Archive of Our Own

Today, I learned something about computers: apparently, touching one wrong button could make an entire computer overheat and be louder than five helicopters all together.

“I BARELY TOUCHED IT!” I say for the fifth time in ten minutes.

“The graphics card started screaming, we can’t risk that again, you stay punished,” Nene doesn’t even turn to look at me as she keeps typing on the keyboard.

“That sounds like a design flaw, Rui’s computer is older than dinosaurs! Let it go already, it's begging to rest! Wasn't it his dad's?!"

Across the garage, Rui laughs quietly to himself.

I slump deeper into the beanbag chair that had become my prison sentence. Rui had called it a ‘temporary safety precaution,’ which was just a very fancy way of saying ‘Tsukasa-kun is no longer allowed within three feet of the computer.’

The garage itself barely looks like a garage anymore, the amount of wires and senseless technical stuff make it seem like a bunker. There are sketches pinned to corkboards, sticky notes on every available surface...

Somewhere in the middle of it all sits Rui, cross-legged in his desk chair, his sweater hanging halfway off one shoulder again.

Which should… not have been distracting, and yet I already had to force myself to look somewhere else.

Unfortunately, where I look is the monitor. Biiiiiig mistake, now I can actually see their game.

“Wait, wait, wait…” I lean forward. “Why does Emu have sparkles around her sprite at all times?”

“She insisted,” Nene answers.

“They’re animated and everything!”

“Well, she insisted harder, so I had to exaggerate them."

On-screen, a tiny pixel Emu bounces across a bright town plaza while flower effects explode behind her for absolutely no reason. Beside her stands Nene’s character model, expressionless and still.

Honestly, pretty realistic, I gotta give Nene credit for that!

“You’re… making an RPG, then?”

“A visual novel, not an RPG.”

“Basically a life simulator with adaptive dialogue systems…” Rui adds at the same time.

The two of them exchange a look.

“…Visual novel, it’s easier that way.”

Rui sighs dramatically, spinning once in his chair. “Nene has no appreciation for artistic terminology~!”

I stand up immediately.

“Ah-ah.” Nene points at me without turning. “You lost keyboard privileges fifteen minutes ago.”

“I merely wish to observe!”

“You may approach under supervision, Tsukasa-kun,” Rui shakes his head. He knows he can’t say ‘no’ to me for too long.

The closer I get, the more I can see. Dialogue trees, a lot of character portraits, relationship values… and a little menu labeled:

♡ AFFECTION

“...Oh.”

Nene visibly regrets letting me near the screen already. “Oh no.”

I point dramatically. “IS THIS A DATING SIMULATOR?!”

“It’s not—”

“NENE, ARE YOU MAKING A DATING SIMULATOR?!”

“It’s just a life simulator!” She grabs her own hair to hide her embarrassed face.

“With romance routes~!” Rui smiles cheerfully.

“It’s for practice…” she explains. “Simple gameplay loop. Daily interactions, branching dialogue, relationship systems… indie games like this are manageable for beginners, and I want to try making something myself. Rui helped me draw everyone we know. Just for a game to have among us, not gonna profit real people…”

“Aha! Avoiding capitalism!”

“Tsukasa, you literally buy limited-edition stage merch.”

“That is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, BECAUSE—”

Rui rests his chin against his hand, smiling lazily at me. “Of course it is…”

The way he said it should’ve been illegal, actually. I narrow my eyes immediately to hide the fact that my heart had just done something embarrassing.

Honestly, dating Rui had exposed me to psychological warfare nobody prepared me for. One second he’d be explaining coding functions, the next he’d glance at me through his bangs and I’d forget like… my own blood type.

Tragic, truly tragic for someone like me, I know.

I look back at the game again. There are character profiles lined up neatly on the side menu, like Emu, Nene, Akito, Akiyama, Touya, Shizuku, even Saki and her bandmates… 

Basically… everyone we know.

“Wait. Nene, why am I not here?”

Nene’s expression immediately transforms. I KNOW that face… she’s hiding something to save someone else’s dignity.

“...Rui literally said— and I quote— ‘If Tsukasa-kun’s AI falls in love with another character I may perish instantly.’”

I turn towards Rui veeery slowly, and Rui turns to me in his chair with a poker face at the same time.

“...That was completely taken out of context,” he looks at me in the eyes with a completely serious expression.

“You said that and then deleted his entire character file, Rui.”

Rui avoids my eyes for approximately two seconds before dramatically dropping sideways across his desk.

“I simply believe there are some experiments mankind is not meant to conduct…! Tsukasa-kun is so lovely, he might agree with the AI version of someone else instead of me…!"

“I WOULD NEVER—”

Rui finally looks up at me then, with that crooked smile I know so well. “Hm, reassuring.”

I hate to admit this, I truly do, but a part of me melts a bit.

Nene looks physically ill. I mean, I get it, this is all sorts of embarrassing.

“Anyway, Rui’s not in the game because somebody has to actually test it from the outside.”

Rui raises a finger. “A vital role!”

“So you just want admin privileges…?” I raise an eyebrow.

“I mean, if I made a character based on him, they’d be so compatible that… it’d end up a little weird once he enters the game, a Rui in love with another Rui..."

I lean over the back of Rui’s chair, chin almost bumping his shoulder as I squint at the screen. “So… how does this whole thing work, exactly?”

Nene clicks through a few menus.

“It’s basically a daily life simulator. You play through school days, hang out with people, raise stats, unlock events…”

“Stats?” I repeat.

Rui points proudly at the corner of the screen.

Sure enough:

• CHARISMA
• CREATIVITY
• COURAGE
• ACADEMICS

And then, bizarrely...

• DRAMATIC TIMING

“…Guys.”

“Yes?”

“Why is that a stat?”

Nene doesn’t even blink. “It affects how likely you are to accidentally trigger hidden romantic events. Like… bumping into someone and falling on top of them.”

“That sounds fake!”

“It’s not…” Rui says. “Currently, Emu has the highest compatibility modifier with dramatic timing.”

“That sounds EVEN MORE FAKE!!”

Rui clicks open a dialogue preview and tiny pixel Emu appears on screen with enough sparkles to blind a small village.

[WAHHH! We bumped into each other two times today! That must mean destiny!! ☆] 

A massive pink effect explodes behind her and I physically recoil.

“G-Good lord…?!”

“I told you, she requested more sparkles around her.”

“Why does she move like an escaped cartoon character?!”

“Because that’s literally her,” Nene and Rui answer at the exact same time.

I keep peeking around the interface curiously while Rui absentmindedly reaches back to tug at my sleeve again, catching his fingers loosely around my wrist this time so I don’t lean too far over him and destroy another expensive device.

Unfairly domestic…?

“Wait,” I shake my head. “Can I see everyone else?”

Nene doubts a bit, but opens the character menu anyway.

The first profile that pops up is Akito… and I nearly choke. His default sprite has crossed arms, an irritated expression, and a [TSUNDERE] tag.

I point at the screen so violently I almost rip one of Rui’s eyes off.

“YOU MADE AKITO A TSUNDERE?!”

“I mean, he acts like one…”

“HE’S NOT?!”

On screen, Akito’s preview dialogue appears: 

[Ah, there you are… tsk, you’re so late I was thinking of leaving by now… my time is too precious for this.] 

Then Rui giggles, “…he says while having waited five minutes.”

Meanwhile, Nene is scrolling through variables. “He gets embarrassed if affection levels rise too fast…”

“YOU PROGRAMMED BLUSHING?!”

“It’s a dating sim…”

“That’s SO embarrassing!”

“Tsukasa, you cried because Rui held your hand during a movie.”

I gotta learn to shut up, for God’s sake.

Rui looks away from me, smiling into his sleeve. Oh, you traitor, you’re totally giggling.

Nene moves on before I can defend my honor. Next, is Akiyama.

The second her profile opens, the entire UI changes aesthetic. It’s so pastel and… fashionable, that I almost get blinded again.

She seems to have a button labeled [SECRET EVENT]

“What’s this UI, did Akiyama hack your game or something?!”

“She requested it to be that way…”

Preview dialogue pops up.

[Ehhh~? Are you seriously wearing THAT to school? Thought you had a better sense of fashion, you look like Enanan~!] 

There are six possible responses. Five of them are normal, the sixth one simply says [Cry].

“There’s also a mechanic where she can appear randomly during other routes…” Rui explains. “To create chaos because she’s bored.”

“THAT’S NOT A GAME MECHANIC, THAT’S JUST AKIYAMA!!”

“Exactly~”

Then… oh dear, that’s actually a Saki sprite on the screen.

“Awww…”

Nene snorts quietly. Saki’s character portrait is ridiculously adorable. A bright smile, soft colors, tiny little music note effects around her animations…

Rui even programmed idle humming on her! Oh, I’m so going to marry this man.

“LOOK AT HER!” I'm scandalized by the levels of cuteness on screen. “SHE’S SO TINY!!”

I click through her dialogue previews myself this time… every single one is painfully Saki.

[Hehe, let’s go get snacks together! The art class made me so hungry~] 

[Wah, you don’t look so well, your eyes are all baggy! Don’t worry, come with me, I’ll help you fix it with make-up!] 

[Won’t you come with me…? :( ] 

“So she cares about people on every route, huh…” I observe.

“She’s coded to prioritize support interactions,” Rui nods. “Her affection rises faster if the player helps others.”

