Inside the Classroom where students were gradually returning and gathering, the fans overhead let out a faint hum.
Xiao Chun Miura sat in the shadow of the noise, withdrawing her gaze from the Sports Field.
‘I want to intervene in Kiyono Arisa’s current situation.’
Once this thought took root in her mind, it quickly occupied her entire headspace.
Xiao Chun Miura knew very well that intervening in Kiyono Arisa’s story would definitely affect her own Anchor of Existence.
The System had warned her that the best course of action during this time was not to over-intervene in other people’s stories or influence the original development.
However, the current situation was no longer one where she could remain safe and uninvolved.
The System’s reminder was certainly harsh, but…
‘Right now, the System doesn’t seem to have any intention of speaking up.’
If she let the Event proceed and Kiyono Arisa ended up refusing to perform on Stage due to various factors, it would lead to her eventually leaving SugarStarlight.
That would likewise lead to the future the System described, where “a huge distortion would be produced with the original Game World.”
Since it had already stated that such a development would lead to serious consequences…
Then, in this current moment where not taking action might also lead to that development—perhaps taking the initiative was not the correct choice.
But if failing to act led to a future development that was even harder to accept…
‘I will be even more unwilling to accept it.’
Therefore, even as she remembered the System’s warning, she could not stop herself.
Along with the System’s warning, many other things surfaced in her mind.
Her Parents’ smiling faces, Kanzaki Sou’s expression.
And that ticket that originally carried Kiyono Arisa’s convictions, yet had been casually given to her…
The fragments wove together, forming a bottomline that Xiao Chun Miura could not cross.
‘If this World really moves toward a broken and distorted state…’
Her current life and the tranquility she had already grown accustomed to…
Everything would vanish because of the World’s collapse.
The warm Curry, the afternoon sunlight, and those friends who would worry because she was spacing out.
Everything would be like a desktop being wiped by the System and then restarted.
‘It would all disappear completely.’
That kind of thing… was absolutely not okay.
Xiao Chun Miura’s inner voice whispered.
……
She had already decided to interfere in Kiyono Arisa’s matters.
In that case, since she wanted to interfere, the first step was to figure out exactly what was happening to Kiyono Arisa.
To figure out what was happening, she had to get closer to Kiyono Arisa than she was now.
“An investigation… maybe?”
Xiao Chun Miura frowned and began to review the situation in her mind.
The current situation was that Kiyono Arisa—the character who should have been radiant in the original Game Plot, the soul of the team even when secretly working as an Underground Idol—was now trapped in a state that caused doubt and unease.
It wasn’t just exhaustion from the performance activities; it was more like a defensive posture against the World.
It caused anyone who tried to get close to be wounded by her cold words and indifferent eyes.
…In the original Game, when Kanzaki Sou met Kiyono Arisa during the Common Route, this Underground Idol had a personality like a little sun. She was a quintessential healing-type Heroine.
Of course, because Xiao Chun Miura herself had never entered Kiyono Arisa’s Personal Route in the Game, she could only guess the situation of the Idol’s Personal Route based on the development and interactions in the Common Route.
If things followed the Game’s original Plot development, Xiao Chun guessed that Kanzaki Sou had relied on his Protagonist Aura to knock open Kiyono Arisa’s heart through countless coincidental encounters with his “kind” and “honest” personality.
But it was different now. The current situation was that Kiyono Arisa’s personality was vastly different from the one in the Game.
She had appeared ahead of schedule, her personality had become gloomy and sensitive, and the gentle atmosphere she shared with Kanzaki Sou in the Common Route—along with the harmonious way she got along with her Idol Group teammates—showed no sign of appearing.
She could sense that the problems she needed to solve and investigate would likely take a considerable amount of time.
“But in the end, the only one who can go investigate is me.”
Xiao Chun Miura rested her chin on her crossed arms, her gaze gradually becoming distant.
In this World, she was the only one who would think about these things.
She had no one to rely on and no Friend she could reveal her heart to.
‘Even so, I must act.’
‘Rather, it is precisely because of this that I must act.’
Whether it was to solve the puzzle, avoid the Crisis, resolve her predicament in this World so she could enjoy this daily life again;
Or even to escape the current situation from the root and eventually return to the Reality World where she wouldn’t have to consider these questions every day…
She had to take action.
She could not avoid it, and she could not treat it with passivity.
…So, considering the starting point and prerequisites for all the problems, there was only one thing to do now.
‘I have to become friends with Kiyono Arisa.’
…Although it sounded simple, the difficulty of execution was incredibly high.
To the current Kiyono Arisa, the word “friend” might not be a safe harbor but rather a burden.
Kiyono Arisa’s rejection and avoidance of the outside world were obvious.
She couldn’t use ordinary strategies or actions to achieve her goal.
“……”
Having calmed down during her analysis and reflection, Xiao Chun Miura scratched the tips of the hair hanging by her cheek with her finger, pondering her Strategy.
…First of all.
‘I can’t intervene in the name of concern.’
…Her experience working in the corporate world—or perhaps simply the effect of her empathy—made Xiao Chun Miura understand the psychology of such people very well.
People who were both insecure and possessed pride born from their status were always sensitive; even the slightest disturbance from the outside would affect their state.
Once such a person was in the mud, sympathy and pity from those in the light were often more stinging insults than the muddy water itself.
If she ran over now and said, “I see you haven’t been quite yourself lately, let me help you,” they would definitely turn hostile immediately.
They might even close their hearts to her completely out of the shame and anger of being misunderstood.
The saying about “helping someone only to make an enemy” was precisely this.
