Shurabara!:Volume 1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: It's Not My Popular Period

Part 1

Always read books in the classroom alone. Tried hard in class. A person whose test scores were above average. Did not join a club or the student council. Belonged solely to the "go home club" after school.

That was the kind of girl Saotome Hoshikawa was.

Although she didn’t have many friends, it did not mean that she was isolated from the social circle. It was just that she gave others an impression of trying to maintain a certain distance away from others.

"Kazuhiro-kun? Am… am I not worthy of being your girlfriend?"

Her pupils, concealed by the thick lens glasses until just now, stared up at Kazuhiro from slightly below.

This was totally against the rules. It was way too dangerous.

Kazuhiro has been asked many times for "help" by girls with love affairs, but he usually ended up with the experience of receiving only a smile and a word of thanks. This kind of situation was a first.

"Um, mmhmm! Gladly! If you will have me, I'm happy!"

Kazuhiro nodded his head continuously.

Kazuhiro could not smile calmly as usual. His face started to twitch.

"Really... it's okay?"

"Yes! Yes! Definitely!"

Kazuhiro’s confirmations calmed Saotome, who sought for firm confirmations by repeated asking the same question.

"It's a deal. You won’t break the promise, right?"

"Certainly. Sao…Saotome!"

Kazuhiro subconsciously called out her name.

This was the development that Kazuhiro had longed for. There were many girls whom he could talk to in a relaxed fashion, but the only one he could directly call out the first name was his problematic childhood friend.

Ah, a girlfriend.

Kazuhiro often dreamed of having a girlfriend in his sweet dreams.

He finally got the girlfriend whom he has only dared to dream about.

He used to be "everyone's good guy". Now that was all in the past. His hard work has finally paid off.

And she was unexpectedly beautiful.

Just that —

A malicious smile curled up in the corner of this beautiful girl’s mouth.

This smile wasn’t one of happiness, nor was it one of joy.

This was not like a natural smile. The way her mouth curved gave off an ominous premonition.

"So, you agreed, and I have proof of that."

Saotome, who changed her tone in a flash, loosened her arms that had rested in front of her chest.

She took out a small recording pen that had been hidden. Then, she pressed the switch, and the red light, which indicated that the device was in recording mode, disappeared.

"Eh...? eeeeeeh?"

Kazuhiro was thrown into a state of confusion by the sudden development.

"Kazuhiro-kun said that, he wanted to be my fake boyfriend."

Saotome spoke to the recording pen in an affirmative tone.

"Fa…fake boyfriend? I thought you had said you wanted me to be your real boyfriend?”

Not surprised that Kazuhiro was in a state of panic, Saotome passed the earphones for the recording pen to him without uttering a word. She motioned for him to wear them, and proceeded to play the previously recorded conversation.

"Could you be my… (fake) boyfriend?"

Although at that time Kazuhiro didn’t hear the word, Saotome indeed uttered the word "fake" amidst the sentence.

The voice was very soft, but pronounced in an unmistakably fashion.

"You… you underhanded bitch!"

Angry about being deceived, Kazuhiro blurted out the words furiously.

Kazuhiro would not normally insult girls. However, he was quite far away from a state of tranquility right now.

"Kazuhiro-kun would never refuse a girl’s request. He would also not break an agreement with a girl. Is that so?"

"Of course not!"

"Kazuhiro-kun? Am I… not worthy of being your (fake) girlfriend?”

"Um, mmhmm! Gladly! If you will have me, I would be glad of service!"

"Really? Even a (fake) one, is that okay?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, of course!"

Kazuhiro had thought that Saotome was speaking with intermittent pauses because of being awfully embarrassed. In actuality, she was just using a minute voice to emphasize the word “fake”.

This was almost the equivalent of a demonic contract, in which the key words were written with extra small sized letters.

Was this a fraud?

Could one terminate the contract if that was so?

"There's more."

Saotome took out her cellphone. Of course, it was one that came with the camera-recording function.

Displayed on the small screen of cellphone was Kazuhiro, who was frantically rolling on the lawn.

