I was Rejected 10,000 times by My Childhood Friend, but After I Gave Up, I Suddenly Started Getting Popular? - Ch. 1 - Episode 1 p19

The Finale of Exams and the Onset of Summer Vacation

The time remaining before final exams flew by.

After a few mornings, the shouting competition between Karen and the others had calmed down somewhat. Now, they were mostly getting along peacefully. But, of course, there’s always at least one argument a day.

I really didn’t know if we were close or not.

Sometimes, they would try to one-up each other over matters related to me. I really didn’t get it, did I?

All in all, going to school in the morning is still quite the enigma.

Oh, and, the reaction of the passerby implied that they thought that Lala and Karen were going to school together and that I was following them, tailing them, and stalking them.

As a result, it seemed that people were whispering about me being over my head.

Though, I had acquired the skill of not caring about what other people think.

I really didn’t know whether to be overjoyed or saddened by my situation.

For example, it’s like gaining the world’s greatest agility after running away from monsters. Is this some kind of title?

Shirahata-san seems to be putting a lot of effort into studying for the test, as lately, she had been sending me a text message every night that read, [I’m definitely going to beat Momiji-san!!]

Your score won’t improve if you just tell me that.

And so the time passed.

The last boss before the summer break, the final exam, had arrived.

***

“You came in first again this time, right, Karen-chan? Congratulations!”

“Thank you! But this time it was a close call from second place.”

The final exam was over and the rankings were posted in the hallway, and the four of us—Karen, me, and the divine couple—were there to see them.

As was mentioned earlier, Karen was in first place again. Unfortunately, Shirahata-san came in second.

Incidentally, I came in 50th place, which was a pretty good showing by me. Though I employed an incredibly inefficient method, I managed to get a decent score by persevering through an all-nighter. But I didn’t want to do it again. I want to go to bed right now…

“You two at the top are amazing. I’ll have to work harder too.”

“No, wait, Keru, you’re in fifth place, which is a really good ranking. I’m so jealous of you.”

“But Otoha is fourth. I lost this time. That’s my girlfriend.”

“I got the score this time because Keru taught me how to do it. Thank you, Keru.”

“Hey!

The two of them are really stable, speaking couple-wise.

I wasn’t not sure why, but lately when I saw these two flirting, I thought, “Riajuu, go explooooode!!!!” 

Perhaps, it was thanks to the summer vacations being just around the corner, as even the divine couple was in high spirits. So much that I could feel the hotness in the air.

Well, if I was busy being jealous of these two, I wouldn’t be able to fall in love during my summer vacation. In any case, I hadn’t had any love encounters since I restarted.

At the very least, I didn’t want to have an empty summer vacation.

As I was thinking about this, Karen, who had been looking at the rankings, came over next to me.

“I didn’t know those two were so lovey-dovey. Well, it’s summer vacation now, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess so. The magic of summer is upon them.”

“Do… Does Ritsu have any plans for summer vacation?”

“Not really.”

“…Then, with me…”

Suddenly, Karen was interrupted.

A person stopped in front of us.

“Momiji-san. This time… I’ve lost… ngh…!”

The one who said this with a frustrated look on their face while gritting their teeth was, of course, Shirahata-san, the angelic beauty. She clenched her fists tightly and tried to retain her typical angelic smile.”

“Ah, you’re Shirahata Niinna, right? Second place this time.”

“Ngh…!!!”

The word “second place” seemed to be a critical strike to Shirahata-san.

Karen was just as competitive, though. The way she emphasized the “second place” made it just that much worse.

“But well, it was a close call this time. I could have lost.”

“Huh?”

Let’s not talk about the weird sound that came out of my mouth.

She’s kidding, right? That Karen… is being nice to Shirahata-san?

What kind of change happened in Karen? Did you take a potion that made you gentler?

“Well, let’s both do our best for the next test, the midterm, okay?”

“Y-Yes! I won’t lose next time!”

The two top two students in the grade shook hands in front of the ranking list.

Huh? Did they get closer without me knowing?

For some reason, when the people around saw the two of them together like this, they filled the area in front of the ranking list with applause.

W-What the hell is this?

Fiftieth place for my hard work, outshone.