Hashima Itsuki dropped out of college during his first year so he didn’t have many acquaintances from those years. Now, he keeps contact with only one of them.

Her name is Shirakawa Miyako.

20 years old, in her 2nd year of college. Same age as Itsuki, she took the same undergraduate courses as Itsuki, a fellow cla.s.smate….or more accurately, former fellow cla.s.smate.

Indeed she is a city girl with a well refined character and leaning towards the cute side.

Her outstanding features includes Soft and wavy hair dyed a shade of light brown easy on the eyes. Though it looks like the dyed color that is quite popular these days, it is actually her natural hair color.

Because of her glamorous physical appearance, she was quite popular in middle school and high school, though she never had a boyfriend before.

The first time Itsuki had talked to her was around 1 month after school has started.

Everyone was excited about the new school year, forming personal circles, talking about parties, taking on new part time jobs, and making new friends. A few of them had even gotten together already and are dating regularly too. However, in the midst of all this commotion, there was always a single boy who sat alone.

During breaks, he was always in the corner of the last row, typing away on his laptop with a serious expression. Occasionally he would giggle by himself, softening his expression.

Even during lectures, he was on his computer typing away, but it"s obvious to everyone it does not have anything to do with the current lesson. Different expressions would appear on his face once in awhile, from happiness to anger to sadness. Then, after the cla.s.ses of the day are finished, he would go home immediately.

Miyako"s friends always makes side comments or jokes about how he is kind of "gross" or "dark" or how he has "no friends", but Miyako thought a bit differently. She can feel that he is holding something tightly inside, something that is more important than college lectures, playing with friends, or even romance.

For reasons unbeknownst to Miyako, she cannot pull herself away. Indeed, he has the "something" that she could not sense in anybody else. With these feelings, she made up her mind to go and inquire about what heーHashima Itsuki, was always up to.

"Kopufo-!? I, I have no idea what you"re talking about??"

Itsuki cried out, suspiciously trying to avoid the sudden questioning, however, Miyako did not let up and kept pressing the question. Before long, it was obvious he was writing a light novel.

"Light novel? Itsuki wants to be a light novel author?"

"A, about that....

Itsuki made a troubled expression and tried to prevaricate.

".....To say that I want to be.....it"s more like I already am."

Because Itsuki was using his real name to sign his works, Miyako quickly found the last copy of his book in the college cooperative a.s.sociation"s publishing corner and hastily bought it. To tell the truth though, she had no idea what was going on in the story.

The next day, she sat next to Itsuki during the lectures, "I read Itsuki-kun"s light novel but I don"t really get it." and confessed frankly.

".....fu, fuun-! The target audience of my light novels are not meant to be b.i.t.c.hes such as yourself!"

Miyako became annoyed.

Because of her appearance, she was used to jealous gossip ever since middle school, however, it was her first time being called a b.i.t.c.h.

"I, I am anything but a b.i.t.c.h! Or should I say, if that"s the case what kind of people are you targeting!? Why is it that the imouto can use her magic after you kiss her!?"

"Fuhaha! As I expected, it"s hard for a b.i.t.c.h to understand holy mythology!"

"Would you stop calling me a b.i.t.c.h?? I, I"ve only dated once beforeーAnyways, t, that kind of weird story, there is not a single soul in the world who would understand!"

"How regrettableー!! What you"ve just read was the 2nd volume of "GeneSister of the New World", the 1st volume of that book has more than 100000 copies~!"

"Eh, no way....that...?"

As Miyako let her tongue slip without thinking, Itsuki sensitively responded.

"W,what do you mean by "that"! 100000 copies sold...that is to say that 100000 people other than you understands my work! A work that so many understand yet you don"t get a single bit of it~ Even so, you don"t show any shame and even loudly proclaims otherwise, you"ve gone beyond laughable. Oh how I pity you! Being ashamed of one"s ignorance isn"t a bad thing, however, it is a sin if one refuses to face it and even outright denies it! For such a shameless b.i.t.c.h, it"ll be fine if you just dug a hole and hide in it!!!!"

Itsuki went on and on like surging wavesー

Pachin-!

She had slapped him without thinking.

"Wha.....wha....!?"

Tears fell from Miyako"s face as she glared at the dumbfounded Itsuki.

"Y, You didn"t have to go that far, baka! Uuuu~"

"Ah, eh, ah, that....ummm, anou, p, perhaps I did go a bit too far...recently The sh*t reviews on amazon are just as ferocious if not more than what I said before so

I kind of lost control a bit...ehtto...I"m...sorry...a, anyways, please stop crying, b.i.t.c.h!"

