Kouhei and Yui strolled side by side beneath the soft morning sun, their fingers laced together in a loose but intimate grip.
The sidewalk buzzed faintly with the usual hum of chatter, but in their little bubble, the world felt distant.
It was quiet, almost gentle.
Kouhei let out a long, lazy yawn, barely able to muffle it with his free hand.
His eyelids drooped, and the dark circles under his eyes gave away the obvious. A night sacrificed to gaming indulgence.
"Geez, senpai…" Yui pouted, tugging his hand playfully but with concern in her tone. "You've really got to be more careful with yourself. Staying up that late can seriously wreck your health, you know?"
"I think it's fine. I'm not that tired," Kouhei said with a tired smile, rubbing at his eye with the back of his hand.
"You're such a liar." Yui narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying it. "I just saw you unleash the biggest yawn in existence a second ago."
"T-That was nothing," Kouhei mumbled, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
His gaze drifted toward her.
She looked back at him, the light in her eyes warm and kind, but filled with a sharp clarity that always caught him off guard.
Kouhei still couldn't wrap his head around how things got to this point.
Somehow—no, miraculously—he had been dating Yui for five whole months.
The relationship had bloomed faster than anything he'd expected. Hell, faster than anything he'd even imagined.
She had transferred in not too long ago.
A new student, quiet but striking in appearance, drawing curious stares wherever she went.
At first, Kouhei didn't care.
He'd heard rumors, but didn't bother looking into it.
He didn't know her. Not even her name.
But then, he saw her being cornered by Sotomura.
The guy had a way of being persistent in the worst possible ways—and it looked like he was trying to force her into being his girlfriend, not taking no for an answer.
Kouhei couldn't stand by and watch.
He yanked Yui away from Sotomura's grip and stood between them.
The guy wasn't happy. A fist came flying, and Kouhei caught it—with his face.
It left a nasty bruise on his cheek.
"S-Senpai…! A-Are you okay?!" Yui had cried, her eyes wide and trembling with worry.
"I'm fine," Kouhei had said back then, forcing a grin despite the stinging pain spreading across his jaw.
After that, Yui insisted on accompanying him back to his apartment.
There, she gently tended to his wounds with a calm and grace that belied her age.
Kouhei had told her it wasn't necessary, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Not after he'd gotten hurt for her.
Maybe… maybe that moment was the turning point.
Because a week later, she confessed to him.
Kouhei had stood there like a statue, paralyzed by the whirlwind of emotion that hit him. He'd never been confessed to before. He never even imagined it happening.
It was unfamiliar, exhilarating… terrifying.
But in his heart, something clicked.
Maybe he already had feelings for her long before he realized.
So when she looked up at him with those shimmering eyes, he found himself nodding.
And the second he did, Yui beamed, jumped up, kissed him on the cheek—and grinned like she'd just won the lottery.
Honestly, the whole thing felt like a scene out of a romantic light novel.
"Oh, right!" Yui suddenly perked up, breaking his train of thought. "Senpai! Wanna go on a date after school? I really want to go to karaoke and sing!"
"Karaoke? Uh… Yui-chan, you do know I'm completely tone-deaf, right?"
"Fufufu~" she giggled, swaying closer to him. "That's fine! All you have to do is sit there and listen to me sing!"
With her giving him that bright-eyed look, her lips curled into a mischievous smile, her voice practically dripping with sweetness.
There was no possible way he could say no.
She was just too damn cute.
"…Alright then," he replied softly.
Eventually, the two reached the station.
The low rumble of an incoming train echoed in the distance as they waited on the platform.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kouhei felt a pair of soft arms wrap tightly around him from behind—followed by an unmistakable sensation pressing against his back.
"Okumura-kun~" came a flirtatious voice, sweet as honey.
A pair of large, pillowy breasts squished against him, the softness so intense it sent a jolt through his spine.
"Ah—!" Kouhei tensed up, nearly jumping.
He turned slightly and recognized her instantly.
"Ah…! Ichinose-senpai! What do you think you're doing to my boyfriend?!" Yui's voice cut through the air like a whip, her tone high-pitched with fury.
