Too Many Losing Heroines! - Volume 1 - Chapter 3.3

The next morning, we gathered in a meeting room at the lodge.

“Uploading now.” The president tapped the enter key with dramatic flare. With that, chapter one of my story—Halfway Down Love Street—was out for all to read. “Ended up quite a bit different from what we talked about.”

Until recently, I’d planned on writing a slow-life isekai. Even I was still half surprised I had ended up making it a rom-com set in the real world.

“Inspiration just kinda struck,” I said. It wasn’t much. You could read the whole thing in less than three minutes. “I’ll slowly add to it over time, I think.”

“Good plan,” Prez said. “Oh, hey, you’ve already got a comment on yours, Yanami-san.”

“Oooh, really?” Yanami stopped munching on her melon bread long enough to lean in and get a look. Her lips curled up and eyes narrowed, darting to me. “Foundja, Nukumizu-kun.”

“Y-yeah. That’s me,” I admitted. Everything was all topsy-turvy. The author was supposed to get nervous about their readers, not the other way around.

“Hm. Thanks. By the way, what’re those ‘points’?”

“You get those anytime someone bookmarks or rates any of your work,” the president said, sucking on some fruit juice. “You’ve got two comments, actually.” He reached to take the mouse from Yanami.

“Th-that might be me.” Komari entered with just her gym clothes thrown on. An uncomfortable breeze ran through the room, but she didn’t seem to care. She came straight up to the president.

“Komari-chan,” he said. “Morning.”

“G-good morning. Did you g-get my story?” She bowed her head. “If you’ll…help me upload it. Please.”

Prez pulled the laptop back to him. “Sure. Yeah,” he replied, nodding a few times. “There it is. And that’s your title and blurb. All set.” He started to fill in the upload form, then paused. “As is?”

“As is, please.” Komari gulped. “I like my title. And I don’t want to split it up. I want that to be chapter one.”

There were no stops or stutters. She said what she meant to, and you could see it in her eyes. The president certainly did.

“Gotcha,” he said. “I think you’re right. People will appreciate it better this way.” He smiled at her, then faced the computer again. “It’s done. There it is.”

Komari squinted at the screen, saw her work, and smiled. “Th-thank you. I don’t really…get Narou. Could you maybe teach me about it sometime?”

“Absolutely.”

I didn’t recognize this Komari. The Komari I was familiar with usually had a scowl or scrunched nose. Maybe that was just me.

There was still one more loose end in the room. Tsukinoki-senpai sat at a different table, noticeably more quiet than usual.

Komari clenched her fists a few times before marching over and taking a seat across from her. “G-good morning, Senpai.”

“Good… Good morning, Komari-chan,” Senpai replied.

No one said anything for a few seconds. The silence was suffocating, until Komari finally broke it. “I-I want you to read my story.”

“Okay. I’ll be sure to comment.”

“Th-thanks…” Another awkward moment of nothing. “P-please be at the club tomorrow. It would feel…empty without you.” She hung her head. “Also, the student council lady is scary.”

Tsukinoki-senpai beamed. “Y-you got it, Komari-chan! I’ll be there! She won’t touch you while I’m around!” With the same explosive force that her smile had returned, tears began streaking down her cheeks. “Huh? Crap, sorry, I…I don’t mean to…”

Komari scurried next to her. “I-I’m okay, Senpai. Really.”

“I just… I don’t know what I was gonna do if you stopped coming.” She sniffed. “Thank you, Komari-chan. Thank you.”

Komari wrapped her arms around Senpai and held her for a long while.

Tsukinoki-senpai wiped her eyes, recomposing herself. “I ­always love reading your stories. I can’t wait to see this one.”

“Th-thank you. What about yours? Did you write anything?”

“Ah, well, the censors went a little crazy on mine. It’s barely a full page now.” She waved her phone around, still sniffling. “I’m offended someone would imply what I write is smut.”

Is it not? The numbers sure seemed to imply otherwise.

“L-let’s go sit with everyone else.”

“Yeah. We should.”

They came over hand-in-hand. The president had the biggest smile.

This was no happily-ever-after. Not for everyone. President Tamaki and Tsukinoki-senpai were together, but at the cost of rejecting Komari. That was just the truth of the matter. Things would have to change. Slowly but nonetheless surely, as relationships always did. Change was a fact of life. I’d simply managed to evade it for longer than most.

But it would catch up to me one day, if it hadn’t already. Here I was, after all. Caught in a web of ever-evolving people. I got a strange sense of wonder, seeing it unfold so up close.

A (slightly darker than usual) tawny hand slid a piece of paper to me. “Here, Nukkun. Can you put this on that what’s-it-called site for me?”

“What is this? You doing a picture journal?” I asked.

“Yup. I found some colored pencils in the lobby, so I figured why not.”

It was a drawing of the beach. I noted a somewhat Yakishio-esque figure holding hands with another figure on the ground.

“Is that me?”

Yakishio snickered. “Sure is, detective. That’s you right there.”

Out of context, I could see someone thinking she was dragging a corpse across the beach.

“Hey, I like that,” Prez interjected, peering over. “Can’t put this on Narou, though. That’s for text only.”

“Why don’t we make a club Twitter account and put it on there?” I proposed.

The president clapped. “That’s perfect. We actually already have one, just don’t use it for anything.”

Tsukinoki-senpai sniffled again and took the picture. “I saw a scanner in the office, I think. I’ll ask if we can borrow it. Come with me, Yakishio-chan.”

Off they went together.

I pulled up my post on my phone, just to see it. Strange feeling, having something you worked on out in the open like that.

“Whoa, I’ve already got a comment and a rating.”

Ever so trepidatiously, I took a look. The rating was the lowest possible and the comment read, “This guy’s a virgin.”

Well, that was just plain rude. Where was the block button again? But wait, how did they know I was a virgin?

“Komari,” I growled. “I know this was you.”

She curled her lips into a condescending smile. “K-keep posting, and maybe I’ll adjust it.”

“I will. You think I won’t, but I will.”