When I opened my eyes, I was back in the original world.
It was the familiar school route I walked every day. Just around the corner was Hina's house.
“Have I… come back?”
Hina stood there in a daze.
* * *
That moment.
Just about a week ago, right here in this very place, my best friend Maiko and I had been summoned to another world.
We were walking home as usual when suddenly the scenery around us changed. Without realizing it, we found ourselves standing in a vast room.
“What…?” I looked around in surprise.
That’s when I noticed three men unlike anyone I’d ever seen before. Their striking beauty shocked me even more.
A man with golden hair, one with silver hair, and another with deep blue hair.
All three were tall and impeccably handsome, like models who looked even better than those in magazines.
“They’re so cool…” I muttered unconsciously.
But Maiko, calm as ever, addressed them directly.
“Where is this place? And who are you?”
Maiko, my childhood friend and best friend, is always composed. Even in a situation like this, she remained unfazed.
She’s always calm, intelligent, well-liked by everyone, and was even nominated as class representative because people rely on her.
—She’s nothing like me.
I hate studying, don’t get along with most girls, and don’t have any real friends. I find it easier to talk to boys, but when I get along with them, it makes other girls jealous. They start badmouthing me.
They say things like, “She thinks she’s all that because she’s a bit cute.” But honestly, I feel like telling them, “If you think that, maybe you should try harder.”
They don’t bother to make an effort to look cute, and that’s why boys don’t notice them. Girls are just mean like that.
But Maiko is different from those girls. She accepted me.
Though to be honest, I don’t think our personalities really match. Maiko, who’s so popular with both girls and boys, stirs some resentment in me.
Still, I can’t help but be drawn to her. Even though talking to her often irritates me.
Maiko’s “funny teacher” is, to me, a “scary teacher.” Her “kind friends” are, to me, “the ones who gossip about me behind my back.”
People act completely differently around Maiko than they do around me. This stark contrast weighs on me, making me feel bitter and gloomy.
When I try to complain to Maiko—
“That teacher is always so angry, don’t you think?”
“That girl is such a pain.”
She only looks troubled and gives me advice.
“Hina, if you just did your homework and paid attention in class, the teacher wouldn’t get mad at you.”
“You’re in the same class as her, right? If you talk to her, I’m sure she’ll listen to you.”
That’s not what I want to hear.
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