NOVEL NEXT How long has it been since I tried to sleep in bed? My eyes opened slowly on their own. As I rubbed my eyes with my little hands and slender fingers, I suddenly felt a strange discomfort.
Trying hard to open my eyes, I saw my fair skin and delicate fingers. Maybe because I was seeing something I shouldn’t have, my heart raced unusually faster, pounding in my head with an ow-ow.
I quickly closed my eyes and started taking slow breaths to calm myself. I already knew something like this would happen from the beginning. Why am I surprised by it all of a sudden?
I faced the reality clearly before me.
Yesterday, I was eagerly rummaging through the community, waiting for the maintenance to finish for the pickup banner of my favorite character, “Misono Mika,” in the mobile game I play called Blue Archive.
As soon as the maintenance ended, I launched the game with the determination to welcome my beloved character quicker than anyone else. My memories cut off right from there.
When I reopened my eyes, I wasn’t in my apartment but rather in a room so beautifully decorated that you’d believe a princess lived there. Realizing that not only the surroundings but also my voice and body had changed, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and… after some time denying what had happened to me, finally accepted that this whole situation was reality.
“…But what time is it right now?”
I know this might sound a bit odd, but looking at how my body has grown, it didn’t seem too far removed from the timeline of the original work. Maybe the original is already ongoing, or it could be approximately a year prior, or perhaps there’s a slim chance it’s about a year earlier than that.
The quickest way to comprehend the situation in times like this is, as always, to check my phone. It’s a blessing of the information age that I can know a tremendous amount with just a simple phone check.
With that thought, I picked up my phone, charging on a desk that had an impressively cute combination of white and pink, just like Mika. Touching the screen, the lock screen appeared, but thankfully the lock method wasn’t a pattern or password, but rather a fingerprint scan.
“…Huh?”
As I unlocked it, I noticed notifications from the messenger app Momotalk, which exists in the Blue Archive universe, on the status bar. I was forcibly reminded of something I hadn’t been thinking about at all.
[Nagi-chan☆]
I’ll come over right now.
The fact that Mika has a childhood friend named Kirihouji Nagisa, whom she’s known for over ten years.
Surprised, I quickly tapped the Momotalk notification and began scrolling up to read the messages Nagisa had sent from the beginning.
[Mika, you’re a bit late today.]
[…I can’t say your usual conduct is good, but I don’t remember you ever skipping class without notice. If something’s wrong, please let me know right away.]
[Mika?]
…
[…The afternoon tea time without you is quite peaceful. By the way, Seiya agrees with me on that. However, it seems like Seiya is also a bit preoccupied with something today.]
[Definitely strange. Is everything alright, Mika? Please reply as soon as you’re able. I’m worried about you, and I can’t focus on my studies.]
[If you aren’t feeling well, I’ll come over to your place soon.]
[I’ll come over right now.]
“…Wait. Right now?”
Looking at the timestamp of the most recent message, I checked the current time; about an hour had passed. This means that at any moment, it wouldn’t be strange if Nagisa suddenly pressed the doorbell…!
I’ve got a big problem. I’m entirely unprepared for this situation. I’m already confused with being possessed or whatever, and now I have to deal with Mika’s friend.
Let’s be real; there’s no way Nagisa, who’s been friends with Mika since we were toddlers, wouldn’t notice something amiss in this situation. No matter how hard I try to mimic Mika’s manner of speaking, can I truly fool Nagisa, who hears it every day? I guarantee I’ll be found out. Even if I had the talent of a legendary actor sleeping inside me, I could never cover the gaps in my memory.
“…Should I just cry first?”
Crying will make the other person hesitate to attack you, and they’ll empathize with you to some extent no matter what you say.
Of course, it’s an exaggeration, but it’s better than trying to act overly cheerful while meeting Nagisa.
The other option would be to just avoid meeting Nagisa altogether, but unless I plan on never seeing her again, running away is the worst option. Despite that, it’s better than awkwardly pretending to be Mika; it feels like a difference between the worst and second worst scenario.
Ding-dong——
While I was pondering, the inevitable arrived. I opened the door in my pajamas, looking a bit disheveled.
The house was completely dark. In the game Blue Archive, students’ parents or teachers rarely show up; it’s almost exclusively adults in Gematria. The reason I say “almost” is just in case I skipped over parts where they might have appeared. It’s safe to say they don’t exist in this context.
However, considering the existence of parents and the concept of a home is clearly hinted at, I thought about how to deal with Mika’s parents as soon as I saw Nagisa’s Momotalk, but surprisingly, there was no one home. When I checked the front door, apart from various shoes that I assumed belonged to Mika, I couldn’t find a single trace of anyone else.
I couldn’t tell if I should be thankful or worried. For now, it seems Mika lives alone in this house.
