The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 18

“Good morning, Haruka.”

“Good morning, Ria.”

Arriving at the classroom on the third floor, Yunika once went to her seat to put her bag down.

Haruka went to his desk at the back by the window and exchanged greetings with Ria, who had already arrived at her desk.

“Good morning, Ise. Thanks for yesterday.”

“Good morning, Shiono-san”

Yunika, who had put down her bag, came to visit Ria.

“I gave this to Obi, too, here’s my friend ID.”

Looking at the displayed window, Ria was elated.

“Oh–, I’m so happy. It’s the second friend I made in my life.”

She says something spectacularly dark with a bright smile. Yunika stiffens briefly in the face of this darkness.

With a smile on her face, she looks from Yunika to Haruka and tells her.

“Of course, the first one is Haruka!”

“I know. Ria’s my first, too, if you exclude my childhood friends.”

To be precise, Haruka had more than one friend in elementary school. But when he was 13 years old and was given the Talisman, they all left him for the crime of interfering with Miyako and Shun’s love affair.

Haruka became a dangerous stalker who must not be touched, and his place disappeared. Naturally, he was blocked by all of his friends without exception. It was Haruka’s own fault for this, as he had gone to ruin the good mood between Shun and Miyako without reading the atmosphere.

“Really, you two are so weird…”

After staring blankly at the two of them in turn, Yunika said “Well, I’ll see you later.” turned on her heel and went to greet the top caste group.

“She’s a good girl”

“Yeah… I think I’m going to like her.”

Almost on the opposite side of the class, Yunika stares at her classmates chatting and laughing.

“Isn’t she too easy?”

She puts her arms on top of Haruka’s desk, puts her face on it, and looks into his face with an upward glance.

“I can’t get the image of Shiono-san’s crying out out of my mind. This is definitely love.”

“Uwaa, We got a pervert over here!”

Ria smiles softly and stretches her arms under her face. She scratches the back of Haruka’s hand on the desk with her fingertips. It tickles.

“I’m glad you’ve brightened up.”

“Did I really look that gloomy?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Ria makes eye contact with Haruka and plays with her index finger, twisting it around Haruka’s finger.

“It’s thanks to you that I’ve brightened up.”

“I just wanted to close the distance between us quickly. I’m really glad that my plan worked!”

For a long time, Haruka was bound by chains. But he finally escaped. He has never felt better in years.

The sense of loss from giving up on Miyako, his regrets, his jealousy towards Shun, and his inferiority complex are still smoldering in the air.

But more than that, the world that he could see with the new wind was a bright light in his heart.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Touching each other lightly with their fingertips, they smiled at each other.

?

Haruka, who usually either stares blankly out of the window or takes the class seriously, is different today.

“……”

He couldn’t help but notice Ria’s hair on the seat in front of him, who was taking the class seriously.

Her hair was blonde like Shinku’s, but its color was brighter than hers.

Ria had some kind of change of mind, and her hair, which was usually tied back in a single bun, was swept down her back without any modification today.

Haruka glance at the right seat with a sideways glance. The boy in the right seat was lying on his desk.

Hesitantly, he touches Ria’s blond hair fearfully.

He scooped up a lock of her blonde hair in my hand, being careful not to let his fingertips touch her back.

It was silky, and when he let go of it, it fell down according to gravity.

For some reason, he feel elated, and with his heart pounding in his chest, he watches as the hair flows from his fingertips.

As he reaches out his arm to pick it up again, Ria moves her face to look at Haruka. She gently lowers her outstretched hand to the desk, as if she is disarming herself and surrendering.

[Oh, man…]

Such a message appeared in front of Haruka’s eyes. Ria lets out a small laugh as she exhales, and turns to face forward.

[You can touch me as much as you like.]

The message continues to be displayed. His cheeks heat up just at the sight of that short sentence.

He turned his attention up at the cold sky beyond the window to cool down.

He’ll be able to touch her hair after class is finished, Haruka thought.

The class ends in agony, and the 30-minute recess begins.

As the teacher leaves the class and the class becomes a little noisy, Ria turns to Haruka.

With a slightly mischievous look on her face, she puts a lock of her hair in her hand and holds it out toward Haruka.

“Here you go… Ehehe.”

Ria uncontrollably lets out a happy sound. Ria’s every little gesture stimulates his heart sweetly.

Haruka put Ria’s hair in the palm of his hand, being careful not to let the heat build up on her face.

“Do you have a comb, hairpins, and hair elastic”

“Yes, I do”

“Can I do your hair?”

“Sure, but… Be gentle, okay?”

