Chapter 13: The Game’s Secret.

Today was truly suffering incarnate.

Ah, no, that’s wrong.

Today was suffering incarnate again.

Going to the dojo of the Toraiwa School of Ancient Martial Dance has never once ended peacefully.

Every single time, without exception, it always ends badly.

Come to think of it, can you really learn combat techniques like that?

It feels like every day is either being forced to practice martial dance or doing tea ceremony and flower arrangement.

Does Master Toraiwa really have mastery over everything?

She even makes her learn things like tea ceremony and flower arrangement.

She never asked for this kind of training in the first place…

And on top of that, while she’s in the middle of preparing tea or arranging flowers, she’ll suddenly be attacked with a bamboo sword…

Master Toraiwa says it’s to train her to remain aware of her surroundings even while focusing on something else.

Or to ensure she can respond if she’s suddenly attacked in daily life.

Still, she can’t help but feel that there’s no real need to train that skill specifically through tea ceremony and flower arrangement.

Of course, because disobeying Master Toraiwa is terrifying, she obediently followed along anyway…

Thankfully, Master Toraiwa also teaches her unarmed combat techniques like water combat and jujutsu, so the training should still be progressing.

Even though she doesn’t feel like she’s gotten any stronger at all, she must be improving.

Otherwise, what meaning would there be in enduring that kind of hellish training?

The “Chika Association” cram school and the “Grande” fitness club are both relaxed and enjoyable.

Only the Toraiwa School takes things so seriously it’s practically lethal.

After all, she’s only just started first grade in elementary school, so her body might not be able to handle it.

That said, she doesn’t actually dislike Master Toraiwa.

And the training itself is quite interesting.

Saying this might make her sound like a masochist, but she absolutely doesn’t have that kind of kink.

It’s just that learning things she never knew in her previous life makes Master Toraiwa’s training genuinely enjoyable.

Most of the classes at the Chika Association are simply reviews of things she learned in her previous life.

Swimming at the Grande gym is just swimming, after all.

Compared to that, everything at the Toraiwa School is new, so it’s only natural that it feels interesting.

And she knows this as well.

Although Master Toraiwa is strict, she also has a gentle side.

She always plans Yuka’s training with care and would never let her suffer a serious injury or die.

But… isn’t this way of thinking dangerous?

Aren’t women who get tricked by terrible men and can’t bring themselves to break up stuck in the same mindset?

It feels a lot like thinking, “But he has a gentle side,” or “He can’t live without me,” even while facing a terrible boyfriend.

Is that just my imagination…?

No, it can’t be.

It shouldn’t be…

“Lady Yuka, dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Emi.”

Emi came to call her for dinner, so she left her room.

When she reached the dining room, her parents asked her about the Sakuraka Association, and she panicked a little.

Thankfully, her older brother skillfully smoothed things over.

If her mother found out that she wanted to keep her distance from the Sakuraka Association, it would be a major problem.

At Ōka Academy, the Sakuraka Association wields enormous power.

And this year is a “big year,” with children from three of the Five Great Families enrolling at the same time.

Her mother expects her to integrate smoothly into the Sakuraka Association and learn the proper conduct of a lady from the upperclassmen.

If she found out Yuka wanted to distance herself from the association, she would absolutely fly into a rage.

Her brother probably noticed her intention to avoid the Sakuraka Association as well.

He didn’t tell their mother and instead skillfully covered for her.

As expected, her brother is on her side, right?

She hopes so.

No—she desperately hopes that’s the case.

Thanks to her brother’s cover, she managed to escape her mother’s questioning.

After dinner, she returned to her room, where she still had to complete her Chika Association preview work, review, and homework.

“Lady Yuka, is there anything else you need?”

“Hmm… no. Thank you, Emi.”

That should be everything.

Even if there was something else, it wouldn’t be anything important.

Most of the tasks Emi handles are things she can manage herself anyway.

If something really comes up later, she can deal with it on her own.

“Lady Yuka, you’ve changed quite a lot.”

“Eh!?”

Eh?

Eh?

What does she mean by that?

I’ve changed…?

Did she notice that what’s inside me has been swapped with Lady Yuka…?

“No… it’s nothing. Then, good night.”

“…………”

Emi bowed and withdrew just like that.

But Yuka’s mind was in complete chaos, and she couldn’t even respond.

What was that?

What did she mean?

Did Emi notice something?

But when she thinks about it carefully, maybe it’s not so strange.

Emi has always served as Lady Yuka’s personal maid.

In the game Love 100%, Emi also appears as Lady Yuka’s personal maid.

A maid who’s been by her side for so many years might naturally notice once Yuka suddenly changed after recalling her past life.

She believes her current state isn’t possession of Lady Yuka’s body.

Rather, after dying in her previous life, she was reborn into this world as Ishikawa Yuka.

This world resembles the game Love 100%, but there are also many differences.

Ultimately, the people living in this world aren’t game characters.

They are real, living human beings.

That makes her situation extremely delicate.

Was it always destined for her to be born as Ishikawa Yuka?

Or was there supposed to be a real Ishikawa Yuka, whom she replaced through reincarnation?

She’s always tried to avoid thinking about this.

But it’s true that, at least until the moment she recalled her past life, there existed an Ishikawa Yuka who lived in this world.

Those memories and emotions are undeniably preserved within her as part of herself…

Still, the Lady Yuka from before regaining her past life memories and the current her clearly differ in words and behavior.

Someone like Emi, who has always been by Lady Yuka’s side, should have noticed immediately.

So why did she only bring it up now?

And does she intend to tell anyone else…?

Right now, she is Yuka, and Yuka is her.

But… from Emi’s perspective, she might look like a stranger who suddenly became a completely different person.

