Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Novel 1 Read online

  “Well, I get the feeling she suddenly separated from her friends like she had realized they were horrible people. She began acting rebellious and like she had lost her mind. There were some questions going around if she had multiple personalities. That’s how bad it is.”

  I feel like I’ve heard this before. Must be my imagination.

  “Well, if true, that would certainly be a surprise to everyone who knows her. But that’s just me thinking about it from a normal perspective.”

  “You… Thinking about it normally…? When a girl suddenly changes her character like that... Did you ever consider it might be chuunibyou?! To me there’s nothing better than a fair-skinned beautiful girl who constantly acts properly!”

  In the past two months I had forgotten that word, so hearing the phrase “chuunibyou” came as a shock to me. As we were talking about the information he gathered, it didn’t cross my mind.

  “…Chuunibyou, huh? Didn’t you say it was a rumor? You couldn’t possibly believe that, right? Besides, wasn’t the contest about good looks?”

  “You don’t think a cute girl like her could have chuunibyou, do you?”

  That shock would stay with me for at least a week. Instead of giving him a reply, I began sweating. This wasn’t the kind that happens in the humidity of June though, this was an oily sweat. Chuunibyou? Isn’t that supposed to be bad for you? Though I’ve had personal experience with the disease, I can’t say that I think it’s a bad thing. It’s not like someone’s come down with a quadrillion measles. Give them some time and they’ll get over it. Hell, just look at me.

  But how should I respond to him? If it was the old me, how would I respond? Don’t we mature as we get older? I’m different now. Should I condemn it immediately? I think that’s how it’s supposed to go.

  I don’t know if Takanashi is the type of person to come down with it, nor did I ever think I would come across a case of chuunibyou now. What misfortune!

  Or is it fortune? After all, she is cute.

  “So, just something I’m wondering about Takanashi-san, but in the rumors, did they ever say anything about her using magic or changing her body into a black cat…?”

  “I didn’t care to inquire. But is that new info?! Is it? Then is it chuunibyou after all! Hmm, those people can’t really use magic nor can they transform, but they pretend to have magic and super powers!”

  “Well, that was just something I was wondering about. But if it’s true, then wouldn’t that double a girl’s charm?!”

  “…”

  Sigh. At least reply with a joke or something. Personally, I think that would double her charms.

  “Just a joke, huh? Keep in mind that it’s still a rumor. We don’t know much about her. Why don’t we know more about her personality? Maybe we should keep that in mind.”

  “Who would have that information anyways?”

  “For anything relating girls I can easily ask the guys in our class or my upperclassmen in the disciplinary committee! There’s always news going around. But if we don’t know something about someone, or we want to know more, then we just get more info when their uniform stands out. They ‘disrupt’ the school, and we tag ‘em. It’s two birds with one stone.”

  That’s abusing your power! But I’m sure that all the guys would shift their attention to find out more about a girl we know little about. It’s something all men have in common.

  “So Togashi’s vote goes for Takanashi-san. Hehe, all that’s left is for me to vote and our class popularity contest is OVER!”

  Tell me. Have you seriously confronted all the guys in our class and collected their votes? That’s such a wonderful talent. I almost feel like I should watch and take notes. Thankfully that urge went away in seconds.

  “Incidentally, who did you pick? It’s not fair if you know mine and you don’t tell me yours.”

  “Hmm. I love all the girls in our class! Their cuteness is off the charts, right? Well, relative to the rest of the school. But the rest of the school has quite a few cuties too. Looks like our cuteness ratio might be higher than normal. The second and third years are also amazing. Especially that dance club. The only way you could describe their dancing is pure ecstasy! “

  His love goes over all boundaries.

  …Wait! He didn’t answer my question! Tell me! “So… You didn’t say which girl you think is cutest.”

  “I didn’t? Well, I really think all of them are cute. Well, she doesn’t show much popularity from the rest of the guys, but I love Megata-san. Why she’s not popular, I don’t know, but I choose her…. Or perhaps Nibutani-san.”