"So I said before I"m not a b.i.t.c.h! Also, I"m not crying!"

"No, no matter how you look at it"

"I"m not crying nor am I a b.i.t.c.h!"

"Eh, ah, ok...that"s how it is...you"re not crying nor are you a b.i.t.c.h."

"Exactly!!"

...And with that, the two turned bright red and hung their heads as they finally realized every single pair of eyes in the room were focused on themselves.

"....c.r.a.p, this is the worst....what if they think I"m a weird guy now?"

"...There"s no need to worry, they"ve thought that way for a long time now."

That was the first contact of the 2, and from then on, they continued communicating.

As soon as they saw each other, it"ll turn into the worst meeting, but Miyako"s curiosity conquers her bad impression of Itsuki.

No matter how much Itsuki tries to explain his love towards imoutos, Miyako simply didn"t understand one bit. Even so, the books and games that Itsuki had lent her were all pretty interesting, she enjoyed listening about his work and stories of the publishing office, she also offered advice on the fashion of the female characters in Itsuki"s novels.

This is why she was shocked when Itsuki suddenly declared he was dropping out after summer vacation and the start of the 2nd term.

The message displayed on her phone which she saw just coming out of the shower.

"I"ve stopped school."

......It really is just this.

3 measly words.

He never discussed it with his only friend in college, and he ended it all with only an after report of 3 measly words, it seems quite sad and also regretful.

Of Course, after she got dressed, she did not waste a moment and headed straight to the phone to question Itsuki.

“Fuhahaha! It’s to be expected that you wouldn"t realize that the likes of college is nothing but a waste of time for an aspiring author ranked top 10 in Original Content!"

Itsuki declared in his usual arrogant tone.

At heart, Itsuki really doesn"t care about college.

That is probably the reason why he only used 3 words to tell the news.

To Miyako, who would"ve taken matters such as this much more seriously, feelings of envy and admiration towards Itsuki, who readily decided without consulting anyone, made its way to the surface.

And then, the words "a waste of time" pierced her chest like a needle.

As tears fell steadily from her eyes for reasons unbeknowenst to her, she cheered him on by saying "Please do your utmost best without faltering!" with a pained voice and prompty hung up.

At the time, Miyako was convinced to stay by Itsuki"s side.

And perfectly inline with that promise, Miyako regularly visited Itsuki"s apartment after he dropped out.

Because his apartment is only 5 minutes from the University by foot, It was not a weird occurance for Miyako to kill time at his place....or how it"s supposed to be.

And so, Miyako came to visit today as always.

A few moments after ringing the chime, Miyako could hear the door being unlocked.

Miyako hurriedly bursted out the reason for her visit, which she had thought of before hand.

"I, Itsuki-, I had a bit if free time but the library is a bit too crowded, so I thought I"d drop by here to study for my examsー"

The one who stepped forward after opening the door was not Itsuki, but a pretty silver haired girl in her underwear.

"Na.....Na, Nayu....!?"

“Ah, good morning, Mya-san. If you"re looking for senpai, he is still asleep. …did keep at it until morning after all.”

Nayuta casually said with a sleepy expression towards Miyako, who had instantly turned red and was lost for words.

“Na, ya…!? I,is that….i, if so, sorry for intruding….!”

“Ah, please wait a moment, Mya-san, if you"re leaving then allow me to accompany you.”

Nayuta called out and stopped Miyako, who was in a hurry to leave.

After getting dressed, Nayuta joined Miyako and the two of them walked towards the station.

Even though it was winter, Miyako audaciously wore a revealing miniskirt. In stark contrast, Nayuta was wearing a full suit of armour, with the long coat and m.u.f.flers leaving no holes for the winter air to exploit.

Looking on at the round and fluffy Nayuta, Miyako couldn’t help but being reminded of her cat.

Almost right after they"ve first met, Nayuta has always been emotionally attached to Myaki.

Myaki as well, about Nayuta...no, even though she had changed quite a lot, Miyako still thought of her as a good kid.

“Actually, I have something to discuss with Miyaki.”

“Discuss…?”

Nayuta continued with a heavy expression.

“Indeed, recently, senpai hasnt done any ecchi things.”

“Ha-!?”

Miyako unintendedly raised her voiced.

“S,so it’s true that you two already share such relationship…? Eh…? But, haven’t done it recently, just now you said until morning…you guys had…”

“Even after I went to sleep, it seems like he kept working on his ma.n.u.script until morning.”

