“There aren’t really all that many important events in the first episode or chapter normally, come to think of it.”

“True. But there are few that are absolutely essential, that you mustn't skip.”

“Protagonist bumping into a girl with a toast in her mouth, pantyshot, being called a perv and the whole transferred student thing. That’s it, I think.”

“The rooftop scene is also common, but yea, without the ones you mentioned, your chances of completing the day are practically zero.”

It was the middle of the night. I was now sitting comfortably on an expensive-looking red sofa in the midst of pitch-black nothingness. On the other side of a small coffee table, on a similar sofa there was ‘me’ - The Creator. We were discussing what had gone wrong in our previous two attempts at clearing the first day of our new isekai life and were now trying to come up with a coherent plan. 

“This time, Gotou-san should cooperate, which greatly increases our chances.” I said to ‘me’.

“Though I don’t really approve of your methods, I guess it’ll be interesting to the readers for you not to be just another calm and dense Protagonist™. It’s nice that you can show some personality, but seriously, cut down on those rapey stuff.”

“I know, I know, it was just the first thing that popped into my mind.”

“Not a big surprise for a weeb of your caliber to think of blackmailing someone with a photo of their underwear.”

“Yo, dude, chill!” Here I am being dissed by ‘me’ in a lucid dream. Try explaining that to your therapist. “Anyway, what are we supposed to do in-between the events? Just play students and not stand out?”

“Pretty much, yes. What you do in your free time won’t be mentioned in the novel in the end, so just make sure not to break the world doing something stupid. Or illegal.” He was looking at me in a way that was hinting that some of my yesterday’s actions were questionable, to say the least. But what the hell is this ‘novel’ he’s talking about?

“Ok, got it. So we just make sure to do the main events right and we get to do whatever we want the rest of the time. Doesn't seem half bad. Pretty good, actually.”

“ You’re literally in the world of your favourite anime genre as a protagonist, how could you possibly complain?”

“You’re right.” Now that I think about it, it’s kinda awesome, to be honest. It’s like the trial I’ve been preparing myself for my entire life. And I’ll get to make my own harem on the way too… Not that Saki’s not enough… I just, uh… You know, the other ones will be like anime girls, pretty much, right? And anime girls don’t count, right? Right? “Oh, there’s just one more thing I wanted to ask.”

“Go ahead.” He was about to get up from his sofa just now, but my question made him stay for a bit longer.

“Gotou-san got transported here during my conversation with the NPC-Gotou-san at the rooftop, so wouldn’t that mean that in the morning we’ll meet the NPC version again and real Gotou-san will ‘wake up’ on the rooftop as today?

“Hm, I don’t think so actually.” His answer surprises me to the point that he must’ve noticed my expression change. “You, Saki-chan and Hayato woke up here at the same time. So if Gotou-san was the only one to regain consciousness later, I’d suppose she’ll get matched to your timing, so that all four of you can ‘reappear’ in the same moment.”

“...I don’t know, it kinda does and doesn’t make sense…”

“I know, but I couldn’t come up with any other explanation in order to keep the story going as I’d planned.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Something wrong?”

“You’re really just gonna disguise lazy writing as a fourth-wall-breaking joke just because it fits the theme of the entire story?”

“Of course. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re a weird one.”

“Remember that’s also ‘you’ you’re talking about.”

“Damn, right.”

“Anyway, good luck out there ‘tomorrow’. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

“Thanks, I guess. See ya.”

The dream world around us started to slowly melt away. The fancy sofas and the little table were gone. So was The Creator, and soon after, me. Blinding light reached my pupils again and I woke up in the very same place on the sidewalk for the third day in a row like I was some delusional hobo.

 

…

“oh no, i’m gonna be late… or something.” I hear the bored voice of Gotou-san from behind the corner as I take a confident step forward into the perpendicular street…

“Whoa!” And let out an over exaggerated scream as me and Gotou-san bump into each other again. Although ‘bump’ might be an overstatement. In reality, we just hit each other’s shoulders and fall in a comical manner. It must’ve looked like a very poor parody of a Looney T*nes episode.

