Chapter Text

When Ena opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the unusually soft sheets beneath her, followed by the thick plush blanket that covered her body - both things that she was certain she didn’t have when she fell asleep at her desk last night.

With a pitiful groan at the sunlight streaming in through the massive floor to ceiling windows- 

Wait, the what ?

Ena froze, eyes darting around the room she was in frantically as the realisation that she had no clue where she was began to sink in. It looked like a room straight out of a fairytale, with velvet curtains and an authentic wooden canopy bed, a vanity that looked like it cost more money than Ena’s family could make in a year, and the open ajar closet revealing what looked to be rows upon rows of intricate and likely outlandishly expensive ball gowns.

As she stood up and staggered out of the strange bed, Ena turned to the mirror resting upon the vanity only to gasp at the realisation of what happened to her. Her normally shoulder length hair was now longer in tight curls that desperately needed to be brushed out. Her signature bow and braid were missing along with her usual bangs. This was the most she’s seen of her forehead in years.

Holy shit she thought to herself. I look just like-

“Enanan!” An irritated voice called out from the hallway, startling her with a gasp. “Hurry up. I’ll leave without you.”

Ena felt her jaw drop. Suddenly she knew exactly where she was, recognising exactly who she was.

It had started a year ago, when Ena was lazily gifted a video game her father assumed she’d like for her 15th birthday. She had begged for more art supplies, but he only scoffed and reminded her that she had no future as an artist. 

Another loving day with dear ol’ dad.

The game was clearly chosen at random, probably something that had been tossed into a bin with the label “Games for Girls” and half off on clearance. 

She had been insulted. Reading the bag of the game case revealed it to be a generic otome game. Your typical self-insert fantasy fulfilment with “hot” guys and dates vague enough that you could pretend you were the one being romanced.

Trying to ignore the fact that her father seemed to have forgotten her complete lack of interest in boys, Ena reluctantly accepted the gift. She was admittedly a little amazed to have gotten anything in the first place when money had been so tight lately.

It was only that fact that made Ena slide the game disc into her ancient PC, sighing at the installation and deciding she’d play just enough to satisfy her father and her guilty conscience before tossing it under her bed to be forgotten completely.

When the game finally loaded up, she had been pleasantly surprised at the beautiful art style and interesting character design.

The four love interests all seemed unique and actually different from one another. Instead of your stereotypical dark-haired bad boys, there was a purple-haired dorky inventor, a loud and eccentric prince, his dual-coloured haired quiet brother, and…

The ginger. 

She particularly didn’t like that one.

But three out of four wasn’t so bad. Maybe she’d enjoy the game more than she’d thought. Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to pretend they were all women anyway.

After the epilogue start-up, there was an option to change the MC’s default name from Mizuki Akiyama to whatever you wanted. 

Deleting the text and putting in her first name, Ena frowned at the pop-up.

You cannot choose a name from a pre-existing character.

Rolling her eyes, Ena kept the default name and started up the game - A Brand New World.

And admittedly? It was kind of fun.

Mizuki as a main character seemed to have a bit more of her own personality instead of a blank slate Mary Sue, and Ena had to admit she was itching to see her full design outside of the behind shots she’d get in the few “cutscene” illustrations the game provided.

Objectively, she knew that was intentional, to avoid taking the player out of the experience, but it still annoyed her anyway.

But nothing annoyed Ena more than the main antagonist of the story. 

Lady Enanan.

God. What a bitch.

Ena felt deeply offended that the worst character on the face of the planet had the same name as her (or well, close enough), and wondered if her father knew and was being an asshole on purpose.

Lady Enanan was your typical one-dimensional villainess. She existed solely to antagonise and terrorise Mizuki, resentful for the fact that she was so beloved by all of the male love interests and eager to do whatever it took to humiliate and often straight up harm her.

There were no redeeming traits for her. She happened to be the older sister of one of the love interests - the ginger. That was one route she refused to play through, she had no interest in Akito in the slightest and didn’t really want to have to see more from Lady Enanan.

Ena ended up playing through a few routes, genuinely getting attached to the world that had been built and all of the characters that lived within it. They were all fun, realistic characters that appealed to Ena’s sad lonely heart.

The gameplay was fun, too. The story was simple and typical of an otome game. Mizuki was a new student at a prestigious school for rich magic users or whatever, and she catches everyone’s attention after revealing that she’s super talented at all of the magic and humble and all that.

The magic system was vague and confusing, clearly just used for plot reasons, but Ena admittedly didn’t mind too much. Mizuki still had to struggle with learning how to manage her powers, not everything came super easily to her right away. Yes, she was definitely still the over-powered self insert, but she felt real enough for Ena to get a bit attached.

The game was just a fun distraction from her real life. Somewhere Ena could pretend she was loved by every stranger she met, that she was talented and admired for her skill, that her beauty was something to be envied.

There was a pang of pain that came with that last realisation, but she pushed past it.

At the end of most routes, Lady Enanan either died horrifically or was otherwise punished for her crimes - whether it include being tossed in jail or an insane asylum. To Ena, it was pretty justified. Beyond the murder attempts, bullying, or slander, Enanan was just a menace who you truly could not sympathise for.

It made her a little uncomfortable to realise how much Lady Enanan physically resembled her - with the same eye and hair colour, near identical facial structure. It didn’t really do wonders for her self-esteem, to practically see herself as a horrible unloved villainess, but there was nothing to be done about it.

“Mizuki, you truly are the most spectacular girl I’ve ever met,”   Rui, the quirky inventor said during his big confession scene. “Would you please do me the honour of attending the end of year ball with me?”

Ena boredly skipped past most of that. 

She obviously didn’t care much for the romance aspect of the game, and instead preferred all of the fighting minigames or side quests with interesting background NPCs. The world was surprisingly rich with content and interesting lore.

As she made it to the end credits once again, Ena leaned back in her chair, feeling hollow now that there were no more flashy distractions for her to ease her mind. She had officially finished every route she knew how to achieve (except for Akito’s, there was still no way she was about to do that. Ew.) and had no more game to play.

When the opening title screen popped back up, Ena was ready to exit and move on with her life, when she noticed something odd.

The title card was supposed to be a standing shot of all of the main characters, showing off the love interests and relevant side characters. The four boys were always supposed to be in the forefront, with their hands extended forward as if reaching out to the player.

But this time, oddly enough Mizuki was there too, standing in the centre staring right at Ena.

Seeing her face for the first time, Ena was a bit in awe at how beautiful she was. Her eyes were a startling shade of pink, along with pink eyelashes that almost made her look otherworldly. Her smile was a bit mischievous, as if she was teasing Ena as she reached out towards her.

It was odd how she was designed. Usually otome protagonists look as generic as possible, but Mizuki was anything but.

There was another strange difference though.

Lady Enanan was missing.

She usually could be seen with her arms crossed and an angry expression on her face while she stood off in the back with the other supporting characters. Now, the space was filled with another NPC.

“That’s… Weird,” Ena murmured under her breath as she leaned in closer.

Before she even had time to blink, she was suddenly lurching forward as she was submerged in a blinding white light, knocking her out before she could register what was going on.

“ This can’t be real, ” Ena’s shaky voice did little to ground her in her bizarre new reality. She was pacing back and forth in her lush and extravagant bedroom - no, in Lady Enanan’s bedroom - trying to process what was going on.

Her voice was the same, along with her face and body. The same scars and callouses from her art projects seemed to have carried over, and looked distinctly wrong underneath the silky pyjamas she had woken up in. It appeared that only Lady Enanan’s superficial traits had been extended to Ena, as if she were in cosplay rather than straight up transforming into her.

Shit. Would the other characters notice the difference? Did she want them to?

It was just Ena’s luck that she’d get isekai’d into the shittiest character she ever had the displeasure of knowing. 

She must’ve burned down a puppy orphanage in a past life to deserve this cruel stroke of fate.

“Enanan!” The voice from earlier called out, banging on her bedroom door with more irritation than before. “What’s taking you so long? If you make us late to school one more time-”

“I-” Ena’s voice cracked, making her wince. “I don’t feel well!” She called out, hovering by the bedroom door. Anxiously praying whoever was on the other side wouldn’t come inside. “G-Go without me.”

There was silence, making Ena panic as the door suddenly swung open, revealing a confused looking Akito - the ginger. 

She swallowed nervously. Right, Akito was Enanan’s little brother.

She was frozen solid as he gave her a sceptical once over. “You look fine to me.”

“I really don’t feel well,” She said, a plea in her words. “I’ll go tomorrow, I swear.”

Akito’s brows were furrowed as he stared at Ena. He didn’t seem to notice her physical differences, and she made sure to hide her roughed up hands behind her back to keep it that way. Something in her was terrified of the idea of being caught as the imposter she was.

“Yeah… You’re definitely acting weird.”

Ena internally sighed. She’d been here for no more than ten minutes and she was already messing up. Was she supposed to play along? Pretend that she was Lady Enanan? Truthfully, Ena didn’t feel confident in her ability to pretend to be that cruel.

“Yeah,” Ena echoed. “So you should just go on without me.”

He gave her another appraising look, something akin to hope in his eyes before he squashed down those emotions. Instead, he gave an apathetic shrug and turned around. “Bye then, I guess.”

Ena, like the absolute idiot she was, instinctively said, “Y-yeah, have a good day at school.”

That made Akito look at her in pure shock. Before she could mess up anymore, she quickly shoved him out of her room and shut the door, leaning against it to try and calm her pounding heart.

This was insane, absolutely insane. 

Surely Ena was just having a really, really lucid dream? A result of brain rot from playing the same game for several hours straight?

She pinched herself harshly, nothing happened.

“Shit,” She muttered to herself. Part of her considered running out and explaining to anyone she could find what had happened to her. Considering magic existed in this universe, surely they’d believe her?

But if they didn’t, then what would they do to Ena? If they thought she was crazy, would they toss her into the asylum like they do in one of Tsukasa’s route endings?

Panic was filling her lungs, she couldn’t stay here in this stuffy room a second longer. 

She ran into her closet to try and find something low-key to wear, but to her dismay there were only elaborate and needlessly frilly ball gowns and dresses.

Ena was a girl who could appreciate a fancy princess dress, but these were bordering on ugly and tacky with how many adornments were designed onto them. They were nothing more than a shameless display of wealth, and made Ena cringe at the thought.

Her family had always struggled a bit with money, she was long accustomed to saving money and sacrificing her childhood if it meant her parents could pay the bills.

Selling just one of these dresses would be enough to completely sustain her family for a year.

It made her feel disgusted beyond explanation.

Frustrated, she rummaged through the clothing to find something plain, and was grateful to find what seemed like Lady Enanan’s school uniform, a normal piece of fabric that wouldn’t weigh Ena down. She noticed the excessively elegant jacket that Lady Enanan wore in the game. All the main characters had something added to their uniforms to make them distinct and show a bit of their personality. 

Of course Enanan had the gaudiest and ugliest jacket possible.

Ena ignored it.

Throwing the dress on messily and wearing the least-painful looking pair of shoes she could find, Ena finally braved the task of leaving Lady Enanan’s room.

And god, how overwhelming just that was.

The hallway outside was elegant and massive. There were rows and rows of rooms and what seemed to be servants running about - all avoiding eye contact with Ena.

She really wanted to throw up. 

“M-My lady?” A quiet maid piped in, her voice shaky as she stared at her feet nervously. “Sir Akito mentioned you were unwell,”

“Oh, yeah,” Ena almost forgot her lie. “I’m okay, I just wanted to get some fresh air. Um, You don’t have to keep bowing, you know.”

The maid straightened up and looked at Ena nervously, as if afraid it were a trick. God, she looked so young, Maybe Ena’s age. “What’s your name?”

“M-Mine?”

“Mhm,” Ena said encouragingly, recognising anxiety when she saw it. 

“I-It’s Honami, my lady.”

“Just Ena is fine,” She reassured, cringing at herself for forgetting who she appeared to be. Hopefully it wasn’t too odd for Enanan to go by a nickname. “Honami is a really pretty name, though.”

“Huh?” Honami blurted out, seeming thoroughly confused, hands flying to her mouth at her slip-up, about to apologise profusely before Ena cut her off.

“Anyway, thank you for your concern, Honami. I’m just… gonna go outside now.” She stiffly turned away and started speed walking before the maid could stop her. 

Quietly, she could hear Honami whisper, “Did she just say… Thank you?” before she was completely gone.

It was like a maze trying to find an exit that wasn’t heavily guarded by well-dressed knights. Luckily, Ena’s lack of the jacket and messy hair seemed to work quite well as a disguise, since no one could believe the Lady would wear her uniform so plainly or appear so not-put together.

Ugh. So stuck up.

When she was finally outside, Ena let out a relieved breath and leaned up against the trunk of a giant tree just past the ground’s gate.

“This is insane,” She whispered to herself again, desperately waiting for the moment she’d be warped back to her life. Or wake up from this outrageous dream.

She could hear the sounds of birds tweeting, the gentle wind blowing through the full leaves of trees. She could feel the tight squeeze of her shoes, the itchy material of her dress, the pounding of her heart.

Deciding that there wasn’t much else she could do, Ena made her way down the cobblestone road towards what seemed to be the main town that was bustling with life.

There was music and laughter coming from the town square, where a street performer was happily playing his violin while the children ran about dancing. There were a few stalls and shops set up, life bursting from every crevice. 

Ena blinked, watching the scene in awe. She hadn’t seen anything like this in the game, but she supposed it’d make sense that there was so much going on in this world outside of the main plot.

She stood off to the side, taking stock of everything before two tiny hands reached up towards her. An adorable little girl with a messy dress stood before her, trying to pull her into the middle of the square.

“Dance with me!” 

Ena laughed a little nervously, looking around at the parents who were happily watching over their kids, encouraging her to join their antics.

What was the harm in a little dancing? It didn’t seem like anyone here had drawn the conclusion that this was supposedly Lady Enanan.

Ena spun the little girl around and beamed at the sound of her little giggles. They spun in circles before the little girl suddenly let go and Ena staggered backwards into someone. 

She quickly righted herself. “Oh my god I’m so sorry-”

Her jaw dropped at the laughing face of none other than the game’s protagonist - Mizuki Akiyama. “No it’s okay! I was just in a rush, and didn't wanna miss my first day of school.”

Holy shit. Holy shit.

“O-Oh, still I-”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it!” Mizuki grinned. “I saw you dancing with the kids, that was so adorable!”

Ena stiffened. She was definitely not behaving the way Lady Enanan was supposed to. “Ah, n-no! I just, got caught up in it.”

She must not have been very convincing because Mizuki gave her a smirk of disbelief. “If you say so. Would you walk me to school?”

“Huh?” Ena took a nervous step back. She hadn’t even considered the repercussions of wearing her school uniform. “Oh no I’m not-”

Mizuki promptly ignored her and grabbed her hand before pulling her forward, down a path that led towards the massive academy that the majority of the game took place in.

Ena was completely lost, totally confused.

The game was supposed to start with Mizuki being late to school, then bumping into Prince Toya who gladly but shyly showed her the way, beginning the game. Looking around, he was nowhere to be seen.

Ena had already thrown things off, just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

…Were there going to be consequences for that?

Her mind was racing a million miles a minute when they arrived at the front of the school. There were a lot of students scattered about staring at them. Ena assumed at first it was because of Mizuki being the new girl, just like in the game, until she heard “Lady Enanan” pop up a few times.

Right. She was here and definitely not dressed the way that Lady Enanan was supposed to be dressed. And her very calloused hand was holding the soft dainty hand of the girl she was supposed to hate and torment.

They were stopped at the front gates by a side character Ena recognised - An, the student representative - who looked at Ena with a hateful look. 

“You must be Mizuki, our new student?” An said cautiously, side-eyeing Ena who was trying to look for a way to escape. “...And Lady Enanan. You’re here.”

“Yup!” Mizuki said cheerfully. “I ran into her - or I guess she ran into me - earlier.” 

Mizuki looked over at Ena as though this were a quirky inside joke between them, but Ena was too busy trying to hide how sweaty she was getting from nerves. An was glaring daggers into her, and it truly started to hit Ena how much trouble she was in.

Lady Enanan wasn’t just a mean girl, she was vile, the worst of the worst, pure evil. She attempts murder plenty of times without remorse, and regularly goes out of her way to torment innocent people just to get her way. 

This meant everyone likely either despised Enanan or feared her, and sincerely Ena didn’t know which was worse.

She didn’t want to be seen as a threat! She didn’t want to be mean! 

“...Well you can go now, Lady Enanan,” An said carefully. “I’ve got it from here. Glad to see you’re feeling okay.”

The passive aggressive tension was physically painful. 

“Huh?”

“Akito said you were unwell.”

“Oh! Y-yeah, I’m… Good now.”

An squinted, looking at Ena curiously and she wanted nothing more than to melt into the ground. It seemed like An was waiting for something, probably a scathing remark or insult characteristic of Lady Enanan.

Ena really couldn’t think of anything, so she just turned around and tried to escape the school grounds.

Unfortunately for her, what seemed like a teacher stood by the gates with her arms crossed. 

“Class is starting soon, Miss Enanan. You should go inside.”

“I’m really not feeling-”

“No excuses,” The teacher said with a bit of a huff. “You made it here, didn’t you? If you still feel unwell after the first period, go to the school nurse.”

Ena’s protests died in her mouth as she reluctantly nodded.

She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, piercing gazes that tore through her. The real Enanan had been an attention seeker - whether it was positive or not, it didn’t matter. 

But Ena? Ena hated it. Especially knowing that these were judgemental stares of hatred.

Sure, she knew they technically weren’t for her , but that didn’t stop the aching feeling it gave her.

With a sigh and her head hung low, Ena followed the rest of her classmates inside of the school - a massive building with shiny floors and banners with the academy logo hanging from the tall ceilings.

It seemed An and Mizuki had vanished, leaving Ena to try and figure out where she was supposed to go.

Blindly, she followed the crowd before noticing some familiar faces - or rather, familiar voices.

“HA HA HA!” Ena flinched at the loud noise, though she knew exactly who that’d be. 

Tsukasa Tenma was one of the four love interests - he was a prince known for his talent in acting and his love for his siblings, one of which being Toya, another love interest. 

In Tsukasa’s route, you woo him by being kind to his little sister Saki, gaining his approval. Once you start to get close, you get invited to his shows and even his castle. There were all sorts of endings, one of which being one where Toya takes over as prince to allow Tsukasa to pursue his dream of theatre. 

“Tsukasa, it’s so cool that you make your own props!” A nameless NPC fawns over the prince, holding onto his arm with a bright smile and wide eyes. “Maybe you could show me sometime?”

Before Tsukasa could respond, he looked up to see Ena and gave her an odd look. She froze, trying to remember what Enanan’s relationship to him was.

If you pursued Tsukasa’s, Rui’s, or Toya’s route, you had to deal with Enanan having a crush on them too, and her jealousy prompting her to try and sabotage you intentionally. With Tsukasa, it was especially difficult since he was so good-natured that he was always kind to Enanan, only encouraging her pursuits.

Otherwise, they were kind of friends? Tsukasa was blissfully unaware of Enanan’s cruelty - like all of the love interests with the exception of Akito, because of the plot, obviously.

Enanan was really only mean to other girls, always trying to impress the boys. They only realise her true colours after falling in love with Mizuki.

“Enanan!” He said excitedly, the girl on his arm squeaking before running off terrified.

“Um, hi?” Ena’s voice was shaky, and she could tell she’s already misspoken by the frown on Tsukasa’s face.

“Are you alright? You’re missing your jacket!” 

She nodded, hating the attention that he was bringing to her with his loud voice. “I just didn’t feel like wearing it today.”

Tsukasa’s bright and energetic demeanour faltered for a moment as he observed Ena’s skittish behaviour. She found herself unable to keep looking him in the eye, but as she turned to look away she was forced to make eye contact with Mizuki, who was still with An.

She was looking at Ena with something akin to heartbreak in her eyes.

Oh. An must’ve told her what a menace Enanan was. It would explain the hesitance and sudden distance. Ena couldn’t really be that upset about it, though. It was hardly An’s fault for wanting to warn her new friend. Had Enanan really been here, she would’ve already insulted Mizuki for being a commoner and scholarship student.

Tsukasa tracked her gaze and darted his eyes between Ena and Mizuki before eventually landing on the former. “Are you sure?”

She just gave one abrupt nod and folded her arms, hoping that her grumpy expression was enough to deter anyone else from talking to her. Unfortunately she just looked anxious more than anything.

Pushing past Tsukasa, she made her way inside of the classroom where all of the other main characters were gathered. She did know where Enanan typically sat, front row and centre, and so at least she was able to get that right.

She looked up at the board and was completely lost at the sight of runes and symbols that she could only vaguely recognise from the magic system in the game. 

God, without Enanan’s memories Ena was totally going to fail exams. 

Was she going to be trapped here that long? 

“Enanan!” An unsettlingly shrill voice called out. She turned to see two nondescript background characters suddenly swarm her sides.

Oh, right. Enanan, like all mean girls, had her gaggle of minions without discernible personalities or motivations of their own. They wore generic uniforms and had such plain faces they almost didn’t look real. The class had started, but that didn’t stop the gossipy girls from distracting Ena completely.

They were deeply unsettling to be around.

“What are you wearing ?” One of them said, as if Ena had shown up covered in blood or something. 

“Um.”

“Oh-em-gee!” Another gasped. “It was that new girl, wasn’t it?”

“Huh?” Ena felt lost, feeling as though she were watching a tennis match the way her head bopped back and forth. “No of course not-”

“Ugh, leave it to a commoner! I bet she ruined your jacket, didn’t she?”

“She didn’t-”

“How should we get revenge?” They were completely ignoring Ena! 

She knew how this scene was supposed to go. When Mizuki arrives at her first class, you have a choice of who to sit with, but one constant is Enanan strutting over to Mizuki to humiliate her in some way. Ena turned her head to see that Mizuki was sitting next to Tsukasa and An, Akito right behind her. 

An was showing Mizuki potion magic - right, this was a potions class - and usually at this point, you’d have a quick minigame to introduce the game mechanic. 

After the minigame is when Enanan is supposed to come over and pour the potion all over Mizuki’s front, with a shameless, “Whoops.” That would cause her gaggle of mean girls to giggle and smirk at her misfortune.

Ena grimaced, it was so needlessly cruel. Obviously she had no plans of doing that, there was no way.

“Ah, Enanan, may I ask you to pass these vials around?” The teacher asked suddenly, startling Ena into remembering that she was in an active classroom. 

Ena wanted to say no desperately, but reluctantly she just nodded and grabbed it. The girls seemed in complete shock that Ena would accept a menial task, but she was just happy to get away from their grating voices.

Ena moved carefully and swiftly, making sure to avoid eye contact with the startled students. Distantly she was aware of the whispers of confusion, making her skin crawl. 

When she got to Mizuki’s row, Ena used all of her mind power to ensure she was being careful. As she was walking towards the main character herself, Ena briefly saw a strange shadow of black in her peripheral vision and then suddenly felt a strong force on her back pushing her forward.

In her stumble, Ena ended up spilling the remaining vials all over Mizuki.

When she caught herself and realised what had happened, Ena was left speechless, her hands flying to her mouth as she stared dumbly at the scene before her.

An was frantically trying to help clean up, before shooting a sharp glare at Ena.

“What was that for?!”

“It was an accident-” Ena began, only to be interrupted.

“The new girl needs to know her place.” One of the minions said snootily. “Enanan was just showing her how commoners should be treated around here.”

Ena gaped again. “ Don’t speak for me! ” She cried out, startling the minions. “That’s not- I really didn’t mean to. Someone pushed me!”

“Sure they did.” An muttered, purposefully looking behind Ena to point out the fact that there was nobody there.

Ena flinched when she realised that Mizuki was staring directly at her, with an expression she couldn’t read at all. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Ena saw the same shadowy figure and barely held in her gasp. It was a wispy hooded being, clearly not human. It swished away before Ena could try and plead her case any further. Why did no one else see it?!

Feeling the stares of everyone around her, Ena felt like she was going to be sick. An helped Mizuki up, taking her to the washroom to attempt and clean her uniform. 

Before she even had a chance to say anything else, Akito snarled at her. 

“Was that really necessary?”

“I didn’t-!” Ena cut herself off. It was like nothing she said made any difference at all, it was like nothing she did made any difference. 

Avoiding that plot event backfired horribly. All it did was create a new event in its place, but even worse this time considering the broken glass!

She just shook her head, feeling tears prick her eyes. Refusing to stay and see everyone else’s disgusted expressions, she ran out of the classroom, promptly ignoring the teacher’s protests.

Ena intentionally made sure to ditch Enanan’s creepy minions and instead chose to hide away in an empty classroom.

Pacing back and forth, Ena’s mind was racing.

Was she seriously being forced to be the villainess? That shadowy figure - it was what pushed her, she was certain of it. 

Goosebumps erupted over Ena’s pale skin, making her wish a little bit that she brought that ugly jacket. She hated that the only people who wanted to be around her were nameless mean girls. 

Ena took a shuddery breath before collecting herself. She couldn’t stay here forever - clearly this game would punish her the more she tried to avoid participating in it. With great reluctance she returned to class, grateful that students were all working now and so there was plenty of noise to distract from her reappearance.

An, of course, saw her, and kept her eyes dutifully trained, as if daring her to try something else.

In different circumstances, Ena would’ve loved to have a friend like An.

It seemed like the students were all broken off into groups to work on whatever assignment they were given. It was weird seeing so much that was exempted from the game, things that were implied to have happened but weren’t shown since it’d be boring to have to attend real lessons in an escapism game. 

Enanan’s minions saved her seat, and were clearly slacking off as they gossipped and made fun of everyone else.

Rolling her eyes, Ena decided she had enough of them for today, and walked right past them. She knew this would certainly dampen her attempts of acting normal, but considering how quickly they twisted her accident into something cruel, she knew she wanted to get as far away from them as possible.

Hesitantly, Ena approached the only other empty spot in the classroom, next to a shy looking girl in blonde pigtails with her head buried into a textbook.

Steeling her nerves, Ena spoke. “Is it okay if I sit here?”

As the girl looked up and adjusted her glasses to make sure she was seeing correctly, Ena felt a horrid flashback to her experiences trying to make friends in school. The poor girl looked like she was on the brink of tears as she shook nervously.

She stuttered out an affirmative before freezing up and avoiding eye contact at all costs.

Ena couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped her as she sat down, careful to not get too close to the girl in case she fainted from the stress.

She vaguely recognised this character as Kohane - a small side character without much plot relevance. She was kind but skittish, often relaying whatever evil thing Enanan had just done to the player.

“What are we supposed to do?” Ena asked finally, not wanting to just sit around and feel the eyes of the entire classroom bore into the back of her head.

“T-That’s okay!” Kohane squeaked out. “I can do everything, really!”

Ena frowned. “But… That’s not fair to you.”

Kohane looked thoroughly shellshocked. Ena just groaned, accepting that there was no way she’d get through to her like this.

Ena wanted to give herself a pat on the back for surviving until lunch. Enanan’s minions seemed at a loss of what to do without her guidance, so Ena made sure to absolutely keep her distance. While it was a relief that they eventually acquiesced and left her alone, it was also just really… Lonely.

Sitting by herself at lunch, Ena found she had no appetite despite not eating breakfast that morning either, and just sat at an empty table, resting her head on her hand as she observed the world around her.

Some students were playing around with basic magic spells while others studied or laughed together. It only made Ena feel more and more isolated. How ironic was it that she was transported inside the world of a game she used to mask her own loneliness, just to end up even more lonely than before?

Mizuki was sitting with An and Kohane, talking with big smiles and giggles. Ena watched absentmindedly as Rui approached and introduced himself - beginning another character event.

Ena froze, remembering that in this scene, Enanan was supposed to ‘accidentally’ set off one of Rui’s inventions to cause a minor explosion, blaming the entire thing on Mizuki.

There was no way Ena was tempting fate again - she was staying as far away from them as possible.

She stood up and quickly darted out of the cafeteria, dodging students and staff as she bolted back to the empty classroom from earlier.

As she shut the door behind her, Ena let her heart calm down before stepping further inside and sitting atop an unused dusty desk. As she kicked her feet back and forth idly, Ena’s eyes caught onto a leather-bound book on the table next to her. She picked it up and flipped through it, delighted to find it empty and blank.

Snatching up the first half-dried out pen she could find. Ena began doodling. It was therapeutic, to scribble and sketch as if she were still just sitting in her bed at home, procrastinating homework.

She found herself drawing her real room with a twinge of homesickness, along with portraits of her parents and few friends from school. She then sketched the characters she had met so far, including Mizuki herself.

Ena couldn’t help but wonder where the real Lady Enanan was. 

Did she and Ena switch places? In that case, Ena would pay tons of money to watch the poor rich girl flounder in Ena’s life for a day. 

She wouldn’t survive a week. With the showers that only had hot water for about a minute or two, the meals made with whatever scraps could be scrounged up in the kitchen, the same clothing Ena’s been wearing since middle school since they still fit and were presentable enough…

She snorted to herself at the mental image. Maybe they were swapped as some kind of punishment to Lady Enanan, to humble her. A real Princess and the Pauper situation - if the Princess were a stuck up villainess and no real morals or empathy. 

As the hour passed, Ena felt herself able to really breathe again for the first time since waking up in this nightmare. When the bell rang signalling her next class, she reluctantly hid the book back into a desk, resolving to come back for it later. 

Ena hardly needed to think about where to go next, seeing as the world around her guided her no matter what she wanted. Eventually she made her way to magical combat, a class that sounded cool in theory, but was actually terrifying in practice.

Avoiding Enanan’s minions, Ena stood in the farthest back on the training field she possibly could as the teacher came out and began explaining the safety rules in the class. It droned on and on and Ena was nearly about to fall asleep when her attention was caught.

“Seeing as you’re new here, Akiyama, why don’t you give us a demonstration of what you can do?”

Ena leaned forward slightly, recognising this scene from the game. Although, it was supposed to begin with Enanan taunting Mizuki, insisting a poor commoner like her could never defeat her in a spar.

Grateful she wasn’t being forced to fight, Ena watched in awe as Mizuki summoned a strong blast of ice that sliced through the open field they used as a training ground. 

The entire class erupted into cheers and exclamations of awe - with the exception of the Minions, who scowled and rolled their eyes. Ugh.

Even Ena found herself clapping, until Mizuki’s eyes scanned the crowd and stopped on her. With an adorable yet scrutinising tilt of her head, Mizuki stared at Ena until she dropped her hands by her sides, looking away with a red face.

“Are you alright, Miss Enanan?” A soft voice spoke from beside her. Ena flinched as she turned to see Prince Toya, who was awaiting his turn to spar against Mizuki next. “I would have imagined you’d be the first to volunteer for sparring.”

“Yeah,” Ena said, getting real tired of hearing that question and being forced to lie about her answer. “Just not feeling up to it today.”

“Akito did mention you were unwell.”

Why was he telling everyone that? Normally, Akito wanted absolutely nothing to do with his older sister, and avoided her and anything to do with her at all costs. It was also… Odd that he spoke to Toya at all. They were rivals in the game, and didn’t interact much outside of that.

“Yep,” Ena managed to muster out. If Ena had any say in it, she’d stay as far away from Mizuki as humanly possible. Her eyes kept scanning the crowds for any sign of that shadowy figure from earlier. “Thanks for asking though, I guess.”

Toya’s odd look reminded her of how uncharacteristic she was acting, but Ena was finding it harder and harder to care. Everyone was going to hate her regardless of how she acted, so what was the point in trying to pretend she was truly Enanan? If she were lucky, then surely she’d be magicked back home soon.

She paused as she remembered a detail about Toya from the games. He was very knowledgeable in magic, and known for his intelligence in creating unique spells.

“Uh, actually, Toya, can I ask you a… Weird question?”

He just shrugged, which was enough of an answer for Ena.

“Have you ever heard of magic that could… Transport you into different dimensions?”

He blinked at her. “Dimensions?”

“Like um… Different worlds?”

He frowned, dual-coloured hair falling in front of his eyes as he looked down in thought. “That sounds like something that’s more within the forbidden magic territory.” He levelled a very serious look at Ena. “You’re not thinking of messing around with forbidden magic, are you?”

Ena raised her hands in defensive surrender. “What? No! No of course not I just- I was just wondering, is all.”

Toya’s face was normally not very expressive, but right now he was harder to read than ever.

“If it’s just for the sake of knowledge or curiosity, then you’re better off talking to Rui about it. He knows quite a bit about darker forms of magic - though he would never encourage its use.”

“Of course not,” Ena nodded very seriously, feeling sweat build on her neck. How was she supposed to get home if that kind of magic were forbidden? How did she get here in the first place?! “T-Thanks anyway.”

Luckily for Ena, Toya was called upon next to face off against Mizuki, who was quickly becoming a fan favourite to the rest of the class who cheered her on with each victory. 

Ena was bummed that she missed getting to see Mizuki beat Akito and Tsukasa, but reluctantly knew it was for the best, anyway. 

Her eyes darted towards Rui, who was watching the battles attentively while scribbling down notes in his journal. Ena couldn’t think of any way to approach him naturally and ask him the same thing she’d asked Toya, and her anxiety spiked at the thought of having to explain herself again.

It was in her wallowing that Ena missed the first explosion - initially dismissing it as part of the battle - before screams broke out and caught her attention. 

Ena looked up to see swarms of slime monsters crawling in from the surrounding forest and speeding their way towards the crowd of students. The teacher tried to calm the group down but it quickly dissolved into chaos as students began desperately using magic to protect themselves.

Mizuki and the other love interests quickly took charge in fighting against the slimes, skillfully attacking them while defending the helpless students. Ena recognised this from the game, too. Lady Enanan was supposed to sabotage the battle, knocking Mizuki right into the swarm as revenge for losing against her.

Taking a few more steps back, Ena resolved to avoid that as much as possible. In the game, Mizuki nearly dies after becoming entirely overwhelmed by the mob and needs to be saved by whichever love interest she chose to sit with at lunch.

It was while Ena was carefully keeping her distance from Mizuki that she felt a familiar cold chill come upon her. She barely had a second to turn around to face the shadowy figure before she was being shoved once more - right into the swarm of monsters.

Ena didn’t even have a chance to scream before she was being pulled and grabbed at by the mob of low-level monsters. 

In the game, they weren’t supposed to be difficult to defeat on their own, but somehow they’ve all swarmed together to merge into larger enemies. This wasn’t supposed to be possible so early on in the game? What was happening?!

Flailing desperately, Ena choked out a sob as she felt the monsters wrapping around her in a tight squeeze that strangled the breath out of her. With blurry vision she looked up to see the rest of the students distracted - no one had even noticed that she had been attacked.

Holy shit. Was this seriously where Ena was going to die? Pathetically in the first fight of the game?

Would that be enough to send her home?

The life had nearly been squeezed out of her when suddenly a sharp wave of frigid air shot Ena’s way, dissolving the screaming slime monsters and sending Ena falling towards the rough grassy field.

She groaned in pain, struggling to catch her breath as she looked up to see Mizuki running over to her, fear in her eyes.

“Enanan! Are you okay?”

How many more times am I gonna hear that today?

Ena opened her mouth to speak, but her throat couldn’t manage the sound. Defeatedly, she just nodded, gratefully accepting Mizuki’s soft hand as she helped her up.

Staggering upwards, Ena looked around to see the remnants of the monster scattered about while students helped each other recover from the fight.

The teacher ran over, a huff of frustration as he spoke. “Why didn’t you defend yourself at all, Enanan?”

Ena couldn’t speak, but she didn’t have to.

“She couldn’t,” Mizuki said carefully. “She doesn’t have any magic.”

“What?” An said (when did she get here?). “Of course she does, Enanan’s fought with magic before.”

Mizuki shook her head adamantly, looking at Ena with a scrutinising gaze. “She definitely doesn’t have any magic in her now… Though there’s something else-”

“Whatever it is, you need to see the nurse. Now.” The teacher demanded, pointing back at the school building. 

