Chapter 2: Troublesome Situation

By the time I arrived at the school, it was already almost time for class. Well, my club president set this rule that we had to go to the club every morning so I had to hurry on the way to my clubroom while ignoring the looks and attention from the people around me. *sigh* Though my looks as a girl is only a little above average, but I guess being a childhood friend and a sister to the two most popular guys in school is getting me famous in a not really good way. I really am sick of being compared to all the beautiful people around me.

“Look at that girl. Only with a look like that and still acts so arrogant sticking to Shelton and Enri’s side like a gum.” *twitch* Would you at least tell me with what or when the h*ll you saw me acting arrogant?! FYI, it’s Shelton and Enri who keeps sticking to me when I must be the one who most want to run away to the other side of the planet!

“So gross! It’s not even winter so what is she wearing that scarf for?” *twitch* Excuse me for wearing a scarf in spring, but I’m weak to the cold you know, and this scarf is my defense item for your so called harassments of my appearance! Geez, when I don’t wear my scarf, I got told off for wanting attention with my above average face, but now that I wear my scarf you say I’m gross. Should I be happy that I graduated from attention-grabbing to being gross?

“Shameless, just because she gets a little attention, and here she acts like everyone is invisible to her.” *twitch* You know I have never asked for such attention, and do I have to smile and thank you for all the harsh remarks you people are spitting at me? Like instead of ignoring you I should go: Thank you for the praise while flashing a sunshine smile??

Ugh, my mouth is getting tired from all the twitching already. It didn’t use to be this bad at school but ever since my brother went out with Kana, ridiculous rumors about me have been circulating around at school like I have a serious brother complex or I am a sadist or I’m monopolizing Shelton and Enri and so on. What a joke! It’s definitely that rotten K*nt*cky or whatever’s doings, just wait until Enri gets sick of you, and I’ll get back the debt two fold from you. Even if I look like this, I’m a black belt Taekwondo and I also practice other arts in a dojo. Even if I were to lose, I’d just get one of my seniors or masters in the dojo to send you straight to a porridge-special hospital, huhuhu. By the way, one of my masters in the dojo is also a teacher here, that’s why I can ask him to give me some justice.

*Thud*

“Oww..” while hanging my head low lost in thought, I accidentally bumped into somebody in front of the club door.

“What…? Serika, what are you doing dazing like a dumb robot?” The one speaking is no one else but my club president, Takamiya Chizu.

“Ah… Chizu-senpai” With long straight black hair and big brown eyes, she is one of the top beauties in the school. With a face that screams ‘’I’m a weak girl, please protect me.”, you would never think that such a cute girl is the ace of the Taekwondo club.

“Are you checking in for this morning? The meeting is already over though.” Chizu-senpai asked with a smile. Aah, such an angel, somehow I always think of my cute sister from my previous life whenever I look at her.

“Yes…Are you already leaving for class?” She is Enri’s classmate so her classroom should be on the upper floor.

“Yes I am. By the way, there is no club today. The club room is closed for cleaning, you see. Hmm, I don’t see Enri and Shelton with you today.” She said smiling after gazing around the empty area behind me.

“They got ‘sugared’ by Kana and the others on the way…… left them behind.” They would usually follow behind me when I come to my clubroom so I guess it ‘is’ strange for her to not see them today.

Really I don’t know if this is one of the scenario of the game [Grimoire Knights] or not. There wasn’t even that much information of Shelton’s life before being summoned but I get the feeling that the two are quite over-protective over Serika. For example, walking to and from school together, having lunch together, walking to class together, and even going with me to the clubroom everyday. Rather, I know we’re close as childhood friends and siblings but don’t they get tired of doing it everyday? I, for once, would like them to stop, as it just makes me gather more hate from their fans. It looks as if I’m hogging them all for myself, you know.

By the way, I wonder did Serika get bullied as much when she was in school? The harassments so far are manageable as I have fast reflexes but things sometimes tend to get out of hand, and there are even times that I got into arguments with Enri and Shelton.

“Serika??” Senpai’s voice brought me back to reality. I seem to have been standing in a daze while thinking about such stuff.

“Sorry, senpai.”

“It’s alright. Then see you tomorrow.” Chizu-senpai finished then walked to the stairs while waving to me with her angel smile. Waving back to her until I no longer see her back, I fixed my scarf in place and start to walk to class.

Aah! I forgot to give her book back!

Hmm, I should just text Enri to tell her for me since they are in the same class anyway.

It didn’t take long until I got to my class.

“Ah, Serika!” The first one who noticed me when I entered the classroom was Shelton. Hmm, the fact that he’s here means that Kana has finally let him off, huh.

“Why did you just go ahead without me? We talked a lot about you. It would’ve been fun if everyone walked together.” Or so he said with his usual smile.

*sigh* come on, at least let me get to my seat first before sending that plagued gazes would you? You too Shelton. Stop following me especially when you have rows of girls behind your back.

