Somewhere in Japan, 2023
Stare...
"Yuuuui?" They called me, my noisy friends.
"I'm coming." Being the 'queen bee' had its benefits: no bullying, fun times, arousing nerds, no waiting in line for food, and picking up some of those aforementioned nerds. It came with its shortcomings too, like being surrounded by dumb gals. I fit in among them, but only because I'm half Vietnamese. The tan? 100% natural, by the way.
"It's okay!" More shouting. "We're getting some ice cream and waiting for you to finish your nerd stuff~!"
Nerd stuff? Maybe it was genuinely nerdy stuff, but acquiring status as a non-conventionally hot or cutesy squeaky thing requires playing the right cards. I'm small, my legs are twigs, and my chest is flatter than a frying pan. You might be wondering... how did Watanabe Yui, this scrawny little thing, crawled into being the queen bee of an entire high school? Here's the answer: intelligence goes hand-in-hand with being attractive. Not attractive-attractive, but you're only ugly if you're dumb. Scoring 100 earns respect from teachers, admiration from Japanese brainiacs, and gives you an upper hand in dealing with troublesome students. This, in turn, further garners respect from teachers and makes you appear kind and understanding.
I'm no genius, not your witty little MC, but I can walk my away around.
And that's why that bookstore interested me so much!
It was a small and cramped square, filled with books and squeezed between two shops. What caught my attention first were their window displays of books. They were all pretty old, rare volumes, some even imported. Although it was surprising, it made sense. Our little school trip this summer was intended for us to learn more about teamwork, and making curry - your typical summer arc, yadda yadda yadda - but they brought us to a tiny island town instead. Everything here was so small, the skies so blue, and the mountains so green that... it was indeed pleasurable and fun. Oh, and everything was old, from its inhabitants to its machines, and as I saw in that moment, even their bookstores.
Ice cream with friends, or books older than myself?
Easy pick.
I dug my way through the door quickly, and a bell chimed above my head, sweet little thing. The inside was charming, with a vintage tinge, and it smelled like incense, peaches, and dust. A cute single table stood alone, with a solitary chair, begging to be sat on. Dead silence reigned, so quiet that I could forget about my queen bee persona and immediately indulge my inner novel otaku.
I muted my smartphone and greeted the bespectacled, slightly overweight uncle attending the counter with a cheerful "good morning." He responded with a happy nod, and I waltzed straight to the bookcases, twin blocks filled with paper and ink.
They had everything one could expect: science, fiction, history, fantasy, even poetry collections and picture books. Some were brand new, while others were just as well-preserved and half a century old.
Where to begin with? The classics? No, there's good stuff here in english, oh shit! There 'some thai goods...oooh, physical manwhua! And, and...this here is intereting, medieval fantasy, eh? I don't pick one of these for a long time...yeah, I'll grab it. And it's damn thick too, nice, I can get some read here and—
...nggg...eergnn...
What? And then just as I looked around~
SNAP!
A random part collapsed, and hundreds of books showered down while it broke apart, poking the second one down, aaaand both of them feell...right on me!
As I was buried in literal fucking knowledge, I thought: Well...how typical...
Something came down with the second bookcase, and it hit my head. A concussion, a pretty heavy one, I think. When help arrived, I was already dead.
That was me.
Watanabe Yui, 16, queen bee, nerd, and crushed by books.
Curtains down.
So, I see theres both a “bisexual protagonist” tag, and a “romantic subplot” tag, but no “girl’s love tag”. That, along with the fact the MC will be a princess in a medieval, highly stratified society who will likely need to be married for connections and/ or to carry on the royal line leads me to ask.
Will this story actually end up GL? Or is the bisexual tag just there for a fling/ dead relationship or two before the princess finds her “Lord Husband”?
It'll probably sound sarcastic, but I really do admire online readers' capacity of reading into tags.
To be honest although I've been in this world for quite a long time, grasping how to choose my tags never really worked out. I tried to select genres and tags that showcased what the story was about, and it's core elements. GL is an element, certainly, but I don't know if it would be...central enough to warrant the tag. Not because GL will not be present, but as you sort of predicted, there'll be male romantic interests.
I think it's actually fair to include GL now that I think about it. Which is a bummer, since I could've taken benefit on having that tag during my first day haha!
Straight answer (pun intended): There'll be GL, but only the gods know if it'll be the endgame. I can guarantee, though, that it isn't going to be a fling/dead relationship or two.
longer chapters pls
Will be trying!
I'm trying to take writing this lightly, but well, well, well...a man's nature, isn't it? My novel chapters tends towards 2000~3000 words. I'm aiming to posting more chapters online here, and bring it down a bit, so around 1200~2200 will be my zone for now.
Most will definitely be longer than this one!
@Kuramitsuha thank you, I've been trying to find an oc got fanfic for a while now, they are all all either too short, over detailed with the story progressing very slowly or the good ones dropped afer 20-30 chapter hope this one lasts for a good while