  “Hold on, the class rep?”

  If I recall, isn’t she called the class king by the guys? As for me, I’ve got nothing connected with her. Wait a minute; I don’t have any kind of relationship with any of the girls in our class. Outside of when I pass a handout to Tokise-san, I don’t talk to any of them.

  “Yep, our class rep, Nibutani-san! She certainly fits the definition of cute. She’s got my big point, morals, and her face is cute too. She’s tall and slender; perfect to be a model. Besides, I get the sense she’ll talk to anyone regardless of what they’re like. Being able to talk to anyone easily is something a class rep is supposed to do, right? She’s got the attitude to being a true leader; that’s why I think she’s so marvelous. I also think she’s got a little sadistic side to her as well. I think I’d be able to withstand that shift in character! Of course I could never say that to her!”

  That’s a huge shift from the shy person I talked about. Though, if I have to act as the straight man, I would comment that I’ve only seen her with many cute friends by her side. I think I’ll hold it in this time.

  “Hmm, I can see how she’d be on good terms with all the guys. I guess that’s why she’s popular.”

  “Ahhh, the class rep, no the class king, is amazing. I want to vote for her, but I’m going to wait a bit. Once I vote, it’s finished after all. I’ll look at everyone’s opinion and tally who’s the cutest girl. Wonderful! This contest is just wonderful! We’ll have to have a second contest soon! Once this is complete, I plan to give a handout announcing the results sometime later.”

  And as he said that, he tapped me on the shoulder.

  “Well, I’ll see you around at the usual arcade!”

  I turned my head as I started running. Before I knew it, I was at the branching roads on the way to my house. While I turned and saw him off, my legs had started heading home.

  “Wait? With thirteen guys in our class, and fourteen girls, how can he make a ranking?”

  That question just now came to mind.

  ◆◆◆

  It was about ten minutes before first period the next day. The bell had rung and it would be just a little while longer before our teacher showed up. As you’d expect, the classroom was quite busy. Inside that busyness, there I was in the middle of the classroom worrying over the conversation I had the previous day.

  Rikka Takanashi. The doll-like girl who sits in front of me. Her hair is dark black and short. From behind, it almost looks like glass.

  She still wears her blazer to school even though it’s gotten warmer. She merely takes it off and puts it on her chair revealing a blouse that highlights her arms. While I’m not an expert on fashion, her dark belt really accentuates the school’s plaid crimson skirts. It looks like that belt is gothic styled, but again, I’m not a fashion expert. Who would sell something like that, it looks so heavy! If you just take one look at all the crosses she has as accessories, you’d instantly think “goth”. And looking through the chair in front of me, I see black knee-highs on her thin legs. Yep, goth. I don’t know if she’s injured, but she’s wearing a bandage running from her left wrist until her elbow. In between parts of the wrapping, you can see her white skin. It’s almost kinky.

  But I’m concerned about perverts looking at something else. If you look closely, you can slightly see a black bra underneath her blouse. I fear how it’ll get their motors running.<
br />
  Summer is the best though…

  But enough of that, I think we can see that the inhabitant of the seat in front of me hasn’t changed, can’t we?

  In these past two months, I’ve been watching her from behind. During all this study time together (ONLY IN CLASS!) I’ve not seen any change in her. No strange voices, no weird walking, nothing. Then again, I’ve not even tried to talk to her once. She might turn out to be chatty, though, I really doubt that.

  And so I continue doubting myself. It… wouldn’t hurt to talk to her about this… right? Oh god, my head starts hurting even thinking about it.

  “OW!” As if God himself was punishing me for having all these perverted thoughts, I had a bag directly hit me in the face.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry! Did I hit you?”

  I looked up at the person walking by. It was our class rep Nibutani. Shinka Nibutani. I found out her given name yesterday during that conversation about popularity contests. It’s another name that leaves a very strong impression.

