“Soooo hooooooooot, are we there yeeeet???” Hayato was squealing in pain while we were walking through the nearby neighbourhood in search of Gotou-san’s house. If this was a visual novel, a playful, but still considerably calm soundtrack would start playing right around when he spoke those words.

“Okay, so we should take the next turn right, then go straight for a while and turn left.” 

“Hm, wouldn’t it be faster if we just went straight ahead now and then turned right and followed the main street?” Me and Saki ignored Hayato’s overdramatic act and were discussing our route while looking at the map app on Saki’s smartphone. “Can you zoom out a bit?”

“I can but… Look.”

“Hm, that’s weird. You have full reception and it doesn’t load?”

“Yea, I don’t know what’s going on…” It looked like the whole area around us, excluding a few hundred metre radius, just didn’t exist for some reason. Maybe the app was malfunctioning. Or it was yet another anomaly… Speaking of which, the time has remained fairly consistent since we left the school building. It was still ticking slightly faster than it should have though.

“You guuuys, I’m gonna die hereeeeee.” Hayato clearly wasn’t keen on cartography, as he preferred wailing like a dying boar rather than helping us with the map. 

“How can a gym monster like you be so exhausted after like 20 minutes of walking?” I ask in a playfully offensive manner.

“It’s not my gym monster body, Hero! And besides, I’m not tired, it’s just sooo hoooot.” There was no end to his complaining. Saki sighed and stopped by the nearest utility pole. She opened her backpack and took a bottle of water and a packet of tissues. She then poured some of the liquid on a tissue to make a quick compress.

“There you go.” She came up to Hayato, who made use of the chance to stop and crouch down in the shadows like some kind of a grumpy hobo, and offered him the cool compress with genuine generosity in her voice.

“Hm?” He stuck out his nose as if to sniff it to make sure it’s safe. He then took it from her in an instant and put it on the back of his neck.

“Mmmmm, perfect! You’re the best Saki-chan! What a lucky guy you are, Hero~” And he was his normal, annoying self once again. I didn’t bother to comment on that remark and instead just sent Saki a smile of gratitude.

“Oh, look Saki, there’s a Japanese sweets store nearby. And it says here that they also run a cafe.” I scan the map in search of anything remarkable and I find a place Saki would definitely enjoy.

“Where is it?!” She jumped back to me as if she became a dango and dorayaki craving demon.

“Haha, you sure love your Japanese sweets.” I laugh as she snatches her phone from my hand to confirm the location of the store.

“I can’t help it! You know when was the last time I’ve been to a cafe like this?” I swear, she’s so cute when she gets excited about something. “Can we go there together? Please, please, pretty please!” If she were a dog, her tail would be wagging like crazy right now. Her pure eyes of a puppy demanding a treat were piercing my soul with their unmatched cuteness. She was now in a completely different state than her usual reserved and well-mannered persona.

 “Sure, why not.”

“Really?! Thank you so much-”

“But you’ll have to eat my signature jam and mayo sandwich in return.” I state my terms firmly.

“YOUR WHAT.” Hayato was the first one to react in a fashion any sane being would.

“A jam and mayo sandwich…? You did mention it once before, but I thought you were joking… Is it any good?” Saki also wasn’t particularly thrilled hearing about my signature dish.

“I know, I know, it sounds gross. But trust me, it’s like one of the best things ever! Followed closely by the peanut butter and pickled onions sandwich.”

“...”

“I think I’m gonna throw up…” It definitely wasn’t a good day to be Hayato.

“Oh, there’s also the tomato soup with a chocolate spread sandwich on the side.”

“G-good thing I know how to cook…” Instead of expressing a most likely not so kind opinion on my culinary adventures, she just summed it up in this ambiguous way. “Isn’t there anything else I could do in return? Something that maybe… wouldn’t involve sandwiches?”

