“Ojamashimaaa~su! Oh, wait, there’s no one here…”

“Told Ya- Ouch, damn it!”

“Sorry!”

With invaluable help from Hayato and Saki, I somehow managed to crawl my way out of the girls’ locker room and make it to the infirmary, stopping by our classrooms to let the teachers know that we’re not just skipping classes. I swear, why are all the girls I meet here so strong? I’ve been hit in the face once before (I totally didn’t get into a fight with some other drunk weeb over a waifu, not at all…) but I wasn’t nearly as badly beaten up as right now.

The school nurse was obviously nowhere to be found, so on top of fixing my face, we could use this opportunity to regroup and exchange thoughts. The smell of various medicaments was filling the humid air and due to Pavlov-like response I felt an imaginary pain of having a needle inserted into my forearm. Though the pain I felt in my face was surely more vivid.

“Okay, sit here. I’ll go get the gauzes and band-aids.” Saki guided me towards the bed behind the curtain.

“Thanks…” I do as she says while groaning like an old man after 200 metres of nordic-walking.

“Haha, what’s wrong, Hero, you can’t handle a few high school girls? Shouldn’t have been skipping the gym, I tell you!”

“Oh, shut up. You’re lucky they took you for a girl. Otherwise there’d be two of us for Saki to take care of.”

“Oh, right, I totally forgot.” Saki said while still searching for something to ease my misery. “It seems like my ankle healed! It didn’t hurt a bit while we were running!”

“Is that so? Good for you, Sak-”
“WHOAAA! LET’S GO! Saki-chan, Saki-chan, wanna do a little sparring match? I’ve been waiting so long to face you!” 

“Yea, totally! When do you wanna do it?”

“Hey, hey, stop it!” I halt them before it gets out of hand. “First we need to figure this whole situation out. Then you can arrange your karate session.”

“Buuuu~ What a wet blanket you are, Hero.” 

“It’s fine, Hiro’s right. But once we find out what’s going on, we’re definitely doing this! I won’t go easy on you though!” 

“I hope you don’t!”

“Hm, it’s kinda weird that your ankle is alright, but our stamina and muscle memory remained intact.” I mutter.

“Now that you mention it, you’re right…” Saki agrees while collecting remaining items on a metal plate.

“My eyesight got better too. And I can feel I’m not wearing my contact lenses.”

“Oh, now I remember, you used to wear glasses when we first met!” Hayato comes in with slick exposition regarding my past. That’s true though. I started wearing contact lenses fairly recently, but beforehand, I would in fact, wear glasses. Since I woke up in this new setting however, it’s like I see in HD.

“Maybe our physical condition simply got adjusted to our roles. The Protagonist™ isn’t usually very fit. The Trap™ and the Tsundere Childhood Friend™ on the other hand, need to be able to compete with the athletic Main Girl™, so it’d make sense.” I vocalize the first explanation that comes into my mind.

They didn’t argue or present any other theory. Guess they figured it must be correct since it was me that said it.

Saki made her way back to the bed, but she didn’t look pleased. She was pouting in fact. Did she see that in one of the anime I recommended? I swear she did it purposely right now. She sat by the bed with her head down.

“What’s wrong, Saki?” I ask softly while trying to get a glimpse of her face from below.

“I mean… I’m grateful for the ankle, but…”

“Hm?”

“...Why did my…”

“What was that?”

“Why did my breasts get so small?! They were like the only thing I really liked about my appearance!”

“Okay, maybe I’ll leave you guys alone~” Hayato started sneaking out of the infirmary in a comedic manner.

“No need to, thank you!” I stop him, just in case he’d actually leave. ”Don’t worry about it, Saki. I think you’re beautiful like that as well!” I might be dense, but I’ve also watched a ton of romance anime, so I do know a thing or two.

“Y-you really think so…?”

“Sure! Of course, you were cute before as well, but I can’t complain now either!” I notice Hayato approving of my dialogue choices with the corner of my eye.

“...If you say so…” A smile made its way back onto Saki’s face, which in combination with her still vividly pink cheeks made for an adorable expression. I smile back, grab her hand and caress it delicately to once again show my support. 

