In the half hour it took me to get ready for Magic School of Rose Prodigies or whatever, I came to terms with four things.
First, MOM I'M AN ISEKAI PROTAGONIST. HAR HAR HAR.
Second, I will never be able to have online entertainment ever again.
Third, I do not like my new body. It's too curvy. Also, my hair is short. Do you have any idea how much effort I put into growing out my hair!? Also, apparently my name is Victoria Solace. Not that Victoria isn't a pretty name, but I liked being called Niharika, okay?
Fourth, I don't know crap about this world. Like I honestly have no idea where I am. Is this a game I played? A manga/manhwa/webnovel I read? It's not like I've been summoned to be a saviour or anything. Aren't I supposed to have extensive knowledge of the world when I get isekai-ed like this?
Blasphemy. Utter blasphemy.
I was jolted out of my thoughts, literally, when the carriage came to a halt and I almost fell face first onto the seat in front of me. Vanessa, my apparent older sister, pushed me back by my shoulders to steady me.
"Easy there," she said, smiling, "you're such a clutz."
Oh, yes, I'm such a clutz and I never do anything right and that's why I'm so shy uwu, because I'm not like the other girls and I totally fell because of my overly annoying clumsiness that literally no one finds endearing and not because there's NO GODDAMN SEATBELT.
I managed a smile. "Thank you, sister."
She laughed. The audacity.
"Do you know where the Opening Ceremony will be held?" Vanessa asked, getting out of the carriage.
No I don't know where it'll be held but it doesn't matter because in a moment I'll act like a clutz and you'll tell me anyway.
"I do! It's towards there, right?" I said, pointing at a random direction.
"Oh wow! You actually remember!"
Wait, what. There was like a 1 in 360 chance of getting that right. Wait, wait, wait, I didn't mean to get that right.
"You can learn things when you put your mind to it! Oh, I'm so proud." Vanessa wiped a non-existent tear from her eye.
"Of course! You told me to remember it so I did!" I said, for some reason. Why did I say that? WHY DID I SAY THAT??? I don't even remember the direction I pointed in!
Probably to see the look of adoration in Vanessa's eyes before she took leave. Screw my people-pleasing tendencies.
Hey, you know what? I'll just follow the rest of the crowd.
Wait, there are multiple crowds. Fuck me.
Oh, no, wait, those people look about as lost as I feel. That's probably the crowd of the newcomers.
Time to confidently walk towards the-
Oh my god, I almost stepped on a baby bird. I'm so sorry, baby bird.
...That's a very cute baby bird. Aw look, its chirping.
I bent down to take a closer look at it.
A crow baby? Maybe? (I don't know) (I don't know way too many things)
The feathers are black, and so are the talons, but some birds look different when they're young and gradually change when they grow older.
Awww, it's shivering.
I looked around to make sure there weren't any parent crows flying around. Crows can be scary if they think you hurt one of them. I don't have personal experience, but one of my uncles got his eye poked by a crow because he accidentally stepped on her egg. He's now half-blind.
Okay, no mama crows around. I knelt down and slowly extended my hand towards the crow(?) baby. It frantically flapped its wings. The wings are so small, oh my god, I'm gonna die of cuteness overload.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said, trying to lower my voice. Frightened animals don't like high pitched voices. That I know from experience.
I picked it up by the body and looked at the talons. Hm, okay, short enough to not hurt. I put the crow baby on my palm. It shivered.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said again, enclosing a hand over its body to keep it from falling. It stopped shivering.
Ah. It was probably cold.
It's still chirping, though.
...Mama, can I keep it?
I mean, I probably can now. If it had been my previous family, the request would have been rejected before it even left my mouth. My mom didn't like animals and my dad didn't think I was responsible enough to keep one, so I never had a pet. I always wanted one, though.
You know what? I'm gonna keep the crow baby. I'll dig up worms from the garden to feed it if I have to, but I'm keeping it.
Is it male or female, I wonder? It's too young to determine the gender just yet so I'll have to keep referring to it as an it.
The crow baby flapped it's tiny wings again. I had to contain myself from squealing out loud. Dude, stop being so adorable? Hello???
Imma name it Kaz, after Kaz Brekker of Ketterdam, and if anyone gets that reference, I love you.
Somebody cleared their throat from behind me.
"Miss, why aren't you in class yet?"
