Prologue

The youth romantic comedy does not exist.

That thought suddenly crossed my mind when my eyes read the title of the light novel in my hand. I stood there, absent-mindedly looking at the bookshelf filled with works of the same name and then let out a self-deprecating smile.

It’s not that it’s not “real”, it’s just that it’s not as beautiful as the fantasies written in words or images, that’s why we wish that in real life we could experience that “real” thing. It’s also because it’s not beautiful that we feel it’s too “ordinary”, “fake”. Such a thing doesn’t really “exist”, so we have to create it.

Looking at the title of the light novel once again, I affirmed my thoughts.

“How my youth ended.”

An extremely simple and straightforward title, without reading it we can clearly see what will happen inside this light novel. The end of an event, the feeling of regret, the desire to prolong something of the characters appeared clearly before my eyes.

Not only talking about the name but also the cover image, the image of hands holding each other but right in the middle of that connection is a big hole, cracked, angular and sharp, looking like a mirror.

Just with the title and cover image we can clearly see how this story will start or end. Curious about what happens inside, I stood at this bookshelf for a long time and wondered if I should buy it or not.

But it seems like this is a one-volume story, I don’t see it numbered or anything, the thickness is also relatively more than a volume, about six centimeters.

Normally, books with names and images like this are easily a publicity stunt or some kind of mediocre romance novel, but what makes me confused is that this work is placed on a separate shelf, with an introduction about the author, his achievements, and the awards he has won.

Even if they were to list all of those things, I have never heard of the name Yamisaki Kiyumi – the author of this light novel – before, maybe he is a newcomer or I don’t know that these works exist, anyway, I mainly read classic literature so I’m not very familiar with things about light novels.

Showing others the achievements can easily make them feel “impressed” and from there “trust” is born and they buy. That’s why loudly introducing many things like this can only be “herding chickens”.

Staring at the title of the light novel made me realize a funny fact, the first semester of eleventh grade had just started a week ago and I was now holding a novel with the word “end” in my name. What is this, a signal from the universe?

While still holding the light novel in my hand and lost in my thoughts, I heard a conversation between two people standing on the same shelf right next to me.

“Kiyumi-sensei has released a new work.”

“Did he win another award? I haven’t seen him in public yet.”

“He must want to create his own style or something.”

“That’s right, if people are curious about the author, the work will probably sell much better.”

“I guess so, but I’ll just have light novels to read. His ‘Nana’ series just released its final volume. Now with this oneshot, Kiyumi-sensei’s rom-com is flawless.”

“This cover is pretty good, the images are metaphorical, and the title tells the story.”

“That so true, I have to buy it.”

The conversation gradually disappeared as the two of them left with Kiyumi-sensei’s work in hand. From what I heard, this person is probably quite famous in the world of light novels, it seems like this person is very secretive so because of that I don’t know anything. I also understand why he did that, the internet is really dangerous.

The name Yamisaki Kiyumi sounds more like a girl’s name than a man’s or it’s simply a nickname, it doesn’t really matter.

Listening to the other two people discussing made me feel a little more confident about this author named Kiyumi-sensei, but I still had some doubts in my heart. Also because I don’t often read this genre, I find it hard to accept losing money for something I don’t like, this has happened a few times before.

“The youth romantic comedy does not exist, right?”

While I was still hesitating, a clear and sweet feminine voice appeared from my right. The scent of shampoo and perfume assaulted my sense of smell, causing my face to heat up a bit. I secretly glanced at the owner of those deadly weapons, and I unconsciously held my breath as if I had just looked at Medusa.

This girl was only a few centimeters shorter than me, probably around 1m70. She wore a gray baseball cap on her head, her shoulder-length hair was tied into a small tail at the back. The yellow color of her hair gives a gentle warm feeling like the early morning sunlight, making her extremely prominent.

Her eyes had the color of the ocean, creating a contrast with the sunlight above, under the shadow of the baseball cap, making it seem as if it was emitting a deadly, seductive blue light. If that blonde hair was outstanding and attracted attention, then these eyes were the devil’s eyes that sucked the souls of the unfortunate.

Just looking at her face from the side, you can clearly see how beautiful this girl was, her skin was as white as snow, the lines from her cheekbones, nose, and pale pink lips gave off a feeling of excitement and mature charm even though she didn’t look like it. On the contrary, she looked extremely innocent and pure like an angel, but it made anyone who looked at her feel a bit of desire, and I was no exception.

