IMBFHEF 01

I, Takahashi Mariko, was an ordinary high school girl attending Hanairo High School.

My life had been completely normal up until my second year, when rumors spread that a transfer student had arrived in the class next door. Curious, I went with my friends to sneak a look at her.

The moment I peeked through the classroom door, I heard a voice somewhere in the back of my mind.

『Looks like the game’s finally started.』

It was a woman’s voice—kind of airy, kind of silly.

At first, I thought one of my friends had said something, but when I asked, they all looked confused. Apparently none of them had spoken.

Maybe I was imagining things?

But the second I turned my attention back to the transfer student, the voice echoed through my head again.

『As expected of the heroine—she’s adorable! The capture targets are definitely not gonna leave her alone.』

The transfer student really was cute.

She looked simple and soft-spoken, but her features were delicate and beautiful. Her long golden hair swayed gently in the breeze drifting through the window. That tiny corner of the classroom looked like a scene straight out of a movie—as though only that space belonged to another world entirely.

…But what was a “capture target”?

And more importantly, what even was this voice? Hallucinations? Could hallucinations sound this clear?

The moment I tried to recall the words again, a flood of information crashed into me.

Images flashed through my mind like a fever dream.

Beautiful men.

The transfer student smiling beside them.

Someone embracing her against a sunset sky.

It lasted only an instant.

But to me, it felt unbearably long.

A sharp pain split through my head, and I collapsed onto the floor.

My friends rushed over, calling my name in concern, but I barely heard them.

Because I had realized something unbelievable.

(THIS IS THE WORLD OF “KIMIHARU” — Your Youth, Yours Alone—!!!)

Kimiharu was an otome game I had adored in my previous life.

The heroine transfers schools during the spring of her second year and falls in love with a group of handsome boys at her new school. A classic romance game in every sense of the word.

It had exploded in popularity once.

One reason was the heroine’s emotional writing. The way the game portrayed feelings that couldn’t simply be summed up as “love” moved countless players to tears. Sometimes it made them blush. Sometimes it shattered them completely.

The setting itself was simple, but the story used it beautifully. It made you feel as though you were reliving your own youth all over again. Even though the romance unfolded over only a single year, the experience was so rich that finishing a route felt like completing an epic novel.

And above all else—

The artwork was stunning.

Not just the characters, but the backgrounds, the sky, the clothes—every detail was lovingly illustrated. Every CG scene stole my breath away.

Honestly, not falling in love with that game would’ve been harder.

In my previous life, I’d been completely obsessed with it.

How obsessed?

I practically sacrificed my entire real high school青春 to that game. Even after graduating, I kept buying merchandise, and my favorite character stayed as my phone wallpaper for years.

And the reason I loved the game so much was him.

One of the capture targets:

Kurogane Taiga.

A third-year student. A lone-wolf delinquent with a cold personality and permanent scowl.

In the official popularity rankings he only placed third out of the seven romance options.

But to me, he was always number one.

I loved him more than anything.

Enough to devote my entire life to him.

No—not loved.

Love.

Even now, I still love him.

The sharp eyes. The irritated expression. The way he always looked like he was glaring at the world itself. I fell for him at first sight and bought the game solely because of him.

And I fell hard.

Completely, hopelessly hard.

I used to seriously tell my friends I wanted to marry someone like Taiga.

…God, those high school memories feel nostalgic now.

And now—

I was inside that very world.

The same age as the heroine.

Which meant—

Which meant I could actually see my favorite character with my own eyes.

Maybe even hear his voice.

I nearly lost my mind trying to contain my excitement.

After apologizing to my worried friends, I hurried back to class.

In the game, the heroine first meets the capture targets during the entrance ceremony period.

Taiga’s first appearance happened after school on the rooftop.

The heroine wandered up there alone and found him lying on his back, staring at the sky. The moment he noticed her, he snapped, “Who the hell are you?” Startled, she ran away immediately.

A ridiculously short first meeting.

But this wasn’t a game anymore.

If the heroine had gone to the rooftop after school and met Taiga there…

Then—

—If I went too, I might get to see the real Taiga in person.

Once I decided that, there was no stopping me.

I wanted to curse myself for wasting an entire year before remembering my past life.

Now that I remembered, I wanted to burn every second of him into my memory.

After graduation, I’d never see him again.

So during this final year of high school, I would devote myself completely to admiring Kurogane Taiga.

Not stalking.

Let me repeat that.

Not stalking.

I just wanted to secretly admire him with all my heart every now and then.

Making excuses to myself, I waited desperately for after school.

The final bell rang.

I told my friends I had something to do and sprinted out of the classroom, hiding near the staircase leading to the rooftop while I waited for the heroine.

After a while, I heard footsteps climbing the stairs.

I peeked carefully.

No mistake—that was definitely the heroine. There wasn’t anyone else at this school with golden hair.

A few minutes later, hurried footsteps thundered back down the stairs.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

She’d met him.

Trying not to make a sound, I slowly climbed the stairs myself.

(Just a little. I’ll only look for a second.)

