It was the girl I had literally
fallen on. The girl whose chest had become my airbag this morning.
Now that I was seeing her clearly, With her arms crossed and that subtle "I'll destroy you later" stare, I wanted to climb out the window and restart the day.
"Ah, Mr. Souta," the teacher called from the front.
"Please take the open seat in front of Miss Yuki."
Miss Yuki.
Of course, her name was elegant.
"Shit... this is awkward," I whispered under my breath.
As I walked past her to my seat, Yuki didn't say a word.
But I could feel it,
That stare.
Sharp.
Focused.
Like she was mentally setting me on fire.
I sat down, hoping to disappear.
Didn't work.
From behind me, a voice leaned in, sweet and playful.
"I heard what you did~"
"You're such a rascal. Hehehe."
I froze.
My heart did a somersault.
And maybe, it shouldn't have gotten me this excited, but the way she giggled after?
Kinda made it sound… kinky.
Am I broken?
I might be broken.
"U-Uhm, I apologize again, Miss. Yuki!" I stammered, bowing my head with my hands together like I was about to be executed.
"That incident was entirely unplanned. A total fluke. An accident of gravity."
"Sure it was," someone else chimed in behind me.
"Probably did it on purpose."
"No way it wasn't."
"Call the cops."
"Guys, Please, he's clearly a pervert. Don't let his sad eyes fool you."
Oh god, They're talking about me.
I buried my face in my notebook, pretending to look busy.
Just let me survive today without another charge.
The morning dragged.
Yuki answered half the questions before the teacher finished asking them.
The soft-spoken girl next to her barely said a word.
The energetic one kept raising her hand too late.
And the red-haired one?
She looked like she knew every answer… but didn't say a damn thing.
Meanwhile, me? Yeah, I was just trying not to make eye contact with anyone who could press charges.
By lunchtime, the cafeteria was a warzone.
People shouting.
Tables packed.
Chopsticks clattering like a drumline. I found a solo seat near the back. Perfect for loners, introverts, and people recently accused of motorboating a classmate.
I sat down fast, just in case another social outcast was about to claim it.
The food was decent, yakisoba with just enough sauce to glue my dignity together.
That peace lasted about six bites.
"EXCUSE ME!"
I looked up, cheeks full of noodles.
It was Yuki.
She looked down at me like I'd just parked in her reserved space in hell.
"Finally," she huffed. "Are you deaf or just slow?"
Still chewing. Still dying inside.
"Uh… can I help you?"
"Yeah. Move."
"Huh?"
"This table. You're by yourself.
I have three other people. You see the problem?"
I looked around.
Sure, this table could maybe fit three people… if two sat on laps and one stood on the table. Salt packet dispenser.
"I don't think it'll fit everyone," I said, trying to be polite over the roar of human chaos.
"So move," she said, like a queen talking to a peasant.
"You're not really gonna sit here shoveling food while a lady has to stand, right?"
What is this, anime logic?
I sighed, already accepting defeat.
As I stood up, shoulders slumped, a hand grabbed mine from behind.
"Don't go!"
I turned. It was one of the other Girls, the bubbly one with bright eyes, blonde hair, and a purple pin in her hair.
"Let's all sit together!" she grinned, voice too sweet to fight. "More fun that way!"
She gave me a playful shove, not hard, but I stumbled anyway.
"No!" Yuki snapped. "Let him go. You never know what kind of person he really is."
"I mean… You didn't mean it, right?" the girl with the pin asked, tilting her head with pure, innocent eyes.
"Of course I didn't!" I panicked.
"It was gravity's fault! If I could just explain—there was a bag, and I
slipped, and-"
"Lie all you want," Yuki said, arms crossed. "We know you copped a feel on purpose, loser."
I'm gonna commit a crime. Against gravity.
"I-I think… we should believe him," a soft voice murmured.
I turned and saw the quieter blonde.
She barely met my eyes, twirling her hair and looking like she regretted saying anything
at all.
"My, my~" another voice joined in. Smooth, sultry, dangerously teasing.
"Sounds like All he got was a coping mechanism. Not even a proper feel. Poor boy."
The last girl stepped up behind Yuki. Red hair. Confident smile. Dangerous curves.
And a voice That felt like it came straight out of a "hot teacher" anime OVA.
Why is my heart doing the samba right now?
"Let's vote!" the redhead said cheerfully. "Who wants him to sit with us?"
Three hands went up instantly.
Yuki didn't.
"No! He's leaving," Yuki snapped. Shooing me away like a mosquito.