My heart nearly explodes. “RUI.”

“Hm?”

“THAT’S THE CUTEST THING YOU’VE EVER MADE.”

“Anyway…” Nene interrupts loudly, clicking away from Saki before I can get more unbearable, “the game changes depending on who you spend time with. Different choices unlock different routes, dialogue changes, events change—”

“Oh!” I lean forward again. “So theoretically, everybody experiences a slightly different story?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s actually amazing, even more knowing you two did all that yourselves!”

“You know…” Rui says eventually, in the exact tone of voice that has historically preceded SEVERAL disasters, “this situation is actually perfect.”

Nene looks at him with suspicious violet eyes, and I, unfortunately, don’t get the hint.

“Perfect… for what?”

“For testing~!”

“No,” she shakes her head without thinking about it for longer than half a second.

“Counterargument: yes.”

I sneak in the middle of them. “Wonderful debate, very compelling, wonderful…! By the way, what are we talking about?”

Rui gestures grandly toward the monitor.

“The game is still in early development, naturally, but I’ve been adjusting the immersion systems while we spoke.”

“...The what systems?”

“Visual responsiveness! Audio adaptation, dynamic perspective rendering…” His lips draw a feline smile. “I wanted the experience to feel more natural.”

Nene rubs her face. “You added more things…?”

“Wait, so you want… me, to test it?”

“Precisely, yes. It’ll be fine, Tsukasa-kun simply needs to wear the headset and navigate a few in-game interactions! We already know how it goes, so it'd be good for someone to try it blindly!"

I stare at the strange headset sitting beside the keyboard.

“…Why does your visual novel require sci-fi equipment? Can I just… sit on your chair and start moving the mouse around?”

“For immersion, graphics are absolutely wonderful!” Oh no, oh no, that tone of voice… he’s getting too excited.

“That word is beginning to frighten me!”

“It tracks eye movement,” Rui explains with a proud undertone. “And spatial perception, and emotional responsiveness.”

“…Emotion responsiveness?”

“It reacts to player engagement levels.”

“Rui…” Nene lowers her voice, “...that sounds straight up evil.”

“Only a little… it’s for immersion~!”

I should say no, I mean, any smart person would say no. Unfortunately, curiosity is a chronic disease I suffer.

“…Fine.”

Nene looks genuinely betrayed. “Tsukasa—”

“But!” I add quickly, lifting up a finger, “I have one condition.”

Rui blinks. “Hm?”

“You need to temporarily remove Saki.”

Nene bursts into laughter so sudden she almost falls sideways out of her chair, and Rui stares at me for a moment before realization slowly dawns.

“Ah…”

“I am NOT risking some HORRIFYING accidental romance route with Saki!” I declare. “Absolutely not, I refuse! If that happens, I’m leaving Wonderlands x Showtime PERMANENTLY!”

Nene is fully wheezing now. “You think the game would even DO that…?”

“THIS MACHINE HAS ‘DRAMATIC TIMING’ AS A STAT! I'M AMAZING AT THAT!"

“A fair concern…” Rui admits.

“Thank you.”

Nene wipes tears from the corners of her eyes. “Okay, no, actually, that’s fair…”

Rui, visibly amused, opens the character menu again.

“Very well. Saki-kun shall be temporarily disabled until you finish the beta testing.”

“Thank God…”

Rui clicks through several settings windows, and Saki’s icon greys out. 

I visibly relax, Nene notices and laughs again. 

“You looked genuinely stressed there…”

“You don’t understand the psychological damage that would cause!”

I pick up the headset, turning it around in my hands. Up close, it looks less like gaming equipment and more like something stolen from a laboratory… but well, anything Rui makes ends up looking like that.

Tiny lights blink along the sides.

“…Why is it glowing.”

“For atmosphere!”

I let him place it over my head anyway.

The headphones settle over my ears gently, muffling the outside world's noise a little. Rui adjusts something near the side with a focused expression…

“There,” he murmurs. “Comfortable?”

“Very!”

His smile softens, then Nene (lovingly) proceeds to ruin the romantic moment.

“If anything happens to the poor Tsukasa, I’m blaming you for messing with the computer behind my back.”

“Encouraging…” Rui rolls his chair back towards the monitor. “Now then! Basic test. Visual synchronization first.”

The screen in front of my eyes flickers and pixelated menus bloom across the display. The headphones crackle softly before a cheerful melody starts playing directly into my ears, reminds me of phennyland a bit.

Oh, okay... that’s actually impressive overall!

The visuals feel weirdly deep, though, they make me forget this is a silly computer game. 

Menus start shifting depending on where I look, even adjusting the lightning based on it.

“Huh!” I say aloud. “That’s actually kind of—”

Something pops loudly inside the computer and all three of us freeze. First a sound coming from the plug… followed by sparks.

“Rui…” Nene’s brow furrows

“I noticed.”

The monitor glitches violently, even making the garage lights start flickering rapidly.

“Oh, that’s probably bad…” Rui mutters to himself, taking a finger to his chin.

“PROBABLY?!” I shout.

Suddenly, the headphones emit a horrible burst of static directly into my skull.

The screen distorts. The character in front of me starts switching sprites with the rest as text windows open and close impossibly fast.

“Take it off!” Nene yells.

“I’m TRYING—”

The headset won’t move… my stomach drops instantly.

“RUI!”

For the first time all night, he looks genuinely alarmed. He lunges forward immediately to grab the sides of the headset.

“Is it locked?!”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

The computer sparks again and smoke curls upward somewhere behind the monitor. Nene swears loudly and dives toward the power cables.

The garage lights start strobing violently now, before the screen fills with a giant text:

[PROTAGONIST FOUND] 

“W-What does that mean?!” 

Rui’s face drains of color. “That’s… not in the code—”

Excellent, wonderful, I absolutely love hearing that!

Nene yanks at a cable. “Rui, shut it down!”

“I’m trying!”

“You BUILT it, don’t you know how to—?!”

“I built it to function, not to do THIS—!”

The world probably kept spinning… but not for me.

The voices, Rui and Nene themselves, everything disappears like swallowed by a black hole.

For a terrifying couple of seconds, the only thing I can hear is my own heartbeat.

My head hurts… an awful lot. I can’t even call this ‘heroic’, this is like the farthest thing from that.

I groan quietly and squeeze my eyes shut tighter for a second, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

The floor beneath me is warm… the sunlight presses faintly against my eyelids.

…Wait, sunlight? Wasn’t it night—?

There’s noise everywhere. Footsteps, a lot of voices, lockers opening and closing… huh, lockers?

…I am very clearly not in Rui’s garage anymore. I jerk upright so fast I nearly slam foreheads with some random student walking past me.

“Whoa—!”

“S-Sorry!” I blurt automatically.

The guy stares at me strangely before hurrying off down the hallway.

A… school hallway, for some reason? One I have absolutely never seen before in my life.

The building is huge, with bright windows stretching across polished floors. Students move past in clusters, chatting casually while carrying bags and books.

Everything looks… weirdly polished. Maybe too aesthetically perfect for a real school.

I stare blankly at a giant banner hanging overhead.

[WELCOME TO KIRAKIRA☆ACADEMY!] 

“Kira...kira?"

Okay, so… not Kamiyama, nor Miyamasuzaka. Yay… that’s horrible news.

I look down immediately to find a uniform that is definitely not mine. A black cardigan, red tie, a golden trim… and a metallic golden star clipped right in front of my heart.

“W-WHAT?!”

No school I know has uniforms this dramatic! Actually wait no, Rui would absolutely design uniforms this dramatic.

“No no no no—!”

I spin around wildly, and then I see familiar faces. A group of friends passing by together, chatting and laughing… eh, Leo/Need?!

“Saki?!” my entire nervous system crashes.

She walks right past me carrying books against her chest, chatting happily with Honami… no reaction.

I step forward instinctively to chase after her, when suddenly a translucent blue window pops into existence in front of my face.

[NEW OBJECTIVE: Attend morning classes!] 

There’s even cheerful little music… it feels like a joke. I stare at the floating menu in absolute silence.

“Wait… Rui.”

I turn in a circle.

“Rui?”

A few nearby students glance at me awkwardly… okay, fine, obviously! This is just the immersion system, that’s all! Rui probably added voice suppression or something for realism!

Yeah… yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

I cup my hands around my mouth. “RUI!”

Several students jump and a nearby teacher lowers his glasses. Probably concerned.

“Rui, Nene…? Guys…?”

My heartbeat starts picking up.

Okay… don’t panic, not at all! Maybe the audio system glitched! Or I could be unconscious in the garage after that awful noise the headphones made…

I pinch my arm hard and pain shoots straight through me.

“OW—!”

That… hurt A LOT. I stare at my own hand in growing horror and pinch myself again, harder.

“OW!”

Oh… that’s really bad.

A notification suddenly appears beside my face: [STRESS LEVEL INCREASED]  

“DON’T MONITOR THAT?!”

The box vanishes.

“…Okay. T-This is fine, I just… just need to find Rui, yell at him excessively, and then I’ll return home!” 

Sounds like a good plan at first, except that…

I look around again. The weirdly polished atmosphere, people I know, the objectives…

My expression slowly empties. “…Oh my God.”

There’s absolutely no way… right…?

I am wearing protagonist clothes. Nobody else has this star on their uniform.

