He and the transfer student (Prologue)

For a sad devil like me, the illusion of a "girlfriend" had been practically imaginary for several years of my life.

...

No, wait. That's a bad introduction, it makes me look like an antisocial person incapable of making friends and much worse, having a girlfriend. But I have a good explanation for it.

First of all, my name is Tatsuda Manabu.

And before you get the idea that I'm completely antisocial, let me correct you.

I have friends, lots of friends. Both guys and girls.

Only my assertion at the beginning, I said it because I haven't dared to cross the line of "more than friends" with the odd girl. Among all the things I have experienced as a person with a high sociable ability, love is not one of them.

YES, I can be attracted to a woman.

It's not like I have restrictions or complex family situations. I am just the son of a man who became a widower a very short time after marriage and out of respect for his late wife has not dared to look for another partner.

My father is a bit conservative, but he wants my prosperous happiness. I have a younger sister and two older brothers as well, the family is a bit big, but in itself, we love each other very much.

I am not an overly complex man, after all, I like the life I have had so far.

In my life there are a lot of characteristic supportive characters, a childhood friend who appreciates me unconditionally, a popular best friend, a group of guys I can talk dirty with, I also have an attractive teacher who often asks me for favors, I even have a club president with me who slightly catches my eye.

Now that I've said that.

Surely you've noticed, right?

Of "what it takes" in my life.

Being the son of a man who is conservative with his family, someone who protects his four children as the most important belonging in his life, I naturally learned some of his tendencies.

A saying that has stuck in ma Tatsuda family is:

"Keep your life on your own rails, make twists and turns, but don't stop being who you are."

There are three statements within that same sentence.

The first is that I must follow the path I want to choose.

The second is that I can choose when to change.

The third is about maintaining my values and beliefs regardless of the changes around me.

This is how I, Tatsuda Manabu, have maintained a quiet life without having to be bothered by romantic interests.

Of course...

If someone had told me back then, that the fourth time love would come into my life, without a doubt, it made me doubt the words, "Third time's the victory."

I thought it was a simple joke of destiny.

Meeting each other was chance.

Talking to each other was fortune.

Getting involved with each other was a miracle.

On a May evening, during sunset, my life took an inexplicable turn that I never thought would happen.

─Manabu-kun, I like you.

Words that made me finally realize that I was not as bad a person as I thought I was.