I stood up and turned back. "I'm a new student." A lousy excuse but I have the almighty Protagonist Halo. Probably. Or I might have isekai-ed as a villainess, in which case, shit.
"Then why aren't you in the Opening Ceremony yet?" the blonde dude who dared interrupt my train of thought said.
Uh...cuz one, Kaz, and two, I don't know where it is.
"I found a baby crow," I said, showing him who I was holding.
Blonde Dude visibly recoiled from my hand.
.....Dishonour on you, dishonour on your family, dishonour on your motherfucking cow, you pathetic, cowardly vermin. It's a baby bird, not a fucking Periplaneta americana, oh my god.
"Are you scared, Raynott?"
Top ten sexual tension inducing lines right there. Wait who said that? New person entrance?
Raynott frowned. Of course he did. If my name rhymed with snot, I'd frown too.
"I'm not scared, Miyasato."
Huh? Do I hear a Japanese surname? An Asian? OH MY GOD, AN ASIAN! HELLO, I'M ASIAN TOO!! LET'S BE FRIENDS :D
Raynott stepped aside and I saw the Asian Dude. Except, he's not Asian. Asians don't have blue eyes. And Asians don't have that facial structure. That's a white man in disguise. He's performing racepionage. God, why am I like this.
"Well you sure looked scared. Didn't he?" Miyasato asked me. Okay listen here, white dude in Asian clothing, don't talk to me like you've known me since forever. Or wait, does he know me? I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T REMEMBER.
Raynott's frown deepened, "You know her?"
"No," Not-Asian Dude said, "but she can verify that you did, indeed, look scared."
"I'm not scared! Why does it matter to you so much, anyway?"
Nah, for real. Why does it matter so much? Are you worried? Is that it? Underneath that mask of spite, are you so worried about your rival's well-being that it keeps you awake at night? Or am I just being delusional and trying to make every interaction gay?
...Probably the latter.
Although, to be honest, at this point two normal high school boys would start fistfighting (they're emotionally fragile). These two, on the other hand, are still verbally arguing.
And the exact moment I thought that, those two actually started fighting. Is this revere psychology? But reverse psychology is when you say something and the other person does the opposite of what you told them to do, and I personally haven't said a single thing after introducing Kaz to Blonde Dude. Not out loud. Hopefully. The shit I think could get me sued. Oh god I'm talking to myself again. But you know what? My last two braincells make better conversationalists than most other people, so it's no wonder I'm talking to myself.
"...Is that his Highness...fighting with Mister Miyasato?" I heard from behind me. Again. These people need to stop coming up from behind me.
"Yeah, I think? Oooh, he threw a punch," said another voice. Again, guys, stop coming up from behind me. Also, that punch probably hurt. He just said you were scared, man, chill. He was probably just concerned.
"Do we need to stop them...?" the first voice said.
"...Nah."
I looked down at Kaz. It had started shivering again.
Guys, shut up. You're scaring my child. The audacity they have to scare my child, I swear.
"Oh? Vic? Is that you?"
Oh my god one of them knows me. Nononono don't recognize me I don't know you, sorry. Go away, please. Red is sus. He's the imposter. Not me. I'm not covered in blood. This is pasta sauce. I'm the impasta. Not the correct time for Among Us humour, braincells.
I turned towards the source of the voice (behind).
"...I'm sorry, I don't-"
-recognise you, I was about to say, but actually, I did recognise him.
"Gilbert?" I said, hesitatingly. Please don't be wrong, please don't be wrong, please don't be wrong-
Gilbert grinned. "So she does remember."
Oh thank fuck.
I know this character. He was there in that game I played the first time I had covid because it was the only offline game in my phone and the hospital ward I was quarantined in had no Wi-Fi.
It was called...Rosebud of love? Rosaria Kingdom? Rose Gem?
Uh...I know it had the word Rose in it. And I also know that the main plot is that there's a rose that holds all the magic or something and someone destroys it and rebuilds it using the protagonist's power, draining her of her magic, or they try to, except the love interest saves her with the power of love and they all live happily ever after. Except the villain. The villain dies. Of course the villain dies.
It always bugged me. Like, a flower that controls all magic is so easily destroyed? It has no magical enchantments to protect it? It's so easy to steal? Hello??? Talk about incompetency.
