I am that male friend in the harem story

"Tanaka-kun is always listless?" 2x

In the clubroom of the Classic Club, Satoshi showed his manga to Chitanda and Oreki the next day. As he had finished, he didn't waste his time and showed it to the two as he had promised previously.

Naturally, while Oreki was speechless by the title of his friend's manga, Chitanda subconsciously glanced at Oreki as the two knew well that this manga was "probably" inspired by Oreki's way of life.

"You're not making fun of me with this manga, right?" Oreki stared at Satoshi helplessly.

"Just read it first." Satoshi only snickered, but then he said, "I will go out for a bit. By the way, don't tell anyone or be careful when you read it, okay? I plan to go to the post office to send it right away after school ends."

"Yes, you don't have to worry." 2x

Oreki and Chitanda knew how hard it was for Satoshi to draw his manga, so of course, they would treat the paper carefully. Regardless, when Satoshi left, leaving the manga in their care, it made them realize how much he trusted them, as he could leave a manga that he had worked hard on in their hands. Nevertheless, the two quickly focused on the manga before they read it together, watching the skit and the peaceful life of the characters in his manga, which made them smile, thinking Satoshi's manga was good!

Still, while Satoshi's manga was peaceful, Satoshi's life wasn't, especially when he had to meet Ibara behind the school building, in a place where no one would see them.

"Sorry to make you wait, Mayaka."

As he arrived there, he saw a petite, cute girl with short brown hair.

Mayaka Ibara, the second heroine in the original story, can be said to be one of the female characters who often appear alongside Chitanda.

Unlike Chitanda, who was close to Oreki in the original, Ibara was close to Satoshi. No, her feeling toward him was not like the love she had confessed to him in the past, but he refused her.

This refutation also existed in his memory, and this made Satoshi wonder why the original Satoshi refused such a cute girl, but then again, it was probably due to the original Satoshi's nonsense pride or origin that made him refuse.

If Satoshi didn't have Kaho, he was sure that he would go after Ibara, especially when Ibara was much shorter than him, so when they stood together, it wouldn't be weird, but then again, as his physical ability had improved, his diet was changed with more protein, and he also had a healthy life; adding all of that, he also gained a good reward from Irisu, which he hadn't explained in the past.

Healthy.

This was the reward he gained from Irisu, the daughter and heiress of a large hospital in the city, which was probably the reason why he received it. Still, the effect of this reward was simple, and that was to make him healthy, and somehow also made him able to learn many medical knowledge and skills with ease.

'If I become a doctor...'

Nevertheless, the best thing about this ability was the fact that part of his body that was somehow "ingested" would also make the other become healthy, too. This was the case with Kaho, who had been healthy, ate well, and became more beautiful. Naturally, Irisu also got the same effect, but as the doses were quite different, Kaho's reaction was much better than Irisu's.

Still, if there was a reason why he could calmly explain his ability despite being in front of the girl, who was in love with him, and wanted to ask for an explanation, it was all due to the fact that he had many experiences in the past, and he had confirmed that Ibara didn't bring a knife, or any sharp objects within her body, so he was relieved.

Ibara might be able to use stones to hurt him, but if it was just stones, Satoshi believed that he could escape.

If there was a problem, Satoshi was just afraid that Ibara would push him and have his head hit the stone on the ground. If that happened, then he might die, but fortunately, no stones, hard objects, or dangerous things existed nearby, and if trouble really came, he believed he could run away fast since he knew well a physical ability wasn't Ibara's specialty.

"You have changed, Fuku-chan..."

Ibara looked at Satoshi with a complicated expression as she could see he had become more handsome, fit, and somehow taller. She could see that he had changed, becoming a better man, improving himself, yet... unfortunately, she wasn't the reason why he had changed.

Knowing that Satoshi had a girlfriend hurt her, and she cried for a long time. More importantly, this guy was so cold that he had never taken the initiative to talk to her, explaining why he suddenly got a girlfriend.

Did she mean nothing to him?!

Ibara wanted to scream, get angry, and beat him up, but as Satoshi was in front of her, all of those feelings somehow turned chaotic as she felt a longing, which she tried to erase, grow, and waver in her heart that wanted to cut everything, especially when she discovered that he wasn't as loyal and loving to his girlfriend as she thought to be.

Irisu and Chitanda.

Before their meeting, Ibara had done research on the two girls that Satoshi was close with, and because of that, instead of jealousy, envy, or anger, she was just dumbfounded. Yes, dumbfounded since all of the girls that he was close with were famous figures and came from influential families in this city, which was why she wondered how he could do all of this.

Yes, she loved him and she also knew many good parts of him, but because she loved him, she knew many bad parts of him, yet... now, she couldn't see him anymore.

Satoshi had changed, and he had become better, but instead of losing this feeling, it became stronger. That her heart raced so fast when she saw him, meeting each other, facing her, without looking away from her.

Manly, she thought.

Giving his gentle smile, Satoshi said, "You too. You have changed, too, Mayaka."

Frowning, Ibara asked, "...did I? What kind of a change do I have?" Instead of being curious, her voice was wavering, trembling, feeling nervous as she wondered whether Satoshi had thought of her lover.

"You have become much cuter."

"...."

The words of praise that came from his lips were so smooth as if Satoshi had done this so many times like a playboy, who could say praise the beauty of a woman without much of a chance on his face or emotion, yet even so, she blushed, feeling shy, but while she was helpless, she also loved it.

Yet—

"Then, why didn't you accept my love?! Why did you get a girlfriend all of a sudden?! Why did you get so close to so many beautiful girls?!"

"....."

All of a sudden, Ibara suddenly lost control over herself and released all of the emotions that she had suppressed, tightly grabbing his collar as she poured out everything.

His lips twitched, but Satoshi tried to calm himself. "Calm down, Mayaka. Don't shout like that."

"How can I calm down?! You know my feelings, but you ignore them! Am I so unattractive to you?"

"...well, you are attractive."

"Then, why did you not make a move?!"

"...is that okay?"

Satoshi was dumbfounded, but he decided to be straightforward with his nature since if Ibara knew everything, yet still telling him to make a move, then why should he hesitate?

"...."

However, Ibara was even more dumbfounded since she had never expected those words to come out of his lips!

She was too stunned to say anything, but Satoshi moved forward as he whispered, "Please push me if you don't like it."

"....."

The hesitation, scorn, and anger were mixed together along with her affection, love, and a slight lust that came from his handsome face that came closer and closer to take her lips.

Subconsciously, she stepped back, but a wall was behind her, making her unable to escape. If she had wished to, she could have pushed him away, but as Satoshi moved closer, closer, she closed her eyes and let her small lips be taken.

As Satoshi took her lips, Ibara clung to his neck, enjoying the tenderness of his lips as she had her first kiss taken away just like that.