"Call me Ms. Angel, I'm this school's nurse." The Mysterious Being, or should I call now, Angel, said as she introduced herself as she ushered us into the office.
Other than her being here, the Nurse's office looked normal; identical to memory.
The only thing different was her, Angel in that ridiculously lewd nurse's outfit. The original nurse was a kind elderly woman named Agatha; what the hell happened to her!?
"H-Hello..." Lee's eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his skull as he ogled Angel's massive breasts barely covered by her revealing cleavage.
"My, boys this age sure are... something," Angel giggled as she sat the dazed Lee down on a chair as she looked me once over.
"Now, I'm assuming it's you who needs help, am I correct?" Angel said as she hauled me over to the open bed, "Here, let me check your temperature--"
"H-Hey what're you d-doing!" I protested as Angel suddenly sat me down and grabbed me by the shoulders as she pressed her forehead against mine; her face was blurred like a ripple in a pond.
"Just checking your temperature, kid. Besides, while we're going through the motions, let's have a little chat." She said as she let go and thought for a moment.
"You're running a slight fever, hmm, I think I'll have to run a few more tests,"
"Tests!? What tests!?!" I demanded an explanation, but she only ignored me as she scrounged through an antique-looking doctor's bag.
"Mind a lolly?" Angel asked as she threw a lollipop at Lee, he obediently began to suck on it.
But as he did, he immediately fell asleep as he slumped over in his chair.
"What did you do to him!?" I shouted.
"Just some special edible propofol that I had concocted, all I did was put him to sleep. My, he's having some wild dreams about me right now; oh, oh wow~--"
"D-Don't read my mind! I mean his mind! Whatever! What're you doing here anyway? And how isn't he freaking out because of your face!?" I asked her.
"My face? Ah, I'm currently disguised as a mix between a model and a home-town beauty. I'm quite pretty, but in your case, I don't hide my identity with you," She explained.
"And as to why I'm here, I already told you, we need to have a chat," Angel rolled over a stool over to where I was as she straddled it seductively.
"Why're you blushing? Ah, I see, you're still a hapless little boy but in a girl's body, my mistake, teehee~" Angel mocked me as she finally took the decency to cross her legs.
"J-Just tell me what you need to tell me,"
"Mm, well to kill two stones with one bird, wait is that the right saying? Meh, whatever. Moving on, I'm here to warn you, and to tell you what your overall mission is,"
"Warn me? What's going on?" I tensed up as I heard the word 'warn'.
"Well you see, remember when we had made our little deal?"
"It was literally yesterday, so yes, I do remember"
"Well, to put it simply, we kinda screwed up a little,"
"S-Screwed up??"
"Yeahhh, turns out some of my co-workers found out and they've decided to put their own hats into the ring too," Angel said as she knocked her head lightly and went 'dehee' jokingly.
"By hats into the ring, do you mean..."
"Systems, yes, as you've seen so far, that Eric Graves boy, he has one too,"
"Nice going by the way, that magical girl transformation was superb; I could really sense the despair in your heart as you twirled that little skirt of yours, hehe" Angel said with giggle.
"It was mediocre, Handler, do not convince the child otherwise," The System said, coming into the conversation now.
"Hello, Zeta, how has 'he' been treating you?"
"Wait you can hear her?" And her name's Zeta? I asked Angel.
"Yes, she is the System I've given to you after all. And yes, her name is Zeta; but feel free to call her whatever you might want."
"The boy lacks drive and imagination, I am utterly whelmed at the assignment I've been given; no thanks to you, Handler. And do not call me anything else but Zeta, or you will face dire consequences." Zeta gave a stinging critique. And wait, dire consequences? Z-Zeta it is!
"Mm, I think you're being a little too hard on 'him'. He did manage to save his precious past life with that little stunt of his, did he not?" Angel said with a mischievous smile.
"L-Look, sorry to but in, but I really need to know what's going on! I still don't even know what I'm really meant to do as a 'Heartbreaker' and this period is almost over!" I said as I glanced at the clock on the wall, it read 8:20 AM now; I only had another ten minutes before first period was done.
"Oh yes, that, well to give it to you straight, your primary mission is to help little sleeping beauty over there to find--" Angel stood up from her stool, "TRUE LOVE!" She exclaimed as she took a confetti party popper out from her cleavage and used it; the confetti flew out everywhere all over us and the bed.
"True love?" I muttered the word back, it felt wrong to say it from my lips; as if it was something made up.
"Yes, 'true love', a most wonderful thing for mortals like you," She said with a cheery smile.
