I saw Sarah for the first time as I stepped out of my house.

She was waiting for the two of us outside, and I have to admit, the sight of her momentarily took me aback.

Not because I was struck by her startling beauty or anything.

She looked like Sarah. The childhood friend character Sarah. Deck’s Love Interest #1 Sarah.

I knew what ‘Sarah’ looked like. I read the manga my new world was based on after all, and the transition from stylized 2D to 3D did little to dampen my sense of familiarity.

It was just...the color. Specifically, her startlingly green hair.

It shimmered as she moved, like dew on morning grass.

I suppose it shouldn’t have been surprising, but on some level, I had been expecting a shade of gray. It felt weird reconciling the sight with the black and white that constituted most of the pages of Harem, Harem, Oval Panic.

“Morning,” greeted Sarah politely. “Ready for school?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I said, closing the gate to my house behind me.

Deck clapped me on the back. He was a back clapper type person, I was coming to realize. “That’s the spirit!”

I took a few steps before realizing I had no idea what direction school was. I turned back as unawkwardly as I could manage.

“Lead the way?”

*

It was just a little bit lovely, getting to live the cliche. Three childhood friends, walking to school. It was delightful. Archetypical. And like with most such things, nuance brimmed under the surface. Three truths guided our proximity to one another.

Sarah liked Deck, Deck was oblivious, and I was aware I was a third wheel.

This reality was reflected in our physical positioning. Our formation took the form of a sad isosceles triangle with Deck and Sarah at the front, and myself taking up the flank.

Any pedestrian worth their sneakers knows that what I have described is an inherently unstable walking formation. Given time, it is doomed to collapse. Those in the front have to continually turn back to speak to those behind, and at a certain point it no longer seems worth the effort.

But I should have known better than to assume such paltry conventions would deter Deck for even a second.

He turned back as soon as he noticed I was trailing behind.

“Hey, come here.” In one fluid motion, he drew me forward and put an arm over me and Sarah. We both reacted in our own way at the contact. Me because I don’t care for being touched, and Sarah for obvious reasons.

“It’s our first day,” said Deck. “Let’s make it one to remember.”

Deck grinned. His voice took on an announcer’s cadence.

“Three mild mannered high school students walk to school on their first day. Little do they know the mysteries and delights that await them at...Hielgard Academy.”

He pointed to Sarah. “Now you go. Set dressing!”

“Set dressing?”

“Details,” I said. “About the school and area.”

“Oh, uh.” Sarah frowned. “Renowned the world over as the, uh, academic jewel of Kaela City, Hielgard Academy is a bastion for the exceptionally gifted...or the exceptionally connected.”

I made a face. “Nepotism, gross.”

Sarah gave me a look. “You’re one of those ‘well connected’ ones, you know.”

Oh. “Still gross.”

“Finish it off Hero,” said Deck. “Some color.”

I decided to try to seed things on the off chance it mattered.

“These intrepid students ready themselves to pass through Hielgard Academy’s hallowed gates, nothing but raw, chaste academics in mind.”

Sarah gave me a suspicious look.

“Ha. Speak for yourself.” Deck looked ahead, eyes bright. “Myself, I hope to find love.”

Sarah glanced at him, then away, saying nothing.

We crested the final hill and arrived.

*

The front of the Hielgard Academy was at a T shaped intersection, which I found odd.

The layout almost seemed to invite cars to keep going straight and barrel straight on through to campus. It was like someone had taken a totally ordinary straight road, then plopped down the giant school with no regard for how it affected the surrounding area.

As soon as I stepped inside, I could tell Hielgard Academy possessed all of the charming fixtures of fictional uber wealthy academia.

Literal rose petals fell from above as we passed the main gates. I espied a clocktower in the distance, a large manmade lake dotted with recreational boats, and even a towering monstrosity of a building simply labeled “GYMNASIUM.” The sound of a giant air conditioning system wooshed out of the doors as we passed it by.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Deck nudged me with his shoulder. “Gym looks nice, yeah?”

"It looks big, certainly."

“I’m looking forward to seeing the greenhouse,” said Sarah. She looked a bit shellshocked. “Hielgard’s Horticultural Department is supposed to be world class.”

“What isn’t world class here?” I wondered aloud. A student whizzed by on a golf cart. “This place looks like it oozes wealth.”

“You have no idea,” said Deck. “I’ve had to listen to Pops grumble about the amount of money that passes through this place for years.” He stooped over and shook his fist in the air. “And not a single cent to the locals!”

“Oh?” came a voice from behind us. “And what has the local population done to deserve our money, pray tell?”

I turned around to the sight of a shock of red hair. I recognized her instantly, and even if Deck and Sarah did not, it was easy enough to see the red armband on her shoulder that marked her as the Student Council President.

Love Interest #2, Claire Sutherland.

“Well?” she demanded, hands on her hips.

“I mean, you are on local land,” said Sarah. “We’re neighbors. It stands to reason we should help each other. Nurture one another.”

Claire shook her head dismissively.

“It does not do to romanticize simple realities. Proximity is not reason enough alone.”

Claire gestured around us.

“The campus purchased this land from the municipality over three generations ago. That is the extent of our relationship. Despite any enmity that might exist, we offer locals the same chance as everyone else. No more, no less. A meritocratic test, accepting only the best or otherwise exceptional.”

She tossed her hair behind her in typical haughty fashion.

“Your presence alone demonstrates that we accept all that meet our standards.” Claire nodded to Deck and Sarah. “You two are among our newest clutch of scholarship students are you not?”