Ena couldn’t even find it in her to protest, just nodding absentmindedly as she followed instructions and limped away from the group. If she had turned around, she would’ve seen the contemplative expression on Mizuki’s face.

Amazed she had even survived the day, Ena sobbed in relief as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her head face down onto the same plush mattress she had woken up on that very day. 

Everything after the attack had been a horrible blur, and Ena was grateful just to be away from Mizuki. At least here, she knew she couldn’t do anything more to hurt her, intentional or not.

In her hands she tightly gripped the journal she had found earlier, and had been using as a makeshift sketchbook. 

Sliding on top of the mattress, Ena pulled out her pen and began writing.

She needed to make a plan.

It was clear that whatever brought her to this other world wasn’t going to let her remain a background character. It would either force her to act like Enanan and hurt Mizuki - or make it so that she was the one who got hurt instead.

The biggest difference was that Ena didn’t have the same plot armour Mizuki did - nor did she have the same friends and allies. If Ena ended up in big trouble like that again, there were few people who’d be inclined to actually help her. 

Ena sketched out a map of all of the routes she could remember, and tried to figure out which route Mizuki was currently on. Unfortunately, Ena hadn’t seen all of the character scenes Mizuki had today, so there was no way of knowing which boy she favoured. 

It seemed like a frustratingly even split so far, and as far as Ena knew, there was no neutral route available. 

She made rough notes of which routes she was determined to avoid, and which ones she feared she was heading towards.

Was she going to be forced to experience one of Enanan’s tragic endings? If so, were any of the awful choices preferable?

At least if Ena was tossed in an asylum or jail, there was the hope of getting out some day. But if she died here through execution or accident, would she wake up back home? Was that a risk she was willing to take?

Grimacing, Ena decided she didn’t want to think that far ahead just yet.

From the way most TV shows and books went, Ena should be sent home once the story has reached its conclusion, but maybe she didn’t need to be here to do that? Her eyes widened at the thought. What if she just… Ran away? Far off into the countryside where she could hide out, find basic work to support herself until the end of the game?

Surely there’d be no way for her to receive her bad ending that way, right? How could she be punished for being a villain if she weren’t even here?

In her exhausted and hungry haze, Ena resolutely packed a small bag with her sketchbook and quickly darted outside into the quiet hallways. It seemed most of the staff were elsewhere at this point in the evening, and Ena felt as though she might actually manage to sneak out of here until-

“Lady Enanan?”

Unable to mask her sigh of disappointment, Ena just nodded and turned back to Honami, the kind servant from earlier. 

“Oh, hi Honami. Is everything okay?”

Honami looked at her blankly before shaking her own head to snap some sense back into her. “Er- Yes, My Lady! I just… Wanted to ask you about the special request you gave me a few nights ago?”

Ena paused, debating how to handle this. So Lady Enanan had made a special request not too long before Ena’s sudden appearance? Odd…

“O-Oh, right. What about it?”

“Well, the food I prepared was sent down but when I retrieved the dumbwaiter it was untouched. Did you still want me to continue sending food to the cellar?”

Ena floundered a bit before answering. “The… Cellar… Right, and I asked you that because…”

Ena trailed off in hopes that Honami would fill in the blanks, but she just kept looking at Ena expectantly. She likely didn’t know either. 

Something about the situation sent a cold shiver down Ena’s spine. It was like a bad omen, something whispering in her ear that she should stop and turn around, go back to bed and pretend nothing happened but…

With a weak sigh, Ena just nodded. “Um, could you take me to the dumbwaiter and show me what you sent down?”

If Lady Enanan was acting odd before this weird swap happened, then maybe Ena would be able to find clues as to what happened to them?

“If you’re certain, My Lady.”

Honami brought Ena to the staff kitchen and showed her an untouched platter as it sat inside the dumbwaiter contraption. It was fancier food than Ena had ever eaten - and it reminded her of the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything at all today. 

It was clear the food was once steaming hot, and now had cooled and slightly hardened in the chilly evening air. 

“Ah, I see,” Ena said, avoiding Honami’s expectant gaze. “Thank you very much, you um, you don’t need to keep doing this, though.”

“...If you’re sure, My Lady.”

With that, Honami left Ena to quickly attend to Akito’s dinner. Now alone in front of the dumbwaiter, that whisper of anxiety returned to Ena more persistently than before.

Something was very wrong, and it was urging her to go down and figure out what.

Grabbing a lit candle, Ena made up her mind and crawled inside of the dumbwaiter, grateful it wasn’t too cramped as she shut the door and tugged the rope pulley that slowly dropped her down. The echoey sound of metal lightly hitting against the dumbwaiter’s shaft was ominous and made Ena want to curl up in her bed, but she pushed through her fears until the entire thing came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the shaft.

Opening the door revealed a dark and dusty hallway, lined with cobblestone bricks and dimly lit candelabras hung on the walls.

Sliding out carefully, Ena made sure her own candle was still well lit before looking around at the creepy underground cellar. 

She could hear the distant scurrying of rats - or maybe some other small magical creatures - and the creaking of the settling house around her. There was an eerie silence to the hallway itself, feeling almost devoid of life even as Ena mustered up the courage to walk further down.

Why had Enanan requested for food to be sent down here? It was clearly abandoned, judging by the thick layers of dust that coated every surface and hovered oppressively in the stale air.

The further Ena wandered, the worse her feeling of dread became. She stopped herself abruptly when her nose wrinkled up at a putrid scent that wafted through the already musty cellar halls. She looked up to notice that the walls were lined with shelves, each containing several bottles and what looked like witchy potion ingredients. 

Ena bit the inside of her cheek to try and ground herself in the moment. The vibes in the cellar were unlike anything the game had ever included - it felt more like she was trapped inside of a horror game than an otome one.

In fact, being down here made this entire situation feel all too real. Perhaps before, Ena could’ve kept insisting to herself it was all a vivid dream or nightmare, but down here…?

Eventually the hallway led into what seemed to be a larger room dimly illuminated by moonlight through a sky roof that was partially covered in moss and overgrown shrubbery. She wasn’t as far underground as she initially believed, it seemed.

That awful smell worsened here, and Ena froze as she looked down, barely stopping herself in time before her shoe stepped into a thick red liquid that was smeared all over the floor.

“Runes…” Ena recognised the symbols from the game and her lessons from that day, though she inherently was aware of the biggest difference between these and the ones she knew.

This was forbidden magic.

Ena carefully stepped around them, eyes glued to the floor as she tried to see if she could recognise any of the shapes or sigils. She mentally memorised them as best she could before she noticed that the further inside the dark she went, the more the liquid seemed to pool together, as if it were all leaking out from the same source.

There was a distant voice in Ena’s head screaming for her to not look up , to turn around and run as fast as she could. She found herself paralysed in fear as she gagged on the smell, recognising it in the worst possible way.

Ena could no longer stall, she looked up quickly and thrust her candle forward to light the way, only to freeze and sob in terror as she staggered backwards, her heart pounding as her breathing turned into uncontrollable wheezes.

The candle slipped out of her hand and it seemed as though the flame brightened enough to completely illuminate the horrific display, forcing Ena to take it all in as she began to sob hysterically, her hands desperately covering her mouth as she kept stepping away.

Stepping away from what was undeniably the rotting corpse of the real Lady Enanan . 

Chapter Text

There was no way this was happening, there was no way this was real .

The body was slumped against the wall on the floor, her eyes open and staring off blankly as trails of stale blood dripped off and merged with the sigils and runs that scattered the floor. Her skin was pale and already being picked at by bugs, though it was clear that she hadn’t died all too long ago.

Ena wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.

The body - Enanan’s body - was completely limp, and stuck in a pose that suggested she either died too suddenly to feel pain, or she had been sitting there wasting away long enough to make peace with it.

Ena felt a wave of bile threaten to escape her, and her sobs mixed with horrible gags as she moved as far away from the corpse as she could.

So while Ena was strolling around town impersonating Enanan, the poor girl was sitting down here rotting to death, all alone? 

Suddenly all of the horrid crimes Enanan had committed or would commit didn’t seem so awful. She was a 16 year old girl, just like Ena. She didn’t deserve this, to die alone . In a dark, cold room buried beneath all of the bustling unknowing servants.

Ena forced herself to get out, run away from the room and back out into the hallway that seemed darker and colder than ever. Distantly she was aware of her own screams and cries for help. She knew Enanan was dead, she knew there was no saving her, but the urgency overcame her like a tidal wave as if there were some way…

“Please!” She shrieked, sobbing in relief when she made it back upstairs somehow, sprinting down the hallways faster than she had ever moved before. She shoved past a confused Akito before slamming into the servants quarters where several guards were already lined up and rushing to her aid. “Please, you need to help- there’s a body!”

Ena was aware of how hysterical she must’ve looked - wheezing and crying out, hardly coherent as she pointed in the direction of the cellar.

“S-She’s dead! Please! Oh God I’m- I’m so sorry -!”

“My Lady please, you need to calm down,” A kinder older maid tried to console her, her hands hovering around Ena’s shoulders as she hesitated to provide any kind of physical comfort. “Please, why don’t you go back to your room and-”

“No!” Ena cried out, ripping herself out of the maid’s space before charging in after the guards. “Hurry, please she- Please!”

The rest of the journey back into the haunting cellar happened in a flash, with Ena far too frenzied to stay cognizant in the moment. 

The guards insisted she follow in behind them, though it didn’t seem like they were truly taking her seriously until they came across the trail of blood.

Ena only briefly was cognisant enough to realise that the second they saw Enanan’s body, she’d be done for. They’d out her as the imposter she was and she’d likely be either killed on the spot or thrown in jail for a later execution.

She couldn’t really find it in herself to care, at the moment.

When they reached that same awful room with the corpse, Ena shoved past the guards to stagger in front, only to freeze in terror at what lay before her.

Or rather, what didn’t lay before her.

The blood trail and sigils remained, along with all of the scattered potions strewn about. 

But what was missing was Enanan herself. In her place was an empty spot smeared with her blood, but no body to be found.

“S-She was right there,” Ena wheezed, looking around desperately.

“I apologise, Lady Enanan,” A soft spoken voice called out from the shadows. Ena flinched at the sight of the purple haired girl as she moved closer, hands clasped in front of her as she bowed her head slightly. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“Lady Mafuyu,” One of the guards addressed, voice a little shaky at the sight of all of the blood. “This… What happened here?”

“I’m afraid what our poor Lady Enanan had stumbled upon was the body of a servant who was playing around with forbidden magic.”

Ena froze, unable to look away from the lying girl as she spoke to the guards, chest heaving and mind racing.

“I was on my way to dispose of the body myself, but I never could have anticipated our Lady would find it. I cannot apologise enough.”

Ena shook her head, the tears never stopping as they streamed down her face. “N-No that’s not… It wasn’t a servant-”

“Our poor Lady is delirious,” Mafuyu said, what sounded like sincerity lacing her insincere words. “I’ve dealt with the body and the remains of the horrid ritual the girl attempted. I can take Lady Enanan back to her room now. I ask that you ensure this area remains closed off to be cleansed at a later time.”

“Thank you kindly, Lady Mafuyu,” One of the guards bowed towards her. “Please take care of our Lady.”

Ena shook her head again, unable to do much else to voice her protests as Mafuyu gently but firmly grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her back out into the hallway. They passed by swarms of guards and servants as they ran inside, each looking at Ena with varying degrees of pity as they carried through cleaning supplies and other strange materials that Ena vaguely recognised as magical cleansing materials.

“Why did you lie,” Ena croaked out as they started to ascend the stairs, Mafuyu’s grip never easing. “I’m not-”

“There’s much you don’t understand, Ena.” Her voice was different now, less soft and dainty, and more cold and emotionless. Oddly enough, this sounded much more sincere than before.

When they reached the main building, there were lines of servants and guards all watching Ena carefully, hands covering their mouths or shock or their eyes averted in an attempt to spare Ena the humiliation of witnessing her breakdown.

Akito was standing there too, his brow furrowed as he glared at Ena. She felt a million knives pierce her heart at the realisation that she just found the corpse of his real sister, and he had no idea. Would he ever know the truth?

She opened her mouth to say something, but Mafuyu tightened her grip before moving faster, dragging her down the halls past all of the anxious bystanders before finally bringing her to her- to Enanan’s room.

“Why did you lie?” Ena repeated, her voice weak and cracking. “They- They need to know, it’s not fair-”

“You need to sit down and calm down.” Mafuyu instructed bluntly. 

“No!” Ena shrieked out. “S-She- Enanan died down there! All alone! S-She deserves to be properly mourned!”

“No she does not.” Mafuyu said sternly and plainly, her eyes challenging Ena to protest more, but Ena found herself losing that righteous rage. “And if you knew what Enanan did to you , you’d agree.”

“What’s going on?” Ena asked weakly. Whatever pitiful expression was on her face was enough to make Mafuyu soften ever so slightly before lightly pushing Ena to sit on Enanan’s loveseat where it rested against her windows.

“I meant it when I said I’m sorry, Ena.” Mafuyu started off, choosing her words carefully. “I helped Enanan. I did this to you.”

“Did this… Do you mean…?”

“Enanan was always vain and self-centred,” Mafuyu started, leaning up against the window as she spoke. “She demanded her own happy ending. She never cared who had to suffer for it, so long as she got it.”

“It started when she sought me out, ordering me to perform a spell that would allow her to look into her future.”

“Who are you?” Ena asked carefully.

Mafuyu shrugged. “You can call me a witch, a sorceress, whatever you’d like. I’m one of the only ones who knows how to use forbidden magic. That’s why she demanded I use it to show her what her fate looked like.” 

She paused to look Ena in the eyes. “You would know it well. There’s no such thing as a singular determined fate, though there are several possibilities that can be altered or changed at any time. Several endings. To you, it was nothing more than a story, correct?”

Ena couldn’t hold in her gasp. “You know about me, that I don’t belong here-”

“I do. But it’s partially my fault that you are.”

“In my world this is all just a game… You can choose your own endings, your own path.”

Mafuyu nodded consideringly. “Enanan realised that in all of her potential endings, she was either forced to change her ways or suffer the consequences for them. As I’m sure you can imagine, she stubbornly refused to change. She realised that there was a loophole, though. A way to trick fate.”

“These moments of fate that were set in stone needed to happen, but Lady Enanan realised that they didn’t need to happen to her . So she used the darkest of forbidden magics to search for another soul that resembled her own just enough to take her place, so that this soul would endure all of her suffering until it was safe for her to come back.”

“But magic - forbidden magic especially - is tricky, and Enanan wasn’t careful.” Mafuyu pulled her thick violet curls out of her face, the motion feeling unbearably loud in the otherwise silent room. “She wanted to make a trade - your life for hers. If you were to die in her place, she’d be free to live as she’d please. But she made a miscalculation.”

“She wanted to use your life as payment for her happiness, but to do that, she’d need to bring you here first. Funnily enough, she forgot there’d need to be a payment for that , too. While she was able to successfully bring your body to this world, the payment ended up being her own. Ironic, isn’t it?”

Ena gaped, utterly shocked at the nonchalance in Mafuyu’s words. 

“Y-You mean she died because of me?”

Mafuyu let out a short laugh. “Your priorities are skewed, Ena. You’re thinking of this the wrong way. You’re trapped here because of her . She died as a result of her own actions.”

“What do you mean trapped?” Ena asked weakly. “S-Surely if I was brought here there’d be a way to send me back… Right?”

Mafuyu shook her head, looking off to the dark night sky wistfully. “It doesn’t work like that. Enanan summoned magic that could pull you here. It would’ve been one thing if it were just your soul - that could be tethered back to your body. But you need to understand, Enanan ripped your entire being, body and soul, from your world to drop you here.”

“It’s why you still look like you . Why you don’t have any of her memories or abilities. The spell she used was to convince everyone else you were her, not to transform you into her. This way, she could ensure her own safety while your body suffered whatever fate threw at you. Your world doesn’t have any magic, correct?”

Ena nodded nervously.

“Then there’s nothing to pull you back. It’s a one-way ticket. Enanan knew that. Besides, even if it were possible, another soul would need to be sacrificed in your place, the same way Enanan’s was. Would you be able to make that choice?”

Ena shook her head, standing up and stumbling backwards until her back hit the cold wall. Mafuyu’s expression remained blank, painfully so. 

“So you’re saying that I-I’m stuck here forever?” Ena squeaked. “What about my parents back home? W-Will they just think I died out of nowhere?”

Mafuyu shook her head. “It’s more likely you’ll just be seen as missing. There’s no body of yours to be found there, seeing as it’s right here.”

Ena sobbed. Her parents could be neglectful, and cold at times, but she knew they loved her. The idea of them spending the rest of their lives, the rest of their money in search of a daughter that no longer existed…

“Please,” She pleaded. “There has to be a way, there’s always a way, right?”

The witch didn’t respond, her silence speaking volumes all on its own. 

“I need to tell them the truth,” Ena insisted, fingernails digging sharply into her goosebumped arms. “Everyone here. T-They deserve to know that their real Enanan is gone-”

“You can try, but it’s a powerful spell.” Mafuyu murmured. “Enanan may have been foolish, but she wasn’t stupid. The enchantment was designed to ensure that everyone believed you to be the real Enanan. The spell had to be powerful enough to trick fate , afterall. She anticipated the possibility of you trying to explain what was going on to others, but she figured you’d be dead before anyone actually believed you.”

Ena was shaking violently. She couldn’t tell if she was cold or sweating from the anxiety. For a while, this entire experience felt like a weird field trip to her - a temporary adventure that surely would reverse itself. Wasn’t that how all the stories she knew went? Either you were transported to a world for a better life, or you returned back to yours when it was all over. 

But for Ena, was she really going to be stuck in a life where everybody despised her? Seeing her as nothing more than a spoiled brat capable of cruelties beyond their darkest imaginations? If Mafuyu were telling the truth and there was truly nothing to be done, then what was to become of her?

“Why me?” Ena whispered. “Out of all of the people-”

“I wish I could tell you there was some deeper reason as to why you were chosen, but I’m afraid you were just unlucky, Ena. Enanan didn’t care who would be sacrificed in her place. I’m sorry you had all of this happen to you for no true reason. I tried to explain this to Enanan, but she was stuck in her ways.”

“W-Wait,” Ena stuttered, mind racing. “But ever since I’ve been here there’s been something manipulating me, making me act like Enanan or-”

“Or get hurt, right?” Mafuyu finished for her. “I’m afraid that now you’ve fully replaced Enanan, you’re still forced to endure her fate.”

“But can’t I just… Not do the things that would cause those? You said Enanan wasn’t willing to change but I am!”

“Enanan’s spell was created with the intent that you’d die in her place. She never anticipated any other kind of outcome. The more you attempt to run from Enanan’s fate, the worse things will get for you. The spell will always drag you back in. The harder you try to avoid it, the harsher the punishments will be.”

Like how not hurting Mizuki led to Ena being hurt instead…

Ena stared at Mafuyu blankly. “So… You’re saying I’m just going to suffer here until I die? And there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it?”

Mafuyu’s eyes darted to the floor. She seemed genuinely apologetic. “The magic is set against you. Trying to change fate will only get you hurt more. Sincerely, there’s nothing you can do.”

Ena felt her eyes glaze over, tears welling up and blurring her vision. 

“Can’t… Can’t you help me?” She asked, hating how young and desperate she sounded, like a child pleading desperately for someone to come save them.

Mafuyu shook her head once more. “Seeing as I assisted Enanan in casting the spell, I am as affected by it as you and her. While I’m able to see you as who you are, and not Enanan, any more interference from my end will lead to consequences that you alone will face. I won’t do that to you, Ena.”

She scoffed weakly. “But that didn’t stop you from helping her in the first place.”

Mafuyu only nodded, not protesting in her defence. “I’m sorry, Ena.”

Ena sniffled as she tried to prevent the next cycle of tears, but the more she tried to calm herself down the more worked up she got.

It’s just like this stupid curse.

The young artist had never felt so helpless and lost in her entire life. So aimless, so confused.

“I should go,” Mafuyu said gently. “The longer I stay the more I risk interfering.”

“What’s it matter anyway?” Ena asked sardonically. “I’m dying no matter what I do.”

Mafuyu, for the first time, outwardly grimaced. True regret and sadness showed on her face. “I… I know that it seems hopeless but-”

“It doesn’t seem hopeless, it is hopeless!” Ena cried out. “What’s the point in me doing anything at all if all I’m going to do is suffer? I’m just delaying the inevitable!”

“There’s always something to live for,” Mafuyu said solemnly. “Even if it’s just for a short while, maybe it’s possible to enjoy the time you have left.”

Ena scoffed. “Right. With the people who hate me and refuse to give me a chance. In a world where everyone knows me more the horrible crimes I haven’t even committed, and where I’m destined to be the villain! Silly me for not seeing the bright side!”

Mafuyu looked as though for just a moment, she was considering reaching out in an act of comfort, but she quickly retracted her hand and looked off to the side.

“I wish you luck, Ena.”

As she began to walk away, Ena felt her anger fizzle out and be replaced with terror.

“W-Wait! Please don’t leave,” She begged. “You’re the only one who knows who I really am- Please, I don’t want to be alone.”

Mafuyu didn’t stop, though. And as she opened the door to step out, Ena ran after her desperately. Stumbling out into the hallway, Ena’s head whipped from side to side to find the witch, but the hallway was empty, and Mafuyu was gone.

And Ena was all alone.

The days bled into one another as Ena let herself waste away on the cold hard floor of Enanan’s bedroom.

She was unable to force herself to get up and sleep on the bed. The idea of sleeping in a dead girl’s bed was far too much for Ena to handle. It was bad enough she had to wear her clothes, be addressed by her name, and steal her life. 

Suddenly all of the lavish commodities around Ena weren’t luxurious or fun anymore. They were all reminders of the sick reason she was trapped here.

Mafuyu never came back.

Ena’s desperate questions to the manor staff were answered by nervous silence. No one knew where the witch had gone, and no one explained her relationship to Enanan. She supposed it made sense, they all figured she would’ve known that already.

Speaking of the staff, they all seemed to pity Ena enough to leave her alone in her self-induced rotting. 

They all figured it was the trauma from discovering a dead body that led Ena to this depressive episode, and while they were right to an extent, they’d never be able to understand the true devastation she was experiencing.

Her only friend and confidant was her sketchbook, which was filled with more words than drawings at this point. 

She wrote in it as if she were speaking to a friend, someone she could rely on for comfort and understanding. She wrote down as much as she could remember about her old - about her real life, in the fears that she might forget.

She drew and redrew the faces of her parents as many times as it took to get an accurate depiction. Fear sinking through her shaking hands at the realisation she couldn’t remember the exact same of her mother’s eyes. 

Each time she opened her sketchbook to draw, Ena felt a wave of guilt rush through her body. She’d gladly give up art, never touch a pencil again, if it meant seeing her father again. She didn’t care about how unsupportive of her dreams he was, she didn’t care about his passive aggressive comments or lack of pride.

She just wanted to be near someone who loved her again. 

God, she’d settle for someone who just tolerated her at this point. All of the staff were forced to be kind to her, though it was all surface level and eerily professional. The closest Ena got to genuine kindness came from Honami, though she was seen less and less as the days droned on.

Ena spent all her time holed away in the room of a dead girl, refusing to speak to anyone or leave.

Food was left for her, but she rarely touched it. Only ever consuming enough to keep her going, though a large part of her didn’t know why she bothered. 

Perhaps if she were to die on her own terms, she could avoid one of Enanan’s crueler fates? Surely starvation was preferable to public execution?

Or perhaps one of these days, the food would be poisoned, or she’d choke on it and suffocate. Maybe that’d be how this world killed her off as per Enanan’s spell.

It was during one of these darker considerations that a timid knock sounded at Ena’s door.

She didn’t speak. She knew whoever it was would enter regardless of what she wanted.

The door opened to reveal - surprisingly enough - Akito.

Ena didn’t say anything as he walked in, his normally disinterested scowl replaced with something akin to pity.

“Uh, hey.”

She didn’t speak. Ena hadn’t spoken in a few days now.

“I uh… How are you holding up?” He cringed at his own words, but Ena didn’t react, she couldn’t.

What was the point in any of this? She didn’t want Akito’s kindness anymore, not if it meant she’d have something to lose when she’d reach her unavoidable end.

“Enanan… I know you saw something really fucked up-” Oh, he didn’t know the half of it. “But mother and father wrote to us last night. They uh, they said you… You need to get over this and go back to school.”

Ena finally reacted with a weak laugh, her eyes drifting off towards the window. Even her own real parents would never be so uncaring.

Akito didn’t say anything for a little bit, before sighing. “The carriage will be here in an hour. You should get ready.” He hesitated for a moment. “I’ll… I’ll let the school know something happened. They’ll go a little easier on you.”

Ena didn’t respond, didn’t even look up. Still, she could sense Akito’s devastation from where he fidgeted. Ena distantly wondered if the real Enanan ever experienced anything like kindness from her little brother.

She knew that Mafuyu was telling the truth about Enanan’s cruel plan to trade Ena’s life for hers. She knew that meant all the stories were true, that the villainess truly was as vile as it gets, and yet… And yet she still couldn’t help but feel an intense pity towards her.

Ena hated herself for it, just a little bit. She wanted to be furious, enraged at the fact that her life had been toyed with so frivolously. 

But the sight of Enanan’s lifeless body kept flashing in her head, crushing any semblance of anger and replacing it with a deep rooted fear.

If Enanan had gotten what she wanted, that would’ve been Ena.

Dead, unmourned, no one truly knowing what happened to her. 

“Right. Well, anyway. I’ll come back and get you in an hour.”

Ena wasn’t sure how much longer Akito stayed there before finally leaving, but eventually she was able to drag herself up and towards the in-room bath, where she submerged herself in icy cold water.

Time moved sluggishly until Ena was dressed, and staring at her reflection in the mirror. She hated what she saw - hair designed to mimic Enanan’s.

Her reflection reminded her far too much of the corpse, she swore she could see it shifting until she was looking back at her own rotting face.

In a frenzied moment of hysteria, Ena slammed open the vanity draw until she found a pair of scissors. She hacked at her own hair violently until it was shoulder length and choppy. She purposefully left a strand longer so she could braid it the way she used to. Tied together with a little pink ribbon.

She hastily chopped off her bangs, letting them fall forward and cover her forehead.

She let out a shaky breath of relief. She looked a little bit like herself again.

That distant part of her brain screamed at Ena, insisting that this was a mistake, Enanan would never do this. The more forefront and tired part of her brain just didn’t care anymore. 

True to his word, Akito silently fetched Ena for their ride to school. He handed her an apple that she held but didn’t eat. Her appetite was still lacking, and she doubted that’d improve any time soon.

Ena knew she was screwed.

Mafuyu had warned her - the longer she tried to avoid her fate, the worse it would be. And yet she wallowed in Enanan’s room, hiding away from the rest of the world knowing full well that fate wouldn’t like that.

She tried to brace herself, to be prepared for the fact that she was undoubtedly walking headfirst into her own execution, but she couldn’t muster up the strength to be scared of it.

She felt Akito’s piercing stare on her the entire ride over, but she refused to move her gaze from where it was trained on the window, watching the rolling hills shift into bustling city streets before reaching the large school grounds. 

It was different seeing the world from inside the carriage instead of running through it blindly. It was beautiful, the kind of place Ena certainly wouldn’t have minded living under better circumstances.

“Enanan…?” 

She finally tore her eyes away and looked at Akito, who was frowning with that furrowed brow of his. 

“We’re here.”

Ena wordlessly slid out of the carriage and let her bag hang limply off of her shoulder. She was wearing her school uniform without Enanan’s jacket once again, refusing to put on even more of the deceased girl’s clothing.

Keeping her eyes set on her feet, Ena walked through the front courtyard and ignored the hushed whispers of students as she passed them by. She wondered what they were all thinking of her.

Were they afraid of what Enanan was cooking up next, or did they know what happened and felt pity towards her?

Not like she’d ever know, considering they parted their crowds instantly as she approached, as if she were carrying a deadly virus they were all terrified to catch.

Once she got into the school building, the sound of student’s talking amongst themselves fizzled out into a near silent murmuring. She heard Enanan’s name pop up a few times, as well as some scoffs and angry snickers. As she walked down the hallway, the sound of her shoes clicking rhythmically, Ena heard some footsteps speeding up behind her.

She didn’t intend to stop until whoever it was ran a little further ahead and stopped just in front of her.

She looked up to see Prince Tsukasa Tenma, who was looking at her with an oddly serious expression.

“Enanan, I heard what happened.” He said quietly, uncharacteristic from the usually loud and boisterous boy. “How are you holding up?”

Ena refused to look him in the eye, knowing that this shred of kindness would be enough to shatter her if she were to allow it to pierce her heavily put up walls.

She was dying no matter what, she refused to give herself any comforts or false hopes.

“I’m fine,” She said plainly. 

“I know you’re not,” Tsukasa frowned. “Honami was telling my sister Saki about it.”

Ena paused at that. The idea of Honami spreading gossip about Ena’s mental breakdown was mortifying, but she was distracted by her gratefulness that she had a life outside of being Enanan’s servant. 

“Right. Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be okay.”

She pushed past Tsukasa before darting towards the classroom, grimacing at the realisation that this was her potions class - that she shared with virtually every single main character.

Ena was grateful that the class was still mostly empty when she entered. She sped towards her seat and dropped her bag, sitting as still as a statue until the room began filling up.

She kept her gaze forward, zoning out as she tried to ignore all of the scrutinising voices that surrounded her. 

“Enanan?”

She looked up to see Kohane, who was shifting side to side.

Please. Don’t ask me if I’m okay. I can’t handle hearing that question anymore.

“I um. I like what you did with your hair.”

Ena instinctively reached up to tug at the roughly chopped strands, feeling sheepishly embarrassed. She was normally the type of person to be more careful and precise with her appearance, but she wasn’t really feeling much like herself anyway.

“Thanks,” Ena said, relaxing just a little. “I uh, did it myself.”

To her absolute awe, Kohane giggled a little at that. “Er- I don’t mean any offence! It just-”

“Looks like I took a chainsaw to it?”

Kohane relaxed instantly. “Yeah, just a little bit.”

She sat down next to Ena, fidgeting a little in her seat but seeming significantly more comfortable than she had the last time they sat together.

“Enanan, can I ask you something?”

Ena hesitated a little before nodding.

“Why aren’t you sitting with your usual friends?”

Ena grimaced as she turned to look at the minions in question. They were snickering and laughing - undoubtedly at someone else's expense - without a care in the world. Ena wondered if they knew what had happened, if they actually felt any kind of concern towards her.

“...They’re not my friends.” Ena settled on after a moment of thought. “They… I don’t think they actually care about me at all.”

Kohane looked contemplative as she nodded. “I think you’re right.”

It was an unexpected thing to hear from someone as shy and terrified of Enanan as Kohane, but Ena revelled in the positive attention for the brief moment she had it. It was nice to sit here and pretend that she was an ordinary student and not…

Well. Whatever she was.

“Mizuki!” A voice cheerfully called out.

Ena instinctively looked over to see that it was Tsukasa who was calling over the protagonist to sit with him. Subtly pulling out her sketchbook, Ena made note of it. Could Mizuki be taking Tsukasa’s route? If so, most of his endings involved Enanan surviving - even if it meant surviving in a jail cell.

Ena understood that she was hovering around in uncharted territory. Despite everything Mafuyu had told her about Enanan’s spell, the fact that Enanan herself was… dead, changed things drastically.

There was no longer anyone to continue manipulating and keeping the spell on track, which meant it was rather unpredictable how things would end up now. Ena had done her best to study the few texts on forbidden magic that Enanan kept scattered around in her bedroom, but it was all so vague and theoretical that it didn’t do her much good.

Especially since there was a paradox in Enanan’s spell that threw everything off.

If the whole point for Ena to be here was to die instead of Enanan, then what would happen now that Enanan herself was already dead? Technically her death should’ve satisfied fate, but considering her death was used as payment for Ena’s existence here, did it still count?

She tried to think about what she knew for absolute certain.

It was clear that no matter what, the objective fact was that fate was pushing Ena to keep pretending to be the late villainess or face the consequences, but to what end? If it wasn’t death, what could it possibly be? An eternity of suffering? Or just until the events of the game concluded?

She desperately wished Mafuyu were still here. Though she was cold and blunt, she knew far more about forbidden magic and all of its vagueness than Ena could ever dream of.

Even when playing the game Ena had been confused. The magic system was used purely for the convenience of the plot - there wasn’t all that much logic involved, but there didn’t really need to be.

But now? Ena’s entire existence hinged on the flimsy existence of a confusing and needlessly complicated spell.

It was so poorly thought through that Enanan died to fuel it. Who knows what else it could do? 

Sighing as she stared at the route map in her sketchbook, Ena felt just as lost as ever. She slid the sketchbook back into her bag when the teacher arrived and instead pretended to be paying attention as she zoned out.

What did it matter if she paid attention or not? It wasn’t like she was passing these exams anyway.

For a brief moment, Ena tuned back in to hear the teacher offhandedly mention something about how potions could turn poisonous and deadly, and she felt her back stiffen.

She looked up and stared at the blackboard, deep in thought. With how unpredictable the spell was, maybe it truly would be for the best for Ena to end things herself. Maybe there was a poison that wouldn’t be too painful? Something she could manipulate to make it appear as if it were an accident. 

Ena quickly made notes of what the teacher had been talking about in her sketchbook, satisfied until she felt the uncomfortable prickle of eyes on her. She turned slightly to see Mizuki watching her, expression unreadable.

Eventually the teacher finished up their lecture and it was suddenly time for independent study. Ena glanced over at Kohane’s work to see a series of runes and alchemic notes that looked like scribbles to her with how little she understood it.

As she debated whether or not it was worth even pretending to work on it, two nameless faces approached the front of her desk with crossed arms.

“Enanan! What did you do to your hair?!” One of the girls shrieked, as though it offended her personally.

“You look like a disaster,” The other whined. “Was it the new girl?!”

“What is your obsession with her?” Ena hissed out, arms crossed. “I cut it myself. Any more questions?”

The girls looked as though Ena had just told them she amputated her own arm, and it made her particularly irritated. 

“But Enanan! The Autumn ball is coming up, you’re going to look absolutely awful!”

Ena sighed. Gee, they sure knew how to make a girl feel good about herself.

“Yup.” She said boredly, forcing a level of confidence she didn’t really have. “Good thing I’m not going. Anyway you should probably go back and sit down.”

Scandalised, the girls scoffed and huffed as they turned around to go back to their desks, shooting Ena the occasional dirty look.

Well, it seemed she officially burned those bridges. Certainly this would have more devastating consequences on Ena.

“You’re not going to the ball?” Kohane asked inquisitively. “Er- I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but-”

Ena laughed weakly. “It’s okay, you’re sitting right here. I don’t think it’d be possible to have not heard us talk.”

Kohane relaxed again. “Right. But why aren’t you going?”

With a shrug, Ena pulled an uneven strand of her hair out of her face. She couldn’t exactly tell Kohane it was because she likely wouldn’t be alive by then. “I… Don’t think I’d enjoy myself.” 

It was a lame middle ground between the truth and a lie, but Ena wasn’t sure how honest she was allowed to be before fate decided to intervene and send another shadow after her.

“Oh,” Kohane sounded a bit sad at that. 

Ena felt bad for killing Kohane’s excitement so quickly, and felt the need to remedy it. “You’re going, right? Anybody you’re going with?”

Suddenly her face blushed a vibrant red as her eyes briefly darted towards An where she sat next to Mizuki before quickly averting her gaze. 

Ena smiled knowingly. “Ah, I see.”

“What?! N-No!” Kohane waved her hands out defensively. “I-I couldn’t- An is probably going with Mizuki, anyway.”

