Chapter 2: “A Sudden Love Letter “

──Late August.

The summer break that felt both long and short had finally come to an end.

That mysterious underclassman, Himesaki Nozomi, stopping me that day still remains a mystery.

On the first day back at school, I walked to class while gazing up at the cloudless summer sky, listening to the last shouts of the cicadas who’d made it through their grand finale.

The summer uniform I slipped into after so long somehow felt a bit small.

I’d thought the only part of my body that was growing was my lower half (if you catch my drift), but apparently the rest of me had developed too (if you catch my drift).

Well, can’t really blame it.

My summer break was a series of ballistic events—burying my face in Airi’s massive tits in the countryside, savoring Yuria’s cherries at the pool.

Plus, now that I’d agreed to become vice president, Rui had resumed supplying me with her selfies.

This is what you call a chain of perviness.

Do something good, and perviness comes back to you.

Kids, be good, ‘kay? It’s a promise with your friendly neighborhood pervy onii-san.

“Whoa, Ryouta-kun, what kinda face are you making on your way to school?”

“Oh, if it isn’t Tanaka.”

I snapped back to reality when Tanaka, appearing from around the corner, called out to me.

“Your upper lip was drooping waaay down. You were thinking about something dirty, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m running as usual for the second semester too.”

“Haah… If you keep thinking about indecent things all the time, you’re gonna get burned, you know.”

“It’s fine! I can balance both pervy stuff AND studying!”

“Saying that like some bonus manga from a correspondence course isn’t very convincing. Besides, I’m not talking about studying—”

“Mornin’, Ryoutaaa~!”

A voice calling my name came from behind us.

Oh, that voice…

With each step closer, the bounce of her chest and those massively swaying tits.

“M-Morning, Airi. Lively as always, I see.”

“Yep! Gotta stay energetic for the second semester!”

Miyama Airi, full of energy with tits to match.

“The second half of summer break was super busy with stuff so we couldn’t hang out much. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other like this~”

As she said that, Airi flashed a smile at me even more dazzling than the sun blazing in the summer sky.

C-Crap, Airi’s smile is so blinding that my eyes are naturally drifting downward…

“Oi, Ryouta, don’t look there.”

Just as I was about to gaze upon Airi’s explosive bust, Yuria, coming up from behind Airi, grabbed my chin.

“Wh-What the hell, Yuria, don’t get in my way!”

“I mean, it’s not really getting in the way. I just pointed out where a pervert’s eyes were going, so I’m technically in the right here.”

Yuria lightly stroked my chin with her fingertips before letting go.

The way she touched me… so damn sexy.

“Geez, Yuria! Why are you touching Ryouta’s face!”

“No reason. More importantly, you three, let’s get to school already.”

Yuria said, started walking ahead.

Yuria might think she’s acting aloof in front of everyone as usual, but grabbing someone’s chin like that is something you only do with someone you’re “in that kind of relationship” with…

“By the way, Tanaka-chan, Ryouta—did you see Rui-chan?”

“I saw Kuroki-san heading to school earlier. People were congratulating her on winning the nationals just for walking by, so she really stood out.”

Well, after putting on such an amazing show at Inter-High, that’s bound to happen to Rui.

“I see~ I wanna congratulate her too, so I’ll head to the classroom first! See you later!”

Airi took off ahead of us, her massive tits bouncing again.

“Hey, Airi! It’s dangerous to run with those—”

Yuria got pulled along and went with her.

Left behind, Tanaka and I decided to take our time.

“Haah… Going out of their way just to congratulate her, the normies sure are dazzling, aren’t they?”

“Stop making comments like you’re a total introvert.”

In the end, I walked the rest of the way to school with the damp and gloomy Tanaka.

☆☆

When I got to the classroom, our classmates had gathered around Rui’s desk.

Yuria and Airi seemed to have left their bags at their desks and stepped out, as they weren’t in the classroom.

A girl was sitting in my seat to the left of Rui’s, so I reluctantly waited by the sliding door.

“Good morning, Kuroki-san! The Inter-High was amazing!”

“Congrats on winning! I went to watch!”

“As expected of Kuroki-san! Perfect as always!”

The normie girls from our class were showering Rui with praise for her victory.

Nothing but generic comments—I doubted whether they’d actually watched Rui run.

What Rui showed that day was an intensity different from her usual impressiveness.

Normally, Rui handles everything with a bright, matter-of-fact ease, but back then she was the embodiment of “desperation” itself.

