the wave, watching her silhouette disappear into the distance before slowly turning to glance back at the flower shop.

"..."

A while later, Setsuna and her two friends finally arrived at her house. Looking at the closed curtains of the apartment across the street, she smiled at Sekai.

"What a shame. Looks like Haruto isn't home yet. That means we won't be able to ask him to join the school festival preparations."

Sekai also looked toward the apartment. The windows were shut, the curtains drawn—it really didn't seem like anyone was home. After a brief pause, she simply nodded and followed Setsuna into the house.

Meanwhile, Kotonoha remained silent.

She had already seen Haruto earlier. But for now, she chose not to say anything.

Following behind the two girls, she took one last glance at the apartment before stepping inside and quietly shutting the door.

—

Haruto arrived home around 5:30 in the afternoon, carrying a bouquet of flowers. He glanced at the Kiyoura residence across from his apartment, unsure if Setsuna was home yet, then stepped inside.

Placing the flowers on the table, he slowly walked over to his desk.

He didn't sit down right away. He stood there for a moment, lost in thought, then suddenly seemed to remember something.

Picking up a packet of barley tea he had bought earlier, he went to prepare a cup.

"I don't know if Setsuna's home yet. If she notices I'm back, she'll probably come over. I'll just leave it be for now."

As he waited for the water to boil, he pondered what to do next.

For now, he would just keep writing.

—