Falling for you, 4πr² times.

I tried my hand at a Cobalt Bunko-style novel★
Delusions running wild!
(The motivation to polish that piece for the creative writing contest has already vanished)
(What even is a "synopsis"? So annoying)
(I'll do it eventually, though)

☆彡☆彡☆彡

Third grade music class.
The boy sitting behind me had such a scary scowl that I couldn't bring myself to turn around even once.
Recorders are still a trauma for me.
……Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.
Anyway, that is my first memory of Shinomori.

First year of junior high, at the "Youth Nature House" camp.
A boy from Class 1 asked if he could take a picture with Meg-chan.
Meg-chan made a slightly troubled face and said, "Hmm..."
Then she added, "It's okay if Yu-chan is in it too."

Huh?

Wait, no. Why me?
That's clearly the "designated edge-of-the-frame" role. The one meant to be cropped out later.
Plus, it's definitely the kind of situation where they compare face sizes.

No way. Absolutely not.

I flatly refused.
I feel like the boy from Class 1 held a bit of a grudge against me. Even though it was completely misplaced.
That is my second memory of Shinomori.

In the third year of junior high, we were put in the same class.

I live quietly at the bottom of the school caste system, so I tried to keep my presence as low as possible to avoid entering the field of vision of him, the leader of the delinquents.

One day, I messed up.

A joke I intended to throw at Miho-chan
somehow hit Shinomori directly.

I thought it was all over.

Shinomori looked blank for a second,
and then he laughed, clutching his stomach.

Oh.
So this is the face he makes when he laughs.

That is my third memory.

And now, the summer of our third year. There are so many memories of Shinomori that I don't even know which number this one is anymore.

"One, two!"
"One, zero. Yep, you're out."
"Damn it."

Behind me while I'm talking to Miho-chan, Shinomori and Okkun are playing that finger-guessing game again.

"Sekiya, you're too loud. Shut up. Just be quiet for a second."

Shinomori says.

Okkun pulls a 10-yen coin out of his pocket.
During break time, the two of them are always playing betting games.
The prize is a yakisoba pan from the kiosk.

"I'm not loud. I'm quiet."
"Then, can you stay silent for a whole day?"
"I can."
"Let's bet a thousand yen. If you can go all day without saying a word, Sekiya, I'll give you a thousand yen."
"What if I get called on during class?"
"That doesn't count."
"Okay."

The next day, I really didn't say a single word all day long.
I even managed my chats with the girls during break time through writing.

And then, after school.

(I! Did! Not! Speak!)
(One! Thousand! Yen!)

To me, gesturing wildly, Shinomori just declared:

"You were singing the school anthem, weren't you? I win. Hand over the thousand yen."

"That was just lip-syncing!"
"Yep, you just spoke. I win."
"What is that! That's cheating!"

From then on, I ignored Shinomori.
Shinomori also became blatantly grumpy and started ignoring me back.

One week.

"One, four!"
"What do you mean four? There's only three left."
I laugh.
"Ah."
Okkun makes an exaggerated "oops" face.
When betting 10 yen with girls, Okkun is naturally kind.

In the corner of my vision, I saw Shinomori heading my way.

I pretend not to notice.

Shinomori, his face twisted in a grumpy expression, approached, wound up, and threw something at me with a thud.

It hit me on the forehead, bounced off, and landed on the desk.

It was a thousand-yen bill, crumpled into a ball.

"What is your problem? Even when you're quiet, you're annoying."

Ah. As expected of the baseball team's ace.
His control is good.

Hiding the way my heart was pounding, I pushed the thousand-yen bill to the edge of the desk, saying, "I don't need this."

Shinomori shoved it back toward me.
I pushed it back.
He pushed it back again.

"If that's the case, I'll take it."

Ok-kun grabbed the thousand-yen bill as it went back and forth and pretended to put it in his pocket, so we both laughed really hard.

Autumn.
Pretending I wasn't particularly interested, I managed to find out which school Shinomori was applying to.
It was "H High School."

"H High."

You're kidding, right?
That's ridiculous.
Why is it the same as mine?
Our academic levels are way too different.

