Opening my eyes in a brand new world…

Wait, where am I? It looks like a classroom, but not a classroom I have ever been to.

It looks like the day has just started, and no one’s in this room.

Well, except me. This does feel like an East Asian classroom, maybe Korean? Japanese? I don’t know. Looking through that giant window might give me an idea.

Hopefully, there is a world out there and I’m not stuck in a classroom floating in empty space.

No. It looks straight out of a manga.

There are some people there, probably students, I assume, considering they’re wearing a school uniform. What else could they be?

Apparently, I’m wearing the same school uniform as them. How? I’ve already graduated from my high school, and it has been a month.

I mean, obviously, I’m in a completely different world, so I don’t know why I am even surprised about this.

What’s even more surprising is that there are two unique students coming from the gate, one is a boy with red hair and a girl with blue hair.

I would question if the school had really lax hair colour rules if the others didn’t have black hair. It’s almost like… Wait, I am I really inside a manga?

I have to go sit somewhere. This is too much information.

I don’t remember what I was doing before I opened my eyes here.

I’m pretty sure I never went near any trucks.

So how did I get transported into another world and usually it’s somewhere more fantastical than a classroom which… looks normal.

Maybe it’s a magical world, and before I could continue that thought, a student came in. He has green hair, that’s the third person I’ve seen with an unique colour.

The only difference is that he’s also wearing glasses.

He’s looking at me. Maybe he’s my guide?

Nope, he just sat down and started to read a book.

Should I go disturb him? No, that’s not something I do or want to do, and there are other students here now.

I am just going to go back to my original seat since it seems like the class is just about to start.

My high school experience wasn’t that good.

I was pretty mediocre in my studies and my social life. Let’s just not talk about that.

Maybe this is my second chance! It’s not like I know why or how I got here anyway.

Oh? The red hair and blue hair are in this class as well? I don’t like where this is going, and it looks like blue hair is coming towards me.

“Akari? Is that you?”

Who’s Akari? Why is she staring at me?

Right… I mean it could’ve been worse.

“Hey…”, That’s a start, right?

How many months has it been since I’ve had a proper conversation with someone who’s my age, or well, in this case, two whole years younger than me.

I hope we weren’t close. I really do. I don’t have a single memory with this body.

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

Can she read minds? Or was my face that obvious?

Maybe a smile would be enough? I don’t know how to properly answer that.

“We met at primary school…”

I see, I'd better reply so it doesn’t become more awkward. The red hair and green hair are shooting daggers at me. Knowing what this genre probably is, I’d assume they’re jealous.

“I’m sorry… I do not remember you…”

Alright, what excuse can I come up with?

“I have amnesia.”

Right. That’s an excuse.

“Oh…”

And the whole class turned towards us.

Were they all listening? Is that normal? Never had that happen to me before.

“Right… I…”

She’s stammering; maybe honestly wasn’t the best policy.

“I assume we knew each other?”

“Oh. Yes. We were childhood friends.”

Well, I kinda got that with the troupes and what not.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”

She smiled. Why is she smiling? I don’t like where this is going.

“That’s fine!”

She’s smiling even harder now.

“I’ll help you recover your memories.”

Please don’t. I have all my memories.

I do not want memories of someone who’s not even me; I don’t even know how that’s going to affect my personality if it even is.

I just don’t want to take the risk.

I know this might seem stupid, considering that memories are an advantage, but I just really don’t want to.

I shouldn’t have said amnesia. Maybe I should’ve just been rude and scoffed at her, but now…

“Ahh… Thank you…”

That’s all I could say. I just hope she loses interest fast, and I hope that didn’t raise any flags.

Thankfully, she just smiled and took her place, right beside the redhead.

They’re sitting where the main characters sit.

I assume I got transported into a romance story, probably a reverse harem.

I am not a fan of that; I hate harems with a passion.

This is just cruel, and to top it off, I don’t know which story I’m a part of now.

I only know the troupes.

Speaking of troupes, I assume I’m the best friend of the female lead? The redhead has to be the male lead.

The green-haired guy must be the second male lead, but the female lead doesn’t know him yet.

To be honest, this depends on how I look. I really don’t want to be a part of a love triangle.

The classes were normal. They thought normal high school stuff.

I’m actually surprised that all of it was in English.

This is just like Japan, but in English. Sounds like a paradise for weebs.

I am gonna go to the toilet and see my face.

And there it is.

In all its second male lead glory.

I should’ve known when she said we were childhood friends. This body has white hair and blue eyes. It also looks quite good.

I don’t know what to do anymore…

I look good. Too good.

This is not the type of thing I usually see when I look into the mirror, but I’ve somehow retained my height.

Aren’t male leads usually tall? This is the only thing so far that challenges my theory.

There’s no point in overthinking it.

I will just let the story play out and try to stay away from it as much as possible.