Ena paused to really think about that. From her memories of the game, there was no romanceable route with An - or any other girl for that matter - and the player could only choose one of the four male love interests to go with.

“I think you have a better chance than you think,” Ena grinned when this made Kohane squeak nervously before hiding her face.

“There’s no way! An is so… She’s so beautiful and smart and confident and perfect -” Woah, Kohane was whipped. “There’s no way she’d go with someone like me!”

Ena frowned. “You’re being way too hard on yourself. Do you really not see how wonderful you are?”

Kohane peeked out from behind her hands. 

“Kohane, you might need new glasses if you can’t see how pretty you are.” Ena insisted. “Not to mention how intelligent and kind you are! Seriously, there’s no good in putting An on a pedestal. You’re more than good enough for her, you need to have a little more confidence.”

Ena felt a bit awkward as Kohane stared at her for far longer than she’d have liked, but she could practically watch the wheels spinning in the girl’s head. 

“You really mean that?” She asked softly.

With a beaming smile, Ena nodded. “I really do.”

“You’re… A lot different than before,” Kohane said gently. “I didn’t even think you knew who I was before now, honestly.”

Ena felt her good mood twindle into nothingness.

Right. Because she wasn’t Ena right now. She was Lady Enanan.

She didn’t know what else to say so she simply shrugged before turning to face her desk again. Kohane must’ve caught on to how the mood shifted because she didn’t say anything else, and they sat in silence for the remainder of the class.

Art class was a genuine breath of fresh air for Ena.

It was a class she miraculously didn’t share with any of the main characters - with the exception of Rui - so she was free to breathe a little, knowing that there’d be no incidents of fate forcing her to participate in the game.

Not to mention the fact that art was kind of her whole thing.

She resolutely ignored her father’s voice in her head as the teacher handed out canvases and paint, explaining that the assignment was to draw a self portrait.

Ena was mere seconds away from bashing her head into the fabric of the canvas.

Seriously? Of all things to paint, it had to be a self portrait?

As all the other students got started, Ena found herself frozen as she stared at the blank page before her. Who was she supposed to paint? Enanan? Because whenever she tried to envision the Villainess’s face, all she could see were those cold lifeless eyes and pale skin.

She startled at the sudden noise of something dropping their easel right next to hers, accompanied by the screech of the metal stool being dragged over. She blinked as she turned to see Rui himself getting comfortable with a bag filled to the brim with strange supplies that she could only assume were for his inventions.

Noticing Ena’s confused gaze, Rui laughed a little before speaking. “Ah, the teacher forbade me from creating a robot for my self-portrait, so she moved me to sit here where she could see me better.”

Ena couldn't help but smile a little at that. “That sucks. I think a robot would be the best way to make a self-portrait for you.”

He tilted his head a little. “How do you figure?”

“Well, it’s both a literal and metaphorical medium. Sure, you could make it resemble you, but it also just kinda represents who you are as a person. What better way to express yourself, right?”

Rui lit up. “Ah, you understand me perfectly! You must be a true artist. What were you planning for your own portrait?”

Ena sighed, looking back at the empty whiteness staring back at her. “I don’t know. I… Haven’t really been feeling much like myself lately.”

She wanted to laugh at the understatement of the century, but she knew that’d only make her appear more insane than ever.

Rui nodded rather understandingly. “Perhaps you’re thinking too literally, then.”

Ena raised a brow. “You saying I should be making a robot of my own?”

The inventor laughed again. “Something tells me that wouldn’t suit you as well as I, but it’d seem you’re overthinking things. Just paint yourself as you see yourself, does it need to be any more complicated than that?”

Ena wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She wasn’t really sure how she felt about herself these days. But maybe Rui had a point… Maybe there was a less literal way to depict herself that wouldn’t make her think more about Enanan than she wanted to.

“I guess I could try that.”

Ena had figured that to be the end of their conversation, as she started sketching compositions and ideas in her sketchbook before committing it to paper. She wasn’t sure how much time passed until she finally looked up to see Rui’s canvas blank, and his eyes trained on her and her work.

She flinched, nearly falling off of her flimsy stool before catching herself.

“Enanan, you’re truly talented,” Rui said with an admiring voice. “The way you construct basic forms with 3D shapes is fascinating! And your understanding of colour is unlike anything I’ve seen from a student before, where did you study the arts?!”

Ena wasn’t sure how to answer without saying “Youtube” so she just shrugged sheepishly.

“I’m… Self-taught?”

Rui laughed. “Incredible! Could I consult you for advice in the future? My inventions are always designed with practicality in mind, but I’d love to work with someone better with aesthetics.”

Ena scratched the back of her head shyly. “That’s… really sweet, but honestly I think you’d have better luck asking Tsukasa for help.”

Rui tilted his head. “Tsukasa? Tenma? Why?”

“He’s an actor, you know? He makes his own props and he’s really good at making a lot with a little. You both would be pretty unstoppable together.”

Rui looked genuinely intrigued, his eyes lighting up slightly. “Huh, you’re right. I don’t know why I’d never thought of that before. You really think me and Tsukasa would make a good team?”

“I think you’d be a bit too powerful together,” Ena admitted. In the game, Rui and Tsukasa were romantic rivals. Generally if you tried to romance one, the other would get especially jealous. Because of this, they rarely ever interacted.

Ena had always thought they’d make a better pair together, but they both were always so hung up on Mizuki that they’d never even speak amicably.

Usually at this point in the story, they’d already be at each other’s throats. What was different now?

Ena stood up to gather water for her paint. As she approached the sink and gently turned the tap, she felt a wave of chilly air rush over her as a shadowy hand reached out at the same time she did. The hand pulled tightly enough for the stream to spurt out aggressively until Ena was completely drenched and soaking in freezing water.

She quickly staggered back, only to slip on her own watery spill and fell backwards into someone else's easel, knocking over their freshly painted canvas and smearing Ena with its undried paint.

Groaning in pain, Ena barely caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure before it vanished, and she was suddenly being angrily accosted by another student for ruining their hard work.

Her apologies fell on deaf ears, though she hadn’t been expecting anything else.

Ena tiredly made her way to her favourite abandoned classroom for lunch and tiredly dropped her aching body onto a chair and leaned back.

Hunger was truly beginning to bite at her stomach, and she knew she’d need to eat something or else she’d surely pass out before the day was over.

After writing another entry in her sketchbook-turned-diary, Ena nervously made her way back over to the cafeteria. 

She kept to the shadows, doing her best to hide away from peering eyes as she made her way towards where the kitchens were handing out food.

As she snuck through, Ena’s eyes caught glimpse of Kohane anxiously approaching An and Mizuki’s table, hands shaking as they tightly gripped onto a bunch of roses.

Ena froze and watched eagerly, catching Kohane’s eyes and sending her the most encouraging thumbs up she could. When Kohane relaxed slightly, Ena felt as though she won, and smiled as Kohane shyly tapped An on the shoulder.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying from where she hid, but judging by how An’s eyes lit up with excitement as she accepted the flowers and stood up, spinning Kohane into a tight hug, she’d guess it went well.

Ena’s face hurt from how hard she was smiling, taking notice of Mizuki’s excitement as she stood up and congratulated the two other girls.

As she watched the happy interaction, Ena suddenly felt her stomach sink.

She was never going to get this kind of experience, was she?

She was never going to experience the joys of a requited crush, with the support of her loving friends. She was never going to experience this kind of love and affection ever again.

With that depressing thought, Ena forced her head to turn away and back towards her end goal of lunch. She miserably grabbed a small bowl of pasta and sped out of the cafeteria. The last thing she wanted was to stay and somehow ruin Kohane’s big moment - especially not after the quiet girl was so kind to her earlier.

The days continued to drone on, and on, and on, and on…

Ena felt like she was trapped in a horrible loop of sadness and apathy. 

After a while, everyone stopped treating Ena with pity for the horrific sight she had witnessed, and they’d gone right back to cold glares or running away from her in terror.

Ena probably should’ve been more upset than she was, but she was growing far too accustomed to this kind of treatment.

She lived for the small moments of kindness she’d get from Honami or Kohane, and clung to it as desperately as she could before the shadowy figures interfered.

And god, did they interfere.

Ena quickly realised that any kind of change to the way the story was supposed to go would result in a punishment of some kind.

Somehow, pushing Rui and Tsukasa to become friends was bad, and led to worse consequences than just getting drenched in water. 

She was constantly getting tripped, shoved, harassed, or humiliated at every turn.

And no matter what Ena did or said, no one believed her or took any kind of pity on her. 

In fact, from eavesdropping she was able to discover that most students were glad to watch Ena’s suffering and misery. Ena couldn’t even really blame them for finding catharsis in her indignity.

Ena was at least grateful that since the slime incident, she hadn’t experienced any more near-death situations. 

While she was certainly bruised and battered, she was alive, and that was a miracle enough.

Ena kept making her notes, trying to figure out which Route Mizuki was taking and what ending she was headed towards. She created several back-up plans too, different methods of ending her own life to avoid the more horrific fates that Enanan was destined for.

Perhaps Ena should’ve been more concerned about the ease in which she was accepting her death, but she was moving through life with a kind of apathy that she had never experienced until now.

She just couldn’t force herself to care, not when she knew that she had no hope in changing her fate.

Ena was sitting on the floor, leaning against Enanan’s bed as she sketched mindlessly. The bed had remained untouched since Ena had discovered the body. Her back ached miserably from sleeping on the hard floor, but anything was better than the nightmares that came from sleeping where Enanan was supposed to be sleeping - instead of whatever hole in the ground Mafuyu had buried her in.

Mafuyu… Where was she?

The witch had stayed true to her word and vanished completely, nowhere to be found no matter how much Ena searched.

The artist had given up and resigned herself to staying a hermit with no social interaction, finally accepting that the other girl would stay missing if that was what she wanted.

Acceptance didn’t stop Ena from missing her, though. She was the only person who knew the truth about Ena, and the only person who treated her like her own person.

Ena had doodled her - or at least, as much as she could remember of her - in her sketchbook too. At this point, the entire thing acted as a perfect journal detailing all of Ena’s sad experiences and the people she’s met along the way.

It was helpful for her to keep track of what she was, and wasn’t supposed to know about the characters. She still wasn’t sure which Route Mizuki was on, since she seemed to distribute her time pretty evenly amongst all of the bachelors. 

“Um, Lady Enanan?” A timid voice called out with a light knock to the door.

“You can come in.”

Honami entered a little frantically, fidgeting anxiously. “M-My lady, as you know, tonight is the formal ball-”

“I know,” Ena said, not unkindly. “I’m not going.”

“Um, I know that’s what you wanted but um. Your parents heard of your plans and sent a letter demanding - er, insisting , you attend.”

Ena sighed. She knew it was too good to be true. If she stood her ground and refused, she was certain Honami would be punished in her place.

“...Right. If I have to then I guess-”

“Oh good! I have a dress picked out and ready for you!” Honami rushed into Enanan’s closet and pulled out a mannequin hosting a giant, extravagant ball gown.

It was dandelion yellow with thick layers of ruffles and lace, heavy bows and silk adorning the skirt while the top held an elegant corset and poofy princess sleeves. It was pretty enough, but it was definitely a bit too much for Ena. When Honami finally managed to get Ena inside of it, she immediately despised it for how heavy and uncomfortable it was to wear.

Each step felt like she was climbing a mountain with how much resistance the velvet fabric caused. Heels made the entire experience infinitely more detestable, but Honami seemed so excited that it made Ena bite her tongue and keep quiet.

Honami styled her messily chopped hair as well as she could, even with Ena’s shy request for her braid and bow to be kept in.

By the end of the entire mind-numbing process, Ena was dressed and ready to go, waiting for Akito to finish outside of his dressing room as servants rushed back and forth to assist him.

“Sir Akito,” One tried desperately. “You must decide on a colour! Orange is timeless as your colour, surely that-”

Akito waved him off. “No, it’s not right.”

“What’s the matter?” Ena asked, earning a vicious glare from Akito.

“Mind your business.”

She sighed. Akito was back to treating her coldly, any sympathy sharply replaced with his defensive and easily irritable attitude.

Figuring he couldn’t get any madder at her than he already was, Ena decided to take a gamble.

“Y’know, I overheard Toya say he’s going to be wearing blue.”

Akito froze, eyes wide.

Hah. Gotcha.

“W-Why would I care what that nerd was wearing?”

It was such a weak insult it was almost laughable, but Ena held herself back, shrugging with false nonchalance. “I’m just saying. It’s a royal blue, to be specific. He’s not attending the ball with anyone, so he’d be the only one wearing it.”

Akito wavered slightly. “Just out of curiosity - not because I care or anything! But - what shade… exactly?”

Ena happily pointed out something in his wardrobe that matched what she knew Toya would be wearing based on his choices in the game, and watched with a smug smile as Akito put it on without another word to Ena.

It wasn’t until they were in the carriage getting ready to go that he spoke.

“Uh. Thanks.”

He didn’t need to specify, Ena just smiled. “No problem.”

Akito shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the carriage moved on the bumpy cobblestone road. “You’re… Acting weird, lately. Different.”

Ena sighed. There was no point in trying to defend or explain herself. “I guess so.”

“No, like… You’re a lot more…” He trailed off. “You never used to talk to me before, let alone help me with stuff like this.”

Ena frowned. Was the idea of Enanan helping him pick an outfit really so outrageous?

He continued regardless of her silence. “You sit alone at lunch now, you never speak, you… Are you okay?”

God, no, Ena really was not okay. But as per usual, she’d have to keep the truth to herself.

“O’course,” She mumbled, smoothing out the fabric on her skirt mindlessly. “I’m fine.”

“Is this about… What you saw that day in the cellar?”

Right. Akito didn’t know the details about that.

“In a way… I guess it is.”

“Was it really a dead body?”

“...” Ena wanted to cry. Akito was looking at her with such genuine concern, the look of a little brother sincerely worried about his big sister. And yet, she was sitting here pretending to be his sister, knowing full well that his real one was decomposing somewhere in an unmarked grave.

At her lack of response, Akito just sighed and leaned back against his seat. “Just… You uh, you know you can talk to me, right?”

Ena blinked. That was most definitely something Akito would’ve never said to his sister in the game.

She looked at him briefly, flinching at the eye contact before sharply turning her head out the window. 

“...Sure.”

The ball was really magical, everything you’d expect from a big romance event in an otome game. It was beautifully decorated, filled with stunning dresses and suits, elegant orchestral music, and foods that looked like they were ripped right out of Ena’s dream tea parties as a kid.

Sadly, she couldn’t force herself to enjoy it.

She spent the entire time on edge, looking around for Mizuki to ensure she was successfully avoiding her. Occasionally she’d hear her melodious laughter and be forced to book it as far as she could without causing a scene.

Ena watched as Akito shyly approached Toya, who seemed in excited awe at the fact they matched, sparking a conversation filled with laughter and big smiles. An and Kohane wore matching dresses as they spun around the room, dancing with sparkles in their eyes.

Ena stood off on her own against a wall as she nursed a glass of something that reminded her of champagne with a bit of a sweeter taste.

She was itching to run back to the main school building to grab her sketchbook and draw all of the gorgeous outfits she saw, but she knew that would only draw further unwanted attention towards herself. 

Ena settled for memorising the details and drawing them in her head, taking comfort in the action until her vision was blocked by a set of scowling faces.

Ugh. Enanan’s minions.

“Can I help you?” She asked monotonically, not wanting to give them the attention they craved.

“Enanan, what is wrong with you?!” One of them asked, giving her an obvious look of disgust. “You’ve been acting like a complete loser the past couple weeks!”

“A loser?” Ena echoed with an incredulous laugh. It was such a middle school insult.

“Yes. You’ve been moping around all alone. Like a loser.”

“How the mighty have fallen,” Another snorted.

“And here you are, all by yourself. You can’t seriously still be whining about that dead body or whatever?”

Ena felt her jaw drop in genuine shock. They knew she had witnessed a horrific crime scene, and they still didn’t care?!

“Seriously, grow up Enanan.” The ringleader sneered. “You used to be the queen of this school, and now you’re hiding away letting the commoner steal your popularity?!”

Seething, Ena barely contained her rage before hissing out, “Yes, I am. Because I don’t care about something as stupid and petty as popularity.”

Ena knew they were otome game minions, but still, while everyone else in this world felt so real and 3-dimensional, these girls still felt so shallow and lifeless.

“Ugh, you’re so pathetic now,” One of the girls grimaced. “But fine. If you want to act like a commoner, then maybe you should be treated like one.”

Before Ena even had a chance to say another word, the girl in front was grabbing her glass and tossing its contents onto Ena’s front, soaking the already thick fabric with the sticky liquid.

The girls laughed and squealed like pigs and they dropped the glass in front of her - letting the shards shatter and spread as they walked away with their noses turned up.

Ena felt her eyes prick with exhaustion and frustration. It was like any time she began to make peace with her situation, for even a second, the universe had to put her back in her place and remind her what her fate looked like. 

Now noticing all of the judging stares of bystanders piercing her, Ena felt humiliation swell over her until she couldn’t handle it anymore. She quickly darted away from the crowds, running as quickly as she could in her painful heels until she made it outside to the school gardens, where she finally stopped atop a picturesque bridge that covered a rushing river stream.

She gasped for breath as she leaned over the railing, ignoring the looks of concern from the few students that roamed around getting air from the stuffy ballroom.

Finally able to breathe again, Ena only had her breath shorten again when she turned around to see none other than Mizuki herself on the other side of the bridge where she stood across from a sheepish looking Tsukasa.

Shit shit shit shit!

Ena remembered this scene. At the ball, at some point one of the four love interests pulls Mizuki aside to have a romantic walk on the bridge, where they stop and nearly confess until Enanan angrily shoves Mizuki over until she falls into the river.

The love interest present will jump in after her and save her in a romantic and sweet way while Enanan seethes. Normally, Mizuki is supposed to be mostly unharmed after the event.

But as Ena turned to look at the now raging river, she had a horrible feeling that things were different this time around.

She was frozen still where she was. 

If she moved and tried to run away, would the shadowy figures force her to push Mizuki anyway? She should’ve known things were suspicious, with how little the universe had been forcing her to torment Mizuki lately. It was like all of those tame moments were leading up to this, a big event to make up for all of the missed opportunities.

Ena felt her heart pounding as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do here. Mizuki was looking at Tsukasa with such big hearts in her eyes, it was truly a beautiful moment that otherwise would’ve made Ena jealous, but now only filled her with dread.

She hardly had time to resolve to get out of there before Ena felt that god awful chill rush over her.

She looked around frantically, pushing herself further up against the railing to avoid letting the shadowy figure sneak up behind her to force her towards Mizuki.

This would end up being her mistake, and she’d only realise once the shadow figure was in front of her, approaching steadily and shoving her with such a strong force that it sucked the breath out of her lungs before she was spiraling down into the icy cold water and rushing waves.

The feeling of being submerged in that frigid cold was almost paralysing, the way the river water quickly seeped into Ena’s dress and soaked her entirely.

Frantically, Ena held her breath and began kicking upwards as desperately as she could. The water wasn’t too deep, but no matter how much strength Ena put into it, she just wasn’t moving up. She was steadily sinking, despite her best efforts, and it wasn’t until she was starting to feel lightheaded that she realised it was the weight of her ballgown weighing her down.

The frills and layers of lace were so heavy that it restricted Ena’s weak kicks and pulled her farther and farther towards the dark river floor. 

Her arms grew heavier and heavier, her leg muscles protesting the strain of her useless movements. 

Ena couldn’t swim up. 

Ena was going to die here.

At the realisation, there was a wave of peace that rushed over her. 

She let her arms drop weakly by her sides and relaxed her legs, looking up at the way that ripples in the water distorted the moon, the pretty blue glow wasn’t a bad last sight.

Drowning would be painful, Ena knew that, but at least all of the dreadful waiting was over. 

At least she would be free from this hellish life of hers. 

Sure, she’d definitely traumatise whichever students found her body, but she’d be done with this.

Enanan would be mourned, and Ena would vanish into nothingness.

And hey, at least Mafuyu knew the truth about her. At least one person could mourn Ena for who she was.

Her lungs were protesting now, desperate to give up and accept the gasp of air that would only fill her with water until she suffocated to death.

Ena’s eyes flickered, squinted nearly shut. She could make peace with this. She could be free.

It was as she finally let herself breathe in the painfully cold water that Ena’s lightheadedness took over, drifting her off into a fitful sleep. 

Just before her eyes shut entirely, Ena saw the blurriest glimpse of a hand reaching out towards her, her vision filling with a blinding white.

Chapter Text

When Ena awoke, she was laying in an unfamiliar bed.

She knew right away she wasn’t in Enanan’s room, based on the small twin-sized bed and rough wooden bedframe. The sheets weren’t as delicate and soft, but were cosy and warm nonetheless.

Unable to muster up the strength to lift her head, Ena dazedly looked around to see that she was in a small dorm room. There was a nightstand to her left and a curtained window to her right. She barely shifted the fabric out of the way to catch a glimpse of the bright sunlight streaming in. She quickly covered it, blinking as her eyes struggled to adjust.

She turned her head to see the rest of the room. There was a wooden oak desk covered with thick textbooks and loose pieces of parchment, pens and assorted tools scattered about messily.

There was another chair piled high with loose clothes and what could be identified as a school uniform.

From outside the shut bedroom door, Ena could see that a light was on the other room as shadows danced about through the gap along with hushed voices and laughter. 

Where was Ena? Who’s dorm room was this?

…What happened to her?

She tried to rack her brain for memories of what led up to all of this, but it was a blur starting with getting ready for the ball and panicking out on the bridge.

Didn’t she drown? Who saved her? Why would anyone want to?

Finally managing the strength to sit up, Ena paused upon the realisation that she was most certainly not wearing her own - or rather Enanan’s - clothes.

She was in a soft cotton dress, something plain and light. She revelled in the comfort of it, distinctly ignoring the horrifying memories of a heavier gown dragging her deeper and deeper underneath the water.

Ena’s head spun the more she tried to wake herself up. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck several times before getting tossed into a garbage compactor and dumped in a landfill. Her throat felt raw and itchy, her eyes stung, and her body was achy. 

Everything sucked. 

It took longer than she’d care to admit, but eventually Ena was able to pry herself out of the bed and stand up on her wobbly feet, wincing at the impact and needing to brace herself against the nightstand. 

With weak steps, she managed to make it towards the door, and using all of her available strength, she turned the knob and pushed it open.

She blinked in awe and confusion at the sight that lay before her.

It was the living quarters of this individual's dorm, containing a small kitchen area, dining table, and living room that contained couches surrounding a lit fireplace. It smelled vaguely of vanilla and sugar, quickly directing Ena’s attention to the kitchen where a few familiar faces were gathered and arguing about something as they surrounded a recipe book.

“You’re insane if you think you just add all the ingredients in at once,” An scoffed, arms crossed. “You’re supposed to cream the butter and sugar together first!”

“I don’t see what difference it makes,” Akito hissed. “They’re all getting mixed together anyway!”

“Uh huh. This is why you’re failing potions.”

“You-”

“Guys, let’s not fight!” Kohane said anxiously, Toya behind her with a big grin on his face. “Why don’t we just follow the recipe?”

“Of course you’d side with your girlfriend.” Akito muttered under his breath. 

“Maybe you should leave the baking to the experts,” Toya said gently, Akito’s entire face softening immediately. 

“I mean yeah sure you’re probably right.”

It was An’s turn to scoff. “Of course he’d side with his boyfriend,” She whispered to Kohane in a teasing voice.

Ena was shell shocked, head slowly turning to the dining table where Rui, Tsukasa, and Mizuki were gathered around a series of spare parts and tools.

“I’m just saying, wouldn’t it be more efficient?” Rui pouted, Ena having missed the beginning of their conversation.

“Efficient?!” Tsukasa echoed incredulously. “You want to blow up our old props instead of just tossing them away! That’s not efficient, that's just dangerous!”

“But don’t you see? We could spend far more time on the actual shows if we weren’t so concerned with proper disposal.”

“You can’t just blow up magical waste!” Tsukasa cried out, tugging at his hair. “You’re insane! Why do I even work with you.”

“You know Tsukasa,” Mizuki’s smug voice sang out. “You don’t have to work with Rui. You could always go back to working solo.”

Tsukasa squirmed in his seat at that. “A-And let him win? Don’t be ridiculous!” 

Mizuki and Rui exchanged a snicker while Tsukasa harrumphed and turned his face away, the ghost of a smile threatening to emerge.

Ena stared blankly, unable to form words until she finally murmured out, “What’s going on…?”

Mizuki dropped everything instantly before hopping over the table rather unnecessarily and rushing towards Ena. The taller girl immediately attacked her with a tight hug strong enough to lift her off of the ground just slightly. 

In her weakened state, Ena was unable to fight back and merely let out a squeak of protest before everyone else started to swarm over.

“Ena!” Mizuki cried out. “You’re okay!”

“We were so worried,” Kohane said, a breath of relief as she grasped her hands together. “How’re you feeling?”

“Um?” Ena wasn’t sure how to answer, especially since Mizuki still hadn’t let up on her hug and if anything, was holding her tighter than before. “I’m… confused.”

Mizuki finally relented and moved back a little, while still absolutely invading Ena’s personal space. A solemn expression crossed over her face, eyes scanning Ena carefully. “You… You almost died, Ena. I barely got to you in time.”

Ena’s mind raced back to her last moments of consciousness, a distant hand reaching out to grab her.

“That was you?” She said a little breathlessly. “You saved me? But… Why?”

Mizuki looked thoroughly heartbroken in a way that only served to confuse Ena more. Everyone in this room had plenty of reasons to despise Enanan more than anything, so why were they suddenly all concerned about her well being?

“Ena…” Mizuki said in a sad whisper. She was abruptly cut off by Rui who approached with a kind smile.

“We’re just glad you’re alright now, Ena.” He said as he extended a hand to hold her shoulder.

Ena’s heart was pounding in her chest, this was all so foreign and odd to her. How long had it been since she was hugged and held like this? Since she’s last felt affection and compassion from others? Her body almost rejected the feeling because of how out of place it made her feel, yet she couldn’t find it in herself to push them away.

She clung to the comforting feeling desperately, knowing all too well that it would only crush her more the second she lost it.

“How long have I been out?” She asked, immediately regretting the question upon seeing everyone’s terrified expressions. 

Oddly enough, it was Akito who finally spoke up.

“It’s been about four days.”

Ena stumbled backwards, her back hitting the bedroom door as she looked desperately at all of the faces in the room for confirmation. Four days? That’s insane! 

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Ena protested, though Mizuki just ashamedly looked down at her feet.

“I… I had to put you under a sleep spell,” She said slowly and cautiously. “You were… In a really bad condition. It was the only way to make sure you’d recover.”

Ena stared at Mizuki in shock. Hadn’t she just drowned? No drowning victim she could think of ever needed to be put under like that! 

Something else happened, it must’ve. There was something more going on than what everyone here was willing to tell her.

“You should come sit down,” Mizuki interrupted Ena’s internal crisis. “An is baking her dad’s famous cookies and we got some leftover dinner I can reheat. You really should eat something.”

Ena couldn’t calm herself down. This was all so bizarre, and she was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people giving her attention that for once, wasn’t negative. 

“I…” Ena was gently pulled over to where Mizuki had been sitting before, the aforementioned girl quickly piling up a plate with all sorts of miscellaneous food before setting it in front of her, a glass of water joining not long after.

Ena’s stomach grumbled but her appetite was non-existent from the stress of trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone watched her so carefully, as if waiting for her to do something. She managed to stick her fork in a piece of pre-cut chicken and pop it in her mouth, chewing slowly until everyone was satisfied enough that she was eating.

They all went back to what they were doing before, except for Mizuki who pulled her chair a bit too close to Ena than what was necessary and fiddled with the edge of her skirt.

“Are you okay?” Ena finally asked, the curiosity killing her.

Mizuki laughed a little sardonically. “You’re asking me that? I’m not the one who got launched into the river.”

Ena frowned. Normally, it was supposed to be Mizuki who fell off the bridge, but she didn’t need to know that. Her brain was still reeling as it tried to take all of the new information and sensations being tossed her way.

“You just seem a bit… Nervous?” Ena said, sounding more like a question than an answer.

Mizuki hesitated, worrying the bottom of her lip. “You just really scared me,” She said finally, voice uncharacteristically solemn. “You were in a really bad state, Ena.”

Ena paused, putting her fork down carefully. “You… Keep calling me Ena,” She said softly.

Mizuki’s eyes widened, almost in a panic before Tsukasa came to her rescue. “Ah! I spoke to Honami and she mentioned that’s what you preferred being called. If we were mistaken-”

“No!” She cut him off. “No, Ena is fine. I was just curious.”

Tsukasa smiled as he sat across from her, Rui dramatically leaning his body weight onto his shoulder much to Tsukasa’s protest.

“Gah! Rui! Now what do you want?”

“You’re so mean to me, Tsukasa,” Rui whined. “I’ve been working so hard, and you won’t even let me rest?”

“Wh- Don’t make it sound like I’m overworking you!” He scowled. “You’re the one who refuses to take a break! I already told you to go sleep on the couch.”

“But you’re more comfy,” Rui pouted again, making Tsukasa groan and give up the fight.

“Whatever! You’re so annoying.” He muttered, though he still shuffled closer to make it more comfortable for Rui.

Ena watched the interaction carefully. In the game, something like this would’ve been completely unheard of. The two love interests weren’t ever supposed to be friends, let alone whatever they were right now. Was this all from Ena’s offhanded comment to Rui all that time ago? Was she derailing the story that drastically?

If so… What consequences would that lead to for her? Was her four day coma part of her punishment?

She had a hard time regetting it though, considering how amicable and happy the two seemed together. For all of Tsukasa’s complaining, he was easily strong enough to shove Rui off if he truly wanted to. Instead, he frowned and grumbled all the while making sure Rui was snug against his side.

A quick glance over to Mizuki had Ena’s heart shattering. She was looking at the two boys with an expression resembling longing. Last Ena could guess, she figured that Mizuki was on Tsukasa’s route. Could that be why she was so upset? Had Ena accidentally set the two boys up, only to ruin Mizuki’s romance?

Ugh. Of course she’d managed to screw up Mizuki’s life even while unconscious.

It was during her self pity that Mizuki flicked her on the forehead.

“Wh- Hey!”

“You’re not eating.” Mizuki pointed out, snatching Ena’s fork before scooping up some rice and pointing it towards her lips. “You need to recover your strength.”

“I don’t need to be fed,” Ena tried to grab the fork back but Mizuki pulled it away just in time, spilling a few grains along the way.

“Uh huh. I’ll believe it when I see it. Now open wide…”

“I’m not a child!” Ena protested, face burning red. Mizuki just flashed her another smug grin as she shrugged.

“Coulda’ fooled me.”

Ena groaned as she quickly swiped back the fork, shooting a halfhearted glare at Mizuki who only laughed in response. Now Ena truly felt out of her mind.

Did she get transported to an entirely different universe in her sleep? What had changed so dramatically to have caused all of this?

As much as Ena found herself loving it, the far more sceptical and distrusting part of her brain protested, insisting something was horribly off.

“Look I um, I really appreciate you taking care of me,” She started gently. “But I think I should really head back now.”

Mizuki’s playful demeanour dropped into something more uncomfortable. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“You can’t leave!” An - surprisingly enough - called out as she carried in a tray of freshly baked cookies. “You should be monitored closely after what you just went through.”

Ena frowned, standing up and shoving her chair in harsher than she intended. “I can ask Honami or someone else to watch over me if it matters so much,” She said carefully, eyes darting across the room at all of the staring faces distrustingly. “I don’t want to impose anymore than I already have.”

To Ena’s genuine shock, Mizuki nodded in agreeance. “You’re right, you probably should head back home where you can relax.”

Before Ena could thank Mizuki for agreeing with her, she continued.

“C’mon everyone, pack your things! We’re sleeping over at the Shinonomes!”

Ena’s jaw dropped to the floor as Mizuki began to roughly throw together some things into a bag, everyone else gathered their own bags and cleaned up their messes. Had they all been sleeping over in this tiny space? What were they up to for the past four days?

“Woah woah, what?!” Ena was feeling far more overwhelmed than she’d ever felt in her life. Was this a trap? Was this the game’s way of tricking her in a false sense of security before absolutely shattering her fighting spirit?

“There’s more than enough space,” Akito shrugged, sending an odd look Ena’s way. “I don’t see why not.”

“W-Well I don’t see why !” Ena hated the fact that she was starting to hyperventilate. What was going on? What had she missed? Why was everyone acting so strange and so… Friendly to her all of a sudden? It can’t possibly just be because of her near death experience - if that were the case, wouldn’t they have all acted like this back when the slime incident happened?

Her outburst was promptly ignored as Mizuki began ushering her out of the dorm room and out into the hallway, everyone else following rather closely behind. 

“I’ll hail a carriage,” Toya offered politely, exchanging a pointed look at Akito who nodded in response before he was off. Ena was on the brink of tears, a combination of her exhaustion and confusion melting together leaving her feeling helpless and lost.

Mizuki stayed by her side as a constant presence, oddly soothing for all of her strange antics. As they made it downstairs to the courtyard, the carriage was already waiting, and already looked much too small to fit their large group.

Ena wasn’t even given the opportunity to voice her concerns before Mizuki was going in, dragging in Ena after her as everyone else began to pile in.

To Ena’s absolute mortification, the carriage was only designed to seat four people. And with their large group of eight, that meant they each had to sit on each other’s laps.

This meant Ena was sitting on top of Mizuki, while Rui held onto Tsukasa, An held Kohane, and Toya held a grouchy looking Akito.

It was absolutely ridiculous, and had Ena’s face burning up.

“T-This is-”

“Rui! W-Why am I sitting on your lap?!” Tsukasa cried out, thankfully looking just as embarrassed as Ena felt.

“Earlier you were complaining that I was laying on you. This makes us even, no?”

“T-That wasn’t what I meant!” Tsukasa buried his face in his hands. 

“Aw you’re blushing!” An teased, purposefully hugging Kohane closer as she turned her head to see Tsukasa more clearly.

Ena would’ve gladly laughed at an absurd situation like this under normal circumstances, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of it as it was. 

Was this all an elaborate trick from the others to secretly humiliate and get revenge on Enanan? With the gentle way Mizuki played with Ena’s hair, it seemed less than likely, but it still had her doubting their true intentions.

The ride felt abysmally long before they all finally arrived at the Shinonome Manor, where Ena practically jumped off of Mizuki’s lap and tried to hide her red face as everyone else stretched out their legs and grabbed their bags from the carriage trunk. 

Before long, they were all being greeted by the manor staff who looked just as confused as Ena felt.

So I’m not crazy, even all of them can see something weird is going on!

“Er… Sir Akito, was there perhaps a formal party that we were uniformed of?” One of the head maids asked anxiously.

“No,” Akito said boredly. “We just invited some of our friends over.”

We? Our ? As in, including Ena?

She could hardly call all of these people her friends, not after how Enanan treated them or how little they actually interacted. At most, she could say she was acquaintances, and even that felt like a stretch of the imagination.

Ena’s incredulous look must’ve been showing on her face, though she was continuously ignored as the other students continued acting as if this were perfectly normal.

She wanted to throw up from the whiplash of it all.

To her, she had just gone from moping about the hopelessness in her new life and crippling loneliness to being surrounded by what felt like a quirky cast of sitcom characters that fawned over her as if they’d always been friends. 

In her daze, Ena was led inside by Mizuki, who was giddily looking around at the massive building and gasping in awe at the grandeur that surrounded them. She was asking Akito random questions about their family’s choice in decorations and architecture, and Ena was dreading the idea of any of those questions being directed her way.

And yet, they never were.

Ena followed behind the group, watching their interactions carefully and pinching her arm as sharply as she could manage without outright crying. 

