I Accidentally Sent a Love Letter to the School's Most Prestigious Young Lady Instead of My Childhood Friend, and Now She's Bowing to Me, Asking, "Please Date Me—On the Premise of Marriage!" - 1

“I’d like to date with the intention of marriage ♡“

At Private Saiun Academy High School. Behind the school building after classes, I—Yuu Kisaragi, a mob character—had been told this by Shion Sayaka, the academy’s top young lady.

“…Huh?”

Why… how did this happen?

Even as I thought this, I couldn’t take my eyes off Shion-san in front of me.

Her long black hair, wet-feather colored, shimmered translucent in the afternoon sunlight. Her slender eyelashes fluttered with every blink, and her facial features were so perfectly arranged they were mesmerizing. With her supple limbs and pale, translucent skin, even the air around her seemed to be a different color.

…Yeah, seriously, she’s the “School’s Princess.”

Even though her grades were excellent and her family background was exceptional, she treated everyone equally with compassionate kindness—the “School’s Princess.” But still, she wasn’t someone a nobody like me could talk to one-on-one.

“Kisaragi-kun’s love letter was incredibly passionate.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she turned a smiling face toward me. I panicked but managed to squeeze out some words.

“Love letter… what are you talking about?”

“My, my. ‘From your dear Yuu-sama, I’m your man, you know!!’—didn’t you passionately write down your burning feelings by hand?”

Shion-san looked down slightly, blushing shyly. As if reminiscing about the contents of that letter.

“…No way!?”

“Yes. The feelings you penned in your own handwriting, addressed to me.”

“…Th-that thing… is that it!?”

“Yes. That’s the one.”

Shion-san smiled brightly. “I’m glad you understand.”

No way… Could it be that I made a mistake!? I asked myself, recalling what happened.

Yesterday, fed up with the usual teasing and taunting from my childhood friend Haru Sakura—or rather, my pent-up emotions finally exploded—half in jest, half in earnest, I shoved a mock love letter into Haru’s shoe locker.

Haru, Shion-san, and I are classmates. The shoe lockers for “Haru Sakura” and “Shion Sayaka,” both starting with ‘S,’ are next to each other.

I made a mistake… I misfired!?

“Could it be… what I wrote…?”

“Yes. The love letter.”

“Love letter…”

“It was more passionate than any I’ve ever read before.”

As Shion-san answered with a full-faced smile, I screamed internally, “I screwed up!!”

That “thing” I scribbled down with all my pent-up emotions, thinking it would be fine since Haru and I have known each other since we were kids and I understand her well… That thing… of all people, even if by mistake, I put it in the shoe locker of the School’s Princess, Shion-san!

This is bad. I have to do something.

“Letters are rather old-fashioned these days, aren’t they? But my heart raced at your handwritten words, not some smartphone text.”

“Um, well… that was, you know…”

“Yes, what about it?”

“A mistake… or something like that…”

“A mistake…?”

Shion-san’s expression clouded slightly. Crap, I can’t upset or anger Shion-san.

Shion-san is polite and gentle to everyone. But if she finds out I sent a half-mocking love letter, even by mistake, who knows how she’d react.

If I anger her, she’s at the top of the academy hierarchy. A mob like me, stuck in the second-and-a-half tier… I’m finished.

I decided to change my strategy.

“No, it’s just that… Shion-san, you know, someone like me is just a mob, but you get confessed to by the handsome, popular guys at school too, right? What about the soccer team captain or the basketball club president…”

Shion-san stared intently at me as I said this.

“Are you recommending other gentlemen to the person who wrote you a love letter?”

“No, no, no. It’s not that I wrote a bunch of lies, but after sending it, I realized I was aiming too high and reflected on it. Someone like Shion-san must have plenty of guys better than me…”

Shion-san chuckled lightly and began to speak.

“Those so-called handsome, popular guys at school, they might seem refreshing at first glance, but they’re desperately trying to make themselves look good. They have ulterior motives but hide them, only concerned with how to appear better…”

“Huh…?”

“In contrast, Kisaragi-kun, you’re sincere, or rather, you don’t hide your true feelings. I was struck by that. Of course, it helps that we’re classmates and I’ve been watching you often.”

“Sincere and not hiding anything…?”

“Yes. Everyone has a true self they don’t show others. Of course, I too have hidden desires that aren’t apparent from my appearance. I dislike that base mentality of hiding natural ulterior motives as if they’re bad and deceiving others to look better. I may seem to treat everyone gently, but I actually don’t like those handsome, popular types.”

“…That’s quite, um… different from public perception, and rather harsh.”

“Yes. I’m harsh on the inside. So, I was struck by Kisaragi-kun’s straightforward, unreserved letter. I thought, what a sincere person. You’re really a man who shows exactly what he is, Kisaragi-kun.”

“Are you praising me or making fun of me…?”

Hehe, Shion-san laughed with a mischievous face I’d never seen before.

“‘I’m always thinking about you…’ or something.”

Shion-san began reciting my text. Ugh, my own words pierce my heart.

“‘The only one who’ll truly care about you is this Yuu-sama…’ or something.”

Ughh.

“‘You’re my treat for tonight…’ or something.”

Ughhh. Shion-san, smiling, seemed to enjoy and be happy watching my reaction as she continued.

“‘You probably don’t know how crazy I am about you, so I’ll tell you!! Next time, in front of all the students, I’ll push you down and mess you up…'”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh—!!”

I couldn’t take it and cut off Shion-san’s words with a shout.

“I’m sorry, I apologize, I’m really sorry!!”

At my line, Shion-san laughed out loud, sounding satisfied.

“Kisaragi-kun, I think it took courage. It was a letter overflowing with genuine emotion, hiding neither love nor desire.”

“…………”

This is bad. My heart’s pounding wildly. I’m dizzy. My head’s a mess, on the verge of panic.

“Ah, I know! That love letter, maybe it wasn’t me who sent it, but someone else… Like a false confession or a fake love letter.”

It was just a thought that came to me in my desperation to do something.

But Shion-san stuck out her tongue cutely and replied.

“Actually, I saw you. I saw you putting the love letter in my shoe locker. I was so surprised my heart almost jumped out of my mouth, but at the same time, I was overjoyed.”

…It’s over.

The sparkle in her eyes. The blush on her cheeks. That smile filled with trust and affection—I can’t destroy it.

“Well then, let’s go home together. We’re going to the station together, right?”

“…Yes.”

In the end, without finding a chance to speak up, I was dragged along by Shion-san as we left the school behind.

However, what I learned from this conversation was that Shion-san is indeed Shion-san. I still thought at the time that if I found the right moment to explain, she’d surely forgive me… I had no idea this would be the beginning of my romantic comedy hell.