I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

Once Yuika started talking, it seemed like she had a lot built up inside, as she began complaining non-stop about her brother.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“The problem is that my brother is so indecisive. If he just said yes when he liked something and no when he didn’t, girls wouldn’t flock around him. But he can’t even do that, so he always ends up losing out. The other day, we went to a tea shop, and some random girl asked for his number! I was so dumbfounded that I asked what he was doing, and he told me to stay out of adults’ business. How ridiculous is that? How could someone as beautiful as me be mistaken for a child?”

“Hahaha…”

After talking for almost 20 minutes straight, Yuika seemed to realize she’d been rambling on and looked at me nervously.

“Um… was I talking too much about myself?”

There’s no way anyone would say yes to that right in front of her.

“No, it was quite entertaining.”

“I’ll tone it down a bit…”

Just moments ago, she had been talking as if her mouth had a motor attached, but now that she suddenly became quiet, the atmosphere felt deflated.

After about five minutes of awkward silence, Yuika glanced at me and asked,

“Have you ever thought it was strange that my brother and I go to Ichijo Academy, which is far away, instead of a closer school?”

“That’s… true.”

For me, I went to Ichijo Academy to avoid going to the same school as Ryuji, the protagonist of “Scramble Love,” and to avoid running into people who remembered the old Kim Yu-seong. But there was no particular reason for the Sakamoto siblings to go there.

I just thought they ended up there because it was part of the original storyline.

“It’s awkward to say this about my own brother, but he’s a really kind person.”

“Mmm.”

This was something I knew well.

He’s the typical shonen manga protagonist who can’t overlook injustice.

I’ve benefited from that trait of his many times, so I couldn’t help but agree with her.

“Because of that, he’s been popular with people around him since he was young, but sometimes that kindness can be a curse.”

Yuika set down the teacup she was holding with a bitter smile.

“It happened two years ago. I was in my first year of middle school, and my brother was in his third year.”

The story of Ryuji’s past that I heard through her was shocking.

He saw a girl he didn’t know being harassed on the subway and helped her, but the middle-aged man who was harassing her accused Ryuji of assault instead. The girl ran away, so there was no one to testify on his behalf, and he ended up with a community service order.

“Did they check the CCTV?”

“They checked it, but it was useless. There were too many people on the subway car at the time, so the crime wasn’t caught on camera. But they could easily prove that he injured the harasser, so in court, he was treated as the perpetrator, not the man.”

Yuika calmly explained what happened afterward.

“After everything was over and my brother returned to school, there were strange rumors spreading. Rumors that he fought with a man on the subway and got a criminal record for assault. It was probably someone who bore a grudge against him who spread those rumors, but by the time he realized it, it was too late. No one believed him when he tried to explain.”

“……”

It was a much heavier story than I had expected.

Ryuji, even as the protagonist, hadn’t had an easy life.

Since I hadn’t read the original, I never imagined he had such a past.

“Well, it’s a relief that he seems to have forgotten about that past and is getting along well with his friends now.”

Yuika suddenly ended the story, perhaps thinking the mood had become too gloomy, and looked at me nervously before asking,

“So… what do you think of my brother, Senior?”

It was a question loaded with meaning.

She was probably asking because she was worried about Ryuji, who had already been betrayed once in middle school.

I didn’t answer immediately. After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I gave her an answer that would put her at ease.

“I think he’s a good guy. As long as nothing special happens, I think we’ll be good friends for life.”

He’s the kind of guy who, with nothing to gain, rushes in to help fight in the middle of a date to repay a favor.

And I’ve trusted him to watch my back.

That’s already proof that I trust him as a friend.

“So you, as his sister, don’t need to worry too much. The people around Ryuji now are all good.”

There’s a saying, ‘birds of a feather flock together,’ right?

Hearing this half-joking remark, Yuika…

“Pfft.”

…suddenly laughed.

“What is that? You’re so silly.”

But she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

Rustle!