"I'm on a baseball scholarship," Shinomori said.
"The coach from H High came to my house. But he begged me, 'Please, just don't get a zero.'"
"That's terrible."

We laughed.

"I'll take you to Koshien."
"Who do you think you are, Tatchan?"

I was so happy, I laughed.

Before graduation, I gave Shinomori my autograph book.
He scribbled a short message on the spot and handed it back, saying, "Here."

"I love you, Yuko. You are my sun."

Ah, this guy, really.
At least write 'Yu' in kanji.

First year of high school. Spring.
Even though there are 11 classes, I ended up in the same one as Shinomori.
I don't know what religion it is, but I was so grateful to God I could have converted.
But Meg-chan was in the same class, too.
I decided I'd better stop believing in God after all.

Shinomori, who reeked of being a delinquent, stood out a bit in class.
But he was often with Takase-kun from the volleyball team.
A gentle guy who looked a little like Okkun.

When the girls in class asked me, "Who do you like?"
I made sure to answer, "Takase-kun."

Meg-chan just said, "Yeah, yeah."
"Shinomori's going to get mad, you know?"

"Shinomori is yours, Meg-chan."
When I laughed teasingly,
"What are you talking about?"
Meg-chan said, sounding genuinely annoyed.

It was time for the boys to run the 100-meter dash for the physical fitness test.

"I heard Takase-kun is super fast."
The girls were buzzing.
"Huh."
I gave a noncommittal response.

"Oh, next up is Takase-kun and Shinomori-kun."
The girls gathered around in a rush.

Just watch.

The whistle blows.

The two of them start at the same time.

See? Look.

Shinomori is pulling away.

Don't underestimate him.
He was the fastest in our middle school, both in short and long distances.

Whoa! Isn't Shinomori-kun amazing!?
He should be on the track team!
The times were announced, and the girls were in an uproar.

Did you see that?
I told you he's not just some delinquent.

I was called out by a girl I didn't know. She had dyed brown hair, which was against school rules. And lipstick. And pale skin.
Well, pale skin isn't against the rules.

"Are you going out with Shinomori-kun?"
"No, I'm not," I answered, for some reason using polite language.
"Oh, okay, then it's fine. Sorry about that."
She said, "Bye-bye," and left.

"That was a girl from the all-girls class, wasn't it?"
Meg-chan said.
"Yeah."

“The girls' class.”
Our school has an overwhelmingly high ratio of girls, and there is one class that is all girls.
During breaks, the girls from that class come to peek at the boys in our class and cheer for them. It’s a little scary.

She was scary, and she was beautiful.

I became a library committee member with Takase-kun.
We have to choose one book for the whole class to read.

We rummage through the pile of cardboard boxes we were instructed to choose from.

“Nobody’s going to read a novel, right?”
“True.”

“How about this one?”

What Takase-kun chose was a non-fiction book dealing with the sexuality of young people.

“It’s thin, too.”
“Nice. The boys will definitely read this. Great sense of choice.”

Alright, Takase-kun says as he picks up the cardboard box and stands up.

“Takase-kun, how tall are you?”
“181 cm.”
“I’m jealous.”

“Being too tall is inconvenient, too. I mean, sometimes I can’t even see you, Sekiya-san.”
“Shut up, lol.”

Takase-kun chuckles.

“I mean, if you’re serious about playing volleyball, 181 is actually small.”
“I see.”

“...Hey, why don’t you have a girlfriend, Takase-kun?”

Why, he mumbles.

“Why don’t you date Shinomori, Sekiya-san?”

“Haaah!? Stop it! Why would I date someone like Shinomori!”

“Hey,”
Takase-kun says.

“I’m pretty sure the whole class knows you like Shinomori.”

B-but, I've never told anyone that.

“If you space out, you'll get snatched up,”
Takase-kun says, and I think of that girl from the girls' class.

I handed out the books I brought back to everyone in the class.

Just as expected, the boys who confuse sex with erotica are making a fuss.

“Wait, come to think of it, Sekiya, Takase said you were good, right?”
Someone says.

