[Monday, 7:34 AM.]
I put on my school uniform, consisting of a black blazer with white accents over a long-sleeved white button-up shirt with vertical lining, a black ribbon at the collar, and matching black trousers. I let out a deep sigh as I finished getting ready.
What have I become?
That was the question I had asked myself countless times before making my way to the bathroom.
In front of the mirror, I sighed again, but this time for a different reason. My eyes remained a deep blue, framed by long lashes, while my messy black hair was the same, with side bangs reaching just below my ears. Thin eyebrows completed the picture. Everything was exactly as it should be.
'At least my appearance hasn't changed...' I thought. 'At least there's that...'
As for the possibility of using powers now, I still needed to test it. Of course, I wasn't about to try that inside the house. Even though one of the two available abilities had healing and debuff-clearing effects, I had no clue what kind of impact it might have in the real world.
Actually, am I even capable of using them? Wouldn't I need something like magical power?
Sitting on the toilet, I got lost in my thoughts.
After several unsuccessful attempts to find something that could guide me better, I decided to try saying "Status." I nearly fell backward when a holographic page appeared right in front of me.
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Summoner: Reiji Hoshino – Lv.3
Bonded Summon (7%): Water Fairy [★★★]
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I clicked on the Water Fairy icon, and a more detailed page expanded.
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Water Fairy [★★★]
Type: Support
Level: 2/25
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Attributes:
HP: 2,310 | Attack: 135 +6
Defense: 172 | Speed: 103
Critical Rate: 15% | Critical Damage: 50%
Resistance: 15% | Accuracy: 0%
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Skills:
[Water Surge (1/8):]
Attacks the enemy three times with a spinning water storm. Freezes the enemy for 1 turn with a 20% chance.
[Purify (1/6):]
Removes all harmful effects from an ally and recovers their HP. The recovery amount is proportional to the Attack Power. (Cooldown: 3 turns).
[Leader Skill:]
Increases the Resistance of allied monsters by 20%.
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"Wow!" My heart pounded with excitement. This was concrete proof that I had ceased to be just an ordinary person and become something more.
Even though it marked 7%—likely the percentage of my bond with the Water Fairy and the amount of power I could use from her—it was still incredible.
"Knock! Knock!"
"Reiji!!" After two knocks on the door, Mom called out, complaining, "How long are you planning to stay in there? Haven't I told you not to use your smartphone in the bathroom?"
I blushed at that, as it was true. Once I got used to it, I could hardly go to the bathroom without my smartphone. Well... This time, I managed because I got lost in thought, thanks to what happened in my "dream."
After cleaning up, I washed my hands at the sink.
When I opened the door, I saw Mom with one eyebrow raised, giving me a slight scowl.
Mom is very beautiful. Her eyes are blue, a little lighter than mine, and she has long black hair that falls over her slender figure. Despite this, her ample chest draws attention, especially considering she's 35 years old. She's the kind of mom I'm proud to have.
I didn't close the holographic page on purpose. I wanted to see Mom's reaction the moment she saw me. However, I quickly realized that, although she looked at me accusingly, she didn't seem to notice the page.
I couldn't take this lightly. If Mom could see it, other people probably could too. I didn't know what might happen in that case, but I had a strong feeling I wouldn't be safe if it became known.
"Hey, are you listening to me?"
I snapped back to reality when I saw Mom snapping her fingers in front of my face. My eyes refocused, and I gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Mom. I was thinking about something… What did you say again?"
"Heavens." She sighed. "As I said, my distant cousin was arrested for theft, and her daughter has no adult she can rely on. Since I'm her only relative, they contacted me."
"They want you to take custody of her daughter until your cousin gets out of prison?" I asked. "And you're going to accept, Mom?"
"We haven't discussed all the details over the phone yet, but I plan to accept," she replied. "Even though I feel nothing for that woman…"
"Watch your language, Mom."
She shot me a stern look before continuing, "The child isn't at fault for having a mother like her. And since she's my relative and is about to be sent to an orphanage, I can't let that happen."