We end up down on the hot asphalt alongside the toast that Gotou-san was carrying in her mouth until now. 

“...”

“Gotou-san.” I call out to her softly like a prompter at a theatre. “This is the scene where you show me your underwear.” My expression doesn’t flinch one bit as I say the words that could easily put me in jail, if not for the context of our situation.

“F-forget it!” Boredom present on her face since we woke up in the neighbourhood warped into irritation.

“I’ve seen them like two times already, come on. You don’t want us to be going over this again tomorrow, right?” If she doesn’t cooperate, we’ll just end up having to repeat the day for the fourth time, after all.

“...God, fine. There you go, happy? Fucking perv.” Snowwhite panties peeked out from behind the hem of her navy-blue skirt for just a split second.

“That’s it, perfect! We even got the ‘Protagonist being called a pervert’ out of the way-”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Saki suddenly cuts in from behind announcing the completion of the task. Though she seems a tad annoyed. Can’t blame her, but that’s what had to be done.

I got up from the ground first and reached out to Gotou-san to help her stand up as well.

“Thanks for agreeing to all this, Gotou-san. We can’t do it without you.”

“I’m only here, because you blackmailed me! No need for courtesy, thank you very much.” She said while rejecting my offer of help by thwacking the hand I reached out and getting up herself while making sure her skirt isn’t flipped by her movement or the wind.

“...Anyway!” Saki took the initiative. “We got the toast scene out of the way, correct? So what is left is…” She quickly scanned through her notes which she must’ve prepared yesterday based on the message I sent them all in the evening. “The introduction in the classroom and the confession on the rooftop… Speaking of which, shouldn’t you wake up later on the rooftop instead now, Gotou-san?”

“Whatever, I don’t care.” Gotou-san was as blunt as ever.

“I guess since the three of us woke up at the same moment, Gotou-san got matched to us, so it’s easier for us to clear the ‘level’.”

“Huh, okay… I think.” Saki was clearly baffled by ‘my’ theory. “Okay, so should we get going?”

“Yea, we don’t wanna be late, after all. Plus we should check whether Hayato isn’t doing anything stupid again.” I respond and express my unease about leaving Hayato alone at the school grounds, where he ought to have woken up.

“At least he did answer your call this time…”

“Yea, at least.” We called Hayato again as soon as we regained consciousness to confirm that we indeed got sent back in time again and that we’ll be following the plan we agreed upon. “Okay, let’s get going” Me and Saki started walking towards the school building and decided on trying to catch up with the crowd of students that overtook us before we even had the chance to do the ‘toast scene’. Gotou-san however stood in place looking down at the ground and clenching her fists.

“...Eh, why do I have to be here with them… I just want to stream some games and talk to the chat…” She sighed heavily and mumbled something to herself that was impossible for me to hear due to the distance that’s built up between us.

“Gotou-san, come on.” I turn back to hurry her up.

“Again with the ‘Gotou-san’... Just call me by my name, jeez!” She walked past us with an annoyed expression hidden beneath her dense fringe.

“Hee, seems like we’ve got ourselves a real tsundere.” I mock her, partially just for fun, but also to loosen the mood a bit.

“Listen here, you lil’ cheely wanker-” She stopped and was about to get up in my face, but she got interrupted before she could do that.

“So, Mai-san.” Saki calls out to her suddenly.

“Huh…?” Gotou-san, or rather Mai, looked shocked that Saki actually agreed to use her first name instead.

“Let’s get along well from now on!” The pure, angelic smile lit up on Saki’s face. It was filled with kindness and devoid of any signs of ill intentions or dishonesty.”

