Part-1 Ch-03 Ep-01

 Three months have passed since I entered high school.

I have grown accustomed to academy life, forged new relationships with new friends in a new environment, and at a glance, everything appears to be progressing smoothly.

At a glance, that is.

My student life is going well.

But I must not lose sight of the truth.

The world I inhabit is the world of the otome game "Cherry Blossom Oath ―The Story We Spin Together―".

And I am Nagase Mari, the childhood friend of the heroine Ichinose Maki, a supporting role.

My existence here is for the purpose of ensuring that Maki falls in love with the capture targets and ends up with one of them.

That is the role assigned to me, the reason I exist in this world.

So I cannot allow myself to make a mistake.

Simply enjoying high school life is not enough.

Everything is for Maki's future.

But.

"Something feels a little off."

I murmured this to myself while sitting at my study desk in my room, spreading out the magical girl anime notebook in which I had written everything I could remember about the game's story back when I was a child.

So far, I have encountered two capture targets.

The refreshingly tall and handsome Kagami Shin-kun, and the manly, sports-minded Todoroki Go-kun.

I believe I have already built good rapport with both of them from very early on. I even see them exchanging casual banter now and then, and as for Maki, I think she has relatively let her guard down around them.

Yet somehow, it is not what I imagined.

It might be quicker to say that it feels more like "comrades in arms".

By the way, I can see Maki’s own status and her location map, but I cannot see her affinity levels with others. It feels half-complete, but perhaps that is because other people’s feelings are involved.

Summer vacation begins next week.

Normally, one needs to go on dates with the capture targets during this time to raise affinity and status.

If possible, I would like Maki to go on a date with either Todoroki-kun or Kagami-kun and raise her affinity over the summer.

I have become close with the two of them, but whenever the subject of going out somewhere comes up, someone inevitably suggests, "Then shall we all go?" and that becomes the plan.

Friendships are deepening.

But when it comes to individual "romantic feelings", I cannot help but tilt my head.

Even Maki, though she seems relaxed around them, keeps drawing some kind of line somewhere. In situations like this, isn’t it usually necessary for the girl to show a bit more openness for things to progress?

Watching her, it is almost as if she carries herself with the composure of someone who already has a lover. When a boy casually approaches, she lightly steps back as if saying, “I already have a boyfriend.” As though she has no interest in anyone else.

Does Maki have someone she likes right now?

I have hardly ever heard any rumors about her in that regard.

She did receive confessions back in elementary and middle school. But I have never once heard a story about her accepting a confession or dating someone, and come to think of it, I have never even had a single romance-related conversation with her.

I have never heard Maki talk about the person she likes.

Ping, my smartphone chimed.

The message was from the very person occupying my thoughts at this moment. A simple comment, “This video is hilarious,” followed by a link to a video on an SNS app.

I impulsively typed “Maki, you know...” as a reply, but deleted the words before pressing send.

Maki, you know, is it possible you have never even had a first love...?

There is no way I could ask her that directly.

Reconsidering, I tapped the video link she had sent me.

A short clip played with a bright, cheerful background track. More than the content itself, what caught my attention was the nostalgia of the music. By chance, it was a love song that had been popular a few years ago.

Does Maki ever feel her heart ache for someone, or experience the pain of longing?