“That idiot…!”

A nearby student startles. “Uh… are you okay?”

I point accusingly at the sky. “HE PUT ME IN THE GAME!!”

“W-What?” she blinks

“HE. PUT ME. IN THE DAMN GAME!"

“Who?”

“RUI!”

“Who’s Rui?”

“…What did you say?”

The student shifts uncomfortably. “I asked… who’s Rui?”

I laugh nervously. “T-That’s not funny… Kamishiro Rui, that famous weirdo, I need to find him—”

“I’m not joking.”

I grab her by the shoulders immediately.

“Haha! Great prank! Fantastic commitment to the bit…! WHERE IS HE?!”

“T-This is my first time talking to you?!”

An impossible to ignore sense of panic starts crawling into my chest. This girl isn’t acting confused… She is genuinely clueless. The name truly doesn’t ring any bell to her.

“…You really don’t know him.”

“I-I don’t think so…?”

I let go immediately. “S-Sorry! Have a good day…!”

Then I back away before security gets called on me, I can’t start my… adventure… having the fame of harassing girls at school!

Okay, okay, think…

Rui and Nene said he wasn’t programmed into the game. Meaning, if I AM inside the game, then Rui…

“...Oh.”

Before I can think about it further, glowing arrows appear on the floor, floating a few inches above the tiles. They pulse softly in front of me before extending down the hallway like a trail.

My eye twitches. “…Oh, absolutely not.”

However, the arrows sparkle encouragingly. I mean it, one is literally bouncing in place.

“You are NOT cute enough to make this acceptable!!”

Unfortunately, they continue existing.

I look around desperately for literally anyone named Rui Kamishiro to emerge from behind a corner laughing hysterically… obviously, it never happens.

…Ugh, OKAY.

I start walking, they look like they’ll follow me forever if I keep ignoring them.

As I move through the halls, the atmosphere keeps getting weirder… too artificial. Every classroom I pass contains conveniently attractive people, even background music changes depending on where I stand.

One corridor literally gets softer lighting when two students accidentally touch hands?!

The next step I take, a giant text slams across my vision.

[ARTIFICIAL LOVE THEORY] 

…Flower petals behind, along with an awful lot of hearts.

I stare blankly at the title hovering in the air. “…Huh.”

Sincerely, I was fully prepared for something horrific like ‘Doki Doki Miracle Heart Academy… Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle.’

This sounds kind of cool, actually! Something Rui and Nene would come up with!

The game's title title fades away slowly and the arrows stop in front of a classroom door.

[CLASS 2-A] 

…There is no way this game put me in a classroom setting. Social interaction is the MOST DANGEROUS thing in the Otome genre!!

I slide the door open cautiously and stop so suddenly I almost trip on my own legs.

“…What the hell?!”

Every single person I know is here. Literally everyone. In. The same. Classroom.

Akito’s slouched in a chair near the windows, looking half asleep already; Toya’s reading quietly beside him; Akiyama’s hanging over the back of a seat bothering Akito’s sister…

Even KAITO is here somehow, why is he a student?! THAT MAN IS THIRTHY!!

Oh, wait, right. People are fans of vocaloids in the real world… makes sense someone would want a route with them. Miku and the others should be around here as students as well...

“H-How are you all in the same class?!” I blurt out loud.

The entire room goes silent as dozens of eyes turn toward me at once.

..Ah. So social consequences are a thing here too, how WONDERFUL.

Akito squints at me from across the room. “…Ugh.”

Then, Akiyama lights up. “Ooh, dramatic first impression~!”

“I don’t think it’s intentional...” Ena mutters.

This makes no sense… these people don’t even all go to the same school! Some of them barely know each other!! Why is LITERALLY EVERYONE HERE?!

...Oh, wait, this game was built by Rui and Nene, I had forgotten. Of course they just shoved everyone they know into one classroom. They’re both that lazy. Psychopath behavior.

As I’m internally processing this crime against educational systems, another notification pops into existence.

[CHARACTER EVENTS AVAILABLE!] 

I physically recoil. “NO—”

The game ignores me completely. Little icons appear over people’s heads: A music note over Ichika, a clover over Hanasato, a flame over Akito, a bow over Akiyama… this place hates me.

A crown icon appears over Emu the second she notices me standing there, her entire face lights up instantly.

“TSUKASA-KUN!☆”

The game literally plays a sound effect as if she got unlocked. Behind her, a giant translucent notification explodes across my vision:

[FIRST HEROINE ENCOUNTER!] 

“No no no NO—”

“Tsukasa-kun, there you are! You’re late, that's so weird of you!”

“I—”

Before I can even process the situation, another window bursts onto the screen.

[EVENT START!: A Colorful Morning Encounter] 

And… whimsical music swells dramatically.

I wish there was an option to just die here.

Emu grabs my hands immediately while her rosy eyes sparkle with eagerness. “We were waiting for you!”

“We?”

Nene appears behind her, carrying books against her chest. “…Mostly her.”

Alright, Tsukasa, THIS. ISN'T. NENE. this is just the character she made… gotta remember that or I’ll lose my mind.

I glance desperately between them. Okay, this is manageable… normal interaction with two of my best friends ever!

“So!” Emu beams at me. “We’re planning to stop by the arcade after school! You should come with us!”

A choice menu materializes in front of my face.

[What will you say?] 

• “Sounds fun!”
• “Maybe, if I have time.”
• “I’d rather go home.”

Oh, this is evil.

I panic and choose the safest option possible:

[Maybe, if I have time.]

The menu disappears as Emu pouts dramatically.

“Awwww! But it’ll be fun! I'd reeeeeally want to go with you!!"

A little sound effect plays.

[+1 Affection! ♡]

“…What,” I stop breathing for half a second. 

The tiny heart icon beside Emu’s name fills slightly… wait, no, no, NONONO—

I point at it immediately. “What is THAT.”

Emu tilts her head. “What’s what…?”

“You don’t SEE that?!”

Nene eyes me cautiously. “Tsukasa… did you sleep well?”

I straighten up instantly like I’ve just realized I’m standing on active train tracks.

“A-Actually!” I say loudly, “perhaps I SHOULD go home immediately…!”

Emu gasps. “Ehhh?! Why?!”

[-1 Affection…]

An extremely loud sad trombone sound effect plays, it felt like a full jumpscare.

“…It punishes me?”

“What punishes you?” Nene’s eyes narrow.

So nobody can see the interface except me… excellent, I’m alone in hell AND look like a schizophrenic.

Emu suddenly grabs my sleeve. “There’s a new taiyaki shop near the arcade too!”

[+2 Affection! ♡]

The bar fills higher. HI-GHER.

I stare at it in growing terror. Because this isn’t just a game character, this is Emu… like, real-life Emu. The Emu who spends half her existence attached to Nene like a koala. The Emu who looks at Nene like she personally invented happiness.

The Emu who absolutely, undeniably, CATASTROPHICALLY has feelings for her.

And apparently in this game… she can like me.

I feel like I’ve accidentally wandered into somebody else’s marriage and started kicking furniture over. I’m a disgusting homewrecker.

I glance at Nene in panic, who looks… completely normal. Not a trace of jealousy in her expression.

Which makes it WORSE. Because apparently this version of Nene doesn’t… oh dear, that’s awful.

That means… these versions of everyone are built around the protagonist. 

I, Tsukasa Tenma, am a full harlot.

“Tsukasa-kun?” Emu asks. “You’re making really strange expressions…!”

“I’m experiencing moral distress, give me one second!"

“Huh?”

The game suddenly zooms in slightly, then soft lighting floods the scene. WHY IS THERE LIGHTING—

Emu smiles brightly up at me.

“You should come! It’ll be suuuuuper fun if we hang out together!☆”

[CHOICE TIME!]

• [Agree enthusiastically]
• [Smile and accept]
• [Refuse]

Those first two are basically the same thing! THIS GAME IS RIGGED.

I choose: [Refuse.]

Immediately, the background music cuts out awkwardly.

“…Wow,” Akiyama says from across the classroom. So THIS is what Rui meant by her sneaking into conversations that don’t concern her at all. “That was so cold, Tsukasa-senpai~!”

“THAT’S NOT—”

[-3 Affection…]

The heart cracks slightly. WHY DOES IT HAVE DAMAGE ANIMATIONS?!

Emu droops dramatically. “Awww…”

“No wait— not because I dislike you! I just— I mean—you’re such a wonderful person and—” I start to panic.

[+4 Affection! ♡]

The heart violently refills.

…This devilish game just interpreted panic damage control as romantic tension. I’m seriously going to hang myself from the window.

Nene watches me unravel with increasing concern. “Tsukasa, are you sure you’re okay…?”

“Where the heck is Rui when I need his knowledge the most…?!”

The room goes quiet again. Oh, right, I said the forbidden word.

“…Who?” Emu asks.

“NOBODY!!”

A chill crawls up my spine and before I can think too hard about that, another notification appears.

[Emu Ootori Route Process Increased! ♡]

NO IT DIDN’T.

Fortunately the bell rings, and I’m immediately out of my seat like the building’s on fire.

I shove the classroom door open and stumble into the hallway, pressing both hands against my face.

“This is a nightmare…!!”

Students stream around me normally, while my soul actively tries to leave my body. I’ve been in this world for less than an hour and I’m already accidentally activating romantic stories.