“Fufufu, how adorable~”

“S-shut up!” I lash out back at Hayato.

“Sorry, sorry, couldn’t resist!”

“O-okay, here I go.” Saki warned me before closing in with her hand that was holding an alcohol-drenched gauze. 

“Ah, right, thanks.”

“You have any idea why the time suddenly came back to normal, Hero?” Hayato becomes serious again, out of the blue.

“Well, yeah, the protagonist finding himself in the girls’ locker room by accident and then getting his ass kicked by the angry mob is a common event. Although it doesn’t have to occur at this very moment of the story, it’s still usually a part of the scrip- ouch!” 

“Sorry! I’ll be more gentle!” 

“No, no, it’s fine. Do what you need to.” A sharp pain spread throughout my face because of Saki disinfecting my wounds.

“Okay, I’ll do my best… So you’re saying that we got back on track with the events?”

“Kind of. Me getting beaten up might've fixed the time for now, but Gotou-san’s still probably not here, so it could break again.”

“Yesterday, we also managed to almost bring the time back to normal by the end and still got reverted back to the morning of the same day though…” Saki noticed rightly.

“That’s why I think ‘today’ will repeat again. We strayed from the script much more than ‘yesterday’. So I wouldn’t say that was a righteous sacrifice on my part.” The scene of the girls beating me up probably wasn’t cliche enough to make up for the Main Girl™’s absence. At least ‘today’ won’t last forever thanks to that. Hopefully.

“And what about that girl?” Saki brought up another matter to discuss while continuously fixing me up. 

“Yea, why wasn’t she slowed down? You think she’s in the same situation as we are?” Hayato asked.

“I don’t think so.” I answer quickly and confidently. “She knew the school like the back of her hand. You couldn’t move so swiftly through a building you don’t know. That’s why she managed to get away after all.”

“Hmm… Then why was she not affected by the anomaly… And why was she running away from us?”

“Maybe…” Saki speaks up shyly. “Maybe because it’s her that’s involved in what’s happening to us?”

“And doesn’t want us to catch and interrogate her?” I complete Saki’s theory.

“Yes.”

“That does make more sense than to suspect Gotou-san at this point-”

“What a shame though, she was so cuuute~”

“...Huh?” Me and Saki looked at Hayato confused at what he just said about the mysterious underclassman.

“What? Can’t a man appreciate a maiden's beauty?~”

“No, it’s alright… I think.”
“I mean, I didn’t expect her to be your type.” I always imagined Hayato was more into athletic girls. A surprise, to be sure.

“Yea, she isn’t really my type, but there was something in her that I just took to immediately~”

“Okay, whatever. Just don’t betray us for some girl you don’t even know if it turns out it’s actually all her doing.”

“Roger that!” Hayato salutes to confirm his obedience. 

“Plus, she’s from the student council.” I go back to the mysterious girl’s case. “They’re infamous for being stupidly powerful and influencial in anime, manga and light novels, so that could also suggest she knows something that she doesn’t want us to find out about.”

“That’d make sense… Okay, all done!” Saki says triumphantly to announce that my face is now patched up properly.

“Thanks, Saki. But you should get some rest too. Wanna lay down for a bit?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry. But I think I’ll take a seat if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” I tap the bed sheets to invite her to sit next to me on the bed.

“Okaaay, I get it, I get it! Have fun you two!” Hayato took his stuff and headed for the exit out of nowhere.

“Hey, wait, what are you doing?”

“You guys would probably appreciate some alone time, right? I don't want to be a bother~”

“I-it’s not that…” Even though I say that nervously, I would, in fact, prefer him to leave before us. I could use a hug from Saki right now.

“Anyway, see you guys later! And don’t do anything too indecent, the nurse might be back any minute!” He says playfully while opening the infirmary door.

“We meet at the entranceway after classes, got it?” I shout to him to make sure he knows what to do and doesn’t get lost again.. Instead of answering he just waved his hand without turning back and left the infirmary.

“I swear, if he does something stupid again…”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

“I hope so…”

“...”

“...”