“We could just watch Rabu-Rabu Gakusen together, I suppose-” Oh crap, what have I done. I got carried away and said the first thing that popped into my mind without a second thought. Even though I thanked the heavens for the fact that somehow she still hasn’t watched it yet, now I’m the one coming up with this offer. Why must I be so dumb? I don’t want her to see the degenerate side of me yet.

“Oh, okay! I’ll finally get to watch something together with you!” And to make things worse, she’s now excited about it.

“Haaaaa~i, got some space for one more~? … And even worse than that, Hayato’s planning to join us. “What’s it about?”

“I don’t know the details, but Hiro mentioned it’s like a battle-royale thing in a school setting? More or less? Hiro should be able to explain it better. He’s seen it, after all.”

“Heee, is that so~”

“...” Great, and what now? I can’t just not answer. It’d be suspicious and probably cause me more trouble than plainly explaining the plot. What Saki said is true, but she didn’t mention that it’s essentially an ecchi, waifu showdown. And while I don’t mind Hayato finding out about how degenerate I truly am, I’d prefer Saki to realize later than sooner.

“What is it, Hiro? Have you overheated?” Saki compassionately asks, seeing my most likely bright red cheeks and sweaty forehead. 

“N-no, I’m fine… Yea, it’s just that-”

“ Hmmm? Is Hero getting nervous about something~? Could that be… There’s something more to this show you don’t want Saki to see?” 

“...” I gulp my saliva and my eyes start to wander around in panic. This goddamn Hayato. He’s one of those people that just doesn’t care and wants to watch the world burn. “I mean, it’s like-” 

“Ouch!”

“Ow, what is that?!” 

A sudden, deafening screech, followed by a dreadful mechanical roar reaches our ears. All of us cover their ears and curl up looking around for the source of those ominous sounds. As I turn my head to the left…

“Saki!” 

“NOOOOO!”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”  

All three of us scream in fear as we notice a truck going full speed at us. I act on a whim and cover crouching Saki with my body, while Hayato tries dodging the incoming vehicle.

“Hiro!” I hear a teary, yet horrified scream from underneath me. 

“Saki!” My mind went blank and all I could do is call back to her to ensure she’s still there. 

The very moment I thought we were about to get smashed into a wall, the engine’s roaring morphed into a squeak of brakes being hit with all the might the driver had.

I braced myself for the impact and focused on covering my and Saki’s head, above all else… But nothing happened. The sound stopped. I could only hear a steady rumble, much less intimidating than the one we heard up until now. I turned back with one eye open to catch a glimpse of what’s going on.

“Huh?”

“H-hiro? What’s going on?”

“... It’s fine. We can stand up. Hayato, you’re all right?” I raise my voice a bit so as to make sure it reaches Hayato who was lying presumably a few metres away from us.

“Yea… But my hips hurt like hell for some reason. I didn’t hit anything now…”

“Now that you mention it, I feel like I hit a curb with the back of my head or something.

“...My entire left side of the body hurts as if I actually was hit by that truck too…” All three of us felt a mysterious pain in spite of us not getting hit by the incoming truck in the end. And speaking of which, it was now parked on the pavement where we were standing just seconds ago. We all looked at it, then at each other. No one said anything, but we made a telepathic agreement to carefully come up to the track to see whether the driver wasn’t injured.

As we approached it, the window of the driver’s cabin began to roll down slowly. We stopped when we noticed it and waited for the driver to emerge, hopefully unharmed.

“I hope they’re okay…” Saki whispers.

“Yea…”

The window finally rolled down entirely. From the inside, an uncharacteristic man around his late forties leaned out and took a quick look at us. He had a hint of facial hair, which felt more like he just forgot to shave, rather than grew it purposefully. He wore a stereotypical truck driver baseball hat, but you could see a bit of black hair sticking out from underneath.

“Oh, Hiro! There’s my boy!” The man spoke in an out-of-place friendly tone.