When the perfect beauty Kuroki Rui gets serious in a real competition, her expression becomes so full of emotion… I was so moved it left speechless.

That’s why I want to… support Rui’s perfection—

“Hellooo, Ryouta-kun?”

“Huh…”

While I was standing there in a daze by the sliding door, before I knew it, Rui was in front of me, calling out.

“What’re you doing standing there?”

“Oh, uh, your entourage took over my seat, and I thought it’d be rude to ask them to move.”

“I see… Sorry for making you wait, Ryouta-kun. But everyone’s gone now, so go ahead and sit?”

Rui said that and went back to her own seat.

“Y-Yeah…”

I answered with what sounded like a sigh.

The conversation felt somewhat awkward.

Ever since I told Rui myself that I wanted to become vice president after Inter-High, I somehow can’t talk to her the way I used to.

The prime example of that is the “photos” that Rui always sends me.

Before, whenever I saved those photos, I’d reply with a message of gratitude expressing how great the photo was in 100 characters or less. But lately, it somehow feels embarrassing to send that, so I’ve just been replying with a “thanks” sticker.

Why I can’t send those cringey otaku-like replies to Rui anymore, why I feel embarrassed—I don’t understand the reason…

This must be similar to the distance between a couple after they’ve done the deed for the first time (says the virgin).

But well, Rui’s probably relieved that my super cringe replies stopped coming, so it’s probably fine…

“Hey, Ryouta-kun.”

“Hm? What is it, Rui?”

“Lately… you know.”

Rui, who’d spoken to me from my right, suddenly narrowed her eyes and glanced over.

“You haven’t been writing reviews of my selfies, have you?”

“Uh…”

S-So she noticed it too!

“I’d been looking forward to them, y’know~”

“Huh? Looking forward to? Those?”

“Yeah. ‘Cause I… want to know more about where you’re staring at intently and getting turned on, Ryouta-kun.”

“…!”

“I wanna know what you like besides my belly button, y’know~”

T-To think Rui wanted my reviews… th-that’s too sexy!! No wait, that’s not the point! Don’t get distracted. This is one of Rui’s verbal attacks.

She’s always messing with my heart like this… but damn, that’s exactly what I like.

“Got it. From now on, I’ll reply properly like usual instead of only sending stickers.”

“Hehe… Ryouta-kun, you’ve become quite the good boy since Inter-High, haven’t you?”

“Good boy? What do you mean?”

“I mean, the old Ryouta-kun would’ve said something like, ‘Then I’ll announce all your sexy parts in front of everyone right now!'”

“A-As if I’d say that! What the hell do you think I am—”

“A pervert, maybe?”

“Uh… yeah, okay.”

A direct hit of logic.

I really couldn’t argue with that one.

While I was talking to Rui in the classroom, Airi and Yuria, who’d left despite arriving earlier, came back.

“Ryouta, you finally made it~”

“You’re late, Ryouta. Don’t tell me you were fooling around with Tanaka on the way here?”

“N-No! Tanaka was just walking slow, that’s all—”

“Ryouta’s blaming Tanaka-chan again~”

“It’s the truth!”

Airi and Yuria started teasing me, so I shifted all the blame onto Tanaka.

Actually, Tanaka always walks in tiny steps, so matching her pace is a pain.

And if I don’t match her and walk ahead, she says, “Guys like that aren’t popular!” But if I do match her pace, she goes, “Ryouta-kun… that’s exactly what’s wrong with you, sheesh” and looks away.

Either way, it’s annoying as hell.

That’s why Tanaka is Tanaka (business as usual).

“So where were you two just now?”

“Hm? We were—”

“Wait, Airi!”

“Hm?”

When Airi was about to say something, Yuria suddenly covered her mouth.

What’s going on? Is it something they can’t tell me?

Could it be… yuri!

“Ryouta, you’re thinking about something stupid again, aren’t you?”

“I-I am! Got a problem with that!”

“Don’t get defensive about it.”

While imagining massive tits and thick thighs overlapping in my mind, Yuria caught on.

“Anyway, Rui-chan! You don’t have track practice today, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right… How’d you know, Airi?”

“I asked someone from the track team! So, if you’re free, wanna go to karaoke together after school?”

“Of course. Then, let’s do karaoke after school, the four of us”

“Yay! I’m so happy I get to hang out with Rui-chan after so long~”

Airi bounced her explosive bust even more vigorously than usual, showing her joy.