  Spontaneously, I lifted my gaze from her legs to her face. So tall! It’s definitely her defining feature. She’s easily the tallest girl in the class, though it’s hard to tell when they’re all sitting down. She’s either as tall as or slightly taller than I am. I felt like I lost a bit of pride.

  Unlike Takanashi, the girl in front of me wears a clean uniform with no accessories. Nothing stands out, though her skirt does look just a bit short with those legs. With her deep blue stockings, she’s the perfect image of an elegant class rep. The socks don’t match though.

  If I have to say she’s lacking something from the whole class rep image, it’s glasses. Glasses are a symbol of intelligence in a class rep, but this one doesn’t wear any. As for brains...I can’t tell just looking at her. But there’s no mistaking it; our rep definitely gives off that “class rep” image.

  “Ah, I’m alright.”

  “I’m so sorry. I was careless when I took off my bag.”

  “Don’t worry. I was distracted too, so it’s my fault for not noticing it.”

  “Is that so?” And then a smile rose on her face. A sadistic smile. She had turned evil right in front of me. That could just be my imagination though. Oh well.

  “Why were you distracted?”

  Huh? We’re still talking? This is surprising. I thought you would go to your seat once you said “Is that so?’

  “Eh... Ah...Well... Don’t we have math in first period today? Since we’re getting our tests back, I was worrying over what I would do if I got a bad grade.”

  “Oh… But you seem like the kind of person who wouldn’t worry over something like that. Guess you learn something every day.”

  “It’s not just that. I’m concerned they won’t be any different than what I did in middle school.”

  “So you’re worried you won’t do better huh? Well, this test was a bit more difficult than what we had in middle school. Did you study to the best of your abilities?”

  “Huh? Abilities? While I’d like to have some kind of cheating power, I didn’t use anything like that.”

  Nibutani paused, but here comes her ever present smile again. “Huh… Hahaha. It would be nice to have that kind of power, wouldn’t it? I didn’t think you’d say something like that. Oh well, class is about to start. See ya!”

  And with that Nibutani went to her seat. Well…how should I put this? Though this was the first time we had a conversation, I now understood what Isshiki said about her. His comments about a relaxing atmosphere and her sadistic smile were true. Plus her comment about me worrying over something was amazing. I’m not sure how I could bring that up in a conversation.

  Almost immediately after that conversation ended, the bell to start classes rang. At the same time, our teacher came in and started speaking at the podium in her loud voice.

  “All right, all right! Class, let’s start today by handing back your midterms. Oooh! Were your first exams in high school a little rough? Did you bit off a bit more than you could chew on the math exam?”

  Everyone began to shiver. Prior to class the room was energetic, but now everyone was deathly silent. That’s how strong our teacher is. She said everything with a bright smile on her face. While I thought our school was unique from the entrance ceremony, her introduction was just as unique. She yelled out “My motto is to make any time stress time!” and then put it to work.

  She usually wears a suit and she’s a bit smaller than the male students. I’m not sure who’s the more mature when you put the two together. Not only does Nanase Tsukumo serve as our homeroom teacher, she’s just as chipper as our math teacher today. Since she looks so young and is new, she’s very popular. Incidentally, the students tend to call her “Nana-chan.” I might have called her that once or twice.

  “EH! Stop it Nana-chan! I couldn’t bear to see my horrible grade!”

  “Don’t make us take extra lessons!”

  The guys behind me were already complaining.

  “Yes, yes, you don’t have to say it out loud! Remember, if you study hard, you’ll be fine! Today’s test may not have gone so well, but if you follow what I teach you, everything will be alright! It doesn’t matter if you have to take extra lessons, just do your best!”

  Cutting right to the chase aren’t you? Well, your math lessons are more challenging than the ones in middle school, but her teaching style is so good, I actually thought it was kinda easy.

  I told Nibutani differently, but I actually expected that I would get a pretty good grade on this test. Well, I just won’t tell her what I got if it was that good.

  “Let’s go! When I call your name come on up! Ootsu!”

