That day, like any other day, began and ended without any particular incident. Or at least that’s how it was supposed to play out.
“Yo, you wanna go do karaoke? I feel like a song or two.”
“What? But it’s only Monday!”
“Oh, come on. I’ll blow this gloomy Monday away with one note of my beautiful voice!”
As I prepared to head home, the voices of the most extroverted of my peers calling out to their friends entered my ears. They were the popular kids—those at the top of the school caste.
“Hey, you guys come too! Let’s hear some anime songs for a change.”
The extroverts had addressed the class’s group of otaku, guys who weren’t that unlike me. The otaku guys reacted in a grandiose manner as they gladly accepted the invitation.
Fortunately, in my class, there was no bullying of any kind. At least, none that I knew of. The students each had their own clique, which inevitably determined who had a say in what and who had the most authority, but on a basic level, the different groups tended to get along.
I was probably the only exception. I didn’t belong to any particular group, and I basically only said a few words to my classmates every now and then, so I didn’t have any close friends there. Even now, no one took any notice of me while they chatted about their karaoke plans.
In the middle of it all, having seemingly made up his mind, one of the guys called out to a group of three girls—three of the most eye-catching girls in the class. His voice rose shakily, as though he were nervous.
“Hey, Nanami, you guys are coming too, right? It won’t be any fun unless you three are there.”
Despite the male student’s resolve, the response he got was far from positive. A girl with black hair spun around and waved her hand, declining the invitation immediately.
“Oh, I think we’ll pass this time. We have something to take care of with Nanami. You guys have fun!”
“Oh, come on. Doing karaoke with everyone is way more f—”
“If you don’t drop it...” The black-haired girl turned a terrifying smile on the guy, who withdrew dejectedly.
“Oh, okay, okay. The three of you aren’t coming this time; I get it.”
At that, the female student nodded, satisfied. Behind her, the girl he’d called out to—Nanami—seemed somewhat relieved, or was that just my imagination?
All three girls were what you’d think of if you imagined a typical gyaru—that is, they were showing a lot of skin and seemed like they were pretty experienced with guys—so perhaps it had been my imagination. Her name was...Nanami, right? It was a name I thought I’d heard somewhere before, but I couldn’t really remember where.
Well, that has nothing to do with me, I thought as I left the classroom.
Even outside it, I could hear them deciding among themselves on a decent karaoke bar, but my own mind was already occupied with thoughts of playing my online game when I got back home.
You see, this was just a difference between having friends in class and having friends outside of it. I simply chose to prioritize hanging out with friends I’d made online. That’s all.
With that considered, thoughts about my classmates heading off for karaoke and the group of gyaru who already had plans quickly disappeared from my mind. I had no relationship with these people—people that I’d never have anything to do with. Those three eye-catching gyaru in particular would never be interested in me.
Or at least, that’s what I thought until that day.
I never even imagined it. I never imagined that those girls... No. I never imagined that I would become deeply involved with that girl, a girl I had no relationship with, and that so many things would change.
Whether that was good or bad, the present me had yet to discover.