Ema Aizawa's Outrageous School Romantic Comedy ~Devil's Smile Falls in Love~ - Oversleeping, Laughter, and a Taiyaki Showdown!

In the distance, a train clattered along its tracks. It was a spring morning, but the air still carried a bit of a chill. The Namiki Street shopping district in Shionagi City was about to get busy with shops preparing to open. But. "No way, seriously!?" Aizawa Ema shot up in bed. Hair a mess, still in her sleepwear. She glanced at the clock by her pillow, and her voice escaped again. "Come on, Kaede! Why didn't you wake me up!" Of course, her best friend wasn't actually in the next room. She lived alone. But the words came out anyway. Today was the opening ceremony. New semester, new class assignments, new textbooks. A day that should've been just a little exciting. And yet, of all days, she overslept. On top of that, the weather was ridiculously nice. The light streaming through the window was so carefree it pissed her off. "Ugh!" Ema threw on her uniform and dashed into the bathroom. She tied up her hair while brushing her teeth. Her black hair, long enough to reach her back, was pulled into her usual careless ponytail. Her face in the mirror. Her wide cat-like eyes were still half-asleep. But there was no time. She grabbed a piece of toast. No time to toast it. Just plain bread. She shoved her feet into her sneakers and burst out the front door. The spring wind instantly cooled her drowsy head. Shionagi High was straight down Namiki Street. Along the way were the taiyaki shop "Shippo Made-ya," the bookstore "Page One," and the convenience store "Marine Mart." The usual scenery. The only difference was that she was sprinting at full speed. A high school girl with bread in her mouth tearing through the shopping district. Miraculously, there still weren't many people around. An older lady sweeping in front of her shop looked at her with a startled expression. Sorry, Ema apologized in her head. She spotted the corner. Once she turned here, it was a straight shot to the school— Thud! The next moment, Ema's body was airborne. The bread flew from her mouth, tracing a graceful arc as it fell. Someone's hand reached out before it hit the ground, but it wasn't the bread they grabbed—it was Ema's arm. "—That hurts!" A shout, and then the two of them collapsed in a tangled heap. Ema landed on her backside and looked up at the other person. A guy. His brown hair was a little long, artfully wavy, and he looked thoroughly like a player. But his face was oddly well-proportioned. His slightly droopy eyes were now narrowed in pain. His uniform was from Shionagi High, same as hers. Slacks, but his tie was a bit loose—in other words, the type who dressed a little sloppy. "Hey, watch where you're going!" The guy stood up, rubbing his lower back. He was tall. Tall enough that Ema had to look up at him. "You watch it!" Ema stood up too. She briskly brushed the dirt off her skirt. That's when it happened. Another voice reached them. "S-sorry... I just can't. Riku-kun, you're, um, just a friend—" The voice belonged to a petite girl. She wore the same uniform. Probably a classmate or something. She bowed her head apologetically several times, then ran off. Left behind were just Ema and this guy. The guy—the one called Riku—scratched the tip of his nose awkwardly. Oh. So that's what this was. He'd been right here, confessing. And he'd been shot down in spectacular fashion. And of all things, Ema had crashed right into the scene. "Pfft." She couldn't hold it in. "Wh-what are you laughing at—" "Pfft, ahahahahahaha!" Ema clutched her stomach and laughed. Tears came. I mean, come on. Running into such a cringey confession scene first thing on the morning of the opening ceremony. And on top of that, starting with "I felt destiny" and then getting rejected. Even a second-lead character in a shoujo manga would have better lines than that. "You, 'I felt destiny'... what era are you from?" "Y-you heard that?!" Riku's face went bright red in an instant. Even the tips of his ears were red. With that flashy hairstyle, the contrast made it even funnier. "I heard it. Sorry, but man, that was rough." "Shut up! Who the hell are you?!" "Me? Aizawa Ema. And you are—" "Kazama Riku, remember it! I am never, ever gonna forgive you!" Riku jabbed a finger at her and yelled. He was angry, but his voice was shaking. He probably actually wanted to cry from embarrassment. "This could be fun." The right corner of Ema's mouth curled up. A habit she had when it came to competition. "How are you not gonna forgive me? Payback? A contest?" "Yeah, that's right! First, I'm gonna catch you and make you apologize!" Riku suddenly lunged at her. But Ema had already shifted half a step sideways. Riku's hands grabbed empty air. "Too slow, too slow!" "Hey, get back here!" Ema took off running. Riku chased after her. The two high schoolers sprinted full-tilt through the shopping district on a spring morning. Terashima-san, doing his morning prep in front of the taiyaki shop, waved and called out, "Hey, Ema-chan, full of energy as always!" She even had the composure to wave back with a smile. "Why the hell is she so fast?!" She heard Riku's shout from behind, but paid it no mind. After all, for Ema, this had always been normal. Being fast. Being strong. Occasionally Kaede would tell her, "Ema-chan, you're a little too amazing," but she just thought, Am I, though? The school gate came into view. It was already almost time for the opening ceremony. She tried to dash into the student entrance— "Waiiit!" Riku put every last ounce of strength into catching up. Ema grinned. And then, unconsciously, she kicked off the ground. —Lightly. Her body floated. She kicked off the outer wall of the school building—once, twice. As if gravity didn't exist, Ema's body leaped up to the second floor and grabbed the railing just like that. "Huh?" Riku's dumbfounded voice came from below. The other students in the schoolyard were also gaping, mouths open. "Wh-what was that just now... kicking off the wall