She's the Cutest... But We're Just Friends! Volume 1 - ebook

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PROLOGUE

The high school Kai Nakamura enrolled in, Asagi High, was a private school that prided itself on its relaxed environment. Students were free to use not just their cell phones, but also their gaming consoles as long as they weren’t in class.

“Seriously?! We can play video games at school?!”

Kai, a hardcore otaku, didn’t have his hopes up for much when he heard this. But then—

After the entrance ceremony ended, it was time for Kai and the other new students to relocate to their respective classrooms and wait for their very first homeroom period to begin.

“Morning! I’m Jun Miyakawa.” The girl who took the seat next to Kai spoke to him, completely out of the blue.

“G-Good m-morning, I’m K-K-Kai Nakamura,” Kai said in a panic as he introduced himself back.

He wasn’t a bad communicator or anything. He could talk to girls just fine (although coming up with suave, engaging things to talk about was out of the question!). Nevertheless, it was painstakingly obvious why he behaved this way.

She was unbelievably hot. Something about her almond-shaped eyes gave her a mischievous air, making him profoundly aware of her cheerful charm. Only a girl who was not quite a child, but not quite an adult could project that. Her nose was well defined, and her lips were a soft, petal pink. Despite her natural makeup, she was so good-looking it wouldn’t have been strange at all to see her on the cover of a teen magazine.

Jun’s light-brown hair was tied back into a single ponytail, which cascaded onto her shoulders. She didn’t have a single split end. Her hair was so soft and shiny, it was almost like the spring sunlight was only shining into the classroom to add to her allure. Kai knew how much work it took to keep her hair in this condition because of all the whining his sister did about it at home.

The real pièce de résistance was her mind-blowingly incredible bust. It was so voluptuous that any boy his age would find his eyes glued to it.

“You can call me Jun! Nice to meet you, neighbor,” she said, pointing to herself with an absolutely stunning smile on her face.

That’s right, stunning. He didn’t get the sense that she was trying to butter him up as was typical of some girls. Such a breath of fresh air.

“Y-You can call me Kai, then,” he said.

“Will do, Kai!”

_Wow, she said my name!_ This surprised him a bit, knocking the air from his chest. Not that there was anything uncomfortable about it. On the contrary, he felt happy and flattered that a pretty girl would talk to him like they were good friends already. _I’m SO glad I came to this school_... __ he thought. His only motivation to apply was video games. Who knew he’d get to be desk neighbors with a girl as cute and friendly as Jun because of it?!

As he relished his stroke of good luck, Jun began to open her bookbag next to him. It was a very girly bag, covered in mascot character accessories. _I bet she’s going to pull makeup tools out of it,_ he figured, only to be surprised yet again.

Jun swiftly but triumphantly pulled out a Switch!

“I’ve been WAITING for this!” was all she said before excitedly and unabashedly starting to play.

_Huh? HUH?_ Kai couldn’t keep himself from ogling. Sure, girls who play video games really weren’t that rare nowadays. That said, did she _really_ bring video games with her to the first day of school? And start as soon as the entrance ceremony ended? Even though they had homeroom right after? That was _way_ too __ bold, even for a school that let students play video games!

She must have felt Kai’s gaze on her. “Curious?” Jun asked without looking up from her screen.

“Oh... U-Uh, yeah. What’re you playing?”

”_Breath of the Wild_!”

“Oh, _Zelda_? Nice!” Kai turned to the seat next to him and leaned forward. Now that he was closer, he tried to look at her screen. His interest as an otaku beat out any timidness he felt about scooting so close to a pretty girl he’d just met.

Everyone was still talking about the game even though it had been out for roughly a year. He wanted it too, but as someone who carefully managed his meager allowance, he’d ended up putting it on the backburner. There were too many video games, manga, and light novels he wanted.

Kai watched from the side, amused, as Jun happily chucked what looked like a bomb into a lake and caught the fish that floated to the surface (what an awful way to fish!).

“Wanna give it a try, Kai?” Jun asked.

“Mm... Thanks, but I’m good.”

“You sure? No need to be shy about it.”

“I’m not,” he responded. Something action-y like _Mario Kart_ or _Smash Bros._ with short rounds was one thing, but _BotW_ was the type of game you hunkered down to play. He didn’t want to just skim it. Kai wanted to save enjoying the game for when he eventually bought and played it himself, so he could relish the thrill on a deeper level!