Rui is never hearing the end of this.

Actually, no, correction: When I find Rui, I’m killing him with a hammer.

My thoughts spiral hard enough that I don’t notice someone walking toward me until we collide shoulder-first.

“Watch where you’re—”

…Akito.

We both recoil slightly.

“Ow—!”

“The hell’s your problem, man?” Akito snaps, and instantly:

[CHARACTER EVENT AVAILABLE!] 

I stare at the flame that appeared on his head once again, and of course he notices.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Because apparently YOU’RE romanceable here?! YOU?!

“N-Nothing! I’m simply… emotionally unstable right now.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

God, even fake dating-sim Akito sounds exactly like real Akito.

“...Did you hit your head or something?”

“Possibly!”

“Right.”

He starts to walk past me, and then pauses.

“…You skipping lunch?”

That’s… an oddly normal thing to say. Maybe I’m safe here.

“...No, I guess?”

“Then move already, the hallway’s crowded.”

Oh. Right.

A thought suddenly occurs to me, a TERRIBLE intrusive thought. One Rui would absolutely blame for all future consequences.

…Can I test the mechanics?

For survival purposes, obviously… it’s not that I’m getting extremely curious about this whole Otome protagonist thing, damn right it isn’t.

And, having a tsundere-tagged Akito… 

A dangerous grin starts pulling at my face.

“…Akito.”

“What.”

I step slightly closer, and the game camera shifts to a softer angle. OH GOD, this really IS an event trigger.

I’m going to make Rui and Nene pay for their crimes.

“So… did you wait for me?” I ask dramatically.

Akito recoils. “Huh?!”

The flame icon sparks… I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. Oh, this is so evil.

“I just happened to run into you,” Akito grumbles. “Don’t make it weird.”

His ears are… holy-they’re pink. I stare at him in genuine horror.

“…Rui made you FLIRTABLE?!”

“W-What? The hell does that even mean—?”

“You BLUSHED.”

“I literally didn’t.”

The game, unfortunately, disagrees. Because a tiny notification appears beside him:

[+2 Affection! ♡] 

And there it is… a faint blush drawn  across his sprite.

“...THAT’S INSANE.”

“What’s insane is whatever you’re doing right now, I feel harassed.”

“This is so horrifying.”

Akito looks deeply offended now. “Why are you acting like I confessed to you or something?!”

“You practically did?!”

“I ASKED IF YOU WERE GOING TO LUNCH.”

“WELL, somehow it became emotionally charged!”

The flame icon sparkles aggressively.

Akito’s eye twitches. “…You’re seriously weird today.”

I’m about to answer, but then… huh, wait.

What exactly am I doing right now? Flirting? Testing romance mechanics? Making dating sim characters blush for scientific curiosity?

Oh my god, I have a BOYFRIEND. A REAL BOYFRIEND that exists outside this cursed game.

And I’m over here collecting affection points like a shameless protagonist in heat.

“…I’m a monster,” my posture falls.

“What…?”

“I’ve become morally bankrupt.”

“Huh?”

“I’m EASY.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”

Dammit! This is exactly what Rui was afraid of!

His stupid paranoid little “What if Tsukasa-kun’s AI falls in love with someone else :(”!

Except WORSE, because it’s not AI Tsukasa, it’s REAL Tsukasa behaving like a manwhore.

I feel I should apologize to society.

Akito pinches the bridge of his nose. “You seriously need sleep… don’t talk to me until you’re in your right mind.”

THANK YOU, GOD, THANK YOU.

I leave Akito standing in the hallway as I sprint as far away from him (and any romantic route, to be honest) as possible.

I have triggered TWO affection increases already, TWO. At this rate I’m going to accidentally marry somebody before sixth period!

“This is how scandals start...!” I mutter to myself.

A passing student edges slightly farther away from me. Thank you, wooing a stranger would be the cherry on top.

I turn a corner sharply, still clutching my head in distress, and nearly crash into Toya.

“Ah…”

He steadies the books in his arms before looking at me.

“Tsukasa-senpai?”

Immediately, all my panic vanishes. Thank God, finally, a normal interaction… because there is absolutely NO WAY Toya has a route. Impossible. That’s basically my little brother.

…

…If this game lets me romance Toya I swear to God, I’m setting the building on fire.

“Toya!” I smile, relieved. “Thank heavens!”

He blinks, with his usual serene gray gaze. “...Are you alright?”

“No, never. But you being here somehow feels significantly less threatening!”

“…Threatening?”

“You’re safe for me, I mean.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Neither do I. But the important thing is, there’s no sparkles nor dramatic lightning!

“See, THIS is fine!” I announce to myself, wishing this game could hear me. “This is a perfectly normal social interaction!”

Toya tilts his head slightly. “You’re acting very strange today… do you need anything?”

“That’s because my reality is collapsing.”

“I… see.”

The terrifying thing is that Toya says that like he genuinely does see. I know he doesn’t understand heck and just wants to seem polite.

I walk beside him down the corridor naturally, finally able to breathe again.

“This gam—DAY has completely destroyed my sense of security…” I complain. “Apparently everybody here is romanceable!”

“That sounds difficult…”

“Exactly! Thank you!”

“Akito looked upset earlier.”

“HE WAS BLUSHING!!”

“…Ah.”

The fact Toya accepts this information without hesitation is certainly… concerning? But yeah, remember… if Nene and Emu don’t like each other here, Akito and Toya probably don’t either.

I sigh dramatically. “At least I don’t have to worry around you…”

There… a sound effect plays.

A DEADLY sound effect.

[+1 Affection! ♡]  

I stop walking instantly.

…No. No no no no no.

Agonizingly slowly, I turn my head…

…The affection bar is there, a blue one floating beside Toya.

“…No.”

Toya blinks. “Huh?”

“NO.”

“Tsukasa-senpai—?”

I stagger backward in genuine horror.

THIS IS TOYA. TOYA! SWEET, BABY BROTHER TOYA!!

THIS CANNOT SERIOUSLY BE A ROUTE?!

“This game is SICK,” I whisper.

Toya looks extremely concerned now. “Should I get someone…?”

“NO! Stay away from me!”

“…What?”

The affection meter wobbles sadly. Saying that to Toya hurts like someone stabbing me 88 times in the chest, but he doesn’t understand, I HAVE TO.

“YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FLIRTABLE!”

The game camera suddenly softens, warm lighting filters through the hallway windows…

OH GOD. OH THAT’S AN EVENT FILTER. I’M GOING TO MURDER RUI.

He takes one careful step closer. “You look pale…”

[+2 Affection! ♡]  

I let out a noise usually associated with injured wildlife. NO, NO MORE. I CAN’T KEEP ACCIDENTALLY SEDUCING PEOPLE.

“I HAVE TO GO!”

Before Toya can answer, I turn and RUN. For dear life I do.

My shoes slam against polished floors while students shout in alarm as I barrel past them like a man escaping divine punishment.

Because I AM.

This game is trying to turn me into the village bicycle!

I round another corner hard enough to almost slip… and freeze.

Saki, standing by the windows. The sunlight catches in her golden hair while she talks with Honami, laughing softly.

For one horrible second, relief floods through me.

“Saki!”

“Huh?”

I nearly answer… but then my brain catches up.

The game malfunctioned, the whole system broke.

Which means… which means her romance lock might not be working anymore.

My blood turns to ice.

Haha, NO. NO, NO, NO.

“Saki-chan…?” Honami asks, curious.

I point at them in panic. “DON’T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME!!”

Saki blinks. “W-What—?!”

Then I turn around, and immediately sprint away again.

Behind me, I faintly hear:

“…Did he join a cult?” 

“I don’t think so…?”

I disappear down the stairs before either of them can ask more questions, feeling my heart pounding violently.

This game… is a minefield. NOBODY is safe.

And somewhere out there… my real partner is still missing.

I slow down near an empty hallway, pressing a hand against the wall while trying to catch my breath.

“…Okay,” I whisper shakily.

I sit with my knees pulled against my chest, trying to reorganize my rapidly deteriorating sanity.

This is… no, not fine at all. Barely survivable.

I’ve somehow entered a dating sim accidentally triggered like three routes, nearly developed psychological damage over my own sister, and gotten labeled “unintentionally seductive” by a computer.

I bury my face in my hands.

“…I hate this day so much.”

A notification immediately appears:

[PLAYER IMMERSION DECREASING] 

“GOOD," I yell at it like a kid throwing a tantrum.

The box disappears sulkily. I groan and slump sideways against the railing.

Think… there has to be something useful here. Inventory menu? System settings? Emergency logout button? That would be quite useful, actually.

I reach automatically into my blazer pocket, and freeze. There’s a phone here… for some reason.

I pull it out immediately, and OH GOD, this is actually my phone.

The case is the same, the tiny crack in the corner from when I accidentally dropped it at Wonder Stage  is the same… even the stupid sticker Emu slapped onto the back three months ago is still crooked.

Slowly, I press the power button. The screen lights up, and there they are. My lockscreen.

Me, Saki, and Toya squeezed into frame while Saki grins at the camera and Toya looks vaguely confused about why we’re taking pictures in the middle of a restaurant.

My throat suddenly feels tight.

“…Oh.”

The feeling hits me so abruptly it almost physically hurts. Until now, everything’s felt fake… as artificial as the name said. Even the people here don’t feel real, not compared to the actual versions I know.