“They are?” I asked. Deck and Sarah nodded. “They are,” I concurred.

She turned to me with a frown. “And you?”

“Just rich and connected, apparently.” I replied.

Her eyes narrowed at my response. “Your name,” she clarified.

Deck stepped in front of me, all smiles and charm.

“He’s Hero, this is Sarah, and my name is Deck. And you must be Miss Sutherland, the Student Council President.” He stretched out a hand. “If this place is as meritocratic as you say, I look forward to unseating you.”

Claire regarded the outstretched hand cooly.

“Many have tried,” she said simply. “Now, I must go. There are affairs that need attending to.” She gave us a little bow. “On behalf of Hielgard Academy, I welcome you. Good day.”

Then, she was off. We watched her go, red ponytail bobbing in the distance.

“She didn’t like us very much,” said Sarah.

“We might have touched on a sensitive topic,” I said.

“No.” Sarah frowned. “I don’t think that’s it. It was like...she already decided she didn’t like us.”

“Whatever,” said Deck. “We’ll just have to win her over.”

We saw Claire again when we entered the auditorium. It seemed the Student Council President gave an opening address to the incoming class. She looked to be the very picture of welcoming propriety.

Luckily, the rest of the first day of school provided a lot of time to think and take stock of my situation. I sat through syllabus after syllabus as a variety of instructors and students introduced themselves and phased out of my memory forever.

That had been...an interesting encounter.

You see, I actually remembered the first meeting between Claire and Deck in the Chapter 1 of Harem, Harem, Oval Panic. In the manga, the day’s events were just a few panels. Basically just the declaration from Deck as he pronounced that he was coming for the Student Council President seat.

Everything else...was new.

So far nothing I experienced contradicted anything I remembered from the source material, but the manga had been nowhere near so fleshed out.

There was nothing about tensions between the locals and the super school. No attempt to justify the setting. Whereas now…

I stared down at the wealth of papers and brochures I’d piled up throughout the day.

Hielgard Academy seemed to be structured like a college. I did not know if it had been made that way by the goddess, or if it had been that way from the start. It was hard to tell. Harem, Harem, Oval Panic had not spent too many of its pages on the actual classes. The setting was fictional, based on a foreigner’s understanding of an Anglicanized school.

It seemed like I didn’t have to worry about the world outside the events of the manga being sparse and vague. This was no goldfish bowl. The space between the panels were meticulously filled. I was sure that every face that passed me by was endowed with its own life and backstory.

All this to say, I was not surprised when I found a message waiting for me in my locker.

My brain did not jump to immediately think, ‘oh this didn’t happen in the manga’.

In a way, I had been expecting it.

The letter was neatly folded and composed on expensive smelling cream colored parchment. It read:

Meet me at the Student Council Office after school.

It was, of course, signed by Claire Sutherland.

*

The office was at the top of the Clocktower because of course it was. I inserted my student ID and took the elevator up to the top floor.

There, Claire was waiting for me, back to her desk, looking out at the vast expanse of campus.

“You did a commendable job feigning ignorance,” said Claire. “It seems you are quite adept at playing the fool.”

“...Thank you.” I decided to say.

“As a ward of the Sutherland house,” she said. “We have provided and taken care of you since your parents’ deaths. It is now time to call that in that debt.”

I absorbed this completely new and never revealed in the canon information.

She turned to face me.

“That boy. Your friend, Deck.”

I nodded.

“I am to be married to him. I wish for you to facilitate this.”

“Okay,” I said.

It wasn’t much of a surprise. Claire was one of Deck’s primary love interests in the manga. If I was surprised at anything, it was that my character had an actual motive to play wingman like he did in the source material.

Claire’s eyes narrowed.

“Okay?” she asked. “I have told you that I, Claire Sutherland, Student Council President of Hielgard Academy, and heiress to the Sutherland fortune, am to be betrothed to a relative nobody, and all you can say is ‘okay’?”

I supposed it did warrant a greater reaction.

“He’s a good guy.” I said. “You have good taste.”

She stared at me. “Have you really no further questions on the matter?”

It was actually pretty hard coming up with questions on the spot. I wondered if it was going to become a trend.

“Was it love at first sight? Did you just really like the way he challenged you or did you know him from before or something?”

I remembered there was a lot of speculation about that from super fans before the manga got canned.

“No,” she said finally. “No to all of those.”

“Why do you want to marry him then?” I asked.

She gave me a long look.

“I don’t.” she said. “It is simply necessary.”

I frowned. What did that mean?

“The resources of the Sutherland family are at your disposal. Forward any receipts to Hielgard staff.”

Claire rang a little bell at her desk and the doors behind me opened. A butler type figure escorted me out.

“Good day,” I heard as the doors shut behind me.

*

There was one final meeting before the longest day of my life was over.

As I began to walk to the front gates, a figure emerged from the shadows of the gym. A lithe, muscular arm reached out and pulled me aside before I could react. I felt like a small squirrel trapped in the grip of a predator.

I recognized her by her wavy blue hair, and general crazy fit person energy.

It was Lene. Deck’s third and final love interest. The sporty, athletic one.

“Him.” she said, gesturing towards Deck, who was waiting with Sarah by the front gates.

“His name is Deck,” I said. “I could introduce you.”

Lene gave no indication that she heard me.

“I require his blood, urine, or semen,” she said. “I will pay you for your troubles.”

Lene sniffed at the air, considering. “Preferably urine,” she said.