Kasumigaoka Utaha, are you even listening to me? Hey!"
"What is it, Sawamura-san?"
"You! I hate that attitude of yours the most. Where's the explanation I asked for?!"
"Explanation? All I know is, getting paired with you for the spring trip was a stroke of bad luck…"
"You think I wanted to be paired with someone from another grade?!" Eriri clenched her fists, fuming.
Utaha, by contrast, remained expressionless and looked like she had no intention of dealing with Eriri. "I've got things to do. Could you please not bother me, Sawamura-san?"
Just then, Utaha furrowed her brows slightly and turned to glance toward a certain direction with suspicion.
At the entrance of the restroom not far away stood a tall, overweight guy who radiated a gloomy aura—the classic fat loser.
Kitakami Yoru froze, then hurriedly averted his gaze.
He'd just been using the restroom when he heard a loud argument and came out to see what was going on. Out of curiosity, he stopped to watch.
"These two... they're Sawamura Spencer Eriri, from my grade, and the upperclassman Kasumigaoka Utaha, right?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Yoru slightly lifted his eyelids and snuck a glance out of the corner of his eye.
As expected, he hadn't mistaken them.
But Utaha had her back to him… so how did she suddenly turn around and lock eyes with him like she'd noticed his presence all along?
Yoru was a bit surprised and found himself slightly curious about the argument between Eriri and Utaha. But after Utaha spotted him, all he could think about was getting out of there as fast as possible. Getting close to girls always brought him trouble.
On the other side, Utaha saw Yoru and realized it was someone completely forgettable—a total non-entity—so she paid him no mind.
"You piss me off, you dumb woman…" Eriri exploded when Utaha ignored her and looked ready to throw a fit.
Clearly, she hadn't noticed Yoru yet.
"Still want to argue? Look over there." Utaha tilted her head slightly toward Yoru.
"What?" Eriri followed her gaze, and her aggressive demeanor instantly softened.
"Hmph, always pretending to be so innocent at school…" Utaha crossed her arms and scoffed coldly.
"What nonsense are you talking about...! You just wait!" Eriri, exposed by Utaha, tried to save face by shouting back.
"Enough already. Stop bothering me. Who Rinri-kun spends time with has nothing to do with you." Annoyed, Utaha turned and walked off.
Eriri wanted to chase after her but thought twice—someone else was watching.
To maintain her cool persona at school, she had no choice but to let it go.
Before leaving, she shot a disgusted glare at Yoru, her eyes full of contempt, like he was trash.
Totally unfiltered disdain—even her nose looked like it was pointing to the sky.
Just sitting quietly at home, and misfortune falls from the heavens.
Yoru was already used to this kind of thing. He felt nothing.
After all, he had always been a classic fat, unpopular loser.
Last year's checkup: 176 cm tall, almost 300 lbs.
He'd been isolated since elementary school, constantly picked on for being fat. No one wanted to play with him, and over time, he became reclusive.
Back in middle school, he shared the same route home as a girl. In a hurry, he accidentally bumped into her.
The next day, rumors spread that he was a pervert who had been stalking her and finally acted out.
Even when he tried to explain, no one believed him. It just made things worse.
He'd had a few incidents like that.
Sometimes even baseless, absurd rumors popped up that not even he understood.
Eventually, he learned to stay alone, avoiding social interaction—especially with girls.
Sighing, Yoru walked to the sink and splashed cold water on his face.
The face in the mirror was indeed chubby, gloomy, with hair covering his temples and brows.
But if you looked closely, his facial features weren't bad. His skin was even quite fair thanks to staying indoors. Just... too much fat on his face.
If he lost weight, it wouldn't be so bad.
Sadly, he inherited his dad's body type—gains weight just from drinking water. Losing weight was ten times harder than normal.
Staring at the mirror, Yoru pictured his father: slightly bald, dark circles, glasses, mildly obese—a middle-aged man bearing a 70% resemblance to him.
Kitakami Toyotani—his father, currently a mid-level manager at a venture capital firm.
He only ate lean meat and vegetables, did physical work, and still wasn't able to slim down.
Yoru didn't have even half his dad's self-discipline.
Even after suffering through extreme dieting and psychological stress to lose a few dozen pounds, one moment of weakness and it all bounced back.
Yoru had failed over and over again.
In the end, he gave up entirely.
"How did my super fat dad manage to marry someone like my mom?" Yoru gave a bitter smile in the mirror.
His mother, Kitakami Megumi, ran a flower shop.
Yoru had seen her youth photos—she was a true beauty, even more stunning than someone like Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Which always confused him. He hadn't seen photos of his dad when he was young, but he was certain—he was fat even back then.
So how did such a plain, chubby man win over a top-tier beauty?
It remained a mystery to him.
He probably hadn't had a normal conversation with a stranger in ten years.
He often muttered to himself.
As he pinched the fat on his cheeks, Yoru thought silently.
He'd fantasized too.
Just like those manga or light novel fat protagonists—after some major trauma, they commit to losing weight and eventually turn into ridiculously handsome guys.
But that was fiction.
Yoru knew better.
If he really did slim down, maybe he'd look average. Maybe with his mom's genes, slightly better than average.
But turning into a one-in-a-million handsome guy, making all the girls who once mocked him fall in love?
No way. That was a light novel protagonist's life, not his.
"How could I ever be that guy? I can't even lose weight..." Yoru shook his head. No point in dreaming.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.