Chapter 1 – “The Tomboy Next Door

“GOOOOAL!”

The shout echoed through Class 2-B. A soccer ball slammed into the blackboard, bounced off a desk, and — thunk! — hit Daichi Sakamoto right in the face.

“...Ow.”

Every head in the classroom turned toward the culprit — a girl with a wild ponytail, red face, and absolutely zero sense of shame.

“Oops! My bad, Daichi!” Riko Tachibana ran over and crouched beside him, trying not to laugh. “You should’ve dodged!”

“How could I dodge a soccer ball indoors, Riko-bro?” Daichi groaned, rubbing his cheek.

And there it was — that nickname.

The one that stabbed her pride like a rusty spoon.

“Don’t call me that!” she snapped. “I’m not your bro!”

The class erupted in laughter. Someone at the back shouted, “Sorry, Riko-bro! You’re just too manly!”

Riko’s eyebrow twitched. “You wanna repeat that!?”

Half the class cowered immediately. Daichi, ever the clown, just smiled that easygoing grin that made her heart skip for some reason.

“You can’t really blame them,” he said, stretching. “You did score more goals than the entire boys’ team last week.”

“That’s not the point!” she yelled, kicking his chair leg.

The teacher entered seconds later and sighed so deeply it sounded like she’d aged ten years. “Tachibana. Sakamoto. If you’re done playing World Cup 2-B Edition, take your seats.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Riko said quickly, saluting like a soldier.

As she sat down, she heard whispers behind her.

“Man, Riko’s so cool.”

“Yeah, she’s basically one of us.”

“I’d totally pick her for my team over any guy.”

Her jaw tightened.

“Basically one of us.”

The words stung more than she wanted to admit.

---

After school, Riko walked beside Daichi down the narrow road leading home. The evening sun stretched their shadows long and thin.

“So…” Daichi started, kicking a pebble ahead. “You’re mad again, huh?”

“I’m not mad.”

“You’re totally mad.”

“I said I’m not!”

He grinned. “You’ve got that scary vein popping on your forehead again.”

Riko turned away. “Whatever. You wouldn’t get it.”

“Get what?”

“That I’m a girl, idiot!”

Daichi blinked. “Uh… yeah? I know that?”

“Then stop calling me bro!”

“But it’s, like, tradition!” he protested. “We’ve been saying it since third grade! You can’t just—”

She stopped walking and glared at him. “Tradition? What am I, a shrine?”

He chuckled, hands in his pockets. “It’s just… it suits you.”

Riko opened her mouth to argue, but the way he smiled — that relaxed, warm, Daichi smile — made her lose her words for a moment.

Her face heated up. “Whatever! You’re hopeless!”

He blinked. “Wait, what’d I do now?”

“Everything!” she yelled, storming ahead.

Daichi scratched his head and sighed. “She’s weird lately.”

---

That night, Riko lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her phone buzzed with a message from Mina Hanazawa, her best friend:

> Mina: I heard you kicked a soccer ball at Daichi again 😂

Riko: It was an accident!

Mina: Sure~ anyway, you’ve been grumpy lately. Spill it.

Riko frowned.

How was she supposed to explain that every time Daichi smiled, her stomach flipped? That when he called her “bro,” her heart weirdly hurt?

> Riko: It’s nothing. He’s just annoying.

Mina: That’s not “nothing.” You like him, don’t you~ 💕

Riko choked on air.

> Riko: NO I DON’T!!

Mina: Uh-huh. Sure you don’t.

She buried her face in her pillow. “Stupid Mina… stupid Daichi…”

The truth she didn’t want to say out loud was simple.

She did like him.

Always had, maybe.

She just wished he’d see her as more than the loud, sporty tomboy next door.

---

The next morning, Daichi waved to her from across the street.

“Yo, Riko-bro!”

The words hit like a slap. She forced a grin and waved back, though something stung in her chest.

Maybe she was one of the guys in his eyes.

But for once… she wanted to be the girl standing beside him — not behind him on the soccer field.

She kicked a pebble hard down the road and muttered under her breath,

“I’m not your bro, Daichi… I’m a girl.”

The pebble rolled ahead, stopping right at Daichi’s shoes. He turned, smiling, oblivious as ever.

“Hey, you coming or what?”

Riko sighed and followed him, heart beating a little too fast for her own comfort.