Pseudo-Harem Academy: I Can't Stop Acting Around Senpai!
Nanakura Rin has a problem: whenever she's around Eiji-senpai, the boy she likes, her mouth moves on its own—and out comes a flawless tsundere, little-devil, or clingy-girl performance. One girl playing every heroine role? To Eiji, that's comedy gold. To Rin, it's armor. Ever since a middle school play went horribly wrong, she's been terrified of letting anyone see the real her—especially the senpai who calls her "the ultimate harem" without a clue.
But when the drama club announces a romance p
Pseudo-Harem Academy: I Can't Stop Acting Around Senpai! - The distance changes every time her character changes!? ~Little Sister Army Intrudes, Causing Chaos~
The drama club room after school. Tucked at the end of the third floor of the second building, this converted storage room still smelled of old wood. Past performance posters plastered across one wall looked faded in the setting sun. Outside the window, the camphor tree in the courtyard swayed in the wind.
"Rin-senpai, it's this part here."
From across the long table, Shirasawa Kiri pointed at the script. Her black hair, a little past her shoulders, was tied back in a single bundle. Her big eyes were fixed straight on Rin.
"It's the scene where the heroine switches between five personalities. I just can't get the emotions to catch up."
"Ah, that part. First, steady your breathing, then leave a beat before the line. That makes the switch look natural."
Rin leaned in to look at Kiri's script. Kiri was a first-year. It hadn't even been a month since she joined, but her speed at picking things up was staggering. More than anything, her attitude toward acting was dead honest.
"How do you switch so smoothly, Rin-senpai?"
Kiri tilted her head.
"...Practice, I guess."
Rin looked away, just slightly. Truth was, it wasn't practice at all. In front of senpai, the characters just switched on their own.
"I think you're really cool, Rin-senpai."
At the sudden words, Rin lifted her head.
"Whether you're acting or not. You're like—the air around you changes, somehow."
Kiri looked down a little, as if searching for her own words. Then she looked at Rin again.
"I wish I could be like you, Rin-senpai."
Something deep in Rin's chest warmed. It had been a long time since she'd been praised so directly.
"Thank you, Kiri-chan. You're already amazing just as you are."
"Really? You think so?"
"Yeah. Your acting has the power to cheer people up. That's something only you have, Kiri-chan."
Kiri's cheeks turned just a little red.
"...I'm happy."
Watching Kiri's smile, Rin thought:
(This girl can be honest about her feelings, unlike me. I'm a little jealous.)
Still, practicing with Kiri somehow made her heart lighter. A quiet sense of camaraderie was growing between them.
—Clatter.
The club room door flew open.
"Big sis! I'm here!"
"Rin-big-sis, hello!"
In came Rin's little sister, Ayaka, and her friend Moe. Both still had their school backpacks on. Ayaka was a first-grader. Moe was the same age.
"Hey, you two! Why are you here!?"
Rin shot to her feet.
"Ehehe, it's an activity of the Cheer-On-Big-Sis's-Love Club!"
Ayaka puffed out her chest.
"Yeah, yeah! Rin-big-sis is playing lovers with Eiji-big-bro, right? So we came to observe!"
Moe said, bouncing up and down.
"Ch-Cheer-On Club...! What are you two making up on your own!?"
Rin's voice cracked.
"Oh, are these your little sisters, Rin?"
Eiji, who'd been reinforcing a set panel in the corner, set down his hammer and came over. His bright brown hair fluttered, translucent in the light from the window.
"Eiji-big-bro!"
Ayaka ran up to him.
"Hey, hey, Eiji-big-bro! You're playing lovers with big sis, right? How does it feel?"
"Uh, how does it feel..."
Eiji scratched his head, looking troubled.
"What do you think of big sis, senpai?"
Ayaka stared up at Eiji's face from below.
"Wh-what do I think... She's an important kouhai!"
Eiji answered with a perfectly straight face.
(An important kouhai...huh.)
Hearing those words, Rin felt a tight ache deep in her chest. Happy and painful at once—a complicated feeling.
"Kouhai, huh..."
Ayaka glanced at Rin.
"H-hey, don't interrupt our club activities! Go home, you two!"