The group came to an abrupt stop outside of Ena’s room, and it took a moment for her to realise that it was because of Mizuki.

The protagonist stood frozen in front of one of the many portraits of Enanan that was scattered about the mansion. This one in particular was a profile view of the girl’s pout and elaborate gown. She looked beautiful, but still cruel, a vicious gleam in her eye.

It made Ena feel all the more insecure, watching Mizuki examine the painting with such vigour. It made Ena feel antsy, wondering what could possibly be going through the other girl’s head. 

Ena knew that the spell Enanan had cast was incredibly strong, and so it didn’t matter that this was clearly a painting of someone else, to everyone here there’d be nothing to question. And yet… Ena couldn’t help but feel a tinge of insecurity. Enanan was beautiful. Without the spell, could Ena’s looks match up? 

Ena had never really been insecure about her appearance before, but something about living someone else’s life made Ena think about her own a lot more. Did everyone here look at her and see Enanan? 

A quick tap on her shoulder by An snapped Mizuki out of her daze and she quickly turned to shoot a smile at Ena.

“It’s a lovely painting.”

Ena fidgeted awkwardly. Strangely enough, Akito came to her rescue.

“The guy who painted it was a real asshole,” He muttered. “Spent hours scolding me on my hair before he even picked up a pencil.”

An snickered. “I can’t say I blame him.”

As they went off on their usual bickering, Ena was stuck in a staring contest with Mizuki, who took a moment before smiling softly and continuing to walk forward. 

Gulping, Ena dutifully trailed after the group while she snuck another quick look at her passing bedroom. So they weren’t staying there? She was admittedly really grateful, she wasn’t sure how to explain her phobia of sleeping in Enanan’s bed.

“Where are we going?” Ena asked carefully, realising how little of the manor she’d actually explored herself. After the incident in the cellar, Ena had kept to herself and the few rooms she already knew. She had no interest in exploring and coming across more dead bodies or forbidden magic.

“The guest rooms,” Akito said, side eyeing Ena. “You’re gonna have to share a bed.”

“M-My room was right back there,” Ena protested weakly. “Why are we doing this?”

“Someone needs to make sure you’re actually taking care of yourself,” An piped in, a scolding look on her face. “When’s the last time you ate a full meal without needing someone to tell you?”

Ena opened her mouth but promptly shut it again. She admittedly couldn’t remember.

“That’s what I thought.”

“This will be fun!” Kohane insisted, gently grabbing onto Ena’s calloused fingers - strangely not reacting to the rough hands at all. “I’ve never actually had a sleepover before.”

“Me neither,” Ena said wistfully, before pausing and flinching. Enanan definitely had sleepovers with her minions, and it was a well-known event. No one said anything though, so she shut her mouth and thanked God that they didn’t seem to hear her.

“What do we do at sleepovers, anyway?” Rui asked, genuinely curious.

“Ah, I used to stay over by the Tenmas often as a child,” Toya said fondly. “Mostly Tsukasa would put on shows for Saki and I, we’d spend all night playing with the puppets until the staff made us go to bed.”

“We might be a little too old for that,” Akito murmured. “Personally the less I have to hear his yelling the better.”

“Oh, woe is me!” Tsukasa cried out suddenly, startling a few passing staff. “My dearest underclassman wounds me…”

“We’re in the same grade, weirdo!”

Tsukasa waved him off. “How my heart cries, how my soul weeps, how-”

“Okay okay we get it! I’m sorry!” Akito groaned, ignoring all of the laughter from the rest of the group. Even Ena found herself giggling, covering her mouth as everyone piled on to taunt Akito.

This was… Really, really nice. Even in her real life, Ena had never had a large friend group like this. As Akito covered his ears and Tsukasa pretended to faint into Rui’s arms, she couldn’t help but tear up at the thought that none of this truly belonged to her.

Any sympathy over her near death experience was meant for Enanan. 

Akito didn’t actually see Ena as an older sister, she didn’t actually have these friends.

And even if she did… Even if she could say this was all truly meant for her, Ena knew it wouldn’t last.

She was steadily running out of time. Her last near death experience led to a four day coma, things were ramping up more aggressively than ever. It was only a matter of time until fate caught up to her, and Ena would be subjected to a likely horrific death.

Drowning really wasn’t so bad, considering how little of the pain Ena actually remembered. Maybe that would’ve been the better way to go? Maybe it would’ve been better off if Mizuki hadn’t saved her, if that was where her story truly ended.

Now, she was forced to experience a kindness she wasn’t allowed to keep, while anxiously awaiting the unknowable way she’d face death for real this time. What if the next one was way worse? More painful and terrifying?

“Ena?” 

Mizuki, once again, was pulling Ena out of her daze with a sad look.

“Y-Yeah? Sorry, I zoned out.”

“C’mon, let's get you to lay down for a little bit,” Mizuki said gently. “I hope you don’t mind how loud we’ll probably be, but I’m sure you’ll get some rest anyway.”

Ena didn’t know how to articulate her gratitude for that. After weeks of crippling silence acting as her only company, she’d gladly take noise and rowdiness.

She allowed herself to be once again lead away and into the giant guest bedroom with four beds across from one another. Ena was oh-so-gently placed into the bed and then - funnily enough - tucked in with such care that it made her want to sob like a little baby.

Mizuki just smiled that cute smirk of hers and dimmed the lights before joining the others, where Rui and Tsukasa were arguing over the ethics of forced audience participation. Ena listened in on their conversations as they all began to blur in her mind as she drifted off into the first peaceful sleep she’s had in weeks.

“...sure she’s asleep?”

“She’s out like a light. Might be a side effect from all of the spells I had to cast on her.”

“That can’t be good for her.”

“I know, but you saw how anxious she is, and that’s even with all of the sleep enchantments. I’m scared she’ll get hysterical again. You weren’t there when she woke up the first time.”

“I know, I know. I just… I feel bad lying to her, that’s all.”

“Yeah… Me too. I can’t imagine…”

“I know. How’s Akito taking everything? He seems… Calm.”

“Yeah. I think he’s grieving in his own way, but he’s also… It’s hard to explain. Being around Toya seems to help him a lot.”

“Hm, interesting.”

“Stop being so nosy,”

“Look who’s talking!”

“Shh! Do you want to wake everybody up?”

“Oh come on. Everyone else is such a lightweight. It only took like, half a glass of wine to get them all drunk. They’re all out cold.”

“You think the staff is gonna be pissed at us?”

“No more than Akito will be. Don’t worry, they’re all fast asleep.”

“Okay, okay. We should get some sleep too.”

“Mhm. By the way, Mizuki, where’d you put the… Thing ?”

“I brought it with me.”

“You what ?!”

“I know, I know! I just… I keep reading it.”

“Mizuki…”

“I didn’t wanna leave it behind. I’ll put it back, I swear, I just…”

“Gods, you’re breaking your own heart here, Mizuki. None of this was your fault.”

“I know, An. I just want to help make it right. Fix things.”

“Maybe you should start by going to bed. Tomorrow’s a new day, right?”

“Right… G’night, An.”

“Night, Mizuki.”

Ena was paralysed where she layed down, unwilling to make a single move to give herself away. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, really, but that conversation…

Once Ena was certain Mizuki was out cold and snoring lightly beside her, she slowly and carefully sat upright and looked around the room. By this point, An was hugging Kohane like a koala bear, and Mizuki’s hair fanned out on her pillow, shifting with her slow breaths.

Ena knew there was something going on, something weirder than she had grown accustomed to, and that conversation nearly proved it. With more patience than Ena had ever had in her entire life, she slid off of the bed and tiptoed towards Mizuki’s bag, opening up the latch as delicately as she could before revealing the contents inside.

Her heart sunk to her stomach as her worst fears were realised. Shaky hands pulled out the leather sketchbook that had been Ena’s only confidant for her entire miserable experience here.

Mizuki had read her journal. Maybe all of them had.

Hand flying to her mouth, Ena wasn’t sure if she wanted to throw up from the stress or not. This was worse than anything Ena could’ve possibly imagined for herself.

She was already suffering the consequences of Enanan’s spell, but now that her secret had been revealed? What did this mean for Ena? Was it all over? 

One person knowing would’ve been bad enough, but this was seven! How badly would she be punished for this?!

But it wasn’t fair! It wasn’t her fault! The sketchbook was supposed to be well hidden in that abandoned classroom, what was Mizuki doing with it?! How did she find it? How did she know where to look? None of this was right!

Ena couldn't stop the sobs from emerging. This world was hellish and cruel. It was like no matter how hard Ena tried to follow their rules, she’d be punished regardless. Nothing she did mattered, she was trapped here in an inescapable fate all because of a selfish little rich girl and her refusal to be a better person.

She tried to quiet her hiccups but found herself not caring anymore. What did it matter?

Mizuki and everyone in this room were only being nice to her out of pity for her god awful situation. She was naive to try and pretend they were really her friends, that they really wanted to spend time with her.

She was on death row, and it was like she was being offered her last meal.

Her last taste of friendship and kindness before joining Enanan in the afterlife.

Ena hadn’t realised how hysterical her cries had gotten until she felt soft but firm arms wrap around her from behind, a soothing voice trying to remind her breath and that everything was okay.

Nothing was okay, didn’t she see that?

Ena tried to voice as much but she couldn’t hear anything beyond the ringing in her ears. She was being gently rocked back and forth, misery welling up in her before a sudden and abrupt feeling of exhaustion washed over and she felt herself drifting away.

The last thing she heard was a gently crying voice, and its desperate words.

“I’m going to save you Ena, I swear. I promise you, you have a home here."

Chapter Text

It was the morning before the grand ball that everyone at school had been talking about for weeks. Mizuki was out wandering around town looking for a dress. Pinching herself for letting it get so last minute.

Her studies had overwhelmed her entirely, and with all of the friends she’d been making it was hard to find time to herself.

Not that she was complaining! On the contrary, Mizuki felt more alive than ever now that she had An as a best friend and company with Tsukasa, Rui, Toya, and Akito. Kohane was even beginning to feel more comfortable in their ragtag group, so it was only a matter of time until she’d officially be one of them.

It was still nice to get some time to herself, especially considering how confused Mizuki had been as of late.

The first person Mizuki had met upon coming here was the infamous Lady Enanan, known to be cruel and spiteful, your typical mean girl. Mizuki was warned by everyone to either keep her distance or try to stay on her good side, but yet…

Enanan didn’t seem anything like what they were all saying. Enanan was soft spoken, with a bit of a snarkier attitude that was well hidden underneath layers of shyness and insecurity. Mizuki desperately wanted to prod further and get to know whoever was hiding underneath the shell, but she trusted her friends, and if they all said Enanan was a bad person…

An is definitely not the type of person to lie about something like this, but why did it feel like she was so wrong? 

It was all so bizarre, but that’s not to mention the strange fog of magic that seemed to hover oppressively around Enanan like a plague. Mizuki was a strong magic user, and so her magic detection skills were unmatched. There was no denying the magic emanating from Enanan, but no matter how hard she tried, Mizuki couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

All of it made her so curious, and so determined to learn more about the weird anomalous girl. 

But she kept her distance, watching and observing from afar. 

The way Enanan shied away from people, clamming up and panicking easily. The fact that she encouraged Kohane to talk to An, and for Rui to befriend Tsukasa… Akito even mentioned she hadn’t yelled at him or insulted him in weeks.

Mizuki sighed as she placed the fiftieth dress back onto the store rack and pouted as she looked around. She practically went through every single gown in the store and yet not one of them stood out to her.

Almost ready to give up, Mizuki turned to try another store when she felt a strong wave of magic radiating from outside. It was familiar, it had been lingering for a while now, and Mizuki got the sense it was following her.

Practically running over, Mizuki looked around the bustling crowds of people before tracing the power down to a single girl walking along the emptier side of the street.

Mizuki picked up her pace and followed gingerly, curious as to what such a powerful magic user could be doing around the poorer part of town.

The girl turned into an alley, but as Mizuki turned to follow in, she was shocked to see it empty. She frowned before turning around, ready to go back to errands, when the girl stood blocking her path, arms crossed with a pensive expression.

Mizuki shrieked before catching her breath and laughing a little nervously. “Geez, you really jumped me…”

“You were following me.”

“Yeah well you were watching me,” Mizuki shrugged. “I felt your magic all day.”

The girl smirked a little, pulling her hood off of her head to reveal pretty violet curls. 

“I suppose that’s fair. You’re Mizuki Akiyama.” 

“Yup, and you are…?”

“Mafuyu.” She distinctly didn’t offer up a last name. “You’re very skilled at sensing magic. How long have you been able to do that?”

“All my life?” Mizuki shrugged. It was hardly anything special to her now. “It just happens naturally, I guess.”

Mafuyu hummed consideringly. “In that case… Have you perhaps sensed anything odd lately?”

Mizuki hesitated. The answer was obviously yes, but who was this stranger and what did she know? Mizuki was almost certain there was forbidden magic at play here, and the last thing she wanted was to accidentally befriend someone playing around with dark magic.

“...Why do you ask?”

It was Mafuyu’s turn to hesitate. “I’m sure you’ve felt it. The dark spell that’s been lurking throughout the city.”

Mizuki nodded carefully. “Do you know anything about it?”

Reluctantly, the other girl nodded. “I… Helped cast it. It was a mistake, and an innocent girl is suffering for it.”

This caught Mizuki’s attention, her back straightening as she furrowed her brows. “What’s the spell? It’s too foggy for me to look deeper into it.”

“That’s the point,” Mafuyu explained. “It’s a concealment spell. Designed to prevent someone from facing the consequences of a much darker spell.”

“What?!” Mizuki froze. This was infinitely more serious than she’d thought! “Who is it? Who cast the spell?”

“I can’t tell you,” Mafuyu walked past Mizuki and knelt down to gently stroke the petals of a few flowers that managed to grow between the cracks of the cobblestone. “If I do, the girl will suffer for it. The spell is designed specifically to prevent us from telling anyone.”

Mizuki was about to start complaining about how pointless this conversation was in that case, when she realised the reasoning for Mafuyu’s carefully unspecific wording.

“...But if someone were to figure it out on their own?” Mizuki asked softly. “What would happen then?”

Mafuyu was silent for a moment. “I’m unsure. That's why I hesitate to speak to you at all.” She stood up and levelled a very serious look at Mizuki. “I think you might be the only one with any chance to save Her. I thought at first that maybe we could wait things out… That she’d learn to make peace with what she’s been forced to endure but… I’m afraid she’s giving up.”

Mizuki frowned. All of the vague warnings meant little without context, but she could gather the severity of it.

“How can I help, then?”

Mafuyu reached for underneath her cloak, grabbing a chained amulet and unclasping it from her neck. The amulet contained a pretty magenta gemstone that sparkled in the morning light. She handed it to Mizuki, who held it carefully as she turned it over to examine its intricate detailing.

“What is this?”

“It’s enchanted with an counter-spell,” Mafuyu explained. “It’s not perfect, and it won’t be painless, but this should help you see past the veil that’s been cast.”

Mizuki’s eyes widened as she put the amulet on, immediately getting a rush of vertigo that required her to lean against the wall of the alley to brace herself.

“I’m sorry about the dizziness, it’ll take a while before your brain is able to filter out all of the mental spells that’ve been placed.”

“Ow,” Mizuki muttered, rubbing her head as the world stopped spinning around her. “So… Now what?”

“I can’t tell you much more without risking condemning Her even more than I already have,” Mafuyu whispered solemnly. “She’s a good person… Far too good for the cruel fate put upon her. I can feel her losing hope, and I can sense the fates riling themselves up. I’m afraid something horrible is going to happen to her tonight and…”

Mafuyu shut her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath before forcing herself to continue. It was the face of someone who could relate intimately, the type of fear that you could only truly understand if you felt it yourself.

“I’m afraid she’ll just let it.”

Mafuyu’s words haunted Mizuki through her entire walk back to the dorms.

Her brain was itching to connect the dots, it was as if she already knew who Mafuyu was talking about but her brain was wiping the information from her before she could think it. 

She sighed. This was difficult enough without the sudden deadline, but knowing that something awful could happen to an innocent person tonight? At the ball? When everyone was supposed to be gathered around together having fun?

When she got back to her room and dropped her bags on her bed, Mizuki was at least grateful that she finally found an outfit - though it was getting harder and harder to care about such arbitrary things.

“I think you might be the only one with any chance to save Her.”

Mizuki wouldn’t let this girl suffer, whoever she was.

With the amulet, she felt her head clearing, though it was a slow and frustrating process.

She tried to sit down and really think, forcing her mind to push past the restraints of the concealment spell.

Whoever this girl was, she attended Mizuki’s school and would be attending the ball tonight. From how Mafuyu spoke, it was likely Mizuki already knew her and wasn’t even aware of it. 

Maybe if Mizuki wandered around the school grounds, she could run into her? With the amulet she’d surely be able to detect whoever it was.

With her plan set in motion, Mizuki set off with a skip in her step and a sense of growing determination.

Wandering around the school grounds was quickly proving to be fruitless, as most students weren’t even in classes that day, and were likely all getting ready for the ball.

While Mizuki could wait for the event, seeing as everyone would be there, she couldn’t help but be nervous about being too late to save this girl.

Something as big as a ball was practically a breeding ground for trouble, and if Mizuki were too late…

How could she stand to call herself a hero? 

Since arriving at this school, it seemed everyone had these giant expectations for her that were far more overwhelming than she could have ever imagined. 

Mizuki knew she was powerful and skilled for her age, and she was sociable and frankly pretty likeable. But honestly? She just wanted to enjoy her school years and have fun with her friends. It seemed she was constantly being dragged into helping other people, as if there were little quests she had to complete almost daily.

Though, something about this felt different. This wasn’t a case of defending a farm from trolls, or helping exorcise ghosts from the potions lab. No, this was more important, she knew it.

Dejected, Mizuki leaned up against a row of lockers and looked out hopelessly. She was in over her head. 

“Woah, Mizuki, you okay?”

“Oh. Hey An.” Mizuki sighed as her best friend leaned against the lockers next to her.

“...As the hall monitor I’m technically supposed to be telling you to stop soliciting.”

At Mizuki’s unimpressed smile, An only giggled. “Lucky for you I’m on break. Now you gonna tell me what’s got you all gloomy?”

“I’m trying to find someone, but I don’t know who they are yet.”

“...Oookay,” An said slowly. “That’s a weird one. Are they a student?”

At Mizuki’s nod, An grinned. “C’mon, I think I can help you!”

“The school archives?” Mizuki asked before sneezing at the dusty air in the room An had brought her to.

“Yup. Lemme find you the most recent student yearbook.”

After a bit of rifling around, An pulled out a giant heavy book with a cheer and dropped it on a creaky desk in front of Mizuki. More dust flew up into the air and both girls had to step back to cough and wave it away.

“How did it get so dusty so fast…” An muttered as she opened up the book and immediately went to the list of non-graduating students.

Mizuki immediately started to scan through the faces, frowning when absolutely nothing was standing out. She recognised most of these faces, but she didn’t sense any magical interference.

“Ooh! Here’s my class,” An pointed happily at where an adorable picture of her beaming was displayed. 

Mizuki cooed at all of the slightly younger versions of her friends, amazed at how much they’d changed in such little time when-

Huh. That was odd.

“Whose that?”

An raised a brow. “You don’t recognise Enanan? I guess that means I’ve been doing a good enough job at keeping her away from you.”

Mizuki blinked, rubbing her eyes for good measure as she leaned in closer, heart stuttering as a deep feeling of unsettling fear washed over.

“An. That is not Enanan.”

An wasn’t smiling anymore, now looking at Mizuki with an expression of concern. “No… That definitely is. Are you okay, Mizuki?”

“Do you have any other photos of her?” Mizuki asked, voice pitching up in her rising terror. “Please?”

An seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation and silently rummaged through some old student files before coming up with Enanans. 

The picture depicted a girl with a much slimmer and sharper face. Her nose was a little longer, her eyes more annoyed and void of the eyebags Mizuki had grown to know Enanan for. This girl's hair was much longer and curled into tight unnatural looking ribbons that didn’t suit her much, her posture was stiff and commanding as though she were looking down on the photographer.

“See? Enanan.”

“An…” Mizuki said slowly, resisting the urge to throw up. “The girl that’s been walking around the school, the one that I met on my first day, is not the same girl in these pictures.”

“What?” An snorted. “Don’t be ridicu-” She cut herself off, eyes drifting off before she clutched her head in pain. “What the-”

“Oh Gods,” Mizuki whispered. “An, think about the girl that’s been in our classes the past few weeks - and I mean really think about her. Does this picture really match her face at all?”

It all made sense now. The way Enanan’s behaviour didn’t line up with the stories at all, the way she seemed lost and lonely, ignoring the mean girls that used to be her best friends and drifting away as she stared out the window for every class.

“What’s going on?” An asked, the glaze in her eyes proving at the concealment spell was still affecting her strongly. “If it’s not Enanan then… Who is she?”

Mizuki swallowed nervously. “That’s what I want to know. I was approached by a witch earlier today,”

Mizuki continued speaking before An could cut her off with an indignant cry.

“She asked for my help, she told me about a strong concealment spell and someone who needed my help. She was telling the truth so far, so I think we can trust her. But… She said that whoever this girl is, she needs help, desperately.”

“Do you think the real Enanan is in trouble? Did this girl hurt her?” An asked nervously. 

“No… I think it’s the one pretending to be her.”

“But why is she impersonating her? And how did she get everyone to believe her? Even Akito thinks it’s really his sister!”

“Forbidden magic,” Mizuki answered dully. “Someone is tampering with it. But I don’t think it’s the same girl, it kinda sounds like she’s just a victim in all of this.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” An insisted. “Enanan’s filthy rich and crazy powerful with the other nobles, who wouldn’t want to steal her life?”

“There’s more to this,” Mizuki huffed shut the yearbook and made her way towards the door. “We need to be on guard, something big is going to happen tonight.”

An nodded resolutely, following after Mizuki and closing the door to the Records room. “I’ll tell Toya and Kohane, I’m sure they’d be willing to help keep a lookout.”

“...What about Akito?” Mizuki asked quietly. “Are we going to tell him?”

An faltered. “Look… Akito and Enanan have never been close, but lately he’s been opening up. Enanan apparently saw something really messed up a while ago and had a panic attack, and Akito was worried sick. He cares about her more than he lets on. I think he’d want to know what’s going on, but…”

“But you don’t know how he’ll take it?”

“Yeah. He’s more sensitive than you’d think.”

“Okay. We’ll wait until we know more about what’s going on for sure,” Mizuki decided. “If I find Rui and Tsukasa I’ll let them know too. Rui knows a lot about forbidden magic, I’m sure he’d be able to help.”

Just as Mizuki was about to bolt back to her dorms to get ready for whatever was about to go down tonight, An gently grabbed her arm. “Hey, everything’s going to be okay. Why are you shaking?”

Mizuki paused, she hadn’t even realised how violently her body was shaking. “I-I have a really, really bad feeling about all this.”

“A premonition?”

“Maybe? I just… I’m worried.”

“Don’t be.” An smiled. “If we all work together we can figure out what’s really going on and save Enanan. It’ll be okay.”

Mizuki had truly tried to believe that, but her feelings of anxiety only worsened when she finally arrived at the ball. 

She had managed to have a little bit of fun at least, before things went sour. 

Seeing her classmates all dressed up and dancing together should’ve been cause for celebration, it was supposed to be a fun time. Yet her mind couldn’t stop scanning the crowds for Not-Enanan. It was like everytime she spotted her in the corner of her eye, the girl would dart away. 

Did she know Mizuki was onto her? Was she really the one messing with forbidden magic and was scared of getting caught?

The idea didn’t feel right. The girl was too skittish and depressed to be an evil mastermind. But Mizuki couldn’t cast any judgements until she knew for sure that the real Enanan was okay.

As Mizuki politely excused herself from the group she was talking to, her eyes widened at the sight of Akito and Toya standing alone together, laughing relaxed in a way Mizuki had never seen either of them.

She grinned coyly. She had been desperately trying to set those two up since she got here, but they were both stubborn in their own rights.

Ah, speaking of people she was trying to get together…

“I CAN’T DO THIS!”

“Ah, Tsukasa, are you okay?”

He buried his face deep into his hands and let out a low whine. He was dressed in a white and gold suit and looked absolutely amazing, like the prince he was, but his pathetic expression kind of ruined the look.

“HeIsSoHandsome.”

“...What was that?”

Tsukasa groaned. “Have you seen Rui?!”

“Uh, not yet, no?”

“He looks like royalty! He’s- He’s all dressed up and- and-”

Mizuki tried to bury her cheeky smile. “And?”

“Gah! I can’t do this!”

Finally taking pity on him, Mizuki gently grabbed his hand and started leading him outside to get some air. She exchanged a nod with An, who was remaining vigilant alongside Kohane, who was staring at the party guests so intensely a few of them darted away from the intimidation that came unexpectedly from her adorable little face.

She grinned. Her friends were the best.

Mizuki brought Tsukasa outside to the gardens, leading him onto the bridge where he resignedly leaned on his elbows on the bridge railing, staring down at the rocky waters below. Mizuki distantly noted how odd it was, considering how nice the weather was that night.

“Tsukasa, why are you really panicking? Mizuki asked patiently, deciding to drop the teasing.

He looked up at her through his bangs and blew out a little breath that pushed them out. “...Lately Rui has been approaching me more. He wanted to help with my shows and at first I was ecstatic! I mean, he’s undoubtedly talented and skilled with machines, so I figured it’d be a… Y’know, business relationship?”

“I see,” Mizuki nodded. “But then?”

“But then… He started to spend time with me just for fun. I hadn't realised that I never really had a friend like that before. One that was interested in me outside of me being a prince or top student. He cared so much more about my shows - the things I was really passionate about - and he wanted to help me. For no other reason than just that… He wanted to.”

Mizuki beamed at Tsukasa, knowing that there was a dopey expression on her face as he finally mustered up the strength to turn and face her fully.

He shyly scratched the back of his head, looking shy for the first time since Mizuki’s known him. He took a deep breath as he tried to muster up the courage for his confession. “I… I think I really like-”

It was like time slowed down when Mizuki felt an oppressive tsunami of magic rush over her. It was like heavy weights were being dropped on her very soul. She felt the amulet on her neck straining to work, to lift whatever veil was being attempted to distract her.

Mizuki finally turned around, eyes widening in terror at the sight of Enanan on the other side of the bridge, back against the railing as she stared in pure and utter terror at a monstrous shadowy figure that approached her. The image of the spectre glitched in and out of Mizuki’s vision, as if her brain were still attempting to filter it out.

With no emotion, no care, the creature shoved Enanan so hard that the railing snapped and was sent flying down, dragging Ena with them. Her scream was piercing, unbridled terror that made Mizuki’s blood turn to ice.

Mizuki cried out in terror, finally alerting the other students who were none the wiser until Mizuki was sprinting over to the edge and watching as the sharp waves rose and rose much higher than what should’ve been possible for a lazy river. 

In the rare flashes of clarity, Mizuki could see Enanan’s desperate thrashing, limbs flying out despairingly as she began to sink deeper and deeper.

Mizuki was aware that Tsukasa was behind her, saying something, but she wasn’t listening. With no more time to spare, she leapt down after Enanan in a dive, barely flinching as she submerged herself in the icy water and used her magic to manipulate it, letting her get down faster and faster.

She tried to use it to bring the water - and Enanan along with it - up, but it was as if there were a magic force counteracting her spells. She’d have to do this the old fashioned way, holding her breath as she kicked her legs, almost letting out a sigh of relief when she saw Enanan a couple metres beneath her.

But as she was kicked desperately, Mizuki noticed that Enanan, despite still being conscious, wasn’t swimming anymore, she wasn’t trying to. She looked oddly relaxed, oddly resigned. 

Mizuki’s eyes widened. Enanan was giving up, Enanan was letting herself drown. 

“I’m afraid something horrible is going to happen to her tonight and…”

No…

“I’m afraid she’ll just let it.”

Mizuki surged forward with all the strength she had, one arm shot out to grab onto Enanan, willing for her to stop closing her eyes, to try to kick up once more, do anything…

By the time Mizuki was clutching onto Enanan, water was beginning to enter the unconscious girl’s lungs. Mizuki did her best to create a wave surge so strong that it’d send them both flying up, though it was then that she realised how heavy Enanan’s dress was.

It was weighing her down, dragging to the river floor like bricks tied to her legs, a death sentence.

Once they breached the water, Mizuki channelled the water to send them both flying onto the shoreline, barely missing a giant rose bush filled with thorns.

Mizuki didn’t give herself a chance to breathe before she was crawling over to Enanan, whose body was convulsing. She didn’t wait a second longer before casting every healing spell she knew.

Dispel Water, Manual breathing, Ease Pain, Heal, Heal, Heal, Heal…

It was spell after spell, probably far more than necessary, but Mizuki was shaking and needed something to focus on, something other than that awful expression on Enanan’s face. 

Finally, Enanan surged over with a loud, painful sounding gasp of air, leaning to her side to cough out the water in her lungs.

Mizuki tried to rub her back as some kind of support but quickly, Enanan was scratching at her own arms, pulling at her dress and sobbing violently as she tried to rip the fabric off of her. Mizuki understood immediately and used the pocket blade she kept in her inventory to slice the back and rip the heavy gown off of her. 

Mizuki quickly used her own body to shield Enanan from the swarms of whispering and gawking students that were approaching, though she was grateful Enanan was wearing underclothes that concealed her modesty just enough.

Still, Mizuki couldn’t care about the onlookers right now, not when Enanan was still sobbing hysterically, still clawing at her arms and pulling at her short drenched hair. She was shivering violently, and more and more people were pointing and staring at her like she was some kind of spectacle.

It was the last straw when Mizuki overheard Enanan’s old friends snickering and laughing at her misery, as if she hadn’t almost just died . 

Mizuki was just about ready to channel a wave to send them crashing into the water to experience drowning themselves when a voice called out.

“M-Mizuki!” Tsukasa had run down to the gardens and was breathing heavily. “Are you alright? What happened?”

Enanan was still crying, it seemed she had completely disassociated and wasn’t even aware of what was going on around her. All of the cures and healing spells Mizuki cast certainly weren’t helping, and though they healed her physically, clearly left her delirious and confused.

“I’m taking her to my dorm,” Mizuki leaned down and scooped Enanan up in her arms, ignoring how weak Enanan’s protests were and how hysterical her cries had gotten. “Tell An what happened.”

Mizuki didn’t wait to hear Tsukasa’s protests before she was shoving past students and casting a swift speed spell on herself to rush towards the school campus, clutching Enanan tighter than she probably should’ve been. Her heels were kicked off to ensure she was going as fast as she could, she didn’t care about the sharp pain on her bare feet.

How could she have been so stupid? Enanan was right there and Mizuki was too busy getting giddy over the prospect of her friends finally accepting their feelings for each other. Enanan had been staring at that shadowy figure with a look of recognition. How often had they been attacking her? How long had she been suffering like this?

By the time she stumbled into her room, she quickly deposited Enanan onto her own bed and cast a warm wind spell that dried her off. By now, Enanan’s sobs had quieted to little hiccups as she stared off into nothing with a distant look in her eyes.

She’s in shock.

Mizuki tried to calm her own breathing, reminding herself that nothing permanent had happened, Enanan was safe and alive, she had succeeded in saving her like Mafuyu had asked.

But did you? Look at her. 

“Enanan?” Mizuki whispered as gently as she could, kneeling down in front of her trying to catch her eye. “Talk to me, are you okay?”

It took a moment, as if her brain needed time to really take in what had happened and where she was now. Her distant look made Mizuki wonder if Enanan was even aware of who was talking to her.

“I drowned,” She finally said through a hoarse voice. 

“No, I saved you,” Mizuki insisted as soothingly as she could manage, almost as if talking to a child. “You’re okay now, you’re safe.”

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Enanan burst out into sobs again, hands buried in her face so tightly that tiny crescents were blossoming where her nails dug into her skin.

“E-Enanan!”

“No. ‘M not safe,” She cried out. “Never gonna be safe again. Not ‘til I’m dead.”

Mizuki’s breath hitched. “Enanan, what’re you talking about?”

“Please,” She whimpered. “I can’t do this anymore. Just let me drown.”

“Enanan!” 

“I can’t live like this, it’s not living , please just let me drown.”

“Enanan please you-”

“Don’t wanna be here anymore,” Enanan wept, her nails digging deeper into her skin until she broke the skin and tiny droplets of blood began to pearl. “Please I just want it to stop, I wanna go home-!”

In an impulsive act of desperation, Mizuki cast a sleep spell - the strongest one she could with her depleting magic, and tried to calm her own heavy breathing as Enanan’s eyes fluttered closed and her body slackened. Mizuki manoeuvred her body so that she was laying still and with shaky hands, pulled the warmest blanket she had over her.

Mizuki wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, staring at Enanan’s shallow breathing just to remind herself that the girl was still alive. That she was calm now, that she was sleeping.

And yet that expression she wore when she was drowning… The look of resignation and defeat…

Enanan wanted to die, desperately.

The idea was mortifying to Mizuki, someone wanting to end their own life. But… The way Enanan was speaking made it sound as though she had no choice. Could she be trusted in her manic state though?

Frantic knocking on her dorm room door jolted Mizuki out of her daze, and she quickly stumbled over to see - to her surprise - Akito, heaving as his eyes darted around the room.

“Enanan! Is she-?!”

“She’s okay,” Mizuki said slowly, trying to calm Akito down. “She’s in my bed resting.”

He closed his eyes and ducked his head, breathing out before whispering a thanks under his breath. 

Mizuki widened the door to let him in, and he was quickly followed by An and Tsukasa.

“Rui is on his way,” An got straight to the point. “He’s investigating the scene… He thinks there was forbidden magic at play. Kohane and Toya offered to stay behind to help.”

“It was forbidden magic,” Mizuki confirmed darkly, all eyes in the room darting to hers immediately. “I saw it.”

“Wh- How?!” 

Mizuki pulled off the amulet, surprised when no vertigo overtook her. It seemed that by now, the illusion of the fake Enanan had been so completely broken that she didn’t need it anymore. She handed it out to Akito first. He accepted it and stared at it closely.

Mizuki swallowed nervously. “There’s no way for me to ease you into this,” She confessed, trying to ignore the panic that grew on his face at those words. “I need you to wear this and go look at her.”

He looked deeply confused but he wordlessly complied anyway, Tsukasa and An keeping a good distance behind as they followed him in. Mizuki watched as he looked over at what was supposed to be his sister’s face. She watched as his expression gradually shifted from concern to confusion to terror.

“What-”

“There’s a lot to explain,” Mizuki said tiredly. “I don’t even know where to begin. Honestly I don’t even know what’s going on at all. Just that this girl isn’t Enanan and she’s in trouble.”

“So why don’t we just wake her up and question her?” Tsukasa asked, seemingly sceptical. “She’s healed now, right?”

Mizuki shifted uncomfortably in place. “She was hurting herself during an anxiety attack. I cast a sleep spell out of panic and well… It’s a really strong one. She’ll be out cold for a while, and I don’t feel good about using any more magic on her. Her body really doesn’t respond to it well.”

Enanan had been a magic user, from what Mizuki was told, so it was always odd that this version of her seemed so adverse to it.

Well, now she knew the truth, it seemed.

“So we’re going to have to wait for her to wake up to get some answers?” An groaned.

“Not necessarily,” Akito muttered. There was a dark expression on his face as he glared at Not-Enanan. Mizuki felt a pit in her stomach. She had an older sister too, one she adored and would be devastated if she lost. She truly couldn’t imagine how Akito was feeling, since there was really no love lost between him and his older sister.

“What do you mean?” Tsukasa asked, amazingly keeping his voice rather quiet even though Mizuki was pretty sure that even the end of the world couldn’t wake Not-Enanan right now.