...was the gist of what he started ranting and raving about. After unintentionally rattling off an otaku saga, Kai felt a twinge of regret. _That was probably a turn-off since we just met..._

But then Jun replied, “I get it! You’re right; you oughta be hands off. My bad!” She looked up from her game at him and giggled. Then she flashed another winning smile at him. Between admiring her attractiveness and being shook that a girl understood his diehard gamer attitude, Kai was frantic.

“Besides,” he stated, still all fired up. “I’m already covered.” Kai pulled his own Switch out of his bookbag.

“Haha ♪ Do you normally bring that with you to the first day of school?”

“Who says you’re talking to somebody ‘normal’?” he quipped back while booting up his Switch. Kai started playing _Monster Hunter_, thinking that for a moment there, they sort of felt like old friends.

Kai and Jun sat adjacent to each other, both engrossed in their games. As a result, neither of them realized: given the day and time they’d both started playing their games out of the blue, a small crowd had formed around the two of them. People gathered around with looks on their faces that said, “What are they doing...?”

Since Jun’s appearance made her especially stand out, plenty of guys and girls wanted to talk to her. The vibe made them hesitate about approaching her, however. The only people Kai and Jun spoke at ease with while playing, were each other. In a way, they’d essentially created their own little world. This quickly produced an atmosphere no one else felt they could set foot into.

An average Joe, a super-rad girl... From the outside, the two of them seemed to be from completely different worlds. But one hobby—video games—served as a go-between!

“Is that _Generations Ultimate_? You doing some Thunderlord hunting?” Jun asked while playing _BotW_.

“You can never have enough leg armor,” Kai replied while playing _MH_. He kept his mouth shut about wanting the armor because of the sexy design, for obvious reasons.

“Didn’t a new _MH_ game come out, though? Isn’t that one old?”

“I mean, yeah, they did release _World_,” he responded. _GU_ was just the only title he could play on the Switch, which was portable. He knew full well that he was playing an old series. “I’ll play _MHW_ when I get back home.”

“You have it?!” Jun asked excitedly, looking up from her screen again.

“Well, I saved up my allowance for it,” he replied. The PS4 itself was expensive. Plus, if anything, you could say that was the biggest reason why he put off buying _BotW_.

“That sounds awesome...” she sighed.

“You don’t... you don’t have it, Jun?” For a second he wasn’t sure whether to call her by name too, but in the end he opted to follow her lead.

Jun didn’t seem to notice Kai’s mild conflict over this, much less care. “There’ve been ALL these manga, CDs, lipsticks, and sandals I want coming out lately~”

“O-Oh yeah...?” he stammered. All the otaku girls he’d ever met were either the posh, _‘I read manga, but fashion is my top priority!’_ type, or the _‘I love anime! Fashion comes second!’_ type. This was the first time he’d ever met a girl like Jun, who didn’t seem to want to give up either. Or perhaps, it was his first time meeting a girl who was interested in a blood-tingling game like _MH_. He couldn’t help but grow even more interested in her.

Jun continued in a passionate tone, “Isn’t the gameplay also super different in _MHW_? As a longtime player, I’m kinda nervous that it won’t feel like previous entries, you know? So I kind of wanna just wait and see?”

He knew _exactly_ what she meant. That was actually the reason he waffled on buying it himself. Kai paused his game, turned towards Jun and emphatically said, “It’s faithful to the gameplay up to now, _and_ the new gameplay elements are interesting!” As both an _MH_ lover and someone who was always a bit ahead of the curve, he couldn’t stop himself from treading into new, joyous territory.

“That sounds nice~” Jun said, writhing out of what seemed to be sincere jealousy. Her huge boobs jiggled.

“...Wanna give it a try?”

“Yes!!!” she exclaimed immediately in response to his timidly posed question. Kai, emboldened by her behavior, resolved himself.

“A-Alright, wanna come over to my house?”

He asked out loud, his voice shaking but otherwise clear. Would it shock her, being so sudden? Or would she laugh and say that she’d never go over to the house of some guy she barely even knew? Would she coldly turn him down?

There was no need for him to worry.

“Sure!”

Because—sure enough—Jun flashed him a boyish grin, and answered without missing a single beat.