She wore a hoodie that was too big for her body, making her look extremely cute, the long sleeves only revealing her slender fingers and pale skin holding the light novel. Because the hoodie didn’t fit her body, it was long enough to reach her thighs, making it look like she wasn’t wearing any pants.

My eyes could hardly avoid staring at those white thighs that were clearly exposed, when I unconsciously swallowed my saliva, I felt how dry my throat was. My whole body gradually became unstable, my breathing was uneven, if I wasn’t careful, I might have a stroke and die.

Feeling my body being burned by the light from that hair and my soul being sucked away made me regain my mind and take a few steps back. It wasn’t just me who was affected, anyone who saw her was also affected. This person was too outstanding, moreover, she also had the ability to suck the souls of others through those eyes, you wouldn’t even notice if you died.

I averted my eyes and tried to breathe evenly to calm myself down, not knowing if this girl was talking to me or herself, so I kept quiet. Pretending that I had never seen her, I gradually regained control of my body. It was really too dangerous just now.

Fortunately, I was not distracted by that charm and answered. If she had not spoken to me and still spoken, I would have received a contemptuous look. If it were a normal guy, he would have gone crazy and tried to say something to impress me, but doing so would only make them look even more stupid.

This girl and I were strangers, so there was no reason to talk to each other. Moreover, it was not certain that she would have spoken to me, so no matter what, I did not misunderstand. There was no way a girl – the word beautiful was not enough to describe her appearance – could talk to someone like me. I had been sleeping quite late these past few days, so my eyes were always dull like a zombie, my hair was unkempt, and my clothes were nothing special.

I slowly moved away from the girl standing next to me about a step. My eyes occasionally glanced to the right to check her actions. That girl suddenly turned her face to look straight at me, the corner of her mouth gradually forming an innocent but sly smile.

It happened so fast that I hadn’t even finished my step, because I accidentally looked straight into those pair of demon eyes emitting blue light, I was startled and stepped back far away. I kept my face as calm as possible but inside my body everything became uncontrollable, my heart was pounding, my breathing had to be difficult to keep steady, my stomach was burning like I had swallowed coal.

“Hey, do you think that a youth romantic comedy does exist in the real world?”

Are those eyes of hers “green eyes” or something? Perhaps because I became silent for a while, she didn’t wait any longer and spoke up and looked straight at me, her face tilted slightly to the left, accompanied by an innocent smile that created an extremely cute pose. At this rate, I couldn’t ignore this girl anymore, so I had to speak up to end this quickly.

“I think it’s real, just not as beautiful as in the novel.”

“Hmm, if that’s the case, then you just need to create it right~?”

I don’t know if it was because I couldn’t process that information or because it made me think too much, but I stood there frozen like a machine that had run out of energy. It took nearly ten seconds for my brain to function again, the moment I regained consciousness, my survival instinct kicked in. For some reason, the only thing left in my mind was “this girl is dangerous”, so I put the light novel back on the shelf and headed to the checkout counter.

I tried to act in a way that would not look suspicious or attract the attention of the people around the store.

While waiting to receive my change, I discreetly glanced at the girl a few times. She kept looking this way but did not move, her mouth still had that bright, innocent and attractive smile. After paying, I quickly walked out of the bookstore with trembling steps.

When I thought I was far enough away and safe, I stopped and looked around to see if there was a vending machine. When I saw one placed on a wall of the building in front of me, I breathed a sigh of relief and walked over. MIN coffee was the best choice at times like this, its bitter taste made me calmer.

On my days off, I usually walk around, kill time by watching a movie, stopping by a few bookstores, eating ramen at unfamiliar places, and then returning home while sipping a can of MIN coffee. Today was the same, I went to this store to buy some reference books as well as some classic literature.

While walking around the novel section, I also went to the light novel section to see if there was anything that interested me, and then I came across this work, and for the first time in my life, I felt a life-threatening situation from a girl. I was lucky to be able to escape that dangerous situation, I thought about what had just happened and drank the can of MIN coffee in one gulp.

It was almost noon so i think i’ll go home, i’ve gone out enough for today, maybe after this event i won’t dare go anywhere else. and the chance of me meeting that girl again is almost non-existent so there’s no need to worry too much for now.