He was there.

How could I not go?

I didn’t care what anyone said. I only wanted one glimpse of him. Just enough to see his face.

That alone would be enough.

I placed my hand on the rooftop door and carefully tried to open it without making noise.

But before I could—

The door suddenly opened on its own.

Even now, I can’t properly describe what I felt in that moment.

Because the door literally opened by itself.

What was this, an automatic door?

No, obviously not.

Why would only this one door be automatic? And a push-door automatic entrance made no sense anyway.

Which meant someone had opened it from the other side.

And there was only one person on that rooftop.

“You’re in the way.”

A low voice rumbled above my head.

The kind of voice that crawled across your skin.

Any normal student would’ve shrunk back in fear hearing it. There was something overwhelming about him—something far beyond an ordinary high school boy.

I knew that voice.

I had listened to it over and over again.

And yet I still couldn’t believe it.

“Hey. You deaf?”

This time his voice carried irritation.

My body jolted violently.

The shock finally broke the paralysis freezing me in place, and slowly, carefully, I raised my head.

First I saw his shoes.

Then his shirt.

His throat.

And finally—

His face.

The moment I looked at him, emotions I couldn’t control surged through me all at once.

My body trembled.

I couldn’t even tell if it was nerves, joy, shock, or pure overwhelming happiness.

And then tears spilled down my cheeks.

They streamed endlessly, falling from my chin onto the floor below.

Taiga had looked annoyed at first, but the moment he noticed my tears, his expression shifted into stunned confusion.

And seeing that change up close only made me cry harder.

I needed to apologize.

I needed to move out of the way.

I knew that.

But instead, my mouth betrayed me.

“I love you.”

Even I was shocked hearing myself say it.

But the words came naturally, slipping out as easily as someone whispering “beautiful” at the sight of a sunset.

And once those feelings escaped, I couldn’t force them back inside.

I remembered my previous life.

The Taiga who only repeated prewritten lines no matter how many times I spoke to him.

The Taiga I could only ever see through a screen.

Through illustrations.

Through my imagination.

But the boy standing in front of me now was real.

Every expression belonged to the real him.

Everything about him was real.

“—Ah…”

I loved him.

Not as a favorite character.

Not as a fictional crush.

I truly loved him.

With all my heart.

And because he was fictional, I had thought confessing to him would always be impossible.

But now he stood here, alive and breathing before me.

I straightened my trembling body and looked directly at him.

I couldn’t think anymore.

I only wanted to tell him everything.

“Please. Just this once. Don’t say anything… just listen.”

God, that was selfish.

A deeper crease formed between his brows.

But I couldn’t stop anymore.

“I’ve always loved you, Kurogane-san. Because you existed, my life became colorful. It became something precious. I loved you so much… and because of that, every single day was fun.”

I remembered my previous life again.

Because of him, I loved this game.

I read countless fan novels and looked at endless illustrations. I even wrote stories myself. Through the game, I made friends—friends who understood me completely.

Black became my favorite color because it matched Taiga’s image.

I surrounded myself with merchandise.

People questioned why I loved him so much, but I was happy.

Truly happy.

Even during painful times, he gave me strength to keep going.

“Because you existed, I was happy every day.”

I couldn’t stop crying.

My vision blurred until I could barely make out his dark hair.

I had wanted to look at his face for even one second longer.

“Thank you for being alive in this world. …Thank you for being born.”

I had always wanted to tell him that.

No matter how ridiculous it sounded, he had saved me more times than I could count.

To me, his existence had been enormous.

He had been my hope.

My throat burned from holding back sobs.

If I spoke another word, I knew I would burst into ugly tears like a child.

And I didn’t want to trouble him any more than I already had.

There was still so much I wanted to say.

Enough to talk for hours.

But this was enough.

I had told him I loved him.

I had thanked him.

How lucky was I?

To confess my feelings.

To even experience heartbreak.

Ah…

I was happy.

I was so glad I had been born.

I was glad I had lived.

A strange lightness spread through my chest.

And before I realized it, I had turned away and started running.

I didn’t care if I tripped.

I didn’t care if I fell down the stairs.

I just wanted to disappear from his sight before I caused him any more trouble.

When I got home, I cried harder than I ever had in my life.

No matter how much I cried, the tears wouldn’t stop. At one point I genuinely wondered if I’d cry forever.

Eventually I forgot why I was even crying anymore.

But still, the tears kept coming.

I don’t know how much time passed before I finally calmed down.

Then suddenly, I replayed everything I had done.

A random girl suddenly cries in front of you.

Confesses out of nowhere.

Says whatever she wants.

Then runs away.

…

That’s just a suspicious person.

If I were Taiga, I’d be completely horrified.

Like, genuinely “call the police” horrified.

“I’ve always loved you”… what was I, some kind of stalker?

“Thank you for being born”—

Why would some stranger say that to him?!

God, that’s terrifying…

(I’m definitely skipping school for a while.)

Collapsed face-first onto my bed, I finally reached that conclusion with the tiny fragment of sanity I had left.