“Kohane mentioned something to me once, she was concerned ‘Cause… Enanan was disappearing a lot on her own. She said that she holed herself up in the abandoned art class on the first floor of the main building, and apparently she spends all her time there.”

“So what, you think there are clues in there?” Mizuki asked sceptically.

“I know there are,” Akito snapped. “She’s always scribbling in that book of hers. It’s not in her room at home, the maids would’ve found it for sure, so it’s gotta be at school.”

“Okay, so let’s go.” Mizuki said, determinately slipping on her boots and magicking away her formal outfit until she was wearing her school uniform again.

“What about… Her?” Akito asked. “Can she really be left unattended?”

“I told you already, I’ve completely healed her.”

“No. Can we trust her? She did something to Enanan, she could be responsible for whatever happened to her.”

Mizuki frowned. She didn’t want to defend the girl without any true proof to back it up beyond Mafuyu’s vague warnings.

Luckily, Tsukasa came to her rescue.

“I’ll stay and watch over her. I’ll be here when Rui, Kohane, and Toya come back and I can fill them in on what little we know.”

Mizuki let out a breath of relief. She was so grateful to have friends who were taking this as seriously as her.

An grabbed onto her hand and gave it a tight comforting squeeze. Mizuki tried to smile reassuringly, but she was still so shaken from nearly watching Ena- Not -Enanan drown.

“C’mon, let’s hurry before the teachers catch wind of what happened and try to question us.”

The abandoned art classroom was fairly large, filled with old desks and chairs toppled over or stacked off to the side. There were some art supplies that were either cracked or clearly dried out, but a few paint tubes looked as though someone had cleaned them up and was using them more recently. Clean paint brushes sat in a lone cup on the desk in the dead centre of the room, a palette had oil paints that were still drying on its surface.

An flickered a flame spell that illuminated the room better, and the trio began their search. Mizuki tried to ignore the angry and aggressive movements from Akito, who was not taking all of this well at all.

Mizuki was searching a desk in the corner of the room when her hand hit what felt like soft leather.

Quickly grabbing at it, Mizuki revealed a nondescript looking journal that upon further inspection, was actually a sketchbook with thicker pieces of paper and paint stains.

Not yet alerting the others to her find, Mizuki opened the book and gasped at the pretty sketches that adorned the first few pages.

They were sketches of the school, students, teachers, plants, animals, monsters… It was like a catalogue of everything that made their environment so beautiful.

Mizuki felt a twinge of shyness at a sketch of herself. It took up an entire page, unlike the usual half-finished bust shots of other people. This depicted Mizuki leaned back against her seat lazily, one leg crossed and her skirt draping over it elegantly. 

She looked so pretty here. There was so much care and attention to detail that it made Mizuki blush. She hadn’t even realised Enanan - No, Not -Enanan, was watching her this closely. 

The pretty drawings didn’t last long in the sketchbook, however.

Soon, frantic writing replaced the drawings. There were charts and what seemed like timelines that Mizuki sincerely couldn’t understand. Words were heavily abbreviated and tally marks were scribbled next to them.

TT: ///// ?

RK: ///

AS: //

TA: //

Mizuki frowned. She could stare at these pages forever and still be able to make any sense of them. Flipping the page further, she gasped at the sight of massive paragraphs of text. Journal entries.

Her gasp finally alerted An and Akito over to her, and before she knew it they were all crowded around this journal with the faint illumination of a light flame An lit.

Mizuki hesitated before starting. There was an instinctive voice in her head telling her that once she’s read this, there’s no going back. She inhaled before reading out loud.

-

I don’t know who to talk to about this. I don’t think there’s anyone I can talk to.

It’s been a day since I found Her and Mafuyu is gone. I don’t think she’s coming back. She was the only one who knew who I was, what was going on. Why’d she leave? Even if she couldn’t help me break this stupid fucking curse she could’ve at least just been here.

Every time I look in the mirror I see Her face. Pale, rotting, swarmed by flies.

The image is burned into my brain, I can’t get it out no matter what I do.

When I woke up here I kind of just assumed I took her place. I didn’t put much thought into where that left her. I guess part of me must’ve been enjoying being here, surrounded by magic and people I’d been watching through a screen.

But everyone hates me. I don’t blame them, obviously, but god it’s so lonely. I think I’ll lose my mind if I don’t get these thoughts out, so here’s me writing a diary for the first time since I was five.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to me now. Mafuyu said I’m dying no matter what, but she had the audacity to tell me I should try to enjoy the time I had left. How am I supposed to pretend to be living when I know that death is lurking around the corner?

Maybe I’ll choke on my breakfast, trip down the stairs, get crushed by a piano or drown in my own tears.

Does it even matter? It could happen in a year or in a minute.

Lady Enanan certainly didn’t know she was going to die.

God. I want to hate her so badly. I want to be glad she’s dead, to be able to laugh at her karmic justice.

But for fucks sake she was only 16. She was awful but no one deserves to die alone, with only maggots and flies to keep you company. Did it hurt? Did she fight back? Or was it at least quick? I keep making up little details that I know aren’t true. Like a calm expression on her face, relaxed posture.

Anything to make it less horrific.

But I know I’m just lying to myself. Enanan died a horrible death for being a horrible person - I mean she literally summoned me here to die - and I still feel bad for her.

I just realised that Mafuyu and I are the only ones who’ll ever know she died. We’ll be the only ones to truly mourn her. She won’t have a grave to visit, or a funeral to make peace with.

I don’t even know what Mafuyu did with the body. She cleaned it up so fast. I don’t think I want to know.

God. I feel so bad for Akito, her little brother. I’m pretty sure he saw me when I ran upstairs to get help. I don’t remember all that well. Honami told me he was asking about me, he wanted to make sure I was okay. 

No, that’s wrong. He wanted to make sure that Enanan was okay. His real sister. The one I was pretending to be.

I’ve never had siblings. I think maybe I’d like one like Akito. Someone I could tease and boss around but still hide away with when mom and dad were fighting.

What the fuck am I talking about. I’m replacing his dead sister and lying right to his face. 

I’m awful. I’m the worst.

-

After Mizuki stopped reading, her voice shaking, she turned hesitantly to look at Akito, unsure of what she’d find.

His eyes were welling up with tears, an angry sort of devastation. Mizuki reached out to try and offer some kind of comfort but he hostilely shoved her off. He choked on a cry before turning his face, collecting himself before turning back to the sketchbook, his face furious and demanding.

“Keep going.”

-

I can’t sleep in Enanan’s bed. I can hardly stand to wear her clothes and be called by her name. God, sometimes I hear people cut themselves off, so all they say is “Ena” and it feels so good until they finish their sentence.

So close yet so far. 

I think Honami is suspicious. When she comes in to clean she can obviously see how tidy the bed is, and she knows Enanan never did any chores on her own.

I’m exhausted. Everytime I close my eyes I see her lifeless face. Sometimes she talks to me, laughing or screaming. 

I don’t want to think about that right now.

School has been a unique kind of hell. Enanan’s grades are dropping and all of her friends hate me. I’m desecrating her legacy before I die. At least I’ll get a funeral, though I can’t think of many people who’d willingly show up.

-

I’m starting to forget things about home and it’s really freaking me out. I haven’t even been here that long and things are slipping away. Did mom have a mole under her right eye or left? What were the lyrics to my favourite songs? I can’t remember.

Mom and Dad…

I wonder how they’re doing. They’re probably still looking for me, if time passes the same way there as it does here. Can they even afford it? Even with them both working full time, money was always tight. Although, with me gone that’s one less mouth to feed. Maybe that’s where they’ll get the search money from.

-

Holy shit the bugs here are terrifying what the fuck

I knew there would be different magic creatures and stuff but I didn’t need to see a megamoth at any point in my life, thank you very much

That thing was huge and flying rampant around the school. I ran to the art room so fast.

I hate it here I hate it here I hate it here

-

I’m starting to think Enanan’s goons friends don’t actually have names. I’ve never heard them addressed or seen it written down anywhere.

They’re the worst. They won’t leave me alone and they’re always laughing at something. 

It’s insane how many of their mean pranks against Kohane I’ve had to intercept. 

I mean needles on her chair? That’s just evil.

Why am I still surprised? I don’t know what I’m expecting.

-

Calendars aren’t the same here as they are back home.

I don’t know when my birthday is anymore, but I think it’s supposed to be in a month. I should’ve been keeping a better track.

I hope I’m dead before then.

-

HOLY SHIT WHY ARE THERE ARE GIANT SPIDERS WHO WOULD COME UP WITH THAT HOLY SHIT I HATE IT HERE I HATE IT HERE I HATE IT HERE 

Mizuki had to burn it with the equivalent of a magic chainsaw. What the fuck.

-

Okay. Maybe not all of the creatures here are that bad. 

There’s this weird Cat/Fox/Bird thing that greets me when I go back to Enanan’s house from school. It always lets me pet it, and honestly the physical contact is appreciated.

When was the last time I got a hug?

…

Maybe I’ll name it something dumb like Missile Launcher? No, that's stupid. 

God. I think I’m losing my mind.

-

Mizuki always looks at me with pity. Does she know something? Or does she just feel bad since she never saw how cruel Enanan was? 

She’s so nice. Anytime anyone needs anything she’s there in a heartbeat ready to help. Whether it’s setting things on magical fire or helping someone bake cookies for their crush…

Everyone loves her, and I don’t blame them.

She smiles at me sometimes, when we happen to make eye contact. She might be the only one who does.

-

Akito’s definitely in love with Toya.

I don’t know what’s going on between them but I’d bet my life on them getting together within a year.

“Oh we’re just partners”

Who uses “partners” platonically these days?

Plus they never see those cringy soft looks they send each other through the day.

But it’s also weird. I thought that one of them was supposed to end up with Mizuki. It’s almost like I’ve started to forget that this all used to be just a game to me. Everyone (with the exception of Enanan’s goons) feel so real that I completely forgot there was a time when I thought of them as fake. 

I don’t think I can rely on what I know about the future. It’s changed so dramatically that I can’t predict anything. At this point, does Mizuki even like any of them?  I’m still trying to keep track of big game events but I don’t even see them most of the time.

I need to stop thinking of this place as a game. It’s not like I’m ever going back home. I gotta accept that this world is just as real as mine and… I guess it’s also going to be my final resting place.

Huh. Born in one world and dead in another. I feel so special. Yaaaaay.

-

The entries went on and on. Ranging from cute anecdotes to desperate venting.

Mizuki’s voice went hoarse when things got too dark. Then she’d get whiplash when all of the sudden Ena was cracking jokes.

Ena . So that was her real name.

The poor thing. It was so close, but no one would know that.

“Akito?” An’s voice was careful, none of her usual teasing as she leaned past Mizuki to see where Akito sat on her other side. “Are you okay?”

His eyes were trailed off against the wall, there was a furrow to his brow and tear tracks that began to dry up. 

“...Enanan kidnapped her,” He whispered. “She brought a soul here to take her place and die?”

His voice cracked on the last word, his hand flying to his mouth to cut off a sob. “I knew she could be mean but… Please tell me this isn’t true, please tell me my sister didn’t just destroy an innocent person's life for no reason?”

He was looking at Mizuki when he said that, and she gulped nervously. She wished she could lie to Akito and provide some kind of comfort, but with what Mafuyu told her and these diary entries, the full story was being pieced together rather quickly.

Enanan used forbidden magic to find a soul similar enough to trick fate, in an attempt to hide from whatever terrible thing she was destined for. 

Then the spell backfired and Ena was brought here to take Enanan’s place, while she died alone in the cellar of the Shinonome Manor.

Lady Enanan knew there’d be a great cost to her using forbidden magic, but she was hoping she’d make Ena pay the price in her place.

“I’m sorry Akito,” Mizuki said, fidgeting in her seat with the corner of the last page they read. “I don’t think I can tell you what you want to hear without lying to you.”

Choking back another sob, Akito nodded grimly. He already knew. 

“Keep going.”

“Are you sure?” Mizuki asked. “If you need some time-”

“We might not have time.” He snapped. “Just keep reading.”

-

Should I just kill myself?

Jesus. Okay that’s the most morbid thing I’ve ever written.

But I feel like I’ve had it too good for too long. There have only been minor incidents and I’ve managed okay but any time now I’ll let down my guard and who knows what will happen. I keep seeing when awful things are about to happen to Mizuki, like the things that were scripted in the games. Sometimes they happen because of something I did without even realising it, like accidentally setting loose the giant spiders that she had to kill, or even small stuff like how I mixed up her papers by accident and she handed in the wrong assignment.

Those are tame compared to what else I know could happen. The game had so many quick death endings in case you messed up a minigame, or made too many bad choices early on. What if I accidentally trigger one of those?

And then, of course, I can't forget the other part of this curse. Whenever I try to intervene, whatever was supposed to hurt Mizuki hurts me instead. Why the fuck is that a thing? Is the rule that these events have to happen no matter what, without caring who it happens to? 

It's so stupid! But... Also terrifying. I've had weapons pointed at me, enchantments gone wrong nearly setting my hair on fire, giant spiders. I have no idea how I'm going to die, but it feels like my near death experiences are getting worse and worse. I know it's going to happen no matter what, but...

Maybe it’s cowardly, but I really don’t want it to hurt.

I don’t want to die, I really don’t. 

I just can’t live this life. It’s not mine and I never asked for it. I swear, I’ll never complain about my life again. I’ll stop making art, I’ll be the perfect daughter, I’ll donate all my allowance to charity. Just please, let me go home.

I need to be realistic.

There’s no chance of me getting back home. 

This whole time I’ve been like a puppet to Enanan’s spell. I’m forced to live her life or face the consequences, I have no say in the matter. 

But what if I took charge and actually did something about it myself? Surely there’s some kind of magical solution to ending my life painlessly and without bothering anyone?

I plan to start paying more attention to my classes - especially the potions one. I don’t want it to be obvious I killed myself. For one, I don’t think anyone would believe Enanan was suicidal since she was far too in love with herself to self-harm, but also I don’t want to tarnish her legacy anymore than I already have.

It’s the least I can do for the girl who ruined my life. 

-

One of my substitute professors is a leprechaun. 

That’s it.

-

An and Kohane are together now. They’re so cute it makes me smile like an idiot. 

Kohane protected An from that giant spider and was basically her knight in shining armour. I swear I could see hearts in An’s eyes.

I don’t think homophobia exists here at all. I’ve been a little hesitant to bring it up just in case, but it feels like everyone I know is gay.

It’s nice, actually. 

I never got a chance to have a girlfriend. To go on dates, hold hands, cuddle. Someone I could just drop all pretence with. Someone who’d look at me and see Ena, not Lady Enanan.

Though to be honest, at this point I think I’d take any physical interaction and kindness I can get. Honami hasn’t been around as much lately, and Kohane sits with An most of the time. 

I don’t blame them, their lives certainly don’t revolve around me.

I guess I just wish I could have a few more happy memories before I die. Great. I’m selfish and a coward.

My potions teacher mentioned a plant hidden deep in the forest that can be crushed into a fine powder. Apparently if you consume it, it can act like a sleeping pill, but if you consume too much, you’ll never wake up.

It’s not like I can use magic to knock myself out, so I figure if I get a hold of this I could fake an accidental death.

I think I’ve watched enough true crime videos to know how to do this.

Shit, art class is starting.

-

We might have a field trip soon into the forest for potions. This would be the perfect chance to find that plant.

I’m not gonna get my hopes too high, but it’d make my life so much easier…

-

Mizuki wasn’t sure how long they sat there, reading through Ena’s personal confessions.

The guilt of invading her privacy was strong, but there was no way Mizuki could say she regretted it. 

Ena had a strong plan to end her own life. She felt helpless and trapped, she was alone and spiralling without anyone else to confide in. She was about to make an irreversible decision and all of these entries seemed so… Accepting.

The initial anger and sadness mellowed out into an ominous apathy that filled the pages with the words of someone who has completely and utterly given up.

Ena should be angry. She should be furious at Enanan and feel a righteous rage to live out of spite. Anything but this.

The sight of Ena giving up in the water flickered in Mizuki's mind and she quickly shook her head to get it out.

“I feel so bad for her,” An said after a long stretch of silence. “I-I’ve been glaring at her and making her feel unwelcome and all this time…”

“You didn’t know,” Mizuki reminded An kindly. “The enchantment wouldn't let you.”

An didn’t look convinced but didn’t say anything else. Mizuki was almost afraid to look over Akito, but forced herself to do it anyway.

“We can’t let her kill herself,” Akito muttered. “We can’t let Enanan win.”

Mizuki couldn’t stop the look of pure shock from emerging on her face. Even An flinched and stared at Akito as if waiting for him to backtrack and say something else entirely.

“Ever since… Ena got here, I thought that maybe… Maybe Enanan was growing up. That she was changing, to be less mean, less selfish.”

He stood up on shaky legs and scratched the back of his head, fidgeting to hide the sorrow he felt. 

“But now I know that it was never Enanan. My sister never wanted to change. She never wanted to be better. And now, knowing that she stooped to such a low level…”

Mizuki and An stood up and moved forward to hug Akito, letting him cry silently onto their shoulders as he bent his head down. 

“What do we do now?” An asked weakly. “If we don’t stop her, then Ena really will… She’ll…”

Mizuki spared her having to say the words out loud. “We can save her. Rui and Toya can work together to figure out a loophole to the forbidden magic enchantment and the rest of us can try to help Ena want to live again.” She sighed, scratching the back of her hand sadly. “Because even if we could end the spell now, Ena’s never going back to her home. And she’s really fragile right now. We need to make sure she feels loved, like there’s hope that she can learn to be happy here.”

“That’s not going to be easy,” Akito pitched in. “From what I could tell in the past few weeks, Ena’s just as prideful as I am. If she catches on that we’re doing this, I’d bet my entire allowance that she’d assume it’s out of pity and self sabotage.”

Mizuki hated how accurate that sounded and groaned. “So we just won’t say anything to her? She’ll notice if we’re nice to her out of nowhere!”

“Well,” An hummed. “She did almost just die. Maybe we can spin it like we’re concerned classmates that want to make sure she’s okay, and we can lean into it from there.”

“This is such a stupid plan,” Akito groaned, despite not offering up a better one. 

“I’m sure everyone’s back at my dorm. We should go back and fill them in.” Mizuki hugged onto the sketchbook, feeling an odd attachment and protectiveness to it. 

This book was the only confidant and friend that Ena had. The only way she could ever get out the dark thoughts and sorrows she was keeping all burrowed inside of her. 

Mizuki knew that she should put it back. It was wrong of her to have read it at all, but it’d be worse if she stole it.

But… 

“Mizuki? Aren’t you going to put it back?”

“I-I will,” She said with a little laugh. “I just… We should let the others read all of it first. Then I’ll hide it back here. I promise.”

By the time everyone was up to date, there was not a dry eye in Mizuki’s dorm room.

Tsukasa especially seemed devastated, his older brother instincts kicking in. He stood up and excused himself to go and comb through Ena’s tangled hair, muttering something about getting the salt water out even though she had fallen in a freshwater river.

“This spell must’ve been outrageously powerful,” Rui said thoughtfully, a massive stack of his own research materials scattered on Mizuki’s dining table. “Especially if the cost was an entire human life. Technically two.”

“But is there a way to stop it?” Mizuki asked desperately. 

Rui tapped his bottom lip as he thought. “Well, we’re working with fate here. Fate is a fickle thing, because it’s never truly set in stone. In theory anything can be avoided, especially something as… Vague as what Enanan was running from.”

“What do you mean?” Toya asked, taking notes in his own journal. 

“Well, all she knew was that she’d suffer as a consequence of her actions, yes? There were a series of potential outcomes, not just one, and they all seemed dependent on Mizuki’s choices.”

“Right, about that.” Mizuki laughed a little nervously. “Why?”

“You’re something of an anchor in our current set of events. It seems that Enanan’s fate was all focussed around the cruelties she would inflict upon you.”

“But if the bad thing only happens if Enanan bullies Mizuki, then shouldn’t Ena be fine?” Kohane looked more stressed than Mizuki had ever seen her.

“Technically she’s not out of the woods yet,” Rui explained. “From her writings, it seems like there’s a deadline. Enanan either dies before it, or she will face her punishment then.”

“What’s the deadline?”

“The end of year ball.” Mizuki answered, thinking back to the journal entries that were a little harder to understand before she realised that Ena viewed their lives like a series of potential outcomes, and was trying to keep track of them. “One of these nerds is supposed to confess to me, apparently.”

She giggled a little at the concept, and they all seemed equally incredulous about it. 

“So wait,” An scratched the side of her head. “If we could, in theory, keep Ena alive until then, she could outlive fate? Would it really just… Let her go?”

Rui nodded. “From my understanding, yes. Magic is not entirely unreasonable, so long as we work around its conditions, we should be fine.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Toya pointed out. “We have to save Ena from those shadowy figures and herself.”

Mizuki flinched. She couldn’t get over the flippancy in which they all spoke about Ena’s suicidal plans.

“B-But there’s a lot of us, right?” Kohane raised her hand. “Surely we can all work together to keep an eye on her?”

Akito was eerily silent. No one wanted to risk pushing him too hard, but it was hard to tell if he was mourning Enanan or wishing he could resurrect her to kill her himself.

“We have a few weeks before the end of year ball,” An said. “We can make it, can’t we?”

Mizuki nodded resolutely. “I’ll try to find Mafuyu so she knows what the plan is, although I’m pretty sure this was what she was trying to tell me anyway.”

Tsukasa emerged from Mizuki’s room with a solemn look. “I heard everything, don’t worry, but… Ena’s really pale. And I think she’s crying in her sleep.”

Mizuki didn’t think her heart could break anymore for someone else, but apparently it could.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like… Being ripped away from your home and told you were just brought to your own death.” Kohane murmured, leaning into An for comfort.

“Rui,” Akito’s hoarse voice spoke up. “Is there any way to send her back… To her real home?”

Rui grimaced as if he had been anticipating that question. “I… I don’t think so. Her body was brought here, so there’s nothing to send her back to. There’s no magic in her world, we have nothing to work with.”

At everyone’s confused expressions, Rui pulled out a ribbon that was looped inside the seam of his sleeve to tighten it.

“See how easy it was for me to pull this out? It was because the primary force - magic - was on this side. But now, if I try to push it back through, I can’t get it to go back inside. Not unless there was something inside that could latch onto the ribbon and pull towards its direction.”

“There’s nothing to grab the ribbon, nothing to grab Ena. If we tried to push her through, she’d just fall right back here.” He looked sincerely apologetic when he said, “Ena’s never returning to her home.”

Chapter Text

I’m pretty sure Rui is like, hardcore gaslighting Tsukasa.

I overheard them at lunch. Rui started piling his vegetables on Tsukasa’s plate and said he was doing it because he cared “so much about Tsukasa’s health” and would sacrifice his own for him.

Tsukasa started tearing up and graciously accepted them but I also overheard Mizuki scolding Rui for refusing to eat anything remotely healthy.

I guess what Tsukasa doesn’t know can’t hurt him?

-

Unicorns are fucking terrifying and anything saying otherwise is unicorn propaganda.

We had to study them for our creature anatomy class and I never want to see one again.

They’re not just cute horses with horns. 

They’re freaking massive and they look more like rhinos than ponies. They’re so muscular and pointy UGH it freaks me out.

I mean, they still have the rainbow coloured manes? So I guess not everything was wrong? 

This place is driving me insane.

-

I heard Mizuki singing in the music room earlier today. She has a really pretty voice, I wish she’d sing more often.

-

Enanan’s parents are never here.

I didn’t really pay any attention to it in the game, but I guess her parents are so wealthy that they live in their own mansion somewhere else. They send letters sometimes, but they’re never actually addressed to me Enanan or Akito. They’re all vague instructions and demands, nothing personalised in the slightest.

Could that be why she was so monstrous? She never got any affection from her parents? 

It’d explain the need for attention and stuff but then… Akito is just fine without it. He’s prickly sometimes, sure, but he’s genuinely really kind. So if he turned out alright then why was Enanan the way she was?

Maybe I keep looking for explanations where there aren’t any. Maybe she was just awful and I need to accept that.

I still see her corpse in my nightmares. I still don’t think I hate her. I think I just really pity her.

She’s surrounded by so many amazing people. All she ever had to do was be kind, and she would’ve been swarmed with attention and love. Could she not see that? Or did she know, and just enjoyed being mean better?

I guess I’ll never know now. I’ve been trying to research the magic in this world a bit better, and it seems necromancy isn’t possible even with forbidden magic.

If I had found her the day she died, there might’ve been enough time to heal her body before her soul left it completely, but she was alone down there for so long. 

And I don’t really know how she died. Like yeah, it was magic, but did it just cut off her breathing? Turn off her brain? Could she have even been healed at all?

I want to hate her so badly. After all this time I still can’t.

 Maybe being hated by everyone here has made me more sympathetic. Maybe it’s clouding my judgement. I don’t know. Whatever.

None of this matters in the long run. It’s not like I can actually do anything.

-

I really feel bad for Akito.

I saw him writing letters to his parents, apparently he sends them nearly each week. I managed to read one, and it’s just him telling them about his day, about what’s happening in his life. I overheard the staff say that they’ve never responded to him, and letters are presumably thrown away.

Does he know that? Surely he does. He knows full well by now that they don’t care about him beyond him properly representing the Shinonome family or whatever. But if he knows, why does he do it anyway?

Oh. Maybe it’s the same reason I’m writing this diary.

God that’s so sad. I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.

Akito’s really not that bad. He’s grouchy and annoying sometimes, but I’ve seen the way he talks to the staff so respectfully, or helps new students find their way around the giant campus. 

I can’t help but wonder what it’d be like if he were my little brother back home. I feel like Dad would’ve probably loved him. He always wanted a son. They could bully my art together. Hah.

Mom’s always had a soft spot for grouchy people. It’s the only reason she put up with Dad this long. I think she’d probably keep embarrassing baby pictures of him like she did with me to show to all his friends whenever they came over. 

I’m pretty sure Akito likes cheesecake as much as I do. I could totally imagine the two of us guilt tripping mom into baking us some when we were little. My puppy-dog eyes were effective but times that by two? Maybe we’d be unstoppable. 

What would it have been like, to fight over the TV remote with someone? To have someone to sit with during those long boring car rides? To have someone to take care of? To annoy to death with older sibling privileges?

Maybe Mom and Dad would’ve made us wear matching Halloween costumes. Or those cheesy Christmas sweaters.

Maybe with two kids, they’d have to pay more attention to me. Maybe they’d be better. 

Why am I doing this to myself? 

-

Mizuki sighed as she put the sketchbook back down, wincing at the sight of Ena where she was laid back down to rest.

She really regretted having to use magic on her again, but Mizuki had panicked. She hadn’t expected Ena to find her sketchbook so soon. She was kind of hoping it wouldn’t be until after they convinced her to keep living. When she was more reassured that she had a home here, maybe even after she learned to love it here!

But now was much too soon. Now Ena wouldn’t believe them or their kindness, she’d insist it was all pity. Or maybe she’d be embarrassed and hide away anyway. Either way, she would feel betrayed, and Mizuki wasn’t sure how to fix that.

Mizuki felt like she knew Ena so much more intimately as a person. Reading her journal entries gave her so much insight into the person Ena was supposed to be. Between the bouts of self pity and devastation, there were moments where her personality showed through. She was stubborn with a strong sense of justice, she was creative in more ways than just art, she had amazing fashion taste.

She was also really funny, and made Mizuki giggle in between her sobbing during every re-read.

An had truly tried to get her to stop, but Mizuki felt she owed it to Ena. One of Ena’s biggest fears was that she’d die unknown . No one here would truly mourn her because they never truly knew her. Mizuki was determined to fix that, to at least be the one person who did know her.

Though she was dead-set on keeping Ena alive at all costs. 

The girl in question was sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning with a tense expression on her face. Mizuki was sitting alone with her in the Shinonome guest room. Everyone else was out getting breakfast and understood that Mizuki needed to stay with Ena, for her own peace of mind.

Gently, Mizuki ran her fingers through Ena’s hair to try and smooth out where it had gotten frizzy in her panic. Her hand got caught on a pretty little braid that was tied off with a ribbon.

A girl after my own heart.

Mizuki loved ribbons, they were always a symbol of self-expression for her.

Was it the same for Ena? Was this her way of preserving a part of herself even as she was forced to be someone else?

A chill washed over the room and Mizuki knew that she and Ena were no longer alone. But there was no panic or worry. Mizuki knew exactly who it was.

“Mafuyu, you’re back.”

Mafuyu seemed to detect Mizuki’s colder tone. “I suppose now you know everything?”

“Just as much as this would tell us,” Mizuki waved the sketchbook lazily. “She found it in my bag, though. She knows we know.”

Mafuyu nodded understandingly. “I see. How’d she take it?”

Mizuki snorted. “I had to knock her out cold again before she had another panic attack.”

This made Mafuyu frown. “You shouldn’t do that.”

“I know, I know. Too much magic is bad for her.”

“Not just that,” Mafuyu sighed. “Ena is under intense emotional distress. If you want her to sleep through every sad thought or panic attack she has, she’ll never wake up.”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Mizuki snapped. “You didn’t see her, she was borderline hurting herself.”

“Mizuki.” Mafuyu’s voice was stern and sharp. “It took me a long time to learn this lesson. But you can’t force someone to be happy. And yes, that is what you’re trying to do. Just not on purpose. You have the best intentions, but you can’t magically fix Ena. She needs to be conscious if you ever want her to know she has a place here.”

Mizuki winced, looking properly chagrined. “You’re… You’re right. Sorry.”

Mafuyu huffed, sitting down next to Mizuki and watching Ena carefully. It was quiet before Mizuki spoke again.

“...Why’d you do it? Why did you help Enanan do all of this?”

“She threatened someone important to me,” Mafuyu murmured. “I was selfish. I didn’t care what happened to Ena if it meant keeping Kanade safe.”

“Kanade?”

“She saved me, a long time ago. She’s the one who taught me how to move on, how to live my own life.” She curled up on herself, a fond smile gracing her usually neutral features. “She would be ashamed of me if she found out what I’d done. That I had put my old miserable life onto someone else.”

“You said Enanan threatened her…”

“Kanade’s been using forbidden magic to keep her father alive until she can wake him from his coma,” Mafuyu explained. “I’m unsure how Enanan found out, but she was ecstatic to have some blackmail on me. It’s fairly common knowledge around here that my mother is skilled with forbidden magic. Enanan assumed I’d be too.”

Mizuki cringed, not wanting to ask her next question. “You knew Enanan, then… Was she really… Evil?”

“You’re like Ena,” Mafuyu hummed, more of an observation than a statement. “You want me to tell you she was misunderstood.”

“Haha…” Mizuki was sheepish at being read so thoroughly. “It’s more for Ena’s sake than anything.”

“I believe it bothers Ena so much because she’s afraid that she’s like Enanan.”

“What?!” Mizuki scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. Ena knows that Enanan was way worse.”

“Ena is very insecure. Right now she’s not entirely thinking logically.”

Mizuki frowned but didn’t protest. For some reason she felt the need to defend Ena. She felt more connected to her after reading her innermost thoughts. To Mizuki, Ena’s panic felt very reasonable given her circumstances.

“To answer your question,” Mafuyu startled Mizuki once she spoke so suddenly. “Enanan was fully aware of what she was doing. She knew exactly who she was hurting to get what she wanted. She knew the full extent of which she was hurting them. She simply didn’t care.”

“That can’t be true,” Mizuki protested weakly. “No one is pure evil.”

“And Enanan didn’t think of herself as such,” Mafuyu countered. “She believed she was simply acting in her own best interests. She believed that she deserved to step on other people to get what she wanted. Hedonistic to the very end.”

Mizuki couldn’t comprehend that kind of thinking at all. She felt her eyes drift back to Ena, who had so desperately been searching for a way to forgive Enanan, to give herself some kind of peace. Now she’d never get it. Not sincerely, anyway.

“What will you do when she wakes up?” Mafuyu asked, changing the topic.

“I don’t know yet,” Mizuki confessed. “I feel like I can’t leave her alone. Either those shadows will come back and hurt her or… She’ll hurt herself.”

“She’s not as fragile as you think,” Mafuyu said, the barest hint of a smile returning on her delicate features. “She’s tough and stubborn when she has something to fight for. You just need to help her find that something.”

“Easier said than done.” Mizuki pouted. 

Mafuyu rolled her eyes fondly. “If it’s any consolation, I may have some good news.”

This caught Mizuki’s attention. She spun around to properly face Mafuyu with wide eyes brimming with hope.

“I believe that Enanan’s cursed fate had a deadline - the end of year ball. So long as Ena survives until then, I believe she can escape the spell.”

So Rui’s theory had been right!

“And after that?”

Mafuyu shrugged. “Who knows? Enanan’s enchantment will eventually wear off, and over time people might start to see Ena as herself. I suppose at that point she’s free to live however she chooses.”

Mizuki wanted to be happier about that, but the words felt heavy where they settled in her mind.

Ena was barely clinging on as is. Even if there was a way for her to avoid Enanan’s fate, she was still taken away from her family and the life she’s always known.

Would Ena be able to handle it, if she could live here freely, forced to start her life all over again?

No family, no friends, no home…

No. That’s not true. Mizuki already felt that pull towards Ena, that convinced her she was a girl well worth saving. There was no way she’d leave her alone.

“I’ll take care of her,” Mizuki decided. “Until she’s ready to live by her own choice.”

Mafuyu looked at Mizuki with a soft gaze that told her that was the right answer. “Go easy on her. It’s been weeks of loneliness and isolation, I’d bet she’s already very overwhelmed with you all being here and suddenly being so kind to her.”

“Yeah, maybe we’ll start off in smaller groups,” Mizuki muttered offhandedly, a more pressing thought reaching the forefront of her mind. 

Now that Akito knew the truth, that Ena wasn’t his sister and that Enanan was dead… Would he allow her to keep living here? Living the lie Enanan wove for her?

He was still rather tight-lipped about his feelings about Ena. He was rather quiet earlier, and didn’t show much signs of hostility, but Akito was hard to read. He was the kind of guy that could act one way in front of you while really being the complete opposite.  Would he kick Ena out? Expose her to everyone?

If so, Mizuki already knew she’d take her in a heartbeat. Sure, her dorm was small for two people, but Mizuki certainly wouldn’t mind the company. She could tutor Ena, teach her how to really live in this world. Maybe she could learn magic! Maybe Mizuki really could take Ena off Akito’s hands…

“About her brother,” Geez, could Mafuyu read minds or something? “Akito. You should let them speak alone when Ena wakes up.”

Mizuki tried not to outwardly cringe at that idea but knew that her body language likely gave her away. She nodded hesitantly, but by no means enthusiastically. “I know that I should do that but…”

“You can’t control people’s reactions,” Mafuyu crossed her arms. “If you keep coddling Ena then she’ll never stop being this timid, insecure version of herself. If Akito hates her, he hates her. You cannot change other people, and you need to let Ena fight her own battles.”

Mizuki hated being lectured, especially coming from someone who was undoubtedly not much older than herself. She knew Mafuyu was right, but was it really so wrong to want to take Ena and hide her away for a little bit? Just enough to get her out of that scary, dark place her sketchbook described?

Mizuki knew what that kind of feeling was like. She had never wanted to die or disappear, not in the way Ena did, but she understood what that darkness could do to a person. 

Mafuyu stood up and walked away, facing the window. “I trust you’ll do right by her. I’ll do what I can to ward off the shadows, but Ena will still need protection.”

“Do you want me to fight her battles or not?” Mizuki asked snarkily, knowing how childish it was coming off. 

Mafuyu levelled a glare at her that made her sigh and sheepishly look away. “Mizuki.”

“Okay okay I’m sorry,” She groaned. “I know what you mean, I’m just being petty.”

