"Hello Tetsudai-san, turns out the boy I like might have a crush on somebody else, what should I do?"
Hmmm. This is a tough one.
As I thought it over I walked over to my bookshelf scanning till my eyes landed on the volume the question brought to mind.
"Ah there it is, [Our Hard To Follow Love Triangle!]."
This was volume 3, where the MC spent most of the story observing his main love interest to find out if she had a crush on somebody else, and after many trials and tribulations he finally discovered it had been a rumor spread by another girl who liked him.
"It sucks the story took a dark turn in volume 4, I've never really been into the brutal tags."
I scanned through the prevalent chapters to refresh my memory before answering the question.
"Hello Koyori-chan! Tetsudai-san here, sounds like you're in a tough spot! Don't fret though, I have a simple plan for you to get to the bottom of this. Observe and listen to your surroundings and those close to your crush, try to get closer to the people around your crush subtly and try to get to the bottom of this. For all you know it could simply be a rumor being spread as well by somebody else who has a crush on them as well! I hope this helps you in your quest for true love!"
I hit send and leaned back in my computer chair. Not even a minute later a notification chimed to alert me the payment had come through.
You must be confused so let me lay it out for you more clearly. My name is Tetsu Handai, I'm in my first year of high school. When I was in middle school I started this account called Tetsudai-san to give love and relationship advice for a small fee. It started out very small and slow but nowadays I'm getting questions around the clock and spend a few hours before school and after school answering questions and giving advice. That's the long and short of it for now.
I looked over at my clock and saw the time.
"Eight o'clock already? Guess I'm skipping the shower today."
I put on my uniform, grabbed my bag and headed downstairs.
"Tetsu, finally awake?"
My dad stares over his laptop asking me.
"Haha, ah...yeah. I slept through my alarm tee hee."
He sighs and looks back down at his work. My father is your generic stoic father figure. Wants what's best for his kids, tough love, all that junk.
"Why can't you be responsible like your older sister?" he says while pointing with his thumb over to the kitchen where my older sister is cleaning up from making breakfast.
"Tetsu, do you wanna walk with me to school today?" my older sister asks.
My older sister is his ideal child. Wakes up early, makes breakfast, cleans up, gets good grades, has plenty of friends, and is quite a looker.
Her dark black hair is tied back neatly into a ponytail that runs half down her back with just a few bangs hanging down over the side of her picture perfect face.
Ah, of course, don't worry, this isn't one of those stories, I have zero interest in my own flesh and blood, I'm simply stating the facts, she is blessed with good looks.
"No thanks, I don't want my friends to think I'm a sis-con."
I grab a banana from the counter leaving my sister behind.
"W-what?! Hey Tetsu-"
"I'm off!"
I put in my earbuds and start my playlist of anisong/vtuber music and start my walk to school while munching on my banana.
As I round a corner I close my eyes and brace myself.....but nothing happens.
There's no girl running with toast in her mouth to bump into. This is reality.
Touching back on my Tetsudai-san account. You might be wondering why I was looking at a LN for reference when answering that last question. Well, turns out, despite this being reality, my LN and eroge knowledge translates to extremely successful romantic and relationship advice. Right? Who knew? Thanks to that though, my hobby feeds my part time job which then feeds back into my hobby. A vicious cycle with no end in sight. Most importantly of all though....it's all a secret. I don't want anyone knowing I'm Tetsudai-san, I don't want the attention of expectations that come with that. Think of the kind of guy who those girls think is behind all this great advice! A total hunk, a guy who's been around the block, one that has REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE! If I was ever exposed, my account would be ruined and my extra income which feeds my hobby would go down the drain.
I wouldn't want the attention that came with it either, I'm happy to have a small circle of friends and none of them have to know about it. They're friends with me because I'm me, not because of Tetsudai-san.
As I get closer to the school gates I put away my ear buds and pause my music.
"Ah crap, the gate is gonna close!"
I start to rush towards the gate.
THUD
"Ouch....huh?"
I look over to the girl who seemed to have the same idea as me, also on her butt on the ground.
"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you, I was just rushing cause I didn't want to get stuck outside when the gate closed!" she says standing up and slightly bowing.
As I looked over her, she was quite good looking. She had emerald green eyes with freckles smattered here and there across her nose and cheeks and brown hair with blonde highlights tied loosely at the ends into short ponytails.
"Ah no problem..."
I picked up my phone and earbuds I dropped in the collision and started walking away.
"Ah, h-hey wait. You're just gonna walk away from me? No apology? Seriously!?"
I glanced back to see her standing in place blinking in bewilderment as her voice trailed off.
Should I have apologized? Maybe.
Unfortunately I didn't have the time, I had a very important meeting before class I simply had to make.
I made my way to the stairwell leading to the roof.
"Hey, Tetsu, you were cutting it close man!"
"Sorry, my bad, I slept through my alarm tee hee."
"'Tee hee' my ass."
"Forget about that, you got the goods?"
"Of course, who do you think I am?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you Yuuki-senpai!" as I grovel to him
"Heh, as long as my snarky little kouhai knows his place all is well!" he says rubbing his nose
I reach into my pocket and hand him 10,000 yen.
He counts it, making sure it's all there.
"Man, where do you get all this cash anyways Tetsu?"
"Don't worry about it senpai, now hand over the goods!"
"Fine, take a chill pill. Here, took me ages to find this one."
He handed me a manila envelope sealed with a certain type of game inside that would get us both in deep trouble if discovered on school grounds.
I quickly peek inside to make sure it's there and flash a big smile once confirmed. I quickly shove it into my bag.
"You came through again Yuuki-senpai, good doing business with you once again!"
"Yeah yeah, so, you coming over tonight tonight to watch the new episode of J*****u K****n? Also stop calling me senpai, it's weird when we've known each other forever."
We talk as we head back towards the lower floors.
"Nah, I can't tonight, got something to do."
"Man, you always have 'something to do'."
"Anyways like I said Yuuki, no can do tonight."
"You're just gonna be busy playing that game right?"
"...n-no comment."
"Whatever man, you do you."
"Yeah, see you later."
He heads down the corridor for the 2nd years as I head downstairs to the first years corridor.
That was Yuuki Nishimura. He's a year older than me but I've known him since I was 4. We've always gone to the same schools, we both love anime and games as well. Despite being an otaku though, Yuuki has the looks of a model on the cover of a male fashion magazine.
Even though I consider him my best friend, I curse him from the depths of my virgin soul, for myself and every other teenage boy at this school.
Despite being his best friend, we're on complete opposite ends of the school caste spectrum.
My life growing up around Yuuki was akin to being the best friend of a perfect romcom protagonist. A background character, acknowledged every once in a while by the supporting characters and female leads, but never the focus. If only they knew his favorite doujin tags hehehehe.
As I was musing to myself I arrived at classroom 1-C.