Shimotsuki-san Likes the Mob

Seeing Kotaro Nakayama’s change, Kirari honestly yearned for him.

(I wanted to be like Ko-kun, too…)

She wanted to be rewarded. She wanted to be rewarded, not to have only a one-sided love.

She wanted to be recognized. She wanted to be praised for this love that she gave her all for him.

She wanted him to love her. Because she has fallen in love with him.

But the boy that Kirari fell in love with has never looked back.

No matter how hard she tries, Ryoma Ryuzaki does not respond to her.

Because of this, Kirari has become… unsure of herself.

(I wasn’t like this when I was in middle school.)

Lately, she had been reminiscing a lot about her middle school days.

At first, she was fine without friends. There was nothing to be afraid of as long as she was surrounded by her favorite stories.

But one day, after meeting … him, she began to think that it wasn’t so bad to be involved with other people.

(After meeting Ko-kun, … I became weak.)

Kotaro Nakayama was her first friend.

Because of him, she became interested in others.

Because of him, she began to feel lonely and alone.

It was then that she saw Ryoma Ryuzaki and fell madly in love with him.

She thought he was her destiny and started dreaming of being with this person all the time.

Thanks to that, she can’t go back now.

She cannot go back to that time when she was lonely but not in pain.

(I can’t go back to my middle school days anymore…)

She tried to go back.

She thought that if she could be friends with Kotaro Nakayama like she had been in junior high school, it would fill her loneliness.

But he wouldn’t allow her.

She hung on to him, but he didn’t support her.

In other words, this was the price to pay.

(When I abandoned myself, … Ko-kun disappeared along with me.)

Then there was only one way to go.

(In order for me to be me, I have no choice but to be loved by Ryu-kun.)

She was being pushed into a corner.

If she failed here, Kirari would finally deny herself.

If that happened, Kirari would finally become a being who could never become anything.

(That’s a “mob character.” …)

What Kirari wanted to be was a nice main heroine.

She was never a mob character who had no name.

She would never, ever admit to such a thing.

So she made up her mind.

(I’m going to confess … and Ryu-kun will love me for it!)

As soon as the festival is over.

She wants to express her feelings and be united with him. She wants him to love her. She wants him to praise her.

She wants him to accept her like this.

That’s what she thought.

“Mary. I like you… Will you go out with me?”

She had seen it.

She saw the moment when the person she liked made a confession.

Of course, it wasn’t her.

(Oh no…)

She was not even allowed to confess.

After the play was over, she had been chasing after Ryuzaki, looking for a chance to be alone with him, and at the back of the school building, where no one was around, she saw him make a confession.

And that other person was a girl who was not her.

(Oh no, that’s terrible.)

Despair. Hiding in the shadows, she crumpled to the ground and bit her lip.

She didn’t understand anymore.

(Who am I? Hey, if Ryu-kun doesn’t love me, what’s the point of me being me?)

Even at times like this, Kotaro Nakayama’s question comes to her mind.

‘Who are you?’

The answer to this question was unknown even to her.