◇◆◇

“I didn’t think you’d actually come back then. For real,” Kai muttered, violently mashing his Joy-Con.

On the right side of the split screen, Kai’s player character Morton hugged the inside of the track in Bone-Dry Dunes with a Mushroom Dash.

“Yeah, it was a bit much for you to invite me over,” Jun said, pursing her lips in a cute way as she fought desperately with her own Joy-Con. The character she was controlling on the left side of the screen, Isabelle, left Morton (and the shortcut Kai had taken) in the dust.

It was after school. They were in Kai’s room on the second floor of his house. His nine-square-meter room was furnished with a study desk, bookshelf, and TV, among other things. Kai was the type of guy who only put up a single poster—his absolute favorite at the moment—despite how bare it looked. Right now it was a _Goblin Slayer_ poster drawn by Noboru Kannatsuki adorning his ceiling... depicting the four heroines from the book clad in bright bikinis. How naughty. He wanted anime figurines, but they were out of reach for a high schooler like himself.

Kai sat on his bed in his incredibly average otaku lair with a not-so-average hot girl, playing _Mario Kart_.

He and Jun played video games, took turns reading manga, and watched anime they’d DVRed until late at night. Sometimes they would bicker over having different favorite characters, but they had essentially the same taste in everything. Kai had never gotten along with someone this well before.

She was the very first female friend he’d ever had. No, she was his _best_ friend.

He’d leave it up to somebody else to decide whether or not this was normal! Either way, ever since then, Jun would go over to Kai’s place to hang out about five times a week.

You heard that right—ever since. A year had passed since he met Jun. The two of them advanced to their second year of high school and ended up in the same class yet again. Today was the first day of school.

“A lot’s happened this year, now that I think about it,” Kai commented.

“Nuh-uh! All we did was hang out every day.” So began their aimless conversation, as they played _MK_.

“You really wanted to play _W_ that bad back then, Jun?”

“Yeah, I did!” Jun replied.

“You weren’t scared of going over to the house of a guy you barely knew?”

“I figured your parents would be there, so I didn’t mind,” she shrugged.

“What would you have done if I was obviously living on my own in an apartment or something?” Kai asked her.

“I woulda made up an excuse in the doorway and turned right back around.”

“Makes sense.”

“I mean, I always have to be on guard looking like _this_. Y’know?” Jun said in a completely deadpan manner as she pressed the buttons on her Joy-Con.

“Says the person who’s right about to lose the lead to me and Morton!”

“I wasn’t talking about the game just now, though!” Jun cried. Kai looked at her from the corner of his eye and shot her a triumphant look. Then she continued, “Real high-and-mighty talk for a guy who’s been sneaking peeks at my bare legs!”

Jun’s teasing made him glare. It was no use, though. Jun was sitting cross-legged next to him on the bed. Sitting in that position meant she could focus on gaming, but... he _did_ have a full view of her bare legs because of how short her skirt was, not to mention some white fabric that should’ve stayed hidden saying hello.

“Hey, your panties are sticking out!”

“Got you now, Kai!” Jun couldn’t care less about the warning he’d given her. The game had her undivided attention. Her character Isabelle flipped Morton on his back and callously slid past the goal line. “Yaaay, I won! I won!” she cheered.

“That was DIRTY!!!”

“A win’s a win! That’s on YOU for being a dirty pervert and peeping at my panties!” Jun said, casually fixing her skirt. “Kai, you horndog!”

Despite flashing him an evil grin to tease him for his boyish innocence, Jun’s cheeks were a bit red. In other words, she was clearly hiding her embarrassment. _What about having your guard up now?_ Kai thought to himself.

In the beginning, Jun refrained from being on the bed, would sit properly with her legs out to the side, and was careful to move and position herself to keep her panties from showing. But within a month, she was comfortable being completely open and vulnerable in Kai’s room. He often ignored it because it was far more embarrassing for him to point it out each and every time!

“_Anyways_, let’s do another, Jun,” Kai gruffly proposed to diffuse the awkward vibe.

“I’m good. I already beat you at _MK_ anyway.”

“You just gonna quit while you’re ahead?!”

“Precisely,” she said.

“Oh, come on, beat me fair and square!”

“I wanna play _MHW_ instead since you brought it up! It’s been too long,” said Jun. Without bothering to get his approval, she assertively put her Joy-Con back on the Switch and turned the PS4 on.

