I was Rejected 10,000 times by My Childhood Friend, but After I Gave Up, I Suddenly Started Getting Popular? - Ch. 1 - Episode 1 p10

Avoiding the double-booking shenanigans?

“It’s been days since I’ve seen Ritsu-kun at our place, sitting at our table in the morning. I know it hasn’t been that long, but I’ve missed you so much! I’m really glad you came back to me!”

“I-I’ve come back…”

“Be more like a high school boy! Get your act together!”

“Y-Yes…”

I was having breakfast at Karen’s house.

By the way, this person who was so excited in the morning is Karen’s mother, Aki-san. Since Karen is a high school student, her mother should be quite old, but… Aki-san looked so young and beautiful that I couldn’t feel her age at all.

To be honest, there is even a theory that she is the main heroine of this story. (Not true.)

Karen’s father had already gone to work. This meant that only Aki-san was here with me.

“Here’s your coffee. I put my love into it!”

“I-I see… Thank you very much, Aki-san.”

“Ritsu, I’m basically your Okaa-san, so call me Okaa-san!”

“O-Oh, well… Aki-san.”

“Mou, you purposely want to punish me, don’t you?”

After a little bit, Aki-san said, “I’m off to work now,” and left the house.

I really thought that she is always busy. However, there was no doubt that she is ridiculously beautiful; it’s almost like she’s no longer a mother but an older sister. She might’ve been my first love, now that I think about it.

While pondering this, I took a sip of the coffee that was offered to me. Yes, coffee in the morning was exceptional.

And then I remembered that this was not the time to be calm like I was.

Come to think of it, I’ve been double booked. What should I do about it…?

“Well, since Lala was the one who asked me out first, it would probably be for the best if I said no to Karen.”

That was the conclusion I came to after a night of thinking. Well, I think this is the most reasonable. It’s funny because if I think “the first one to get it,” it’ll sound like two people are fighting over me. But, I’ll fulfill the promise that came first.

And so, I came to the conclusion that Lala should be the priority here.

Originally, I thought it would be a good idea to have Karen come along with me, isn’t it? But to be honest, I didn’t have any ulterior motives, but the thought of going to school in the morning with two beautiful girls who both represented their years would get me painful looks. It would be a heavy burden for me, who was just a petty and ordinary person.

Hence my conclusion.

“Fuah. Good morning, Ritsu.”

Karen came into the living room, yawning.

She was wearing her junior high school jersey.

…So she uses that as her sleepwear. Well, there are a lot of middle school jerseys, and I know that she wears them on a daily basis because, as I’ve said many times, they’re very useful… Are you even a high school girl?

I’m sure you’re going to wear something fancier, like loungewear. Fluffy ones.

But that’s just a high school boy’s fantasy, and the reality is this.

I just got hit by reality in the morning.

I’ll watch a little Pr*Cure to avoid reality.

“Good morning. You’re up late.”

“I can’t help it. I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.”

“…What’s troubling you?”

“…I don’t need you to pry into what I think about! That’s a maiden’s domain and you don’t want to step into it!”

“I see…”

As I feigned understanding, I found myself not understanding it at all.

It’s just a human reflex to do that. We can’t help it.

I sipped my coffee again and started the conversation I was about to have.

“Hey, Karen. About going to school today. ……”

“Oh, yeah. Is the usual time okay?　It’s 7:03 now, so let’s leave the house around… 8:00.”

Karen sat right in front of me and bit into her toast.

I was really worried about her sleeping habits that flew all over the place, but I decided that I had to put that aside for now and talk about it.

“Well, the thing is, I’ve been promising to go to school in the morning with my junior…”

“I see. Well, I’ll see you at… Eh? What now?”

As she popped a piece of toast into her mouth, she looked as if she wanted to say, “Eh?” Or rather, she’s saying it.

I say, “Finish your bite of that toast,” and re-explain it to her.

“No, actually, I promised to go to school with my junior… Well, I can’t go to school with you. Sorry!”

“…Is it a girl?”

“…Yeah, it’s a girl.”

“…”

What is with this awkward mood? It seems as if the boxer in front of me, Karen, who was probably a boxer champion in a previous life, is about to deliver a series of devastating punches.

What, are you going to open the gate to the demon world right now and let the demons come after me? I’m getting that vibe from her.

My scared expression caused the atmosphere to recede, and Karen repressed something. And so, we returned to a very realistic morning scene.

“T-That so. It’s no use if you have a prior promise. Okay.”

“…T-Thank you so much…”

She was awfully relenting…

However, I was not terribly surprised since I understood that now was different from before. I was rather grateful for that.

After that, the morning hours passed without any special mention…

“I’m going to go first.”

“Go ahead.”

I headed to the place where I was supposed to meet Lala, and was sent off by Karen, who was still in her junior high school jersey and had a bad habit of sleeping.

(TL: sorry boys been on the paradise noise grind lately also busy with summer programs)