“Aaaaaaaah! I really want a girlfriend!"

"Puu!"

Kazuhiro gargled at his own silly antics.

"I said it before. I was always taking special notice of you."

There was no turning back.

"What… what does a (fake) boyfriend mean?"

"It means what it means in a literal sense. Fake boyfriend and fake girlfriend. Don’t you get it?"

"I... I know that much at least. Though, why are you doing this?"

"I have my own reasons. There is something that I have to do." Saotome said with a resolute tone.

This girl… is she the kind of girl who addresses herself as “boku”?

In class — rather, until just now, she was always referring to herself using the normal “I” that all girls use.

Unless, she had been pretending to act normal, and now she finally showed her true color?

"There is a reason for doing this. I must understand the complicated emotions of love. To achieve this, I must first have a boyfriend."

Absent-mindedly played with her glasses in her right hand, Saotome said in a firm tone.

Kazuhiro wanted to inquire further, exactly why she did this. He thought better of it after concluding that any further questions would make him fall deeper into her plans.

However, it was worse to firmly decline an offer just because it was rather odd.

For example, if that voice record was spread among the girls, gossip such as "Kazuhiro-kun is one who has gone too far and trampled over the feelings of a girl" would definitely appear.

Saotome, a girl who would record other people without them taking notice, might be capable of committing such an act.

Even though Kazuhiro was disgusted with his own “good guy” act, he was at least building a positive social image with his own efforts.

Even though Kazuhiro wanted to get away from the rank of being a “good guy”, he did not in the least want other people to think of him as a bad person.

Now, Saotome had a lethal weapon against him: the video of him rolling on the lawn while shouting “I want a girlfriend”.

Kazuhiro rescinded all of his ineffable gratefulness just a while ago.

There was no such thing as God in this world. No, if there wasn’t one, people’s fortunes could actually become more balanced.

Without a doubt, God existed in this world. He treated Kazuhiro as if Kazuhiro was a thorn in his eyes. God, please self-destruct right now!

"Have you thought it through? Kazuhiro-kun?"

Saotome suddenly moved closer to Kazuhiro.

Not good. This was quite different from the previous kind of "bad".

When she took off her glasses, Kazuhiro had thought Saotome was a beautiful girl. However, right now, in a close view, Saotome looked stunning.

Saotome was probably the most beautiful girl in the whole class… no, the whole school.

That wasn’t right. Saotome could be considered as a beauty even in the entertainment circle.

Hmm. It felt like that I had actually seen her on TV. Did I overthink a little?

Saotome, who commanded such beautiful appearance, was staring intensely at Kazuhiro from an extremely close distance. Kazuhiro could almost see the reflection of his own confused self in her eyes.

"Err, err... Why choose me?"

“Because of… a conclusion that I arrived at after some observations?"

Saotome smiled as she took one step closer toward Kazuhiro.

This time it wasn't a sinister smile, but a normal smile.

Her lips curved beautifully. Above those lips, there were a pair of serious eyes.

"Last year, since we have become classmates, I've always been paying close attention to Kazuhiro-kun."

If Kazuhiro hadn't been told that this was all a pretense, hearing this sentence would have made his heart jump twice in a beat.

"First, Kazuhiro-kun demonstrated a great talent in self-control, as well as being able to act really well. Even though Kazuhiro-kun wanted to have a girlfriend very badly, Kazuhiro-kun hid his true intentions and became normal friends with the girls."

"Don’t call this ‘wanting to have a girlfriend very badly’! For a man like me, this kind of desire should be normal!"

"Don't worry. Only I have noticed your true nature."

Kazuhiro felt relieved at first, but changed his mind very soon.

Put it in another way, Saotome has discovered Kazuhiro’s weakness, one that he didn’t want anyone to find out.

"Second, Kazuhiro-kun is interested in experiencing love. In other words, Kazuhiro-kun can help me to understand the emotions known as love. If Kazuhiro-kun is a bizarre creature who has no interest in love at all, I would have had no use for Kazuhiro-kun.