“...Guess that leaves me no choice.” Kai reluctantly returned his Joy-Con to the console and started up a _different_ PS4.

Yup—can you believe it?

Jun brought her own TV and PS4 to play on once she started spending all her time in his room. She’d even hijacked the Wi-Fi and was connected to the internet. Kai’s already small room felt even more confined as a result... That was the reason why they had two PS4s in his room.

“So Jun, what’re we hunting for?” Kai asked her.

“Anything, as long as it's a Tempered Elder Dragon.”

“Ugh, collect the tracks on your own then...”

“Aw, don’t say that. Humor me~ Lemme see just how much of a breadwinner you can be~” She negotiated with him while waiting for the game to finish booting up. As she did, they both heard Kai’s mother’s voice from the first floor.

“Juuuun! Are you having dinner with us tonight?”

“Yes, pleeease! Thaaank you, Mother!” Jun shouted genially in response.

“Who are _you_ calling ‘Mother’...?” Normally she called her “ma’am.”

“What can I say, Kai? Every single time you call a woman ‘ma’am,’ they get another day older.”

“Ma’am, ma’am, ma’am.”

“Gimme my three days back!”

“‘Mother’ just sounds weird, though.”

“Alright, how about I call her ‘Noriko’?”

“STOP.” It just felt wrong for a friend his age to be calling his mom by her first name.

“It’s _fine_! It’s not like I’m gonna steal your mom, Kai. There, there,” Jun teased, giggling.

“I’m not worried about that. It just feels like you’ll actually be part of the family before long...” Kai said, being half truthful.

“That would be nice!” Jun chirped. “Wow, Noriko, you’re such a good cook~”

“Stop calling her ‘Noriko’...” Kai grumbled, his PS4 gamepad at the ready. The only drawback to this masterpiece of a console was that it took a while to start up. Eventually, it displayed the start screen on his TV.

Then, he and Jun were off to the New World to play.

This was Kai’s daily life with his female friend, Jun. He wished it could last forever. He never stopped wishing for that all throughout his high school career.

EPISODE 001: MY NAME, AND JUN’S REAL NAME, ARE BOTH RIDICULOUS

Kai and Jun were two otaku peas in a pod, with many of the same interests. They also had a few complexes in common.

Jun was the first to realize this. It happened a year ago on the day of the entrance ceremony. This is the story of the very first time Jun, enticed by _MHW_, came over to Kai’s house to hang out.

“I picked Asagi because I heard they didn’t care if you played video games or read manga at school,” said Jun.

“Me too, me too!”

They were on the way back to Kai’s house. Kai walked next to Jun, down a public road that ran through a residential area.

“At my middle school, they didn’t even let you bring your _cell phone_!”

“Same, same! Like, who even cares as long as you’re not using it in class?”

“Right?! It made it really hard to get in touch with my mom whenever something happened. It sucked,” said Jun.

“That’s so behind the times,” Kai agreed. “I remember being even more pissed when I read something online saying more and more schools are letting students have their phones on them.”

“On the other hand, isn’t it crazy that Asagi lets us bring our Switches to class too?”

“Yeah!”

“I didn’t fully believe it,” Jun elaborated. “I was like, _‘The teachers really won’t confiscate them? If they took my Switch, I’d straight-up die.’_”

“I feel that. I was honestly pretty nervous up until homeroom started.”

“I even nailed a sweet drift in Koopa Castle in front of the teacher, and they just let it slide!”

“I hunted two Rathalos in class, and they didn’t get mad!”

“It was freaking _awesome_! WAY more exciting than playing at home!!”

“I feel free... or should I say, _liberated_ as hell after being repressed all through middle school. I’m honestly impressed. Like, _‘Wow, is this what it’s like being in high school?’_ I feel like I’m one step closer to being an adult.”

“Exactly! That’s exactly it, Kai! You said it perfectly!”

“O-Oh yeah?” he asked.

Jun, deeply moved, suddenly grabbed Kai’s left arm and shook it like she was trying to yank his arm off. Even this mild bit of physical intimacy was a huge shock to an adolescent virgin like Kai. Not to mention just how gorgeous Jun was. _It almost looks like we’ve been walking arm in arm...!_ he thought to himself, heart pounding wildly. No one was there to burst his bubble and tell him, “No, not really.”