  And so we’d go up to the podium when she called her name. The reactions varied between sadness and joy between all the students when they came back to their seats.

  Naturally I’d be next after Takanashi was called. I passed her on my way to Nana-chan and felt my stress levels rise. My high school life would never be the same after I get this test back.

  “!”

  Let me see that again. What the? Have I ever seen a grade like this before? No, I haven’t. Let’s see, my best grade so far was an 88 I got back in elementary school. But right beside my name was a 95 on this answer sheet. What a fantastic grade! I guess studying makes me cool as well!

  Since this sheet was obviously an extremely valuable object, I wanted to guard it as if it was passed down from a distant ancestor as I walked back to my seat. I turned around and…

  There stood a huge barrier in front of my seat. What… what is this? There was this weird aura that was preventing me from moving forward. This… This…

  I tried to bypass this barrier by turning my body and moving forward, but I ended up making a mistake. Perhaps it was caused by this aura, but I fell face first. I could hear a huge echo from all around the classroom.

  I caused a huge outburst. Crap! I didn’t mean to!

  I heard Nana-chan ask softly “Hey! You all right?” behind me. Due to how embarrassed I felt, I couldn’t answer her. My body wasn’t getting up that easily after that fall. It took all I had just to lift my head.

  And then I became a lucky pervert.

  In front of me, that big wall I mentioned earlier was Takanashi and her short skirt. Looking up, I had a premiere viewing spot for that triangular piece of fabric that all guys dream about.

  “Ah….”

  When I wasn’t looking, I had collided into Takanashi and fell down. So of course, the panties I’m looking at have to belong to Takanashi. Wait, this is bad!

  And while I’m apologizing to her mentally, Takanashi remained emotionless as she sat at her desk. Just a little while ago I was gazing at Takanashi. Hmm… I guess she really likes black, doesn’t she?

  Wait! Something’s off here. Don’t you get the feeling something’s out of the ordinary? Usually when this happens the girl is all “You… saw them?! DIE!” or “There’s no way I would show you my panties!” or “I’m not embarrassed you saw
my panties!” This is a big deviation from the script.

  And yet Takanashi didn’t respond at all. She’s emotionless.

  It’s such a mature response from her. If this had happened when I was in middle school, I’m sure I would have been flabbergasted and couldn’t say anything.

  But that huge barrier; could it be her isolating herself? It looks like she’s about to cry at any moment. Maybe she didn’t get a good grade on the midterm. While I can’t say it’d be due to friendship, it might be a good idea to stop celebrating so much about my grade.

  I can’t help but worry over something like that. Besides, I was isolated a while ago as well. Who knows, maybe if I walk over and ask “What did you get?” we might become friends. I should also apologize for getting a glimpse of her panties too. I’ve heard it’s quite embarrassing for girls when a guy sees their panties. Well, in games at least.

  With all these things to talk about, I could choose the best time to speak with her. I just hope that rumors don’t spread given my bad luck today.

  “Ah… Ooh…oh… my eye…”

  Suddenly, Takanashi began pressing against her right eye as if it was in a lot of pain. She laid on her desk.

  “Ah… Oooo… Ooo….It… it….”

  All of a sudden my head cleared and my body started moving on its own. I rushed over to her desk and asked “Are you… okay?” No response.

  You’d expect people around the class room would be chatting about what was going on, but this time everyone was in shock over what happened. Not a single voice could be heard. Were they concerned over my fall and Takanashi’s groans? Did they care if she was alright? Did the surprise render them speechless? Were they just mean people? Did Takanashi not have any close friends? I didn’t know anything.

  But for some reason no one said anything to her. I could feel the resentment in the air. Isn’t this strange? Shouldn’t you be worried that a classmate is in pain?

  Damn it to Hell.

  “Ms. Tsukumo, I’m taking her to the nurse’s office!”

  With only a “sorry about this” I picked Takanashi up and put her right arm over my shoulders.