“…What to do?”
Ding-dong—— Ding-dong——
Nagisa pressed the doorbell again, urging me. I took out the slippers resting on top of the shoe cabinet and slipped them on.
They looked even smaller than my usual shoe size, maybe about 40 sizes too small. Even in these minor details, I felt like the previous me was being erased, evoking a peculiar discomfort. Maybe I’m just fragile right now.
“Honestly, pretending to have amnesia might be better…”
Wait. That’s not acting at all, is it? Just how much do I even know about Mika’s past?
No matter how much I adored Mika, there were clear limits. The things I know about her are all the official information released.
Pretending to know things I don’t would just get me caught. It seems that it might be more prudent to act like I don’t know some things instead.
I carefully placed my hand on the doorknob and gently applied pressure. Honestly, since Mika’s strength is strength, I needed to be extra careful. I wanted to avoid breaking anything.
Meanwhile, I quickly organized how I should act the moment I opened this door. To put it simply, I’ve decided I need to push through with the amnesia concept.
It’s arrogant of me to try to maintain a relationship that doesn’t even exist in my memory. No matter how much I try to role-play as Mika, it’s simply impossible in reality, and unless there’s something wrong with Nagisa, I definitely can’t avoid being found out.
While it might be cruel to Nagisa, who suddenly lost her childhood friend after ten years, I’m also just a spectator in this. I didn’t choose to possess Mika’s body.
So I’ll apologize. Sorry, Nagisa. I’ll just go with confusion rather than give you any leads.
Click! Creak—
I just realized something. After seeing Mika’s reflection in the mirror, I might need to retract my statement about considering her the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.
If Mika was a princess raised to be adored by everyone, then Nagisa had the kind of beauty that would make her a countess or a marquis’s daughter, enviable among other noble ladies in society. She seemed like the perfect embodiment of the character “T-party.”
Her hair color… should I call it a light brown? It’s not overly flashy, and it complements her noble appearance nicely. The part of her hair braided like a headband and the flower decoration on her left side seem to draw attention towards it. If I recall correctly, one of Nagisa’s hobbies was working in the garden, so that decoration suits her in many ways.
At first glance, her sharp gaze might give an impression of being cold and calculating, but her warm brown eyes somewhat softened that image. You can’t judge a person just by the color of their eyes, but it surely creates a warm feeling in your heart.
Nagisa’s impression changes significantly before and after the game’s illustrations were updated, and with this reality patch, she’s somewhere in between the two. Rather than being vague, it feels like the best of both before and after.
What can I say? Nagisa is a girl with beauty as stunning as Mika’s. From that, I could assume most of the named female students in Blue Archive would be completely gorgeous.
“…Hello, Mika. You don’t seem to be… well, feeling too good. You weren’t just sleeping all this time, were you?”
Upon saying this, Nagisa seemed to relax upon seeing me, letting out a small sigh.
…But what should I do now, Nagisa? This isn’t a time to relax; you should be getting tense right now.
I don’t know when it’ll be, but if the day comes when I can return to Earth, well, I’ll beg for forgiveness until my hands wear out. If that day never comes… then, well, I guess I’ll just let it slide.
So forgive me, Sas—
Oh no, I mean, forgive me, Nagisa.
“Um… are you Nagi-chan?”
“Huh?”
In that moment, the cute sound that unexpectedly escaped Nagisa’s lips almost made me laugh, but I forced myself to hold it back. Now is the moment I need to give my all to act.
“In the messenger, it said a person named Nagi-chan would come here, so I was waiting. I thought you could tell me who I am and what kind of person I was.”
“Wait! Wait a minute, Mika! What do you mean, ‘as if you’re seeing me for the first time!’? I don’t understand at all… and what do you mean by me doing something to you…?”
Seeing Nagisa’s face stiffen instantly made me silently cheer! I know I’m doing something terrible to her right now, but still, this is the right choice. Someday I’ll pay for this wrongdoing.
“…Please tell me you’re just joking. I wouldn’t fall for such a poor joke. It’s so out of nowhere. Just yesterday, I foolishly laughed and said ‘see you tomorrow’…”
“…I’m sorry. But I can’t remember at all. Everything in my head is a muddle.”
“Ha, haha… I can’t believe you thought I would fall for that so easily… Ugh…”
Suddenly, just like when this body was possessed, Nagisa closed her eyes and her knees buckled weakly. As her halo above faded, I instinctively caught her since Mika’s physical prowess was so remarkable.
It felt strange to think that I had done something so severe that she might faint. While I planned on continuing this farce, the guilt I felt was akin to crocodile tears.
Anyway, I couldn’t just stand there, so I picked Nagisa up in a princess carry and closed the front door behind us.
Thus, on the first day of my possession, I knocked out my beloved best friend.