Watashi, Nibanme no Kanojo de Ii kara

"I like you too, Kirishima—as my second choice, anyway." And so, even though each of them holds someone dearer, Hayasaka and Kirishima find themselves dating one another. Both fully understand that they are merely stand-ins for the ones they truly love, and it is on precisely that understanding that they become a couple. They walk home together, steal away for secret meetings, and share an intimacy that goes far beyond anything a placeholder relationship should ever involve. The terms of their arrangement are clear: second place is still only second, and the moment either of them wins a real chance with their first love, this relationship will come to an end. A clean, painless conclusion—or at least, it should be. Yet somewhere along the way, their tidy pact begins to crumble. "I'm sorry. I'm an idiot, because I keep falling for you more and more." Even as they draw closer to the people they originally longed for, the two of them only sink deeper and deeper into each other instead. They cannot stop, and they cannot let go—no matter the consequences. What awaits at the end of this hopeless, dangerous, impure, and utterly unhealthy love affair...?