She pulled her hair back on her cheek and looked at Haruka with a teasing attitude. Her eyes are moist with the anticipation of having her hair played with.

Disturbed by her attitude, he asked Ria to come to his side with a chair.

Ria took the hairdressing items out of her bag and spread them on the desk. She placed the chair right next to Youhi’s and sat down with her back to him with good posture.

“Can I put your hair in a bun?”

“Sure!”

Haruka lightly combs her hair with a comb. Occasionally, Ria made a muffled, pleasant sound. Although this disturbs his concentration, he tries to fix her hair with all his might.

Twin-tails are tied high on her head with a light-colored hair elastic that blends in with her blonde hair.

Twist one tail a little tighter than the other. Wrap the twisted strands of hair around the hair elastic to form a bun. Wrap the ends of the hair around the knot and fasten it with a hairpin, and insert another hairpin into the knot to prevent it from falling out.

The remaining side-tail is tied into a bun in the same way and secured with a hairpin.

The hair on the side, which is untouched and hanging down to the ground according to gravity, is combed and brought back. The hair is then braided into a rope braid and wrapped around the bun we have just made. Finally, he inserted a hairpin to secure it, and it is done.

Since she has blonde hair and a lot of hair, the result is rather showy.

Haruka handed Ria a hand mirror on the desk.

She gazed at it for a while as if she were dumbfounded. Haruka wondered if it made her look strange, he feel uneasy.

“As usual, you are good at styling my hair… Even I couldn’t make a beautiful bun like this.”

Ria said admiringly, tilting the mirror and looking at herself from various angles.

“Hey, Haruka. Take my picture!”

She begged Haruka in a flirtatious female voice, no longer paying any attention to the people around her. A group of boys chatting a few meters away from the group stopped talking and spy on the exchange between Haruka and Ria with a startled look on their faces.

“Ready!”

Ria makes a peace sign with a smile.

Her eyes are dimly lit as she switches her talisman to the camera mode.

Haruka released the shutter and took several pictures of Ria in succession.

“I got a cute picture,” he said.

“Take good care of them.”

“Eh-What!?”

“Ehehe.”

Ria covered her face with her hands to hide her expression that was getting tight because she couldn’t stop smiling, and her cheeks that were turning cherry red more and more. Her dumpling-like bun shook a little.

Haruka then noticed that most of the people in the classroom were secretly observing them.

The girls were surprised to see how well Haruka set Ria’s hair with a skillful and experienced hand. The boys gasp at Ria’s every move, which was more girlish and sweeter than that of the girls.

In secret, the classmates talk about Haruka and Riai in hushed tones.

They are so immersed in their own world that they are unaware of the curious looks they are receiving from the people around them.

And then, someone interrupted their space.

“Good grief… What are you two doing, flirting in public?”

It was Claudia, a girl with nearly platinum hair, not unlike Ria.

The two of them greeted her as she came in, sitting on a chair.

“Hello, Claudia-san.”

“Hi.”

“Good day, Obi-san, Ise-san.”

Picking up the hem of her skirt, she bows her head reverently. It was a beautiful, polite and dignified greeting, like a young lady from a picture book.

“What’s the matter?”

Haruka asked her, and she nodded her head.

“Obi-san, you said yesterday that we would exchange contact information.”

Shinku gazed at Haruka with a strong light in her eyes.

“You will help me, won’t you?”

“What did you promise?” asked Ria.

“I’ve offered to help her in the battle of love.”

During the Apocalypse, when Haruka and Shinku were alone together, he said to Shinku that he would help her with Shun.

It was an offer not for Shinku’s sake, but for himself, since he promised that he would cooperate, cooperate he will.

“I don’t know if it will help you, but I will help out as much as I can.”

“Right. Please take care of me.”

Shinku answered with a smile.

She usually has an image of a strong-willed person, but when she smiles, Haruka thought that she looks youthful and cute.

The three of them exchanged their friend IDs and became friends via Talisman.

Shinku brought her face close to the distance between Haruka’s face, and smiled wryly.

“There are only a few men who can get my friend ID, you know? You know how much of an honor it is, don’t you desu wa?”

“W-well… I guess so.”

Hearing Haruka’s puzzled reply, Shinku nodded her head in satisfaction.

“It’s not that I don’t know if you’ll be useful or not, but that you must be useful. You got that desu wa?”

“Okay…”

“Ahaha, hang in there, Haruka.”

Ria giggled at how stiff Haruka was.

After giving a small smile, Shinku turned on her heels and went back to Shun and the others.