I unlock the phone quickly.

…No signal. I don’t know why I’m even surprised, it’d be surprising if anything went RIGHT today.

I try messages anyway... try to send something to the Wonderlands x Showtime groupchat, but the error message appears again and again.

I stare at the contacts for a second too long before looking away. No. If I think about that too hard right now, I’m genuinely going to lose it.

Instead, I open my gallery and scroll slowly. I just need something that anchors me to reality.

First thing I find, Saki posing in front of a mirror wearing an aggressively layered outfit.

I remember that day perfectly… she had appeared at my bedroom announcing “Tsukasa!! Look!! This is the greatest outfit coordination I’ve ever created!!”, then asking me to pleeeeeease take pictures of that.

There are six nearly identical photos because she kept changing poses every two seconds. I smile before I can stop myself.

Then, there’s Emu holding three taiyakis at once while Nene looks exhausted beside her. 

And another where Emu somehow managed to drag everyone onto a rollercoaster… she’s not here, but Nene took that selfie of me, Rui and her to show our pathetic “I’m gonna die” expressions.

Nene is next, though most of her pictures aren’t even intentional.

Her asleep at a table during rehearsal, glaring because she noticed the camera, holding a plushie Emu won for her while pretending not to care…

I scroll to find… Akiyama. An entire section of my gallery filled with Akiyama selfies.

Yeah. She adores stealing my phone to take purposefully HORRENDOUS pictures of herself. Why is your eye so close to the camera?! Then, twenty-seven versions of the same pose.

Scrolling farther, Akito asleep face-down on a café table next to a plate of finished pancakes.

Ah… yeah. That was also Akiyama. I remember the way she had to cover her mouth to avoid bursting out laughing when she saw Akito like that, while demanding me to take a picture.

…Real memories of my life, my friends, and… people that don’t even get close to those stupid versions of them upstairs.

My thumb hesitates suddenly once a familiar face appears.

Of course… there are A LOT of photos of Rui. An absurd amount, actually. I don’t even remember taking half of these.

Rui asleep at his desk under a pile of fabric and wires, him grinning directly into the camera after successfully managing to get an invention to set itself on fire… even a blurry photo from a festival where he’s halfway turned toward me, already smiling before I even say anything.

Then, couple photos... Way too many couple photos.

“Oh…”

There’s one where he’s resting against me during rehearsal break, stealing my scarf because apparently his own wasn’t ‘warm enough.’

Then, one selfie Emu forced us into where Rui’s literally looking at me instead of the camera. Idiot.

Even a terrible candid from Akiyama where Rui’s holding my face while I’m mid-rant about something stupid that frustrated me that day.

I remember being annoyed they took that picture… now, I’d give anything to go back to that day.

I stare down at another picture, this one is a lot more recent.

We’re both sitting on the floor in Rui’s garage surrounded by cables and snacks while he smiles sleepily into the camera.

I remember that too… he’d fallen asleep on my shoulder like ten minutes later.

My vision blurs unexpectedly. I blink hard, and a tear slips down before I can stop it.

“…Ah.”

I wipe at my face immediately. That’s stupid… it’s just that everything here feels horribly wrong. I just really want to go home.

I know who I mean by home.

Normally, I’d think it’s the world of stages, or Phoenix Wonderland, or Kamiyama, or any of the places I spend my days running around in.

Right now, home…

I stare at the phone screen again.

The thing is… Rui isn’t some isolated little star floating alone in my life. None of us are.

Every person in those photos is tied together with memories, habits, routines which are so normal… that I never really thought about them until now. 

And this stupid game world keeps trying to flatten everyone into categories and routes and archetypes like that’s all people are. It’s ridiculous.

If I get out of here… no, WHEN I GET OUT, not if, I’m going to appreciate things properly.

I’m going to let Saki drag me around shopping again, and even let her pick outfits for me… I really should start trusting her more with that.

I want to sit with Toya and actually listen when he starts talking about music production instead of pretending I understand what kind of technical things he says.

I want to grab a snack with Akito again while he acts like he doesn’t care about being there despite literally being the one who suggested the café.

Actually, maybe I should hug him someday.

The thought alone feels dangerous enough to summon lightning from the heavens, but still. I think he’d freeze like a frightened deer. I smile weakly to myself.

I want to visit the arcade with Emu and Nene without a demonic affection counter appearing over someone’s head every three seconds.

I want to make Emu laugh so… so, so loudly, nearby customers stare at us. And watch Nene get progressively more embarrassed while pretending she’s above participating in whatever nonsense we’re doing, only to get competitive ten minutes later.

And Akiyama… yeah, I’d let her steal my phone again. Even if she fills it with thirty horrifying selfies taken at angles previously unknown to mankind. I’d accept seventy, honestly.

Because now I realize how much I took all those stupid things for granted.

Like there’d always be another rehearsal, another group outing, another ridiculous conversation, another lazy afternoon sitting around doing absolutely nothing important together.

So… when I get home, I’m seriously going to tell everyone how much they matter to me.

Well, maybe not exactly like that, let's say I'll show everyone. If I suddenly walked into practice and announced “YOU ALL MEAN SO MUCH TO ME THAT I EXPERIENCED A SPIRITUAL CRISIS OVER IT,” more than one would probably leave the place permanently. Nene and Akito first.

Akiyama would cry laughing, Emu might actually cry for real, Toya would probably think very hard before saying something terrifyingly sincere back…

…And Rui.

The second I think about seeing Rui after this, my chest feels painfully tight all over.

…I never thought it was possible to miss someone so intensely.

I miss the way he absentmindedly reaches for my sleeve when I walk too close to something dangerous, how he leans against me without noticing he’s doing it, hearing him ramble about inventions I barely understand while he gets more excited with every sentence…

I even miss when he says deeply concerning things in that cheerful little voice of his.

I want to sit in his garage again while he works on something impossible. I want him to steal my scarf again because apparently his body temperature stops functioning below eighteen degrees.

I want to hold his hand without worrying that some cursed system is going to reward me with heart points and sparkles…

Guess that’s the difference, isn’t it? This game treats affection like something collectible. Like love is just choosing the correct dialogue options enough times.

Every little thing with Rui happened so naturally that it even feels scary.

The first time he held my hand wasn’t during some dramatic romantic event. We’d both fallen asleep backstage after rehearsal, and I woke up realizing he’d tangled our fingers together in his sleep.

The first time I realized I loved him wasn’t really cinematic either. He’d been laughing a lot that day, unusual for him, and... that was it.

I exhale shakily.

“…I do want a future.”

I want… more festivals, more rehearsals, more sleepy train rides home together... more moments where he looks at me before anyone else in a crowded room.

I want to grow old with him, to see what kind of ridiculous adult he becomes someday.

My eyes sting again and I glare at the ceiling.

“Ah, come on!” I mumble fiercely. “I’m not crying twice in one day over the dumbass that trapped me here!”

…

“…Okay, maybe a little.”

After a few pathetic minutes, I aggressively wipe the remaining tears from my face and stand up so abruptly my knees crack. Ouch… that hurt right in my PRIDE.

“Right,” I announce to absolutely nobody. “Enough of this!”

Because really, what am I doing? Sitting in a hallway crying like a baby over my partner while trapped inside a haunted dating simulator is NOT productive.

Very emotionally compelling, perhaps, but productive? Absolutely never.

I square my shoulders dramatically. I am Tsukasa Tenma, future star of the stage! I cannot spend the entire day hiding in corridors like some emotionally compromised pigeon!

I need information, a plan… I really can’t trust anybody here, so I must do it by myself!

“To be fair,” I mutter while fixing my red tie, “the game HAS made everyone biologically dangerous…”

I take a deep breath and march down the hallway with renewed determination.

Immediately, I hear:

“Tsukasa-kun!☆”

NO.

I physically recoil so hard I almost throw myself into a wall.

At the other end of the corridor Emu lights up, making it look like somebody just switched the sun on manually.

“Wah! There you are! I was looking for you eeeeeverywhere!”

Above her head: [EVENT CHANCE INCREASED! ♡]

My survival instincts activate.

“UH... UH, G-GOODBYE!”

I spin on my heel and sprint in the opposite direction before she can take more than two steps towards me.

“EHHHH?!”

The cheerful background music tries to swell heroically again as I run. NO, YOU WILL NEVER CATCH ME!!

“NOT TODAY, SATAN!” I yell at the ceiling.

Students leap aside while I bolt through the halls like an escaped zoo animal. The game, of course, punishes me immediately:

[-2 Affection ♡]

A distant sad sound effect echoes behind me.

“OH MY GOD, STOP MAKING ME FEEL GUILTY! MAKE HER KISS NENE OF SOMETHING!!”

I skid around a corner, nearly slam directly into a vending machine, regain balance with the grace of a dying flamingo (still can't help but compare myself to a zoo animal)… and unfortunately, destiny itself apparently hates me.

Because the second I slow down, someone calls: “Tsukasa-senpai?”

…Toya.

He’s standing near the stairwell with a cup of coffee in one hand, blinking at me with genuine concern.

“Ah,” he smiles softly. “You look less distressed than earlier.”

I point at him accusingly. “DON’T COME CLOSER!!”

“Huh—?”

The blue affection meter appears again.

