The Harem protagonistâs childhood friend likes to talk.

âWell, itâs getting late. â¦â¦ Thank you so much for waking me up. I tend to sleep too much at school. ⦠I mean, itâs boring, isnât it?ãThereâs nothing to do but sleep. But at home, I stay up late, you know? I enjoy a lot of TV, anime, online games, and so on.â

Shiho Shimotsuki, whom I had thought to be a quiet person, was very talkative and told me many things even though I hadnât asked her.

âBut if I come home late, my mom and dad will be worried. I know Iâm already in high school, so I donât think a 6 p.m. curfew is a very acceptable time for me. â¦â¦ I wish theyâd leave me to my own devices. Donât you think so?â

âHuh? Yeah, yeah. â¦â¦ Yeah, maybe.â

In the classroom after school, a beautiful white-haired girl is looking at me, smiling and laughing. I felt as if I was dreaming.

âOh, you never told me why. Hey, why are you surprised? Did I do something to surprise you? If so, I would like to apologize, but it would be strange to apologize without knowing the reason.

âYes, thereâs no need to apologize, but â¦â¦ youâre always so quiet, I didnât expect you to talk so much.â

I told her how I honestly felt.

But sheâs flabbergasted.

ââ¦â¦ Quiet?â

Her face looked like she was asking, âHow do you know I donât talk much?â. So I continued my explanation

âWell, Iâm your classmate, so I see you every once in a while. â¦â¦ Most of the time, youâre asleep, and when you do talk, itâs just one word, so I assumed you didnât talk much. â¦â¦ I thought you were quiet.â

Maybe she doesnât know me.

She doesnât recognize me because Iâ m a mob character and Iâm always in a fog of people. So, I figured that she was confused by the fact that a complete stranger knew who she was, but that seemed to be only my negative thoughts.

â I know youâre my classmate, I know youâre number 25, Kotaro Nakayama, and I know that like me you donât have any friends and youâre always in a daze.â

âOh, really?â

I was surprised.

I was most surprised that such a cute girl knew such a simple guy like me. But she laughed good-naturedly and patted me on the chest.

âOh, are you making fun of me? Iâm not that stupid. â¦â¦  Iâm sorry! Iâve always wanted to try this. I donât have any friends, so Iâve been longing for this kind of playfulness.â

The poke on my chest made me a little nervous.

And more than anything, seeing that quiet, icy beauty smiling with a red face like a tomato made me feel embarrassed.

Shiho Shimotsuki was perhaps a little excited.

âItâs fun to chat with you like this. Today is a wonderful day. â¦â¦ I was sleeping and Nakayama-kun spoke to me. Iâm not very good at talking to people, so I waited for a long time, you know?â

âHuh?â¦..â

âHow about â¦â¦ Naka-chan then? Oh, no. She looks like an idol from a fleet game. Nakayama-kun doesnât look like an idol, so how about â¦â¦ Can I call you Happy Taro-kun? Hmm, that sounds like a snack of cabbage.

Iâve never seen a girl think of a nickname with such joy.

I also think Iâve never seen anyone talk so quickly at once.

I also thought it was quite rare for the conversation to go off on a tangent in so many different directions.

âIsnât Shimotsuki â¦â¦ supposed to be a quiet person?â

Back to the topic at hand. She knew me. If that was the case, why was she upset when I said she was quiet?

She gave me a better explanation than what I was looking for.

âIâm not a quiet person.ãIâm not a quiet person. â¦â¦ Well, I donât have any friends, so I just donât get a chance to talk to anyone. Iâm also a little shyâ¦â¦, but I love chatting with people like this. Itâs rude to call me a quiet .â

She poked me on my chest again. I think itâs a bit misdirected to call it joking around. â¦â¦ Itâs probably true that she didnât have any friends.

This girlâs talk was too one-sided.

She said so many things in rapid succession that I didnât have time to interrupt her.

If thatâs the case, why was she so quiet in front of â¦â¦ that guy?

âBut Ryuzaki talks to you a lot, why havenât you talked to him so far? Iâve watched you from time to time, but Iâve never seen you talking to Ryuzaki.â

I forcefully insert the topic into our conversation. I had to do that, otherwise I wouldnât have been able to end Shimotsukiâs speech.

And thatâs what Iâve always wanted to ask her.

â¦â¦ She told me why she was so talkative only in front of me.

âRyoma Ryuzakiâ¦â¦â¦â¦â

The moment I mentioned that name, the color disappeared from Shimotsukiâs face.

She reverted back to the transparent and cold girl that I always see, and said this in an emotionless voice.

âPlease donât tell anyone. â¦â¦ Iâm really not fond of that guy. He talks to me a lot, heâs been next to me since I was little, and heâs creepy.â

âEh !?â

The reason seemed to be simple.

The main character of the popular and harem protagonist, Ryuuzaki, probably liked his childhood friend, Shiho Shimotsuki, who hated â¦â¦ him.

âIâm not a fan of those who cheat on others. I like boys who are straightforward and honest. â¦â¦ I like boys who are naive, quiet, and kind enough to listen to me.â

Furthermore, he was messing up.

I see ⦠she hates people who unfaithful.

If so, it seems that Ryuzakiâs feelings will never be rewarded.