“Huh? Me?” I react, dumbfounded at the fact that he knows my name.

“Of course! Why weren’t you answering your phone? I tried calling you the whole afternoon!”

I check my phone quickly while looking at him doubtfully. And to my surprise, there were actually three missed calls, all of which were made in the span of the last 30 minutes. That explains why I didn’t notice. I keep my phone on silent most of the time, plus we were using Saki’s as a map. The thing that caught me off guard though was the fact that I did have the number of this man saved in my phone’s memory. And it was labeled as…

“...Dad?”

“Why are you acting so surprised? I told you me and mom are going on a trip! Just wanted to make sure you remember.”

“Huh…” I don’t know who this man is, but he’s definitely not my real father. I mean, I haven’t seen him for a while, and I don’t really feel like seeing him again, but this dude… I’ve never seen him in my entire life.

“Hey, mommy, say ‘bye’ to your progeny!” Upon his kind of a creepy request, a woman who was presumably sitting on the passenger's seat all this time also leaned out.

“Hi, sweetheart~ The dinner for the next few days is in the fridge, but please take out the garbage when you get back, okay?” 

“...” Her tone and speech pattern reminded me of a certain individual that was standing next to me. ‘My mom’ also was a complete stranger. She was probably around the same age as the guy, but her make up did cover it up well. She had dark blonde hair, golden eyes and a generous smile. Oh yea, and comically large breasts. It was honestly kind of unsettling.

“Mr. Sekuhara, Mrs. Sekuhara, good afternoon!” As you’d expect, Hayato was the first one to believe them and greet them enthusiastically. Although he’s seen my real parents a few times, it was back at the elementary school, so he most likely didn’t remember what they’d looked like.

“Oh, Hayato-chan! Good to see you!”

“Hayato-chan~! Hello!”

“Eheheh~”

The three of them were getting along bizarrely well. 

“Saki-chan’s here too? Good to see you Saki, how are your folks doing?” ‘Dad’ noticed her and asked.

“...Uh, well… they’re fine…?” 

“Good to hear that! Please say hello to them! Okay, we should get going.” He turns back to me. “My boss let us use the truck during our little 'honeymoon 2_0' on the condition that we deliver this trailer first. Isn’t that awesome!”

“Isn’t that awesome???” ‘Mom’ repeated like she was a drunk parrot. Seems like both of them really like trucks for some reason…

“We’ll be back around April, hang in there, pal!”

“And take care of Kokoro! We love you, bye bye~”

Without any further explanation, they drove off into the distance while leaving me and Saki completely baffled, unable to react in any way. Hayato, in the meantime, was waving back to them as if nothing strange happened. 

“D-did he say they’ll be back in April? That’s like… 7 months from now?

“Your parents are really cool, Hero! But they look completely different to how I remembered them.”

“...” I remain silent trying to comprehend what just happened.

“I’m pretty sure those weren’t Hiro’s real parents though…”

“Hee? What’re you saying? Really? Then who was this?”

“I wonder… ”

“And who’s Kokoro? Hero doesn’t have any siblings or pets, right?”

“Yea, he doesn’t… I don’t know anything anymore…” Saki was clearly done with all this and sighed in a resigned manner.

While they were trying to come up with a logical explanation, I did my best to come up with ANY half decent one. The first question is, why were they in a truck and why did we get so frightened by just the sound-

…

Oh. My. God.

The truck, the fear and the weird pain all three of us felt, my parents who weren’t my parents… All of this anime-esque stuff happening… I felt like I just killed that one joke-ass ‘boss’ in Sek*ro and the fog covering my memories got blown away in an instant. The date, the shrine, the figurine of Rika… There is only one explanation. I was correct from the start and doubted myself. And regarding Gotou-san and her sudden change from the typical Main Girl™ into a frightened normal girl (no '™' needed here)... 

“...”

“Hiro, you’re all right?” Saki came up to me worried about me standing still with a creepy smile on my face.

