The Plan to Win Over Kei Tsukishima

My name is Xingchuan Zhenya, and I'm an ordinary high school girl.

I got transported into an anime, and the System told me I could only go home after winning over the target character.

Because the unreliable System got the landing spot wrong, I was now awkwardly crouched in a tree, watching four high school boys argue below.

And thanks to a bug, the System hadn't provided any details about the target. All I knew was that they were under the tree, and that the person I needed to win over was a loner.

A one-in-four shot. No pressure.

I remembered how that tall guy with pale golden hair had looked when he mocked someone, like he was practically begging to get punched.

Easy. This is a freebie. It's him.

*

Tsukishima Kei had something bothering him.

A girl in his class made it painfully obvious that she liked him.

She kept coming up with flimsy excuses to approach him, engineering chance encounters even when they weren't going the same way. She knew nothing about volleyball but pretended to like it, and asked him for help with homework just so she could give him homemade sweets.

She wasn't his type at all, and her every move was so stupid he couldn't be bothered to comment. But at some point, he had started looking forward to finding out what flavor cake she'd bring tomorrow.

Even so,

when she confessed, he still turned her down.

"...Who'd want to date an idiot?"

*

My confession had been rejected.

Looking at the System's 90% affection reading, I knew Tsukishima Kei was just saying the opposite of what he felt.

The corners of my lips curled up uncontrollably. I hadn't even managed to squeeze out a few fake tears to make him feel sorry for me when the System suddenly came online.

[Ding~]

[Bug fixed. Loading detailed information on target character Kageyama Tobio...]

Me: "?"

I couldn't hold it in. I ran off wailing, crying at the top of my lungs.

*

The first week after he rejected Xingchuan's confession.

Thinking of how heartbroken she had looked, Tsukishima Kei felt a vague, inexplicable irritation.

But that wasn't important.

Then he realized Kageyama Tobio, who had asked him for help studying, was nowhere to be found. He asked Hinata Shoyo, "Did he get scared?"

Hinata Shoyo scratched his head. "There's a super pretty girl tutoring Kageyama! You know her too, Tsukishima. Her name's Xingchuan..."

Hinata Shoyo hadn't even finished speaking when a boy and a girl walked past the window side by side.

Kageyama Tobio still had his usual scowl, but he lowered his head and took a bite of the rice ball the girl was feeding him.

Tsukishima Kei lowered his lashes, his expression mocking. "Anyone who's dating at a time like this has no business playing in the practice match."

Hinata Shoyo cried out, "Tsukishima, how did you snap your pen in half? That's amazing!!!"

[Reading Guide]

The main story is told in third person.

She's a silly girl.

Theme: You don't like me? You're just saying that because you're mad. I don't believe you.