“...” Mai just stood there red as a ripe beefsteak tomato but quickly shook it off by literally shaking her head few times violently. “...Let’s go.” She murmured and launched forward, so that this time, it was me and Saki that got left behind.

 

 

…

We reached the school building well before the homeroom classes would start, reported this morning’s happenings to Hayato and proceeded to head to our classes. Mai, of course, remained in the hallway until she’d be called by Toyokawa-sensei. 

“Good morning everyone! I hope you had great summer holidays~” Toyokawa-sensei finally made her way to our classroom. After another cringy greeting with the class, she proceeded to introduce the transferred student, just like she did during our previous takes.

“Oh, and before we start our homeroom, I have an announcement to make! A new transfer student will be joining our class starting today! Meet your new classmate, Mai Gotou!” The classroom door opened and Mai emerged from it shyly. She clearly wasn’t in the best mood today, to no surprise. She remained almost completely silent during our way to school and was now walking towards the blackboard slowly, with her head down.

She stopped by Toyokawa-sensei and scribbled her name on the board.

“Uh, yeah, hi, I’m Mai Gotou… Nice to meet you, I guess.” I could tell she was giving it the bare minimum of effort. Her voice was quiet and shaky, like an introvert’s during a powerpoint presentation. She was clearly nervous about something. Is she, by any chance, an even worse case of a hikikomori than me? By her ‘yesterday’s’ outburst about me not acting according to my role as the protagonist, I deduced she’s also an otaku familiar with the genre we found ourselves in. Come to think of it, Mai we saw in her room gave off a textbook vibe of an incurable shut-in. Could it be that she’s coping with her social distress by being aggressive and sarcastic?

“Welcome to Nagayama High School, Gotou-san! Why don’t you sit over there, next to-”

“Sensei.” Still seemingly frightened, she cuts in suddenly.

“Eh? Yes? What is it?” Toyokawa-sensei was visibly baffled. 

“Could I make a quick announcement?” What in the hell is this girl up to? Saki and I exchange worried looks but none of us has any idea of what Mai means.

“Yes, of course, go ahead!” Toyokawa-sensei quickly regained composure.

“Thank you.” Mai gathered her resolve, straightened her back, took a deep breath and… “Hiro Sekuhara is a filthy pervert that photographs girls in their underwear. What's more, he tried to assault me this morning, on my way to school! He’s a dangerous predator, watch out for him.” 

“...” Silence spread instantaneously throughout the whole classroom. Nobody could’ve expected that she was going to say something of this caliber. I was completely speechless.

Mai exhaled audibly, most likely to get rid of the remaining tension, readjusted her hair, by putting a strand behind her ear and looked at me. 

“You little…” I couldn’t help, but curse her. A smug smile that was saying ‘How do you like it now?’ was creepily glued to her face . This girl really is something else. 

The whole class was taken aback to the point that you still couldn’t hear a single sound. Mai walked up to me and said while looking down with the same mischievous smirk:

“Your move. Let’s get along well from no on~” 

“...” I only managed to answer with a serious yet disgusted gaze. Mai however, didn’t care one bit and took her seat next to me, as if nothing extraordinary happened. The very same moment, the class went ballistic. Literally. There were some rulers and erasers flying in my direction amongst a sudden and deafening racket.

“What the hell, Sekuhara! I’ve always thought there was something wrong with you, but this is just too messed up, man!

“Is Mikazuki-san not enough for you?!”

“A true gentleman shall never stoop to degrading maidens with such a lack of delicacy. An outrageous act of indecency, Sekuhara-kun. You should be ashamed.” 

The three guys that picked on me on our first day here, yet again expressed their hatred towards my very existence, this time however, for an entirely different reason.

“Everyone, calm down, calm down!” Toyokawa-sensei vainly tried to put a stop to the outrage happening in the classroom. I was just sitting there with a resigned expression, not really caring about all the slurs and utensils flying around. Saki, unable to think straight amongst total chaos just looked at me compassionately with apologetic eyes. I quietly accepted my fate, for deep down, I knew I deserved all this.

