Chapter 92 OBIG Vol. 5 Prologue

Have you ever heard someone say something like this before?

“I just can’t get guys to see me as anything more than a friend…”

You know the type. Those self-proclaimed extroverted girls who lament that despite having tons of guy friends, none of them see them romantically—all while subtly flexing the fact that they actually have plenty of guy friends in the first place.

Fortunately, none of my close friends ever say crap like that, which is a huge relief.

…Anyway, my point is, if a girl is pulling a flex like that, she’s clearly the problem. Honestly, I always thought they just brought it upon themselves.

And yet, the very problem I’m facing right now is exactly that.

“No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t see me as a girl at all…” I muttered.

It was on my way home from high school. While walking the route from the train station to my house, I was busy sorting out my current situation.

I like Masato-san. No, I love him. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever meet a prince like him again, and for a potato girl like me, I know this is my first and last chance.

But at the same time, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have him all to myself. Even if, by some one-in-a-million—no, one-in-a-billion chance, we actually started dating, I don’t see myself successfully fending off every single girl who would inevitably flock to him.

Besides, I already know that there are multiple girls swarming around Masato-san as we speak.

Honestly, unless some harem route unlocks where I get to tag along with everyone else, I have absolutely zero win condition. Or rather, that brings me to the fundamental issue at hand.

It all circles back to what I just muttered. He doesn’t see me as a girl.

Lately, Masato-san has been saying things like, “I feel so relaxed when I talk to you, Shiori-chan,” and “You’re really easy to talk to, Shiori-chan.” Words that definitely do not scream, I view you as a member of the opposite sex.

Meanwhile, I’m over here dying of nervousness every single time???

I let out a heavy sigh as the cold winter wind whipped around me. My breath puffed into a cloud of white smoke and vanished into the air.

As I trudged along, wallowing in my own gloom, my phone buzzed with a notification.

Holy Maiden Gathering:

Mana: Oh yeah, forgot to drop that pic of Shiori and her prince from the culture festival.

Mana: Image sent

Hatsumi: Shiori’s smile is so stiff lmao.

Mana: Literally looks like a polaroid taken at a butler cafe.

Miaki: Except the prince doesn’t look like he belongs at a butler cafe at all lol.

Looks like they sent the photo we took at the culture festival the other day. I checked the image, which featured my prince dressed in a butler outfit standing next to me, with my smile looking incredibly cramped. I mean, give me a break! Igarashi-senpai was standing right next to me when this was taken! Obviously I’d freeze up!

“Like hell anyone could pull off a normal smile in that situation,” I grumbled to myself.

I shot back a half-hearted reply and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

Ah, wait, I forgot to save the image. I absolutely do not need my own face in it, but I desperately need that pic of Masato-san, so I’ll have to crop it out and save it.

…Igarashi-senpai. An alumna from our high school who had come along with Masato-san. From what I’ve heard, they spend their university days together… and, unsurprisingly, she’s also in love with Masato-san. I mean, yeah, obviously.

She was unquestionably cuter than me. She was so vibrant and had this distinctly feminine charm to her. I realized that that was exactly the type of girl who was effortlessly popular.

Yeah, there really isn’t a route where I get Masato-san all to myself.

Even so, the thought of losing my connection with him was unbearable. But if I just sat around and did nothing, remaining entirely unviewed as a girl in his eyes, I’d end up getting left behind, and he’d probably quit being my tutor someday. No matter how hard I tried, his role as my tutor would automatically reach its end the second my entrance exams were over.

…In any case, the first objective is getting him to see me as a woman. But how…? Jumping straight to physical contact is an instant game over, right…?

I recalled the day we went to the summer festival, when that girl who was even smaller than me practically threw herself onto Masato-san. And it didn’t just stop at throwing herself at him; what happened after that… gulp.

Please teach me, loli-girl. How did you two end up getting that close…? It’s so enviable it should be a crime…

In the end, without coming up with a single decent solution, I found myself already right in front of my house.

How am I supposed to interact with Masato-san from now on? Since we’ve finally gotten this close, should I just maintain the status quo?

I highly doubt they’d have any clue either, but… maybe I should try consulting my usual group of friends about this?

With my mind completely jumbled up, I subconsciously kicked a pebble near my feet, aiming straight for the drainage ditch.

Of course, the rolling pebble didn’t make it into the ditch, instead coming to a pathetic halt right in front of it.