“Yes. You are.” As Mafuyu turned to walk away, she briefly paused before turning back ever so slightly. “I pity Ena. Perhaps putting up with you will be her greatest struggle…”

“Wh- Hey!” Mizuki cried out as a wave of violet smoke emerged and whisked Mafuyu away. Just as the smoke was dissipating Mizuki could swear she heard the lightest giggle fade away.

Mizuki would’ve ideally sat there and reread Ena’s sketchbook a few more times before dealing with the rest of the world, but it would seem that wasn’t in the cards for her.

A light knock on the door preceded an awkward looking Akito, with his arms tightly crossed and his expression guarded.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Mizuki echoed. “How are you feeling lil bro?”

He grimaced. “I thought you were joking when you threatened to call me that.”

“Wasn’t a threat,” Mizuki smirked. “It was a promise.”

“Ugh,” Akito groaned, walking forward and sitting at the edge of the bed, noticeably a distance away from the still slumbering Ena. “I can’t believe I put up with dating you in a different timeline.”

Mizuki grimaced. Ena’s sketchbook explained all the other versions of their lives she had witnessed, though the one where she ended up with Akito was by far the least detailed.

Admittedly she had a very difficult time seeing herself romantically interested in any of her friends. Rui, Tsukasa, Toya, and Akito were all dear to her, and in the short time she’s arrived at this school she’s grown to really appreciate and cherish them.

But the idea of kissing any of them made her want to puke, just a little bit.

It’d really be like kissing a brother. Ew.

“Let’s not think about that,” Mizuki quickly muttered, Akito not protesting at all. “Sooo what brings you here?”

“To my house?” Akito raised a brow.

“You know what I mean.”

No longer able to deflect, Akito wilted as he finally looked at Ena. “Has she woken up at all?”

Mizuki shook her head. “She’s really out of it. I definitely can’t risk using magic on her again.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”

They sat quietly for longer than Mizuki could tolerate before she decided to just rip off the bandaid. “What do you plan on doing about Ena?”

“Huh?” Akito asked dumbly, caught off guard.

“Are you going to pretend she’s your sister? Or… Are you going to make her leave?”

“Make her-! I wouldn’t just kick her out!” Akito sounded truly affronted. “L-Look, I can’t sit here and honestly tell you that I miss Enanan because I don’t . We were never close, and I never had any interest in being close until…”

“Until Ena replaced her?”

Akito curled up on himself, looking deeply ashamed. “I know that’s seriously messed up, but… Ena’s annoying in a normal-sister way, not the psychotic way. She actually… Cared . When I thought she was Enanan, I really wanted to believe that maybe I’d actually get to have a sibling. Maybe… She grew up and matured, maybe she wouldn’t be mean or obnoxious anymore.”

“But now,” Akito’s voice broke. “I find out that my real sister was even worse than I thought she was. It goes so much further past spilling potions on someone or laughing behind their backs. She was ready to condemn Ena to death. H-How can I be related to someone like that?”

“Akito…”

“A-And stupid Ena has to go and - and write all those nice things about me in her stupid book!” Akito’s voice was shaky now, devastation no longer concealed under his blase persona as he stood up and paced the floor. “S-She just had to go and say she w-wished she had a brother like me! That’s not fair!”

It’s not fair.

Those three words summed up this entire thing pretty well.

“How am I supposed to pretend she’s Enanan when I know all of this?! I-I can’t just pretend my sister was a good person! I can’t just swap her out for someone better - I can’t…”

The sound of Ena stirring on the bed jolted Akito out of his rant. The two of them froze to look at her, watching as she flopped onto her side with a furrowed brow.

“Nngghhh shut up,” She whined. “Five more minutes. Y’ so loud… ”

It only took ten seconds before Ena was out cold again, Akito just staring in blatant shock. Mizuki could see the emotions rushing through his face, the confliction and devastation plain to see.

“Why couldn’t I have had this?” He asked in a near whisper. “This was all I wanted.”

Mizuki shot Akito the softest smile she could manage. It was more to stop herself from welling up with emotion than anything else “Well… You have it now? Maybe… Maybe you can see this as the one good thing Enanan did for you? She gave you a real sister, even if that’s not what she meant to do.”

Akito flinched as if struck. “I-It can’t be that easy. Besides, Ena doesn’t even want to live , let alone pretend to be my sister.”

“Well, we’re going to fix that, aren’t we?” Mizuki stood up to face Akito head on. 

“She doesn’t even want to be here,” Akito protested weakly. “She wants to go back to her real family.”

Mizuki had never seen Akito look so vulnerable before. He sounded so young with the childish plea, the hope he was stamping down before it had a chance to bloom. Akito didn’t really have much of a family, did he? Mizuki was always grateful for hers, especially her own older sister, who took care of her and saved her when she was at her lowest.

She could understand why Akito craved the same thing.

“I know, but there’s no way to send her back, you know that.” Mizuki murmured. “We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is try to make things better for her now. And maybe an annoying little brother is just what she needs?”

Ena slept restlessly and fitfully. Her dreams were incomprehensible but filled with dread nonetheless. She saw flashes of what she knew to be her parents, shifting slowly until she was facing those awful shadows as they loomed ever closer, waiting to kill her in some horrible way or another.

She’d see Mizuki’s lifeless face, leaned up against a wall where Enanan was supposed to be. Dead eyes looking up at Ena with such contempt, such rage. 

“You did this. It’s always been you.”

She awoke with a pained gasp, her throat feeling just as sore as it did the last time she woke up in a rush like this. Ena looked around to see the empty guest room, and the night sky illuminating it through the cracks of the sheer curtain that covered the large windows.

The other beds were made and more notably - empty. 

Ena’s memories returned to her slowly, her drowning only to wake up to confusion and overwhelming kindness tossed her way.

Her head throbbed the way it did when she accidentally stayed up all night drawing on her ageing art tablet, the brightness piercing her eyes in her otherwise pitch black bedroom. 

The memory stung like an old wound, and Ena desperately shook it away as she cradled her head weakly. Her arms felt like jelly, the rest of her body felt like it was wading through thick molasses just to move an inch.

Where did everyone else go? How long had Ena been asleep this time?

She was getting really pissed off at all of these giant gaps that she was sleeping through. Existing in this world was confusing enough, she didn’t need all of this disorientation too.

As Ena staggered upright, she felt like she was forgetting something crucial, but her mind felt far too foggy to let her recall it just yet. 

She stood in the middle of the room, eyes drifting off to the door. If she went out, what would she find? Would Mizuki still be there, with all of her friends by her side laughing and making cherished memories? Or would she just find the night staff cleaning away, averting their eyes from “Lady Enanan”?

Ena sighed before turning to walk towards the window. To her surprise, a door latch revealed a small balcony on the other side. Ena gratefully pulled it open - ignoring how much strength it took her to complete such a simple action - and stepped outside to enjoy the cool breeze.

Her bare feet shivered on the cold stone beneath her, but something about the sensation made her feel a bit calmer. It was grounding, in a way, slowly letting her wake up as she stared off at the pretty night sky.

From here, Ena had a perfect view of the Shinonome gardens that sat in front of the manor, and how it led off into the main road that quickly made its way to the rest of the town. From there it was all a bunch of random buildings until you reached the massive school, which looked so much less daunting from all the way up there.

Not too far off in the horizon, covered by trees and forest, was the Tenma castle.

Right, there was royalty in this game. 

Ena had completely forgotten. Her few interactions with the other characters were not only scarce, but brief too. She didn’t spend enough time around them for it to have really sunk in that they were all of such high status. 

Suddenly it horrified Ena how casually she spoke to Tsukasa or Toya. It was the version of Ena that was still drawing all night in her room, the version that had yet to see a dead body with her own two eyes, the version of Ena that had never experienced anything close to death.

But this version of Ena? She was far too tired to care.

So much has changed since she’s come here, and yet she felt just as helpless as she did when she first arrived. The grand lustre of being inside a fictional world fizzled out much too soon. These were all real people to her now, which somehow was much scarier.

This entire thing was a long, drawn out nightmare. 

The weird day she spent with Mizuki and her friends was an outlier in her otherwise lonely existence. It was so strange, all of it. The way they spoke to her like old friends, or touched her casually without any malicious intent, or the way they…

The way they went through her sketchbook, reading all her most private and intimate thoughts.

…

Ena didn’t cry. She was out of tears. Her frustration settled inside her stomach and left her feeling nauseous. Her mind replayed all the events that took place after she woke up the first time. Every kind word or smile from Mizuki and her friends, all with the new context of them having read her innermost thoughts.

“Ena, how’re you feeling?” Mizuki sounded uncharacteristically solemn, almost shy, as she approached slowly from behind. 

Ena shrugged, not trusting her voice to speak.

Mizuki stood beside her, resting her arms on the balcony railing as she watched Ena from the corner of her eye.

“I… Really should apologise,” Mizuki said sheepishly. “For a lot of things.”

Ena looked up at her curiously, trying to not react outwardly to how pretty Mizuki looked in the moonlight. Her pink eyelashes made her look so ethereal it almost didn’t feel real.

Mizuki continued, fidgeting in place. “For using so much magic on you, and for… For reading this.”

She lifted up the worn sketchbook and held it out in front of her. It was like she was offering it back to Ena while clinging onto it as tightly as she could.

“...How much of it have you read?” Ena asked, knowing she didn’t really want the answer.

Mizuki laughed a little nervously. “Um. Kind of, all of it?”

Ena let out a puff of air and ducked her head, hiding behind her choppy bangs as she averted her eyes.

“You’re a really skilled artist,” Mizuki commented. “I mean the way you capture people is just… Amazing.”

“...Thanks.”

Mizuki fidgeted uncomfortably. Ena let her squirm for just a little bit out of pure pettiness before finally taking her out of her misery. 

“So, now what?”

Mizuki’s eyes were wide and just a little glossy. “Now, I convince you to stay.”

Ena scoffed lightly, tightened her grip around her arms. Mizuki made it sound as though there was a choice to be made. Ena didn’t need convincing. She was stuck here. End of story.

“I mean it,” Mizuki stressed. “I mean, there’s so much to live for here!”

Oh.

Oh .

“-There’s the balls and clubs, field trips and parties… Some classes are really fun if you give them a chance! A-And there are so many opportunities in this kingdom, especially for an artist like yourself!”

“Mizuki…”

“And! And there are so many people who would love to get to know you, the real you!” Mizuki barrelled forward. “Beyond our own little group, there’s Emu who wants to take art lessons, Airi who’s seriously into fashion, um who else who else…”

“Mizuki!”

The girl in question cut herself off and stared down at a flustered looking Ena.

“I didn’t realise that’s what you meant,” She said softly. “I uh. I guess my diary must’ve been more dramatic than I remembered if you think that I’d-”

“You were researching poisons,” Mizuki deadpanned. “I’m sorry that I found out against your consent but please, don’t lie to me anymore. Not about this.”

Ena felt her prickly defensiveness rise. “W-What right do you have-?!”

Mizuki cut her off with a firm hug that nearly cut off Ena’s breath - not for how tight it was, but more for how unexpected the gesture was.

“Please. Just let me help you. Please.”

Ena’s breath hitched for real this time. There was so much raw emotion poured into those six words. 

“Why… Why do you want to? You don’t know me?”

“Because I really wanna,” Mizuki said gently. “Get to know you, I mean.”

Ena pulled away, Mizuki letting her out of the embrace easily though neither truly wanted to separate so soon. She was at a loss for words. What could she possibly say, that Mizuki hadn’t already read in her sketchbook?

It was a terrifying thing, to be known so intimately.

“I… I don’t know,” Was all Ena could manage. She wasn’t even sure what the words were referring to. Maybe everything? After weeks of resigning herself to death Ena felt as though she had made as much peace with it as she could. She accepted her loneliness and isolation, the fact that there was no one there to help her.

But Mizuki changed everything. Now Ena just… Didn’t know.

Didn’t know what to do with herself, what her future held, what this meant for Enanan’s legacy…

“You don’t have to know,” Mizuki said a little hastily. “We can help you.”

“Why aren’t they mad at me?” Ena asked, staring at her bare feet as they stumbled back slightly. “You didn’t know Enanan… But they did. A-Akito-”

“Ena, breathe.” Mizuki said gently, her hands outreached but not quite touching Ena. “I promise you, no one’s mad at you. Honestly, everyone’s furious with Enanan, but she’s not exactly here to yell at so they might still be letting off some steam in the fencing room.”

“Oh,” Was all Ena could manage. She waited a beat. “I don’t… Feel very well,” She confessed.

Mizuki winced, a truly remorseful look on her face. “That’s my fault. I promise I won’t use any more magic on you unless I absolutely have to, your body really can’t handle it.”

“You put me to sleep?”

“I… Panicked.” Mizuki confessed. With a nervous laugh she continued. “I’m just so used to throwing magic at my problems, y’know? It’s a bad habit.”

Ena looked more dejected than ever. “Right. Your… Problems…”

It took a second before Mizuki’s eyes widened. “No no! Not like that! That’s not what I meant- You're not a problem! Not in the slightest! Oh Gods I really am awful at talking to people, huh?”

Ena let out a small pity laugh, admittedly amused by how red in the face Mizuki had become. “It’s okay. I know that I’m-”

“Nope!” Mizuki cut her off. “Not letting you say another self-deprecating thought. I’ve heard enough of those from you.”

“Technically,” Ena murmured. “You didn’t hear it from me. You read it from my very private, personal diary.”

Mizuki reddened again. “O-Okay if you’re fine enough to make jokes about this then you’re fine enough to come out and eat some real food!” 

Ena’s next laugh was a little livelier, and a little more genuine. It was enough to make Mizuki’s heart soar before she grabbed onto Ena’s arm and directed her back inside, ignoring her weak protests.

“Listen… I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Mizuki said carefully. “But… Let me try and help you? Let me try and figure out this curse, and help you find your place here.”

Ena grimaced and looked again.

Mizuki looked resigned before she continued. Like the words pained her to say.

“Let me do everything I can to help you, and if you still hate it here, if you still want to…” Ena’s eyes widened at the implication. “J-Just let me try to help you first, okay? You have to really, really try.”

As they made it out into the hallways, lit up by warm candlelit sconces, Ena nodded slowly. “I’ll try.”

Mizuki beamed, brighter than any sun Ena had ever looked at. “Thank you, Ena. You won’t regret this!” 

As Mizuki picked up her pace, practically dragging Ena along, she tried to hide her warring emotions. This wasn’t going to be easy, not in the slightest. But she had to try. She had to.

Chapter Text

Ena had managed to stall for some more time by asking Mizuki if she could run to the bathroom by herself.

Mizuki obviously wasn’t going to say no, but Ena had a sneaking suspicion they saw through her ill-thought out scheme to get a minute or two alone.

The guest bathrooms were just as lavish as the one in Enanan’s bedroom, and under different circumstances Ena would love nothing more than to curl up in a hot tub of water surrounded by bubbles and sweet-smelling bath salts.

Instead she settled for looking in the mirror, grimacing at the sight she saw before her.

Her skin looked deathly pale, bruised and marred with deep eye bags and hairline scratches. The rest of her didn’t fare much better, with her arms and legs visibly messed up from the whole… Drowning incident.

She resolved to not think about it too much. The sensation of drowning was one Ena never wanted to think about again. The only thing worse was the god awful helplessness she felt when Enanan’s dress pulled her down.

A nasty voice in her head made Ena wonder, was that Enanan's ghost’s way of getting revenge? It was silly but in a way, wasn’t it true?

Enanan’s curse would live on past her death, Ena was still walking on a thin tightrope despite Mizuki’s reassurances. What could Mizuki do to fight back against fate itself?

If the deadline really was the end of year, and that’s a big if , then Ena could theoretically outlive Enanan’s curse. 

But even that wasn’t a guarantee.

She sighed, her own reflection making her feel ill to look at. She turned on the tap and splashed her face with cold water, flinching at the familiar feeling of being submerged in water before she quickly turned it off.

Ena didn’t look much better after that, but it had given her some time to try and calm down. The whirlwind of emotions she was experiencing was so overwhelming that it left her feeling a bit numb.

She had made so many plans to end her life peacefully, and now what? Her hope of making her death look like an accident was definitely not happening, now there were people who were invested in keeping her alive.

She wanted so desperately to be happy about that, but the consequence of having people care for you is the potential of letting them down.

Now if she were to die, there’d be people who’d truly mourn her. And isn’t that just everything Ena thought she wanted? To at least die known?

It didn’t feel as good as she thought it would. The idea of Mizuki investing so much time and magic into Ena’s survival only to fail in the end…

She could practically see the devastation in her eyes already, and it made Ena feel sicker than ever.

But what was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like Ena could go back into hiding in the shadows, not after the promise she made with Mizuki.

God, Mizuki really was too kind.

Everyone else, too. She never would’ve imagined all of Mizuki’s once-love interests and friends would band together to help her. It felt too good to be true.

Good things didn’t just happen to Ena, there had to be some sort of catch, right?

The stress was getting to her. Ena’s mind was racing with possibility after possibility, coming to no conclusions. 

Could she really just… Enjoy it while it lasts? Maybe she could be selfish and not concern herself with what happens after she dies.

Afterall, everyone involved knew that Ena was likely going to die, so they should be at least somewhat prepared for when it happens, right?

“Ena, you doing okay?” Mizuki’s voice was shaky through the ornate wooden door, and it startled Ena upright. 

For a moment Ena was confused by the subtle urgency lacing Mizuki’s voice before she remembered that she was essentially on suicide watch. How cruel would Ena have to be to promise she’d try to live and then immediately dip out to kill herself in the bathroom?

Still, she couldn’t blame Mizuki for the precautions. Ena could hear her nervous shifting on the other side of the door.

“Y-Yeah! Sorry just…” She paused, looking back into her cursed reflection and grimacing at her rushed and emotionally charged haircut. “Actually, could you help me out?”

And that was how Ena ended up sitting on the edge of a tub, as Mizuki very carefully combed through her choppy hair and gently evened out the pieces. 

Facing the mirror, Ena watched in real time as she slowly started to look a little bit more like herself.

Sickly and depressed, but herself.

“Thanks, Mizuki.”

“It’s my pleasure!” She said brightly, and Ena found herself instinctively believing her. “You still want to keep that strand long for your braid?”

Ena blushed. Did Mizuki really notice such a tiny detail about her like that?

“Yes please,” She said quietly, Mizuki only humming in response as she separated the pieces. 

It was peaceful, the soft sound of snipping while Mizuki circled Ena, taking her time to clean up the mess that was Ena’s hair. Through the mirror Ena could see the way Mizuki stuck her tongue out when she was deep in concentration, and it made her smile.

Mizuki really was perfect, huh?

Not only did she look ethereal with her beauty, but she was so charming and sincere that even Ena’s grumpiness faded away into nothingness when she was around.

She felt Mizuki’s soft finger poke the space between her eyebrows when she lifted up Ena’s bangs. “Oi, if you keep scrunching up your face like that you’ll get wrinkles.”

Ena rolled her eyes. “That’s hardly the biggest of my concerns,” She murmured as Mizuki stood much too close in front of her while sectioning out her bangs better. 

“When you’re old and wrinkly don’t come complaining to me,” Mizuki teased, Ena’s heart stuttering at the idea of growing old with Mizuki. After resigning herself to death, it was weird to imagine a future where wrinkles really were the biggest of her problems. 

Ena tried to not think too much about the fact that Mizuki had pulled out a small pink and blue ribbon from their own hair to use on Ena’s. They were matching now. It felt so much more intimate than any of their previous interactions had been. 

There was a moment where neither girl spoke. They just existed in each other’s space as if it were as natural as breathing. Ena closed her eyes, revelling in the soft touches before Mizuki pulled away and she had to stop herself from audibly protesting.

“Aaaand there you go! What do you think? Do I have a future in hairstyling?” 

Ena tilted her head left and right to examine the haircut, shaking it a little to ruffle it up. She couldn’t hold in the smile that crept up on her face. Mizuki just giggled before beaming. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Thank you, Mizuki.” Ena said, feeling bashful all of a sudden. 

Mizuki didn’t let the awkwardness linger, and just looped her arm with Ena’s and pulled her out of the washroom. It seemed like Mizuki knew Enanan’s home much better than Ena did, and thankfully kept them both from getting lost before coming across the others all crammed in a library with stacks of books surrounding them.

“Woah, what did we miss?” Mizuki asked, startling all of them into attention.

“Ena!” Tsukasa was the first to run forward, ignoring Mizuki's lighthearted whine at being ignored. “Are you feeling better?”

She nodded, only for Tsukasa to keep fretting over her, insisting she sit down and rest rather than stand stiffly by the front door. Mizuki closed it shut behind her before following in, leaning forward on the back of Ena’s seat.

For a moment, Ena dreaded what was going to happen next. Were they going to stage an intervention? Sit in a circle and talk about their problems? The idea made her feel sick to her stomach, the last thing she wanted was for them to acknowledge the fact that everyone in that room was fully aware of Ena’s poor mental state.

To her immense relief, Mizuki didn’t let it get to that point.

“So how’s the research going?” Mizuki asked, eyes scanning the books that Ena couldn’t even begin to comprehend, with all the symbols and runes they contained.

Rui’s head popped up with a manically excited expression. “It’s so fascinating! Most of these studies of other realities are theory-based, but now knowing it’s truly possible? It changes everything!”

Toya handed Mizuki a book opened to a page in the middle. “Unfortunately though, it seems Rui really was right about the one-sidedness of the magic. We don’t know enough about Ena’s world to even begin to find a work around.”

Ena deflated. She wasn’t sure why she was so disappointed when she had already resigned herself to this fate. Maybe the fact that she had an entire squadron of main characters helping her out gave her a bit of hope that they could really figure something out.

“But don’t lose faith in us just yet!” An pitched in, sliding her chair over so that she could throw an arm around Ena’s hunched shoulders. “Even if we can’t send you back, we might be able to find a way for you to send a message to your parents at least!”

Ena’s head raised so fast that An had to dodge out of the way to avoid getting hit. “W-Wait really? But how?!”

“Dream magic has always been dodgy but I’ve been theorizing the possibility that our dreams all exist within a shared mindscape, meaning it could act as a bridge across worlds in a sense!” Rui exclaimed with a fire in his eyes. 

“S-So I could tell my parents I’m-” Ena cut herself off. Tell them what? That she was okay? Could she really find it in her to lie?”

“Hey mom, hey dad, I know you’ve probably been running yourselves ragged looking for me but I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to worry! I’m trapped in an alternate dimension where I’m forced to live the life of an honest-to-god super villain and eventually die a horrific death or worse fate! So don’t worry about me! Feel free to move on with your lives.”

Ena cringed at her own mind’s conjuration. “I… I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” She confessed lowly.

“What do you mean?” Kohane asked, sadness laced in her soft voice.

“I don’t wanna give them false hope,” Ena explained miserably. “Even if I tell them I can never see them again, and if somehow they actually believed it, I don’t think they’d stop searching for me.”

“...They really love you, huh?” Akito asked, startling Ena as she was reminded he sat over in the corner with his arms crossed and his eyes averted.

“In their own way, yeah.” It wasn’t exactly a stellar review but Ena didn’t want to lie. Her parents were complicated people, but they really loved her. “I don’t want to hurt them anymore than I already have.”

Afterall, if she told them that she got sucked into the game her father bought her, would he feel guilty about it? Would he blame himself? 

Ena could imagine him sitting on his worn leather recliner, nursing a can of beer while he wondered why he didn’t just buy her the art supplies she wanted.

On her pettiest days, she might’ve taken morbid satisfaction in that, but it only made her feel hollow now. All of her fights with her dad felt so childish. 

“We’ll keep looking into it regardless,” Toya gently rested a hand on her shoulder. “Rui and I have been interested in this topic anyway.”

It was a lame diversion, a way to pretend this wasn’t all for Ena’s sake, but she appreciated the effort anyway. 

“Shit,” An’s voice cursed. “I just realised, we’ve missed like, a week of classes at this point. Our teachers are going to be furious.”

“Even if we say it was for Ena’s recovery?” Kohane offered.

“They’ll never accept that excuse. Why would Ena need all seven of us for that? Besides, we kind of ran from the scene of the crime without really explaining what happened.”

“What?” Mizuki exclaimed. “But I thought Rui stayed behind to explain?”

Rui sheepishly scratched his neck. “Well, I was a bit focussed on analysing the forbidden magic that was used. When the faculty arrived I just so happened to be done so I just… Left?”

Mizuki groaned, dropping her head in frustration. “We’re so screwed.”

“It’ll be fine,” Tsukasa placated her. “We’re all top students, we’ll catch up in no time, and the teachers will surely forgive us for our disappearance!”

Ena felt guilt wash over her once more. She was already uprooting their lives. What if they went through all of this effort, throwing away their own futures in the process, just for Ena to die anyway? 

“Please don’t do this again,” She begged quietly, hoping they knew what she meant. “Not for my sake.”

Tsukasa immediately stood up to protest but Toya slapped his hand over his mouth and pushed him back down into his seat, ignoring his indignant squawk. 

“We understand. This kind of excursion won’t be necessary ever again since we all are aware of the Fates, and can prevent them from attacking you.”

“The Fates?” Ena echoed, resolutely ignoring the rest of what Toya had said. “You mean the shadows?”

Toya nodded. “It’s what we’re calling them for now. They’re essentially the ones that enact forbidden magic, so perhaps it’s not the most accurate name but it works.”

Ena didn’t respond. The idea of them being Fates was more terrifying than just shadows but she didn’t want to say anything, at risk of sounding more childish and afraid than ever. 

“I’ll handle things with the school,” An said, making Ena realise she had zoned out and missed part of the conversation. “It won’t be that hard to convince them to waive any punishments. Especially since we have a few princes on our side.”

She sent a lighthearted glare their way. “You guys get away with everything.”

“N-Not true!” Tsukasa cried out. “When Rui set loose those mechanical monkeys, I got sent to detention because of it! I wasn’t even there when it happened!”

“Well, the teachers pretty much see you two as a combo deal now,” An shrugged, not giving attention to Tsukasa’s yelling. “Better get used to that.”

Ena smiled a little but any joy from watching their banter fell through as she remembered something important.

“Um,” Her soft word immediately captured everyone’s attention, in a way that made her more uneasy than ever. “Where am I going to go now?”

It was Akito who turned to face her, brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t-” Her voice broke and she had to clear her throat before continuing. “I can’t stay here. But… I don’t know where else to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Akito sounded oddly angry when he spat out the words. “You’ve been staying here without any problems for weeks now, why start caring now?”

This made Ena’s hackles raise. “That was different -”

“I don’t see how.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Ena stood up, her chair scraping the wooden floor as her hands gripped the table. “You of all people should understand! I’m sleeping in your dead sister's room, I’m wearing your dead sister’s clothes, I’m living your dead sister’s life !”

Akito flinched, his anger dropping while Ena’s raised. “All of this is fucked up, why are you all acting like it’s not?! I knew Enanan was dead from the start, and I kept it to myself! B-Because I was scared, I kept pretending to be her!”

Ena ignored the soft protests of Mizuki from behind her, shrugging off her hand from her shoulder. “No! Stop acting like- like I’m a good person! Like I’ve done nothing wrong!” Her glare at Akito sharpened. “I found your sister’s rotting corpse and walked right past you without saying a word, you should hate me.”

“That’s enough,” Toya said softly, trying to diffuse the rising tensions. 

“No, no it’s not!” Ena stormed over to Akito, grabbing his arm as he tried to step back. “Hit me, scream at me, kick me out, do something! I can’t stand this!”

Her fury waived until all she could manage out was a broken, “ Please .”

Akito’s expression was near impossible to read before he painfully gently removed Ena’s sharp uncut nails from his arm, not flinching at the pain in the slightest.

“Maybe I should hate you,” He muttered. “I probably should. But I don’t.” He didn’t let Ena cut him off this time. “Enanan would never have acted the way you are now. She never would’ve felt remorse or guilt because she just didn’t give a shit.”

“T-That doesn’t change anything,” Ena tried to hold on to her anger but it was weak now, a sad attempt at rage.

“You think you’re a bad person for not telling me my sister was dead? Then I’m a bad person for being relieved .”

This was enough to startle Ena backwards, until she hit the edge of the table and held onto it like a lifeline. 

“You don’t know what it’s like,” Akito muttered. “To be related to someone that everyone either hates or fears. To know that Enanan was our parent’s favourite only because she was cruel to the poor and didn’t mind stepping on them if it meant she’d move higher up.”

“There has only been one time in my life where I didn’t resent Enanan, where I thought that maybe I could actually have some kind of relationship with my sister…”

He looked dead in Ena’s eyes, not letting her shy away from it. “And it was when you were impersonating her.”

The room was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop, or how the sound of Ena’s heart threatened to jump out of her chest and run away somewhere small and safe. 

Ena didn’t have anything to say back to Akito, who had been stifling his own tears. She floundered, trying to come up with something, anything, to say back to make him hate her.

It would’ve felt so much better if he just hated her.

Hate was safe, it was what Ena knew. She memorised how to navigate that loathing, she had learned that skill well the entire time she was here. 

Just when she thought she finally had a handle on it, now these people were forcibly interjecting themselves into her life with so much love and affection , and Ena no longer knew how to receive that.

The others, maybe she could understand.

Afterall, none were particularly close to Enanan in any way. They were either strangers or friends in the loosest terms possible.

But Akito was her little brother. 

Surely she meant more to him than that. Surely he didn’t mean what he said.

“I’m not going to kick you out,” Akito broke the silence, making Ena flinch despite the soft tone he took. “I’m not going to yell at you or hurt you. Enanan’s done that enough to me, I won’t do it back to you.”

Ena started to feel a little guilty for never playing Akito’s route in the game. She had no regrets for the romance, she, against her own will, saw Akito as a little brother and that wasn’t going to change. Anything else made her sick to her stomach.

But clearly she was missing a lot of context for his relationship - or lack thereof - with Enanan. 

She started to feel a different kind of guilt for being so self-centered. It made Ena come to the painful realisation that to some degree, she still viewed all of these people as fictional characters, with set scripts and preplanned dialogues. 

But by each second they were proving her wrong. 

Akito wasn’t a two-dimensional love interest for Mizuki, he wasn’t the grouchier option to take on dates, he was just a kid who felt the same kind of pains Ena thought were limited to herself for so long.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Ena’s voice was nearly gone at this point, she had once again worked herself up into a pitiful state. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”

Akito shrugged. “You’re not supposed to say anything,” He briskly wiped the building tears off his cheeks. “You just need to stop making assumptions about how we all see you, and start trusting us when we tell it to your face.”

The words were like a slap to her face, making Ena turn around and look at everyone else in the room. None of them shied away from her gaze, and they looked like they were almost daring Ena to disagree. 

“I…” Ena trailed off again, feeling pathetic and small surrounded by all of these strong, emotionally intelligent people. She had never felt so weak-willed in her life. “Okay.”

None of them looked particularly convinced by Ena’s acquiescence but no one challenged her on it either. She felt a sudden weariness wash over her and she felt her head duck forward with exhaustion.

Mizuki quickly ran over to help support her upright. “I think you should get some more rest.”

Ena shook her head adamantly. “I’ve been sleeping for so long. I-I don’t want to.” 

God. She sounded like such a petulant child. A spoiled brat resisting bedtime. 

“Okay,” Mizuki accepted it easily. “Let’s do something relaxing anyway, though. I think we all need it.”

Ena nervously looked back over her shoulder to see Akito was no longer crying, no longer angry and filled with emotions. He just looked… Concerned.

Somehow that felt even worse.

Mizuki had never seen Ena angry before, not really. 

She was always so tired, so resigned.

In a messed up kind of way, it was relieving to see. To see that Ena still had a fight in her, even if she was fighting for all the wrong reasons. 

She was so passionate, so full of light that was being snuffed out more and more by the day.

Mizuki would give anything to see Ena truly, sincerely happy at this point.

She was sure it’d be far more beautiful than her rage. 

The group ended up splitting up. Mizuki decided it was probably for the best, considering how easily overwhelmed Ena seemed to get - especially after her blow up with Akito, who was back to being oddly quiet. 

An and Kohane hitched a ride back with Rui and Tsukasa. They seemed hesitant to go, but after an insistent look from Mizuki they reluctantly left. 

Toya, strangely enough, elected to stay behind. Mizuki knew that out of everyone, he had by far spent the least amount of time with Ena - likely due to the fact that he and Akito were growing more and more inseparable by the minute.

It had apparently started on Mizuki’s first day of school. Ena’s journal informed her that Mizuki was supposed to bump into Toya and meet him there, but while Mizuki was dragging Ena along with her, it turns out that Toya bumped into Akito instead.

She admittedly really, really wanted to know all the juicy details of how they moved past their so-called rivalry, but if Mizuki were to guess, it probably had something to do with “Enanan”’s shift in personality. 

Toya was family-oriented, he’d do anything for his siblings and defended them fiercely. Mizuki wouldn’t be surprised if he saw the pain in Akito’s eyes over his turbulent relationship with his and saw past his stiff exterior.

While Ena was being distracted by Toya, who was sitting with her and explaining basic rune symbology, Mizuki drifted over to where Akito sat, watching from a distance.

They ended up staying in the library, Ena being forced to sit down on one of the softer chairs until Mizuki felt confident that she wouldn’t fall over in the wind anymore. Ena’s legs were tucked up underneath her as she clutched a pillow, hugging it as she let her chin rest on top. 

Akito stayed where he was, on a seat on the other side of the library. He wasn’t exactly avoiding Ena, but he definitely wasn’t jumping for the chance to spend more time with her.

“You doing okay lil bro?”

He scoffed at the nickname but shrugged, trying to hide behind his tough guy persona. “I’m fine.”

“Okay. So how are you actually doing?”

He sighed at that. Mizuki took it as a sign he’d open up and sat across from him. 

“I didn’t realise… How much she was blaming herself for Enanan’s death.” Akito said, each word sounded painful for him to get out. “It’s like she doesn’t even realise that Enanan was trying to kill her first, I don’t get it…”

Mizuki smiled sadly. “It’s not that she doesn’t realise it,” She said wistfully. “It’s that she doesn’t care.”

Akito’s expression crumpled at that. “Even dead, Enanan’s ruining people’s lives.”

“I never knew her,” Mizuki said carefully. “Did you really mean what you said? About… Being relieved that Enanan is dead?”

He squirmed a little at that, something akin to guilt in his eyes as his hands tightened into fists. “Yeah. I meant it.”

“I know I should feel worse about it, but even now, seeing how fucked up Ena is over it? I can’t mourn Enanan knowing what she did. What she would’ve kept doing if she got away with it.” He scratched the back of his neck. “You read Ena’s diary. S-She used to be… I don’t know, better, and then because of Enanan she’s like… A nervous wreck.”

Mizuki nodded, not wanting to have been the one to say it. “I keep wondering what she would’ve been like, if she came here on her own terms and we met her like that.”

“Because of Enanan we’ll never know.” Akito hissed. “She took a perfectly normal person and broke her.”

“Hey,” Mizuki tried to soothe him. “Just cause things are bad now doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way, right? If we can save Ena from the curse…”

“That won’t guarantee anything,” Akito grumbled. “She lost her real life. Her real family. No matter what we do to save her from this curse, she’s never going to be content here. She’ll have to live knowing she had no other choice. That this was all against her will.”

“Doom and gloom doesn’t suit you, lil bro.” Mizuki teased gently. “I know Ena’s sadness can be a little infectious but the last thing she needs from all of us is more pessimism. I know we can never replace what she lost, she knows that too. All we can do is help her move forward.”

Akito looked so young when he stared into Mizuki’s eyes, as if searching for the truth, how much Mizuki truly believed what she was saying. 

He must’ve found what he was looking for, but he just nodded. “Help her move forward. Right.”

“Now c’mon, let’s go stop Toya from boring her to death.” 

“Guess that would defeat the purpose of trying to save her…” Akito mumbled, only for Mizuki to bark out in laughter.

“See! If you gotta be morbid, at least make it funny.”

“You’re unbearable.”

“Love ya too lil bro!”