"Hm? What do you mean, Himeno-san?" Hiyori responded casually, resting her chin on Kouhei's shoulder. "It's not like I'm doing anything wrong. We're not cheating or anything. If we were, I'd have hugged him somewhere a little more… private," she added with a smirk.
"That's still not something you should be doing to someone who's in a relationship," Yui snapped, eyes blazing.
"I'm not trying to steal him from you," Hiyori replied, raising a brow. "But I wouldn't mind if Okumura-kun decided to switch sides."
The two girls were now fully locked in a battle of glares, sparks practically flying between them.
Kouhei stood helplessly in the middle, caught like a deer between headlights.
Hiyori was his classmate.
Not long ago, she had confessed to him outright.
But he turned her down, because his heart already belonged to Yui.
Still, Hiyori didn't retreat. Instead, she offered friendship.
Kouhei, thinking there was no harm, agreed.
But Hiyori clearly had other intentions.
She kept finding excuses to cling to him, her massive breasts always suspiciously "accidentally" ending up against him.
Not that he was particularly bothered.
It was… kind of flattering.
Even if he was already taken, there was a certain thrill in knowing someone else still desired him.
He didn't have the heart to push her away.
And so, this bizarre triangle was born.
The train finally rolled into the station with a loud hiss and a gust of warm air.
The three of them boarded.
Kouhei ended up sandwiched between the two girls, each one clinging to his arm. Their breasts pressed firmly into him from both sides, soft mounds trapping his limbs in a surprisingly sensual prison.
His face flushed with embarrassment. He could feel the stares of everyone else in the train cabin.
"Ichinose-senpai, maybe you should kindly let go of my boyfriend," Yui said in a sing-song tone, lips curled into a saccharine smile.
Her voice was cheerful—but her eyes? They were cold and far from happy.
"Oh, dear. Is that really necessary?" Hiyori replied, tightening her grip with a smirk. "We are close friends, remember? So this kind of physical contact is perfectly natural."
Her smile matched Yui's in sweetness—but it, too, was hollow. Their gazes locked again, both masked behind fake pleasantries.
And Kouhei stood right in the middle, silently screaming inside.
"What's that? A love triangle?"
"Damn, both those girls are absolute bombshells."
"But the guy looks... kinda plain, huh?"
"This totally feels like something ripped right out of a harem manga."
"Yo, check it out—it's the Harem Boy."
That last line struck a nerve. Kouhei's brain suddenly froze for a split second. Harem Boy?
The word echoed in his mind, bouncing back and forth like it had some sort of weight behind it. It was the first time anyone had ever said that to him—at least, as far as he could remember—but the weird part?
Like he'd been called that before. Somewhere. Somehow. In another place, or maybe another life.
He clenched his jaw slightly and shook the thought off.
Trying to steer his thoughts elsewhere, he looked at the two girls standing beside him, each clinging to one of his arms. Their rivalry was practically radiating heat.
"By the way, Ichinose-senpai," Yui said, her voice laced with honey but her eyes sharpened like knives, "don't you have to be at school earlier than the rest of us today? I heard you were supposed to attend some kind of important meeting for the student council?"
Her gaze was focused and unblinking, the corner of her mouth barely twitching with suspicion.
"I just find it really odd how we keep seeing you here every morning, at the same place and time," she continued, eyes narrowing slightly. "Someone who holds a student council position should've already been on school grounds by now. So... let me ask you straight—are you waiting for us here?"
Hiyori blinked slowly. The glint in her eye shimmered like a blade in the sun.
"That's quite the dramatic assumption," she said with an airy tone, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Don't you believe in the concept of coincidence?"
The atmosphere thickened like fog.
Their smiles didn't reach their eyes.
Their words were polite—on the surface—but Kouhei could almost feel the sparks flying between them.
He sighed quietly, scratching his cheek, completely caught in the middle of their cold war.
His hand awkwardly hovered midair like even it didn't know what to do.
But then... something inside him ticked.
"Hold on… Ichinose-san, you're in the student council?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly as his thoughts began to turn.