“So I ended up having to buy the whole outfit.” Miyuki was standing to the left of my desk while happily telling me more about her clothes from yesterday.

I arrived at the classroom this morning, and I wanted to stay under the radar like usual. I sat down on my desk, and everything was fine. I was a little stressed about having to make a decision regarding the invitation into the House of Imaginary Boundaries, but that was par for the course.

Miyuki got here later than me and came straight to me as soon as she saw me. She was acting like her usual self, while my face became red in an instant. I was still flustered by her kiss and didn’t know how exactly to face her. She started talking, and I went along with her. I eventually brought up her clothes from yesterday, and here we are.

“I had a similar pair of socks at home, but I wanted to wear the outfit right there and then, so I just bought another pair. Good thing socks are cheap.” She’s so cute, she never ceases to amaze me.

“D- do you do that a lot? I- I don’t really get it. Buying clothes of a different style on a whim seems incredible to me.”

“There’s nothing incredible about it. Come on, Iroha, I didn’t know wearing clothes was supposed to be a hard task.” Miyuki was looking at me like I said something weird.

I know wearing clothes isn’t a difficult thing. The thing that impresses me is how easily she’s able to get over the mental barriers. I don’t think I could ever try out a new style just because I felt like it.

“Well, I get what you mean, I’m just joking. I’m only able to do it because it’s fun for me.” Miyuki shrugged her shoulders while smiling.

It’s fun? I don’t really get it. Does she like the attention? “W- what do you mean by fun? What do you like about it?”

“I don’t really know, to be honest. Sometimes, I just look at some clothes, and I think to myself, that looks fun. This happens a lot when the outfit is a well-defined and complete package. Maybe it makes me feel like I’m someone else… You know, the clothes really do make the man, huh? Well, the woman.”

I can’t really relate. I’d probably just feel super self-conscious. No thanks. Still, I find it super impressive that she’s able to do that. Miyuki seemed really happy to tell me about this, so I’m glad I asked her more.

“We should check out some clothes together sometime, Iroha. Maybe you’ll find something completely new that you like. I think it would be fun.” Miyuki put her hands on my desk and leaned closer to me.

No way, no way! That’s way beyond my abilities. I can’t pull off a unique look like you did that easily! “It’s impossible! It wouldn’t look good on me! Everything looks good on you because you’re so pretty.” Also, your face is too close! How much of that did I end up saying out loud?

Miyuki started talking without missing a beat. “What are you talking about? You’re actually worried it only works for me because I’m pretty? You’re very cute too, Iroha, so you can also make any look work.”

Ehhh?! Me cute?! “Ahaha…” You caught me by surprise, but that’s not gonna get me flustered this time. “That’s not true. Normal clothes are the only thing that really fits me.”

“You’re wrong. You can look good in anything. I mean it. What do you usually wear outside of school? We’re going out, and I’m going to find you something nice.” Miyuki was getting weirdly fired up… Spare me.

The only thing I wear often is a tracksuit when I’m at home. “U- usually simple and comfortable clothes.” I don’t wanna attract any attention, so I don’t wear anything flashy.

“I see, I see… What do you think about wearing something like what I was wearing yesterday? What about dresses? You’d look great as a princess!”

I took a moment to imagine what me wearing the clothes Miyuki was suggesting would look like… Ewww! No! It’d attract so much attention. I’m cringing just thinking about it.

“Hi there, you two.” Miyuki was about to suggest some more ideas when she was interrupted by a voice that rooted me to my seat.

“Hello, uhmm… Sorry, what was your name again?” Miyuki seemed troubled to have to ask the question to the girl.

It’s Ayumu. Why is she here? I’m not good with her. Her presence dragged me down from heaven into the bottom of the ocean.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s alright. I’m Ayumu Asada. Must be tough trying to remember everyone’s names.” Ayumu smiled at Miyuki.

“Absolutely. My memory is terrible with these kinds of things. It always takes me a long time to remember people’s names.”

“Really? You seemed to have no problem remembering Iroha over here.” Miyuki placed her hand on my desk as she finished speaking and used it to support herself.

Please stay away… I really can’t handle Ayumu. Why is it getting hard to breathe? I wish I could just run away right now.

“Iroha just got lucky, her name just happened to stick. Anyway, what’s going on?” Miyuki looked at me while she spoke. Do I look normal? I don’t want her to think I’m being weird.

“I just wanted to say hi, nothing else. Are you alright, Iroha? I heard you got sick yesterday.”

Why is she even asking me this? She doesn’t care. Is it just to make fun of me? “Y- yeah… I’m fine.”

“Hmm… Is that so? I’m glad.” Her uninterested tone of voice completely gave away the fact that she really couldn’t care less.

Before Miyuki transferred in, Ayumu was undisputedly the prettiest girl in class. She’s very popular with both guys and girls and stands at the very top of the class’s hierarchy.

Ayumu has brilliant brown hair, her hair was moderately long but shorter than Miyuki’s and mine, and it was just a little wavy with two small accessories tying up the loose ends in front of her shoulders. Her eyes were purple, and they were really pretty. Her makeup makes it impossible not to notice her eyes while also being so light that it’s barely noticeable.

Ayumu loves accessories and is always wearing two bracelets on one of her arms. Maybe it’s just one bracelet, and it’s just a pair that’s connected somehow. I can never tell. Around her neck is a simple necklace with two connected hearts.