“...So when you’re mixing elemental sigils, you need to be careful to not accidentally include these outer rings, that turns them into chemical sigils, which are an entirely different type of magic to work with.”

Ena felt like all she could do was nod along as she watched Toya enthusiastically draw the runes as examples and referring to the textbooks he gathered for her. 

In any other circumstances she probably would’ve really enjoyed a lesson in magic. The entire time Ena’s been stuck in this world she’s only ever interacted with the worst kinds of magic that all wanted to kill her. This meant she was too afraid to even approach the cooler stuff, stuff that would’ve had her geeking out in any other scenario.

Worse than that, Ena was really starting to feel the effects of all of those sleep spells Mizuki cast on her. Toya had briefly explained that spells like that had to draw energy from both the caster and the person being cast. If Ena were from here, and had the normal capacity for magic, then she would’ve been fine. Maybe a headache or too, but fine overall.

But with a body not designed for magic, it drained nearly all her energy. She felt lethargic and lightheaded, barely processing one new thing before another.

Even her one-sided fight with Akito felt a bit blurry. She felt like an overstimulated child throwing a tantrum because they didn’t know any other way to show they’re upset.

“Ena?” 

Her head jolted up - when had it even begun to fall? - to see Toya’s concerned face watching her intently. 

“Sorry,” She said, not having much else to offer him.

“You’re sure you don’t want to lay down and rest a little?” Toya asked carefully, almost as if he were speaking to a child.

Ena felt a wave of irritation. “I already said no.”

Toya didn’t react to her attitude and just nodded before closing his book. “In that case, maybe the best thing for you would be some fresh air?”

This gave Ena pause. She had been cooped up inside an awful lot her entire time here, never actually taking time to explore this world beyond her first day wandering around the town.

Toya must’ve been able to see her rising excitement because he immediately began packing up his things. “We should go visit the town, I hear there’s a harvest festival tonight that could be fun to check out.”

Blacking out for a few moments, Ena regained her consciousness when Mizuki gently held her hand and directed her towards a carriage that was prepared and waiting outside. 

She didn’t say anything, but Mizuki’s panic over Ena’s lack of awareness was pretty obvious. Ena didn’t blame her, she was starting to really worry herself.

It wasn’t nearly this bad when she had first woken up back in Mizuki’s room, clearly it was getting worse.

Mizuki held open the door for Ena with a bow and flourish, making her roll her eyes fondly. Ena had to admit it was nice being in a carriage when she wasn’t crammed in with seven other people and sitting on the lap of a very pretty girl.

Mizuki and Toya follow shortly after, and to Ena’s surprise, so did Akito. 

He was pointedly not looking at her, and part of her wanted to scoff at the immaturity. If anyone should be avoiding the other, wouldn’t it be Ena?

She crossed her arms with a light huff, turning to stare out the window. She felt Mizuki’s gaze piercing through her and she resolutely refused to turn around and look at her. 

Ena let herself space out a little while they drove on the bumpy cobblestone road that led to the town. It seemed they were taking the scenic route, passing through the beautiful gardens and forests that surrounded the Shinonome Manor. 

The others were talking about something. Ena couldn’t really get herself to focus on any of their words but she could hear Mizuki’s laughs and teasing. Part of her felt envious. All she seemed to do was make Mizuki terrified or sad.

More and more, Ena was feeling like a pity case instead of a genuine friend. Afterall, what kind of friend spends all their time moping or passed out. Ena couldn’t make Mizuki laugh, not the way her friends could. Any smiles Mizuki had while the two of them were together were all her own doing.

At some point in her wallowing, Ena felt Mizuki almost mindlessly grab Ena’s hand and hold it gently, her thumb rubbing over her rough fingers in a soothing motion. It was so simple, such an innocent touch that it made Ena relax ever so slightly.

Mizuki was always finding little excuses to touch or hold Ena, and Ena would be lying if she said she didn’t like it. After weeks of isolation, she had forgotten how much she cherished physical affection.

She squeezed Mizuki’s hand slightly. It was a weak attempt to show her appreciation even when she couldn’t bear to make herself turn around and face Mizuki. 

It seemed she got the message, seeing as she took it as an invitation to lean her entire body onto Ena while holding her arm, making fun of Akito for something.

Ena closed her eyes, refusing to let any tears seep through, and let herself revel in the peaceful moment, praying it would last. 

Chapter Text

The harvest festival was a giant celebration where farmers and artisans displayed their hard work for sale or to be entered into friendly competitions. 

The energy in the town was buzzing, with all sorts of people happily running around with their produce or supplies as they set up stalls and booths. 

Ena was a little mesmerized by all of it. It just reminded her so much of farmer’s markets back in her world, they were practically the same.

Part of her was expecting some awful magical twist but while magic was certainly being used here and there, it wasn’t the focus of the event. It felt so normal, it was no wonder this event wasn’t mentioned in the game.

“Where should we start?” Toya asked, looking excited himself.

“We should save our shopping for the end,” Mizuki declared. “I don’t feel like carrying it around with us all evening. Unless Akito is volunteering to be our pack mule…”

“Why did you volunteer me?!” Akito shoved Mizuki with a scoff. “No way. Carry your own stuff.”

“What a gentleman,” Mizuki teased, elbowing Toya. “Am I right?”

Toya just huffed out a quiet laugh, smiling at Akito who suddenly didn’t seem all that mad anymore. “We should go see if there are any performances we can watch.”

Mizuki linked arms with Ena once more and practically skipped through the busy streets, weaving and dodging people like it was nothing. 

Ena tried to push down the dizziness that threatened to overtake her. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin this whole experience for the others. Besides, she admittedly really wanted the chance to see more of… all of this. The world that existed outside of the silly little romance game.

There were so many people, who all had their own individual lives that weren’t dictated by lines of code or a prewritten script. They were all completely unrelated to the game’s main story, and probably had adventures of their own to be experienced.

It was more comforting than Ena thought it’d be. 

They came to a sudden and jarring stop at a busy food stand. Mizuki lit up with a gasp before tugging Ena to the front where she eagerly dropped some coins in the hands of the worker there. It only took a few moments before two steaming hot skewers were handed to them, smelling like the most delicious meat Ena had ever had the pleasure of smelling.

Mizuki handed it over, casting a small wind spell to cool it down to bearable levels. 

“C’mon! Eat it! I wanna see your reaction.”

A little hesitantly, Ena took a bite off of the first piece of meat on the stick. Immediately she swooned at how good it was. 

Somehow it tasted simultaneously exactly like and completely different from the food Ena had gotten back home. It only then occurred to her that with all of the new plants and animals that existed in this world, there were probably thousands of new flavours she never would have experienced back home. 

“Soooooo?” Mizuki asked musically. 

Ena turned her head and wiped her mouth before rolling her eyes at Mizuki. “It’s fine,  I guess.”

Mizuki just let out a boisterous laugh. “I knew you’d love it! C’mon, I gotta introduce you to all my favourite foods!”

Ena barely finished her skewer before Mizuki was handing her a swirling purple mixture in a cup. It hadn’t even occurred to her to hesitate at all before taking a sip, eyes lighting up once more.

“It’s nightshade cider! My sister used to sneak me these all the time.”

“But I thought ciders were made from fruit?” Ena asked with a tilt of the head. “Isn’t nightshade a flower?”

“No? Nightshade has only ever been a fruit.” Mizuki stated, completely sincere.

“...This place is so weird.” Ena mumbled, though for once it didn’t feel like such a bad thing. Ena didn’t know much about flowers, but was fairly certain that at least in her world, these ones were poisonous to consume. 

Mizuki just shrugged good-naturedly before continuing to guide Ena through the now busier streets. As the sun began to set, dancers in silk and intricate fabrics started their performances, waving flowers and ribbons in the air.

Ena was mesmerized by all of it, a little breathless at the symphony of colour and life that surrounded her. The way that strangers would send her bright smiles, wishing her a good harvest when they made eye contact… It was all so nice.

It was Ena’s turn to come to an abrupt stop when her eyes caught a glimpse of a dessert that actually looked familiar to her. She quickly yanked Mizuki back and brought her to the stand, giddy as she looked at all of the flavours of cheesecake that sat on the table.

“Cheese… Cake? Why would anyone put cheese on a cake?”

Ena gasped, scandalised. “You’ve never had cheesecake?!”

“...No? Isn’t this that new weird dessert that Akito was raving about?”

“Excuse me, miss!” Ena asked the stand-owner, a polite plump woman with a smile warm enough to melt even the coldest of hearts. “This cheesecake, it’s made of cream cheese, right?”

“Oh! Why yes, yes it is! It’s a very new recipe, I’m quite surprised to know it exists, let alone what’s in it!”

“It’s my favourite,” Ena swooned, leaning forward. “Oh! This one is nightshade flavoured? Mizuki, we have to try it!”

“Ookay,” Mizuki said a little nervously. Suddenly Ena remembered herself and jolted upright. What was she doing, forcing Mizuki to buy her a dessert she had never even heard of? Before she had a chance to let the guilt seep back into her, Mizuki was shoving the cheesecake in her hands, holding another one for herself.

“You gotta take the first bite.” 

Ena scoffed a little, before bringing the cheesecake to her lips and tasting it. She wasn’t sure what expression she must’ve made, because suddenly Mizuki was bright red and blushing.

“I-Is it really that good?”

“Try it for yourself.” 

Mizuki took a bite, oddly enough turning away from Ena as she did so. Suddenly her eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Oh my gods.”

“Right?”

“I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Ena giggled, unable to stop herself as Mizuki practically bought the whole stand to bring out to go. “Maybe we could bring one of these back to Akito, I’m sure he’d like it.”

That brought her pause as she glanced around them. 

“Huh. Where are they anyway?”

Mizuki snorted. “You didn’t notice when they ran off on their own? I must be better company than I thought.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Awww admit it, you had an amazing time with me.” Mizuki teased, hands on her hips.

Ena rolled her eyes before stepping closer, staring Mizuki right in her suddenly widened eyes. 

“You weren’t so bad, I guess.” With a smile she turned and continued down their path, missing the high-pitched squeaky sound Mizuki made in the chaos of all the music and laughter.

Ena knew that things were going a little too well. Her exhaustion was kept relatively at bay by her excitement, and she was having more fun than she had since arriving here. It was too good to be true.

She got her proof of this when a loud roar boomed over the sound of the festivities, accompanied by a few screams from frenzied townsfolk. Chaos erupted on the main street, as Ena realised with dread that the problem was a giant rabid monster - something resembling a wolf or a bear? Both?

It was feral with the way it slashed through stands and growled, nearly foaming at the mouth. 

Ena turned to Mizuki in a panic but she looked calm, completely collected. She turned to Ena with a grin. “Stay here, I got this!”

Ena didn’t have the chance to respond before Mizuki was sprinting into the fray with magic building up steadily in her hands. She unleashed a ferocious controlled flame that caused the monster to stumble back, now having its full attention on the young student.

It was mesmerizing watching Mizuki fight. Ena had forgotten how much combat there had been in the original version of the game. It really shouldn’t have been surprising that Mizuki was as skilled and graceful as she was, but it still left Ena a little breathless as she shuffled back into safety with some other townsfolk.

“That girl, look at how well she fights!”

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen someone with such potential, the makings of a true hero…”

“She’s so beautiful too! Look at her hair!”

Ena only barely heard the other townsfolk as they gossiped and marveled at Mizuki. Her attention was so focussed on the way that Mizuki slid away from an attack before dodging with a shield that seemed as though it appeared out of nowhere. Water rushed up from nearby aqueducts, skillfully missing any civilians before it drenched the creature with a strong blast that pushed it farther down, towards the waterfront that Ena and Mizuki had been making their way towards.

She cast a strong bolt of lightning, causing the creature to let out a horrific screech before finally it seemed to explode into dust and ash, gone so suddenly that Ena felt as though she could’ve blinked and missed it entirely.

The crowd erupted into cheers, people swarming Mizuki with praise and awe. Mizuki looked bothered, staring at the remains of the creature with a pensive look before turning back to the crowd and shooting them her winning smile. Ena was too far to hear what Mizuki was saying, but the hero in question was steadily moving forward to make her way back to Ena.

When she finally arrived, she was a little out of breath as she smiled down at her. “Well? Wasn’t I so cool out there?”

Ena huffed out a laugh. “Okay, I have to admit that was… incredible.” 

Mizuki blushed lightly but still looked proud. It was amazing seeing how confident she was in a fight, she was skilled and she knew it. 

Her smile dropped slightly. “Can I ask you to wait here a little longer for me? I need to go back and help a few people who got their stands destroyed but… There was also something really weird about that Wolfbear.”

“...Weird how?” Ena asked, not mentioning that the name alone was ridiculous enough to have her raise a sceptical eyebrow. 

“Wolfbears usually don’t come this close to people, they hate leaving their dens and their packs. They’re also not usually this aggressive, they’re known for being pretty passive until you piss them off.”

Ena blinked. Was this because of her curse? No… There were no shadows or fates to be seen anywhere, plus the Wolfbear didn’t seem interested in her at all.

“So I need to ask a few questions to the people who saw it enter town first. It could be nothing but…”

“I get it,” Ena said sincerely. “Go on, I’ll be here.”

“You’ll wait for me?” Mizuki asked, sounding a little vulnerable. “You could go home with Akito if you’re tired, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Trying to get rid of me so soon?” Ena joked. “Nah, I feel pretty good, honestly. I wanna keep looking around town. Also don’t wanna third wheel with those two on the way hom- back.” 

Ena was grateful that Mizuki didn’t comment on her little slip up. She didn’t want to acknowledge that right now.

Mizuki giggled. “Can’t say I blame you. Stay safe, okay? Actually - wait,” 

The hero of the night began rummaging through her purse, letting out a triumphant noise when she pulled out a pink ribbon. 

“This ribbon has magical properties,” She explained as she pulled back the top half of Ena’s hair and tied it in a pretty bow. “It’ll help keep you safe. I can’t give you the ability to use real magic, but this will cast a barrier of protection if you’re ever in serious trouble.”

Ena gently reached back to feel the bow, noticing how much care was put into the simple hairstyle Mizuki did for her.

“Okay, now I really gotta go, I’ll be back soon! Promise!” Mizuki was off in a hurry, running down the cobblestoned streets and leaving Ena feeling flustered and… flattered. 

With a sigh that sounded more lovesick than she’d like, Ena turned around and made her way through the rest of the festival. It seemed as though everyone had recovered from the attack rather quickly, and were helping those who had been the most effective while setting back up their own stands.

It was nice walking past, seeing all of the kindness extended between strangers. It was almost infectious, the way it had Ena stopping and helping out where she could.

She wanted to do more, but the last thing she wanted was to accidentally exacerbate her chronic exhaustion again and risk cutting her night with Mizuki short. 

Ena was having so much fun. She couldn’t remember ever feeling like this back home. Ena had a few friends here and there, sure, but no one was like Mizuki. 

Feeling giddy, Ena almost cried out in incredulous joy at the sight of a flower shop - and in the front window? Nightshade flowers .

“Mizuki’s gonna hate being proven wrong,” She grinned to herself as she happily walked inside, surprised to see the shop empty and dark despite how beautiful the floral arrangements looked. 

For a moment she panicked, wondering if she had just entered a closed establishment, when a kind looking woman stepped out from the back, her familiar purple wavy hair catching Ena’s attention.

“Hello there,” She said in a gentle voice. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Ena suddenly felt very shy, awkwardly pointing at the nightshade flowers. “Um, I was hoping to get some of these for my- wait shit, I don’t have money, I’m sorry I-”

She was cut off by the woman’s kind laughter. “That’s quite alright dear, I can sense… Quite a bit of turmoil in you. I’d be more than happy to give you the flowers, free of charge.”

“You can sense that?” Ena asked in a small voice.

“Beyond my love for flowers I also have quite a big interest in magic. Please do not be afraid by my asking, but are you afflicted with forbidden magic?”

Ena grimaced, her arms immediately reaching up to hug herself. Of course her night couldn’t end without another mention of her suffering. This was enough of an answer for the florist, who nodded solemnly.

“I’m so sorry. It’s such a cruel fate to inflict on someone so young…”

“It… It’s okay,” Ena said, surprised that the words didn’t entirely feel like a lie. “I have friends who want to help me and… I think they really can.”

The florist smiled so warmly at that, it was contagious. “That’s so lovely, dear. Only… I fear this kind of magic that ails you may be stronger than what your friends can handle.”

Ena dreaded hearing those words, and part of her wanted to run far, far away from here. But she managed to keep her feet planted on the floor. 

Up til now, Ena has only had her friends and their theories to work off of. Even Mafuyu didn’t exactly know the after effects of the spell, and could only provide strong guesses.

But if this woman knew more…

“Do you… Know what’s happened to me?”

The florist directed Ena to sit down on a soft couch in the backroom of the shop. It was a cozy space with a warm fire and a tea kettle whistling before the florist poured some into a cutesy little teacup that she handed to Ena, who accepted it graciously. She only managed to take a sip before her hands started to shake, forcing her to put it down on the table in front of her.

“My name is Megumi Asahina, I’ve been aware of a dark magic plaguing this town for a while, now I see that it has been coming from you.”

Ena curled up on herself. “It… It wasn’t my fault.” She felt like a petulant child defending herself. 

“I know, dear,” Ms. Asahina said patiently. “I can sense no magic within you, that’s quite a rare thing here in our world.”

“You know I’m from a… Different world?”

“I’m painfully aware of the conditions of your particular curse. I’ve investigated it due to my fear of the disastrous repercussions it could have on the rest of the world.”

Suddenly Ena felt like she might be sick. “What do you mean the rest of the world?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of young Mizuki Akiyama’s destiny, correct? To be a great hero that would save our world from the rise of forbidden magic?”

Well, admittedly Ena only sort of knew that. The game only ever hinted at the greater plot, Ena hadn’t gotten a route that ended with a more satisfying conclusion than that.

“I’m afraid that this curse of yours has set her fate drastically off course.”

Ena didn’t need to ask how. She already knew.

“I’m sorry,” She managed to croak out as she fought the tears that threatened to escape her. “I didn’t want any of this.”

“My dear, please do not cry.” The kind florist walked towards her, crouching down in front of Ena and oh-so-gently wiping away the tears from her face. Suddenly Ena felt like she was a child again, being comforted by her mother after scraping her knee, or fighting with her dad.

“I do not blame you. No one should. You have done nothing wrong.” Ms. Asahina cradled Ena’s hands in her own. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Miss Akiyama’s fate is spiraling into something dangerous. If nothing is done about it, we risk the destruction of the world we know.”

The woman stood up slowly, 

“But what am I supposed to do?” Ena asked, mourning the loss of the gentle warmth Ms. Asahina’s hands had brought her. “Mizuki is too kind to leave me alone.”

“I would not have told you all of this if I did not have a solution to offer,” Ms. Asahina took a sip of her own tea.

“I can set things back on course, return them to the way they would’ve been had you not arrived.” She smiled a little coyly. “But I also  can make it so that it was as if you had always been here, no one would expect you to behave as Miss Enanan had, you will be your own person once more.”

Ena couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her. That would be… That would be everything to Ena. The ability to make new real connections, to build her own life not buried under the shadow of Enanan…

But was it worth losing Mizuki…? And all of the friends she had given Ena?

Was it selfish to want to keep this more? To want to cherish the kind love and attention that was being pushed her way, even if it was difficult to accept? Sure, maybe she could cultivate a friendship with Mizuki again but… It would never be the same.

Ena knew her answer, she would stick to her resolve. 

“Thank you, Ms. Asahina, really. But… I believe in Mizuki when she tells me that we’ll be okay, that she’ll fix things herself.” Ena surprised herself with how much she truly believed the words she was saying. “I don’t want to mess with forbidden magic… That was what caused all this. I want… I want to fix my own problems myself.”

She looked up nervously, expecting to see disappointment or anger, but there was nothing but that kind, understanding smile on the woman’s face.

“You really are such a brave, kindhearted girl. I cannot truthfully say that I agree with you, but I commend your dedication to try. I will always be here, should you ever change your mind.”

Those words were enough to make Ena relax completely. 

Could it get any more perfect than this? Ena got to try to save herself with a safety net, the knowledge that if anything went wrong there was still a magical undo button waiting here for her with the warmth and kindness of Ms. Asahina. 

“Thank you,” She managed, a little choked. 

Ms. Asahina made her way back over to Ena, gently encouraging her to stand before embracing her in a firm hug. “You remind me so much of my daughter… I hope that even in your perilous new life, I could perhaps provide you the comfort of a mother.”

Ena finally let herself sob into the safe embrace of the older woman, letting her run her fingers through her hair, stopping abruptly at the bow before slowly continuing again. She let Ena stay in that hold for as long as she needed before she finally stepped back and wiped her face. 

Ms. Asahina gestured towards the front of the store. “Let me arrange those Nightshades for you, dear. They’re a beautiful flower, though a bit misunderstood.” 

“Are they?” Ena asked, genuinely curious.

“They often are representative of quite bad things, but look how beautiful the petals are when it’s in full bloom.”

Ena had to admit that there was something… Slightly eerie about the way the flowers looked. It was hardly the most beautiful bouquet Ena had ever seen, but the florist added other flowers to make it fuller before wrapping it gently and handing it to Ena.

“Stay safe, dear.”

“I will,” Ena nodded resolutely. “Thank you again… For everything.”

As Ena stepped outside of the floral shop, she only saw the tail ends of Ms. Asahina’s satisfied smile. 

“It was my pleasure, dear.”

Ena felt like she was on cloud nine as she stepped out of the shop, contentedly making her way through crowds of people, happily observing that all of the stands had been repaired and set back up.

“Yo, Ena! There you are.” She turned around to see Akito and Toya strolling towards her. Akito was holding the bag with the cheesecake they had bought, so they probably had run into Mizuki at some point after the battle.

“Oh, were you looking for me? Sorry…”

Toya shook his head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s nice seeing you in higher spirits.”

Ena beamed. Toya was right, this was the most energetic Ena had felt since arriving in this world, the most hopeful.

“I think this was exactly what I needed,” Ena confessed in a soft voice. “Thanks for suggesting it, Toya.”

“Hey guys! You’re all together!” Mizuki jogged over, still looking a little out of breath and frazzled.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Ena asked.

Mizuki frowned. “Not really. There’s no explanation for what happened.”

“I guess it was just a fluke?”

Mizuki hummed consideringly at that before noticing the bouquet in Ena’s hand. She squirmed a little in place. “Uh. Did someone, um, give you flowers in the 15 minutes I was gone?”

Ena laughed before extending her arm to show Mizuki. “Look! Nightshade flowers! I told you they were real.”

“Where did you get these?” 

“My secret. Now here, take them and weep over how wrong you were.”

Mizuki accepted the bouquet, looking a little dazed but smiling all the same. “...Yeah okay. You got me. Didn’t have to go and buy me flowers, though. You might give a girl the wrong idea, Ena.”

Ena just rolled her eyes and shoved Mizuki lightly. “God, I’m still hungry.” She noted after a moment.

“After all the cheesecake we ate?” 

Ena eyed the bag Akito was holding. He quickly pulled it away with a glare. “No. No, don't even think about it.”

She lunged forward to try and grab it as Akito ducked away. Before they knew it, a chase began with Ena holding up surprisingly well.

Mizuki and Toya walked calmly behind, watching the two bicker and fight over the bag of treats. 

“It’s nice seeing her so lively,” Toya spoke, giving Mizuki a subtle glance. “But those flowers…”

“I know.” Mizuki muttered, her cheerful tone nowhere to be found. “I’ve studied botany, I know every single flower that exists in our world. Nightshade has never been a flower here.”

“...But it is in her world?”

“Something weird is going on,” Mizuki muttered. “And for once, I don’t think it has to do with Ena’s curse.

Chapter Text

Ena wouldn’t exactly say she was grounded after that, but admittedly it did kind of feel that way.

She wasn’t sure what strings An had to pull to ensure that the others weren’t too harshly penalized for their weeklong absence from school, but miraculously they all just had to do a couple of hours of community service after class to make up for it.

Ena, on the other hand, was checked out by a school physician who declared her unfit to return to her studies just yet.

Normally Ena would be cheering at the idea of missing school, but after spending so much time with Mizuki and the others, the loneliness was starting to return like a nagging voice that just wouldn’t shut up.

And so, Ena made a decision.

Of course she could choose to stay in the Shinonome manor, be waited on hand and foot by servants who no longer flinched when Ena spoke - even calling her by her real name now! Even if they thought it was just a new nickname she was trying out - but admittedly that idea wasn’t as appealing as it should’ve been.

The Shinonome manor still sent shivers of unease through Ena. Despite the cheerfulness she’d been regaining lately, the image of Enanan’s corpse lingered in the back of her mind, taunting her at every corner. 

So instead Ena packed a light bag, and decided she was going to go out into the world all on her own. No more desperately clinging to Mizuki, Ena was going to try and be… A real person again.

Ena wanted Mizuki and the others to see her and like her for who she really was, not just the sad pathetic mess she had been all this time. Part of her feared that once they met her for real, they’d lose interest.

Pushing that thought out of her mind, Ena set out, nearly ready to leave the front door when she was stopped by a timid voice.

“Um, Lady Ena! Before you go, I wanted to give you this.” Honami handed her a massive textbook with a pretty leather covering and worn pages. 

“What… Is this?” Ena asked a little cautiously, managing to balance the heavy weight on her thigh as she opened up the first page. 

Botany and Wildlife of the Kamiyama Region

“I know that you um… Don’t know much about the world here,” Honami said carefully, ignoring Ena’s terrified expression. “So this will help you stay a bit more safe when you’re out by yourself.

It was so sweet and thoughtful that Ena wanted to melt, but there was a more pressing question in the forefront of her mind. “...How did you…?”

“Tsukasa,” Honami said kindly, sounding more confident than Ena had ever heard her before. “Please don’t be mad at him for telling me, but he wanted someone on the staff to help look out for you.”

Ena softened, sighing as she accepted that her new friends were going to help her even without consulting her first. All she could do was hope there’d be no more consequences for something like this.

“Okay, I appreciate it, really.” Ena said, not sure what more she could add.

Honami didn’t seem bothered, only beamed a sincere smile as she bowed lightly and turned to walk away.

Briefly she turned back to call out, “If anyone on the staff gives you a hard time, send them my way! I’ll beat them up for you!” 

Ena’s jaw dropped as Honami disappeared around the corner. Was this what Honami was really like? Without fear of authority? She had to admit she really liked it. 

With a huff of laughter, Ena made her way outside to the bright and sunny garden ahead of her. She decided to walk, wanting to regain some of her own strength and independence after feeling like a sick patient for so long. She admittedly had to bend the truth a little when asked how she was feeling. 

The dizziness and general lightheadedness never quite went away, not to mention the steadily throbbing headache that threatened to overtake her occasionally.

They were all things she could easily ignore if she was stubborn enough - and God knows she was stubborn enough.

She was sick and tired of feeling… Sick and tired. Ena missed existing so badly that she would gladly risk fainting in the middle of the streets if it meant freedom from that stifling manor.

As Ena made her way past the gardens to the main road, a small sound somewhere between a meow and chirp caught her attention. 

She quickly recognised it as the weird cat/fox/dog thing that had accompanied her on a few otherwise lonely walks to school, back before… Everything with Mizuki had happened. Before she had any friends in this world.

Cautiously, Ena knelt down next to the small creature and slowly put her hand out in front to let it sniff her. Cats liked that, right?

“Don’t bite me don’t bite me…” Ena whispered, dreading the idea of having to stay bedridden because she got rabies only minutes after leaving the manor.

The small creature sniffed her inquisitively, before gently licking her finger while its tail wagged adorably. Ena wasn’t normally much of a pet person, but her mind was quickly being changed.

With her free hand, she pulled out the book Honami had given her and quickly skimmed the table of contents before coming across something that seemed like it was close enough.

“ Wrynlins are small woodland creatures best known for their odd ability to domesticate themselves,” Ena recited while she scratched the top of the little guy’s head. “They will often approach humans openly, knowing that in exchange for affection they will receive food and shelter…” 

Ena sent a non-heated glare to the little manipulator, but couldn’t find it in her to be all that mad about it. 

“They are considered to be good judges of characters, and will only approach humans after determining them to be satisfactory.” Ena cooed. “Aw, am I satisfactory for you?” 

In response, the Wrynlin happily hopped into her lap and made its little chirping sound, selfishly leaning into the belly rubs it was demanding. It was a soft pastel orange-y yellow, with thick fur and long pointed ears. It had a muzzle like a fox with the more feline body of a cat. Its mannerisms were very dog-like as a whole. 

“Old legends claim that Wrynlins were originally defenders of…” She glared at the creature again before continuing. “...Defenders of the weak and helpless, and would often assert themselves as loyal protectors and guards.”

She stared at the content Wrynlin and sighed. “I got five minutes before being reminded how weak I am. Thanks a lot.” She paused. “Is this revenge for me joking about naming you missile launcher that one time?”

The Wrynlin sent Ena what could only be described as a glare.

“If you were from my world you’d understand. It’s like, a thing to give cats really weird names. It’s perfectly normal.”

The glare got more pointed.

She giggled a little. “Okay. You’re cute, you’ve sold me.”

She closed the book and slid it back into her bag before directing all of her attention to the small creature. “Well I’m keeping you now, so you’re gonna need a real name.”

The creature just looked up at her, chirping unhappily when Ena stopped scratching its belly and only looking happy when it got her attention back.

“Uh… Shit, I’ve never been good at naming things.” Ena’s mind circled back to the sketchbooks filled with unnamed OC’s that would be forgotten to time. Her eyes darted back to the encyclopedia. “Uh. What about Wryn?”

Wryn didn’t look impressed in the slightest. All Ena could do was shrug before picking her up and holding her close to her chest. 

“It’s Wryn or missile launcher, you decide.” 

Wryn playfully bit her finger but otherwise settled rather nicely in her arms. Ena let out a little sigh, cradling the small creature like a teddy bear and relishing in the comfort it provided. 

“We’re going to be okay,” Ena whispered, though she wasn’t sure why she was saying it to Wryn. “We really are.”

The walk into the main street of town was relaxing. It was nice to see the city streets when not completely overcrowded with people for the festival. 

Ena found herself wandering towards Ms. Asahina’s flower shop, only to frown when she realised it was closed and locked. Surely that wasn’t good for business? 

She was hardly able to lean in to look through the windows before Wryn started hissing and scratching. With a surprised shriek, Ena accidentally dropped her before she landed gracefully on her feet, biting the hem of Ena’s skirt and pulling her harshly.

“Wh- Hey!” Ena found herself shocked at the strength carried in such a tiny body as she was dragged away until she was back on the main street. “What’s your problem?!”

Wryn only let out an indignant meow and Ena couldn’t help but scoff. “Of course. Things can’t go smoothly for more than 5 minutes, that’d be asking for too much.”

She ignored Wryn’s attempts to jump back into her arms and kept them adamantly crossed and held tight to herself. She knew it was a little pathetic to be so petty towards an animal, but she had really been looking forward to getting a hug from Ms. Asahina again.

Wryn let out a few more sad noises before scurrying away into the crowds of people. Ena watched after it, feeling a little guilty before shaking her head and moving forward. She extended out her arms and hissed herself when she saw the blood drawn from Wryn’s scratching.

“...Little jerk. Mizuki’s never gonna let me leave her sight if she sees this.” 

Ena quickly stopped by an ornate fountain in the middle of the town square and washed off the wounds as well as she could. They were shallow enough that the bleeding stopped pretty quickly, but Ena couldn’t stop the feeling of betrayal that fell over her. She had only just met this small creature, frankly she was the foolish one for expecting it to want to stay with her.

“Or maybe it just realised how terrible of a person you really are.”

Ena flinched at the dark thought when it ran through her head. She swallowed nervously, looking around to make sure no one was paying her any attention before darting away. 

She was still determined to save this outing. She was out here to prove her independence, she didn’t need a cuddly creature to do that.

In her haste she hadn’t even noticed when she accidentally clipped someone’s shoulder. She turned with a quick apology before her eyes widened in recognition.

It was a kind looking girl with twin pigtails, blonde with a pretty sunset gradient. It barely took a second for Ena to realise this was Saki, Tsukasa’s little sister.

Admittedly she wasn’t super well-versed in the politics of this world, but Ena was vaguely aware that Tsukasa, Saki, and Toya were royalty from a distant kingdom. 

“I’m so sorry,” Ena said, feeling guilty while Saki started to giggle.

“No worries! I’m totally fine, see?” Saki’s smile was infectious, just like her brothers. “Hey, you’re Ena, right?”

Ena blinked, wondering how she was supposed to approach this situation. Was she even bothering to pretend to be Enanan anymore? Was she ever? 

“Um…”

“It’s okay, Tsukasa already told me.”

“Who didn’t Tsukasa tell…” Ena mumbled.

Saki sent her a sheepish smile. “Don’t be too hard on him. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that my big brother is a loud mouth but he also just wants to help!” 

Ena sighed. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, I don’t mean to be grouchy.”

Saki laughed again. “If that’s you being grouchy then you really must be as sweet as Tsukasa said!”

Ena? Sweet? It wasn’t exactly the first word that came to mind when describing herself. Besides, nearly every time she’s spoken to Tsukasa she’s either been in tears, unconscious, or pissed off! At what point in time could she truly have been considered sweet ?

Seeming to ignore her internal dilemma, Saki continued to speak. “Though this is perfect timing, really. I was about to go shopping for some new clothes, would you like to come with?”

Ena scratched the back of her head. “I’d love to but honestly… There are so many clothes back… Uh, in the house.”

“Sure,” Saki said patiently, leaning forward just a little. “But those are Enanan’s dresses. Don’t you think you deserve something of your own?”

Ena felt a little breathless at the idea. It was such a small, superficial thing, but the idea of having her own clothes? That fit her comfortably? And didn’t make her feel insecure about her chest measurements?

“I didn’t bring much money-”

“Now you’re just being silly,” Saki teased. “C’mon! I know a great place.”

Ena felt helpless to do anything but follow. “Hey, no judgement or anything, but shouldn’t you be in school?”

Saki giggled a little. “Well, yes, but I’m on sick leave.”

“But… you don’t seem very sick.”

“Neither do you.” Saki grinned back. “But not seeming sick doesn’t mean you aren’t. You should know that.”

Ena flushed. “Right… Sorry.”

“I’m just teasing you,” Saki turned them down a corner to a nice part of town, filled with cutesy shops and boutiques. “Truthfully, the school gives me a lot more sick leave than I actually need, so I take advantage of it when I can. I still need to be careful, obviously, but I know my limits.”

“I don’t know much about your illness,” Ena confessed. “I don’t know if it exists exactly in my world.”

Saki hummed. “That wouldn’t be too surprising. I get dizzy spells and muscle weakness in random spurts. There are some days where I feel on top of the world and others where I can hardly get out of bed. It’s a heart condition, so I’m in the hospital a lot to keep tabs on myself.”

“But… What about healing magic?” Ena asked, feeling wildly out of her depth. “Surely there are cures to stuff like that?”

Saki smiled sadly. “Unfortunately it’s not that easy. There are a lot of illnesses that can’t be helped by magic. If anything, it can make it much worse. Magic is pretty taxing on the body, even for people from this world, so weaker bodies don’t respond well to it.”

Ena considered her own reaction to magic, and how quickly a few sleep spells had her in a weak and half-conscious daze. 

“So in a way, my body is kind of like yours,” Saki said gently. “Not very compatible with magic.”

Ena hummed, feeling a little less alien in this world knowing that even natives experienced this kind of weakness. 

“Enough of that stuff, though,” Saki instantly brightened back up. “We’re here to forget about all that! What kind of style are you into?”

Saki didn’t stop until Ena was leaving the store with six different bags of clothes. With everything from undergarments to ballgowns, Saki wanted to make sure Ena had her entire wardrobe all to herself. The idea of going back to the Shinonome manor and pushing aside all of those stuffy outfits Enanan left behind was more satisfying than it should’ve been.