“ 'Like a completely different person’, huh?”

“What were you saying just now?”

“Hm. Nevermind. Let’s get going.” I walk past Saki with a mischievous grin and determined posture.

“Hiro…?” 

“Hey, Hero, wait for us!”

 

…

 

Another 10 minutes or so pass and we reach the address given to us by Yuuri Kanazaki, the Student Council President. The scenery didn’t change one bit, despite the fact that we were now few kilometres away from my and Saki’s house. The same narrow streets, high walls and utility poles. Almost as if everything was just copy-pasted throughout the neighbourhood.

The house with ‘Gotou’ written on the wall was essentially identical to mine. It was painted a slightly darker colour and seemed to have a different room layout, but it had the same generic feel. Without a second thought I go towards the front door confidently, still possessed by the dark spirits of my past. Now that I’ve realized what’s going on and how we got here I just want to push forward and don’t look back. 

Although just a second later, I’m forced to look back, literally, because of someone pulling on my sleeve.

“Hey, wait. Shouldn’t we, like, come up with a plan first?” Saki asked abruptly, holding onto my jacket so hard I had to take a step back.

“Plan? Why is that, we just go in there and get her.”

“We aren’t some kidnappers! We’re here to ask her whether she knows what’s going on, right?”

“I have a feeling it won’t be that easy.” I counter Saki’s naive statement.

“We’ll startle her again! We need to be more delicate.” She does have a point. I just don’t think being delicate will get us anywhere.

“Let’s just use the notes as our way-in!’ Hayato spoke up. “We were supposed to deliver them anyway, right?”

“You’re telling me you actually took notes today?”

“...”

“...”

“Sowry.”

“As expected.” Hayato isn’t and never was the sharpest tool in the shed.

“Maybe I’ll ring the door?” Saki volunteered. “She’s still probably not too fond of Hiro, and being handed notes by someone from a different class, like Hayato, would be suspicious, wouldn’t it? 

“Guess you’re right. But you weren’t really writing anything down either.” I point out.

“We don’t actually need the notes. We just need to get her to speak with us, right?” A devilishly charming smile coated Saki’s face. In combination with the characteristic tsundere fang, it made for a devious, completely un-Saki-like expression. She walked past me and Hayato towards the door, being followed by her glorious twintails.

“I didn’t know Saki-chan could be this… assertive.” Hayato whispered to me, making sure Saki wouldn’t overhear.

“Yeah, me neither. Can’t say I hate it though.”

“I always knew you were submissive on the inside~” I just looked at him with contempt similar to the one of the anime girls showing the viewer their underwear who that one infamous guy on the internet draws. You know which ones I’m talking about, don’t kid yourself.

“Okay, here I go.” Saki’s voice was followed shortly by the doorbell.

Few seconds passed, and we finally heard a muffled voice from behind the door.

“W-who’s there?” I didn’t hear it very well, but I could easily recognize the cautious tone of Gotou-san. The same one which I heard back on the rooftop.

“Hello, I’m Saki Mikazuki, we’re in the same class. I brought you the notes from today, could I come in, by any chance?”

“...”

There was no answer at first, but we waited patiently. Shortly after, the door still held by a chain lock opened slightly. From the inside, a sapphire iris peeked out and carefully looked around. It met my gaze. I was staring directly into it without a flinch. At first, Gotou-san did the same. It was only after a moment she realized who I was…

“E-excuse me…!” …And shut the door in an instant with a thunderous thump.

“Gotou-san? Gotou-san! What’s wrong?” Saki tried her best to lure her back to the door, but there was no reaction. “Hiro, what did you do to her?” 

“Hm? Nothing, I was just looking at her.” My bored expression doesn’t change a bit and my hands remain hidden in my pockets.

“Not now! On the rooftop! She was completely frightened by the sheer sight of you!” Being scolded by Saki is actually a completely new experience for me. Although she made sure not to raise her voice too much, hence she was more like whisper-shouting, which didn’t necessarily feel like a proper rebuke.