"Well, do what you think is best." I smiled and added, "You're the best mom in the world. I'm sure you'll do what's right for that little girl."
Mom reached out, pinched my cheek, and, smiling, said, "Sweet talker."
"By the way, Mom," I asked, "How old is she?"
"I believe she's ten years old."
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"Heading out now, Mom."
I yawned as I stepped out of the house.
While walking to school, I couldn't help but close my eyes against the sunlight.
Today, the sun felt particularly brighter and more irritating.
Are my eyes becoming more sensitive to sunlight?
In that dream world, I experienced some flashes of light. Maybe that's why.
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Kuou Academy, a private school.
Currently co-ed, the institution was exclusively for girls until a few years ago, which explains the predominance of female students. Over time, the number of boys increased, but girls still outnumber them.
I'm in the second year of high school, where the ratio of girls to boys is 7 to 3. In the third year, the difference is even more pronounced: 8 to 2.
Even today, girls hold more influence in the school. The Student Council is mostly made up of female students, including the student president, who is also a girl.
By the way, I may not be the most handsome guy, but I have some confidence. After all, I get plenty of glances from girls and even a few love letters.
Still, when you're in the same class as Yuuto Kiba and Makoto Sunakawa, you're destined not to be the most popular guy in the room.
I arrived at the classroom and sat at my desk.
As always, there were girls surrounding Kiba's desk.
"Hey, Reiji. Yamato wants to organize a little meetup between some guys and her friends. Basically, a singles meetup. You're coming, aren't you?"
The tall, muscular guy with thick lips, short black hair, bushy eyebrows, and prominent sideburns speaking to me is my childhood friend and neighbor, Takeo Gouda. He has the build of an athlete and was part of the judo club before entering high school.
"Huh?" I replied, pursing my lips. "Your girlfriend's friends? They're first-years, right?"
"Yep!" Takeo answered loudly.
"Sigh…" Makoto, sitting nearby, let out a deep sigh.
Makoto is a very handsome, slim guy with messy blond hair falling over his forehead, brown eyes, and an expression that's always blank or stoic, but he showed some reaction to my comment.
Makoto is considered so attractive that every girl Takeo liked ended up falling for Makoto instead. Worse still, he saw firsthand how they would badmouth Takeo and even mentioned it to me a few times back then. Having grown up witnessing the ugly side of many girls, he never showed much interest in relationships.
Of course, my reason was different. I like older women. For example, Makoto's older sister, who's now in college, has always captured my attention…
"I don't know," I replied vaguely, knowing how persistent Takeo could be if I turned him down outright.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Takeo said, placing his massive hand on my shoulder. "Yamato said the girls are all pretty cute."
Hearing that, Yamato's image came to mind. I had a good impression of her. Yamato is a beautiful, petite, and charming young girl with shoulder-length reddish-blonde hair, bangs falling over her forehead, and large brown eyes.
Of course, the fact that she's pretty isn't why I had a good impression of her. The reason I liked her was because she's Takeo's girlfriend and how it all started, which really impressed me.
I wasn't there that day, but I heard the story afterward from Makoto.
One Saturday afternoon, Takeo and Makoto went out to see a movie. On their way, they saw a girl being aggressively approached by some delinquents who were using the old trick of inviting her to "have fun at karaoke."
Even after she firmly refused, they didn't back off. That's when Takeo stepped in.
Not to brag, but Takeo's presence alone is intimidating enough. Even though it was a group of three delinquents, when faced with Takeo—who looked like a locker or even a bear—they got scared and ran off, shouting, "You'll regret this!"
After that, instead of thanking Makoto—which happens often since whenever Takeo helps someone and Makoto or even I are nearby, it's rarely Takeo who gets the gratitude—Yamato directly thanked Takeo for helping her.
From that point on, Yamato, who apparently fell in love with Takeo at first sight, boldly started getting closer to him.
Although there was initially a small misunderstanding, with Takeo thinking she was using him as a bridge to get to Makoto, it didn't take long for the misunderstanding to be cleared up, and the two started dating.
Putting their story aside, I still couldn't get excited about participating in a singles meetup with a bunch of first-year girls.
