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[Tsunako JK2 @PrivateAcct: “Long time no see! Basketball club’s been pretty intense lately, so I haven’t had time to chat. Please send me your new photo, okay~? 💕”]

Harutaki was scrolling through his socials before bed when that message from Chouko popped up.

He couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

Basketball club? Really?

Even if her cup size were half of what it is now, there’s no way she’d be “dribbling.” That’s called charging with the ball.

Still, it was clear her excuse wasn’t random, she must’ve spent some time thinking it over. Just… not enough.

If you’re a second-year high school student, what could possibly take up that much time and energy? Club activities, obviously.

Now, if you want an excuse that sounds natural and won’t blow up in your face, the safest bets are the arts or music clubs.

But literary clubs? They don’t require the kind of intense training she mentioned.

As for music clubs, like orchestra or brass band, their busy season doesn’t even start until midyear, when they’re aiming for the National Brass Competition.

So that leaves sports clubs, and right now, all of them are ramping up training for the big summer event: the National High School Sports Tournament, held from late July to early August.

Before that, each prefecture holds qualifiers to decide who represents the region at Nationals.

It’s one of Japan’s three major high school events, commonly known as Inter High.

He remembered hearing about it from Ren and Haruto during PE. Apparently, every sports club was in overdrive these days.

Too bad Nichiya High’s boys’ teams weren’t exactly powerhouses.

The girls’ teams, on the other hand, basketball, track, and swimming, had all gone to nationals before.

Especially the swimming team.

If he remembered right, the captain was Sae, wasn’t it?

The thought of her sun-tanned skin, firm, yet smooth and supple, made him picture the school pool and the sleek lines of competitive swimsuits.

A tempting image, but he shook it off with a sigh.

Focus. He still had to figure out what kind of reply to send Chouko.

She’d already used the “busy with club training” excuse, so repeating it would just sound lame.

What else could he use…?

Then it hit him. The start-of-term exams, they’d just gotten their scores back.

Now that he thought about it, why didn’t Chouko use exams as her excuse instead?

Curious, he logged into the anonymous school forum and scrolled through the grade rankings.

Starting from his own name, he skimmed downward,

8th place: Shihou Chouko.

Not bad. But then,

7th place: Nogami Izumi.

Harutaki almost burst out laughing.

Considering the way those two acted toward each other, so polite on the surface, yet just the slightest edge in their tone, it was obvious they saw each other as rivals.

This was perfect.

He could tease her and have a plausible excuse at the same time.

[Harutaro: Sorry, sorry! I’ve been busy studying for exams lately. My grades weren’t great this time, so I haven’t really been in the mood to go on Twitter.]

As for the photo…

He glanced at the one she’d sent him, smirked, then grabbed a tape measure from his desk.

Click.

[Harutaro: [Image]]

…

Chouko had been chatting casually with other girls on Line before bed, trying to relax,  until that notification popped up.

She froze.

Then she immediately closed her chats and switched over to her Twitter alt.

[Harutaro: Sorry, sorry! I’ve been busy studying for exams lately. My grades weren’t great this time, so I haven’t really been in the mood to go on Twitter.]

Thump.

Thump.

Th.

The phone bounced twice on the bed before sinking into the fluffy comforter, leaving a small dent.

That bastard definitely did it on purpose.

Hoshikawa had to know she was Tsunako by now.

Sure, every school holds a start-of-term exam around April, but this timing?

Right after she messaged him?

And he just happens to use the same “too busy” excuse?

And what’s with “my grades weren’t great”?

Fourth place isn’t great?!

She didn’t know that Hrutaki’s goal was first, so to her, it sounded like he was mocking her for coming in eighth.

Her teeth ground together.

She’d only just calmed down her brain enough to sleep, and now he had to go and rattle her again.

Still…

A softer thought followed.

Hoshikawa always teased her, but he wouldn’t go that far, right?

He probably really had been studying hard. That’s why he hadn’t posted.

