Prologue 1: The most beautiful girl in school reverse proposed to me (Patreon)

RAW

It was a very cold February.
Just the two of us, watching snow falling and piling up, she said.

“Niiyama Minato-kun…! Wo-won’t you…, make me your wife…?”

I didn't understand what it meant and thought I heard it wrong.
But her eyes were so serious as she stared at me, and the little hands she held in front of her chest were trembling slightly.

“What are you sa—”
“Wait…! Do-don’t refuse just yet…”

As she stared at me with eyes that seemed to implore me, I closed my mouth without thinking.*
It’s not like I intend to refuse her.
But I don't understand the situation at all.
In this, there is no good or bad.*
But with a desperate expression, she seemed to think that I would reject her, so she appealed desperately.

“I can cook Japanese, Chinese and Western dishes, no matter what you request, I’ll be sure to answer as best as I can…! I like cleaning, leave all household chores to me…! It may be useful at some point, so I have a lot of DIY knowledge. Th-then, ah! Even when insects appear, I will do my best to do something about it! I'm a little bad with spiders… But if it's to protect Minato-kun, I’ll fight…. I already learned Mental care, Lymphatic Massage, Self-Defense, Nutritional Science, and Chinese Medicine Regimen and Candle Meister in the correspondence course! If you need anything else, I'll definitely learn it!”

She kept talking in a single breath, took a painful breath, and then added a few more words in a gradually vanishing voice.

“...That’s why…, please… Minato-kun… please marry me…!”
“...”

I don't know where to start retorting now.

Some kind of joke?
Or maybe a penalty game from betting?

I, who has a hardcore communication disorder, couldn't even laugh and ask her back like that, and just stared back at her with a stupid face with my mouth wide open.

“...............for now…”
“Ye-yes!”
“......What’s Candle Meister?”

The room was so quiet that I could almost hear the sound of falling snow outside the window.
I remember feeling as though I was about to be swallowed up by my heartbeat, which gradually grew louder.

◇◇◇

I have a plain appearance, an average educational background, and a thin presence that even my classmates would say, "Niiyama? Did we have that kind of guy?"
I'm not good at communicating with people, and maybe because of that, I've never had a girlfriend, let alone a female friend.
I only hang out with boys like me who are in the corner of the classroom and have an inferiority complex.
During breaks, we would look at the back issues of hidden movie treasures, get excited about zombie specials or something, to that, the girls said “I don’t get why boys get excited talking about things like zombies.”* in a loud voice, getting more and more uncomfortable - we've spent days like that.

To think that I, Minato Niiyama, would marry as a high school student. Even the gods couldn't have predicted that.

What’s more, the one who became my wife is—

“Ah, it’s Princess Hanae Riko!”

Sawa, who was chatting with me in the classroom before the start of the 4th period, raised his voice while looking out the window.
Just as I was thinking about Hanae Riko, I chased after Sawa's gaze as if to avoid my unpleasant feeling.*
The April breeze blowing through the open window smells of young leaves.

On the sports ground, the female students who are about to take a physical education class are chatting.
Physical education is separated by gender, so it always holds two classes at once, and there are usually about fifty people in a class, but Hanae Riko was so special that she could be spotted instantly even from that number of girls.

Hanae Riko
A beautiful girl with silky light brown hair that barely covers her shoulders, large moist eyes, a lovely nose and small plump lips.
And above all, she has a translucency that could match a soft drink commercial.

Ever since she entered school, she was clamored to be the most beautiful girl in school, but contrary to her appearance, she has a modest personality and is rather a quiet type.

She's always surrounded by girls, putting her hand on her mouth and laughing softly.
She's smart and has excellent physical ability, but she wasn’t boastful.
That’s why she was liked by everyone.
Regardless of gender, the students continued to look at her with admiration and envy, and there were quite a few people who called her with the “Princess” prefix, like Sawa.

"She really stands out right? Princess Riko."

Sawa must have thought the same thing as me, so he muttered in an earnest tone.

“What’s that saying? Not lacking charm?* That kind of girl would become a celebrity right? Don’t you think so too Minato?”
“Ah, yes”
“What’s with that unmotivated reply!”

I certainly think Hanae Riko is cute.
However, as an inkya who is usually coldly stared at by girls, I have a strong sense of weakness towards them.

