Chapter 19: Is This Girl a Meme Queen?

“Why? You’re asking me why?”

Yamazaki Miki sets down her spoon, her gaze landing on Suzuki Hikaru, who’s squirming like she’s sitting on pins. Yingcheng High’s female uniform is famously cute, but Hikaru’s seems a size too big, hanging loosely on her frame. Oddly, it gives her a unique, relaxed vibe. Though her thick bangs hide most of her face like an iron curtain, Miki’s sharp senses pick up something—this girl’s a hidden gem waiting to be polished!

“You…” Miki cuts straight to the chase. “You’re pretty cute, you know?”

“Huh?” Hikaru freezes, not grasping Miki’s intent, stuck in her seat.

“Don’t you know? Your face shape’s great—chin’s just sharp enough, lips small and delicate. Your cheeks are a bit chubby, but it makes your face adorably round. And your nose? Stunning. Narrow, straight bridge, high root—like a foreigner’s. Suzuki-san, any mixed ancestry in your family?”

“Uh, um… my grandma’s British…” Hikaru stammers.

“No wonder you’ve got that nose! People pay for plastic surgery to get that look—it makes features pop. You’ve got it naturally. So many would be jealous!” As she speaks, Miki casually reaches out and lightly lifts Hikaru’s bangs.

The sudden move catches Hikaru off guard, leaving her no time to dodge. Frozen, she catches a faint minty scent from Miki’s wrist, her mind spiraling into chaos.

“Wow… gorgeous blue eyes!” Miki exclaims. “I heard mixed-race looks are a gamble, with high highs and low lows, but girl, you hit the jackpot! So cute! You’re not an idol or a magazine model?”

Hikaru, overwhelmed by the barrage of sincere compliments, blushes furiously. It’s the first time anyone outside her family has showered her with so much praise. A wave of satisfaction washes over her, making her feel like a warmed mochi—soft and melty. “Huh? Oh? Uh, haha… thanks… hehe, ehehe—”

Her presence in Class 1-A is as faint as in the astronomy club—barely noticeable. To her, Miki’s the queen of the class’s extrovert clique, able to chat happily with anyone. Hikaru envies that charisma, even feeling a tiny pang of jealousy deep down.

During lunch break, she planned to eat her family-made bento alone in a bathroom or some quiet corner, like last semester. She knows her family hopes the bento will help her bond with classmates. But for Hikaru, walking up like an extrovert and saying, “Can I eat with you guys?” then seamlessly joining a group’s chat rhythm? Hiss— So hard. No, impossibly hard. Like sending a newbie adventurer straight to fight the demon king.

Last semester, she once mustered the courage to wander the classroom with her bento, circling three or four times. After locking onto a target and closing the (physical) distance, she realized—oops, they’d already finished eating. She took it as a sign from fate, ate alone, and called it a day. A lousy excuse, she knew, but she planned to use it for all three years of high school.

Today, though, Miki approached her. “Suzuki-san, wanna hit the cafeteria together? You’re up for it, right?”

Her brain pinged with an old-school RPG sound effect: [Class 1-A Social Queen Yamazaki Miki used Invite on Newbie Adventurer Suzuki Hikaru.]

She could’ve declined with, “Oh, I brought a bento,” but the words morphed into, “Uh? Oh… sure…”

Initially, she feared Miki might make weird demands. But after that conversation, most of her guard melted away. No idea why, but Yamazaki-san’s praising someone like me… Could it be? She’s actually super nice? Oh, right! She’s close with Shangguan-san, and he’s a great person, so she must be too… Hikaru’s inner monologue runs wild.

Sadly, Miki can’t read minds. Seeing Hikaru lap up the praise, she smiles and pushes forward. “Suzuki-san?”

“Ah, I’m here, I’m here, go on.” Snapping out of her daze, Hikaru sits up straight, eyes sparkling with anticipation, as if saying, “What’s the next compliment?”

“Haha, you’re way more interesting than I thought!”

“Huh, really? Hehe, thanks…” Maybe because it’s another girl, Hikaru feels safe, her words flowing more freely as her mood lifts. “Actually, not gonna lie, in second grade, my family pushed me to join a rakugo newbie contest…”

“Whoa! That’s awesome! Did you win anything?”

“Uh… I got eliminated in the first round.” Hikaru lowers her head, the air growing heavy with bad memories. “I was so nervous on stage, I couldn’t say a word. The judges tried to lighten the mood, joking, ‘Little lady, this is a rakugo contest, not a mime show.’ But my legs shook so bad I fainted. After that, I got called the ‘Rakugo Contest’s Mime Tap-Dance Queen.’ People remembered it till junior high. Haha, hahaha—”

“Uh…” Miki’s silenced by this self-deprecating tale told like an outsider’s report. Does this girl have to air her trauma to someone she just met? Wait, no. Is she the type to turn her past into comedy fodder? Is she secretly a masochist meme queen?