[CURRENT MOOD: WORRIED]

WHY DOES IT TRACK EVERYONE’S EMOTIONS NOW?! It’s SO trying to guilt trip me into cheating on my boyfriend. WELL, SUCKS FOR YOU, I'M A LOYAL MAN!

“I-I appreciate your concern deeply!” I can’t help but still say, “but for reasons beyond your understanding, you are currently a severe threat to my wellbeing!!”

“I-I’m sorry?”

The game camera softens and a warm breeze mysteriously flows through the stairwell despite the windows being closed.

STOP THAT IMMEDIATELY.

“YOU ARE WONDERFUL AND I VALUE YOU TREMENDOUSLY, BUT PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM ME FOR NOW!”

Then I RUN again.

“Tsukasa-senpai?!”

[+3 Affection ♡]

“THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE WORKED, WHAT THE HELL, IS HE A MASOCHIST?!”

My shoes thunder down the stairs.

This is impossible, literally impossible! Every sincere emotion I express gets converted into romantic progress by this demon software!

I burst through another hallway door and immediately spot golden hair near the windows…. Saki.

My soul exits my body instantaneously. I make direct eye contact with her for exactly one second before pivoting so sharply I nearly dislocate something.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

And immediately march the OTHER direction at frightening speed.

I hear Saki calling after me faintly in the distance while another notification pops up.

[AVOIDANCE DETECTED!]

“GOOD!”

I storm down another staircase, hair completely disheveled by now, only to nearly collide with someone carrying drinks… great, Akito.

“…Again?!” he complains.

The flame icon appears over his head before I can even process the situation.

[AKITO SHINONOME EVENT READY!]

“NO IT ISN’T!”

“What?”

“NOTHING, OUT OF THE WAY!”

Akito squints at me suspiciously. “Did you seriously sprint down two floors just to avoid somebody…?”

“BUT—”

His eyes narrow further. “…Were you crying?”

Oh, that was a mistake. Because suddenly the music cuts softer, and the lighting changes.

I flee, AGAIN. At this point I’m genuinely sweating from everything, I must smell like trash.

I slow to a cautious walk through an unfamiliar section of the building… I don’t seem to know anybody here.

“…Okay,” I whisper, looking around carefully. “Good…”

No threats detected, finally.

I straighten my posture, trying to regain at least a fragment of dignity after screaming at several of my dear ones and fleeing from them like they carried infectious diseases.

Honestly, from an outside perspective, I probably look insane… no, I definitely do. Problem is, here you can spit on someone else's mouth and THEY'LL LIKE IT.

I exhale deeply and turn a corner, directly… into another person.

“WHOA—!"

“AH—!"

We collide full force, and APPARENTLY I can’t have a normal collision either. No-no, it’s the WORST KIND. A CINEMATIC COLLISION.

I slip on absolutely nothing, the other guy instinctively grabs for me, and suddenly both of us crash dramatically onto the floor…

There’s even a gust of wind somehow?!

And, because God has abandoned me entirely, the music changes.

“…No, God, please, no,” I whisper in horror from the floor.

Above us both, a giant translucent banner materializes: [FATED ENCOUNTER ♡]

“NO—”

The stranger blinks down at me, equally startled.

He’s around my age maybe, dark hair slightly messy from the collision, glasses crooked… also, pretty.

Of course he’s pretty, everyone in this cursed school looks designed in a laboratory specifically to sell body pillows.

“S-Sorry!” he says quickly, immediately offering me a hand. “I wasn’t looking where I was going…!”

I stare at the offered hand like it contains lethal poison.

A… flower petal drifts by. THERE ARE NO TREES IN HERE, OH MY LORD?!

“…Absolutely not.”

“Huh?”

I slap his hand away and scramble backward across the floor like a frightened raccoon.

The guy looks alarmed. “Did I… hurt you?”

“I REFUSE THIS NARRATIVE!”

“What?”

A tiny heart icon appears beside his head.

[NEW CHARACTER UNLOCKED! ♡]

OH MY FUCKING GOD.

“You stay AWAY from me!”

“I literally don’t know you…”

“EXACTLY, YOU DON’T!”

The stranger pushes his glasses up awkwardly, clearly trying to process whatever psychological catastrophe he accidentally collided with.

“…Are you okay?”

“No!”

“Do you need help standing?”

“NO, DON’T TOUCH ME!”

“Should I call someone?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

The heart meter fills slightly anyway.

[+1 Affection ♡]

At this point I’m completely ready to start foaming at the mouth.

The guy crouches slightly to help gather the papers that exploded everywhere during our impact.

“Ah, tou dropped these..."

“I DON’T WANT THEM.”

“But they’re your class notes—”

“KEEP THEM!”

“…You’re kind of interesting.”

A violent shiver runs down my spine.

[FLIRTATION DETECTED ♡]

“I NEED TO LEAVE THIS SCHOOL!"

The stranger laughs softly.

Softly. LIKE. A. LOVE INTEREST. I shoot to my feet dramatically and point at myself.

“Listen carefully! I am NOT protagonist material for you!”

“I wasn’t implying that…?”

“GOOD.”

“Though now I’m curious.”

The affection meter jumps again.

[+2 Affection ♡]

“I—YOU—YOU—THIS—STOP BEING ATTRACTED TO ME!!”

“I’m not?”

“THEN EXPLAIN THE PINK LIGHTING!”

The guy glances around the hallway, understandably seeing absolutely no magical romance filter happening around us.

“…I think you hit your head harder than I thought.”

I need to kill this route immediately. Immediately IMMEDIATELY. Life.-or-death situation.

Fine. If the game wants a protagonist, I’ll become the least attractive human being alive!

I cross my arms.

“Hear me, mysterious stranger! I am a terrible person! I’m cruel to elders, I… I bully old people and children for fun! I’m so, so selfish that I’d laugh at you if you fell and broke a leg! And… uh… a-and I kick puppies! Just because I find it funny! And… and… a-and kitties too!”

“…You kick little animals.”

“YES!”

“You don’t seem physically capable of kicking a dog.”

“I COULD IF I WANTED TO… W-WHICH I DO, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE I’M AN AWFUL HUMAN BEING!”

The guy finally laughs outright… w…war…warm…warmly.

[+5 Affection ♡]

“What kind of person says ‘I kick puppies’ as a defense mechanism?” he asks, still laughing slightly.

I’m about to invent even worse crimes when suddenly… a hand settles lightly against the back of my shoulder.

“Ah, forgive us, I really need this prince charming for something right now~!”

Everything inside me stops on its tracks. My heartbeat, thoughts... even lungs I'd dare to say!

I genuinely don’t understand what happens for the next several seconds.

One moment I’m still standing in the hallway trying to convince a stranger I’m a terrorist, and the next, familiar fingers are tangled with mine and somebody is pulling me rapidly down the corridor.

I barely even register the scenery around us changing, between a turn, then a staircase, and a door swinging open… and shutting close with a concerning amount of force.

Suddenly, we’re inside one of the school bathrooms... I stand there frozen, still staring at the floor because I think if I look up too quickly my nervous system might simply explode.

The hand holding mine loosens slightly.

“…Tsukasa-kun?”

My throat tightens so painfully I almost can’t breathe upon hearing that voice.

I lift my head.

…There he is.

With his slightly messy purple hair, the oversized cardigan sleeves covering part of his hands (because he can't exist in a world without oversized clothing), even that familiar worried crease near his mouth he gets when he’s trying to stay calm for someone else’s sake…

I think my brain genuinely needs a moment to reconnect every severed wire in my body.

Because until now, some horrible little part of me had started wondering if maybe I’d imagined him. Or if I’d only find some hollow game-version wearing his face.

But no... The man standing in front of me is actually him. I just know that, I feel that.

“…Rui?”

Before he can reply, I throw myself at him so hard he stumbles backward into the sink counter with a startled noise.

“Wah—!”

I don’t even care, my arms lock around him immediately. He’s… so warm. Solid and REAL, FOR HELL’S SAKE.

“Oh thank GOD,” the words come out broken against his shoulder. “Oh my God, oh my God, you STUPID—!”

Rui makes another surprised sound as I nearly crush him to death.

“Tsukasa-kun, wait, I can explain…”

“NO!”

Genuinely, I cannot handle explanations right now. I can barely handle oxygen. The relief just hit me so violently my knees almost gave out entirely.

It’s probably only been a few hours at most, realistically speaking… but it felt like hell itself. Running through a world full of people wearing familiar faces while the one person I actually needed most was deleted from existence.

I press my face harder against his shoulder before my stupid emotions completely spill out again.

“You absolute disaster of a human being, I thought I was going insane…”

“…That’s fair, honestly.”

“I met romanceable Akito, and Toya, let's not even talk about Saki, and the game tried to make me a homewrecker with Emu and Nene?!”

“A what...?”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

At some point during my breakdown, Rui’s arms had slowly wrapped around me too. Very tightly… seems he also needed proof I was actually here.

His hand settles against the back of my head gently while I continue clinging to him with all remaining dignity fully abandoned somewhere in the hallway outside. Probably the second the words “uh, and I kick puppies!!” left my mouth.

“…I’m sorry,” he whispers.

And that almost breaks me again instantly, because Rui almost never sounds guilty like that. Usually even his apologies sound playful somehow, tilted sideways by humor or dramatics or that strange charm he always carries around.

This one…

“I couldn’t find you for hours…” he murmurs against my hair. “I’ve been trying to track you down until it became morning…”

Morning… So it HAS been that long.