Saotome held up her fist, and put up her fingers one by one.

"Third, in order to help those female classmates, Kazuhiro-kun should be knowledgeable about those popular stores, right?"

Mm, that was true indeed.

If Kazuhiro changed his attitudes toward a girl whom he was helping just because she got a new boyfriend, he would be the subject of girls’ gossip.

Therefore, he gave those girls who already had boyfriend as much attention as those who didn’t have one.

If anybody asked him, he would provide the best route for a date, as well as all the related information that make a date successful.

Moreover, those girls’ boyfriends were either his friends, or his classmates. Kazuhiro didn’t want to be in bad terms with them.

If Kazuhiro has continued to conduct himself under this kind of strategy, the result would be spending his entire life as a “good person”, without a girlfriend.

At this precise moment, Kazuhiro started to doubt his strategy even more.

"Also, the fact that you live alone is also a plus. If you have a girlfriend, your parents would naturally know about it. Wouldn’t it become a nuisance when your parents find out that your girlfriend is actually a fake?"

Saotome seemed to know everything about him, including his family background, even if he didn’t exactly try to hide the information.

The ironic thing was, Kazuhiro has always been afraid of being branded as a stalker, so he never deeply investigated into any of the girl’s family background.

For a girl with few friends like Saotome, Kazuhiro knew next to nothing about her background.

"Due to the above reasons, I have concluded that Kazuhiro-kun is the best choice."

Saotome spun the recording pen in her hand several times, and threw it inside her breast pocket.

Not good.

It’s not that Kazuhiro didn’t consider the last option of forcibly taking the recording pen away from Saotome. However, he didn’t want to use force on a girl. Besides, in this kind of situation, it would be inevitable that he touch Saotome’s chest.

For Kazuhiro, touching a girl’s chest was a joyful event, but he thought better of it.

Because Saotome’s racks... her racks… were unexpectedly big.

Not a humongous size, but…

The size was just right. It was definitely a perfect size, not to mention that her breasts seemed very soft as well.

Kazuhiro only made this discovery just now. The concealing effect of unadorned glasses was something to reckon indeed.

American air force could also do with a pair of unadorned glasses.

"Where are you looking at...? Kazuhiro-kun is a pervert☆"

Saotome shielded her chest with with her hands, and turned to the side ninety degrees.

And once again Saotome stared at Kazuhiro from below with her eyes opened widely.

"Aaaaaa… Whoaaaaa!"

Kazuhiro panicked due to Saotome’s unexpected reactions.

That was against the rules. Definitely against the rules.

This kind of expression, this kind of posture, and her sweet voice…

Who care if this was only a pretense? If a girl this cute asked you to be her boyfriend, what was there to hesitate about?

“Birururururu!”

Kazuhiro’s cellphone began to ring inside his pocket.

"Yagimoto-kun, what happened? Caught a cold?"

"S… sorry! There's something urgent! I'm going there right now!"

Kazuhiro answered the high-pitched loli with a short sentence, and immediately hung up the call.

Today was a work day. He has completely forgotten.

It was already time for work, but he forgot about it due to Saotome’s interruption.

"Ahhh, I still have work to do! I work in a café, twice a week. Today I have to work!"

Kazuhiro clasped both of his hands together in front of Saotome, as a gesture of apology.

"No! You can't go yet!"

Saotome extended both of her arms, and wrapped them tightly around Kazuhiro’s hand.

Warm, and soft.

If that previous expression could have gotten a red card, this one was definitely a weapon of mass destruction.

Her moist eyes could charm any man.

She gently stared at Kazuhiro, as if she was trying to persuade a warrior going to the front line to stay.

"Unless you agree to be my fake boyfriend, I won’t let you go."

The words that came out of Saotome sounded like a request that could not be turned down.

"I, I know! I agree! I agree to be your fake boyfriend! Is that okay?"

Work could not wait, and since Saotome was so cute, it didn’t matter whether she was my real or fake girlfriend.

Even though it was a little bit suspicious, it was still better to accept it.

This kind of logic wasn’t wrong, right?