If Airi’s chest is bouncing this much, she must really be happy to hang out with Rui.

…Hm?

Wait a second.

Just now, Rui said “the four of us”…

“Huh! I-I’m going to karaoke too?”

“Of course! I wanna hang out with everyone after so long!”

“O-Oh…”

Karaoke, huh… If it were just me and Tanaka, it’d be easy in a way, but with these three… huh.

But Airi’s in such high spirits, and if I complained and turned them down, I might kill the mood here.

“A-Alright. I’ll go too.”

“Yay! Then karaoke with everyone! I’m so looking forward to after school!”

Airi said happily.

After a summer break packed with perviness, I’ve become an adult (if you catch my drift).

In other words, I can now read the room like the normies do.

This is definitely growth from experiencing pervy things.

Not everyone who does pervy things is rewarded, but all successful people have done pervy things.

Having experienced Airi’s explosive-tit dive, Yuria’s bare breasts, and the thick-thigh sandwich, I’m invincible now.

“Oh, morning HR’s about to—wait, Ryouta, what’s with that face? It’s creepy.”

While I was grinning creepily to myself, Yuria muttered that I was gross.

“Oh, sorry. A hottie like me can read the room too well, so everything’s just hitting capacity.”

“Ugh, you’re creepily full of yourself. Also, getting this cocky just ’cause we’re going to karaoke? And if you’re gonna read the room, anime songs are banned too—you gonna be okay?”

“…Huh?”

When Yuria said that, my expression immediately clouded over.

W-Wait, I can’t sing anything but anime songs. And they’re all moe songs from Kirara-type shows.

[Note: “Kirara” refers to Manga Time Kirara, a family of Japanese manga magazines known for publishing cute, slice‑of‑life series — often schoolgirl comedies with a light, moe tone]

“D-Don’t tell me, Ryouta… you can only do anime songs…”

I was reminded that no matter how much pervy stuff I experience, an introverted otaku is still an introverted otaku.

☆☆

──After school.

Since I don’t know any normie songs, it was pretty much confirmed I’d be stuck with maracas and tambourines, so I headed to the shoe lockers at the entrance with slumped shoulders.

“C’mon, Ryouta~ hurry up~!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Unlike the three girls in high spirits walking ahead, my feet felt heavy… hm?

Just as I was about to take my shoes out of the locker.

“Wh-What’s this?”

There was a letter placed on top of my shoes.

A pure white envelope, sealed with a musical note sticker.

“Hmm? This is… could it be! A love letter?”

“Geeeez! Ryouta~!”

“Oh, r-right! Coming!”

Urged on by Airi, I quickly put on my shoes.

A love letter, as if.

There’s no way someone like me, an introvert, would get a love letter.

Having become an adult through perviness, I’ve already graduated from delusional introvert thinking!

Well, pervy stuff aside, I’m about to hang out with those three, so I’ll save the letter for when I get home.

I moved to the karaoke place with the beauty trio, feeling restless the whole time.

☆☆

After arriving at karaoke, things got hectic.

I’d thought I could just bang on a tambourine or something, but the overly hyped Airi dragged me into duet after duet, forcing me to sing tons of songs I didn’t know.

After about two hours of excitement, we finally headed home.

“Ehehe~ Singing with Ryouta today was so fun~”

“I mean, my throat’s totally wrecked now…”

“But Ryouta, you were amazing. Even songs you heard just once right before singing with Airi, you could sing perfectly right away. I thought you were just a pervert, but turns out you had that kind of talent.”

“Right, right~! Ryouta’s amazing~!”

“R-Really?”

Praised by Yuria and Airi, I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“I mean, I fall asleep listening to ear-licking ASMR streams all the time, so maybe that trained my ears?”

“Ear-licking? What’s that, Ryouta?”

“Hm? Oh, ear-licking is—”

“Wait, Ryouta.”

A cold stare came from Yuria.

Oops… I almost went into detail about the (publicly) niche pleasures of us otaku.

“Yuria? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“A-Anyway, Airi! We need to turn right at this corner up ahead.”

“Oh, right! Okay, Ryouta, Rui-chan, see you tomorrow~”

With that, Airi waved her hand and those explosive tits in a big motion.

Maybe because I was staring at them, Yuria gave me an exasperated look as she left with Airi.

“…Just the two of us now, huh. Ryouta-kun.”

