After My Girlfriend Dumped Me, I Got Reincarnated As A High School Student. That Part’s Fine—But Why Are All My Ex-Girlfriends Here Too? - Chapter 17 – Door-in-the-Face
The next morning.
I quickly changed into my school uniform and stood in front of the mirror.
“Wow… My beard isn’t thick at all, and my hair—look at this, it’s full and fluffy!”
I couldn’t help but stare at my own reflection, amazed by how young I looked.
“Onii-chan, what are you doing…?”
While I was still staring, Hinami spoke to me with a tired look on her face.
“A-ahaha, nice weather today, huh?”
I turned away from the mirror and started washing my face.
“It’s cloudy, though.”
“W-well, it’s summer! Cloudy days are just right, you know!”
“…Hmm? Anyway, breakfast is ready, so hurry up.”
Whew. I managed to dodge that one.
After pulling myself together, I looked into the mirror again.
“Man… those were the good days.”
Back in my mid-thirties, I couldn’t say the same. If I didn’t shave, my beard grew endlessly, and when my hair started thinning at the top, I got too scared to even look at the mirror properly. Just remembering those mornings—staring in horror at the fallen hairs on my pillow—was enough to make me shiver.
This time, I’m going to cherish this hair. Maybe I should start eating hijiki from tomorrow…
When I went to the living room, Hinami was already eating breakfast. Today’s menu: toast, scrambled eggs, and iced coffee.
I sat across from her and started eating too.
“Onii-chan, did you pack your textbooks properly today?”
How did she—oh, right, we talked about that yesterday.
“Don’t worry, I checked everything this time.”
Thanks to Rio lending me her class schedule, I had everything in order.
After finishing breakfast and brushing my teeth, I stepped outside—and saw Rio waiting by the gate.
“Good morning, Yuta-san.”
Yesterday she popped out of a desk drawer like a certain blue robot cat, but now she was perfectly calm and composed.
Although… that dried sardine in her mouth—is that supposed to be breakfast? I’ve heard of romantic comedies where a girl runs with toast in her mouth and bumps into someone at a corner, but never one where a trainee angel shows up with a sardine between her lips.
“Good morning, Rio.”
“Ah, good morning to you too, Hinami.”
The three of us started walking together.
Now that I thought about it, yesterday I came through the door Rio made, so this was my first time commuting normally by foot.
“This feels… nostalgic somehow.”
When you start working, you stop wearing uniforms, and you don’t walk to school with friends anymore.
Your destination changes from school to the office. Being able to relive that time that had long since become a distant memory—it was strange, but kind of nice.
“I wish I could stay a high school student forever…”
“Are you planning to repeat a year or something?” Rio asked with a straight face.
“Onii-chan, I’m happy we can spend more time together, but I’d hate being in the same grade as you.”
Even Hinami looked at me like I was hopeless.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant, haha. I just meant… now that I’ve seen the difference between being a high schooler and an adult, I kinda wish I could loop through it like in a slice-of-life manga or something!”
“Oh, come on, Yuta. This is the real world, you know? There’s no such thing as that kind of fantasy.”
Huh? You’re saying that, but aren’t you literally a trainee angel?
“Yeah, stop saying dumb stuff and just make sure you actually graduate,” Hinami added.
…Maybe I’m the weird one here.
Then—
“…Hii!?”
I suddenly felt a sharp gaze from behind.
“Hey, Yuta. Why didn’t you reply to my messages? Huh? Why?”
I turned around slowly—and there stood Shima, surrounded by a dark, ominous aura.
Oh crap. I completely forgot about her.
I opened my messages app, and saw the account named “shima” with over 999+ unread messages.
Okay, that’s terrifying. I’ve never seen that before.
I scrolled up just to check. Similar messages flashed at the edge of my vision, but I pretended not to see them.
Wait, the first message was sent only a few minutes after we split up at the family restaurant.
【Hey, what are you doing?】
I was… on my way home, actually.
【Hey】
【I’m waiting】
【Why won’t you reply?】
【Fine, whatever】
Then, after a few dozen minutes:
【|・` )】
【Hey】
【Don’t ignore me】
【Are you mad?】
【Is it my fault?】
【I’ll apologize, so please reply】
【I’m really sorry】
Yeah, that’s enough. I can feel goosebumps all over.
Honestly, I deserve a medal for reading this far.
“I’ve been waiting for you all this time,” Shima said.
Sure enough, there were dark circles under her eyes. I was sleep-deprived too, but sharing that in this way wasn’t exactly something to brag about.
“Gao gao.”
And there, standing by the school gate, was the principal—in a bear costume. A different kind of “bear,” but still.
“Ryu, good morning.”
“Gao gao!”
When I called out, he—or she?—looked… happy? Maybe? Hard to tell, considering it’s a mascot suit.
“Yuta-san, do you… know that bear?” Rio asked.
“Yeah, Ryu’s a Utuber I’ve been friends with since the very beginning… I mean, uh, bear-friend.”
“Gao!”
Did… did that bear just glare at me when I said person?
“Well, Ryu is so cute! I even collect the merch!” Hinami said, holding up a little strap with a grin.
Nice, I should get one too.
“But really, it’s so nice meeting again in this world.”
“Gao gao!”
Ryu hugged me tight—way too tight.
“Ow ow ow!?”
“Gao!”
The bear tilted its head, paw on my head. No tongue sticking out, but that was definitely supposed to be a “tehepero.”
“Yuta won’t pay attention to me… I thought we could start ove—”
“We’re not starting over! We’re friends. Just friends!”
“Pien.”
Did… did she just say pien out loud?
“Anyway, you can’t send that many messages to your friends.”
“But we’re friends, right?”
“Exactly, that’s why you shouldn’t do that!”
Wait. Does that mean if we weren’t just friends, she’d send even more?
That’s terrifying.
“Okay then. I’ll stop at a hundred.”
“Yeah, that’s better—wait, no it’s not!? Still too many!”
That was close. She almost tricked me. Classic door-in-the-face technique.
I really need to rethink how I deal with her from now on…
And while I was lost in thought, I completely missed the figure standing still in silence—Hiromi Segawa—watching the whole thing from afar.