And besides… who exactly is Emi?

The Koike family and the Ishikawa family are relatives.

Although the Ishikawa family ranks slightly higher, the Koike family is almost on the same level.

Why would Emi, a young lady of the Koike family, serve as Lady Yuka’s maid?

She remembers that the Love 100% staff once mentioned some kind of hidden backstory.

But the details were never made clear.

After all, even Lady Yuka herself was just a villain side character.

Any surrounding settings were probably decided rather casually.

There must be some degree of backstory or hidden setting.

But it was never publicly revealed.

It wasn’t written in the setting materials, and staff interviews only hinted at it vaguely.

Not just Emi—she also doesn’t know why Xiaoxiang and Marina became Lady Yuka’s attendants, or how they did so.

Why would Emi, born into the Koike family, come to serve as Lady Yuka’s maid?

That’s something that bothers her greatly.

****

“Please have a safe journey.”

“I’m leaving.”

After getting out at the circular driveway of Ōka Academy, Yuka walked toward the classroom under Emi’s watchful gaze.

Starting today, classes at Ōka Academy officially begin.

For her, first-grade elementary school lessons are something she really didn’t need to start learning now.

If she had the time, she’d rather be doing various other things.

But not attending school isn’t an option.

And if she doesn’t go to Ōka Academy, she won’t meet the girls she wants to befriend and play with.

Her purpose in life is to make friends with girls while avoiding destruction flags.

If she can’t even make friends, then what is all this hardship for?

“Good day.”

“Good day.”

“Good morning.”

“Good day.”

Morning greetings echoed around her.

She intended to respond if anyone greeted her.

But no one approached her directly.

She felt like people were secretly watching her from afar.

Yet no one seemed willing to greet her.

Even when she spoke first, the other person would just look surprised, respond politely, and hurry away.

Did I do something?

Could this be… Lady Yuka’s curse?

Am I cursed to be disliked?

“Good day, Yuka.”

“Good day, Marina.”

When she entered the classroom, she finally met someone who greeted her normally.

Marina arrived very early and was already seated.

Yuka thought she came early too, yet Marina arrived even earlier.

Just how early did she get here?

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Xiaoxiang.”

“Good day, Lady Xiaoxiang.”

Not long after Yuka sat down, Xiaoxiang arrived.

When Xiaoxiang greeted the class, everyone responded at once.

Wah… Xiaoxiang is really beloved by everyone…

Compared to that, Lady Yuka’s level of being disliked is something else entirely.

She doesn’t even need to do anything.

Even people who’ve never met her dislike her.

That’s practically a curse.

“Good day, Xiaoxiang.”

“Hmph!”

Eh?

She greeted Xiaoxiang, and Xiaoxiang snorted sharply through her nose and turned her head away.

Did she do something to make her angry?

She wanted to ask what she’d done.

But Xiaoxiang had already walked away briskly.

As soon as Xiaoxiang sat down, Lady Yuka’s group of attendants rushed over to surround her.

That formation looked more like Xiaoxiang’s attendants than Yuka’s.

No… not “looked like.”

Could it be that in Love 100%, Lady Yuka’s attendants were originally Xiaoxiang’s attendants?

And they only followed Yuka because Xiaoxiang stayed by her side?

Well… someday she’ll understand.

“Hey, you!”

“Hm?”

One of Xiaoxiang’s attendants suddenly called out to her, and she looked up.

What is it?

“I’m talking to you! Lady Xiaoxiang is a member of the Sakuraka Association! She’s not someone like you can casually talk to! Know your place!”

“Ah…?”

She already knows that, though…?

But the attendant seemed satisfied just saying that and quickly returned to Xiaoxiang’s side.

What was that about?

Well, whatever.

Then the boring classes began.

She occasionally glanced at the lesson content.

As expected, there was no need to listen.

So she quietly worked on her Chika Association previews and reviews instead.

****

School was over.

Time to go home… except she couldn’t.

Her brother was there, and her mother had scheduled her return days and times according to her extracurricular activities.

She couldn’t go back on her own.

The car to pick her up hadn’t arrived yet.

She couldn’t leave even if she wanted to.

Rather than walking all the way back from here, it was faster to wait obediently.

Since she needed to kill time anyway, it was better to show her face at the Sakuraka Association.

Even if she went to the salon, she didn’t need to constantly chat with others.

Most people there do their own things at a leisurely pace.

She could do the same.

“Yuka, you’re going to the salon, right? Can we go together?”

“Marina! Sure, let’s go together.”

Going alone felt troublesome.

With Marina along, it would be more bearable.

Marina is already a beautiful girl, and it’s certain she’ll grow into one in the future.

Yuka really wants to grow closer to her.

The two went together to the Sakuraka Association salon.

At the entrance, she saw a familiar face.

“Xiaoxiang!”

“…Why are you in a place like this? This is the Sakuraka Association’s salon. Unauthorized personnel are prohibited.”

She wants to go home too, if she could.

It’s because she can’t that she’s here.

“Yuka is also related, so it’s fine, right?”

“Hmph! You too… enjoy it while you can.”

Huh?

Eh?

Why does it feel like sparks are flying between Xiaoxiang and Marina?

Why?

Their personalities seem opposite, but no—that’s exactly why they become best friends in the game…

It’s only the first day of school, so becoming close immediately would be strange.

But does the atmosphere really need to be this tense?

The game never explained how the two became friends, so she doesn’t know either.

It feels like her knowledge of Love 100% is almost useless.

There are too many things the game and setting materials never mentioned.

After all, a game only captures a small fragment of life.

Once it becomes real life, far more details inevitably emerge.

These two will become best friends in the future… probably.

But seeing them clash like this right now, she can’t help but worry.

Will they really be able to become friends?