A wise man once said...

"When it comes to love, sometimes rejecting one path opens the door to a multitude of possibilities. But beware, for every choice carries its own consequences, and every rejection leaves its mark on the heart."

That wise man was Yuuki Tanaka.

Yuuki was the walking definition of average. He had average height, average grades, and even an average impact in any social gathering. Even his appearance was average, probably the most average thing about him. It was just black hair, brown eyes, and a slightly pale skin. The simplest way to define him was—a living, breathing default template.

The lad yawned tiredly as he walked to school.

He wore the uniform of Sakura Specialized Training College; a corporate white shirt under a black blazers matched plain black pants. Rather than a bag, he was one of the few students who carried a briefcase, one he kept slung across his shoulder as he walked up the road.

"YUUKI!"

He heard a loud voice shout his name.

"Huh?" He paused and turned to see it was his two close friends, Ryota Nakiri and Yasuda Yuko.

Ryota ran at Olympic-level speed as he waved at Yuuki from afar, still shouting his name. From the way he looked, you could tell he was a cheerful fellow—he had shaggy brown hair, vibrant blue eyes, a slightly tortilla-brown color, and a grin that could light up an entire room.

Funnily enough, Yasuda was the exact opposite. She was a young lady with wavy cream hair, dreary half-lidded green eyes, and glossy lips that were never closed as a result of the the lollipop she always seemed to have in her mouth. The only thing "accessory" more frequent than that, was the large headphone that covered her ears. She had a petite figure and an less impressive height considering she was 18 years of age.

"YUUUUUUUKI!"

"YUUUUUUUKI!!"

Each scream from Ryota only got louder.

Yasuda on the other hand didn't concern herself; she was playing games on her smartphone.

The constant screams from Ryota got embarrassing as Yuuki looked around and realized a lot of people were looking at him. Now, everyone knew who Yuuki was. While he was an average fellow, Ryota was far from that—he was abnormal.

Ryota's sprint for Yuuki finally came to an end. His hands fell on his knees to rest while he panted heavily, "Hah! Hah! Hah!" each breath heavier than the last. He looked back at Yuuki and said, "Morning bro, how goes it?!" grinned brighter than the early morning sun.

"Fine," Yuuki replied.

"That's all? Just fine?" Ryota looked like simply saying "fine" was an unforgivable crime.

Yuuki shrugged, "Well, yeah. What else I'm I supposed to say? It was such a grand event trying to read for our Math test next week and failing?" He nodded with a positivity that was painfully sarcastic and said, "Hmm, I'll consider that next time."

"Tsk, tsk," Ryota shook his head in disappointment. "You have a wonderful family, you should at least be glad for that dude!"

"Hmm, sure."

Yuuki turned to look at Yasuda and she was completely engrossed in her game. "Huh?" she noticed he was looking at her and then peeled out one of her earphones and told him, "If you're gonna greet me, just do it. I'm not a Time Warlock who can pause online games..."

"E-eh... Good morning?" a confused Tanaka greeted.

Suckling on her sweet a little, she placed her earphone back in place and resumed her game. She started walking forward and absentmindedly said, "Come on, we're late." So far, her eyes hadn't left the screen once, and her thumbs just kept sliding across the screen as she cut down her digital enemies.

"She didn't... return a greeting back?" Yuuki said as he watched Yasuda's little sneakers-covered feet climb up the road path.

"There, there," Ryota pat him on the back. "But, the fact that you're surprised, surprises me, you know how Yasuda is." A small chuckle escaped his mouth.

Yuuki simply closed his eyes and chuckled as he joined Ryota, walking side-by-side with him.

...

Sakura Specialized Training College.

After highschool, some students attend Vocational Academies or Specialized Training Colleges, which are three-year programs designed to prepare them for college. These institutions were initially established by the Japanese Government. They aim to provide students with specialized skills and knowledge that will better prepare them for higher education or entry into the workforce.

In the Budo Club, a small training session was ongoing.

It was between, Mai Takahashi and a random bald fellow.

"Full point! Excellent!"

It was a spar that ended faster than it even started.

With a simple leg sweep, Mai left her opponent on the ground to cry in pain a bit. However, no one even cared about the young man on the floor, they were more interested in the beauty who easily dispatched of him.

Realizing no one cared about him, the young man scrambled to his feet and bowed his head as he shouted, "Thank you for the spar!"

