Prologue
There’s a romcom manga I really like.
Its title is ‘My Childhood Friend Ojōsama Gets in the Way,
So I Can’t Have a Normal Romcom.’
The protagonist, Shigemoto Yūichi, a high school student,
falls for a girl he meets at school—Fujise Shiho.
But when he tries to confess to her, his childhood-friend
ojōsama, Tōjōin Kaori, gets in the way.
Using her wealth and influence like a true ojōsama, she
sabotages every chance he has to be alone with Fujise Shiho—and in the end, she
even goes so far as to make him her fiancée.
At first, the protagonist finds his childhood-friend ojōsama
nothing but a nuisance. But when he realizes that Tōjōin Kaori is in love with
him—that all her meddling was just twisted affection—he starts to become aware
of her in a different way.
But the girl he likes—Fujise Shiho—also truly likes him
back.
On one side is Fujise Shiho, who loves him purely. On the
other is his twisted yet possessive childhood-friend ojōsama, Tōjōin Kaori, who
wants him all to herself.
Their tangled love triangle is both endearing and incredibly
entertaining.
The romcom is popular, too—popular enough that it’s been
greenlit for an anime adaptation.
I don’t read many romcoms, but this one’s so good I keep
coming back to it.
And whenever I read a romcom like this, I inevitably end up
with an oshi—a favorite character.
There are plenty of people at my high school who read it
too, and the usual argument is whether you prefer Fujise Shiho or Tōjōin Kaori.
It’s usually split almost down the middle… but my oshi is
different.
She’s neither Tōjōin Kaori nor Fujise Shiho.
My favorite character is Fujise Shiho’s friend, Shimada Sei.
She’s the kind of heroine who, you just know, will never end
up with the protagonist.
This manga—commonly nicknamed ‘Ojōjama’—has two main heroines: Tōjōin Kaori and Fujise Shiho.
The story’s absolute trajectory is that the protagonist will
choose one of those two… but there are other heroines around to color the
story.
One of them is my oshi, Shimada Sei.
She’s a silver-haired short-haired girl with sharp, upturned
eyes and a somewhat cool appearance.
She’s really beautiful, and in the story she’s portrayed as
the kind of woman other girls are drawn to.
I absolutely loved her.
It might be gross to obsess over a manga character like
this, but it was a real, hardcore crush.
As a high schooler working part-time, I spent most of what I
earned on Sei-chan merch and the like.
I really liked her—I never expected I’d get this hooked.
On my way home from my part-time job today, I was heading to
a shop to buy more Sei-chan merch.
Now that it’s been announced for an anime adaptation, the
amount of merch has really multiplied… my money’s disappearing fast and it’s
starting to run out. I’ve got to work harder at my job.
I was walking down the sidewalk thinking about all that
when—a scream came from behind me.
Following the sound, I turned around and saw a truck bearing
down right in front of me.
A heavy truck—there was no way I could jump to the side and
get out of the way in time.
I mean, this is a sidewalk—why is a truck plowing into it…
ah, the driver’s asleep, of course. Give me a break.
All of that flashed through my head in less than a second.
If I have time to think that much before getting hit, this
must be one of those near-death moments where time stretches out and everything
slows down.
Am I going to die here?
I don’t want to die—I’m still in high school… and besides, I haven’t finished ‘Ojōjama’ yet.
It’s not over yet; I want to read it all the way through to
the end.
I know Sei-chan probably won’t get her happy ending, but I
still want to see how it all concludes.
Today a bunch of new Sei-chan merch come out—I have to buy
those.
There’s no way I’m going to die here, I don’t want to—
T/N - Hey—Translator-kun here.
Why did I pick this novel?
Simple: I read the web version and wanted to continue with the light novel, but there were no translations for Vol. 1 and 2. And think 'I want to know", that's it. So I decided to translate them myself.
Quick note: I’m not a professional, so there may be mistakes. Please leave feedback—and if you enjoy the translation, don’t forget to share.
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