Afterwards, Jun composed herself and said, “But we should probably dial it back after tomorrow...”

“Yeah, I feel kinda bad...” Kai admitted. “Everyone was sorta put off by it.” If they kept that up tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, they’d end up isolated from the rest of their new class. They wouldn’t make any friends. _Definitely no bueno..._

He’d never been a loner by nature. He’d always had good friends, even before high school. Of course, he didn’t really feel the need to make a ton of friends in high school either. He wanted to be friends with people he got along with, people who shared his interests.

As those thoughts were running through his mind, Jun asked him, “But I _did_ make one friend right off the bat because of that, right?”

She said this while looking into his face, walking right beside him. A bit embarrassed, she tried to play it off with an impish grin and said it teasingly. But she was still holding onto Kai’s arm the entire time.

“W-Well, true that.” Kai was too embarrassed to come up with a slick response. He looked off in the other direction, but didn’t try to shake himself free from Jun’s tight grip.

Then, thanks to Jun, he was able to confidently announce to his family:

”I’m hoooome! I brought a _FRIEND_.”

He succeeded in scaring the crap out of his mother, who poked her head out of the kitchen and said, “WOW... you have a friend this cute?!”

_I’m more shocked than anybody here,_ he thought. He couldn’t help but find it a bit humorous.

◇◆◇

Kai had her wait a little bit while he cleaned up his mess, then invited her up to his room on the second floor. “Oh!” she exclaimed as she took a step inside.

This startled Kai. He _thought_ he’d hidden everything he didn’t want a girl to find. Did he miss something? “W-W-W-W-What’s up?” he asked suspiciously.

Jun then pointed up at the wall scroll on his ceiling and happily noted, “I’ve seen that anime too!”

_So she DIDN’T find the bad stuff..._ Kai heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he stared at the ceiling along with Jun. He had a _The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done!_ scroll up then, back when the anime had just finished airing.

“The art style is pretty different from the anime, though. Is this what it was based on?” she asked.

“Yup,” he nodded. “It was a bonus that came with volume 7.”

It was an illustration of all five girls drawn by the legendary Shirabi. Veeery moe. The age of every single one of the pajama-clad heroines was in the single digits... AKA loli characters. Others might worry about a girl seeing something like this, but Kai was already completely numb to it. He was an otaku.

Jun didn’t seem to think anything of it either. In fact, she agreed: “Cute!” She was an otaku too.

“By the way, which team are YOU on, Kai?”

“Which ‘team’?” he asked.

Her question made a bolt of lightning flash across the back of his mind. You’d think she was asking which character was his favorite, if she was looking at a picture of the five characters and asking a question. But Jun intentionally phrased it differently, hiding her actual intent. She was asking which of the double heroines named ‘Ai’ he liked better, which the author Shiro Shiratori created as foils: Ai Hinatsuru or Ai Yashajin!

Kai accurately grasped the finer points and context, and read between the lines of her question. “I’m Team Ten,” he answered confidently, referring to Ai Yashajin. This all happened in 0.8 seconds—lightning speed!

“I know, right?! I’m Team Ten too~”

“She has the most mature way of thinking even though she’s still just a kid. I thought the parts where _she’s_ the one nitpicking the master were especially interesting. I wanna wife her. She can be kind of hopeless, but it really gets me _right_ in the heart when she shows her weak side, like, clinging to Yaichi, I wanna wi—” As he gushed, overjoyed at having found a kindred spirit, he suddenly came back to his senses.

_Yeesh, I blurted out some really gross things just now, didn’t I?!_ His regret and anxiousness over saying something he shouldn’t have around a girl made his heart thump wildly in his chest. He broke out in a cold sweat. This was _not_ the time and place to be struck through the heart by Ten’s cuteness. However—

“I totally know what you mean! I just _can’t_ when she refuses to ask for help right away~ She only does that because deep down she’s just a girl who wants to be recognized by the one she loves, and it makes me SOOO weepy~” Jun beamed as she nerded out, not disgusted in the slightest.

He suddenly wanted to high-five her. With the care only a virgin would bother with, Kai gingerly gave her a high-five so he wouldn’t hurt a girl. Though they only touched for a split second, Jun’s palm was silky smooth. He stared at his palm and basked in the afterglow without a second thought.

Then, Jun drifted over to his bookshelf. “Do you mind if I take a look?” she asked.