“Hello? Gotou-san? I’m Hayato, Hero’s best buddy~ I know you guys didn’t really take to each other, but please, open the door for us! We’ll keep Hero on a leash~” Hayato went up to the door in the meantime with a very Hayato-like offer.

“I’m not some kind of a sexual offender dog, cut it out.”

“Your surname would suggest otherwise~” Hayato quickly turned his face away from the door to talk back to me. I could swear I heard Saki do the same kind of a nasal exhale as the one you do when you see a semi-funny meme on the internet.

“Eh…” I decided to walk towards Gotou-san’s house’s front door myself.

“Hiro, wait!”

“I don’t think she wants to see you, Hero…” The two of them tried to stop me, but I didn’t heed and was now standing face-to-face with the shut door. 

I put my face as close to the door as possible with my forehead pressed against the wood.

“Gotou-san.” There was no answer. As one might’ve expected. “You’re also…” I heard something moving inside. Most likely, Gotou-san decided to approach the door upon hearing me call out her name. “You’re also… not from this world, are you?” I finish the question to which I know the answer in the most neutral way my faint acting skills enabled me to.

“...”

“Hiro, come back, she won’t listen to you- Eh…?” A sound of all different kinds of door locks opening cut Saki’s sentence abruptly.

The door opened slowly. Gotou-san was standing there with a teary face hidden partially behind her messy fringe. She was wrapped in a comfy-looking blanket. Her hostile gaze was contrasting heavily with the vulnerable aura she emitted.

“Come in.” Gotou-san said bluntly and turned her back to me. “Follow me.” 

I took a step forward to enter the unusually dim hallway. All the blinds on the ground floor must’ve been shut. Saki and Hayato followed me inside hesitantly.

“O-ojamashimasu…” Saki mumbled nervously. The two of them were probably baffled by the lack of sunlight and wondering how in the hell did I manage to convince Gotou-san to let us in.

After taking off our shoes, we followed Gotou-san through the darkness, as instructed. She was most likely escorting us to her room upstairs. 

“Hiro. Hey, Hiro.” Saki patted my shoulder lightly from behind.

“Hm?”

“What did you tell her?”

“What do you mean?”

“How did you convince her to let you in?” 

I hesitate for a moment and answer vaguely after a moment.

“I’ll explain everything in a second.”

“Huh…” I peeked behind to see Saki signing to Hayato that she didn’t get a proper answer from me.

Eventually, we reached the door which was decorated with a dangling piece of thin wood or plastic. It was still nearly pitch-black, so I only assumed it must’ve been the name label with something along the lines of ‘Mai’s room <3” written on it.

The four of us walked in only to see, or actually not see, more darkness. Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for our already used to the lack of light pupils, Gotou-san opened the blinds of the window letting in beams of afternoon sunlight without a warning. We all covered our eyes and then took a look around, after they were able to open again. There was nothing particularly characteristic about the room. It looked exactly how you’d imagine an anime girl’s tidy room to look like. Some plushies on the bed, a nice and clean carpet, and a simple desk with a surprisingly small number of stuff put on top.

“So? What do you want from me?” Gotou-san asked without showing any trace of actual interest in hearing the answer. She curled up in the chair by her desk, re-covering herself with the blanket she was wearing. Then, she opened her laptop, grabbed a controller and began playing some game as if to tell us she didn’t feel like socializing. Despite her trying her best to play it cool, you could see she was still cautious or even a bit scared. 

Hayato, who’s already sat down on the floor, was the first one to answer.

“As Saki-chan mentioned, we were asked to bring you the notes from today~”

“...” Gotou-san didn’t react and was focusing on her game instead. Her face has now become terrifyingly emotionless. Her half open eyes were staring lifelessly at the laptop screen. “And the real reason you’re here is?” She asked after a few seconds had passed.