“Yeah.”

“Shall we walk home together?”

“S-Sure.”

And so, Rui and I, who live in the same direction, ended up walking home together.

I’d bumped into Rui on the way back from a date with Yuria before and we’d walked home together, but this is my first time walking home with Rui this late at night.

“Ryouta-kun, you really seemed to be enjoying karaoke, huh?”

“Y-You think? I felt like I couldn’t fit in and was just forcing myself to match Airi’s pace though.”

“You still looked like you were having fun though… Or maybe you enjoyed it because it was Airi?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Whether it’s Airi or not doesn’t matter.”

“But you sang with Airi so many times, and yet you wouldn’t duet with me.”

Rui narrowed her eyes as she said that, turning a sultry gaze my way.

C-Could it be that Rui… wanted to sing with me?

“You gave me such a passionate confession at the Inter-High… yet your love for me is only that much, huh, Ryouta-kun.”

“C-Confession! That wasn’t a confession! I just said I want to support you, Rui!”

“Hehe, you’re so earnest even though I’m just teasing you, Ryouta-kun.”

“Of course I am! That wasn’t… like that!”

It was purely out of a desire to support her if Rui becomes student council president.

“I mean, even if I did confess to you, you’d just laugh me off, right, Rui?”

“Hmm, who knows? I might actually think about it a little, but…”

“But?”

“If possible, I’d want you to right away… no, never mind. You seem like you’d cheat on me with other girls in a heartbeat, Ryouta-kun, so maybe I’d turn you down without even thinking about it?”

“H-Hey! What do you think I am!”

“A pervert?”

She’d said that this morning too, and with my track record, I really couldn’t argue.

Especially not with Rui, who’s always sending me those sexy selfies.

“More importantly, Ryouta-kun, there’s one more thing I want to ask you.”

“Ugh, fine. What is it now?”

“Before we left school, weren’t you standing in front of the shoe lockers for a bit?”

“Huh…”

I’d completely forgotten during karaoke, but come to think of it, there was that letter in my shoe locker…

I’d thought there’s no way someone like me would get a love letter, so it was probably hate mail (a chain letter or something) from fans of Rui, Airi, or Yuria…

Still, it’s impressive that Rui remembered something even I’d forgotten.

Should I tell Rui about it?

But… that might get complicated.

“I-It was nothing. I thought I saw a bug in my locker, but it turned out to just be dust.”

“…Hmmm.”

“Oh, isn’t your mansion coming up soon, Rui?”

“…Yeah. Well then… see you later, Ryouta-kun.”

Rui parted ways with me, though she still looked a bit suspicious with furrowed brows.

Knowing Rui and her sharp instincts, she’s probably still doubtful… but Rui aside, I need to open this letter when I get home.

☆☆

I hurried home to check the contents of the letter.

“Oho, Ryouta-kun, you’re finally home~”

When I entered my room, I put my bag on my desk.

I’d brushed off Rui about the letter, but… I need to confirm what it actually is.

“Oh, this isn’t trespassing, okay! I came today because your sister said she’d give me some clothes she doesn’t use anymore, but—”

Since there are fans of Rui, Yuria, and Airi all over the school, it’s only natural that I’d get some haters for being close to those three.

Are they challenging me to a duel or something?

“Hey, Ryouta-kun, why do you look so serious?”

But for hate mail, it had a pretty cute musical note sticker on it…

“Ugh! What is it! Don’t ignore me!”

“…Hm? Oh, Tanaka. How long have you been here?”

“Since the beginning! I even greeted you with my usual ‘oho’ voice, so give me a reaction!”

“You do that ‘oho’ thing on your own, y’know.”

When I kept ignoring Tanaka as usual, she puffed up her cheeks in anger.

“That aside, why have you been staring at your bag since you got home? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten so perverted that you’re even getting turned on by bags now, Ryouta-kun?”

“That’s not it! I don’t have that kind of abnormal fetish!”

“Then what’s going on?”

Well, what to do…

Should I tell Tanaka.

Sure, I brushed off Rui because telling her would definitely make things complicated… but Tanaka, well.

Considering she doesn’t have many friends, telling her shouldn’t cause any problems.

“Actually, I found this in my shoe locker.”

I took the letter out of my bag and handed it to Tanaka.

“Whoa! This, could it be a love let— No, there’s no way a mega-pervert introvert forever-virgin confirmed lonely-boy like you would get a love letter, Ryouta-kun! Sorry, sorry!”