In the meantime, Mai took her seat, unpacked her books and making use of the fuss, plugged her earphones into her smartphone, laid her head flat on the desk and without a care in the world, started listening to music while using the textbooks to hide from the gaze of the classmates and the teacher. It looked as if she was done with her job and now hid in her own world for the rest of the day.

The racket calmed down eventually, allowing the homeroom lesson to take place. The next lessons were carried out without interruptions and the only thing that bothered me was the constant look of disgust I was receiving from the entire class. No rulers flying at me this time, fortunately. During the breaks we managed to establish that Hayato, in fact, didn’t do anything stupid for once and that there were no anomalies to be observed. After all, something weird happening during the transfer student’s introduction is not uncommon at all. And speaking of whom, Mai skillfully dodged the swarm of girls that tried approaching her as soon as a lesson ended by running out from the class and disappearing somewhere in the school building, only to come back perfectly on time for the next period. During the lessons she would just listen to music, sleep and not even pretend to be paying any attention.

Our talk on the rooftop during the lunch break was also far from fruitful. The fact that we didn’t act through the ‘reunion and confession’ scene was to be expected, but I thought I’d at least convince her to take her role more seriously and to stop trying to fuck us over. In the end though, she was either answering with silence or sarcastic insults. I also tried delving deeper into her today’s behaviour and the anti-social side of her, but as soon as I brought it up, she just ‘excused me’ and left the rooftop, leaving me standing there dumbfounded. Since the ‘scene’ took much less time than I’d predicted, it was still the middle of the lunch break. I came back to the classroom to share my experiences with Saki and Hayato, who were waiting for me in the classroom 2-1. Mai, however, similarly to the previous breaks, was still nowhere to be found.

“Heee~ So you’re saying she’s just reaaaally shy… How cute~” Hayato commented.

“Were you even listening? I told you that it’s just my guess.”

“But that would explain her attitude though… As you mentioned, she might be just scared and that’s how she copes with it. Maybe taking that picture wasn’t the best thing to do… You might’ve infuriated her needlessly.” Saki was theorizing based on what we’ve talked about. 

“What picture?”

“What do you mean? The picture you took yesterday of Mai-san’s…”

“The panty shot!” Hayato screamed while raising his hand like an exemplary student ready to answer the teacher's question. 

“You didn’t have to say it so loud, moron!” I yell back, upon realizing that some guys and girls chatting around us have turned their disgusted gazes in our direction. “And I know which picture you’re talking about. I’m just saying that, I haven’t actually taken it.”

“What do you mean, you sent it to us though…” Hayato was lost.

“I did. But when was it?”

“Yesterday- Wait, it was ‘yesterday’!”

“So, because we went back in time again, we never actually visited Mai-san, so you never took that picture in this timeline!” Saki summed it up for me.

“Exactly. Technically speaking, I’m innocent.”

“Nice one, Hero, you sly bastard~ But aren’t we gonna be in trouble when Mai-chan realizes the picture doesn’t exist anymore?” Hayato asked rightly. “She’s just gonna stop coming to school again…”

“So let’s just hope she doesn’t realize. And if she does, I believe that my weeb instincts will kick in and I’ll improvise a way to keep her in the team.”

“This time, please do something less... Awkward?” Worried Saki said.

“I’ll do my best. Though I can’t really promise anything.”

As I was saying that line, the classroom door opened abruptly and the very person we were talking about busted inside.

“Speak of the devil…” I murmured.

“Mai-san, welcome back!” Saki tried to be as kind to her as possible, most likely to make Mai a bit less distrustful towards us.

“Unusual for you to spend the break in the classroom, Mai-chan~” 

“...” She just looked at the three of us hostilely. “I forgot something.” Mai said coldly and started searching through her desk and bag. She was most likely talking about her bento. It was the lunch break after all. I didn’t really feel hungry, but Saki and Hayato must've eaten theirs while I was on the rooftop with Mai.