“But we really came to deliver-” 

“We need to talk.” I cut in Hayato's sentence before he manages to finish it. Gotou-san directed her passionless sight at me and paused the game a moment afterwards. She turned herself together with the chair in my direction and was now presumably waiting for me to continue.

“Let me get straight to the point.” Everyone in the room stopped moving and glued their eyes to me, who was standing in the centre of the room. “We’ve been Isekai’d. Or, in other words, died and got transported into a different world. A world of a shitty light novel.” I take a pause and scout out everyone’s reaction. They were all looking down at the floor in complete silence. “Gotou-san” I turn my sights to her, who was  still curled up in the chair and hidden under the ‘safety blanket’. “The first thing you remember is waking up on the rooftop yesterday, correct?”

“...Eh.” She sighed heavily after peeping at me distrustfully from behind her pinkish fringe. “Yea. I suddenly was just standing there with no idea where I was or why were you threatening me.” 

“Hm, I see.” I grab my phone from my pocket and quickly swipe through open apps in search of something I’d prepared in advance on our way to Gotou-san’s room. “Maybe this will help you remember.”

“Hiro, what are you-!” Saki was just as confused as Gotou-san but a sudden deafening sound I played didn’t let her finish.

“JESUS! Warn us before you plan on playing something like this!” Hayato screamed at the top of his lungs to break through the full-volume ‘menacing_truck_engine_sound.mp3’. Saki covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes in response to the sudden traumatic noise. When it comes to Gotou-san though…

“...” Terror. That’s the only word I could think of to describe her mental state. Her eyes glued to the floor, body trembling uncontrollably. She didn’t even cover her ears because of the paralysis she most likely experienced just now. Upon seeing her unsettling reaction I hit the pause button. 

“Thank god…”

“Hero! What the hell was that about?!” Not responding to Saki’s and Hayato’s complaints, I draw closer to Gotou-san.

“Do you remember now?”

“...” She looked up at me from her chair with teary eyes, still trembling slightly. “Yea... I got hit by a truck when I was-”

“Walking by the anime merch store which had the limited edition figurine of Rika from Rabu Rabu Gakusen?” I finish her sentence without a flinch.

“How do you…”

“Hm.” I turn my back to her and stand in the centre of the room again. “All four of us have been run over by a truck next to the anime merch store and gotten transported here - to a world where the rules of school, harem rom-com light novels apply. Not only that, we were also put into the bodies of the cast of such a story. The Protagonist™, the Tsundere Childhood Friend™, the Trap™, and you, Gotou-san, you’re now the Main Girl™. And it seems like the three of us were brought here earlier than you, Gotou-san. While we were here since yesterday’s morning, you got Isekai’d in the middle of my conversation with the ‘previous’ Gotou-san and ‘overwrote’ her default, NPC personality. So, to sum up, we now have to complete the story by playing the roles we were assigned correctly, and hopefully find our way out of here.” I figured it’s now or never. Since I’ve already made an idiot of myself by presenting this calamity of a theory, I might as well confess my sins against good taste. “Saki.”

“Yes…?”

“I’m sorry for lying to you. The truth is… My favourite anime and light novel genre is the exact one we’ve found ourselves in. The shitty, rom-com harem. I’ve watched countless numbers of them. And I can’t stop. I’m not proud of myself, but this is the truth. I’ve tried to abandon my degenerate self, but your eagerness to learn more about anime… I just couldn’t help but get back into those godforsaken shows and stories all over again… That’s why I feel so confident now. I know exactly what to do because I’ve seen it hundreds of times. I know all the cliche events and character traits by heart at this point. I feel more powerful than ever. And even more ashamed of myself. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you straight away. Will you forgive me and help me get through all this? The Protagonist™ can’t do it all by himself after all.” I reach my hand out to Saki symbolically.