Really, this guy is so clueless that I feel like I’m talking to a mental monster sometimes.

“Ah, yeah.” While giving him a half-hearted reply, I walked to my seat, ignoring Shuu and the gazes of everyone else.

“Shelton~ we were talking about today after school. Let’s go to karaoke after club, ok?”

“Er, sorry. Today I kinda want to rest so…” He gave the girls a sorry smile and only then did they reluctantly let him off.

“So what do you want to talk about?” Seeing him standing there not going back to his seat, I asked to get this over with.

“Ah, Seri-chan really knows me best, don’t you?”

“Stop with that -chan already. Got a favor to ask or something again?” Others might not be able to read his all-smiles expression but me as his long term friend, there is no way I can’t.

“Serika, you know I’m in the basketball club right?” He said as he took a seat in front of my table and turned around to face me.

“Yeah…so you want me to go cheer your match?”

“Yep! You know Enri is also playing and this time it’s also against that East Middle school.”

“Hmm, is it an official match?”

“It’s only a practice match but I know you won’t go to the official match like usual, so can you at least come cheer us on today?” I don’t really like places with too many people but since I didn’t get to cheer for their previous games, I guess this time is fine. I also heard that East Middle school is tough.

“Fine, but on one condition.”

“Yes! It’s fine by me. Anything you want Serika.” Happily smiling, I swear I saw imaginary tails and ears on Shelton just then.

“You have to win.” I said with a small smile. If I were to be there and cheer, of course they have to win.

“Of course!” Looking a bit surprised after hearing that, he responded in a firm voice and with a bright smile.

Is he really this happy that I’m going to watch his match? I haven’t seen him smile like this for a while. It’s a little different from his usual all-smiles expression, how do I say it, this somehow looks like his heartfelt smile.

*Ding*Dong*Ding*

Oh, class is starting.

“You promised to come alright?” Shelton asked for another confirmation.

“I got it already. I’ll definitely be there so go back to your seat.”

*Kyaa!!!*

“Shelton and Enri-sama are both playing today! This is such a hot event~”

What greeted me just when I got to the gym was the shrieks from the girls. Geez, how did this got leaked? Isn’t this just a private match?

“Serika? There you are. Come here.”

Just when I am hesitating whether to go in through the crowd of girls or not, Enri who had stealthily gotten behind me called out to me, and pulled me into the gym through all the ruckus.

“Kyaa, Enri-sama~<3 pull us in too!”

“Ugh…” Hearing the shrieks at point blank range, I feel like my ears would burst.

“Ugh, this is too noisy, SHUT UP!!” Seems like Enri got passed his limit as he glared at them after shouting. The girls turned quiet from Enri’s momentum, and only after we got passed them did they seem to snap back to reality.

“Kyaa!! Enri-sama! That glare, so cool~”

Even without looking in the mirror, I can tell that I have an extremely apethic expression on. Once again, I realized how it is to be such a fangirl, and strengthening my resolve to not be one of them towards either Shelton or Enri in the future.

Enri pulled me until we arrived at the seats at the front row, just a bit away from the place where our school players are staying at.

“Tsk! Aoyama! You and your big mouth! Why did you have to tell the girls?!” Enri shouted to a slightly thin boy just a little bit away from Shelton, who was walking towards us. The boy named Aoyama, flinched after seeing Enri’s glare.

“Hahaha, stop it Enri, it was the president’s intention to have the girls cheering for us in the first place.” Shelton spoke before turning to me.

“Serika, you came.” Uuu… that same smile again. Sorry but I’ve already gotten over it years ago.

“I promised, didn’t I?” After answering him, I tried to walk to the seats and took a random one to sit. Only I got yanked back with the first step, realizing that Enri still haven’t released my hand.

“Let go.”

“Ah, I forgot. I got so excited since this time Serika is coming to cheer me on.” Correction, I came to cheer Shelton on, and ‘you’ are just a by-product.

“*sigh* yeah, yeah.”

“Me too. I got excited that I got to play with nice opponents and that Serika is here.”

Shelton actually got on with Enri this time huh. Truth be told, I am also excited. This is literally the first time ever I am watching a basketball game as I spent a lot of time in the hospital and on animes or mangas in my previous life. I also heard that Shelton and Enri are very good at it as they are both tall for their age. Well, it is information from their fans though I don’t know if they are really that good.

“Come on, Serika. Can’t you be more encouraging for us? Give a smile or at least call me brother Enri or something.”

“Hey, Shelton, Enri!! The coach is calling for you!” Just as Enri started whining for attention from me. They got called in for a briefing from the coach.

“Serika~”

“I guess we have to go now, huh. By the way, Serika, your seat is over there, next to Kana and Mina. Get along ok?” Wait… why do I have to sit with Kana and that… Mina? Isn’t that place plagued with evil intent for me?

“Wait…”

“Let go, Shelton! I have to hear Serika call me brother and smile…” Enri who got pushed ahead by Shelton, struggled to turn back to me.

