This chapter got accidentally fluffy at the end.
Eijun is really just minding his own business when he hears Miyuki's name. He's passing by the clubrooms on the way to the vending machines for a green tea and apparently they're not all empty during lunch because a female voice says "– guy that I like is really handsome. You know the first-string catcher for the baseball club, Miyuki-san? I have Japanese History with him, too, so I know he's smart. Beauty and brains."
"Are you going to ask him out?"
The first speaker sighs. "No. He's turned down loads of girls who come to watch Seidou's games. I like talking to him during class and I don't want a rejected confession hanging between us. Maybe if we got to know each other better, I'd reconsider."
Despite the part of Eijun that's urging him to just keep walking, he peeks through the door to catch a glimpse of the girl. For someone who's impressed by Miyuki's looks, she's pretty gorgeous herself, with her glossy hair slightly curled, clothes carefully ironed, and excellent posture. That sweet smile is absolutely killer, and if Eijun wasn't so smitten with Miyuki's grin she'd be near the top of the list of kickass smiles.
Another girl starts talking about her crush on a third-year and Eijun loses interest, resuming his walk to the vending machines. Until now he'd sort of forgotten that he isn't the only one interested in Miyuki, that there are girls (and maybe guys) who DO want a romantic ending with him eventually.
Eijun almost drops his bottle of tea in realization: the sudden awareness of others competing for the love interest's affections generally happens when the HEROINE'S EVIL LOVE RIVAL is about to be introduced to the series.
OH MAN.
He doesn't want an evil love rival. This needs to be fixed before it can become a problem, because if he ends up rivals with a popular girl who's enamored with Miyuki, it'll become quickly obvious that he, Sawamura Eijun, is also in love with Miyuki.
How can he prevent her transition to wickedness? It's not something often done in the manga that he's read, but occasionally after two girls have a vicious, climactic fight they begin to connect over the understanding that, while they can't cheer one another on, they can agree that the love interest deserves whoever makes him the happiest.
A fight and resolution isn't exactly what Eijun wants either, because he would prefer to keep the whole having-a-crush-on-Miyuki thing a secret. Perhaps there's another way he can counteract this development.
WAIT. There was that one manga where the childhood best friends were both in love with the same man and they tearfully agreed to both court him while still remaining friends. Eijun never finished that series because the library stopped buying the new volumes, but the girls' solution seemed to work for them, from what he remembers.
He'll just have to befriend this girl.
The next morning he leaves for class early, searching the halls for his potential new friend. She's nowhere to be found on the first floor, so she might be an upperclassman. She hadn't referred to Miyuki as a senpai, so she could be a second year…? Oh, right! The girl said she was in a class with him, so she has to be a second year. He doesn't have time to find her on the second floor before the bell rings, but at least he knows a little more now.
During lunch he checks the clubroom where the girls had been yesterday, but the door is shut and he doesn't hear anyone inside. Eijun tries the cafeteria and spots her eating by the windows. Her friends aren't around (maybe still in the lunch line?) so Eijun glances over at his usual table, sees that no one has noticed him yet, and heads over to the girl with the cute smile.
He's about five steps from her when he realizes that he hasn't thought of an excuse for approaching her, but then he spots volume fourteen of Kimi ni Todoke on the table and it feels a little bit like fate. "You're reading that?! Do you like it so far? That's one of my favorites!"
Eijun's possible new friend glances up at his excited tone, looking bemused. "Rereading, actually."
"Sawako-chan's the best, right? What other manga do you read?"
Instead of answering the question, she squints at him. "I know you. You're Sawamura Eijun, one of the pitchers for the baseball team, aren't you? The loud first year."
"Yup! That's me!"
She chuckles at his enthusiasm. "I'm Morikawa Ami, second year. You want to sit down?" Eijun realizes that he's still standing and hastily takes a seat across from her. Morikawa leans forward, her face serious but eyes sparkling impishly. "Now, you asked about what else I read, but before we get too deep into discussion, we have to agree on this one thing."
Eijun's heart skips, wondering how she could possibly know about his crush on Miyuki. "What's that?"
"It's about my favorite series… what do you think of Yumeno Sakiko's Let's Fall in Love?" she asks, breaking into a smile, and Eijun wonders if there's such thing as friendship-at-first-sight.
"Morikawa Ami, I own every single volume."
And so Eijun avoids another shoujo trope and makes a new friend. Also, yes, that was a GSNK reference near the end because GSNK is gold.