“...I… I don’t know what to-”

“But we already knew all this.” Hayato cuts in out of nowhere.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“What, did you seriously think it wasn’t painfully obvious~? You’re acting like you’re beating the same video game level for the thousandth time! How could we not realize it was your favourite genre of anime~?”

“What.” I’m completely dumbfounded.

“Right, Saki-chan?”

“Ah, well, yea. I figured you’re probably into this kind of stuff. You’ve suddenly become so confident and leader-like.” You gotta be shitting me. “But… to be honest, I-I think I knew all along… Even before we got transported here…”

“...what.”

“I mean, you were always so fired up about shows like the one I’ve watched recently and about anime girls in general… I figured you must be one of ‘those’ otakus…”

“ ‘One of those’...” Unable to form any coherent sentence I fall down to my knees in an act of disbelief as I feel all the power from my body being sucked out.

“Oh, but I don’t mind! Really! Come on, Hiro, get up!” She tried to help me get up from the floor but my inert body proved to be too heavy for her now much more fragile body. Our muscle memory was still there, so I thought she might try some karate move on me, but probably decided it’s not worth the risk of destroying a stranger's room... How can she ‘not mind’ when I’m literally the worst sort of an anime fan… okay, maybe not as bad as those that are into NTR and Ugly Bastard hentai, but still! I know she had an aversion to otaku culture in general, which makes her being okay with my taste seem even more out of place. What’s up with this girl?

“Anyway!” Hayato tries to bring the conversation with Gotou-san back on track, while the somberness consumes me. ”It seems like if we don’t follow the ‘script’ the world starts collapsing. Hero called it an ‘anomaly’~” Gotou-san must’ve been really confused by what’s happening around her. However, she listened to Hayato’s explanation with the same bored expression.

“And if we do too poorly, the day will repeat… So it’s like we’re forced to ‘clear’ the day in order for the world to continue to the next one. Yesterday, because you… Because Hiro made you run away, the world decided we didn’t deserve to move forward, so ‘today’ is actually ‘yesterday’ once again. I know it’s complicated…” Saki continues. I’m still down on the floor unable to comprehend the situation. I put my hand in my trousers' pocket again and look for my smartphone.

“Aaaand that’s why we need Hero to be the mind, and we also need you, Gotou-san, to join us and play your role! Together we can get to the end of the story no probl-”

“I don’t wanna.” Gotou-san responds before Hayato manages to even finish the sentence.

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun! Think of it like we’re all in a drama club!”

“I said, no!” Gotou-san shouted, completely breaking the cool and seemingly emotionless impression she had up until this moment. She jumped from the chair onto her bed and hid under the duvet.

“Gotou-san!” Saki walked up to the bed and crouched down by it. “Please, we can’t do it without you! We need you to cooperate. Besides, you wouldn’t like to repeat the same day over and over again, right?”

“I can play games all day and the food never runs out. Doesn't seem too bad.” Gotou-san said in a monotonous manner from under the duvet. “And are you really sure that's how it all works? It’s your, like what, second day here?”

“Y-you have a point.” Saki was about to give up. I decided it’s time to regain the initiative and give Gotou-san an ultimatum.

“Hm? I got a message. I wonder who it’s from~”

“Oh, I got one too. It’s from… Hiro?” Hayato and Saki received a message I sent both of them just now, while still being down on the floor. 

“It’s a picture…”

“... Are those…”

“...Gotou-san underwear…?”

“WHAT?!” Gotou-san dashed out of the bed in an instant upon hearing what the picture was.

“Give me that!” She snatched Saki’s phone from her hand to confirm it was indeed a photo of her panties. “You…” She stood up next to me, looking down on me like I was but a mere rat daring to lay foot in her majestic castle. She lost her blanket while emerging from underneath the duvet and was now wearing only a simple T-shirt and cozy shorts, perfect for the ruthless summer raging outside. Short enough for me to be able to sneak a photo of what's underneath while she was curled up in her chair.

