Chapter Text
New landmark discovered: Otonokizaka High School!
400 XP gained!
Another text box began flashing in red above Rina’s head and it read: “Recommended level: 58.”
Rina begrudgingly pressed on, disregarding the warnings. Her level was far below what it ought to be when venturing into a dangerous unknown like this, but it was just where the main quest had taken her to.
This would be the first time she’d ever venture this far out of the starting area for this long, as indicated by the homesick debuff she was still suffering from. And on top of that, she carried with her a mysterious affliction that had plagued her ever since the start of the game.
Rina wasn’t sure how well she’d do against the enemies here, she might have to lay low for a while until she’d gathered enough XP, but at the very least the respawn point wasn’t far, should anything happen.
…
Rina sighed. Why couldn’t life be like one of her video games? Dictated by numbers and code, reliable, repeatable, where only the RNG could disrupt her strategy and even that she could play around. If only it were that simple. Her instincts as a gamer could take over and play her life for her. Yet even in these fantasies, one thing persisted that she never experienced while gaming: fear.
As Rina walked past the gates, head firmly held down, she could feel all eyes on her, she could hear voices get reduced to whispers, she could see fingers pointing. It was all because of one thing, one thing that had never been different and never would be, regardless of whether she attended Nijigasaki or Otonokizaka High. The only difference was that she didn’t know anyone here. Did her parents think that if they broke open her cocoon, Rina would come out? She hadn’t completed her metamorphosis yet.
She hadn’t leveled up enough yet.
Keeping her head down, both literally and figuratively, she traversed the courtyard, entered the school building and headed for the teacher’s office in order to meet her homeroom teacher. She would guide her to her classroom later and introduce her to her new classmates.
“You’ll be in class 2-A”, the teacher told Rina, smiling warmly, clearly excited to be welcoming a transfer student. Rina wished she could smile back, but she knew herself better than that. She wouldn’t be able to curve the corners of her mouth up or half-close her eyes in that same warm manner everyone else could. It was frustrating, but she couldn’t furrow her eyebrows into a frown in order to express even that , let alone shed a tear.
“I’ll be in your care”, is what Rina settled on instead, keeping her expression neutral, beginning to reflect the worryingly strong apathy that had been growing in her over the past few years. She remarked that maybe some years ago, she would have been more upset than this, but now it left her cold. Frustrated, but cold.
The teacher grabbed Rina by the hand and guided her out of the office. Rina was a second year student, but her small stature likely suggested otherwise. It mattered little. She was used to getting coddled.
As the two walked through the hallways, Rina dared to look up at her surroundings, glancing at the few students that were populating the hallways, not nearly as many as there were in the courtyard on this warm late spring morning. Students were happily chatting, eyes gleaming with joy, toothy smiles. Some were even laughing or running through the hallways excitedly, like one girl with short orange hair, and another girl with brown-blonde hair seemingly trying to keep up with her.
However, as she walked past the lockers near the entrance, her eyes fell on one person in particular. It was as if there was a main quest marker floating above her head, a girl who stood out, not because of her marine blue hair that flowed over her shoulders like the ocean’s waves, not because of her sharp jade eyes that held a look of sagacity, not even because of her loud-mouth friend with orange hair that was drawing way too much attention to the trio.
It was her face, the most expressive she had ever seen anyone look. It was as if her face was a clear glass window, through which you could peer at her innermost emotions. The way her cheeks adopted a bright red hue in response to one of her friend’s comments, the way her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened in abject embarrassment. Even her posture betrayed a sudden nervousness as she defensively raised her shaking arms and let them hover there awkwardly.
Rina understood that people weren’t completely open to the people around them, she understood that some emotions were buried under layers of apprehension, like a suit of armor, but this girl… she wore no such armor. Rina wasn’t sure whether that was brave or foolish, but she wished to connect with her.
She would connect with her.