Chapter 5 : Butterfly Effect

Yamazaki Miki is a great girl. Outgoing, carefree. Loyal, with a killer figure. Aside from being unromanceable, she’s practically perfect. And for Shangguan He, even her “unromanceable” status is a plus. As a special character, he doesn’t need to worry about lowering her affection with his words or actions! He can talk to her about anything without pressure.

On top of that, Yamazaki Miki is a chatterbox. No need to stress about awkward silences—she naturally steers the conversation. In short, Shangguan He loves this low-maintenance extrovert.

“My grandpa’s the head priest at a shrine, so during spring break, they were short-staffed, and I helped out… Not as a grunt! I was a shrine maiden, okay? Got to wear the red-and-white outfit!”

…

“What do you mean, ‘grunt maiden’?! I’m not lying! I’ve got photos to prove it. Wanna see? Fresh JK shrine maiden pics! Call me ‘Lady Miki’ with respect, and I might show you!”

…

“Ugh, you agreed too eagerly—it’s kinda grossing me out… Fine, here, take a look. Feast your eyes! When I was working as a maiden, tons of girls came to me for love fortunes. Man, being popular is such a hassle, haha—huh? Cute? Hey! Finally, some human words from you.”

…

“Pfft, what’s fun about going back to my hometown? It’s boring as hell. Shitty signal, too. Every day was either training at the dojo or working at Grandpa’s shrine. Wait, now that I think about it, why’s my JK life full of sweat and money-grubbing? That’s kinda bad, isn’t it?”

…

“I was just at the bookstore by the station, skimming the new manga magazine. Hey, have you read the latest Battle Circle? Holy crap, Go○ Satoru got sliced in half! The author’s got guts—total innovation. I’m still reeling.”

…

“School starts tomorrow, right? Ugh, the winter uniform’s fine, but Yingcheng High’s spring uniform? Sailor suit, short skirt, all pink and cutesy. I’m kinda embarrassed to wear it, honestly.”

…

“What? No need to worry? It’ll suit me? Ohhh, you sly dog~ Finally noticing Lady Miki’s charm, huh? Get on your knees and beg properly, and maybe I’ll consider dating you~”

…

“Argh, stop! No more compliments! Shut up! What’s your angle? Why’re you suddenly acting human today? Let’s be clear, a few sweet words won’t make me treat you to dinner—at most, I’ll buy you a sausage!”

…

In chats with Yamazaki Miki, Shangguan He’s usually the quiet one. Not that he lacks things to say—it’s just that Miki talks so much. If someone’s there to egg her on, he bets she’d keep jabbering even after the universe goes cold. And her mouth has no filter. Show the slightest interest in a topic, and she’ll spill everything she knows like a bag of beans. Thanks to this, first-playthrough Shangguan He got tons of key intel on romancing girls from her. From that angle, Miki truly lives up to her role as “the protagonist’s best friend and heroine intel supplier.” If he’s pursuing girls this playthrough, her help is indispensable.

Seizing a moment when she pauses to sip water, Shangguan He cuts in. “By the way, how’s your spring break homework coming along?”

“Huh? What?” Miki freezes, cup in hand.

“Spring break homework,” he says, playing dumb. “Don’t tell me you haven’t touched it.”

“You say those four words like I should know them, but why don’t they make sense together…?” Miki’s sweating buckets. “Spring break homework? What’s that?”

“Didn’t you skip school early last semester to go back home for some competition? No one messaged you about it?”

“My hometown’s got crap signal, I told you…”

“Oh, damn…”

Shangguan He feigns shock while discreetly watching her reaction. In his first playthrough, they talked about this on the way to school. At school, with her homework blank, Miki predictably got dragged to the teacher’s office and wasn’t released until after club activities, when everyone else had gone home. From a game perspective, Miki was effectively “offline” for the first day. If she hadn’t been, would she have triggered other events that day?

Curious, Shangguan He brought up the homework early. He watches Miki’s face shift like a gag manga—pale, then ashen, then a despairing green.

“Well done, Shangguan-kun.” Miki scarfs the last bite of his katsu-egg rice, stands with a solemn expression. “No time for chatting now.”

You’re the one who started chatting!

“I gotta head home. School’s tomorrow—I’ve still got time.” She chugs her water, spins, and leaves with a dramatic flourish.

“Good luck,” Shangguan He says, raising a fist in mock encouragement.

One person, one pen. One night, one miracle. Who knew a single sentence could keep her up all night? He’s curious what butterfly effect tomorrow will bring.

“Wait.” Snapping back, Shangguan He stares at his empty plate and cup, stunned. ‘My dear friend, how’d you eat my entire dinner while talking?’

He pulls out the notepaper he’d tucked away, tears it to shreds, and tosses it in the trash. “Excuse me, I’d like to order.”

He signals again. The squirrel-like waitress scurries over with a menu.

“Katsu-egg rice, same as before, and a hot water, thanks.”

The waitress responds in a mosquito-like whisper. “Okay… please wait…”

“Oh, by the way, Suzuki-san, when do you get off work?”

“Eh?” Caught off-guard by her name, the waitress freezes, like a computer crashing.

“Suzuki-san?” Shangguan He repeats patiently.

Like a wind-up toy, she waves her hands frantically, trying to explain, but only stammers, “Ah, I, um, t-that—!”

“Relax, Suzuki-san, it’s me, it’s me! Shangguan He. We’re in the same class at Yingcheng High. First semester, we sat front-to-back, remember? Just saw my classmate and thought I’d say hi. Not too weird, right?”

“Ah, ah—! Ah…” After his reminder, Suzuki calms slightly. Then comes an agonizing silence.