Insisting Ena take some more time to herself, Saki arranged for a carriage to go ahead and drop off her stuff for Honami to collect. 

Before they parted ways, Saki had an uncharacteristically solemn expression on her face.

“Ena… There are still a lot of people here that see you as Enanan, and resent you for it. Even some of my absolute best friends refuse to forgive you… Or well, Enanan, for the things she did to Honami.”

“You’re friends?” Ena asked in a small voice.

Saki sighed happily. “Mhm. Me, Ichika, Shiho, and Honami. We’ve been together since childhood, really. But… Honami’s family got into some bad debt and she’s been forced to work for the Shinonome’s ever since. I’ve tried paying it off but… I think Enanan refused to accept it. She liked tormenting her.”

Ena groaned, pressing the palms of her hands into her eyes. “Of course she did.”

“I don’t mean to bring the mood down,” Saki whispered apologetically. “I just needed to warn you. Until you break this curse, there are going to be a lot of people with hatred towards Enanan.”

The consequences were implied, enough to spook Ena without even being said aloud. She nodded in understanding before Saki waved and made her way back to her own carriage. 

Ena watched her go, feeling alone and awkward once more. She could’ve accepted Saki’s offer of a ride home, but she didn’t exactly want her day to end yet. 

Checking the time from the town’s clocktower, Ena deduced that classes likely hadn’t finished yet. Maybe she’d bum around until then and go show off her new wardrobe to Mizuki. She’d probably love it.

As Ena began continuing on her way, she noticed someone stumbling a little as they walked, struggling to carry a few bags of their own. She jogged over, gently reaching her hands out.

“Hey, do you need some help?”

The girl looked up and revealed one of the most unique faces Ena had ever seen. Pale skin with even paler hair and eyelashes. Crystal blue eyes that seemed to look right through you. 

More notably, the girl looked exhausted, and incredibly out of breath.

“It’s… It’s okay I don’t want to be a bother…”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ena huffed, grabbing a hold of some of the heavier bags and resolutely ignoring her own lightheadedness.

God. Ena could start an anemia club with every new person she’s met today.

“I’m Ena, what’s your name?”

“Kanade.” She sent Ena a soft smile that was mostly covered by her insanely long hair. “Thank you… I don’t usually like to leave my house…”

Ena chuckled a little at that. “It’s no problem, really.”

In her own world, the idea of following a stranger into their home was unheard of and a terrible idea. Yet here, Ena felt oddly safe with the soft spoken and delicate-seeming girl. 

“Normally my friend helps get groceries for me, but she’s been busy lately,” Kanade explained without prompting. “I wanted to try to get out of my comfort zone but… It’s so tiring .”

Ena let out an understanding sigh. “I know what that’s like. It’s nice you have someone willing to do all that for you, though.”

Kanade’s blush was especially noticeable against her pale skin, and Ena had to refrain from smiling. A friend , huh? Sure.

“She’s been wonderful,” Kanade said in a near whisper. “I… Don’t know what I’d do without her.”

They walked in companionable silence before reaching a small cottage not too far on the outskirts of town. It looked cozy and warm, a small stream of smoke floating up out of a chimney.

Ena kept helping Kanade bring her things in, deciding she’d leave the second she was asked to. Kanade held open the door and directed Ena to a kitchen counter where she placed them down and helped unpack. It was basic groceries as far as Ena could see - with the exception of one bag that seemed to be entirely different flavors of instant noodles.

When Ena helped unpacked, she discovered an entire cabinet full. 

Was Ena close enough to Kanade to politely comment on the fact that she might need a bit… more in her diet? She knew it was a tad bit hypocritical of her to say, but Kanade was already pretty slight and frail looking. Was she taking care of herself?

“Um,” Kanade fidgeted a little. “If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask for your help with one last thing?”

“Sure,” Ena shrugged. It wasn’t like she really had anywhere else to be.

She followed Kanade into a fairly large bedroom, with curtains drawn, only illuminated by the soft light of a fire lit on the far side.

In the center of the room against the back wall was a rather large bed with a man sleeping peacefully. His chest slowly raised as he breathed, though it was very weak and made Ena feel anxious by the sight. 

“It’s my father,” Kanade murmured, moving closer and gently combing his hair out of his face. “He’s been asleep for a while, so I’ve been taking care of him.”

Ena was hoping Kanade would elaborate at least a little, but she was oddly tight-lipped about the finer details.

“I need to lift him up so I can change his sheets but…”

“I’m not the strongest person around, but I can still try to help you.” Ena said softly, relishing in the small relieved feeling on Kanade’s face. 

Working together, it wasn’t too difficult for Ena to gently lift up one side of Kanade’s fathers body while Kanade quickly pulled out the sheets before switching to the other side. 

“Thank you,” Kanade said, sounding quite a bit out of breath. “My friend should be coming back soon. She’ll help me put the clean sheets on.”

“It’s no problem,” Ena smiled. “I should probably get going anyway.”

Kanade walked Ena out to the door, though Ena was pretty tempted to tell her not to worry about it. Kanade gently handed Ena an instant noodle cup as thanks and Ena giggled as she put it away in her bag, deciding she’d enjoy it later.

As she walked back to town, Ena felt… Really good.

Nothing all that interesting had happened, but that was the best part.

She had just wandered around and made some friends, got some errands done and enjoyed the fresh air. The exhaustion was really starting to catch up to her, but Ena revelled in the fact that her stamina was returning to normal slowly but surely. 

Her mind conjured up the image of her running around with the others, maybe even learning how to fight from Mizuki and joining them on the adventures they’d surely be having soon.

How amazing would it be, to join them on quests and get to bring her sketchbook to draw all of the bizarre creatures they’d encounter. 

Ena instinctively found herself heading towards the school gates, leaning up against a wall as she glanced at the clock and determined there were only a few more minutes until classes would be done. She picked a shady spot underneath a tree and kept herself relatively out of view. The last thing she wanted today was someone treating her like Enanan again.

Absent-mindedly, Ena pulled out the encyclopedia Honami gave her, grimacing at the fact that the last bookmarked page was for the Wrynlin. Not wanting to give that anymore attention than she already did, she turned a few pages before coming across an entry about Wolfbears.

“Notorious for keeping to themselves, it is exceedingly rare for Wolfbears to willingly approach civilisation.”

Ena frowned. Could her curse be the reason the Wolfbear attacked the festival? Technically it did succeed in getting Ena away from Mizuki…

No. Ena wasn’t going to think about that stupid curse today. She refused. 

Instead she shut the book and shoved it back into her bag, glancing up at the sparse groups of students beginning to trickle out of the front doors. 

She kept her eyes peeled for Mizuki and waved her over the second she spotted her. Mizuki was with An and seemed to literally light up as she jogged over, a bright smile on her face.

“Ena! What’re you doing here?”

“I spent the morning wandering around town,” Ena said, having to look away from Mizuki’s bright demeanor. “I figured I’d come say hi.”

“That’s great, Ena!” Mizuki seemed a little hesitant. “But you’re not pushing yourself too much, right?”

“Course not.” Ena murmured, quickly changing the topic. “Were you just going to head back to your dorm?”

“Nah, I caught word of a slime infestation in the southern woods, me, An, and Tsukasa were going to go check it out.”

“Oh, cool,” Ena tried to look happier than she was. She already knew that there’d be no shot of Mizuki letting Ena tag along. Not yet, anyway. With the way they had all been babying her, she didn’t bother getting her hopes up.

Mizuki seemed to have caught on, and after a bit of fidgeting, let out a reluctant sigh. “I know you’ve gotta be feeling a little stir-crazy… If you come along can you promise me you’ll let me keep you safe?”

The wording was so gentle that it caught Ena off guard. Blinking herself out of her stupor, she nodded. 

An shot Ena a cheeky smile when Mizuki’s back was turned, and it made Ena scoff a little to hide her reaction. 

The excitement of actually doing something cool in this world was starting to grow. Ena found herself absolutely giddy at the idea of getting to see Mizuki and the others in action. 

While the game had never been action oriented, there were plenty of scenes that suggested how skilled of fighters the main cast were. Ena had only gotten to see scraps of that during the slime incident at school, and the few combat classes she had managed to observe. 

The trio walked down the school courtyard a little before spotting Tsukasa - or rather, hearing him. He was loud enough to catch your attention from miles away - talking to a girl Ena didn’t recognise.

She had short gray hair and had her arms crossed. She had an athletic build with round expressive eyes - she was really pretty. It seemed like whatever the two were talking about had gotten a bit heated.

“Shiho, I understand how it must seem! But you must let me explain-”

“Explain what? That you’re suddenly best friends with someone as sick and twisted as Enanan?!”

Oh.

Ena’s heart sank so deep that she thought she might be sick. It had been such a good day… But she supposed at the very least she was warned. Even if it were only just hours earlier.

Before Ena even had a chance to dart away, Shiho’s glare honed in on her, and she scoffed. “Oh. Look who it is.”

“Shiho, wait-” Mizuki sounded really tired. Or maybe irritated was a better word. It only served to make Ena feel worse, making her wonder if Mizuki was getting tired of all of this drama. Afterall, if Ena hadn’t been here, they’d all be well on their way to an adventure.

“I don’t blame you ,” Shiho said with an icy tone. “You’re new. You don’t know what shit she’s done. But the rest of you?! It’s like you don’t even care that she bullied Saki for being hospitalized! Or that she’s been tormenting Honami?”

Ena really wished that Saki would’ve mentioned that first part. She bit her lip, feeling all of the confidence she had built up that day dwindle.

“She’s not like that anymore,” An tried to say with a nervous smile. 

Ena felt a cold chill rush over her. Like a whisper in her ear.

More heartlessly than she would’ve liked, Ena resented them all at that moment. So Tsukasa could tell Honami and Saki everything, but not the one person who seemed as though she was ready to single-handedly strike Ena down? What sense did that make?

If they were already risking the stability of the curse by telling others then genuinely, what difference did it make at this point? Tell everyone. What did it matter?

“Nothing to say to defend yourself?” Shiho spat, her fists clenched. 

Ena wished she could hate her back. That the fire that had been attempting to grow back in her spirit would ignite and let her snap. 

But in her silent fury Ena averted her eyes and just shrugged. Her good mood had been ripped away and discarded into nothing, replaced with an apathy that Ena hadn’t felt in a while.

“It’s like you don’t even care,” Shiho sounded almost hysterical with the way she spoke with a laugh. “You don’t even feel remorse, do you?”

Ena distantly was aware that An was trying to spin together some kind of explanation, but there was such a petty vindictive side to Ena that took over against her own will.

“Feel remorse for what?”

…

The slap that struck Ena’s face was harsh enough to make her stumble to the ground. Distantly she was aware of Shiho’s cry of, “You should’ve drowned in that fucking lake!”

 She could barely hold back her stuttering wheeze when she cradled her cheek and looked up to see Tsukasa holding Shiho back, trying to console her through her angry tears and yells.

Ena glanced up to see Mizuki looking at her with that familiar look of pity, fear, exasperation. 

Her world spun around her briefly in a fit of dizziness before Ena realised she was being held up by An, who was muttering something to her that she couldn’t convince herself to pay attention to.

Ena looked up to see that Tsukasa and Shiho were much further away now. Shiho was screaming something before she suddenly crumpled into Tsukasa’s arms. Her body shook in small sobs while she was held gently by Tsukasa. He really was a good older brother.

Her line of vision was cut off by Mizuki, whose brows were furrowed and eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Ena felt her anger wisp away at the sight. Did she hurt Mizuki somehow?

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Mizuki asked, the bitterness in her tone making Ena flinch. “Are you a masochist or something?”

Ena gaped as she tried to find the words to respond. “Of course not-”

“No? Really? You provoked Shiho for no reason. It’s like you were asking for it-”

“Maybe I was,” Ena muttered a little cynically. “She deserves some kind of catharsis for everything Enanan’s done. It’s not like she’s going to get it from the real deal.”

This was, apparently, the absolute worst thing Ena could’ve said.

“Gods, Ena! You wonder why we - why we smother you and coddle you and yet you-” Mizuki’s voice was bordering on hysterical too. “You have some kind of martyr complex or something because it seems like you can’t just let yourself be happy!”

“That’s not true!” Ena cried out, pushing away from An’s arms though she probably still needed the extra stability. “I didn’t ask for this-”

“Of course you didn’t! But now you’re letting people take out their anger from Enanan onto you?! It’s like you think you’re her or something. You’re not! They don’t even know you-”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Ena scoffed, crossing her arms and ignoring the way her own nails dug into them. “I didn’t even know Shiho existed before she slapped the shit out of me, and she already hates me enough to want me dead! What’s the point of trying to convince her I’m not the monster who practically abused her best friends when I could very well be dead by tomorrow?! None of this shit matters !”

Ena hadn’t meant to say that. Really, she didn’t. It mattered. It mattered so much to her. But admitting that felt like a death sentence of its own. She felt more defensive than she had since arriving here, she felt like she needed something harsh to hit back Mizuki with.

But when Mizuki’s face crumpled into an expression of pure devastation, Ena suddenly felt very small and very stupid. What was she doing? Why was she being like this?

“...Go home Ena.”

She could help but flinch at Mizuki’s cold words. She took one step back, then another. Then she turned around and walked away in a daze, trying to desperately ignore the persistent stinging on her face and trying to pretend that her tears were just from the pain of being hit.

Ena thought that maybe An had tried to say something to her, but she blocked out the noise. She didn’t want to hear them say anything else. She didn’t want to acknowledge how absolutely childish she had just been.

All she had to do was apologize to Shiho. Or maybe just not say anything at all. Sure, she might’ve still hit her, but that would’ve been the right thing to do.

Ena really didn’t want to admit how satisfying the hit had been. After weeks of being ignored or babied there was something so gratifying about being treated like a real person again. Even if it was aggressive and hateful.

God. Was Mizuki right?

A small sad chirp gave Ena pause. She sighed and looked down at Wryn, who was circling her leg anxiously.

“Go away,” She whispered. “Please.”

Wryn didn’t try to jump into Ena’s arms, or provide any more comfort, but she didn’t leave either. Ena didn’t have the energy to try to convince her to go, so she just ignored the small creature and kept walking.

Her legs carried her back through town, taking the long way back to the Shinonome manor. When Ena saw the building approaching on the horizon, she came to an abrupt stop and found herself unable to do anything but stare at it. Wryn chirped at her inquisitively and hopped up on the fence to look at her more closely.

“Why do I ruin everything?” Ena asked no one in a weak voice. 

She could only imagine what Mizuki thought of her now. The timid and demure girl she had been sheltering didn’t exist. This was what Ena was really like. Volatile and antagonistic. Angry and spiteful. 

Ena had barely let herself start to sniffle before she heard footsteps running up behind her. She turned slowly, sure that it was probably An or maybe Akito.

But to her surprise…

“Mizuki…?”

“I’m sorry,” Mizuki said, a little breathless. “That wasn’t fair of me. This isn’t your fault.”

Nothing could’ve made Ena feel like a worse person. Of course the sweet, noble, strong Mizuki would forgive her just like that. Acting like this was her fault, somehow, instead of Enas.

“No. You were right.” Ena said as lifelessly as she could manage. “I wanted to provoke her. I wanted Shiho to hit me.”

She waited for the look of devastation and sadness to appear back on Mizuki’s face but to her own shock, she only nodded solemnly. 

“It was honestly naive of me to think that you were handling all of this as well as I thought,” Mizuki said, derailing Ena’s train of thought. Handling this well? Really? “But… You’re a real person. Of course you’re pissed off at the world. You… You were having a good day and then-”

Mizuki walked closer and gently held Ena’s hands. “You’re allowed to be angry. Please I… I don’t want you to feel like you have to be sad and miserable or happy and cheerful all of the time. I honestly would prefer you yelled or screamed. If you want to fight I can teach you to spar... We can go beat up some low level monsters!”

“Just please… Don’t stop caring. It matters. You… All of this matters.”

Oh.

…Oh.

“I don’t think I’m angry anymore,” Ena whispered when Mizuki held her tightly, hands pausing at the ribbon that still sat in Ena’s hair. “I care. I promise, Mizuki, I still care.”

Ena could feel the breath of relief that Mizuki let out before releasing Ena from her firm grip. Her smile returned and felt like the sun overtaking the moon. Ena vowed she'd do what she could to keep that smile on her face.

I care about you, Ena didn’t say out loud. You matter so much.

It's not your fault, Mizuki didn't say out loud. But she was too afraid to tell Ena about the fates that An had seen whispering in her ear just before she snapped. Too afraid of what it meant that they were capable of messing with Ena's already fragile mind. Please, don't let them win. I've only just gotten to know you.

Chapter Text

Mizuki looked far too smug for someone dressed in the tackiest apron Ena had ever laid her eyes on. She stifled her laugh with her hand, losing her composure when she looked back at the crude scribble of Mizuki’s face wearing a chef's  hat drawn onto the cloth. 

“Hey!” Mizuki whined. “Not all of us can be artists, you know.”

Ena couldn’t hold it in anymore and barked out a laugh. She couldn’t help it! Mizuki looked ridiculous.

Before she knew it a handful of flour was tossed onto her face. Ena coughed before smacking Mizuki’s arm in retaliation, ignoring the other girl’s cackles and not letting it turn into an all-out war.

After Ena’s… Episode, yesterday, Mizuki had insisted the two of them hang out. Mizuki wanted to let Ena explore more of their world, especially after seeing how happy she had been after her excursion into town. 

Mizuki could tell Ena was a bit fidgety about being at school, and noticed that her eyes were constantly darting towards the halls when students would pass by the culinary classroom, as if expecting Shiho to show up for round two.

What Ena didn’t know was that Tsukasa had already let Saki know, and made sure that his little sister was keeping Shiho distracted until they felt it was safe to explain.

Mizuki wasn’t stupid. She noticed the fact that the curse had been relatively dormant until Tsukasa had told Honami and Saki. The more Ena fought against it the more it retaliated. Which meant the more people they told, the more danger Ena would be in.

After Ena had retired to go to sleep, Mizuki had hunted everyone down and begged them to not let anyone else know. Tsukasa had felt so guilty that he was ready to run over to the Shinonome manor and apologize on his knees, but no one really blamed him. 

Afterall, the whole point had been to try and make Ena’s life easier. 

Mizuki was worried. It was one thing if the fates were to shove Ena into danger or make her ill, but the fact that they seemed to have an influence on her already fragile mind? 

It was terrifying.

Ena seemed like she was once so strong-willed and stubborn, but now she was all over the place. Unsure of herself and insecure to the point of self-destruction. 

Things would be going so well until either Mizuki or Ena would find themselves getting hurt.

It was clear that the curse itself was malfunctioning in its own sort of way. Its conditions didn’t anticipate that Ena would be able to avoid hurting Mizuki, or that she’d survive any of the attempts on her own life. The curse also probably wasn’t intended to go on for nearly as long as it was, considering that Enanan was planning on hiding out in her cellar for a few days before Ena died and she could return to her placed.

Forbidden magic, for all of its untapped power, was unstable in more ways than one. The conditions had to be specific, otherwise the curse would begin to go haywire until it completed its goal in whatever way possible or ended.

It was like the curse had become confused. Like it didn’t know what role Ena was supposed to play anymore, or how she was supposed to meet her demise. 

Mizuki couldn’t help but wonder if part of that was Mafuyu’s doing. When Enanan forced her to create the curse, maybe Mafuyu deliberately kept things vague. It was hard to say, especially considering Mafuyu had been impossible to hunt down lately - not that she was ever really easy to find.

Watching Ena scrunch up her face at the recipe book they were using, Mizuki felt her body release a bit of tension. Ena was bouncing back as well as you could hope for, and if Ena took what Mizuki had said last night to heart, then she wouldn’t try to suppress her anger or frustration anymore. 

She certainly had no problems yelling at Akito, though. At least that was still entertaining.

“Mizuki, what is an eldererb?” Ena asked, holding up the book.

“It’s kind of like a… Flavor enhancer? It’s really good when mixed in stuff but tastes awful on its own.”

Ena grimaced. “It just makes me think of old people.” Mizuki couldn’t help but snicker at that. “But it kind of sounds like vanilla. You guys have vanilla here, right?”

Mizuki tilted her head. “I mean, yeah, but why would we use that in baking?”

Ena’s jaw dropped. “You’ve never tried it?”

It was Mizuki’s turn to grimace. “That sounds so… Gross. It’s usually used to clean up monster guts, why would you want that in your food?”

Sputtering in shock, Ena shook her head resolutely. Mizuki started cackling in laughter. 

“Ena, of course we use vanilla for baking, I’m messing with you. Didn’t you smell An’s cookies?”

Embarrassed, Ena shoved Mizuki lightly while grumbling under her breath. Mizuki caught the small curve her lips made and knew that she was trying to be madder than she was. It was fun riling her up, Ena was just so expressive.

Mizuki trusted that Ena would tell her the second she was mad for real. But also Mizuki would like to think that by now, she had a pretty good read on her. She hoped so, anyway.

“So what’re we making?” Ena asked.

Mizuki hummed. “Well we could either make something from this world that you’ve never tried, or maybe something from your world?”

Ena lit up. “We’re making cheesecake. I have a recipe memorized.”

“Of course you do,” Mizuki grinned as Ena pulled open the school’s fridge and went digging for ingredients. Mizuki leaned against the counter and watched, a little mesmerised, as Ena quickly started sorting out supplies and measuring them out.

She took the ribbon that Mizuki had given her and used it to tie her hair back into a ponytail. Some of her front layers fell out and framed her face so prettily that Mizuki couldn’t help the small sigh that left her.

“You okay?” Ena asked, the way her head tilted made her tiny ponytail bounce a little. 

Mizuki stood upright and nodded stiffly. “Y-Yeah, yup! Just… You’re doing all the work! Lemme help with something!”

Ena rolled her eyes fondly before handing Mizuki a giant bowl that she had already dumped out her ingredients into. “You can put those strong arms of yours to use and mix this for me.”

She thinks my arms are strong. Mizuki had to turn to hide her giddy smile. Ena was teasing her again! It was so nice that Mizuki didn’t even notice when Ena took the bowl of over-mixed batter from her hands with a giggle and poured it out into a cute heart-shaped pan that she had already smoothed out a layer of graham crackers into.

After Ena put the cheesecake into the oven and set a timer, she turned back and suddenly seemed a little awkward, like she wasn’t sure what to do now that she didn’t have an immediate task at hand.

“It’ll take a while,” Ena explained. “I uh… What should we do in the meantime?”

Mizuki hummed again and thought to herself. There were tons of things she wanted to do with Ena, but most of them involved getting out of the school and exploring more of the kingdom. 

It was then that Mizuki noticed Ena’s fidgeting, like she had something she wanted to say but was working up the nerve. 

Patiently, Mizuki waited until Ena finally cracked.

“Yesterday,” She started, a little nervous. “You mentioned something about sparring together…?”

Mizuki’s eyes lit up instantly. “Yes! That’d be-” She hesitated. “Wait, but you’re still recovering…”

Ena groaned. “We won’t do anything too crazy! Please Mizuki, I’m sick of feeling like this. Besides, exercise is good, right?”

Unfortunately, Mizuki was coming to the devastating realisation that she was horribly weak to Ena’s big pleading eyes. The finishing blow was when the artist gently grabbed Mizuki’s hands, enough to make her cave completely.

And admittedly, things were going pretty well so far. Mizuki was terrified that maybe Ena would’ve burned herself in the kitchen, or get a nasty cut or something, but everything was going so smoothly…

“Okay, but you gotta promise-”

“That I’ll let you keep me safe, yeah yeah I know.” Ena shot back, a snarky grin on her face as she revelled in her victory, hands on her hip as she looked Mizuki right in the eye.

Oh.

Oh.

Confidence looked so beautiful on Ena. Mizuki knew it right then and there, she was absolutely whipped. There was no way she could deny it anymore.

Ena was feeling light again, just enjoying Mizuki’s company and revelling in the normalcy of it all. 

The incident with Shiho sat heavy in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t muster up the strength to dwell on it anymore. She selfishly just wanted to be here, in the moment with Mizuki, pretending everything was normal and fine.

And as they walked through the school halls towards the training grounds, she felt a little more confident. 

She knew that Mizuki could absolutely beat the shit out of her in a fight, but the idea of getting to see Mizuki in combat again was just so tempting. She was so graceful and elegant when she fought, like a princess who became her own knight. 

Ena hadn’t gotten to see nearly as much of it as she’d like. And now, she was going to get a front row seat.

They dropped off their aprons and changed into simple shorts and t-shirts, Mizuki being close enough to Ena’s size that she was able to borrow hers.

The training ground they went to was a little different than the one Ena had her classes in. It was enclosed by a dome with a giant opening in the middle of the roof, and circling the arena there were people behind railings watching the fighters avidly. 

“Those are the emergency healers,” Mizuki explained. “There’s a protection spell that helps stave off injuries, giving the healers enough time to work. As long as they get to you on time, there’s no injury they can’t cure.”

Ena hummed a little distractedly, eyes drawn to the sword fighters who were engaged in an intense spar in the centre of the arena. The clang of metal hitting metal rang out in an echo, almost drowning out their grunts and war cries.

“Don’t go getting too ambitious now,” Mizuki teased. “That’s some advanced stuff. We’ll start you off on something way simpler.”

“O-Obviously!” Ena cried out defensively, embarrassed that she was caught staring like that. “There’s absolutely no way I’d be able to do that.”

“Maybe one day,” Mizuki said, surprisingly sounding sincere and contemplative. “You’re an artist with very steady hands and good precision, that can be really powerful in combat. Maybe something like archery would suit you.”

Ena tried to picture it. Her joining Mizuki and the others on quests and adventures, bow in hand ready to help support and defend them all. 

“That would be really cool,” Ena murmured, feeling a bit shy.

Mizuki didn’t tease her that time, and instead directed her towards an empty section of the arena with plenty of space. 

“Okay, it may be boring but it’s important we start off with stretches.” Mizuki ignored Ena’s immediate glare of disappointment and began her first stance, encouraging Ena to mirror her.

The stretches weren’t anything too crazy, but contorting her body this much after weeks of practically no movement at all made it far more harrowing than it needed to be.

During a stretch that had Ena arching her back in a cobra pose, she heard a choked sound coming from Mizuki who quickly got Ena to stand back up, insisting that they were ready to start.

Ena just shrugged, figuring that Mizuki was probably getting bored of watching someone else stretch for that long.

They worked through small motions. Mizuki would show Ena how her stance had a big influence on how much force she could put into a simple jab or punch. Her hands would hover over Ena’s body as she redirected her, never quite looking her in the eye as she did so.

“U-Uh, so twisting your body at the right time is crucial in keeping your body light and loose,” Mizuki explained, standing across from Ena with her hands extended out, palms facing her. “Let’s run through a few basic movements, try to feel the rhythm in it.”

It was more fun than Ena thought it’d be, and she already had her hopes fairly high. 

Mizuki was a good coach, knowing when to push Ena further and when to dial it back. She was constantly keeping track of Ena’s dizziness, asking her frequently how she was feeling. Ena hadn’t been lying earlier when she said she was doing better, she felt so energetic for once.

“Hey, Mizuki! Can you help spot me real quick?” Someone called out from across the field.

Mizuki pouted a little before sighing. “Gimme a few minutes?”

Ena nodded. She was perfectly fine waiting for Mizuki. 

She watched the other girl jog across the field and plopped herself down onto the grass, enjoying the ambient sounds and soft breeze the arena provided.

As she glanced around, Ena’s eyes immediately caught on something that someone else must’ve left behind or forgotten. She stood up and dusted off her hands on her shorts and went to go see it.

It was definitely a weapon of some kind, but nothing like what Ena had known in her own world. She couldn’t help her curiosity as she picked it up and examined it closely, noticing where the trigger was and seeing that there was an opening that you’d presumably load arrows into. 

A quick glance around confirmed that there were no spare arrows left behind, so Ena just kept admiring the intricate design. Mindlessly pressing the trigger, a sharp arrow head shot out and dug into the grass.

Ena flinched and jumped backwards, infinitely grateful she hadn’t been stupid enough to aim it towards herself.

Just as she was about to put the weapon down, she heard a scream from the other side of the arena. A giant dragon-fly looking creature flew in from above and let out a piercing screech.

The people training scattered, and Mizuki quickly jumped into the fray. 

Ena felt panic when she realised that Mizuki didn’t have any kind of weapon on hand to defend herself with. She was trying to bring down the creature with her bare hands.

It was clawing at her, with Mizuki only just barely being able to jump out of its reach. A talon was about to slice her way and Ena knew she had to do something. She pointed the weapon and aimed.

The creature fell. It was a perfect shot. 

But so did Mizuki, who was gasping in pain as she clutched her head - no, her eyes - desperately.

Ena felt time stop as the weapon dropped out of her weakened hands. 

Somehow, Ena had managed to graze Mizuki’s face with that one single arrow. She didn’t even see it, it was all such a blur in her vision.

There was so much blood. 

The healers were on the scene before Ena could blink. She heard Mizuki’s sobs of pain. She made her cry again. This time though…

Ena felt dizzy, she felt like she was going to be sick.

There were no fates anywhere to be seen. No cold shivers or uneasy feelings to suggest they had been there.

No. This was all Ena. She had done this all on her own.

She stumbled back a little as she heard the healers yelling out directions and for onlookers to go fetch them the correct supplies. If Ena thought that  things couldn’t get any worse-

“E-Ena?” Mizuki’s voice was calling out weakly, her eyes were covered by some kind of bandage and she was looking around aimlessly as if it’d make it any easier. 

She couldn’t take it anymore. Ena choked on her sob before staggering backwards. She ripped the ribbon out of her hair and let it fall to the ground. She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve Mizuki’s protection.

“Ena? E-Ena?!”

She ran. She ran so fast that the healers barely had a chance to try and stop her. She shoved past the swarms of people who were now gathered to see what all the commotion was about.

Ena didn’t stop for a second, ignoring gasps and questions as her heart pounded louder and louder.

She was so stupid. So naive.

All this time she was whining about it was the curse’s fault for all these awful things happening to her but that was laughable now. It was Ena. She was the problem.

Mizuki would never stop trying to help her. She’d always try to coax her out of her spirals, always try to make things better, no matter what. She was too kind to do otherwise. 

But it’d be at the cost of her own life. Ena couldn’t deal with this. Ms. Asahina had warned her, but Ena selfishly ignored her. Insistent that Mizuki was enough to be her saviour, to ensure nothing bad would happen. She had hoped so desperately that…

No. No, Ena had been right from the start. She had gotten too comfortable. She had two good days and suddenly forgot how much of a plague she’s been on everyone around her?

When Ena tuned back in to her own actions, she was stumbling through the streets, ignoring the looks of concerned townspeople and shoving past someone who might’ve said something similar to her name, she wasn’t sure. She vaguely felt something try to latch onto her leg, but she ignored it.

It was like she was on auto-pilot, the way she desperately banged her fist on the door to the closed floral shop. 

“Please, please,” She repeated, choking on her own cries. When the door opened she leapt into Ms. Asahina’s arms and wailed. She cried like a little baby as she clung onto the older woman. 

Mumbling incoherent strings of, “It’s all my fault, you were right, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

She was being shushed gently, though there was a clear hint of panic in Ms. Asahina’s voice as Ena was led to the couch in the back suite, where she dropped her body and curled up on herself.

“Ena, Ena dear please, you need to calm down,” Her voice was so gentle. It was gentler than Ena deserved. “You’re okay, you’re safe,”

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Ena didn’t care if she was safe, not when she was the danger to everyone she cared about. God. Was she bringing more trouble to Ms. Asahina too? 

“Ena!” Ms. Asahina sounded devastated. Oh. Ena must’ve spoken out loud. “You’re not trouble, you deserve to be safe,” 

She shook her head violently, unable to vocalise the words she needed to say. 

Ena was being held firmly by Ms. Asahina, who sat up on the couch next to her and held her in such a protective embrace that it made Ena wail harder. She wanted her mom. She wanted her dad. She wanted her life back. 

“I know sweetheart,” Ms. Asahina said with a broken voice. “I know.”

Ena wasn’t sure how long she was sitting there for, being rocked back and forth while Ms. Asahina hummed a gentle sound. Her sniffles and sobs subsided eventually, but likely only because of her dehydration. 

“Are you back with me, dear?” Ms. Asahina asked delicately.

Ena nodded weakly. “I’m tired.”

The devastation on the older woman’s face was painful to see. “I know, I’m sorry.”

“You said you could fix it,” Ena said in a near silent whisper. “You said you could make things better. Make things go back to how they were.”

Ms. Asahina looked apprehensive. “...I did.”

“Please,” Ena whispered. “I’ll do anything.”

The older woman looked at Ena, her gaze so piercing and so worried at the same time.

Ms. Asahina closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again with a weary smile. “I can do something better. I can send you home .”

Mizuki came to in the dark. She heard the sounds of bustling around her, as well as hushed and worried voices.

She realised there was a bandage wrapped around her eyes, and was too afraid to remove it. Too afraid of what she might see - or what she might not.

“Mizuki? Are you awake?” The nurse asked.

“Mhm, where’s-”

“Just hang on a second, I need to examine your eyes.”

Mizuki bit her lip, nodding her consent. When the bandage was delicately unwrapped Mizuki blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust. Everything was horribly blurry, to the point where she couldn’t even make out exactly where the nurse was. She was grateful that the lights were dimmed, likely out of consideration for her.

“I have good news,” The nurse said with a content sigh. “Your vision will be fine. The healers got to you very quickly and were able to reverse the damage before it had time to settle. Had this happened outside the arena…”

“I know,” Mizuki cut her off. “Everything’s blurry, though.”

“That’s perfectly normal. It shouldn’t take too long, considering how accepting your body is to magical healing, but I must insist you get someone to act as a caretaker until your vision fully returns.”

Mizuki grimaced at the idea. She supposed she could ask Rui or An, they’d be willing to help her.

But right now the only person she could think about was…

“Where’s the girl I was with? Is she okay?”

Even with her blurry vision, Mizuki could tell how nervous the nurse was. “She was the one to aim the weapon that-”

“I know.” Mizuki snapped a little impatiently. “It’s not her fault. But even if it was, it doesn't matter, I need to make sure she’s okay.”

“She ran away,” The nurse said sadly. “I… I did try to send someone after her but she was gone too quickly.”

Mizuki closed her eyes and leaned her head back into the pillow beneath her, half-tempted to bash her own head in a few times out of frustration.

She could practically feel the weeks of slow steady progress get ripped away from her. All the reassurance that Mizuki had tried to impart would be meaningless to Ena right now.

“Please,” Mizuki begged. “Someone needs to find her. She’s… She’s unwell, I’m scared of what she might d-do to herself…”

“I understand,” The nurse said, not making Mizuki finish the sentence. “You have some other friends waiting for you, should I let them in?”

Mizuki nodded. This was going to be difficult, but she needed help. 

Ms. Asahina was taking longer than she normally would’ve, when she gathered materials for the spell she was about to cast. Her own hands shook as she gathered together the ingredients, pausing before turning back to where Ena was sitting, staring off vacantly.

“Miss Mizuki will be alright, you know.” She said as delicately as she could. “Her injury is not-”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ena snaps. “Maybe she’s fine this time, but what about the next? I’m a magnet for danger, please I don’t wanna hurt her anymore. I don’t wanna hurt anyone. I can’t… I can’t even kill myself because then Mizuki will blame herself for it.”

Ms. Asahina couldn’t hold her gasp at the casualness in which Ena spoke.

“I’m sorry that this was done to you…” She spoke sincerely. “Enanan’s cruelty has taken so much from you… You never deserved to be her sacrifice, so easily discarded.”

Ena shrugged apathetically. She went back to the crippling silence that only served to make Ms. Asahina ache more than ever.