After saying goodbye to Ayaka at the intersection, I headed home as usual and stopped by the convenience store to pick up a few things. Honestly, I wished I had a girlfriend who could cook for me every day, life would be so much easier.
Just then, I ran into Shun at the convenience store. He still had that same look, nothing had changed. I stood there for a moment, suddenly remembering that I had unintentionally taken away his chance to meet Ayaka for the first time. It felt... a bit strange.
I decided to walk up and greet him.
"Hey, Shun. We meet again, huh?"
Shun looked up at me, stared for a second, then smiled faintly.
"Oh, Hiro. You're here to grab something too?"
I nodded, trying not to look too unfamiliar.
"Guess we both have a thing for convenience store food."
Shun nodded and continued browsing the shelves. A bit of silence hung between us, but I could feel something lingering ,like a relationship that hadn't yet taken shape.
After getting home, eating dinner, and taking a shower, I flopped down on my bed, thinking I'd rest a bit before sleeping. But then my phone buzzed with a familiar message notification.
I picked it up and saw that a new group chat had been created: "Literature Club~".
The first message was from Ayaka:
[Let's all help each other from now on!]
Right after that, Kaori sent a sticker of a girl reading a book, giving a thumbs-up with her left hand.
Then Ren followed with a sticker of a guy reading a book, giving a thumbs-up with his right hand.
I looked at the screen and couldn't help but chuckle softly.
I pulled out a sticker of a green frog guy from my collection, the one giving a double thumbs-upand sent it into the group.
---
The second morning since I arrived in this world.
I started my day with a shower, freshened up, then changed into my uniform. After that, I poured hot water into the cup noodles I had bought last night, a simple but filling breakfast.
There was still a bit of time before I had to leave for school, so I sat down on the living room sofa and turned on the TV to catch the morning news. The weather forecast came on, saying it would rain in the afternoon. I made a mental note and grabbed an umbrella to put in my bag.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
I opened the door and saw Ayaka standing there, wearing that familiar gentle smile.
"Hiro, let's go to school together today," she suggested.
I looked at her for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure."
On the way to school, I walked beside Ayaka while my thoughts began to drift.
I didn't expect her to come all the way to my place and ask to walk to school together. In the original game, there was an option to visit a character's house and invite them to walk with you, but it usually came at the cost of lowering affection from other characters—a kind of trade-off that always made players hesitate. But this isn't a game anymore. There's no rigid choice system.
Ayaka asking me on her own… maybe it means she truly feels comfortable around me.
Maybe because I don't look at her with that strange, prying gaze like most other guys do.
After we arrived at school, things went on as usual. When it was time for P.E., the whole class moved to the sports area. I followed everyone, but then paused when I saw Ayaka approaching Shun, who was dozing off.
She gently woke him up,what a kindhearted heroine.
"Hey Shun, it's time for P.E."
"Mhm... mhm... alright."
"Hurry up or we'll be late," she said, flashing her usual bright smile. Then, as she passed through the back door, she saw me standing there watching.
Shun froze a bit from that smile.
"Were you waiting for me~~?"
Ayaka quickly walked over and we started heading out together. She smiled brightly—brighter than the smile she had given Shun earlier, at least to me.
That P.E. class, while the boys were busy with an intense volleyball game, the girls sat outside watching. I was also on the sidelines with a few other guys after finishing a match. Next to me, the Oujo-sama was going on about herself to a few other girls—her arrogance was pretty obvious.
Suddenly, I sensed something flying toward us. A volleyball came hurtling from the court at high speed, and Oujo-sama didn't seem to notice it at all. It was heading straight for her head while she was turned the other way.
"Hey, watch out!" a male student shouted.
She turned her head, eyes wide in surprise as she realized what was coming.
Bang!
She shut her eyes tight, and in that split second, I instinctively raised my arm to shield her. The ball slammed hard into my arm, sending a jolt of pain through me,it felt like my bones were going to crack. Luckily, she wasn't hurt.
"I'm really sorry!!!" a male student bowed deeply, his voice full of regret.
I lowered my arm, which was now throbbing painfully. Ayaka, Kaori, and Ren quickly rushed over to check on me, all looking genuinely worried.
Celestine, after recovering from the shock, looked at me with concern and a hint of guilt. She softly asked,
"I'm sorry... Are you okay?"
Kaori, not paying any attention to Celestine, quickly spoke up:
"I think you should go to the infirmary. Your arm doesn't look good."
Celestine then looked at me again, her eyes filled with gratitude and remorse, and gently offered:
"Let me go with you, okay?"