===<>=====<>=====<>===

Foreshadowing is something that is used in storytelling or literature in general, so why is it applied to real life like this?

I thought as I looked up at the girl who had just transferred into my class with wide eyes. Her natural blonde hair and striking blue eyes were unmistakable. Unable to believe what I was seeing, I rubbed my eyes several times. After a short while, I realized that I was overreacting.

So what if that girl became a new student in my class? So what if we had met before? Could these events change my boring life? Reminding myself with those questions, I quickly calmed down and looked at the new girl with indifferent eyes.

“I am Miyasaki Miyuki, I hope everyone can take care of me.”

Miyasaki smiled and bowed, the already chaotic classroom with the new student became even more chaotic because of a new foreign girl transferring in. Anyway, I can’t blame them, things like this don’t happen easily in youth.

After greeting the class, Miyasaki turned her eyes towards me and waved her hand slightly. Pretending not to see her action, I let out an exaggerated yawn. We had only met once, not only that but also had a strange conversation, her actions really made my heart weaken for a decade.

I was just an ordinary male student, not exactly brilliant, but still better than a lot of people. If I added an anti-social personality, along with isolating myself and being a loner, I would be a perfect protagonist. Unfortunately, I wasn’t like that at all.

Showing little interest, I looked away. Since my seat was near the door, I couldn’t imitate the scene of absentmindedly looking out the window, so I had to focus my attention on the boring textbook on the table.

Miyasaki’s seat coincidentally happened to be right behind me, I didn’t know if this was fate or luck. But if it was luck, I’d rather win the lottery than have a new classmate transfer to sit behind me.

“We meet again.”

“Are you a ghost or something? I feel like I’m being haunted.”

“That must be it, you’ll be haunted by a ghost from now on forever.”

“Forgive me, if that happens, I won’t be able to sleep at night.”

The two of us spoke back and forth in a very natural manner, completely different from the meeting the day before. It wasn’t me, it was because this Miyasaki girl said strange things that I didn’t know how to react. The two of us fell into silence, neither of us said anything to each other, a development that was too obvious and beneficial to me.

After the “new transfer student” incident, there was nothing in the classes, it was basically the same as usual. For me, studying wasn’t too boring, after all, I wasn’t the type of person who would complain about these things like an idiot.

When the classes ended, I leaned back in my chair and sighed. During the break, noisy sounds came from behind me. The source of the crowd was none other than the new transfer student Miyasaki Miyuki, feeling annoyed with the girls who were jostling to talk to the new girl, I sighed and left the classroom.

I slowly walked to the end of the hallway, where there was a vending machine, along with a row of plastic chairs. Since it was break time, there were quite a few male students sitting and talking to each other, I sighed softly and quickly bought what I wanted. Holding the cold can of coffee in my hand, I decided to find a peaceful place to enjoy this bitter drink.

If it were a normal day, I would have gone to the back of the special building, but today I didn’t feel like doing so at all. As a result, I was currently standing in a corner of the corridor, leaning against the railing and looking at the schoolyard. Standing on the second floor, and right in the direction of the wind, this place couldn’t be more perfect. While thinking about random things, I drank the bitter can of MIN coffee that was gradually losing its coolness.

“Isn’t it fine here?”

“I think so too.”

Without knowing when, Miyasaki had already stood beside me. Showing no surprise at all, I continued to ignore her and enjoy my peaceful rest. When the coldness of the MIN coffee completely disappeared, the bitter taste attacked my mouth and throat like a sudden punch, making me almost unable to swallow it all.

“You’re not reacting, which makes me a little uncomfortable.”

“How do you want me to react? Excited or shy?”

“At least don’t act like I’m not here.”

“Well, we’re not friends. Besides, it’s weird for you to show up at my place like this.”

Even though we said we weren’t friends, we were able to talk so normally that it surprised me. My way of speaking was usually sarcastic or emotionless, or things that were true but negative. Because of this, I often didn’t get along with other students.

“By the way, about what I said the other day. I wasn’t joking.”

“What did you say that day?”

I asked honestly, after all, what happened the day we first met had long since disappeared from my mind. Of course, only this girl’s extremely outstanding appearance left a deep impression on me. Maybe that’s why she came to talk to me. But what’s so important that I have to do this?

“To create ‘a real-life youth story’.”

