The Silent Me Who Talks on the Phone at Midnight with the Class’s Most Beautiful Honor Student - Chapter 1 – The True Identity of Quiet Me

June is a triple hardship: no holidays, damp humidity, and oppressive heat.

We’ve got Marine Day and Mountain Day, but no “Rainy Day” off. That’s just wrong. All the energy I recovered during Golden Week is already used up by the start of June. The school should just declare a self-imposed break and give us a three-day weekend to help us survive the final exams before summer vacation.

Thinking such pointless thoughts, I, Chiyuu Mukuhara, spend my time in the noisy classroom of Second Year, Class Two. At lunch, my mouth is used solely for eating my bento, not for talking.

“Did you watch Mac’s livestream? That boss fight was godlike.”
“Totally. Dodging while roasting the chat at the same time was insane.”
“The Twisters’ shorts cracked me up too. Rima-kun went way too hard in that speed-eating bit.”
“Yeah, but lately their shorts are just rehashing too many eating challenges, don’t you think?”

A group nearby is buzzing about video streams. I happened to have seen both, so this time I could probably join the conversation.

“Hey, Mukuhara, do you watch Mac’s streams too?”
“Yeah, I do. Yesterday’s was hilarious. I thought he’d go in for some flashy close combat, but instead he just kept spamming the crossbow from afar, whittling down the HP. I lost it.”

“Right? That was so funny!”
“But imagine if that were real life. Like, your boyfriend’s all ‘I’ll definitely protect you!’ but then when some delinquent picks a fight, he just whips out a crossbow and fights from long-range. Dude, just punch him already.”

The group bursts into laughter.

“For real!”
“That comparison is gold!”

The girl across from me wipes away tears of laughter and glances over at me.
“Talking with you is seriously the best, Mukuhara-kun.”
“Same here! Every group needs a Mukuhara!”

…End of daydream.

Reality? I haven’t joined the conversation at all. I want to, but the topic keeps shifting before I can say anything. That delinquent-crossbow joke? Yeah, I stole that from another guy. I can’t come up with clever stuff like that. Still, I finally managed to participate. In the usual way.

“Hey, Quiet-kun, don’t you think so too?”

A girl sitting next to me suddenly pulls me in. But before I can answer, another guy waves his hand dismissively.

“Nah, Quiet-kun can’t just jump in when you throw something at him like that.”
“Come on, he at least watches short videos.”

They’re arguing about me like I’m not here. I sigh under my breath and force out a reply.

“I do watch shorts. And yeah, the Twisters’ stuff has been, uh, mostly food-related lately.”

Since I haven’t spoken in a while, my voice cracks and I choke a little. Instantly, everyone reacts in shock.

“He talked! Whoa!”
Am I a toddler speaking his first words or something?

“Feels like forever since I’ve heard you say more than a ‘yeah’ or ‘uh-huh.’”
“Sorry for putting you on the spot.”

All I did was speak once outside of class, but that alone causes a stir. And no one even comments on what I actually said.

But—no, you don’t get it! I want to talk! I want to have normal conversations, not surprise people every time I open my mouth!

When the excitement dies down, everyone shifts to a new topic without me again. I shake my head quietly and rewind my memory back to the start of high school.

If only that hadn’t happened…

Because of my entrance exam results, I ended up at a high school where hardly any acquaintances went. Determined to make friends, I relied on manga logic: “High schoolers always go to karaoke together.” So before school started, I went to karaoke over and over to prepare.

I practiced like crazy: learning the latest hits, adding viral songs, even a few classics that would get an “Oh, nostalgic!” reaction.

And the result? I wrecked my tonsils. On top of that, I caught a weird fever and ended up missing the entire first week of school, including the entrance ceremony.

By the time I finally made it to class, the self-introductions were long over, and groups and pecking orders were already established.

With no friends, no place, and my throat still sore, I hardly spoke at all. And then surprise, surprise I got saddled with the nickname “Quiet-kun.” Mukuhara Chiyuu became Muku-chi, Mukuchi (Quiet).

Nicknames are powerful things. Once you’re called “Quiet-kun,” it feels wrong to speak up. And when you do, everyone reacts like, “Whoa, Quiet-kun spoke!”

So what happens when that keeps going? Do you eventually just break out of it and talk freely? Does some kindhearted guy say, “I know you really want to talk,” and become your chatty best friend?

The truth? You end up thinking, “If I suddenly change my character, people will be weirded out and I’ll have even fewer connections,” so you just keep going along, staying mostly silent.

At the time, I honestly thought that was the right choice. Reading the room is important, right? But I never imagined it would stick all the way into my second year. Now I can’t shake it off.

And so today, once again, I live my school life as “Quiet-kun.” Not because I’m forcing myself not to talk, but because I keep it to the bare minimum. For the record, today I only spoke that one time.