We sat on the bed in silence for a minute or two after Hayato left. The air conditioning was working, thankfully, so neither of us felt like talking and just basked in the refreshing draft. You could hear the sound of baseball bats and excited students outside of the window. It was surprisingly peaceful and somewhat nostalgic. It was one of those blissful moments when you just can’t help but think how nice the world is. I’m glad I can still feel this way, even in this extraordinary situation. Plus, since we made sure to stop by and tell the teachers we’re going to the infirmary, we didn’t need to hurry back to the class. It was probably the first time, since we'd woken up here, for us to get some rest. Saki stretched her back and lied back on the bed releasing a relieved sigh.

“Ah, finally we can relax a bit!” She says cheerfully while still lying with her hands stretched. I smile lightly while looking at her childish expression.

“Yea… But we have to get going soon. It’s only the beginning of the story, after all.”

“I know… Do you have any plan as to what we’re supposed to do next?” She asked.

“For today, I guess we should just go back to the class and see whether the anomaly occurs again. We can try your plan to find Gotou-san too. As for what we do afterwards… I’m still thinking. I need to sit down and write down everything I can remember about cliche anime rom-coms. Maybe then I’ll be able to prepare us better for what’s to come.

“Do you need some help? I know I’m not really experienced… but I’ll do my best!” Saki finally got up and said with a serious expression.

“Thanks, but I think I know someone that can help.” My mysterious tone leaves Saki baffled. That’s only to be expected though. I was talking about ‘myself’ after all. The ‘Creator’. I hope I can somehow meet with him in my dreams again. I hope he wasn’t just a one-time dream projection. I could really use his help now. If the whole world now somehow follows a shitty light novel’s script I need to make sure to plan our actions correctly, so as not to hinder the future ‘chapters’. Just as ‘me’ advised. I’m glad Saki’s eager to help, but I don’t think she’ll be very useful in this regard, no disrespect. The thing is, to plan out a novel like this you need a surprising amount of preparation and constant focus on all the little factors that make up a cliche story. Someone else (someone in a physical form, that is) that knows their way around those kinds of anime/light novels would be an invaluable companion…

“Hiro…” When I was drifting away in my thoughts, I heard a delicate, almost whisper-like call from Saki. When I looked her way…

“Wha-?” Her face was right next to mine. It was unnaturally red and I could feel her rough breathing on my skin. She was steadily drawing closer and closer with her lips rounded slightly. There’s no doubt. That sneaky girl used the fact that I wasn’t present in spirit to go in, not for the surprise hug, but for the surprise kiss this time. I panicked a bit. It’s not everyday that an otaku suddenly finds a girl’s face right next to his. Let alone an absolutely adorable Tsundere Childhood Friend™-like face. I prove that not only do I look like a typical protagonist, but also that I am one at heart, as I freeze in place and my anti-social instincts kick in all of a sudden. Damn, at this rate I won’t be able to stop her! We’re not supposed to be doing that! We have to stick to the script-

 

*Ding dong*

 

The school bell rings announcing the end of the first period and distracting Saki for long enough for me to be able to stand up quickly and get out of this tempting situation. I won. But at what cost? It’s not like I didn’t want to be kissed. I just got scared. Plus, as the Protagonist™ and the Childhood Friend™ we can’t be doing those kinds of stuff. Not yet, at least.

“A-anyway! We sh-should be going back to the class!” I squeaked in an unnaturally high and shaky voice after I got up and turned my back to Saki… Why am I like this? Pathetic. 

“Tch- What the hell…” Saki muttered something to herself that I didn’t quite catch. She definitely wasn't pleased though.

I grab my stuff and exit the infirmary hurriedly while leaving confused Saki behind. Did I mention I hate myself? Oh well, I need to make sure to apologize to her later. Maybe a kiss won’t be a big deal on a day when nothing important to the story happens… 

 

…

 

The lessons of today have finally concluded. And they were just as boring as I remembered school lessons to be. We sat through them quietly, trying our best not to attract too much unwanted attention. I made sure to take half-decent notes in case we’ll be stuck in the role of students long enough to take exams. Saki was mostly drawing circles and other unidentified shapes in her notebook, from what I could see, though she did write the most important stuff down.

