/
‘Of course I realize it. I, Mika Uehara, am just an ordinary girl.’
‘My family isn’t particularly rich, I’m not outstandingly beautiful, I can’t always be honest with my feelings, my hobbies are ordinary, my grades are ordinary, my athletic ability is ordinary, and there are no specialties I can be proud of.’
‘I don’t have Chiaki’s unique personality, Juumonji-sensei’s maturity, Kagura-san’s ethereal beauty, Asamiya-san’s firm resolution, or President Yoruhana’s illustrious family background
’
‘I’m not “special.”‘
‘Those “special” girls have their own brilliant lights around them, while I am doomed to be engulfed in their lights, as I’m “ordinary.”‘
Seiji Haruta was ‘special.’
Even though he was, at first, a fat scumbag NEET, after changing himself and making an effort, he became just like a reborn phoenix who was spreading its wings and shining like the sun.
His experience, personality, appearance, and abilities had all far surpassed normal people, and he was unmistakably extraordinary.
That was why Chiaki, Juumonji-sensei, Kagura-san, Asamiya-san, and even President Yoruhana
 Many girls were attracted to him.
‘I’m also one of the girls attracted to him. Considering it more closely, I might be the first girl to have deeply fallen in love with him.’
‘If I try to force myself to find my ‘specialty,’ it might be the only unique point about me compared to the other girls attracted to him.’
But this ‘specialty’ was meaningless.
If this was a television drama or a movie, the first female character that appeared would typically be the heroine.
But reality wasn’t like this.
‘Even if I personally witnessed the change in Seiji, and I was the first girl that fell in love with him, his heroine isn’t me.’
‘He views me as an important friend. As long as I’m in danger, he’ll unhesitatingly come to save me and protect me, just like that time. But he doesn’t love me
 he doesn’t have romantic feelings for me.’
This was only natural to Mika.
‘How could he possibly fall in love with an ordinary girl with nothing special about her apart from a cute appearance? Especially since she used to insult and look down upon him and has a lacking personality.’
That seemed impossible.
‘As long as I’m “ordinary,” I don’t even have the ability to attract his attention. I am not his heroine. I’m only a side character.’
‘And I’m only a side character that’s soon going to become nothing more than a bystander that lacks presence.’


“It’s impossible for you to obtain him. If you use certain methods, you could indeed become his woman, and with his personality, he’d definitely take responsibility. But is that really what you want?”
“She” kept smiling lightly as “she” talked to Mika.
“Her” outer appearance was that of a mysterious beautiful girl, and she wore the regal traditional pink dress of Sakura Island.
“She” had silver-colored long, smooth bangs, a white face with exquisite features, and her peach-colored eyes seemed to be shining slightly. Her pink lips were arced ever so slightly upwards in an almost unnoticeable smile.
“She” wasn’t human!
“She” was the legend of Genhana High School’s festival: the girl in traditional pink clothing!
Mika never expected that she would actually meet her.
Was someone pretending to be the legend? No, it was impossible for anyone to think this if they personally witnessed her sight
 or, more accurately speaking, it was impossible to doubt her after witnessing her float in midair.
This was the real deal!
“You’re a good girl who wouldn’t do such a thing to obtain him. That’s why your best choice is to give up now.”
“Give up on your romantic feelings towards him, and just be his good friend. Or, be more extreme, and cut off all relationship entirely with him
 but it’s probably impossible for the ordinary you.”
“Just convince yourself to slowly give up. That’s for the best.”
“She” kept explaining to Mika with no malice whatsoever, with an attitude of merely stating the facts.
It was painful for Mika to listen to.
She really wanted to turn around and escape, but her feet seemed rooted to the ground as they wouldn’t move.
The silver-haired girl watched her for a long time in silence.
“You’re not willing to give up?”
Mika didn’t reply.
She neither denied nor confirmed.
But her unmoving body did somewhat express her true intention.
The silver-haired girl wistfully sighed as she continued watching Mika.
“How
 ugly. Ugly
 yet such a beautiful dream. Humans are such strange and mysterious creatures.”
“That’s why I can’t stop myself from observing humans or getting rid of my bad habit of interfering with human affairs.”
“She” suddenly revealed a gentle expression. “Mika Uehara
 if you absolutely can’t bring yourself to give up, I can make you ‘special.’”
Her calm words resounded clearly in the double pigtailed girl’s ears.
Mika widened her eyes in surprise.
“But this is something risky, and harm may come to you. Your life will be completely different from before.”
“I don’t know what the result will be either, as I don’t have the power to predict the future.”
“Apart from the fact that you may be harmed, you may not even like the fact that your life will change. You may even greatly regret choosing to change yourself. By the way, have you heard the original story of the Little Mermaid before?”
“The beautiful mermaid transformed her tail into human feet and withstood the painful transformation all in order to go see her beloved prince, but the situation wasn’t how she imagined. In the end, she turned into nothing but bubbles in the ocean.”
“I’m just like the witch in that story, although I’m slightly better than she is, and I won’t ask anything from you, but you may still have to pay a price.”
“I can help you to change, but whether or not you can obtain what you desire after your transformation, or whether you’ll end up the same way as that pitiful mermaid in the story, I don’t know—and nor can I take responsibility.”
The silvery girl looked deeply into the pigtailed girl’s eyes.
“Consider it over carefully, Mika Uehara, whether or not you truly wish to change and risk your life and your future in order to become ‘special.’”
“On the last day of the school festival, if you still wish to change yourself, then come find me here again at the same location.”
After that last sentence, “she,” turned around and disappeared in a cascade of pink petals.


This was the dilemma that Mika was currently facing.
She still had slightly over a day to make her decision.
Whether she should give up now, and settle for being “ordinary.”
Or if she should risk changing her entire life and become “special” for a chance to get closer to him.
There were two options, just like a crossroad.
Should she turn left or right?
Mika’s emotions were incredibly complex as she stood at this fork in the road.
She laid there on her bed for a long while without moving.
The night turned dark.
On the other side of the wall.
Since it was getting late, Seiji had Shika go ahead and take a shower first.
After his adopted sister left to change, Seiji opened an app for chatting with his friends and saw that “Cat-loving Flying Fish” was online, so he greeted her.
“So, you’re still alive, you idle fish streamer.”
She instantly sent him an unreserved message that even included a glaring emoticon.
“Thanks to your blessings, I managed to make it back alive.”
Seiji texted back with an emoticon of fatigue.