Arisha shot me a murderous glare. Her green eyes burned like flares in the dim hallway.
"Do you have mashed potatoes for brains, or why would I ever agree to that?!"
"Hehehehe…" I grinned with a smirk that wasn't quite innocent. "Could be."
"There's no need for her to apologize, Miss Sienna."
Misaki grabbed Arisha's shoulder with a firmness that belied her delicate appearance. Her fingers sank slightly into the fabric of the jacket.
"After all… she is going to accept, isn't she?"
Misaki's eyes were terrifying for a second. A golden flash, cold as the edge of a sword before it's drawn. The smile that accompanied her words didn't reach her pupils.
"…"
"Okay…" Arisha lowered her gaze and shrugged her shoulders, like an animal showing submission to a larger predator. "I'll go to your stupid meeting…"
I stepped closer and gave her a friendly elbow nudge to the ribs.
"Come on, Arisha. While we're at it, we can look into 'the matter.'"
"'The matter'?" Arisha looked at me, confused for a moment. Her eyes blinked twice before lighting up with understanding. "Ahhh… right, got it, Sienna. We'll do that."
She raised her hands and smiled to herself. A small, almost intimate smile.
Whisper:
"Misaki… we've got to go to the club thing!"
Meanwhile, Daisy watched her companion's pathetic escape attempt. Her fingers toyed with an orange strand of hair.
(I shouldn't bother Misaki… I'll give her some space.)
I hugged Misaki from behind again, wrapping both arms around her. Her body tensed —that brief instant of surprise before recognizing my touch— and then relaxed.
"Misaki, we're heading off. You keep doing what you were doing."
"Miss, there's no nee—"
"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Sienna."
I turned toward the voice and recognized it immediately. The hallway seemed to shrink. The air grew thicker.
"W-well… I didn't know you were a nurse…"
There she was. The woman from the locker room. The beast with the red eyes. But now they were brown. She wore an immaculate white lab coat, a medical tablet in her hand, and her hair tied up in two pigtails. The transformation was so complete she seemed like two different people. Only her blush —the one I'd seen burning with frenzied excitement in the showers— betrayed the truth.
She came a little closer to me. Her steps were soft, feline, cushioned by the rubber soles of her nurse's shoes.
She grabbed my arm. Her fingers closed just above the elbow, where the skin is most sensitive.
"Of course I am. You can come find me if you have a problem."
Whisper (her):
"But also if you want to continue…"
Her breath grazed my ear. It smelled of mint and something else.
"N-not necessary…"
I swallowed with an audible gulp.
An arm thrust itself between us. Firm. Rigid. The sleeve of Misaki's uniform brushed my cheek.
"Please, mind your professional distance as a nurse!"
Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds. Misaki's golden eyes against the nurse's brown eyes. The air between them crackled like electrical wires about to short-circuit.
Someone tugged at my shirt.
"Sienna, do you know the nurse?"
It was Daisy, her fingers still clinging to the fabric of my uniform.
"Well… I don't really know her that well, you know, Daisy."
Arisha stepped up beside Misaki, shoulder to shoulder. An improvised barricade.
"Hey, wannabe nurse, why don't you just scram?"
"Tch…"
The nurse avoided looking at them. Her eyes swept the hallway, and she continued on her way, but before leaving she said without turning around:
"Even so… remember that we have tests next week, so I'll be expecting you in my office."
She turned her face for a moment. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her lips drew a smile that was anything but professional.
"Understood, Sienna. ♥️"
(Damn it… the crazy lady likes me.)
I watched her walk down the hallway as if nothing had happened. Her white coat fluttered with the air conditioning. Her footsteps echoed: tap, tap, tap.
"You should avoid being near her…" Arisha said it quietly, almost a growl.
"Okay, okay, let's put that aside, yeah? So then…"
I took Daisy's hand and spun around with her, holding hands. Our skirts flared. The hallway became an improvised dance floor. Then I stopped short and shouted:
"Team Super Mega Guacamole is ready!"
Silence.
The echo of my shout bounced off the stained-glass windows and died away. Some girls at the end of the hallway glanced at us with bewilderment.
"Wow… is that the extent of your genius?" Arisha crossed her arms and averted her gaze. "Better look for something like… you know, Super Piggy Associates…"
She blushed a little. The tips of her ears turned pink.
I looked her in the eye.
"Well, that's not bad, huh? Anyway, we'll see each other tomorrow at the library, understood?"
"Yes!" they all answered in unison.
Even Arisha, though she did it reluctantly, dragging out the syllable like someone signing a sentence.
A girl from the group accompanying Misaki whispered:
"Miss Misaki…"
"(Sienna) Ah. Right, sorry for the disturbance. Please, go on with what you were doing, okay?"
"Ah… yes, understood. Please take care until dismissal time."