Anyways, the only reason I remember Gilbert is because he has the same name as Gilbert Blythe, my husband (no, seriously, Anne, if you don't want him I'll take him and you can marry Diana), and also he gave off chaotic bisexual malewife vibes while I was playing the game.
As far as I remember, he's the childhood friend except he became a fuckboy except he's not a fuckboy, he's just had a lot of girlfriends. Typical.
I smiled at Gilbert, about to ask him to show me the way to the Opening Ceremony
Suddenly someone fell from a tree.
What the fuck.
Wait, that's another ikemen.
I'm starting to think that this might be the intro of the game where the MC meets all the Capture Targets, except I ruined it because I'm me and I don't do well with scripted interactions unless it's a play or a musical. And also maybe because of Kaz. Thank you, Kaz, truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you from saving me from these cis white straight men.
Anyway, the fall was so shocking that the Fragile Ego Guys stopped fighting.
"Ow...oh, hey," the dude on the ground said, looking up.
Raynott(who, I guess, is the prince) sighed, "Emeric Emery, you flunked First Year and are late to the Opening Ceremony this year?"
Hmmmmm? Weren't you literally punching someone a moment ago?
Emeric Emery (nice name, by the way) frowned and looked like he wanted to deliver some choice words to Raynott's face, but he kept silent.
Miyasato fixed his tie.
"Alright, we've dilly-dallied for long enough. Everyone get to the Opening Ceremony now," he said.
Dude. That's what I've been trying to ask since the beginning. The way to the goddamn Opening Ceremony.
Hah...
I followed the five ikemen(no seriously, why are they all ikemen?) (like give me some average-looking capture targets for max realism, please) to the Opening Ceremony that...still hadn't started. I thought we'd have missed half of it. Is this the Protagonist halo??? If yes, can I have seconds?
I took my seat next to Gilbert and immediately the world started spinning.
What's happening? Am I dying? Again? I don't want to die again! I have magic in this world! Nooooooooooo- wait is that a movie screen-?
* * *
A girl, who looks very much like Victoria, is surrounded by the five ikemen.
The camera zooms in on the prince, and a meeting scene is shown in the background, wherein Victoria bumps into the prince while carrying her books and running to her classroom.
"Watch you step," the prince says, and the frame pauses there, the words [Edvard Raynott: the Cold and Arrogant Crown Prince] appear on the bottom of the frame.
* * *
I am very concerned
* * *
The scene shifts to the Protagonist trying to take out a book from the top rack of a library shelf. A hand gets to the book first and holds it out to her.
"Oh, thank you!" the Protagonist says with relish. A tall boy hovers over her, looking bashful.
The camera zooms in on his face and the frame freezes. The words [Cassian Brook: Stoic and Emotionless but Sweet to his Sweetheart] appear.
* * *
Okay, that's actually kind of cute. Not the description. The description is too cliché.
* * *
The camera shifts again and this time focuses on Miyasato, who is giving Victoria a gift.
"It's not like I like you or anything!" he says, huffing.
The frame freezes. [Akane Miyasato: Smart, Cute, Tsundere Kouhai]
* * *
Ah yes, it's not like you like her or anything. You're gay for Raynott.
* * *
The frame shifts once again, this time to Gilbert, as he gently kisses Victoria's hand.
"You are not like the others. I love you."
The frame freezes. [Gilbert Ashworth: Flirtatious Playboy + Childhood Friend]
* * *
OH MY GOD GUYS SHE'S NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS. Wait why do I think like I'm talking to other people-
* * *
Lastly, the frame shifts to Emeric Emery, who is being bandaged by Victoria.
"I didn't ask for your help," he says.
The frame freezes. [Emeric Emery: Misunderstood Bully with a Tragic Past]
* * *
...I have no words.
* * *
The screen shows five different scenes in succession, one with each Capture Target.
[Choose one]
The screen shows the very first picture with Victoria surrounded by all five ikemen again.
[Or Choose All]
The screen shows a brief picture of a girl with long hair standing and holding a rose.
[And Save Them All]
* * *
A two-year-old could make it rhyme better.
* * *
The screen goes black
* * *
I looked towards my left, where Gilbert was sitting.
There's a heart shaped blob floating next to him, which shows the number 30. That's...an affection meter? Well damn.
Also, Gil, you're my favourite character but did you really have to pull out the you're not like other girls card?
Even Kaz doesn't approve of this.