"Can you move a little to the left please?"

"Like this?"

"Hm... maybe a little to the right?"

"Uh, is this okay?"

"Actually, back to the left."

Midway moving to the left, you halted. "...Are you messing with me?"

A stifled chuckle was heard from behind the canvas. "Of course not."

"You totally are!"

Satoshi's face peaked from behind the canvas and he smiled. "You looked a bit tense. I thought I could get you to relax. Sorry if that was annoying. You're doing fine, don't mind me."

Oh, that was a surprisingly wholesome reason. He was right though. Feeling his gold eyes observe your features made you re-read the same line of dialogue in the manga Seiji lent you a million times.

Yes, in the end you accidentally ended up saying yes to his request. Before you took it back, you caught a glimpse at the painting Satoshi was working on. The sheer talent portrayed on it incited your curiosity on how he'd draw you. So, here you were.

The faint sounds of charcoal sketching against the canvas, the occasional flips of you turning the page, and the few instances where Satoshi would ask you to look up to better study your features; honestly, you expected the process to be awkward, but the atmosphere was oddly comforting.

"I know this is a little late, but I never got the chance to thank you for the cake."

The cake? Oh! He was referring to when your parents left behind pastries for you to distribute on your first day of school. You literally shoved one into his hands and ran off before he had a chance to decline.

You chuckled sheepishly. "You kind of didn't have a choice but to accept it."

"That's alright. I thought it was cute."

You almost dropped the manga you were reading. Caught between the crossfire of taking his words as flirtation or a compliment that had good intentions but misleading effects, you never landed on a conclusion since Satoshi motioned for your attention. He smiled and turned around the canvas, revealing his sketch. You looked at it in awe. It had barely been half an hour and he had already captured your features perfectly. Heck, he made you look a little too good.

"You can leave now if you'd like, I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time."

"What about the painting?"

"We can continue another day. There's no rush to complete this. You've just gotten out of a meeting, right? You should go home and rest. Stop by when you're free."

"Should I come by during lunch?"

Satoshi smiled. And man, with how utterly soft it looked, it almost made you forget that he was a male lead with the potential to kill someone. "Whenever it's convenient for you."

You nodded. "It's getting kind of late, you should start to head home soon."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'll stay here a little while longer."

His words didn't come off as dismissive or rude, but you couldn't help feeling the same sense of distance in them like you did on the first day. It was paradoxical; you spent time with him which would've naturally made you feel closer, but the invisible line between you and him was more conspicuous now.

You picked up your bag. "Alright. Get home safe."



===



Slowly closing the door behind her to ensure little noise, the girl dropped her bag before sliding down against the door. The bed was only a couple of metres away, but she felt exhausted at the thought of taking another step. Even sitting down felt like a chore and she wondered if she should just lay down on the carpet floor.

Another day had passed and she found herself at home in her room; her room with her own clothes and personalised aesthetics, yet it felt as foreign as ever. Her hand reached up to her cheek and still felt the sting from the slap she received not too long after her club activities ended. All because she happened to get a little too close to Utari.

Forced to carve a friendly smile on her face, forced to ignore the whispers and ridicule behind her back, forced to naively act kind to everyone, forced to hold herself back from retaliating because that wasn't how she should act, and forced to pathetically let herself get bullied. In a cliche romance story, the heroine should wait for someone to save her.

Aimi sighed and managed the energy to get up. She dragged her feet across the carpet and threw herself onto her bed and laid on her back, blue eyes fixated on the ceiling.

"Oh, come on. You think you two have something special going on? Don't get cocky because you received a scholarship."

One of the girls grabbed her hair. "Can't speak? You were talkative when you were talking to Utari-kun."

"I-I'm sorry," Aimi muttered weakly. She almost gagged at her tone.

"I bet the system is getting a kick out of me reliving my past life," Aimi bitterly muttered.

Today her charming prince was Shichirou. He offered to take her to the nurse's office and even said he'd help treat the scratches she received from falling down. It was a perfect opportunity to romance him. Just one. If she could get just one of them to fall for her, then her wish would be fulfilled. It was easy, right? She was put in a multitude of situations where the chances were practically spoon-fed to her.

And yet, (Y/n) had captured the interests of all three.

Gaining genuine affections of others was never Aimi's strong point now or in her past life. The system knew this and made it her main objective. All she needed to do was call it off, to leave the game and let it continue with only (Y/n) with modified rules. But that would mean that she wouldn't be able to have her wish granted. And she needed it to be granted.

(Y/n)... you're making this difficult. But that's fine, I'll win against you. It's a promise.

At the thought of it, she hugged a pillow and giggled to herself. But she needed to hurry. At this rate, (Y/n) would get herself into more trouble and everything will be ruined. The fire was enough of a warning. Aimi's body tensed and she narrowed her eyes when she recalled an unwanted memory. Immediately, she reminded herself that it was all in the past. Everything was all in the past and she will make sure it stays in the past.

She sat up. "I've been fulfilling my role as a heroine well. I should have that unlocked by now."