“Don’t apologize after rattling off insults on your own! You’re the same, y’know!”

“D-Don’t lump me in with you! I’m super popular! Just the other day, the BL novel I wrote about brothers got twenty thousand bookmarks—”

“I don’t care about your dark history right now.”

“Dark!?”

I snatched the letter back from Tanaka.

“I’m gonna check what’s inside now.”

“Ch-Check? Huh, normally if you find a letter in your shoe locker, wouldn’t you read it on the spot?”

“But Airi and the others were rushing me to get to karaoke.”

“…Huh? Karaoke?”

Tanaka latched onto the word “karaoke,” her face twisting like she’d bitten into something bitter.

“Ryouta-kun, don’t tell me you were at karaoke having fun with the beauty trio just now?”

“Yeah, I went to karaoke.”

“Hey! Why didn’t you invite me! I’m part of that group too, you know!”

Tanaka started pummeling my stomach while half-crying.

S-So annoying…

True, I do feel bad for forgetting about Tanaka.

“T-Today was a celebration for Rui’s victory.”

“That’s all the more reason you should’ve invited me! Here I was, pathetically rummaging through every corner of your room all alone, and now I just feel stupid!”

“You… well, I’ll ask about that later. Right now, it’s this letter.”

Setting Tanaka’s weird behavior aside, I slowly peeled off the musical note sticker.

“Um, is it okay for me to look too? If there’s like a 0.00000000000000001% chance it’s a love letter, I’d feel bad…”

“You’re underestimating my popularity way too much… hm? Wait, Tanaka, this is—”

“Huh?”

The letter had just one line written in distinctly girly round handwriting.

‘I’ll be waiting on the rooftop tomorrow morning♡ Ryouta-senpai♡’

Just a single sentence.

And it was written in bright red ballpoint pen ink with girly round letters.

The ‘waiting♡’ with that bright red heart was stirring my still-virgin heart.

“R-Ryouta-kun! This is!”

“Yeah… no doubt about it. It’s a red love letter.”

“I don’t really get it, but I kinda do!! …No, that’s not the point! This really does have the vibe of a confession event!”

Tanaka, even more excited than me, shook my body hard.

“This is seriously amazing, Ryouta-kun! Getting a love letter despite being, well, you—I wouldn’t believe it even if it were written in one of those prophecy manga by that famous artist!”

“So me getting confessed to is as unlikely as a doomsday prophecy!? E-Even I get love letters sometimes! You making fun of me?”

“Obviously!”

“You are!?”

According to Tanaka, I’m still a virgin introvert in her eyes.

But too bad, Tanaka. This me right now has already touched bare breasts (massive tits) and bare thighs (thick thighs)—I’m a hero (alpha male).

Sure, I was a bit shaken at first, but I’m not fragile enough to panic over just a love letter.

But still… a summons from an underclassman, huh.

To be fair, the word “like” isn’t even written in the first place, so it feels premature to judge whether this is actually a love letter.

But writing in such cute handwriting with a heart mark and then calling me out for something that isn’t romantic? That seems unlikely.

“Hmm. But… something feels off to me, y’know~”

“Huh? Off? What, Tanaka? You’re still gonna nitpick at this point?”

“I’m not that petty! But something does feel off.”

Tanaka stroked her chin as she looked at the letter again.

“If this really is a love letter, isn’t there way too much… confidence?”

“Confidence?”

“Yeah. I mean, if you really liked Ryouta-kun and were calling him out to confess, you’d properly write out your feelings seriously, include your name, and then call him out—that’s basic courtesy.”

“T-True… just one sentence is a bit odd, but—”

“And there’s this weird confidence with the hearts and stuff. Plus the red pen color is kinda creepy!”

A love letter getting criticized by Tanaka, who’s probably never been in a relationship…

I wanted to point out that she’s probably never even written one, but that might seriously break her heart, so I held back.

“But yeah, I did think ‘for a love letter, this is…’ too.”

“…Well, anyway, you’ll just have to go tomorrow and find out.”

“Yeah.”

“By the way, I’ve got a summons from our homeroom teacher to the faculty room first thing tomorrow morning, so it’s a shame I can’t go rubberneck on the rooftop.”

“Don’t say it’s a shame! And don’t come anyway!”

Wait, summoned by the homeroom teacher… did she do something too?

And so, I nervously awaited the next day.