“You vanished,” I whisper back. “Nobody here even knows your name!”

“I know... the game doesn't have any files of me."

Before panic can properly return, Rui pulls back to lock his golden eyes into mine.

“…Tsukasa-kun.”

“What.”

“Have you been crying?”

“UH—”

“The area around your eyes is all red…”

“Those are… atmospheric effects, of all the stress I’ve been through!”

Rui stares at me for exactly two seconds before suddenly laughing quietly into his sleeve. How I missed that sound…

He sighs softly and leans back against the sinks, holding part of my sleeve as if making sure I don’t randomly glitch or something.

Actually… same.

“…So,” I start, not letting go of him either, “start explaining before I develop additional psychological damage.”

“Ahhh… where should I begin?” Rui taps his chin thoughtfully.

“With WHY you’re suddenly capable of existing inside your own nightmare simulator, PERHAPS?!”

“A fair question~! Anyway. After the headset malfunctioned, Nene and I managed to reboot part of the system externally.”

“…You REBOOTED the demon machine?”

“We didn’t exactly have alternatives…”

He has a point, unfortunately.

“The game had already absorbed your consciousness data by then… The original problem is that the system stopped recognizing itself as a game halfway through initialization. Something in the immersion engine escalated far beyond what I programmed.”

“Rui, that is a horrifying thing to say.”

“Yes yes, naturally…”

He squeezes my hand absentmindedly while speaking.

“I suspected that if I restarted the synchronization manually, I might be able to force myself into the environment as an external variable.”

I blink. “…In normal people language?”

“I rebooted the computer and threw myself into digital purgatory.”

“THANK YOU.”

“But…” his expression falters, “Nene couldn’t follow.”

The humor drains from me immediately. “…Why?”

Ah... looks genuinely frustrated now. “Because unlike me, she already exists in the game’s internal character registry. Meaning…”

Oh…

“So when she tried entering…”

“It rejected her, indeed."

I can imagine Nene outside the computer losing her mind while Rui voluntarily dives into nightmare romance software after me… she deserves financial-level compensation after this.

I mean, if two of my best friends randomly disappeared, and I was left alone trying to solve it… I’d lose it too.

“She’s still outside,” he reassures. “Trying to find a way to pull us back manually.”

“Can she?”

“Yes… I just needed to find you. We made preparations before I came, so I’m connected to her, we would say.”

Now that I’m actually looking at him properly, really looking… he looks exhausted.

There’s this strange tension sitting behind his expression, I know that happens when he’s been forcing himself to stay calm for way too long.

“…Hey.”

“Hm?”

“…How bad was it for you?”

Unexpectedly, he… laughs softly. That’s not a positive laugh though, obviously.

“…Quite unpleasant, actually.”

…Rui only talks like that when things were catastrophically awful and he’s trying not to make it sound serious.

I narrow my eyes. “Explain…?”

“Well… the game didn’t know what to do with me once I entered.”

“Because you’re not coded?”

“Mhm. I’m effectively an unauthorized existence here, since it already chose you as a protagonist.”

“So…?”

Rui sighs dramatically and rubs his face. “…Every single character I encountered wanted to discuss you.”

“Me?!”

“Indeed.”

He sounds… deeply miserable about it. There it is again, that guilt-tripping wet puppy in the rain tone.

“I’d ask for directions and immediately hear things like ‘Ah, Tsukasa-senpai is so charismatic!’ or ‘Tsukasa-kun looked especially cool today!’. Then there was a group of first years discussing how would it be to date you…”

I choke. “TO WHAT?!”

“Then Shinonome-kun appeared,” he continues hollowly, “and became irritated because I referred to you as ‘my Tsukasa-kun.’”

“No, wait, WAIT, that’s actually hysterical—!”

“It was horrifying.”

“You’re jealous of dating sim Akito?!”

I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts now while Rui watches me with an expression only someone returning from war could have.

“And Aoyagi-kun,” Rui continues miserably, “asked whether I was ‘competing for your attention.’ He looked genuinely concerned.”

I slam both hands over my mouth trying to contain the horrible laugh escaping me.

“…You’re laughing?”

“Because you sound INSANELY jealous!”

“I was not… oh, well…”

God, he looks so genuinely wounded about it too. Like every conversation in this world slowly chipped away at his sanity because everybody kept orbiting around me.

I mean, poor thing, seriously. Before he can continue sulking, I grab his face and aggressively start showering him with affection.

“You poor tragic creature…” I laugh, pushing his hair back. “Did the evil dating simulator hurt your feelings?”

“It absolutely did~...”

“Awww, my poor boyfriend had to hear compliments about me all day…”

“I disliked it tremendously.”

“You’re pretty funny when you’re jealous, now that I notice! You entered an alternate reality to rescue me and then got emotionally damaged because fictional versions of our friends think I’m attractive.”

“Ah… When you phrase it like that, it does sound unreasonable…”

Poor idiot.

I press a quick kiss against his forehead without even thinking.

“There,” I declare proudly. “Emotional support delivered successfully!”

Rui stares at me for a bit, then suddenly hides his face in my shoulder.

“…Though,” I admit after a realization comes to me, “I may owe you a… slight… apology.”

Rui lifts his head slightly. “Hm?”

I scratch my cheek awkwardly. “…I did kind of… play with the character dynamics a little….?”

“You what.”

“It was FOR SCIENCE!!”

“…Tsukasa-kun.”

“IN MY DEFENSE, I was under extreme emotional pressure!”

His shoulders drop slightly while his gaze drifts downward in this genuinely pitiful way that immediately activates every protective instinct in my body.

“I see…”

NO NO NO.

“WAIT!”

“So while I wandered this cruel world suffering unimaginable heartbreak… you were exploring romance mechanics…”

“That sounds WAY worse when you phrase it like that!”

Rui lowers his head slowly against my shoulder again.

“…How tragic.”

“RUI.”

“I understand…”

“DON’T DO THIS.”

“I get it, you’re young…” he says weakly into my cardigan. “Curious. Easily seduced by visual novel systems…”

“I WAS NOT SEDUCED?!”

“You simply looked into Shinonome-kun’s eyes and muscular arms and forgot our love…” Rui lets out the softest, saddest sigh I’ve ever heard in my life. “…I always knew this day would come.”

And somehow, impossibly, his posture gets even more pathetic. He’s practically melting against me now like abandoned wet paper.

“Oh no…” he whispers dramatically. “The protagonist corruption…”

“STOP SOUNDING DIVORCED!”

“I hope you and your harem will be very happy together.”

“Rui, come on!”

Instant guilt detonates inside my chest. Because even though logically I KNOW he’s exaggerating to guilt-trip me, his voice is just convincing enough.

“No no no, don’t get sad!” I immediately grab his face again in panic. “I didn’t ACTUALLY flirt!”

“…Mhm.”

“I DIDN’T!”

I immediately start showering him with frantic affection again like I'm trying to keep a fragile houseplant alive. Hands in his hair, forehead kisses, holding his face… 

“Listen to me, you dumbassm none of those fake weirdos compare to you!”

“Even with their route-specific dialogue…?”

“Yes!”

“…And romantic lighting? And affection meters?”

“RUI.”

He makes the tiniest wounded noise imaginable and suddenly folds directly into my chest again.

“…I’ve lost him,” he whispers.

“I AM LITERALLY HOLDING YOU?!”

“You were stolen by the otome genre…”

And then, the absolute bastard…

I feel his shoulders shake slightly. Like he’s… crying.

“R-Rui?”

Another tiny, miserable sniffle into my cardigan.

OH MY GOD.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT—!” I grab him immediately. “I’M SORRY, I’M SO SORRY!”

His fingers clutch weakly at my sleeves. “I trusted you…”

“I DIDN’T EVEN PICK THE FLIRTY OPTIONS MOST OF THE TIME!”

“…Most?”

“THAT’S NOT THE IMPORTANT PART!”

Another fake little trembling breath, Jesus Christ I’m fully panicking now.

“Come on, no, don’t cry! Please don’t cry, you know I can’t bear it! I love you!”

I’m desperately petting him now… Tsukasa, is he a dog or something?

Well, thinking about it, I take my words back, he IS.

“Look at me…?” I insist.

Rui lifts his head slightly, and his eyes look suspiciously watery behind his bangs.

“…You really mean it?”

“OF COURSE I DO.”

“And you’d still choose me over every route in this world…?”

“Rui, I chose you in the real world. That’s WAY harder than clicking dialogue options!”

“Tsukasa-kun…”

Then suddenly:

“…Pfft.”

I narrow my eyes immediately. “…Kamishiro. WHAT. WAS. THAT.”

Rui bites his sleeve and his shoulders shake again… not crying, instead trying not to burst out laughing.

Until the bastard finally breaks.

A full grin spreads across his face while he collapses against me again, laughing helplessly into my shoulder.

“YOU WERE FAKING?!”

“I’m sorry~!” he wheezes between laughs, “your panic was extraordinarily adorable—!”

“YOU EVIL MAN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GENUINELY HEARTBROKEN!”

I stare at him in utter betrayal while Rui keeps giggling into my cardigan like the menace to society he truly is. A real threat to the world’s order.

“…Anyway,” after a long while, I calm down, “can we go home now?”