[ Profile: (L/n) (Y/n) ]

An individual who was reincarnated into this world with no memories of her past life, but is aware of her unnatural presence. She is allowed an opportunity to regain her memories back.

Current progress in obtaining back her memories: None

Objective: locked

"Unlock her objective."

Objective: The male leads who fell for the heroine have the potential to harm or kill others in order to secure her affection. Prevent these deaths. Failure to do so will result in a game over.

"So, that was it..."

The male leads have the potential to kill and harm for me, huh? She scoffed. More like they will kill for (Y/n) with how things were developing. The 'novel' had deviated from its original plot long ago.

She smiled. Now that she had this confirmation, she was going to bend the rules of the game. "I'm going to make sure you don't get your memories back, (Y/n)."

[ Hm, that look on your face. I'm not sure how to feel about it ]

Aimi narrowed her eyes. The system was here. "What now?"

[ You have a new plan, right? Exploiting a loophole in this game I presume? C'mon, spill! I'm curious!]

"Why are you even asking? You gave me the chance to know (Y/n)'s abilities. You should know what's coming. You should be well aware that I'm done playing by the original rules."

[ Well, I had some hope you wouldn't go there. Eh, considering your personality, that conclusion suits you well. Just a tad disappointed. I guess I still have (Y/n)'s development to watch ]

She narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?"

[ If you thought that I reincarnated you two and threw together this game for no reason, then you'd be sorely mistaken ]

"So the several instances of utterly cliche and cheesy scenes have a reason behind them?"

[ No, not really lol. They're just funny to see play out. But everything else does. Have a think about why I implemented certain rules and objectives ]

Aimi wished she could just shut the thing off. "I don't care. "

[ And that's where your flaw lies ]

She rolled her eyes. "What? Are you going to force me to say my thoughts out loud like some weird monologue?"

[ Nah. You're planning to ditch your objective to make a male lead to fall in love with you. The rules state that the deadline is by graduation. But you'll be busy doing something else. Rather than using the rest of the year making one of them fall for you, you'll allow them to fall for (Y/n) instead while keeping up your heroine attitude so you don't get disqualified. Now that you're aware that they will kill others for love and that the action will result in (Y/n)'s failure, you're going to ensure that happens ]

She could feel them grin behind the screen.

[ After all, if she fails you win by default. And then you can happily wish for (Y/n) to never gain her memories back and even make sure she forgets that she was reincarnated in the first place! Your goal from the very beginning was to figure out a way to make her fail, not to secure a victory by achieving your objective ]

Aimi remained silent. It was infuriating to admit to that they were spot on.

[ I figured this will eventually happen. Thankfully, I'm super smart and prepared for this! Gosh, my intelligence scares me sometimes ]

"Prepared what?"

[ You're no fun to talk to, so I won't be explaining~ Ta-ta! ]

"Wait––"

The holographic screen forcefully shut off. If it weren't for the fact that her 'grandparents' were downstairs, she would've screamed in frustration. Instead, she settled for punching a pillow. What was the system thinking? Are they going to intervene? No, they won't, right? Their goal was entertainment, they won't just take (Y/n)'s side because that would ruin the game. Yeah, they were just messing with her.

Aimi glanced out the window. "(Y/n)... I'll be talking to you a lot more now. I'll be sure to act extra clingy to incite some jealousy. Utari-san, Shichirou-san, and Satoshi-san, I wonder who will strike first."

If she does get killed, the moment her heart stops, she would win and (Y/n) would lose. Her death would be an issue easily fixed by the system so long as she secures victory. After all, there wasn't a rule that prohibited that.

She hummed in contemplation. "Personally, my bet is on Satoshi-san."

===

... Things have been strangely peaceful for the past few weeks.

You continued to visit Satoshi every now and then and he ended up finishing the painting. He insisted you take it, but it felt a little embarrassing having a large painting of yourself (plus, you'd definitely get an earful from your mother on who the mysterious painter was) so he kept it in the storeroom.

"Okay, but what if someone walks in and there's just––my face. Don't get me wrong, your art is dope. I almost cried at how talented you are, but I fear someone will be startled to see it."

Satoshi chuckled. "I'll cover it with a cloth and ensure it'll be hidden."

You would stop by the art club every now and then to either wave hi to Satoshi or have a quick conversation. Himari and Kai were your primary company and you continued to walk to school with Kashi in the morning. Everything was so normal.

Though, you supposed one change was how often you'd run into Aimi. She began asking you to eat lunch with her or ask to walk with her to class. It was odd, but she was someone who was meant to die this chapter so you didn't reject her advances. A part of you wanted to brush it off as her genuinely wanting to get closer to you, but it didn't hurt to have your guard up.

"(L/n)-san, you can leave now if you'd like. I can finish off the rest of the proposal."

Shichirou's voice reminded you of where you were; the student council room. Whoops, you accidentally got lost in your thoughts and forgot that you doing some paperwork. Currently, you were working on the proposals for different events and upcoming school trips with Shichirou. Most of the ideas and key information was discussed within the meeting with the other members, now it was yours and Shichirou's job to organize and refine them. To be honest, you thought it was a little early for all of this. But Shichirou insisted and you didn't argue. The guy had more experience that you, after all.