"OK. Good luck with working. Don't be late for work☆"

Saotome finally let go of Kazuhiro’s hand, and waved her right arm as she said those words of encouragement. Kazuhiro took this opportunity to immediately exit the scene.

After taking several steps, Kazuhiro turned his head to look at the previous scene. Saotome was still standing there, waving her hand at him.

Part 2

Kuhito City is located in the outskirts of Tokyo, since the past it has been a bustling area where wealthy nobles always build estates. Affected by this, near the station is also a lively scene.

Beside a road was a commercial building, Kazuhiro’s workplace is a café on a specific storey of this building. Although he’s only kitchen staff, he occasionally he has to come out of the building, therefore he has to change into a uniform that the shop has prepared.

Kazuhiro sprinted towards the changing-room-cum-employee-lounge.

Pata!

Completely opened the unlocked door.

“Kyaa!”

What came was a girl’s lament.

It was his colleague, Tenkyuuin Sanae, changing clothes.

Her fair white skin and black hair contrasted strongly, and the light emitted from her white underwear was directly aiming at his eyes.

“Ah, sorry for being rude. I actually called out so loudly. No, before this it must be my fault because I didn’t lock the door properly...”

“This, let’s just forget about this...!”

Seeing Sanae, who instantaneously covered her mouth and straightened her body to bow and apologise, Kazuhiro put his left hand over his eyes – he was actually pretending – while waving his right hand in panic.

Originally he would have been able to get away by just exiting the changing room, but he was so shocked that his legs were numb, and additionally his sprinting had left him out of breath.

“I’m really very sorry. Eh? Are you feeling unwell?”

From the gap between his fingers, he could see – Sanae was nearing him with a worrying look.

A slender figure only wearing underwear.

“Clothes! Wear them quickly! I’m, going out now!”

Kazuhiro lay on the floor on two hands, and after going out of the room on all fours, he closed the door. After the agitation in his heart subsided, the sound of knocks on the door came from behind.

“Yagimoto-sama, I’m done dressing. Can you open the door?”

“Eh? Ahh, sorry.”

Kazuhiro’s back was at the doorway, which blocked the door's passage. He straightened his body, and turned the doorknob.

“Kept you waiting.”

Sanae, who had changed into her uniform, walked out.

She wore a black dress with a white laced apron. On her arms were short-sleeve bands with ribbons. On her head was a katyusha.

The place two of them worked, “Sweet Drop” was a maid café.

Although the impression Sanae gave could be described as that of the traditional Japanese women, this appearance also suits her.

Once there was nobody left in the room, Kazuhiro also started to change. What he had to wear was obviously not a maid costume. It was a waiter costume with a white shirt and sleeveless garment, together with a pair of long and big suit pants.

After changing Kazuhiro walked towards the kitchen, and saw Sanae pressing the button of the automatic ice-maker.

“Yagimoto-sama, are you okay? I was thinking of offering you some iced water.”

“Ah! Careful…!”

Kazuhiro called out to her to stop, but it was to no avail.

pashashashasha!

Sanae pressed the "PUSH" button with her snow-white fingers. Simultaneously, a large quantity of ice cubes and iced water flowed out of the machine at an alarming rate, even though one would have thought that only ice cubes should come out from the machine.

"eh? eeeeh?"

As a result from the water that was sprayed out from the machine, Sanae's clothes was wet.

"Qu-quickly, watch out!"

Kazuhiro directed the confused Sanae away from the disaster scene. He randomly pressed the buttons on the machine, but the ice-maker showed no sign of stop.

Finally, Kazuhiro unplugged the electrical cord, successfully halting the machine from its rampage.

"Ms. Tenkyuuin, I thought I had warned you of the dangers of being near electrical devices for people who are not good with them."

"I am really sorry. Yagimoto-sama seemed to be very tired, so I wanted to quickly offer you a glass of iced water. I forgot about your warning..."

Sanae bowed deeply as she finished her words. Her gorgeous body was suddenly exposed. Kazuhiro found it hard to look away from this view.