If that’s not possible, I might as well enjoy it.

Right, enjoy it. Calm down.

Do not overthink.

Go with the flow.

This is simply a new chance at life.

A new chance at high school.

I open the toilet door, and as soon as I go out, I find the red-haired guy standing right beside the door. Was there someone else with me? I don’t think so… I’ll just ignore him and…

“Hey.”

I turn back and point towards myself.

“Yes. You.”

Right. Me.

“You know that girl?”

I assume he’s talking about the blue-haired girl whose name I don’t know.

I nod my head, hoping he gets that as a no.

“So you really have amnesia…”

It does make sense. Who would forget their life up to this point, unless of course the body is taken over by someone else? Which sounds ridiculous.

I’ll just walk away. This is getting awkward.

“Hey…”

Just ignore him. I really don’t want to talk to him right now. I haven’t changed a bit. I guess this new body doesn’t really change who I was, or well, am… for better or worse.

The alarm goes off as soon as I reach the classroom.

The green-haired guy is still there, reading his book.

Our eyes meet and he smiles. Surprising. I thought he’d be like me.

“Hey.”

That’s three more conversations I’ve had in a day than usual.

“I’m Aki.”

“Hmm… I’m Akari…?”

He smiled, “I know.”

The conversation back then was probably loud enough for the whole class to hear. Not that I mind but it does feel rather tiring.

“You have amnesia, right? Must be hard coming to school.”, his smile did not fade away.

“No… it’s fine.”

He looks at me, as if expecting more.

His eyes feel like they’re piercing through my soul.

It’s even creepier because his smile doesn’t fade away.

It’s almost as if he knows everything about me and nothing at the same time.

“I still have some basic information… I can keep up with school.”

Or so I’d like to think, but I’m not giving everything away to this guy. That’s for sure.

“Hmm.” And dead silence.

Really? Hmm? That’s all he’s going to say? Fine, I didn’t want to talk to him. I’ll just go, take my seat and study.

 

As classes go by, I realise one thing. One reason.

Yeap, I’m not good at studying. I can’t even pay attention.

I’m pretty sure I passed these classes.

I’m pretty sure I’ve studied this before, but it’s almost as if I actually have amnesia.

Maybe I thought about all that stuff about my past life as a reaction to trauma.

You never really know.

“Sigh…”

“What are you sighing about?”

Wait, was that audible?

Of course it was, because someone’s talking to me now.

“Nothing…”, I say as I turn towards a girl with blonde hair. Ahh, I know this troupe. I don’t know if I would consider myself to be a nerd though.

She smiled, “It doesn’t seem like nothing.”

Might as well tell her.

I’ve always regretted not talking to people back in school anyway.

Maybe this time I’ll regret talking to people instead.

“I can’t remember any of this… stuff, which we’ve been taught today…”

“Well, duh.”, she laughed. I didn’t think I was that funny.

“We’ve just been doing this today, dude. You’re not going to remember all of this with just today.”, she added.

I mean, you, yes. But I’ve already graduated from high school. I should’ve started college this year, but no, back to high school.

“I heard you had amnesia… It’s worse than I thought.”, she smirked as if she was teasing me. She’s probably teasing me. She’s kinda… I don’t even want to think about it. No. NO. NO.

“I’m Mary.”

Mary. That’s not a Japanese name, I think?

“I’m Akari, I think.”

“You think? It really is worse than I thought…”

She wasn’t teasing this time.

“No. I mean, yes? I mean…”

Get a grip.

Take a deep breath, but before I could, she had already started to talk, “It’s alright… take your time.”, with eyes that really showed that she cared, but how are eyes supposed to show that?

What is even going on?

When you start to overthink, it’s better to not think at all.

“It’s just a lot to take in, I feel like I’m in a completely different environment, but except that I’m pretty fine.”

That’s not a lie.

She smiled, which was nice. “If you say so.”, she replied. There was a moment silence there, which wasn’t uncomfortable at all for some reason.

“You’re into football.”

“Me?”, she’s talking about me? Well, yes. Since she just nodded.

“I don’t know the starting letter of Football.”

“F?”

“Yes, that’d be my grade.”, I laughed. I laughed. It’s been a while.

“Ha! Well…”, she looked towards the door.

“Classes are over. We should go home… I have my friends waiting… It was nice talking to you.”

“Likewise.”

She got up from her seat, got her bag, and started to walk away, but before she got out, she turned back towards me, “Maybe playing football will help you get back your memories.”

“Maybe it will. Thanks for telling me.”

She smiled, and I smiled in return before she went her way.

I could give football a chance, maybe my muscle memory will kick in, and this body’s memories will flow in too.

But if I’m being honest, aren’t I the protagonist now? Isn’t that how it usually goes? I really don’t want to be a part of any love triangles, but… what if… I really do hope she’s the other lead in this story.