April, the fateful month...

'Ah... I can finally meet senpai again!!'

While riding the bus, I... Ichika-chan was looking forward to experiencing high school life for the second time.

"Sigh... I hope I end up in the same class as you, Ichika..."

"Yeah! Me too, Takuya!"

Well... I already know we won't end up in the same class, but if I say that now he'll probably ask, ‘How do you know that?’

Before long, the bus arrived in front of Advanced Nurturing High School.

"Ichika, we've arrived."

"We're finally here!"

After we got off the bus and entered the school grounds, there were already many new students gathered there.

'Alright then... time to check which class I'm in—whoa!!'

"Eek!!"

As I started walking to check the class list, I must not have been paying attention because I bumped into another new student.

"Sorry! Sorry! Are you okay!?"

"Ah! No, I'm fine. Please don't worry about me..."

"Ah..."

The new student had a face I knew well.

'N-Nanase-chan...'

In the original world... she was someone who, just like me, admired Kiyotaka-senpai, yet we were always at odds with each other.

Nanase Tsubasa.

'Come to think of it, Nanase-chan also...'

I remember it clearly.

On the day Kiyotaka-senpai declared he had chosen Karuizawa-senpai, Nanase-chan held back her tears and shut herself in her room.

After that day, she never came out.

And from that day onward, the cheerful energy she once had completely disappeared.

Back then... I finally understood Nanase-chan's feelings despite us always being like cats and dogs.

I also felt deep sympathy for her.

Because the pain of not being chosen by the person you fell in love with was far greater than expected.

Especially for Nanase-chan... since it happened twice.

She had her precious person taken from her two times.

The sadness must have been overwhelming.

'I cried in my room afterward too...'

While I was reminiscing about memories from the original world—

"Um? Is there something on my face?"

Ah—sorry Nanase-chan! I completely left you hanging!

"Ah!? It's nothing! More importantly, sorry for bumping into you! I'm Amasawa Ichika! Nice to meet you!"

"Amasawa-san, right? Boku (masculine self pronoun)—I mean! My name is Nanase Tsubasa. Nice to meet you as well."

...I had heard about Nanase-chan's past in the original world.

If I remember correctly, her ex-boyfriend's father—Matsuo-san—was killed because he helped Kiyotaka-senpai escape.

And on top of that, her ex-boyfriend also lost his life after being dragged into the incident.

That grief and desire for revenge were exploited by the White Room, which led her to try forcing Kiyotaka-senpai out of school.

The reason she uses 'boku' as her first-person pronoun… was apparently to imitate the personality of her ex-boyfriend.

"You don't have to call me Amasawa-san! Just call me Ichika-chan! And you don't need to use polite language either!"

"No, no... we just met after all. Using polite speech is my default, so please allow me to keep it this way for a while."

"Well, you can call me whatever you like, Nanase-chan! More importantly... want to go check the class list together?"

"Yes, I'd love to! Since fate brought us together, it would be nice if we ended up in the same class."

In the original world...

I used to see Nanase Tsubasa as nothing more than a dog clinging to Kiyotaka-senpai after she suddenly switched sides, despite once trying to force him out of school.

Naturally, I always treated her aggressively.

But after learning about Nanase-chan's past, my impression of her changed greatly.

Compared to me—who was created as a test-tube baby by some company president and had my entire life decided inside the White Room—

Nanase-chan's past was far more tragic.

So this time... in this world...

I want to give Nanase Tsubasa a chance at salvation too.

After experiencing high school life in the previous world...

Watching the group Kiyotaka-senpai belonged to and learning about friendship...

It seems I've changed.

I can no longer be the cruel girl who believed that as long as I ended up with Kiyotaka-senpai, it didn't matter what happened to anyone else.

Now I genuinely want Nanase-chan to find happiness too.

"Alright, Nanase-chan! Let's hurry and check the class list!"

"Yes, Amasawa-san."

And just like that, I felt like I had become a little closer with Nanase-chan compared to the original world.

"Hey! Ichika!! You forgot about me, didn't you!?"

"Huh!? Takuya... there's no way I'd forget you!"

Ah... I totally forgot about Takuya!

"Um... Nanase-san, right? My name is Yagami Takuya. Ichika and I are childhood friends."

"Yagami-kun, thank you for the polite introduction. Boku—... I mean! My name is Nanase Tsubasa."

'She still uses polite speech with everyone except me... she's really good at staying in character~!'

Anyway... the three of us went to check the class list together.

And the result was—

"I'm in Class A~!"

"I'm in Class B... tch!! Why aren't I in the same class as Ichika!?"

"I'm in Class D... we all ended up in different classes."

Just like in the original world, all three of us ended up in the same classes as before.

Though I wonder why Takuya looks so dissatisfied.

"Alright! Let's all head to our respective classrooms!"

"Ah! Wait, Amasawa-san! Yagami-kun! There's something I'd like to ask..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"What would that be?"

Nanase-chan lowered her voice so only Takuya and I could hear.

"Are you two... dating?"

"Yes, I—"

"Nope!! I'm not dating Takuya! We're just childhood friends!"

"Huh!? Ah... I see..."

Wait—why does Takuya look sad after my answer...

And why does Nanase-chan look like she's sympathizing with him?

'What's going on here!?'

They never taught us anything like this in the White Room curriculum!!