“Come on, let’s go. The coach is calling you know.”

Enri give me another glance then gave up and started walking back.

Hey, Shelton-kun, you can’t just leave me here to be a human target… Come back…

*sigh* no choice, I have to just sit there and watch the match, right? Let’s just pretend the both of them is just air.

“Hi, Serika.” When I sat down, the first one to greet me was Kana.

“Um” In return, I nodded as a sign of greeting. It’s okay, I don’t usually talk much at school anyway.

“Didn’t think you’ll be here today.” The one who talked was Mina, Yamada Mina, Kana’s younger cousin. Hearing her soft voice, I clenched my hands as it reminded me of a memory I tried to forget. Just like Kana, Mina has big bright brown eyes, but unlike Kana whose long hair is dyed reddish brown and slightly permed, her hair is the shoulder length bob hair. It burns me to admit that they are as beautiful as models but that is their only good points in my opinion.

There aren’t many people who I hate, but this Mina is one of them. This is not because she is Kana’s cousin but because of what she did last year. Well, actually I hate both them cousins. They make me sick, making me realize that beautiful girls can be this two-faced and hateful.

“I’m here for my brother and childhood friend. What are ‘you’ even here for?” My motto is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I don’t talk much but I won’t back down on those I hate.

“What? I got invited by Shelton, got a problem with that?” This the point I hate about Shelton. As a harem MC, he honestly thinks that girls are all good creatures, and he doesn’t know about how it would hurt those around him with it.

“And I am also here to cheer on Enri and Shelton. Let’s get along well okay?” This Kana is as fake as usual. Although her face is smiling, her eyes doesn’t have even a hint of it. If I was to interpret it, they should be saying ‘Why the h*ll did this disgusting girl come here? F*cking go back already.’

I should just outright ignore them since the match is going to start soon anyway.

Not long later the match started, I finally got to fully experience the thrill of a sports match. It was somehow very intense since the first round. They guys from East middle school were very good as they kept pressuring our team. The score was rapidly tied as no side had the advantage although both Shelton and Enri were amazing as they passed and scored.

Ahh, they started pressuring Shelton from scoring the ball. Uuu, there is only a few minutes left before the game ends, and the score is tied. Just one more goal and we will win. Carried by the atmosphere, I shouted what I couldn’t say earlier:

“Good luck, Shelton!!” Just as he turned to look at me I continued:

“You promised to win, didn’t you?”

“Enri, try harder. I won’t cook you dinner if you lose!!”

After hearing my shout, Shelton and Enri exchanged glances and smiled. Shelton moved very quickly towards the basket. Although, he instantly got blocked by several boys he quickly jumped. Just when I thought he was going to score a goal, I saw the ball was actually thrown backwards towards Enri who was ready to catch it. Enri started running towards the basket but then he was getting blocked by the same guys who blocked Shelton just now. At that moment, Shelton who had gotten out of the blockade blocked them just before they was able to get to Enri, enabling Enri to jump and scored the last winning point.

*Tweet*Tweet*

“and the game is over!!! Congratulations to West Middle school! Woah! Such a nice finishing goal by Enri-sama and Shelton-sama!!” The manager of the club who has taken upon the role of announcer is talking nonstop due to the excitement.

Is this just me or did that scene just now seems just like this morning when Enri stood behind Shelton?

“How was that Serika? Ready to call me ‘brother Enri’ again?”

“We really did it huh. Thanks to you we won, Serika.”

“Geez, if you were already going to win, don’t make people all nervous.”

“If we didn’t do that we wouldn’t have heard what we wanted to hear from a certain someone right, Shelton?” Enri said with a smirk.

“Haha, it was Enri’s idea, and Serika is quite stubborn after all.” Shelton joined in with that bright smile of his again.

“How was that, Shelton? That ‘Good luck!’ and ‘Try harder!’?” Uuu, I know Enri won’t let this chance to tease me slip by.

“I have to say, the feel from it was not bad at all.” Waa, Shelton not you too…

“Whatever, I did come here to cheer for you, didn’t I? I at least have to …cheer... for you...” I got really embarrassed after remembering what I said that my last words turned into only mummers.

“What did you say?” Enri acted ignorant as though he didn’t hear it when I know he did. Well, at least I have to congratulate them properly.

“I said, Good job winning the match.” I gave out a full smile. I am happy that they won and I also am happy that I got to watch such a match for the first time.

“Serika~” Enri who saw me smile, suddenly started hugging me while Shelton was standing there, smiling back at me. Well, at least I had a lot of fun, today.

Although, I got reincarnated in such a game world, I am spending each and every day having fun as Kourozawa Serika who has an ikeman childhood friend and a womanizer brother. So mama and papa in heaven, please don’t worry about me.

I had no way of knowing, that the fun I had then, would shortly be the last I would have in a long time, and that the events that would happen from now is so unpredictable. Again and again making me realize that this is not the same game world that I knew of.