Rin tried to push Ayaka and Moe out by their backs.
"Aww, I wanna stay longer!"
"Rin-big-sis, talk to Eiji-big-bro more!"
"I won't! Go home!"
Rin shoved the two of them out into the hallway.
"...I'll buy you ice cream later, okay?"
When Rin whispered that, Ayaka and Moe looked at each other and broke into bright smiles.
"Yay! Then we're going!"
"We'll come again!"
The two of them waved and scampered off down the hall.
Rin heaved a deep sigh and went back into the club room.
"Haha, your little sisters sure are energetic, Rin."
Eiji was laughing away.
"Senpai, it's not funny! Those girls are making up some weird club on their own!"
"The Cheer-On Club, right? What's wrong with that? It's cute."
"It's not! My...my..."
Rin's words caught in her throat.
(A club to cheer on my love—does that mean my feelings for senpai are already out in the open?)
The thought made her face burn.
"Rin-senpai, your little sisters are adorable."
Kiri said, smiling brightly.
"...You think so?"
Rin hung her head.
"Alright, shall we get back to practice? Rin, we're starting from that scene today."
Eiji picked up the script.
—Practice began.
The culture festival performance: *The Many Personalities in Love*. The story of the heroine Lirina, who switches between five personalities as she falls for Eiji.
"I-it's not like I wanted to practice with you or anything!"
Rin fired off the line in her tsundere-chan voice.
"Whoa, Rin, you always get so into your roles—that's amazing!"
Eiji looked genuinely impressed, even clapping.
(That's not it. This isn't acting—it's how I really feel.)
Rin screamed inside. But the words that came out of her mouth belonged to tsundere-chan, all on their own.
"Senpai...what do you think of me...?"
This time she switched to little-devil-chan and whispered into Eiji's ear.
"O-oh, the little-devil character! Scarily perfect!"
Eiji laughed innocently.
(Scarily perfect...is that a compliment?)
Rin stared at Eiji's face, her feelings in a tangle.
"Senpai, I'm going to do my best...so watch me, okay?"
Now it was sweet-baby-chan. She looked up at Eiji through her lashes.
"Ooh, sweet-baby-chan makes her entrance! Rin, you're really something—playing so many people all by yourself."
Eiji just looked impressed again.
Every time she switched characters, the distance between her and Eiji seemed to shrink—or not shrink at all. The strange sensation left Rin bewildered.
(Senpai is watching my acting. But he's not seeing *me*.)
That was both wonderful and painful.
—Practice ended.
Only Rin and Eiji remained in the club room.
"Rin, good work today."
Eiji said as he put away the props.
"You too, senpai."
Rin slid her script into her bag.
"...Rin, what kind of girl are you really, I wonder."
Eiji murmured, almost to himself.
Rin's heart stopped for an instant.
(Huh? What did senpai just say?)
"I mean, you're always playing all these characters, right? Tsundere-chan, little-devil-chan, sweet-baby-chan—you're good at all of them. So I just wondered what the real Rin is like."
Eiji said that and smiled.
Rin's mind went blank.
(Senpai wants to know the real me. But I can't show him. If I do, he might hate me.)
"Senpai...you want to know about me?"
Rin instinctively played sweet-baby-chan. She touched Eiji's arm, softly.
"O-oh, that's the character, huh!"
Eiji gave a bashful laugh.
"Then...I want you to know more about me..."
Rin whispered it in sweet-baby-chan's voice.
(No. That wasn't acting. Those were my real words.)
Rin's chest tightened.
"Haha, you really are an actress, Rin. Well then, see you tomorrow."
Eiji said that and left the club room.
Rin stood frozen in the empty room.
"...I'm such an idiot."
Her voice was trembling.
—That night.
Rin's room at the Nanakura house.
Rin lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
(I'm scared to show senpai the real me.)
Eiji's words echoed in her head.
"Rin, what kind of girl are you really, I wonder."
The moment she'd heard that, she'd been happy. But at the same time, she'd gotten scared.
(Because the real me is this gloomy, this unsure, this boring.)
Rin buried her face in her pillow.
—Knock, knock.
"Big sis, can I come in?"