"I accidentally spaced out, don't worry. I can keep going. What about you? You haven't taken a break yet and I've had two."

"I'm fine, you get tired a lot faster than I do."

"Was that a backhanded insult?"

"I believe there's no shame in being less superior to me."

"Will I get kicked out of the student council if I walk up and smack you right now?"

As much as you hated to admit it, these after school sessions where you were alone with Shichirou made you a lot closer to him. However, every time you thought maybe he wasn't as bad as he let on, you would remind yourself that the guy literally viewed people as tools to further himself. Not only that, he was arrogant. Albeit, he hid it very well. His words and actions sometimes allude to the fact that he's better than everyone around him.

Not to mention, he outright said he hated you.

Shichirou's eyes narrowed and his smile transitioned into an amused smirk. "Ah, those eyes of yours," he said. "I hate people like you."

"You're pretty spot on, great job," he praised before he followed it up with an unamused look. "And, I've concluded that you're someone I prefer to not work with." There was a short pause and the male's eyes darkened as his tone dropped into something far more conniving. "Rather, I prefer to go against you instead."

Oh, the irony that you two are working together now.

But then there was the other side of you that thought 'okay, but there's an explanation for his behaviour, right? Just like with Kashi.' After all, his character information said:

Despite his good reputation with the students, he is rarely seen attending social events outside of school. Though the students feel like they're close with the kind male, after school hours, no one knows what he does. Some would try and question, however, no one ever got far. And, any rumours that surfaced due to that were immediately taken care of.

Shichirou always academically performed exceptionally well and outshone many in various fields. It may look like natural talent as he makes it appear seamless but he is a very hard worker. In fact, maybe a little too much of a hard worker.

Back then, you hardly cared about him as a person. But working alongside him, you could tell that he was a very studios and diligent individual. And the little regard he had for his well-being as he continuously worked made you wonder if he was naturally like that or if it was because of another factor.

"Screw it, I'll just keep hating him. It's easier," you mumbled. It's not like you were obligated to feel sympathy for everyone you encountered.

"Did you say something, (L/n)-san?"

"How it's easier hating you?"

"You're not going to try and make an excuse?"

"No."

Shichirou looked far from irritated. Banter was common between you two. "Alright, I believe this is good progress for the day. Let's pack up."

"We made a lot of progress. How do you be so productive everyday?"

Shichirou smiled. "I have to be. Are you walking with me to the gates as usual today?"

"I mean, it'd be awkward not to since we go out in the same direction anyway."

Shichirou told you to wait a moment as he packed up his stuff. You decided to open the door first and did not expect Aimi to be there. Seeing her blonde hair all of a sudden almost made you fall backwards.

"Oh! (L/n)-san! What a coincidence, I was going to ask if you were free."

You're literally standing in front of the door?? Are you sure this is a coincidence??

"I––why?"

A bright smile was on her face, as if seeing you was the greatest thing to happen today. "We should walk home together! My club activities just finished!"

"Oh, sorry. But––"

"What the heck? Why is she here again?"

Another familiar face, it was Kai. Himari was also here and she looked 300% done with her brother.

Kai glared at Aimi. "Why are you always hanging around her?"

"Because (L/n)-san is great company!"

"Hm, that is true."

You sighed wearily. "Uhm, you guys can walk with me after I––"

"Ah, Aimi-san. So this is why you were in a hurry."

Now Kashi is here as well? What is with everyone gathering around?

Gosh, I'm so popular. But seriously, what the heck?

"(Y/n), you look troubled." Kashi laughed. "Don't worry, I'll be quick. I just have a message to deliver. Shin wanted me to tell you that he doesn't need you to pick him up next week."

That was the most devastating news you heard today. "Tell him if I did something wrong I will pay for my sins immediately."

"It's nothing like that. He wants you to still come to the daycare, though."

"Wait, how does that work?"

The idol winked. "It's a surprise."

"Okay, not suspicious at all."

Shichriou appeared from behind you. "I'm impressed with how much company you brought in the span of a minute."

"Yeah, me too. Shichirou-san, I know we usually walk together for like three minutes. But how about another day?"

"Normally, I'd say yes. However, today's a bad time for that."

You knitted your eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

Scarily on cue, a buzz came from your pocket. You gave Shichirou a suspicious look and he innocently shrugged. You took out your phone and checked the caller ID, it was your mother.

"Hey, mum. Is everything––"

"(Y/n)! Sorry for disturbing you, but I didn't get the chance to tell you this morning. Is Shichirou-san with you?"

"Yes. Wait, what's with the sudden––"

"Okay, perfect! I'll tell you the details later. A car will be sent over to pick you two up."

Wait, what.

"Sorry for the abrupt news! I'll bake you a cake as an apology. Love you, bye!"

"Wait, hold on––"

The call ended before you had the chance to say anything. You looked over to Shichirou.

"Explain."

His lips curved into a friendly smile, a friendly smile that you wanted to slap off. "Seems like you'll be a lovely guest at my house soon."