And besides, she’d hidden her identity perfectly. There’s no way he actually knew she was Tsunako.

If he did know, wouldn’t he have used that to comfort her, like all the other guys who liked her would?

Wouldn’t he have taken the chance to get closer?

Yeah. No question about it, Hoshikawa had no idea.

Feeling reassured by her flawless reasoning, Chouko crossed her arms and gave a confident little nod.

Then, setting aside the matter of her identity, she remembered something more important,

It had been days since her last “flirty post.”

Heart pounding, she picked up her phone again and opened his next message,

[Harutaro: [Image]]

“Eh?”

“Eh, ehhhh?!”

Same as before, it was taken over his shorts, but still…

She rummaged through her desk drawer, pulled out a long-forgotten tape measure, extended it, and pressed it shakily against her stomach.

Gulp.

Comparing her reflection to the bold numbers in his photo, Chouko swallowed hard.

There’s no way.

No way it would fit.

How could it possibly fit?!

The things her friends had whispered about, what it’s like being with a boyfriend,  this was not what they meant!

If… if it were Hoshikawa…

No, if Hoshikawa forced her down…

Her breath hitched.

She sank into her bed, lying on her side, phone in one hand, the other trembling as it drifted lower.

This was all Hoshikawa’s fault.

Yes, entirely his fault for sending a photo like that.

Even if Onii found out, he wouldn’t scold her, right?

Onii was gentle.

Even if she really were… defiled by Hoshikawa, he’d never abandon her, will he?

……

Sato Kaoru was a completely ordinary boy. He had always known that harsh, painful truth.

As a child, he couldn’t win fights against the stronger kids, and couldn’t score higher than the kids of his parents’ friends.

His life was meant to follow an utterly average path: a middle-of-the-road middle school, a decent but unremarkable high school, and a modest local university.

After that, a steady job as a junior employee at some faceless company,  working hard, obeying orders, maybe even getting transferred to some faraway branch if he slipped up.

He’d still bow, smile, and thank his superiors for their “guidance.”

That was supposed to be his life.

Until, during his childhood stay at his grandmother’s house in Kyoto, he met someone who changed everything,

Shihou Chouko.

She was strong-willed, loud, impossible to deal with,  and yet, compared to him, a quiet, awkward boy constantly bullied by others, she was like the moon itself, bright enough to drown out all the stars.

She was special.

Radiant.

Utterly beyond his reach.

And yet she became like a little sister to him, always by his side until middle school.

He opened her Twitter account and looked at her latest photo.

In it, she was holding hands with a classmate, tilting her head just so, those gem-like amber eyes curved in a cheerful smile, one hand flashing a peace sign toward the camera.

That smile, bright and golden as autumn chrysanthemums,  brought warmth to anyone who saw it.

He remembered her laugh from years ago.

“Honestly, Onii, you’re hopeless. Got bullied again, huh? You can’t do anything without me around.”

He could still see his younger self, sitting by the fence with a band-aid on his head, pouting at her teasing.

Then there was her voice on exam days,

“Onii, you only scored this much? I got a perfect score again!”

She’d yank the test paper from under his arm, giggling as she pointed at the numbers.

“You’re so dumb, Onii. The teacher literally explained this in class! Here, I’ll show you how to solve it properly.”

He’d stare in confusion, chewing his pencil, while the girl, a year younger than him patiently walked him through each step.

How lucky had he been to meet someone like her,  someone so brilliant, so far beyond his reach?

Even his grandmother used to warn him:

“Kaoru, that girl’s not from our world. Don’t fall for her, alright…?”

“She’s a good child, but you’d best keep your distance from now on.”

He hadn’t understood those words then, thought they were just the ramblings of an old woman.

But as he grew older, he began to understand what she meant.

That “Shihou” name carried a weight.

A difference in worlds that could never be crossed.

He, Sato Kaoru, would never be worthy of her, Shihou Chouko.

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