My Elite Teen Romantic Comedy is Wrong As I Expected

Chapter 2

DarkDrawerJ: We're glad the profile gag was widely successful in making you give a good ol' chuckle. While COTE is a dramatic series, the ridiculousness is definitely something to laugh at, so I hope we continue to make you laugh. A few things.

Hachiman's stats were made to reflect Hirata's who parallels Hayama.

Ayanokoji will be given his own stuff to do, but for the most part this will be Hachiman's story.

Canon is going to be tossed like a salad.

I hope this schedule isn't too bad for you all. My other stories suffer a bit due to conflicting focus, but this is a very sustaining time frame for us.

Your comments fuel our energy for this fic. We're very happy with the reception we got.

LanceSennin: Thanks for the overwhelming support from the first chapter alone! We were very surprised but pleased from the reception that we got and we hope to continue delivering quality content. Personally, I understand that you guys don't want Kiyopon to be overshadowed since he is the MC of COTE, but we wanted to deviate from the normal route and use Hachiman as the main character. Don't worry, Kiyopon will still be a vital character here and besides, doesn't he prefer to be in the background instead? Heh.

"W-W-What are you doing here?" Kei Karuizawa stuttered, having obviously not expected anyone to come up here. 

I myself would not have expected her of all people to be up here. If I had to describe Kei Karuizawa in her initial appearance, it'd be that she was very similar to a certain fire queen back in my own world. 

The difference being that as far as I knew, Kei's exterior was nothing but a front to try and fend off bullies due to her past traumas. 

Now how should I answer her? 

"I didn't want to go home yet, and I didn't want to be somewhere where there's many people." I answered without any hesitation.

 There was nothing suspicious about my intentions even before I went here. I really did want to find a place where I can be all alone and I'm pretty sure I gave off that impression to begin with.

I also don't think it would be good to lie directly to her, unless she couldn't find a way to call me out on it. I'm dealing with a girl whose past is way more traumatizing than mine after all, and lying won't gain me her trust.

"What about you, Karuizawa? What are you doing here?" I asked, returning the question towards her to keep the momentum going.

The look on her face went from confused to alarmed in a mere second. It was almost cute to see her expressions betray her emotions so blatantly. "M-Me? I-I-I'm just admiring the view, you know? I was told by our classmates earlier that you can see the whole campus from here. And, like, I really wanted to check it out for myself!"

...She's a terrible liar, especially when it involves her past. She tried to make up an excuse right after I threw her question back at her, but she couldn't come up with a good response, resulting in her stuttering. No wonder Ayanokoji quickly caught on to her deception in the original storyline. 

Maybe I can push her for a bit? If I can gain her trust, no matter how little it may be, then I'll have a chance at changing things this early into the story for the better.

"Then what's with that red look in your eyes? You look like you've been crying." I question her in an offhandish way to feign a look of only mild interest.

Karuizawa gasped, looking offended by what I said. However, I also saw how she quickly reacted when I implied that she could have been crying.

She isn't making this any easier for herself at all, which didn't make it easy for me either.