"But, I-I know nothing about that..." I mumbled.
"No need to worry, with your powers as a 'Heartbreaker', you've been given all the tools you'll need to help him find his [True Love] here in Lockhart High!"
The term [True Love] emblazoned itself into my vision, it digitizing into the pink font that was my System as it fizzled out over Lee's sleeping body. As I opened his profile it appeared in the text, locked behind what looked like a chained lock.
"[Name: Lee Lozer][Age: 17][Heart's Desire: To Help Lia Wynner at All Costs]
...[True Love: LOCKED]"
Lee's true love, it was there, the mystery of it locked behind this stupid System.
"So what you're saying is that I'll know what his [True Love] is once he discovers it?" I asked Angel.
"Exactly, you're catching on quick, here, a lolly for you too," Angel said as she threw a green-colored lollypop onto my lap.
"Uhm, thanks," I said as I stuffed it into my blazer's breast pocket.
"And once he discovers said [True Love], you'll have completed half of your contract! Yippee!" Angel said as she gave a peace sign; geez, she's really hamming up this preppy nurse act.
"W-Wait... did you just say 'half'?" I said as I got up from the bed, "I thought that IS the primary mission!" I pointed at her angrily.
"Now now, don't get so grumpy, you're going to love this second half,"
"I have a feeling I won't,"
"To complete our contract and to allow you to live the rest of your new life, all you have to do is find your [True Love] too!"
It hit me like a truck hearing what she asked me to do.
"F-Find my [True Love]?!?" I took a step back, stumbling back into bed.
"Yes, and to do it before you graduate along with Lee, you both have to find [True Love] before then together!" She said as she made a heart out of her hands; encircling me in it as she stared through the gap in her fingers.
"Isn't it just a thrill? Two halves of the same soul, both needing to find their [True Love], my oh my, Hollywood could never! Haha!" Angel guffawed.
This was ridiculous, the idea of me and my past self finding our true love within the same year!? I've just come to terms with the fact that we're both separate now, we're both living two different lives!
And now that I know that Eric won't have the chance anymore to...
Wait, wait hold a second.
In my past life, I didn't encounter Eric until a week later when I had tripped into him in class. That was when the bullying had started. And the fact that he's a System user now, had he always been one before? He's had pull before, sure, but for him to be able to convince others in such a way, I can't think of a time he had managed to do that.
The timeline has already split off from what I know, and the fact that Lee now knows who I am, well Lia anyways, this is also a change in my-- his original life.
The future has now become completely unpredictable. Was my sacrifice to prevent Lee's future death for nothing? Did Eric even use a System to convince Ria to date him in the first place??
Ria Goodgarden, she's the keystone in all of this. Everything so far has revolved around her, and so, in that case, I needed to know if she was involved in all of this.
Especially with how she's been acting thus far.
"Hm, what's the matter, not satisfied?" Angel asked.
"Yes, but no, it's not that." I paused.
"About the other Systems... are there more than just Eric Graves?" I asked her.
"Hmm, as far as what I can tell, I believe there are a handful present here in the school,"
"A h-handful!?" I blurted out in surprise.
"Yes, a handful, around 4 or so. Word got around fast at HQ, and well, some wanted a piece of the pie."
"Well, in that case, could you tell me who they are?"
"No can do, that would ruin the surprise! I've already given you a heads-up that they do exist."
"Useless!" "Useless!" Zeta and I said simultaneously to Angel.
"H-Hey! I can't just go behind their backs and tell you! They're playing by the same rules too, none of their contractees know who you are," Angel explained.
"Didn't you get us in this mess in the first place by breaking rules!!" I shouted at her.
"Nngh, well when you put it like that... fine! I'll throw you a bone, just this once, but I won't give you any hints other than confirming whether or not ONE person has a System; so choose carefully!" Angel said as she crossed her arms and looked away.
One person... I get a single shot to guess who might have a System.
I dug my hand into my blazer's pocket, feeling the wrinkled note on my fingertips.
"Okay, in that case... does Ria Goodgarden have a System?" I asked, hoping for the best.
Angel turned her head around to me as she cocked it sideways.
"Who?"
"Ria Goodgarden, the Headmaster's daughter," I explained, confused by Angel's reaction.
Angel, her interest piqued by Ria's name, snapped her fingers and with it, a floating scroll appeared before her. As she grabbed it and opened it, a blinding white light shone from it as I covered my eyes from its glare.
"Mmm... this person you're talking about, I'm checking the logs and well, sorry to break it to you but--
they don't exist; they never have."