“Takase doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?”

“Why don't you two just go out?”

The crude teasing began.

I'm fine with it.
No, I'm not really fine with it.
Takase-kun looks incredibly annoyed.

I feel sorry for him.

“Hey, cut it out...”

Just as he started to say that, arms were wrapped around my neck from behind.

“This is mine.”

It was Shinomori.

After saying just that, he immediately let go and walked out of the classroom.

“Ooh.”
Takase-kun was looking toward the hallway with the corner of his mouth turned up.

I can't lift my head.
My heart won't stop racing.

“‘This is mine.’”
“No, no, it’s ‘This is miiine.’”

Meg-chan and Takase-kun are fooling around.

“Seriously, stop it,”
I say, feeling weary.

“Why are you acting so cool? You know you were happy about it,”
Meg-chan says.

“You showed us what a man you are, Shinomori,”
Takase-kun adds.

“And then, you ran away,”
Meg-chan says, and they both laugh.

It was just a joke.
He doesn't like me at all.

I know.

Because I've been watching him for so, so long.

I just know.

“Shinomori has Meg-chan, doesn't he?”
“You really need to cut it out,”
Meg-chan glares at me.

Meg-chan doesn't understand.

Shinomori returned to the classroom.
Our eyes meet.

“Gross,”
I say, and

“What is?”
he plays dumb.

Acting so composed.

“Who belongs to whom?”

This guy.
He knows everything.
He's just having fun with it.
The worst.

—Because.

I'm not cute like Meg-chan.
I'm short and stubby,
I wear glasses,
I'm ugly,
and my face is big, too.

"So then,"
Shinomori says.

"Will you go out with me?"

Because I know.

"……Where to?"

That I'm not cute.

Shinomori gave a soft laugh.

"Which one of us is the creepy one?"

I started being avoided by Shinomori.
Or rather, yesterday, he clicked his tongue as we passed each other.

Ah, maybe since that time in middle school.
The "Seki-ya full-day silence challenge."

Back then, Shinomori came to me.
It's been two weeks now, though.
What are you doing?
Hurry up and throw a thousand-yen bill at me.

Two weeks and the second day after school.

Shinomori, with an expressionless face that made his emotions impossible to read, slung his enamel bag over his shoulder and left the classroom.

"I heard Shinomori went home with Yano-san yesterday?"
Meg-chan says.

"Yano-san?"

"You don't even have her on your radar? You're so relaxed. That girl from the girls' class."

――Are you going out with Shinomori-kun?
――Oh, I see, then it's fine.
――Bye-bye.

"They might even start dating like this.
I don't know what's so good about Shinomori. It's just his face, right?"

My vision blurs.

"No, I don't want to, why?"
"Don't want to? It's too late for that."
"I don't want to."

I don't want to.

I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to.

"Eh, Yu-chan?"

I don't know what kind of expression Meg-chan had on her face.

Before I knew it, I had started running.

Shinomori.
Shinomori.

I love the features of Shinomori's face.
I love his voice.
I love his height.
I love the way he runs.
I love his smile.

――I love every part of him that I can see.

Even though I hadn't looked at a single part of him that I couldn't see.

I run down the stairs.
I pass through the shoe lockers.

"Shinomori!"

He turns around, looking surprised, as he heads toward the clubhouse.

I had realized it a long time ago.

Ah, I've been had.

He has club activities again today.
He gets home at 11:00 PM every day.

There's no way he's walking home with Yano-san.

"Um..."

I hang my head, out of breath.

――What am I doing?

"What?"
Shinomori, with a sullen look on his face.

"I mean, you know..."

I look up.

"So, what if"

Ah. I ran so hard, my heart is about to burst.

"What would happen if we started dating?"

Shinomori looked blank for a moment,

and then, he laughed.

"We'd have an anniversary, wouldn't we?"

He was laughing, just like in the third memory.

The memory of him, which I don't even know how many hundreds it's been, is updated.

The end☆彡

I gave Yuko Sekiya a happy ending in a super sloppy way.
I'm going to make this a series!