to the second floor, are you a ninja?!" "Huh? Oh, isn't this kind of normal?" Ema lightly hopped from the railing onto the hallway. The students around her buzzed. They looked like they'd just seen something incredible. But Ema didn't really understand what was so incredible about it. Though, her heart did pound just a little in her chest. Was it because she'd won the contest? Or— No, it was just her imagination. ━━━━━━━━━━━━ After school. The opening ceremony had ended without a hitch. Her homeroom teacher seemed a little scary, but it would probably be fine. Ema burst out of the entrance and headed straight for Namiki Street. She was meeting someone in front of "Shippo Made-ya." "Ema-chan, good work today. How was the opening ceremony?" "Kaede!" Under the eaves of the taiyaki shop, her best friend waved. Shirosaki Kaede. Her silver hair, long enough to reach her waist, shimmered softly in the spring light. A small braid on the right side was her signature touch. Her deep blue eyes always drooped gently, and just looking at them was calming. She was petite and seemed rather quiet, but she was a girl with a surprisingly strong core. "I overslept. And on the way, I got caught up with a weird guy." "A weird guy?" They bought two taiyaki and sat on the bench in front of the shop. The red bean paste was about to spill out, and Ema, who was sensitive to hot food, blew on it carefully as she ate. "His name's Kazama Riku. I crashed head-on into him while he was making this cringey confession, and then he got mad and chased me." "...Ah, Kazama-kun. He's a senpai who's famous for having a zero percent confession success rate." "No way, he's famous?" Ema laughed as she bit into her taiyaki. Kaede was surprisingly knowledgeable about school rumors like that. Even though she hardly talked herself, she apparently just naturally overheard things while reading in the library. "So, what happened with this Kazama-kun?" "We had a chase, and I won." "...You kicked off the school building wall, didn't you." "How do you know?" "Because you do things like that right away, Ema-chan." Kaede giggled. Ema pouted a little, but she couldn't really deny it. That's when it happened. "—Ah." A familiar voice. She turned to see Kazama Riku standing there. Next to him was another guy, big and seemingly quiet. His name was apparently Kurose Hayato. He barely spoke, but his gaze was sharp, and for some reason, he seemed to be staring intently at Kaede. "You, Aizawa Ema!" Riku strode right up to her. The embarrassment from the morning seemed to have vanished. Now he just wore the face of a sore loser. "You sure had a good laugh this morning!" "Because it was funny. 'I felt destiny'—" "Don't say any more!" "Both of you, please calm down." A soft, gentle voice interjected. Kaede stood up and asked Terashima-san, the taiyaki shop owner, for two paper cups of tea. She offered them to Riku and Ema. "Now, now, it's a new semester and all, so why not have some warm tea?" In that moment. The atmosphere seemed to shift, just slightly. As if a soft breeze had blown between Riku and Ema, who had been bristling moments before. Riku blinked and accepted the offered tea. "...What is this?" Riku tilted his head curiously. He probably didn't understand why his anger had suddenly vanished. Ema knew. Kaede had always been like this. Just having Kaede nearby mysteriously calmed the heart. Kaede herself would say, "I'm not doing anything," but that wasn't true. Kaede's very presence changed the atmosphere of a place. "Kazama-kun, I think it was wrong of Ema-chan to laugh. But don't you think you're being a little too harsh?" "Urk." "You must be hungry after running at full speed since morning. How about a taiyaki?" Kaede smiled brightly. Riku opened and closed his mouth as if wanting to say something, and finally muttered, "...Is it actually good?" "It's good!" Ema swallowed the last bite of her taiyaki. "Shippo Made-ya's taiyaki is exquisite. You've never had it?" "Of course not. I always get nikuman from Marine Mart." "That's no good. Taiyaki is the king of Japanese sweets, you know? I've been eating it three times a week since elementary school." "Three times a week?!" Riku looked exasperated, but then, as if an idea struck him, the corner of his mouth lifted. "Hey, Aizawa. Let's have a contest." "A contest?" Ema's eyes glinted. The right corner of her mouth curled up again. "A taiyaki speed-eating showdown. Who can eat three first." "Interesting! You're on!" "W-wait, Ema-chan..." Before Kaede could stop her, Ema shouted to Terashima-san, "Six more taiyaki!" "Ah, I don't have any money." "What?! Then what are we supposed to do!" "Treat me. It's a contest, after all." "What's that supposed to mean, that makes no sense!" In the end, Kaede sighed and paid. Hayato silently offered his wallet and handed it to Riku. Apparently, he was used to this sort of thing. The taiyaki were lined up. Steam rose gently, and the sweet scent tickled their noses. "Ready, go!" Ema and Riku bit in simultaneously. The first one was even. The second was almost at the same time. On the third, Riku choked. "Bwahaha, zamaa!" Ema swallowed her third and struck a victory pose. "W-wait. That one doesn't count. The taiyaki was bad." "Don't blame the taiyaki!" "Then a different contest. Tomorrow's seat change—whoever gets the seat next to the other wins. You can't complain about a contest decided by God." "A game of luck? Fine. I've got strong luck." "It's not just luck. I'm definitely getting the seat next to you, and I'm gonna crush you every single day." "Bring it on! I'm gonna beat you to a pulp every day!" Ema shot back with a smile. Riku was smiling too. What was this? Her chest felt a little warm. It wasn't just the taiyaki. It wasn't the spring weather either. I don't want to lose, I absolutely don't want

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Episode 1

Name: Ema Aizawa's Outrageous School Romantic Comedy ~Devil's Smile Falls in Love~
Author: Novelia

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