'He seems harmless, so I got along with him, but it’s gross that he misunderstood.'

A traumatic line that a certain girl told me before was revived, and I trembled violently.

Since that incident, I've become not good with girls, and to be honest, I'm even afraid of them.
Hanae Riko is no exception.
Anyway, I don't want to be in the eyes of girls as much as possible, and I don't want to get involved.
If you accidentally catch someone’s eye, they might’ve looked like they’ve seen something dirty, and if you're unlucky, there's a possibility that you'll hear gossip that makes you want to die.
Surely, just let sleeping dogs lie.

If I had this kind of mentality, then I sure wouldn't be able to have a girlfriend.
But, I wouldn’t mind that.
It's not that I'm putting on a brave front, but that I'd rather be alone than try to get close to a girl and get hurt.
A girlfriend is a terrifying thing, I don’t want that at all.
Even if I die without knowing the kind of happiness that the youkyas are enjoying, if my heart is at peace, that's fine.

When I was deeply pondering such things, for some reason Sawa put his hands on my shoulders with a serious face.

“...Hey, Niiyama”

Why are you looking at me like I’m a pitiable guy?

“Niiyama, when it comes to Hanae Riko, you're talking less than usual. Could it be that you're not interested in girls? Are you withering from holding it in for too long?”
“Withering you say…”

It’s not about whether I’m interested or not.
It’s just that the topic is awful.
That’s what I thought, so I tried to divert the conversation, but apparently it backfired.
At a loss, I looked at the sports ground again as if to run away.

At that time, for some reason, it felt like my eyes met Hanae Riko’s, who was the only one looking up at the school building.

“...Whoa!? Hey, Niiyama! I just made eye contact with Princess Riko!?"
“Ah! ... Ah, I see, I'm glad.”

Did Hanae Riko meet Sawa's eyes instead of mine?
I’m embarrassed to death for jumping to conclusions.

“Still, I was really surprised... Because Princess Riko doesn't usually look at boys at all, right? such a miraculous thing actually happened…”

Like Sawa says, Hanae Riko, who is already quiet, refuses to talk to men even though she is popular.
Right after she entered high school, there were male students who confessed to her every lunch break, but no one was able to have a decent conversation.
A third year senior who is famous for being popular, the ace of the soccer club, the captain of the basketball club, and the rookie of the baseball club, no matter who they are, she just shook her head with a frightened expression.

The more she rejected handsome men, the more her popularity increased.
Of course, from a man's point of view, she's a flower on a high peak that's hard to get close to, but they probably thought it was better than being someone else's.
Gradually, everyone seems to be thinking about protecting the princess's quiet school life, and now there are no more people who easily confess.

'No one will be able to win the heart of the most beautiful girl in school. On the contrary, I don't think there will appear a person of the opposite sex who is allowed to have a conversation.'

That kind of rumor continued to be whispered, so much that Sawa began to make a fuss just by making eye contact.

“What should I do, Niiyama. What if Princess Riko fell in love with me at first sight while I was looking out the window…!?”
“…I respect that positive side of you.”
“Since she’s entirely ignoring handsome guys, then it's possible that she likes non handsome guys!?”

Sawa's high-pitched screaming voice was so loud that all the girls in the nearby seats turned to look at us all at once.

“What are you saying, Sawa? There’s no way Hanae-san will like someone as questionable as you. This is why unpopular boys are…”
“That’s horrible… girls are too harsh…”

Sawa dropped his shoulders.
Even I, who was aware that I was a more questionable boy than Sawa, was hit by a stray bullet without fail and hung my head.

◇◇◇

——Even if that kind of thing happened, when I get home, a dream-like happiness awaits me.

Six thirty in the evening.
I rode the elevator of a certain apartment, which is a five-minute walk from Ofuna station. As I got off at the 7th floor, I still felt a tension that I haven’t gotten used to even though it’s been a month since I started this daily life.

---

(T/N: it said reverse proposal, but it’s basically the same as normal proposal right? Do you need to add "reverse" just because the girl is the one doing the proposing?

-Inkya 陰キャ: Asocial type. Kanji "陰" meaning: shadow.
-Youkya 陽キャ: Cheery person. Kanji "陽" meaning: sun, sunshine

those are the meaning in the dictionary

the asterisk (*) means I'm not confident in something about it, could be the meaning, the wording, or something else)