If I had to point out a flaw with her looks, I’d have to say it’s her hair. It’s pretty enough as is, but it looks out of place on her. It’s hard to explain. It feels like something’s missing. I saw her painting her hair once, and I thought it looked much better.

She’s naturally pretty and knows how to dress well, and that’s why everyone likes her. Even I did at some point. She’s probably the first girl I liked, but I really wish I hadn’t. There were already some characters I liked when I first met her, but I think she was the first person I liked, and why wouldn’t I? She’s really pretty. She’s the first person who really managed to grab my attention like that.

In the end, I screwed up badly. I was so captivated by her that I ended up staring at her too much. Because of that, the other girls started saying that I liked her and started making fun of me and distancing themselves from me.

I always denied it since I didn’t know how to deal with the situation, but they didn’t care what the truth was and were just happy to have someone to laugh at.

Ayumu never tried to stop them, and she was making fun of me behind my back as well. She ended up confronting me about whether or not I liked her that way at some point, and I had to lie to her.

There’s no one who knows for sure that I like girls, but they still bring it up every now and again just to laugh at me. Because of those rumors, I find myself pretty isolated from the rest of the class now.

I can’t even blame anyone since they weren’t actually wrong. I did like Ayumu, and I do like girls, that much is true. They just didn’t have to be so mean about it. It’s a little funny, but it kinda sucks.

It’s really suffocating when Ayumu’s nearby. I feel like if I say or do something slightly wrong, the rumors are going to come back. This all happened two or three years ago, and I’m still paying for my mistake. I can’t afford to do anything wrong now, especially now that Miyuki is here.

Miyuki transferring into our class has been a really big deal to me, even more so because I managed to make friends with her. Having someone who wasn’t around back then and doesn’t know about my past is really nice, but I have a feeling our relationship is not going to last very long if she ends up hearing the rumors about me.

Since she just transferred in, everyone is still all over her because she’s the new girl and she’s really beautiful. If I’m near her during this time, I’m also gonna be in the spotlight, and everyone’s gonna remember the rumors again.

“Hey, Miyuki, you just transferred here, so you should get to know the rest of the class. You’re not gonna make any friends if you only talk with one person.” Ayumu started ignoring me and gave Miyuki some advice.

Is Ayumu worried about Miyuki fitting in? That’s not it, she probably has some kind of hidden agenda. Miyuki is going to take a lot of attention away from her. I can see her helping Miyuki now to put her in her debt. Could she be trying to separate me and Miyuki? Ayumu hates me, I’ve caught her glaring at me every now and then ever since she confronted me.

I can’t let her take Miyuki away from me. I don’t want to be alone again…

“Don’t worry about that. I plan on making friends with everyone. I’m with Iroha now, but we can have lunch together if you want.” Miyuki gave Ayumu a polite smile.

No, I don’t have the right to say anything. We’re just friends. I can’t expect Miyuki to not associate with anyone else just because of me. That would be too selfish. If the rumors don’t make her hate me, my selfishness sure would. If she stays with me, the others are gonna pick on her too, and she’d become isolated just like me. I hate to admit it, but the best thing she could do is to forget about me and become friends with Ayumu.

“Yeah? I’ll come find you later then.” After a curt response, Ayumu turned around and waved her hand as she went back to her groupies.

I’m feeling nauseous now. I wanna go home. I really can’t handle Ayumu, it’s so suffocating. I don’t even want anything to do with her anymore. It’s not her fault that I’m alone now, but the fact she joined the rest of the class and made fun of me just made me realize I was wrong about her. Appearances aren’t everything.

“Are you alright, Iroha? You look sick.” Miyuki looked at me with worry.

Is it really that obvious? I really don’t want her to see me like this. I don’t want to burden her with my problems. What would she even say? Would she be on my side if I told her the whole story? She’d probably be disgusted. If I tell her I like girls, she’s gonna ask me if I’m interested in her, and then it’s game over for me. Whether I lie or tell her the truth, I’m screwed either, so I have to keep my problems to myself for now. One day, I’ll tell her.

“I’m alright. Class is about to start. You should go back to your seat.” I forced myself to send Miyuki away with a smile.

Miyuki nodded and said she’d talk to me later before going back to her seat.

Why is everything going wrong in my life right now? First the other world, then the House’s invitation, and now this? How do I get myself out of this? I didn’t even do anything wrong. Is it all just because I wanted to get close to Miyuki? Is it so wrong for me to want something?

I can feel people looking at me. I hear them giggling at me. Why do I have to go through all this? I made one mistake years ago. When are you gonna let it go? I can’t take this anymore! I wanna go home, but it’s too late right now. I should probably skip class tomorrow. Miyuki is too pretty, so it’s gonna take more than a few days until she stops being the center of everyone’s attention. If she still doesn’t hate me by the time things calm down, then we might be able to be friends, otherwise, it’s back to how my life was before she transferred in. It’s not great, but at least I tried. It’s not like I’m gonna die. I still have my waifus, and I have the VISS Driver now.

The teacher eventually arrived, and the pressure I was feeling dissipated. I’m still skipping class tomorrow. I don’t want to be the center of everyone’s attention again, and that way, I’ll get some time for myself. I need to take a break. I’ve barely had time to breathe since Miyuki got here. Yeah, that’s it. I should skip for a while. At the very least, I’m skipping tomorrow, and I’m gonna have some fun!