“...Yeah, of course,” Kai consented with hesitation.

Most of his collection wasn’t embarrassing for her to see, but—in the very middle—sat _World’s End Harem_ and _How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King_, neither of which were 18+ but were _definitely_ erotic. He’d drop dead if a girl found them. His life would be OVER.

_Please don’t find them... !_ he prayed.

That very moment, he heard Jun let out a surprised “Ohhh!” and felt like his heart would leap out of his chest. “W-W-W-what’s up?” he asked yet again, in a very suspicious manner.

Jun pulled out one of the books in his collection and turned around to him. “You’ve got shoujo manga?! You like shoujo?!” she exclaimed, her eyes glimmering as she thrust a volume of _Our Precious Conversations_ at him.

_So she DIDN’T find_ World’s End Harem_..._ Kai heaved a sigh of relief. He then joined Jun in front of the bookshelf. “I’ve loved the author ever since _My Little Monster_,” he said.

“There’s going to be an MLM movie soon, right?!” Jun said excitedly. “I’ve been reading the original to prepare! Who’s your favorite character?!”

“Hm, I think Asako might be my favorite out of everyone in MLM,” Kai replied.

“Asako RULES! She’s super-duper pure and determined and she cares so much about her friends! It’s really noble of her to be so strong-willed _because_ of how badly she’s been hurt before! I wish I could be her friend! No, wait, I wish I could marry her!!” she rattled on before coming back down to earth. Then she suddenly looked away. “Yikes, I bet you thought I was being creepy just now,” she said, fidgeting uneasily.

“Noooo no no, I know what you mean! I TOTALLY get it! I love Sanae from _Scum’s Wish_ too, but Asako has a different charm of her own!” he reassured her.

His desperate appeal to let her know that she had nothing to be embarrassed about succeeded, and her face lit up again. “I mean, don’t you think it’s creepy for me to be reading shoujo manga even though I’m a dude?!” he asked.

“That doesn’t matter! If it’s good, then who cares!” Jun exclaimed.

The two of them high-fived again.

“I’ve only ever had guy friends, and none of them have ever wanted to talk with me about shoujo manga—”

“Me too! I’ve been so lonely!”

The two high-fived for a third time.

“Even though you’re a girl, Jun?!” he asked incredulously.

“My friends only read the mainstream stuff that gets made into movies,” said Jun. “I recommended the MLM author’s other manga and told them they were good, but all they said was, ‘Hmmm. Hmmm’! It _kills_ me!”

“It’d kill me too!” Even more high-fiving.

“Oh, and even when I _do_ talk to them about MLM, all they ever wanna do is talk about how cool the male characters are,” Jun continued. “They’re all like, ‘I wish I could get a hug from Haru!’ But when I say, ‘I wish I could smooch Asako,’ nobody gets it! They treat me like a huge weirdo! Same thing with every other manga!”

“Personally, I would LOVE to marry one of the female classmates from OPC—the girl with the long black hair! I wish she would look my way!”

“OH MY GOD! Kai, you understand!”

Kai and Jun went back and forth ecstatically, high-fiving one after another so many times that halfway through, they ended up just high-fiving multiple times in a row.

This was the first time they’d ever gotten this worked up over shoujo manga. It was a first for both of them.

_The world is so vast!_ Kai couldn’t help but think to himself.

Who knew he’d ever have this many interests in common with someone? Who knew he’d ever get along this well with someone? And not somebody of the same sex—someone of the _opposite_ sex!

And what a miracle that of all the people in the whole wide world, he’d crossed paths with Jun!

Kai was touched, deeply so. Surely, Jun felt the same.

◇◆◇

A short while after they’d calmed down, she and Kai remembered their original goal. They booted up the PS4 and prepared to play MHW. Jun tried to find somewhere appropriate to sit, when Kai suddenly realized: he didn’t even have any cushions to sit on in his room, much less a couch. The floor was bare wood—no carpet. “...I normally just use my bed as a couch,” he said, before sitting on the edge of the bed. “...So, uh, feel free.”

As you might expect, Jun was hesitant at first. She’d learned to oppose sitting on a guy’s bed. But in the end she ended up decisively plopping down right next to him, as was her nature.