“That’s too misleading! Eh? B,but, you said ‘recently’... As I thought, the relationship between you guys…”

“From the day that we’ve met until now, senpai has not done a single indecent act towards me.”

“So I say that it"s misleading! You’re doing this on purpose aren"t you!?”

“Fufufu, this is the so-called descriptive trick.”

“Don’t use such a meaningless technique!”

Miyako rebuked Nayuta, but in actuality she felt relieved at heart.

“.......But, why were you in your underwear just now?”

“I wanted to cuddle naked with senpai, but the bell sounded at that moment and that was the only clothing i could put on in a short time.”

“That was close!”

Paying no mind to Miyako’s surprise, Nayuta continued as a matter of fact.

“See, isn’t Mya-san a b.i.t.c.h? Aren’t you thinking about how to get senpai to desire me?”

“Desire...isn’t that yourself..…Anyhow, I’m not a b.i.t.c.h!”

“Is that so? I’ve been hearing chatter everywhere about how college girls are all ochinchin eaters.”

“Both you and Itsuki...even narrow views has a limit…. ….Ah, well, there are those who play around a bit too much among my circle of friends as well but…”

“So Mya-san is a virgin?”

To the Nayuta who c.o.c.ked her head in puzzlement,

“O,of course not! It’s only natural for anyone my age to have some experience already!”

Though she had never even been on a date before, she fl.u.s.teredly tried to put on air.

“Haー, as expected, Mya-san is a mature woman.”

As Nayuta looked on with admirable eyes, Miyako could feel cold sweat surfacing.

“I also want to hurry up and do ecchi things with senpai to be like Mya-san.”

“So I say that’s a bit...anyways, that way to saying things suggest that Itsuki and I…..doesn’t it sound like ‘that’! Those kinds of things are Impossible!”

Miyako’s face turned bright red.

“....Geez, just where do you see good in that hopeless hentai siscon….”

“Everywhere. I like everything about senpai.”

Faced with such a sudden and definitive response, Miyako could not respond with even a single squeak.

Miyako was jealous of her ability to speak out so openly about who she liked without shame.

That is why she unconsciously said,

“....Ahh, I see…. Well, do your best, I’m supporting you.”

And then, Nayuta beamed a smile resembling those of a fairy.

“Thank you so much, Mya-san. Because I never had a single friend, I’m very happy that you were willing to be my friend.”

“I,is that so….well, I think it"s good that I became your friend as well…”

Though those words were not lies, Miyako can"t help but feel slightly guilty.

Miyako and Nayuta first met around half a year earlier.

It was during a usual visit to Itsuki’s apartment by Miyako, where she b.u.mped into Nayuta.

Nayuta had heard about her from Itsuki, who said she was merely a friend from college who occasionally reads his ma.n.u.scripts, but she didn’t think her appearance would be like that of a stereotypical ria-juu[1] ー”Because it’s senpai’s friend after all!”ー At first, Nayuta didn’t even bother to hide her hostilities.

Since Itsuki fell asleep shortly after they arrived, the two of them left together.

It was then that Nayuta went straight to the point.

“Shirakawa-san, do you like Itsuki?”

Not expecting such a sudden question, Miyako instinctively tried to gloss over the question.

“I, it’s not like that! We are merely friends!”

Nayuta let out a sigh of relief, and then gazed towards Miyako without anymore signs of hostility.

“By the way, I like senpai. He is my everything.”

Nayuta declared on top of previous clues to warn Miyako about extending towards Itsuki.

Towards the Miyako who inquired ‘Where do you see good in that baka siscon anyways?’, Nayua started to tell her about how Itsuki’s light novels saved and transformed her.

About how she suffered from severe bullying in middle school.

About how, in the depth of her despair, she discovered a ray of hope in the descriptive language of an award winning novel.

Nayuta used this opportunity to describe just how much her savior meant to her.

She was quite distressed when a potential rival came into the scene.

In the end, Miyako was fuming mad.

Her face contorted in anger as large tears fell from her eyes, pitying Nayuta and spouted curses towards her old peers.

“Ahhh mou! Why wasn"t I there back then! I would’ve socked every single one of them!”

Nayuta met the unexpected response with slight surprise, and subconsciously let out a grin.

Ahh, she is sincerely mad for my sake, sincerely crying for me. She’s a good person. I like her.

This is how Nayuta readily accepted Miyako.

It’s been half a year since then.

Nayuta has yet to discover Miyako’s feelings towards Itsuki.