When the lunch bell rang, I felt my soul leave my body.
Hunger.
Real hunger.
Not I could go for a snack.
No.
The kind of hunger that says: eat something now or you're going to collapse.
The second class ended I was out the door.
I followed the flow of students down to the cafeteria.
And discovered another nightmare.
The line was enormous.
"…I'm going to die here."
My stomach growled violently, as if agreeing.
I shuffled forward slowly, checking the digital menu.
The cheapest item was curry.
¥380.
My financial instincts fired up immediately.
Solid price-to-volume ratio.
Oh god.
I was still thinking like a traumatized office worker.
When I finally got my tray I almost felt like crying.
Cheap curry.
A small salad.
A juice box.
Nothing impressive.
And yet…
It smelled incredible.
I found an empty table quickly and sat alone in the corner.
Picked up the spoon.
Took the first bite.
And froze.
…
It was warm.
Actually warm.
My chest tightened in a strange way.
How long had it been since I'd eaten something normal?
At the office I survived on:
coffee
instant ramen
vending machine bread
sheer willpower
And the original Aika clearly hadn't been living well either.
I stared at the curry for a few seconds.
Probably frozen.
Probably cheap.
And yet…
It was one of the best things I'd eaten in years.
I kept eating, almost desperately.
My entire body seemed to absorb the warmth and energy at the same time.
With ten thousand yen I could eat here for several days…
Although I also needed to fill the fridge.
And buy things for the apartment.
My mind started running calculations automatically.
Food.
Transport.
Essentials.
Emergencies.
If I managed the money carefully—
"Shimizu-san."
I nearly choked.
I looked up.
Mei Hirano was standing at my table holding her tray.
"Can I sit with you?"
I blinked.
My brain took a second to process it.
With me? Voluntarily?
"Oh! Y-yeah, of course."
Mei smiled slightly.
And honestly…
She looked genuinely happy that I'd said yes so quickly.
That made me feel strange.
She sat down across from me, smoothing her skirt neatly.
I went back to eating curry like a war refugee.
Then I heard voices passing nearby.
"Hey, isn't that the girl who walked into the guys' bathroom?"
"PFFT—!"
"They're saying she ran out screaming!"
My soul vacated my body on the spot.
A black cloud of shame descended over me.
No.
Please don't remind me.
Mei had clearly heard too.
But she pretended she hadn't.
How kind of her.
How mortifying for me.
"It's good to see you in school again," she said softly. "I was a little worried."
Right.
Aika had missed a lot of days.
I forced myself to regroup mentally.
"I'm fine."
Quick.
Direct.
Normal energy.
Mei blinked, caught off guard again.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"Have you been eating okay lately?"
I kept shoveling curry.
"Yeah. Why?"
Mei hesitated for a moment.
"Well…"
She pointed carefully at my face.
"You're crying."
…
Silence.
I blinked.
I touched my face.
Wet.
Tears were running down my cheeks while I devoured school curry like a feral animal.
"…"
OH NO.
I wiped my face quickly.
"Oh! N-no, it's not— it's just—!"
My brain scrambled for an excuse.
"I just really love curry!"
Silence.
Nervous smile.
"…Sorry."
Mei looked at me for a few seconds.
Then smiled softly.
She definitely didn't believe me.
"I see."
Thank you for not pushing it.
Genuinely.
We kept eating.
And honestly…
It was strange.
But not unpleasant.
It had been a very long time since I'd had lunch with another person.
Normally:
worked alone
ate alone
went home alone
lived alone
My old life was pretty sad, now that I thought about it.
"I'm glad you seem better today," Mei said as she gathered her things. "And… if you ever need to talk about something, you can tell me."
I looked at her for a moment.
She really did seem worried.
About Aika.
My chest felt strange again.
"…Thank you."
Mei's smile got a little brighter.
And for some reason, that made me feel guilty.
Because technically…
The Aika she knew no longer existed.
Classes ended a few hours later.
And when I walked out of school I realized something important.
I didn't want to go back to the apartment.
That place was depressing even with the lights on.
But I had no choice.
I needed food.
And basic supplies.
So I ended up walking into a convenience store near the station.
The cold air conditioning hit me the second I stepped through the door.