Again, if it were older girls—at least third-years—I wouldn't think twice about saying yes…
Before I could decline, the bell rang, and the teacher entered the classroom.
"Everyone, take your seats."
"Reiji, think about it and let me know later," Takeo said as he walked away.
I looked at Makoto and saw him sigh again. I knew that, no matter how much he hated it, he couldn't refuse a request from Takeo. Even if he disliked it, he would still go because of him.
Oh well. Maybe I'll go and come up with an excuse to leave halfway through…
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In front of me, along with Takeo, Makoto, and the other three guys, were six girls. The first had straight, light blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. The second had straight, light brown hair with blunt bangs and a cheerful smile, her eyes closed. The third had curly blonde hair styled into a voluminous look.
The fourth was Yamato. The fifth girl had short, straight brown hair cut into a blunt style. Lastly, the sixth had short, wavy gray hair and a shy smile.
After leaving school, we met up with Yamato's friends.
"Hello! I'm Yamato, Takeo-kun's girlfriend. All these girls are friends from my class."
After Yamato's brief introduction, the girls greeted us in unison: "Hello!"
While I didn't react much, the other three guys were visibly excited.
"Nice to meet you!" they said together with big smiles.
I noticed that Makoto was even more indifferent than me. His expression of boredom and total lack of interest was obvious.
Osamu Kurihara, an average-looking teenager with an afro and a slim build, commented while resting his left hand on another guy's shoulder: "They're all cute."
I felt out of place, like I didn't belong there. Maybe that's why my mind began to wander, mostly thinking about what had happened to me in that other dimension.
"So, who's Rinko's boyfriend?"
'Will I go back there when I sleep?' I wondered.
"This girl fills us with her happiness every day."
Ignoring their conversation, I thought, 'I should buy a mask…'
"Huh? No, I don't do that!"
"Yes, that's what people say you're doing."
When I noticed the girls' conversation winding down, I saw the last girl from earlier ask Yamato, "So, who's he?"
"H-He…"
I stopped letting my mind wander and saw Yamato approach Takeo, visibly shy.
With a wave toward Takeo, Yamato answered her friends, "This is Takeo-kun, my boyfriend."
Nervously, Takeo blurted out, "Hello!"
I could see in the girls' eyes that it was hard for them to accept this reality.
I don't know what they were thinking, but it certainly wasn't anything pleasant.
"Ah…" One of them said, trying her best not to sound offensive, "As Rinko mentioned, you're really tall…"
Another stammered slightly before speaking: "L-Like Rinko said, you have big hands…"
'I thought, since they were Yamato's friends, they'd be different, but I see I was wrong.'
Of course, even with a less-than-great first impression, they could still turn out to be good girls later on—maybe they just experienced some unmet expectations. And even if that were the case and they were genuinely good girls, they still seemed too green for my taste. So, in the end, it didn't matter.
"Takeo, go on ahead. I need to buy something," I said. "I'll catch up with you later."
"Really?" Takeo turned to me, seemingly oblivious to the awkward atmosphere that had formed, and said loudly, "You promise to come back, right!?"
"Yes, I promise," I replied calmly.
Takeo nodded and, in his usual booming voice, said, "Then it's fine!"
I noticed the girls looking at me—some surprised, even blushing—but I pretended not to notice as I walked away.
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The mask I bought was something that, if I didn't use it, I could give to my little cousin, the one Mom planned to take care of. So, I picked a Sailor Moon mask.
I mainly chose it because it covered my entire face, including the sides, which would be convenient if I needed to use it. As for the embarrassment... well, as long as I wasn't recognized, it would be fine.
"Riiing~!"
A message. I finished paying, thanked the cashier, left the store, and checked the message. It was from Makoto, who had sent me the meetup location: [Matsule Restaurant, third floor]. I replied, letting him know I was on my way, and tucked my phone back into my pocket.
I hadn't gone far, so it didn't take long to get to the address.
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"Hey, you all go to an all-girls school, right?"
As soon as I arrived, I heard Osamu talking, asking the obvious: "So none of you have boyfriends?"
