The way I am

On middle school.

“Huh? Liking you? No”

On pre-high school.

“Eww, no”

On high school.

“You are a great guy but… I cannot be your girlfriend, Midori!”

And in college.

“You should try someone more of… your tastes, I am not a good girl, Midori”

The fragments of my past were coming at the same time as I was laying on the desk in front of the computer while looking at one of the books I was reading.

“Am I that ugly?”

“You are a good-looking guy, stop, don’t make me compliment you”

“I want a girlfriend…”

“Again, with that?!”

This person at the side of me is Kentaro Gin, a friend I made at the start of college and now is my coworker in this company. I am Yosuke Midori, a 25-year-old guy without a girlfriend. In my entire life, I have done nothing but study and work.

“I need to speak my heart loud otherwise I will die”

“You already look like you are dying… Can you stop feeling bad for yourself? At the start I was trying to cheer you up but is becoming a hassle at this point”

“That’s mean…”

“It’s the truth, dude. If you want a girlfriend so bad, why don’t you try to search for one in the first place?!”

“YOU TWO, KEEP IT DOWN!”

“Sorry sir! See… you get me on my nerves when you act like this, you are lucky we finished already with work so we can rest for the rest of the turn”

“Heh… bars, dance clubs, all of that is not good for me, I need to find a woman that matches my interest”

“And those interests are?... I’ll tell you this again man, no girl is going to come to your arms and jump straight to you saying that she loves you or some stuff like that… here, I’ll sending you a location, I was invited to a party and I am planning to go, come and have some fun and try something new”

“I am not going”

“See? This is your exact problem, maybe you find somewhere there, man, maybe not, but if you want to start with something try that”

“But…”

“Goddammit… look I already told you, and keep your voice down… how about if I finally play that game that you bought two months ago? You have been looking for someone in our group to play it right?”

“Thank youuuuu~”

“YOU TWO! YOU WANT MORE WORK OR WHAT?!”

“YOSUKE SHUT UP!”

And with that, the rest of the day went until the evening came. I was on my bed looking at my phone and seeing the direction that Kentaro sent me. I have attended a few parties but this one seemed big.

Should I go… I… really don’t like parties so… but…

The words of Kentaro were rumbling in my head, he was right, if I wanted to have a girlfriend, I should start by making some moves, I grabbed a nice outfit, and put some good perfume on it.

“My~ Are you going somewhere, dear?”

“I’m going out with Kentaro…”

“Oh~ Is Kentaro having a family reunion or why are you doing your hair?”

“Ugh… is… I’ll be back later mom!”

I closed the door and went out as I was waiting for my ride.

I don’t look weird, am I?

I arrived at the party and the music was loud even at the distance I was, I started to walk nervous and I could feel the gazes of everyone looking at me, I bit my lip and went inside but the moment I try a guy put his hand on my chest.

“Who are you, dude?”

“Uh… I… uhm… I am… Kentaro’s… friend…”

“Kentaro?”

“OH, Alex, that’s my friend, let him come, man!”

“Oh, you are a friend of Gin?!”

I nodded with my head.

“Oh, I didn’t know his first name hahaha sorry, here, grab some booze”

I took a bottle of beer and entered and reached where Kentaro was.

“The sound is so loud”

“What did you expect? It’s a party. Are you okay man? You seem very nervous”

“I am not good with a ton of people, you know that, I feel like everyone is looking at me”

“Is just your mind dude, try to relax, here, we are having some games”

They were all beer related games, I played for a bit and after an hour or two I sat down and saw everything, the lights, the people dancing, I could smell a ton of things at the same time and finally, I got tired of it. I touched my friend's shoulder and moved my head and we went outside.

“Hey, what is it?”

“I’m going home…”

“What?! Why?!”

“You know, I know myself very well, but this is just not my thing man, I have fun but I am dead tired, I want to rest in my way”

My friend sighed and smiled at me.

“Okay, at least you show up for a change, right? That’s enough for me, are you okay? Are you not drunk?”

“I have good tolerance, are doing good?”

“With whom do you think you are talking?”

“Don’t try to get wasted tho”

“Careful on your way home”

I nodded and left the house, I sighed as I moved my hair down and before I went home, I noticed a girl, a pretty girl, blonde hair, pretty face and a cute outfit, she was sitting around and moving her feet while looking at her phone.

Maybe it was the alcohol but I took a deep breath and approached her.

“H-Hey…”

“Hello?”

“Got tired of the noise?”

“Yeah… I like parties but right now I wanted to breathe some fresh air”

“Yeah, me too”

“My friend wanted me to come here to keep her some company but she is having a blast right now, so I wanted her to give her some space, she is not alone thought, I know a few people that are with her”

“Yeah, they didn’t seem like bad people, my friend actually invited me but he is on the same, I can hang out but I need time to recharge”

“Like a battery?”

“You may as well call me a robot for that”

“Oh~”

I move my head slowly and then I look down

“Battery… around ten percent, entering resting mode”

“Hahaha what’s with that?”

“Haha”

I took a deep breath and sighed.

Just asking her for her number is not that hard, Yosuke.

“H-Hey… if you don’t mind-“

Before I could say anything else, a bike stopped in front of us and I got a bit scared. The guy lifted the visor on his helmet and looked at the girl.

“Is he bothering you?”

“No, dummy, he is just making me company, you took so long”

The guy looked at me and I waved my hand nervously.

“You get jealous so easy… sorry for that, robot-guy, my boyfriend is just like that”

“Ah haha don’t worry, I’m glad I made you not feel that bored while waiting”

“Thanks, I’ll invite you something next time if you come to another party”

“S-Sure…”

The girl got up on the bike hugging her boyfriend while he put a helmet on her and look at me one last time.

He looked down and before he accelerated, he said.

“I’m sorry”

I sighed and looked at the sky.

“Figures…”

After that I called a ride and stopped at my local convenience store grabbing some snacks. I was seeing the coffee brands.

Oh, I love this one, lucky, is the last one-

The moment I tried to get it, my hand hit another one and I flinched. When I looked on the other side I saw a girl, she had her hair down and had bangs, wearing a large hoodie and a skirt with pantyhose.

“Are you getting that one?”

Her voice was quite rude, I grabbed the coffee but after seeing it for a bit I offered her.

“Here”

She took it

“Thanks”

I nodded and I stuck around seeing other brands. She went to the register to pay but I couldn’t stop gazing at her.

That hoodie is from the game I bought…

I grabbed another can of coffee and went to pay for it. I entered my home and saw one light on in the kitchen, there was a plate with a note written on it.

I know you want something light to eat, so I made you this, made sure you eat it! Mom.

I smiled and took the plate to my room, it was a plate of Tonteki.

I am actually starving…

The clock marked 11PM, I turned on my computer and looked outside.

Yeah… this is more like me, maybe I should start appreciating this… I have a good job, a good family, good friends… and…

On the monitor were the words: WELCOME TO THE HUNT!

I smirked and opened my coffee

“It's time to get serious now…”