‘Right now, Kiyono Arisa is very much like that.’
Sensitive, refusing help, avoiding contact, and unwilling to have her existence acknowledged.
She was a textbook example.
…As a result, looking at the current situation, the “Green Tea” logic was actually more effective for capturing an arrogant and withdrawn character.
Provoking her might instead cause her to snap out of the mud through sheer embarrassment and anger.
Of course, there was also the risk of being blacklisted in Kiyono Arisa’s heart, and the risk factor was not small either.
Xiao Chun Miura curled her lips in self-mockery.
There was no other way.
…Since she couldn’t contact her directly, she could only infiltrate.
She had to create an atmosphere that was harmless, passive, and felt like a helpless coincidence rather than something intentional.
Her current advantage—or rather, the unique point—was that she already shared more than one Secret with Arisa.
She knew about her practicing in the Classroom, she knew about her venting her emotions alone in the KTV, she knew she was avoiding contact with people, she knew she had a ticket to the SugarStarlight Anniversary performance, and…
In front of Kanzaki Sou, she had helped Arisa hide her identity while avoiding harassment.
This sense of being accomplices was sufficient, in terms of conditions, to build the initial foundation of friendship.
‘Then, for the first stage, I need to eliminate her hostility.’
Xiao Chun Miura organized her thoughts silently.
‘Kiyono Arisa’s current dislike of contact with people essentially stems from either the belief that she cannot trust anyone or that she cannot associate with anyone.’
To break this indiscriminate disregard for others was impossible for her; she could only strive to become an exception to that disregard.
“……How should I do it?”
Based on experience…
The approach that might work was—to display the aura of a kindred spirit.
…Of course, she wasn’t a star or an idol, so she couldn’t resonate with Kiyono Arisa on a status level.
But…
There were prerequisites on other levels as well.
‘As a soul who was “forced to transform into a high school girl and repeatedly dance on the edge of survival,” the loneliness and anxiety deep in my heart can, to some extent, resonate with Kiyono Arisa.’
As long as Arisa felt that “this person is also just a coward who is trembling with many secrets to keep”—her guard would inevitably lower on its own.
…For the second stage, she needed to establish a solid connection with Kiyono Arisa.
That ticket was the best anchor.
When Kiyono Arisa gave her the ticket, she said, “If you’re not going, then throw it away.”
If considered from another angle, this self-destructive behavior and way of speaking could also be seen as a cry for help.
Even if Kiyono Arisa herself hadn’t noticed it, the act of giving out the ticket itself was enough to show that Kiyono Arisa was secretly hoping the person who received the ticket would come to watch the performance.
‘Later saying she “didn’t know” if she would go on stage and that the performance “could be thrown away” could be seen as angry words after being provoked by me.’
Therefore, she definitely had to go to the performance.
But before that, she still needed to have a few more contacts at School.
‘The key is… I can’t let her feel like I’m looking for her on purpose.’
Xiao Chun Miura’s finger lightly tapped the desk.
She just needed to pretend not to see her or know her when they happened to meet, just as Arisa wished.
‘That should be enough to leave an impression on her without making her wary.’
As for the specific content of the investigation…
Xiao Chun Miura’s gaze became serious.
The current Plot deviation was too large, and there were too many suspicious points.
The original Game Plot was just about Kanzaki Sou interacting with, getting to know, and then falling in love with several heroines—but the current World seemed to be far more than that.
There could be many reasons for Kiyono Arisa’s current situation.
‘Before the Anniversary, figuring out the source of her fear is the core of the investigation.’
If she could help Kiyono Arisa resolve that core fear, or at least make her feel like she wasn’t fighting alone, then this friendship that could support her might become the fulcrum to save everything.
……
By the time she reached this point in her thoughts, Xiao Chun Miura was already a bit tired.
As her rapidly spinning thoughts slowed down, a sense of fatigue naturally took their place.
Xiao Chun Miura sighed silently, her heart feeling a bit bitter.
What friendship?
In the end, wasn’t she also using this friendship to achieve her goal of survival?
Could this kind of calculated approach and step-by-step scheming really be called being a Friend?
But this thought only flashed by.
‘I don’t have time to think about that now.’
Patting her cheeks, Xiao Chun Miura put her glasses back on.
In order to protect this world that had warmth, to prevent her Mother’s Curry from becoming a shadow, and to prevent a gentle person like Kanzaki Sou from falling into an unknown tragedy…
Even if she had to play the role of a scheming “Green Tea,” even if she had to pry into other people’s wounds like a detective, she could only keep going.
At least she had long since stepped down from the spectator stands where she was “passively waiting to be erased” and stepped onto that stage full of cracks.
Since she wasn’t afraid to perform on Stage in the first place, she had no reason to stop here.
‘On the contrary, since I have the courage to step onto the stage, then.’
‘Yeah, as long as I can reach Kiyono Arisa…’
“Listen to me, last time—”
The clear laughter of Yui Hori and the others came from the Corridor, their footsteps getting closer.
“…!”
Xiao Chun Miura quickly retracted the complex emotions in her heart, pretending to rest her head on the desk, turning back into that quiet, weak, and even somewhat timid background girl.
“Yo, Koharu! We’re back!”
Entering the Classroom through the back door, Yui Hori immediately leaned in. “Look at what big gossip I heard at the Restroom entrance—”
Xiao Chun Miura turned her head, her face wearing that perfectly timed, somewhat shy smile.
“What did you hear this time?”
As she responded, Xiao Chun Miura’s heart had already clicked the Key to the puzzle named “Kiyono Arisa” toward its answer.