On the other hand—far too late at this point—Kai was extremely flustered about having a girl sit on his bed. Much like her boobs, Jun’s butt was extraordinarily fine, perfectly shaped, and absolutely mesmerizing. And her butt was on his bed! ON HIS BED!

Jun had also shortened her skirt, meaning that her pale thighs were exposed and right next to Kai. It was far too great of a temptation for an adolescent boy like Kai. The way she kept unconsciously pulling down the hem of her skirt to keep her underwear from showing was also indescribably arousing. He fought back the urge to gulp.

_S-Speaking of which, I guess this is the first time I’ve ever invited a girl to my room, isn’t it..._

It had completely slipped his mind thanks to him and Jun jabbering away right from the get-go. The more he carefully considered it, though, the more he realized how absurd the entire situation was. He didn’t want to think about it any further. The more he thought about it, the more aware of it he became. He’d get nervous. Hurry up and start already, MH! Why’s it taking his PS4 so long to just boot up?!

Then—just as he was grappling with this internally—_it_ happened.

“_ASHIE_, I bought some cake! Would you and your friend like to have some?”

“JESUS, MOM, could you at least knock?!”

His heart nearly leapt out of his chest thanks to his mother, who had suddenly opened the door and popped her head in. Not that they were doing anything to be ashamed of. It was just... a bit of a surprise attack when he’d been sitting there wondering to himself, _Guess we ARE sitting pretty close... Is my mind in the gutter for even being aware of that?_

“I’ll have some cake later. We were right about to play a video game,” he told his mom.

“Oh, were you now?”

Kai stood up from the bed and shooed his displeased mother out of the room. He nearly returned to his original spot before realizing that this was the perfect opportunity to revisit how close he was sitting to Jun. _No no no. Now that we’re friends, trying to be modest about it would be even weirder!_

He eventually ended up sitting down at about the same distance from her, his heart racing all the while.

“_ASHIE_, is it true that you brought a super-cute friend over???”

“JESUS, SIS, could you at least knock?!”

His heart nearly exploded thanks to his older sister, who had suddenly opened the door and popped her head in. Not that he was doing anything to be ashamed of! Not at all!

“Man, she is a total cutie. Especially for somebody like _you_, Ashie!” his sister teased.

“SIS... She’s not an exhibit,” he said, annoyed. “Scram, we’re gonna play MH.”

“Yeesh, no need to get your panties in a wad. Trying to keep her all to yourself, you big studly man?”

“Yeah yeah yeah, that’s what I’m doing, keeping her to myself.” Kai stood up from the bed and shooed his displeased sister out of the room. He and his sister were about two years apart. While they didn’t have a bad sibling relationship, it wasn’t particularly great either.

He just realized: just as he was flustered about inviting a girl to his room for the very first time, his family was also over the moon. They couldn’t help but be curious about the female friend he brought over (and a hottie, to boot!).

“_ASHIE_, I picked up some sushi! Your friend can have some too, if she wants!”

“DAAAAD, I _told_ you you didn’t have to come home early from work!!!”

What was WITH his family?! He shooed his father out of the room too, and then sat down on the bed, completely fed up. Fortunately, Jun seemed to be enjoying it and was giggling, not bothered by it in the slightest.

“Sorry about all the big fuss...” he apologized.

“Not at all,” Jun replied. “Your family is pretty close, huh?”

“I’d really love to write ‘Good fences make good neighbors’ __ in my mom’s dictionary...”

“Also, I’d love some sushi.”

“Sure, go ahead and have some of that at least,” he said. “Go on, get your money’s worth.”

“Also, Kai?” Jun asked.

“What, Jun?”

“What do they mean by ‘Ashie’?”

Kai ignored her question.

“Isn’t that odd? How come they call you ‘Ashie’ when your name is Kai?” Jun was relentless in her cross-examination.

“AHHHHH, I can’t hear you!”

“Should I be calling you ‘Ashie’ too?” He covered his ears with his hands and pretended like he couldn’t hear her, but she wouldn’t let up.

_I didn’t want her to know, if I could manage it..._ He resolved himself and decided to come clean, bitter about his outspoken family.

“Do you know how to write my name?” Kai asked her. Since the entrance ceremony was today, she would’ve seen his name card on his desk along with the flowers if she’d been paying attention.

“Nakamura, right?”

“What about my first name?”

“It’s spelled with the character ‘_hai_’ meaning ‘ashes,’ but pronounced ‘Kai,’ right?” Jun responded. “Even _I_ know that spelling.”