Rui hums thoughtfully while pulling away. “We should be able to…”

“‘Should’ is not comforting wording number two.”

“I’ll choose better vocabulary next apocalypse.”

“Thank you.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out… huh. A tiny holographic menu flickers to life above his palm.

I stare. “…You hacked the game?”

“Nene did it for me… naturally.”

The holographic interface shifts with glowing symbols and strange code strings sliding past faster than I can read. It seems more as if Nene bullied reality into cooperating.

“I need to send Nene a command signal first,” he explains while typing through the air. “She’s monitoring external responses from outside the system.”

“…Meaning she can pull us out?”

“Of course~!”

“…Is she mad?”

Rui pauses briefly, and winces. “…Rather frustrated, yes.”

“At us?”

“I don’t know really well.”

Sure… damn right she is. Nene spent months building this thing. Learning systems, drawing assets, programming everyone’s mechanics… she probably got excited and felt proud of herself every time something worked.

And... it ended with her two closest friends getting swallowed by a cursed romance software.

“She must feel awful,” I whisper.

Rui glances toward me. “She was blaming herself before I entered the system.”

“No way, this isn’t her fault!”

“I know that... Convincing Nene of it is another matter entirely.”

…Yeah. That sounds exactly like her.

I lean back slightly against the sink counter, and remember the promise I made to myself on the staircase comes to my mind.

“…When we get out,” I declare decisively, “I’m taking her to the arcade.”

“The arcade?” he blinks.

“Yes! Me, and you, and Emu too! I’m going to let her completely destroy me at every game she wants.”

“A bold sacrifice…”

“I’ll endure it heroically!”

Rui smiles faintly while continuing to type through floating menus.

“And after that,” I continue, “we’ll go eat somewhere. Somewhere good. She’s… probably devastated. I mean… this was so important to her. She really cared a lot.”

“You’re very kind, Tsukasa-kun.”

“I’m serious!”

“I know… it’s in your nature.”

I sigh dramatically. “She’ll probably pretend she’s fine too, which means we’ll need to emotionally ambush her with support! We can buy her snacks, and… and absolutely NEVER let Emu know about this.”

“Tsukasa-kun…” he giggles a bit, pausing.

“NO, I’m serious!” I point at him firmly. “If Emu discovers there was a route involving her and me, she’ll either explode or start asking horrifying questions! And… Nene will kill us both.”

“Fair…”

Rui finishes typing something into the floating interface and the holographic screen dims slightly, settling into what I assume is some sort of waiting state.

“…There,” he says. “Now we simply wait for Nene to receive the signal…”

“Wonderful!”

Now that the immediate terror is gone… exhaustion is starting to settle into my bones properly. Emotional exhaustion, mostly.

I lean my head against Rui’s shoulder. “…I should compensate you too, though.”

Rui glances down at me curiously. “Hm?”

“You had a really stressful day as well… Traumatized by fake versions of our friends wanting your boyfriend.”

“Ah, yes, a nightmare beyond imagination.”

I snort before sighing, as a memory comes to me.

“…Hey.”

“Hm?”

“You remember the aquarium date?”

“The failed aquarium date?” he teases.

“DON’T phrase it like that…”

“It was quite tragic~!”

Unfortunately, he’s right.

A few months ago Rui had been absurdly excited about a special nighttime aquarium event. Something about bioluminescent jellyfish exhibits and rare sea creatures… and “an atmosphere ideal for whimsy and romance.”

And then I’d completely crashed after rehearsals and fallen asleep on his shoulder at the train station before we even arrived.

I still remember how disappointed he tried not to look… which only made me feel like a more awful boyfriend.

“Right… Well, we’re redoing it!”

“…Redoing it?” his golden eyes widen.

“Yes! And I’m personally paying for the tickets this time.”

“You?"

“And,” I continue heroically, “I will allow you to explain every single bizarre aquatic fact your brain contains without interruption!”

Rui’s expression immediately lights up… Dangerously.

“…Every fact?”

“Every single fact.”

“You may regret saying that,” there it is…  managed to get another giggle out of his lips. He’s smiling in a delighted way, that’s a band aid for my heart.

“And THEN,” I continue, gaining momentum, “when we leave, I’m buying you one of those ridiculous aquarium gift shop plushies!”

Rui gasps softly with mocking surprise. “How generous…!”

“The platypus one.”

…Oh, I know I hit critical damage. Because he immediately stops moving altogether.

“…That one?”

I grin victoriously. “Aha. I knew it!”

“Pfft, you remembered the platypus?”

“Of course I remembered!”

At the original aquarium trip disaster, Rui had spent TWENTY MINUTES holding a giant platypus plush while analyzing it. I’d apparently burned the information permanently into my memory… he just looked too adorable with that huge ugly thing.

“It had a tiny bowtie…” he says weakly… in a mocking way, of course, he’s THIS close from fake-crying again.

“I KNOW…”

“And disturbingly long limbs and a strangely judgmental expression on its little brow…”

“RUI, I REMEMBER THE UGLY PLATYPUS! I’M ALREADY DISTURBED ENOUGH!”

“That’s so romantic…” He’s smiling so fondly now...

“…Anyway,” I continue quickly, “after that we can go eat at one of those fast food places you like. I can break the healthy diet for one day! And after that, we can stay over at one of our houses.”

“Hm, sounds comfortable…”

“But,” I add importantly, “the day is NOT ending there!”

Rui’s eyebrows lift as that dangerous little feline smile starts appearing again.

…Oh no. What did I just say.

“…Is that so?” Immediate suspicion.

“...Yes?”

“And what exactly did Tsukasa-kun have planned for the evening?”

The way he said ‘evening’ should be illegal in at least twelve countries.

“DON’T START!” I catch the undertone for once.

“Start what~?”

“THAT!”

“I’m merely curious…”

“YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE DOING.”

“Hm… perhaps.”

I can literally feel my face heating up. This man is a public menace, why is he even allowed outside?!

“So?” Rui asks softly, leaking smugness from every syllable. “What are your plans for me at night?”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”

Rui bursts into laughter immediately. I cross my arms, trying desperately to recover and… pretend my dignity wasn’t completely abandoned at a school literally called Kirakira Academy.

Eventually, after several seconds of unbearable silence, I sigh dramatically.

“…Fine.”

Rui perks up instantly. “Fine?”

I refuse to look directly at him.

“Yes, alright, maybe I WAS implying something!”

“Oh?”

“But if you want to!” I add while pointing at him defensively. “Only if you want to!”

Rui’s expression melts into something so soft and fond that my soul almost leaves my body again.

“Tsukasa-kun…”

“DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT.”

“You’re extraordinarily sweet.”

“I’M LITERALLY TRYING TO INVITE YOU TO—”

“I know,” it makes that worse.

I bury my burning face against his shoulder while Rui laughs quietly above me, still holding me close.

“…This might be the strangest confession-related conversation we’ve ever had.”

“We are trapped inside a haunted dating simulator,” I mumble into his cardigan. “Standards are currently the lowest."

“Fair enough,” I feel his fingers gently tilt my chin upward. “…Also, for the record, I’d like that very much.”

…Wonderful. Now my heartbeat sounds like a washing machine full of bricks.

“…Please don’t make any more plans for today,” I then ask.

“Hm?”

“I mean it, this day destroyed me. I don’t think I can even climb my house’s stairs tonight. I’ll just collapse on the living room’s couch.”

“That’s fair…”

“I’ve suffered enough.”

“You did scream at several innocent people thoug—”

“I WAS UNDER ATTACK, DON’T JUDGE MY REACTIONS!!”

…I missed this so much.

Just this. Talking nonsense together, and enjoying the way Rui’s voice always sounds gentler when we’re alone.

I can picture the day I want to have today (since apparently it’s already morning in the real world) so clearly.

Waking up late, meeting everyone normally, arguing over where to eat, listening to Emu say something incomprehensible at full volume, watching Nene pretend not to care while absolutely caring… And, Rui by my side through all of it.

“…I really missed you,” I confess.

I feel his fingers intertwine more firmly with mine. “When I arrived here… I thought finding you would be easy.”

"Hm?"

“But every character interaction somehow became about you,” he continues with a tiny laugh. “Every route discussion, every affection trigger. It felt like the entire world revolved around Tsukasa Tenma.”

“That sounds like a horror movie,” I chuckle bitterly.

“Maybe… but it’s also very you. I wouldn’t ever ask for anyone else, even if it means… hacking computer systems just to get the sky’s brightest star home.”

…Home. That word had felt strange all day.

This world could imitate people frighteningly well. It could manufacture attraction so easily it turned emotions into game mechanics, that's terrifying to process!

Every character here had been built to orbit the protagonist, to move toward him because gravity had already decided their hearts for them.

Perhaps... that’s why everything felt so wrong from the beginning. Human love isn’t automatic, it isn’t guaranteed by choosing the right answer fast enough.

Real people misunderstand each other. They can drift apart, get hurt, become frustrated, say the wrong things at the worst possible moments. Sometimes they fail each other completely with no chance of ever making up.

Still...

They stay through broken aquarium promises, stressful rehearsals, terrible inventions, stupid fights and moments nobody else would ever understand...

That’s the kind of love I know. The one that feels terrifyingly fragile sometimes, but real precisely because of that.

No human being is programmed to remain.

I guess... I just never completely understood that I was actively being chosen by people around me every single day, until now.