I grabbed a basket and began my financial survival expedition.
Cheap bread.
Instant noodles.
Eggs.
Rice.
Everything as affordable as possible.
My corporate brain was running price analysis automatically.
Cost per unit.
Shelf life.
Nutritional value.
I was comparing brands when I heard a familiar chime.
PIIING.
[Notice.]
[A high school girl shouldn't be living this miserably.]
I went still.
"…Who asked you?"
[Additional purchase recommendation available.]
The screen started listing products.
[Body soap.]
[Shampoo.]
[Conditioner.]
[Sunscreen.]
[Moisturizer.]
I looked at the list.
Then at my basket.
Then at the list again.
"…Do girls really need all this stuff?"
[Confirmed.]
[Your current self-care level is alarming.]
"And how would you even know that?"
The system completely ignored my dignity.
I slowly picked up a cheap shampoo.
Put it back.
Picked it up again.
Damn it.
The money was disappearing way too fast.
"I need a job…"
[Ouka High School prohibits part-time employment.]
"WHAT?"
I almost shouted in the middle of the convenience store.
A man near the drink section looked at me weird.
I dropped my voice immediately.
"…So what exactly am I supposed to do?"
[Recommendation: grow your online presence.]
"Damn digital capitalism…"
I kept walking down the aisles looking for reasonable prices.
And that's when I heard something that stopped me cold.
"Did you see that photo of the girl in the bathroom?"
Two high school guys were looking at a phone near the magazine rack.
My back went rigid instantly.
"The one with the violet eyes?"
"Yeah, her."
"Oh yeah — wait, isn't that uniform from Ouka?"
A chill shot up my spine.
NO.
"It is… so a girl like that goes to our school."
"Who the hell is she?"
Minor heart attack unlocked.
I grabbed a box of instant curry just to look natural while I eavesdropped.
"Maybe she's a third-year."
"Nah, I would've remembered her."
"True. You don't forget something like that easily."
PLEASE STOP TALKING SO LOUD.
My soul was trying to escape my body.
Fortunately the guys kept walking, still spinning ridiculous theories.
I stood frozen for a few seconds.
Okay.
This was bad.
Really bad.
The photo was spreading way too fast.
And it had barely started.
The train back was surprisingly empty.
Thank god.
I managed to get a window seat.
My whole body felt exhausted.
I took out my phone slowly.
And nearly suffered psychological damage.
Notifications.
Way too many notifications.
Likes.
Followers.
Messages.
Donations.
I'd had to mute the phone earlier or I would've lost my mind in class.
I opened the Lonely Fans app.
The counter was still going up.
5,000 followers.
My brain stopped working.
"…What kind of madness is this?"
One photo.
One.
The algorithm was genuinely sick.
PIIING.
A new window appeared in front of me.
[New Mission Unlocked.]
I felt instant dread.
[Mission: Engage with your new followers.]
[Objectives:
Reply to 3 comments.
Post a short message.]
[Time Limit: 24 hours.]
[Reward: ¥5,000 + Passive Skill: 'Camera Instinct Lv1']
[Penalty for Failure: ¥10,000 fine]
I blinked slowly.
…Okay.
That was significantly less psychotic than immediate cardiac arrest.
Thanks.
I guess.
I looked at the mission again.
Post a short message.
I frowned.
"…What kind of character am I even supposed to be?"
Because that was the terrifying part.
These people weren't following Ren.
They were following: @Lilac_Aika.
A girl.
Pretty.
Mysterious.
Shy.
And apparently very talented at destroying my mental stability.
The system responded immediately.
[Suggestion: "Thank you for the support ♡"]
I stared at the heart emoji.
"…Is the emoji really necessary?"
[Absolutely.]
[Affective symbols increase parasocial closeness by 23%.]
"That sounded extremely disturbing."
[Correction: extremely efficient.]
…I hate this capitalist AI.
I looked back at the screen full of comments.
Thousands of people watching.
Waiting for replies.
Waiting for more content.
Waiting for attention.
My gaze drifted slowly to my reflection in the train window.
Silver hair.
Violet eyes.
School uniform.
And a phone exploding with followers.
I swallowed slowly.
Because the internet had already started turning Lilac_Aika into something terrifying.