Ayaka's voice came from beyond the door.
"...Come in."
When Rin answered, Ayaka gently opened the door and came in.
"Big sis, did Eiji-big-bro say something to you today?"
Ayaka sat down on the edge of Rin's bed.
"How do you know that?"
Rin sat up.
"Because you've had a weird look on your face ever since you got home."
Ayaka peered into Rin's face.
"...I'm scared to show senpai the real me."
Rin murmured quietly.
"The real you?"
"Yeah. In front of senpai, I always end up acting out a character. Tsundere-chan, little-devil-chan... But if I show him the real me, he'll definitely be disappointed. Because the real me is this gloomy and can't do anything."
Rin's voice grew smaller and smaller.
"I like you just the way you are, big sis."
Ayaka took Rin's hand.
"You're you, right? Even if you're gloomy, even if you can't do anything, you're still you. I love you just the way you are."
Rin's eyes grew hot.
"...Ayaka."
"So it's okay. Eiji-big-bro will definitely come to like the real you too."
Ayaka smiled brightly.
Rin fought desperately to hold back the tears threatening to spill.
"You can do it, Rin-big-sis!"
Suddenly, Moe poked her head through the gap in the door.
"Moe!? How long have you been there!?"
Rin hurriedly wiped her tears.
"Ehehe, since a while ago. Do your best, Rin-big-sis!"
Moe gave a thumbs-up.
"...Thank you."
Rin smiled, just a little.
"But the culture festival is only a month away! You've gotta work hard!"
Ayaka said.
Rin was hit with reality.
(Right. One month until the culture festival. Until then, I have to play lovers with senpai all the way through.)
Her chest grew heavy.
—The next day.
After school, Rin was in the club room doing a read-through of the script with Kiri, just the two of them.
"Rin-senpai, what feeling should I put into this line?"
Kiri pointed at the script.
"Here, the heroine has just realized her own feelings and is confused, so..."
Just as Rin was about to explain—
"Rin-senpai, when you're not acting, your face looks really lonely."
Kiri said quietly.
Rin's heart gave a jump.
"Huh...?"
"Oh, sorry, that was a weird thing to say. But when you're acting, Rin-senpai, you look so alive—and then when it's over, your face suddenly turns lonely."
Kiri looked straight into Rin's eyes.
"I want to know more about you, Rin-senpai."
Rin was shaken.
(Even Kiri-chan sees through me. Is my loneliness showing on my face?)
"...Kiri-chan, do I really look like that?"
Rin's voice trembled.
"Yes. But that included, I think you're wonderful, Rin-senpai."
Kiri smiled.
Rin couldn't say a word.
—Clatter.
The club room door opened.
"Oh, Rin, Kiri. Good work."
Iwata Tsuguhito came in, hunched over, pushing up his black-rimmed glasses. In his hands were a battered notebook and a pen. He was the drama club's scriptwriter, and Eiji's classmate.
"Iwata-senpai, good work."
Kiri bowed politely.
"Iwata, what's up?"
Rin hid her fluster and looked at him.
"We've got less than a month till the culture festival. Time to add more lovers scenes. I'm rewriting the script."
Iwata said, flipping through his notebook.
"Wait, hold on! Add more lovers scenes...?"
Rin raised her voice.
"I want to see more of your acting, Rin. Especially the real parts."
Iwata wore a meaningful smile.
A chill ran down Rin's spine.
(What does this guy know about me?)
"I'll do my best too!"
Kiri raised her hand cheerfully.
"Ooh, I can't wait!"
At some point, Eiji had appeared in the doorway.
"More lovers scenes with Rin? That's the best!"
Eiji was delighted, utterly innocent.
Rin left the room with complicated feelings.
—Walking down the hall after leaving the club room.
The setting sun poured through the hallway windows, stretching Rin's shadow long.
(More lovers scenes. The distance between me and senpai will get even closer.)
It should have made her happy, but deep in her chest, there was a throbbing ache.
(I'm being told to show the real parts. But I can't. If I do, everything will surely end.)
Rin looked out the window. The camphor tree in the courtyard swayed in the evening breeze.
One month until the culture festival.
Rin's peace
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.