We packed our stuff and headed for the entranceway.Since it turned out Hayato wasn’t there yet, we decided to change back to our normal shoes in advance while waiting for him. The whole entranceway was quite crowded, which was to be expected. The lessons were over and it’s not like everybody is involved in some club activity and has to stay at school until evening. Mundane, everyday-like conversations between students were taking place all around. There was, however, something very peculiar about them. Everyone sounded like an anime character. And I don’t mean that they sounded either like  an 8-year old girl or a samurai. Their way of speaking and the language they were using was anything but natural. It was absolutely bizarre to hear real people all around talk in this heavily stylized manner. I felt like I was at an international convention and some foreigners tried their best to speak Japanese, but ended up just quoting the lines they remembered from anime. Fortunately though, not a single one of the anime, NPC-like students wanted to hang out with us. Not much changed in that regard, compared to my actual school life. 

Thankful for not having to be involved in such conversations I headed for the cupboard labeled ‘Sekuhara’... I still can’t believe that’s me. To my surprise, however, there was something else lying there other than my outdoor shoes. 

“What’s this?”

“What do you mean?” Saki said from the other side of the cupboard. I’m surprised she actually heard me in this din.

“I don’t know, it looks like some kind of a letter…” No, no, no, I know what you’re thinking. It isn’t a love letter. It’s too early in the story, we can’t just hit every single cliche there is in the span of one day. But it was indeed addressed ‘To Sekuhara-kun’. Saki came to see the letter before I opened it.

“Who is it from?” She said while leaning in from behind me to get a clearer view of the envelope.  

“Hm, it’s not signed. Maybe it’ll be written inside.” Since I happen to have left my envelope cutter somewhere, as you normally do, I rip the letter open with my fingers. Inside, there was a tidily written and formal looking letter that said:

 

‘Dear Sekuhara-kun,

I have been informed that the new transfer student at our school, Mai Gotou-san, did not attend today’s classes. Would you be so kind and visit her to make sure she is feeling well? Also, please lend her your notes from today. We don’t want our precious new student to fall behind right from the beginning of the semester.

 

Thank you, 

Student Council President, Yuuri Kanazaki’

 

PS: Gotou-san lives at [...]’

 

“The Student council president, huh~”

“Oi, what are you doing?”

“I saw you guys reading something, so I thought I’d join in!” I put the letter back in the cupboard and turn to Hayato, who has finally honoured us with his presence.

“You’re late.” I scold him softly.

“Sorry, I was talking with my classmates! They’re all really nice!”

“As expected from an extrovert…” Saki summed up.

“Anyway, it seems like we caught the attention of the almighty Student Council.”

“Hey, that girl that ran away from us was in the Student Council, right?” I mentioned it while chasing her, but didn’t expect Hayato to remember that.

“So her name’s Yuuri.” Saki said.

“I don’t think it’s her.” The two of them seemed surprised. “The Student Council isn’t just one person. Judging by her appearance and her ribbon, she was a first year student. And I don’t think they’d choose a freshman for a president. The girl we met is most likely a vice-president at best.” 

“Hm, I wonder if the rest of the Student Council members are also this cute~” 

“Stop it. And besides, isn’t it kinda creepy for a grown up dude to be into high school freshmen?”

“Buuu, I’m not a grown up~ I’m just a normal second year student at the lovely Nagayama High School!” I stare at him with suspicion and disgust. “Oh, nevermind, did you guys notice the time?” 

“Did it get weird again?” Saki asked as if she completely forgot about Hayato confessing his worrying interests.

“It sped up once again, I didn’t notice.” I checked my phone and answered before Hayato got a chance.

“But only slightly. I guess you could say a minute is like 40 seconds or somethin’?” 

“That’s not so bad, isn’t it?”

“It’s not, but it could get worse. Though the lessons are over so it shouldn’t matter whether Gotou-san is home or not.” I think to myself out loud. “Okay, let’s get going.” I grab my backpack from the ground and hold it over my shoulder in the manner of a protagonist that thinks he's cool but really isn’t.

“Wait, where are we going?” Disoriented Saki, who hasn’t yet changed from her slippers, asked in mild panic.

“Isn’t that obvious?” I make a dramatic pause and turn my head back at them while smiling smugly . “We’re going to pay Gotou-san a visit.”