The three of us unconsciously stopped talking and were watching Mai struggle to find her lunchbox.

“...What are you looking at-”

“Good afternoon.” An unknown voice reached my ears all of a sudden. We all looked in the direction it was coming from involuntarily. 

A distinguished girl, radiating an elegant glow, was standing by our desks at the back of the classroom. The tone of her voice was gentle, yet had an assertive characteristic to it, typical for a leader-type personality. Even though I was seeing this girl for the first time in my life, I knew exactly who she was.

“Good afternoon…?”

“Hello there~”

“...’afternoon.” Saki, Hayato and Mai consecutively greeted the visitor back, each in their own weirdly specific way. 

“What did we do to deserve a visit from our lovely Student Council President?” I said after I felt a stream of degenerate power embrace me, similarly to the time when the NPC Mai walked up to me after her introduction.

The girl had a mature expression and a sharp gaze, yet was sustaining a delicate smile. She was noticeably taller than any of us and was wearing a green-coloured ribbon, suggesting that she was a third year student. Her hair was long and dark, breasts were voluptuous (Yes, I really wanted to use that word), and thighs, hidden beneath thin, black pantyhose were dummy-thicc. I didn’t even need to confirm whether she was wearing the characteristic student council armband or not. There was just no way she’d be any other character.

“I was informed that there was a sex offender on the loose in our school, so I am trying to gather some information regarding his identity and whereabouts~” The words she spoke were selected carefully, but her out-of-place playful tone contrasted with them bizarrely. “Do you, by any chance, know who these bold rumours are about?”

“Well, of course I know him. He’s me.” I announce pridefully, although there’s nothing to be particularly proud about. But then again, it’s all because of Mai. I know my surname is now ‘Sekuhara’ and all, but I’m completely innocent. In this timeline at least…

“Ara ara, I hear you’re in high spirits today as well, Sekuhara-kun.” She says jokingly not forgetting about the classic Onee-san Ara Ara™. For a second, I was surprised she knew my surname, but quickly realized that the Student Council President, or ‘Kaichou’, for short, probably knows everyone in the school. At least if it’s a shitty light novel.

“So, what’s the real reason you’re here?” I ask, sensing that lecturing me isn’t her actual goal.

“I came to check on our new transfer student, of course.” She turned to Mai who was sitting by her desk quietly with her usual distrustful expression. “Oh, excuse my lack of manners, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Yuuri Kanazaki, Nagayama High School’s Student Council President. I’d like to officially welcome you to our school, Gotou-san!

“...” Mai didn’t answer and averted her gaze shyly instead.

“Yuuri Kanazaki… You were the one that left Hero a letter-”

“H-How nice of you, Kanazaki-kaichou! Thank you for caring for our students!” Saki abruptly covered Hayato’s dumb face that was about mention somehitng that took place before we were sent back in time again. So, in short, something that didn't really happen. Glad he’s working on his memory and actually remembered that it was Yuuri Kanazaki that left me the note with Mai’s address in yesterday's version of today, but god, why is he such a moron.

“It is one of my main responsibilities after all~” She closed her eyes and smiled brightfully. I’ve only now noticed that everyone present in the classroom was looking at Kaichou as if she was a priceless piece of art. She must be literally worshipped by the students here, huh.

“Anyway, Gotou-san.” Kaichou once again spoke to Mai. “Would you mind if I took you for a little trip around the school? I’d like to show you around. Oh, and by all means, Sekuhara-kun, Oogawa-kun, Mikazuki-san, please accompany us. I can see that you’re getting along with Gotou-san very well~”

“Hahah…”

“Well… I guess so…”

“With pleasure.” I answer confidently, unlike Hayato and Saki, while smirking at already frustrated Mai, who knows that she has no other choice, but to play along.