Then, shoving a now-awake —though still disheveled and squinty-eyed— Arisha, we hauled Daisy up the stairs.
At home, an hour after school, I was in my room searching for the game I'd promised Arisha. The computer screen bathed the room in a bluish glow. Outside, the sun had already set, and the first stars twinkled beyond the mansion's stained-glass windows.
(Nothing but trash… there isn't even one of those H-novels that were all over the internet in my world.)
I browsed and browsed, scrolling past ads for sports games, cooking simulators, educational apps… but not a single visual novel.
I clutched my head with both hands.
"This really is crap…"
(Wait. Now I remember. In this world, there's a country called Kazuma, right?)
The memory from history class hit my brain like a hammer of clarity.
(Then they must have a private browser!)
I searched and searched, ignoring the "hot guys 3 kilometers away" ads that popped up. The irony that, in a world with a male shortage, ads like that would never be in short supply was not lost on me.
And then, I found it.
"ForkGram! It actually exists here!"
I smiled upon seeing one of my most trusted programs from the other world. The logo —a fork stabbed into a strawberry— glowed on the screen.
"Whoever the genius was who created it in this place… thank you for your work."
After typing like crazy and entering several dubious groups —some with names as cryptic as "Green Tea Lovers" or "Advanced Sewing Club"— I finally found a channel where they were offering one.
Mahō no tokei no okage de, jikan wo tomete saidaigen ni katsuyō dekiru yō ni natta!
(Looks like the classic game that only lasts about four hours… but it's better than nothing.)
Having found where to get the game, I copied the link and shut down the computer. The internal fan whirred down with a final mechanical sigh.
I went to find Misaki. I found her in the second-floor hallway, folding towels with precise movements. Her hands moved with a hypnotic efficiency.
"Miss Sienna, why are you in such a hurry?"
I didn't answer. I took her by the wrist and dragged her to my room. Her feet stumbled a little, but she followed me without resisting.
I locked the door. Click. The bolt slid into place.
We sat down together on the bed. The mattress sank under our weight. Moonlight filtered through the curtains, faintly painting the room silver.
"Misaki… please, don't get worked up, okay?"
She took hold of my hands. Her fingers were cold. They were always cold when something worried her.
(It's now or never.)
I looked Misaki in the eye —those golden eyes that held me like two anchors— and gently placed my hand on her neck. I felt her pulse under my fingers: fast, scared, but trusting.
"The goddess blessed me with a beast in my pants…"
Misaki's eyes darkened for a moment. The golden light dimmed, replaced by a deeper, duller amber color. Then, slowly, they recovered their shine.
"Well… I'd be lying if I said I don't think it's stupid. But seeing the evidence…"
I jumped to my feet.
"You can examine it if you want!"
"N-no… that won't be necessary. I believe you for now!"
Her cheeks burst into a blush that reached all the way to her ears.
"Perfect." I smiled, relieved. "With this, I'll be able to—"
"Of course!" Misaki jumped as if stung by a bee. "We need to change your clothes! Put a chastity belt on you!"
She stood up and started pacing back and forth. Her steps were quick, erratic. Her fingers toyed with the hem of her skirt.
"It's too risky. The Church mustn't find out. Nor the Blue Sashes…"
"M-Misaki…"
"We need to create a perimeter. Also, be more discreet…"
She ignored my call and kept rambling. Her words piled on top of each other like a stagnant river.
"Most importantly: NO ONE ELSE MUST KNOW, DO YOU HEAR!"
She grabbed me by the arms. Her fingers dug into my skin with almost desperate force.
"D-don't worry, Misaki. No one else but you knows…"
(Except for you… and the first one who I know ate it.)
"It's not enough! We need to set rules!"
As I watched Misaki ramble and say incomprehensible words —something about "security protocols" and "inspection schedules"— my eyes began to hurt. A sharp, deep pain, as if someone were pressing my eyeballs from the inside.
"Ahhh!"
I clutched my head with both hands. The world swayed.
"Ha… ha…"
I started breathing slowly to get through it. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Every breath hurt.
Then Misaki ran for the door. She didn't open it —she destroyed it. The bolt flew through the air with a CRACK! and wood splinters scattered like shrapnel.
She returned a minute later with a strange metal medical kit. The box gleamed under the room's light, covered in symbols I didn't recognize.
"Wh-what… what is that, Misaki?"
She opened the kit. The hinges creaked. Inside, on a bed of black foam, rested syringes with a yellow liquid. The same liquid from the compatibility test. The same one they'd injected into me in the school booth.
"Th-that's…!"
Misaki didn't answer. She plunged the needle into me like a dart into a target. The tip pierced the fabric of my blouse and sank into my shoulder.
Plick!
The cold spread through my veins.
And just like that, my vision went dark at once.