[Ubaware] Chapter Two

          I wasn’t what you’d call a defeatist or anything. Whenever Komaki and I competed in something, I always approached it with the intention of winning, and losing never sat well with me.

          Especially since the scores I achieved in our most recent midterm exams were the highest they’d ever been, I was confident I’d come out on top this time. That’s why the disappointment hit me so hard when I lost.

          At the same time, I felt like giving my past self a huge slap across the face for gambling away something so important – my dignity.

          「… Umezono.」

          I said, remaining still with my hands on the buttons of my pajamas.

          Komaki sat confidently on my bed, looking at me with amusement. There was a mix of curiosity and sadism in her eyes, along with other emotions that I couldn’t quite make out.

          I found her incomprehensible. But above all, I sensed shame and anger bubbling up within me.

          As usual, every interaction with Komaki fueled my heart with anger.

          However, since losing the bet with her, a sense of shame began to blend in too.

          「Hurry up and get changed. Your breakfast is starting to get cold, you know?」

          The way she said “breakfast” was a little cute, but the grin on her face was far from it. If anything, it was detestable. Even though objectively speaking, her face was very attractive, I found it so annoying.

          I guess the human mind works in mysterious ways.

          「I’ll get changed once you leave the room, Umezono.」

          I addressed Komaki by her family name, “Umezono,” both as a form of protest and a hint of hostility.

          「I’m not going anywhere… Listen, Wakaba. I’m only going to say this once because it seems like you’ve forgotten your place, but currently, you have no say and no human rights.」

          Her statement, considering our upbringing in a country with a constitutional government, made me roll my eyes. I considered recommending a thorough reading of the constitution to her, but I had a feeling that, in Komaki’s eyes, her own “laws” carried more weight than the constitution.

          「And if you’re not happy with that, then you should hurry up and come up with something to compete in. Otherwise, it’ll just stay like this forever.」

          Three days had already gone by since I lost to her, and I still hadn’t figured out what to challenge her to.

          It wasn’t like I’d given up or anything. But besides her personality, she was practically a superhuman, so if I chose something at random, I would undoubtedly lose.

          But if I waited any longer, my dignity would continue to erode, much like what was about to happen in a moment.

          There was nothing embarrassing about being seen changing by someone of the same sex. However, when it was Komaki watching, it was a different story.

          Her gaze felt indecent – not necessary in a sexual way, but there was something unsettling about it. My body grew restless and uneasy, sensing the weight of her malicious stare upon me.

          Moreover, even if it wasn’t Komaki, I’m sure anyone would have disliked being watched by someone who stared without even blinking.

          It’s not like my body is an art painting meant for a museum or anything. I know I’m not much of a looker, so just cut me some slack already!

          「Hah…」

          I heaved a sigh before I went back to getting dressed.

          I hate this. I hate this. I really hate this.

          The more I thought of it that way, the more I hated it. If I could just remain calm and stop paying attention to my surroundings, my mind would naturally settle down along with it.

          I started humming as I undid the buttons on my clothes.

          「Sounds awful.」

          「Shut up.」

          Even after turning away from her, I could still hear Komaki’s breathing and voice, as much as I didn’t want to. Strangely, it made me self-conscious, causing me to feel even more embarrassed.

          Stay calm… Stay calm…

          「Wow, so small.」

          What are you calling ‘small’?!

          I sensed her coming up from behind, but if I were to react to what she said, it felt like I was admitting defeat somehow. So, I continued changing as if it were no big deal.

          「Your height hasn’t changed since middle school… Oh, and here too.」

          Her warm hand grazed my back – or, more accurately, my bra hook. Feeling her hand about to move forward, I instinctively pulled away.

          What? What was that all about?!

          Her asking me to kiss her the other day was one thing, but what the heck was she trying to do just now? What else did she want from me?

          I glared at her as I quickly put my uniform on and retreated towards the door.

          「If you keep that cheeky attitude of yours up, I’m going to have to come up with some… ideas.」

          There was no way I could bring myself to ask, “Like what?” because I was certain she had something unpleasant in mind.

          Komaki and I despised each other. Yet, after spending an unreasonably long time in each other’s company, I could almost predict her thoughts – especially the malicious ones.

          「Okay, I’ve decided what our next match will be.」

          「Hm?」

          Komaki, who was slowly walking towards me, tilted her head. She was a lot bigger than me, making her seem rather intimidating.

          Komaki could be described as having a model-like figure. She wasn’t just tall; her limbs were gracefully long, giving the impression that she could easily confine someone like me within the prison of those limbs.

          So, in order to restrain her, I challenged her to something she wasn’t guaranteed to win.

          「Singing! Let’s have a competition based on our karaoke scores. The one with the highest score wins. How’s that?!」

          I said as I proudly puffed my chest out. Komaki briefly glanced at my chest and snorted.

          Hey now, what’s that supposed to mean?!

          「Sure, but don’t forget… Every time you lose, you’ll have to surrender something you cherish to me.」

          If I didn’t challenge her to a match, I might have ended up losing the things I cherished one by one. However, if I lose the match, in the end, I will still gradually lose everything anyway.

          On the other hand, if I chose to avoid her, she’d make sure there was no place left for me at school.

          No matter how you looked at it, I was like a mouse that was being cornered into a trap. Or maybe I was already caught in the trap, but… But…!

          I couldn’t falter here. Everyone had their shortcomings. I was banking on the possibility of Komaki being tone-deaf, which was why I proposed the match in the first place.

          「You haven’t forgotten either, right? If I win, I get my dignity back!」

          「Of course. If you win, that is.」

          Not to brag or anything, but I was pretty good at singing. Komaki called my humming “awful” earlier, but whenever I went to karaoke with my friends, my scores were consistently above 90, so even I should have a good chance of winning against Komaki.

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TL Notes: I’m not sure how common this is outside of Asia, but in Japan, many karaoke booths have scoring systems based on how well you sing. Generally, it takes several factors like pitch accuracy, timing and volume into account and matches it against the original recording to generate a score for you. I’ve personally never seen it where I live, but this is what Wakaba is suggesting for their next match.

As a side note, Ubaware (the shorthand that’s used for this series on Sneaker Bunko) is receiving a manga adaptation coming in February 2024. Rejoice, yuri fans!

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