The girl with chin-length brown hair didn't even know how to respond to such a dumb question: "Uh... well..."
Another girl added, "No, we don't…"
I almost burst out laughing when Takeo headbutted Osamu.
"Pfft~"
"Don't ask dumb questions to Yamato's friends!" Takeo said, not moving his large face away from Osamu's, who turned pale, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
"Sorry, sorry," Osamu said in a pitiful voice.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Takeo notice me. Pulling his head away from Osamu, he said, "Oh, Reiji. You're here. Come, sit with us!"
The moment Takeo stopped speaking, I felt several gazes on me—some of which I really didn't want. There were envious looks from the three guys, as well as some from the girls, a few of whom blushed as they stared at me.
Honestly, I should just get a juice, make up an excuse, and leave…
With a polite smile, I approached and sat next to Makoto.
Making a slight bow, I said, "Sorry for being late."
"Not at all." The one who replied was the girl with straight, light blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. She seemed cheerful, her face slightly flushed. Turning to her friends, she added, "We're just getting started, right?"
"Right!!" The other girls responded in unison, laughing cheerfully.
"Hmm?" Idiot number two asked, flustered, unable to read the room: "So none of you have boyfriends?"
"No!" They replied in unison.
'Seriously, wasn't asking once enough?' I thought. 'And if they did have boyfriends, they wouldn't be at a singles meetup, right?'
I know some girls, even while dating, attend these events, but let's be real—this shouldn't be generalized or normalized. Much less openly questioned.
One of them kindly said, "We don't have any opportunities to meet them."
Another nodded, "Yeah, no chance at all."
"Well," the boy with glasses said, "we're from a co-ed school, but we don't have any opportunities either."
Osamu commented, "All the girls go for the popular guys."
'Why are they looking at me? Honestly, if you want to attract someone, starting with "we're losers" isn't going to help. And being jealous of me? Even less so.'
And, of course, they also glanced at Makoto, but he showed zero reaction.
As expected, the blank expressions the girls gave them were priceless...
...
As their conversation dragged on, my disinterest only grew.
"If we have any chances, it's only during our school festival."
Then they started talking about how the girls had run a café during the last festival.
Takeo asked Yamato, "Were you part of the café too?"
"Alright, let's switch seats."
One of the girls sat next to me. If I'm not mistaken... her name is Ayu, right?
Yamato replied. "I made several pound cakes in different flavors."
"Oh? I would've liked to try them." Seeing Takeo blush as he said this was amusing.
"I'll make one for you tomorrow!" Yamato said enthusiastically, raising her voice.
With a goofy expression, Takeo fidgeted and said, "I'll look forward to it."
I thought, smirking a little. 'Watching Takeo's reactions is more entertaining.'
The same could be said of Makoto. Holding his juice cup, he commented, "I wouldn't be surprised if you ate the whole cake in one go."
I stopped paying attention to them because the girl next to me lightly tugged at my shirt.
"Look, my name is Ayu," said the blonde girl with two braids and straight bangs. Her large golden-brown eyes sparkled as she asked, blushing slightly, "May I know your name?"
"Reiji Hoshino," I replied. But before I could continue, my smartphone vibrated. "Just a moment, please..."
"Okay..."
'Saved by the bell,' I thought.
Pulling my smartphone out of my pocket, I saw a message from Mom:
[I'll be home soon. If you're not back yet, return as soon as possible!]
I frowned. It was rare for Mom to send a message like this.
'What could've happened for her to send me this?' I wondered, slightly concerned.
Standing up, I said, "Sorry, something urgent came up. I need to go."
"Already?" Ayu was the first to react, looking sad and disappointed.
"That's a shame," said another girl.
"Yes, I have to go," I replied.
"Is everything alright, Reiji?" Takeo asked.
"Yes, it's about what I mentioned to you earlier," I replied.
"Oh, about your little cousin." Takeo nodded, understanding. "Go ahead, then. There'll be other chances, right?"
"Yes!" the girls agreed.
Though I didn't share their enthusiasm, outwardly, I smiled and waved politely as I made my exit.