"It's an honor to spar with you..." said Mai, clenching her fist in the palm of her other hand as she bowed her head.

Sigh~ if only it were this easy to tell him how I feel...

That was the end of Budo Club for the day...

Mai had changed back to the standard school uniform and was walking through the hall. And without a doubt, there were several people secretly admiring the first-year, from her beauty to the way she carried herself; not in a proud way, but rather in a respectable manner.

"Isn't she like totally the most amazing person you've ever seen?"

"She spars with the whole Budo Club all morning and still manages to look so elegant!"

"I can't even look at her if I ain't lit!"

"You know her grades are like perfect too right? Imagine having good grades and still looking life you fell from heaven. Couldn't be me..."

"If she had eyes for me I wouldn't give a damn about anything else."

Mai Takahashi.

A first-year who seemed to gather popularity quite quickly; unlike some useless, average, black-haired fellow we know.

She has pink eyes and shoulder-length honey-blonde hair that she usually tied by ribbons in a variety of colors in a small ponytail to the right side of her head with the rest of the hair loose. She is plump, having a sexy hour-glass figure and large breasts that weren't as modest as she was. Her legs were equally beautiful and attractive, so much so that these succulent pieces of meat were covered with thigh high socks.

Around this time, Yuuki and his two friends had also made their way into the happening hallways.

"What's all the chattering about?" Yuuki asked as he looked at all the students who didn't seem to want to leave their lockers and head for their classes.

Now, this was the only time Yasuda spoke. She rolled her eyes and then said, "It must be the fabulous, oh so beautiful Mai Takahashi, tch!" she cracked her lollipop a bit out of some unknown frustration and returned to her game.

"Ooookay." That was pretty much the only thing could exit Yuuki's mouth as an adequate response. He didn't know where the sudden sarcasm came from.

Ryota then told him, "Leave her, she's not the biggest fan of Takahashi. "

"And I never will be..." Yasuda muttered as she tapped screen with a little over the top annoyance.

The two boys had more to say, but their attention was diverted back to the active scene when the chatters significantly increased all of sudden.

"What's going on now?" Yuuki asked not out of interest but more out of exhaustion; he just wanted to get to his locker and prepare for his next class.

"I..." Ryota paused. "I think a second-year's about to confess his feelings to Takahashi."

The awkward second-year stood before Mai Takahashi.

He was an absolute stutter central with the way he looked—colored cheeks, a quivering lower lip, a face like he was about to cry, and swear dripping from every pore.

Mai silently looked at him, not out of disgust; as she should've, but rather out of confusion.

"I LIKE YOU!" the second-year shouted. He lowered his head abruptly and then held out a hand as he began his ride through stutter central, "I... I... W-will you, pl-please, pl-please be my g-g-g-g-g-g-girlfriend?!"

It was an absolutely shameful performance he put up. Everyone knew this, and of course they had something to say.

"Oh jeez, hell no."

"Who the hell does he think he is?!"

"Some rom-com protagonist maybe? But even they get have better game."

"RIP to him, bro fumbled the bag before he could even secure."

With a gentle, soft voice, one you'd only hear from an angel, Mai simply told him, "No, but thank you for the offer." After that, she walked away with a smile on her face. To be clear, she wasn't happy because she'd just turned down a second-year, rather, she just didn't plan on letting something like that change her mood or make her feel embarrassed.

The second-year fell to his knees, but rather than crying or regretting ever telling her how he felt, he was happy, ecstatic even! He looked like he'd just won the lottery.

"She spoke to me... TAKAHASHI SPOKE TO ME!!"

Everyone shook their heads and started departing.

A small beep sounded from Yuuki's smartphone. He brought it out and looked at it for a moment. "Huh?"

[Harem Rejection System]

[Installation Complete...]

Unbothered, Yuuki sighed and slid his phone back into his pocket, "The sad fate of every man who confesses their feelings."

"Huh?" Ryota looked at Yuuki with confusion. "So you're not gonna confess your feelings to any girl?"

"Of course not, I don't like women. If it was biologically possible to be gay, then I'd like men."

"EeeEEeHh?!" Ryota was paralyzed with shock.

Yasuda tugged on Yuuki's blazer a bit as she looked at her smartphone. "Good answer. If I had a heart we'd be engaged by now.." she spoke impassively.

"Yeah, no."

A simple response now for Yuuki.

But one that would change his life a little later on.