Chapter Text
Prologue 1
Fujimaru Ritsuka was an ordinary girl. Quite a popular one, going by the number of chocolates she received each Valentine’s Day, but ultimately ordinary. If there was anything exceptional about her, it was her ability to adapt to unusual circumstances, but that rarely came up in day-to-day life.
Today, though, she’d needed every bit of that flexibility. Donating blood for charity wasn’t that hard—she’d always had a good pain tolerance—but getting fast-talked into accepting a confidential job offer, then snatched away like in a spy thriller? Suddenly having to command characters straight out of a shonen manga in a full-dive VR battle? It was enough to make anyone question their sanity.
When she came to, for a moment, she kept her eyes closed. Perhaps it was all a strange dream. Maybe she would open her eyes and wake up in her bed, late for school again. Yes, her head was resting on a pillow right now. Hopefully she still had some time before her alarm went off…
“Boop. Boop boop.”
A finger prodded insistently at her nose. Ritsuka slowly cracked her eyes open.
There was a woman. Her red eyes glimmered like flawless rubies. Golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing a flawless face with a tender smile. White clothes covered a white figure, pure as a snowfield unblemished by footprints.
“…Mommy?”
The woman gasped, serene image collapsing in an instant. “How did you know!?”
Wait, she said that out loud? Ritsuka’s groggy mind took a moment to catch up with her mouth. She flushed. On a second look, the woman couldn’t have been older than seventeen. Saying something like that to a cute person her own age… How embarrassing!
“Ah, I’m just teasing.” The girl’s smile shifted to something more mischievous. “Though, I guess a lap pillow is pretty maternal, huh?”
This soft, springy bliss… it was the legendary “lap pillow” of light novel fame!? To think she’d actually be able to experience it, and from a girl that looked like she’d stepped right out of a painting…
“Ehehehe… So cozy…” Her lips curled into a silly grin. She didn’t care. She never thought she’d be able to experience something like this. It was the sort of thing that only happened in stories, not real life. Right now, she could die happy.
“It’s good you’re enjoying it. You’re less put together than I thought you’d be. Well, I guess you are half asleep.”
Ritsuka forced her eyes open again. That was right! She’d just made a horrible impression. She needed to salvage it, stat! “What’s your name? Wait. I should go first. I’m—”
“Fujimaru Ritsuka, I know. Or Ritsuka Fujimaru, going by the English order. After all, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time.”
Wow. The pretty person was interested in her? Amazing. The woman knowing her name was a bit weird, though. Ritsuka’s brow furrowed.
“Oh. We can’t have that.” The woman’s thumb gently stroked Ritsuka’s forehead, and like magic, the furrow melted away. “What do you think of my eyes? Pretty, right?”
“Mhm.” They were a beautiful pale gold that shifted and flowed like the sea. She could almost feel their waves washing over her.
”Go to sleep,” the eyes said. “Forget I was here.”
“Aye aye, capt’n.” Hehe. Eye-eye.
Giggling, Ritsuka sank into the golden waters until her thoughts were no more.