Prologue

Prologue

I know this is quite sudden, but there exists two Satou Hajime in my school. Yep, you guessed it, literally the exact same name and surname. I mean, there are just way too many Satou Hajimes; try searching the name on the internet and alot would pop out, there is even a long list of results in Wikipedia.

Now, what does it mean when two people have the same name in the same school? They would naturally be compared against each other. Well, this can't be helped. Both would even be confused as to what they would call each other, right? Obviously.

The first Satou Hajime is just your ordinary boy. The other Satou Hajime, however, is not just any other Satou Hajime.  

First off, he's handsome. We're talking tall, with sharp features and an aura that can stop you in your tracks from a distance. Next, he's athletic. With his natural physique, he joined the basketball team and became a regular in the blink of an eye. On top of that, he’s smart, consistently scoring in the top ten on exams. To top it all off, he’s got a great personality, moves in the school’s most popular circle, and still knows his way around anime and manga. He's what you'd call an apex predator in the school food chain.

Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—the hierarchy between us was set before we even had a chance to compete. He became "Satou Number One," and I became "Number Two."

As such, when some gossipers started using the nicknames, they were so simple that they spread like wildfire. By the time I could even think to protest, it was already too late.

This is a story about me, a "Number Two," becoming a "Number One" for a certain someone.

◇◆

"Hajime! You don't have work today, right? Can I come over?"

As soon as homeroom ended and the teacher left the room, Minamino Chinatsu—a girl popular not just in our class but across the entire grade—spoke to me with a brilliant smile. For a moment, it felt like time in the classroom had stopped.

Her voice wasn't loud, but she stood out.

Calling her the most beautiful girl in our year might be a matter of personal taste, but no one would argue that she was gorgeous. She had shimmering black hair that fell to her shoulders, and large, expressive eyes that seemed to change with her every emotion. She often smiled with an open mouth, but her lips were so cute that it never looked unseemly. I'm about 170 cm, and she's a little below my eye level, so she must be in the mid-160s. Her chest wasn't large enough to be obvious through her uniform, but for her slender frame, she was definitely well-endowed. Her skirt, short enough to just barely bend the school rules, revealed fair skin that looked anything but unhealthy. Combined with her vibrant, healthy aura, it only added to her charm. She was a top-tier girl who excelled at both sports and academics.

And me? I was her complete opposite, fully aware that I was just an unremarkable, background character of a guy.

Sure, I have friends to eat lunch with and can make small talk with classmates. But as a proud member of the go-home club, I don't have anyone I'm close enough with to hang out with after school. I'm confident that not a single one of them would call me their best friend.

I'm neither someone who stands out in a bad way nor an introvert, and definitely not someone who has a talent that can trigger some kind of event and draw everyone's attention. I'm also not the kind who, if I styled my hair a different way, would reveal my hidden handsome face. Rather, I am someone who goes out in the morning to a salon to fix myself, and would still just look plainly average.

In the enclosed world of high school, during the winter of my first year's third semester, calling me so intimately by my first name was enough to spark a major incident. This is because the girl who was calling me by name was extremely popular, not only among the students on the same grade level but also among male senior students, and nobody, not even her fellow girls had anything negative to say about her.

"Huh? Eh? Why are No. 2 and Minamino together? What kind of relationship do they have?"

"Maybe she mistook him as the other Satou? Probably not considering she's in front of him."

"...I knew it, those two…"

All kinds of whispers filled my ears.

To be precise, those whispers were divided into:

A group of girls with the know-it-all expressions.

A group of girls who looked interested.

A group of boys with displeased expressions.

Surprised students. 

Students who acted uninterested but still couldn't hide their interested faces.

At any rate, we stood out too much. Perhaps, the most I stood out ever since entering this school. 

But then, we both knew this was going to happen.

In my eyes, she's as pretty as any story's heroine, but she isn't clueless about her own influence. She understands how people see her and knows how to read a room, which is exactly why she's managed to stay so popular without making any enemies.

And I knew she'd been antsy all day. The proof was my phone, which had been vibrating against my thigh with an unusual number of messages from her since this morning.

(Chinatsu) Today's the day, isn't it?

(Chinatsu) I already told Yukko and the others that I won't be going home with them today.

(Chinatsu) Maybe we should've done this during lunch... no, bad idea. Better to just go home together and let everyone sleep on it.

(Chinatsu) Hey.

(Chinatsu) ...It's not fair that I'm the only one who's nervous.

(Chinatsu) It's not fair.

(Hajime) No, I'm in class right now.

(Chinatsu) So class is more important than me.

(Chinatsu) I see.

(Chinatsu) Hmph.

(Chinatsu) You keep ignoring me even though I love you so much.

(Hajime) Breaking News: My beloved girlfriend has turned into a yandere while I was trying to pay attention in class.

We were always casual like this over text. With our relationship being a secret, the messaging app was the main thing connecting our lives at school. But today, the messages were nonstop. Her lighthearted tone couldn't quite hide her nerves—or her happiness, if I wasn't just imagining things.

Recalling our exchange from earlier, I let a small smile form and looked Minamino Chinatsu right in the eye.

"Of course, that's fine. But do you mind if we stop by the supermarket on the way? I need to pick up some ingredients for dinner."

"What should we make tonight?" "It's Friday, so meat's on sale. Maybe something hearty."

I really did need to buy ingredients, so it wasn't a lie, but I didn't have to say it right here. As we put on a casual, intimate exchange, the buzz in the classroom grew louder, but I chose to ignore it. She'd already given her friends a heads-up, and my own small circle of friends couldn't care less about this kind of drama to begin with.

Well then, let me introduce myself again. My name is Satou Hajime.

Of the two Satou Hajime in this high school, I am known as the "Number Two."

However, despite being known as the "Number Two" by everyone, she made me her "Number One."

To understand why she's always shining her radiant smile on me, we’ll have to turn back the clock a few seasons.