“Ah…so what?”

I replied indifferently, it’s a pity that this girl with such a beautiful appearance has mental problems. But there’s a saying “you gain some, you lose some”, so I can’t blame her.

“I decided that you’ll be the main character, after all, the readers’ taste is lonely, quiet main characters who don’t show much emotion.”

“Oh well, I’m not interested in this. ‘A real-life youth romantic comedy’? I don’t want to.”

“You can live this boring life until the end of high school? Don’t you want a girlfriend or anything?”

“I know what kind of person I am, having a girlfriend is good, and not having one is fine. Right now, I’m enjoying my idle and boring life.”

Thinking that was the end of the meaningless conversation, I turned around and walked away. However, Miyasaki’s tone behind me made me pause. Miyasaki’s way of speaking suddenly changed, making me feel confused. Miyasaki used a low tone, giving off a relatively cold feeling. Completely different from the cheerful way he had when he first appeared in front of the class.

“What if I could prove that a youth story could be created? This is how I write my novels, after all.”

“If I were the male lead, then who would be the female lead? Don’t tell me it was you.”

I sneered, pointing my finger at Miyasaki. There was no way she would accept being the “female lead” with someone like me. Not only that, no girl volunteered to play the role of “heroine” with me, so Miyasaki’s plan collapsed from the start.

“Of course not me. As an author, my role is to lead the plot and set the stage for the events that will happen.”

“Then find someone else, those Riajuu guys are much more suitable than me.”

“I told you, the current readers’ taste is for guys with nothing special like you. That’s why they ‘self-insert’ in your shoes and fantasize about a happy youth life.”

“That sounds pathetic….”

Hearing what Miyasaki said, I couldn’t help but let out a sarcastic snort. I hate a main character who doesn’t have a prominent personality, or is just an empty image for me to put myself in. Even if it’s using a light novel to escape reality, doing “self-insert” is too pathetic.

“I’ll let you try out the ‘youth romantic comedy life’ experience to prove that such a fantasy can be created.”

“It seems like you’re not going to give up, huh?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Alright, I’ll accept the trial. But it’s to prove to you that using me as the main character can’t possibly create a ‘youth romantic comedy story’.”

Although I wasn’t too interested in this, my competitive streak came to the fore and I wanted to prove the other party wrong. I wasn’t a character that was controlled by others, but a human being capable of normal thinking and reasoning. Of course, there was no way I would do what Miyasaki wanted.

“Then let’s help each other from now on.”

“Can you stop talking like that?”

Hearing me say that, Miyasaki stopped her cute tone and cleared her throat a little. Then she spoke with a cold expression, sharp eyes, and a satisfied smirk.

“Do you like it like this?”

After speaking with a serious expression, Miyasaki changed to an expressionless face, her voice even and gentle as if she was whispering.

“Or like this?”

As if those two expressions weren’t enough, Miyasaki used both hands to grab her hair, forming two braids on both sides. Then she shouted loudly.

“I’m not doing this for you, idiot.”

After a series of changes, Miyasaki still kept her two braids and looked at me. It seemed like she wanted me to choose a personality for her to act out. Honestly, if Miyasaki were to become an actress, she would be very famous.

After thinking for a while, I suddenly remembered something. It seemed like Miyasaki said she was an author just now, if that was the case, then I had a question.

“Hey, I want to ask what Yamisaki Kiyumi would be like?”

“Yamisaki Kiyumi….”

Hearing that name, Miyasaki paused and fell into deep thought. The name Yamisaki Kiyumi was simply the reverse of Miyasaki Miyuki, if you didn’t hear these two names together, you wouldn’t be able to recognize them.

“Wearing glasses…. no, pigtails…no way….the way of speaking….”

Miyasaki muttered with a deep expression, it seemed like even she herself didn’t know how “Yamisaki Kiyumi” would act. That was right, Yamisaki Kiyumi had never appeared in public before to form a certain image.

“I want to work with you in this state more, if there’s anything, just tell me first.”

Having said that, I turned around and left, leaving Miyasaki still deep in thought. It seemed like I had caused her to have a life crisis. Although I had agreed to Miyasaki’s request, I still had to force Miyasaki to realize the truth that this life was not a story that an ordinary person could edit at will.

I will prove that, “My youth romantic comedy does not exist, as I expected.”