“I’m going to head out first today. I have to go home and make dinner for my brother.”

Yuika bowed her head slightly to me and then spoke in a voice tinged with laughter.

“I’m glad I talked to you, Senior.”

---

The next day.

I got on the subway to go to school as usual and ran into some familiar faces.

“Oh, Yu-seong.”

“Hi, Kim.”

“Hello! Senior!”

The greetings were from Ryuji, Yaguchi, and then Yuika, in that order.

As soon as Yuika greeted me, Ryuji and Yaguchi turned their heads simultaneously, looking as if they had just seen a ghost.

“Wh-what did you just say? Is the sun going to rise in the west tomorrow?”

“Did shy Yuika really greet someone first?!”

No, is that really something to be surprised about?

As I stared at the two in disbelief, Yuika pinched Ryuji’s side and said in a sharp voice,

“Brother! Is it that strange for me to greet Senior Yu-seong?!”

“No, but you’ve known Satoru longer than Yu-seong, and you never greet him first.”

“That’s because it’s Satoru!”

That was a reason I could understand.

When we all hung out together last time, Satoru was the only one who was treated harshly.

“Really~”

Still fuming, Yuika turned her head away, but when she met my eyes right in front of her, she bowed with a sassy expression and said,

“Thank you for the advice yesterday. Thanks to you, I was able to resolve a worry I’d had for a long time.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Seeing that Yuika and I were talking about something he didn’t know about, Ryuji asked in surprise,

“Advice? What advice? You didn’t tell me anything.”

“Oh, we just ran into each other on the way home yesterday and talked a bit.”

“Yeah, brother. We didn’t do much. We just had tea at a cafe for about an hour.”

As soon as Yuika said that, Ryuji asked with a sharp look in his eyes,

“You’re not after my sister, are you? No matter how close we are, Yuika is…”

I was so taken aback by how the conversation was going that I quickly corrected him.

“I have a girlfriend, you know?”

Yaguchi, shocked by that statement, asked,

“Kim, you have a girlfriend?!”

Ah.

I realized too late that I had made a mistake and tried to explain, but Yaguchi didn’t give me a chance and bombarded me with questions.

“Who is it? Someone from our school? Older? Younger? Don’t tell me she’s someone on a screen?!”

“Wait, hold on.”

I couldn’t handle the barrage of questions and looked over at Ryuji.

“You’re not trying to two-time by seducing an innocent girl, are you…?”

“Hey!”

“Haha, just kidding.”

Ryuji waved his hand and stopped Yaguchi, who was his girlfriend, and said,

“But I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d already have a girlfriend, Yu-seong. Why didn’t you tell us before? Is it a secret relationship?”

“Well… something like that.”

I was afraid of what kind of rumors would spread in the school if it got out that the top student of the third year, the Student Council President, and the top student of the second year, Kim Yu-seong, were dating.

There were already various rumors targeting me, and if the President gets involved, it’d only get worse.

“So, please keep it a secret from everyone.”

“Don’t worry. I’m good at keeping secrets.”

“What about you, Yaguchi?”

Caught off guard, Yaguchi asked, “Me?” but then quickly averted her gaze and answered,

“I’ll try my best.”

“You know what will happen if this story gets out, right?”

When I said that and crushed the soda can I was holding in one hand, Yaguchi let out a short squeal and clung to Ryuji.

With the two classmates dealt with, the last one to handle was the underclassman, Yuika.

“What will you do for me if I keep your secret?”

Yuika boldly made a counteroffer.

When I chuckled at her boldness, Yuika smiled sweetly with her hands behind her back and said,

“If I ever have worries again, please give me advice. As my senior in life, you can do that, right?”

It wasn’t an unreasonable request, considering what I was thinking at first.

I nodded and extended my right hand.

“If it’s that much, sure.”

“Then it’s a deal.”

Yuika extended her hand and shook mine.

And there was Ryuji, looking back and forth between us with an uneasy expression.

It was a familiar yet strange morning commute.