"Don't encourage him."
"Three against one~" the girl with the pin sang. "Majority wins!"
Still, I didn't want to push it.
"It's fine. There are four of you.
I'm just one guy. I'll find somewhere else," I said, forcing a smile.
The two blondes looked genuinely sad.
Even the Redhead frowned a little.
Yuki?
She smirked like she'd just won a petty war.
"Told you. He's leaving."
I turned to go.
But before I Could take a step, someone grabbed my wrist again.
The redhead.
"Hey," she said, voice softer now. "Since you're so nice… how about I give you a reward?"
My brain short-circuited.
OH GOD. I've seen this scene before. I know what happens next.
She leaned in, lips close to my ear.
"My name's Arisa," she whispered.
"The queen over there? That's Yuki."
"The sweet One with the pin is Nao."
"And the quiet one... that's Reina."
She winked, turned, and walked back to the table like nothing happened.
I stood there in a daze.
"...My prize was your name?" I muttered.
And honestly?
I wasn't even mad.
….
…..
....
Is what I would've said…
If I weren't sitting outside next to the trash bins.
Because apparently, being a "nice guy" doesn't get you anything but the stench of three-day-old yakisoba and half a plastic chair.
I gave up my seat like some selfless anime protagonist expecting karma to reward me with divine beauty and a warm table.
"Wrong," I muttered into my cold food.
Every decent seat was taken.
Except near the trash.
So there I was, eating like a peasant, watching the campus royalty laugh from their kingdom across the campus Courtyard.
I could've been sitting with them.
Yuki. Arisa. Nao. Reina.
Maybe even scored a phone number if the stars aligned.
Instead, I sat next to a bin and a crow that was eyeing my lunch like it wanted to fight me.
After I finished sulking and Slurping my dignity down with the last bite, I dragged myself toward the library.
Books. Manga. Light novels. The sacred salvation for the socially bankrupt.
And oh boy, bingo.
The new Mushoku Tensei volume.
Score.
I picked it up like it was treasure and scanned for a seat.
Only one left.
And wouldn't you know it?
They were there.
All four of them.
Yuki, in her throne-like aura.
Arisa, casually flipping pages of something far too smart for lunch hour.
Nao giggling at something on her phone.
And Reina looked like she hadn't blinked in ten minutes.
The only free chair?
Right next to Yuki.
I hesitated. Flashbacks hit like a shovel.
Still, I had to try. I couldn't let my trash-can lunch define me.
"Hey, mind if I—"
"Get lost."
"...Right."
Okay. Cool. No worries. Soul crushed. Moving on.
But then, Nao gasped like she Just found a lost puppy.
"OMG, it's Souta! Come sit with us!"
Her laugh bubbled out, bright, contagious. I found myself smiling before I even realized.
"Yeah, yeah," said the one With the red-framed glasses, voice teasing and smooth.
"We did kick you out last time. Consider this an apology."
"You're welcome to sit," the quiet girl added softly, "but... don't try anything."
"Oh, what the hell—of course not!" I laughed nervously. "Let's all just forget about that… tragic airbag moment."
I approached like I was entering a boss fight.
Yuki's eyes snapped to mine. The moment I stepped close, cold, calculating, like a sniper lining up a shot.
Arisa and the Yao noticed.
"You know what," Naol said quickly, "I'm switching seats. Sitting next to Yuki sounds fun today~!"
"Wow," Arisa added with an exaggerated blink. "Would you look at that? The seat beside me just opened up. What a strange, sudden coincidence."
I gave a polite bow and slid into the seat next to Arisa, careful not to breathe too loud.
Not that it helped.
She leaned in the moment I opened my book.
"Oooh~ Mushoku Tensei. I bet I can guess your favorite part
already."
Goddamn it, she's hot.
But maybe, just maybe, she was a fellow fan?
I took the risk.
"Honestly? The family arcs. Finding his parents again hit him hard. It's way deeper than people think."
She blinked once, slowly. Then smiled.
"Aww. That's cute."
Then smirked.
"I thought for sure you were gonna say the part where the heroine loses her virginity."
"...HUH?"
My brain stopped working.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." She said sweetly.
Then added: "...Mostly."
"That'd be really disturbing," I muttered. "They're literally kids."
Yuki, of course, chimed in from across the table.
"Probably right up your alley. "
"Hey! No, what, absolutely not!"
I turned to Arisa.
"Have you even read the series?"
She adjusted her glasses, smile unchanging.
"Nope. Never heard of it."
My soul withered on the spot.
There goes my one shot at bonding.