“YOU LITTLE CHEEKY WANKER! I’LL FUCKIN’ KILL YOU!” She lashed out at me with all she had. I was prepared to meet my well-deserved fate, but Hayato and Saki managed to grab Gotou-san before she was able to land a hit on my face.

“Gotou-san, wait!”

“Please, Gotou-san, let’s not fight!” The two of my dear comrades were doing their best to stop the mighty angry Gotou-san from completely demolishing me.

“LET GO OF ME! YOU SICK PERV! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID! A PROTAGONIST WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING. YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THE DAY REPEATS AGAIN SO YOU CAN COME AND FORCE ME TO TAKE PART IN THIS SHITFEST!”

“Ho, I see you’re quite familiar with this rom-com setting then. Are you by any chance a weeb as well?” I play it cool and look at her mischievously while slowly getting up.

“...! Sh-shut up!” She realized she spoke too much. For her to know that taking a picture of a girl’s panties on purpose is the last thing the Protagonist™ would do… It means she’s just as worthless of a weeb as I am.

“Impressive, I have to say. Seems like I found myself a worthy opponent. Or a worthy ‘forced-ally’ rather. Let’s make a deal.” I was now standing face to face with her. She was still held back by Hayato and Saki who were clearly on the fence about all this. Gotou-san looked at me with severe hatred and a will of revenge. “I’ll ask Hayato and Saki to delete the picture from their phones for now. But if you don’t cooperate with us from tomorrow… which, as you brilliantly noticed, will be ‘today’ once again, I’ll make sure this photo reaches everyone in our school. Judging by your today’s actions, you’re not really an outgoing type, are you? Wouldn’t ruining your image from day one make your social interactions even more unbearable? Think about it. If you don’t join us, we’ll all be stuck in an endless loop. You will be beating the same levels in your game everyday, for god knows how long. Do you really prefer rotting here for the rest of time, being known as that infamous girl whom nobody’s ever seen, yet everybody knows what underwear she wears?” I go ham on her without mercy to the point I thought to myself that maybe I am the bad guy here. But it’s not like I enjoy doing this. I simply need to make sure we can get to the end of the story safely and without losing our marbles. “So, what will you say? We have a deal?”

“Hiro… I think you overdid it…”

“Yeah, sorry, Gotou-san, I promise you we didn’t know what he was planning…” Saki and Hayato vocalized their complaints about my actions.

“Aren’t you… Aren’t you having too much fun? You sick bastard.” Gotou-san said after a while. All this time she was looking at the floor while trembling in anger.

“Glad to hear you agree.” I say smugly. “Okay, if you’d be so kind as to give me your phone number.”

“Why would I give such a loser my phone number?!”

“We need to stay in contact if we’re gonna be working together from now on.”

“Tch…” 

After Gotou-san shortly, yet bluntly expressed her discontent, I asked Hayato and Saki to let her go. They began apologizing to her excessively and reassuring her that they had no idea what I was going to do. Which wasn’t a lie. I came up with the plan on the spot. Gotou-san remained silent and visibly grumpy though. We exchanged our phone numbers and left the room after telling her to look out for our messages. 

That day we went home as victors, though none of us felt victorious. As soon as I arrived home I started cringing at my own behaviour heavily and asking Gotou-san for forgiveness in my mind. I sat in my room the entire evening contemplating on why am I so goddamn stupid and indelicate all the time. Especially since I’ve found myself in this god-forsaken light novelish world… Maybe there really is a dark side of me that possesses me and makes me do this kind of dumb stuff, who knows. Or I’m just looking for an excuse. Yup, that seems more like it.

Since the time sped up like crazy again, after the panties’ photo incident, the ‘evening’ lasted maybe an hour at most. I managed to text Hayato, Saki and Gotou-san about the plan for ‘tomorrow’ and went to sleep mentally exhausted soon after.