“That was a lie.”

“Huh?”

“I introduced myself to you and during homeroom as ‘Kai Nakamura’, but I lied,” he said.

“Huh? Huh?”

“It’s actually pronounced differently.”

“Huh? Huh? Huh?” Jun was completely taken by surprise that he was lying about how to pronounce his name. It was impossible _not_ to be shocked by it, though.

Despite how incredibly befuddled she sounded, Kai didn’t notice. He continued on. “My name is pronounced ‘Ash,’” he confessed in a monotonous, matter-of-fact way.

For a moment, Jun couldn’t manage a reaction. “...What?”

“It’s pronounced ‘Ash’.”

“...”

“Yeah, I know it’s a weird name. A real bizarre name. Laugh if you want to.”

“But your mom and dad seemed like such squares...”

“They were pretty young though, right?” Kai pointed out. “They got married when they were students. Apparently they were a real _chuuni_ couple who aspired to be a manga artist and an LN author. They hooked up, got knocked up, and that’s what they named me,” he explained at length in desperation. (His sister’s name, by the way, was Serena as in ‘serenade.’ Cringy, right?) “That’s why my family calls me ‘Ashie.’”

Jun froze for a brief moment, perhaps in shock. Then, she pointed a trembling finger at him and asked, “So, ‘Ash Nakamura’?”

“...Go ahead and laugh.”

“Pfft—”

“WOW, you’re actually going to laugh?!”

“Laugh or don’t, which is it?!” Jun’s objection was valid, although he hoped she would’ve considered his fragile mental state!

“...Well, because of that, I’d appreciate it if you pretended like you didn’t know,” he told her. “Keep calling me ‘Kai,’ please.”

“Mm, you got it,” Jun agreed with relative ease. He figured she’d tease him a little more. “I’ll keep it a secret from the rest of the class too.”

“Thanks.” That was the end of _that_ conversation. Or at least, that’s what Kai thought when he thanked her. But then—

Her graceful, long eyelashes quivered with sorrow. “What’s wrong?” Kai pressed her, to show he’d listen if she had something important to say. Eventually, Jun steeled herself before bashfully confiding in him.

“...Do you know how to write _my_ name?”

“Huh. Well, uh...” He did remember it, because he saw it was spelled in an unusual way when he looked at the name card on her desk. Her name was written ‘Jun Miyakawa,’ with two kanji characters for her first name even though it was only one syllable.

“It’s written with the character ‘_jun_’ meaning ‘pure’ twice, which you combine into one syllable and just pronounce ‘Jun_,’_ right?” he offered. “Unusual, but sophisticated and stylish.”

“That was a lie.”

“Wha?”

“I introduced myself to everybody as Jun, but I lied,” she said.

“...Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“How is it actually pronounced?”

“‘Pure pure.’”

“....Wha?”

“It’s spelled like ‘Junjun,’ but pronounced ‘Purepure’!” Jun yelled desperately. _“Purepure... Purepure... Purepure...”_ echoed throughout the room.

Holding back the urge to burst into laughter, Kai pointed a trembling finger at her and asked, “So, ‘Purepure Miyakawa’?”

“Yeah, I know it’s a weird name. A real bizarre name.”

“Were your parents aspiring to be manga artists or LN authors too?”

“This otaku apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!”

“What do they call you at home? ‘Pupu’?” he inquired.

“I’d K-word my parents if they didn’t call me ‘Jun’.”

“Hey, ‘Pupu’ can be yummy, like pupu platter.”

“Did you say something, †Ash†?”

“I’m sorry, it was nothing!” he apologized, throwing himself on his hands and knees. After holding that position for a while, Jun burst into laughter.

“Pfft—”

Kai laughed too, still on his hands and knees. Once he started, neither of them could stop.

“Oh my god, this is crazy!”

“Ohhhh my god!”

“I can’t believe we both have freaking ridiculous names, too!”

“And what’s so funny about that?” asked Kai, despite finding the whole thing incredibly funny. Jun was in stitches too, kicking both legs around in laughter. Her soft-looking thighs jiggled healthily, evocatively before his very eyes. ANYWHO...

“Definitely keep it a secret from everybody else.”

“I’ll definitely keep it on the down low.”

And that’s how their relationship began, one year ago.

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