Please! This can't be happening!!!

Pocari Sweat, a Japanese drink that saves the lives of fragile humans from the scorching heat of summer. People usually drink it to quench their thirst and replenish their body. It's so normal to see bottles of Pocari Sweat in vending machines, with their sales often surpassing regular water. At first glance, one might think someone is just drinking it casually to quench their thirst. But it's more than that.

The guy smirked as he opened the bottle cap, feeling the heat directly on his body. As he took a sip, he noticed the refreshing breeze brushing against him, making him more aware of the wind than usual.

"Aah, this is just great—it tastes just like Shinomori-chan!" he said with a smile, glancing down at the bottle. The cover displayed a nijigen character from a recent light novel. Apparently, to promote it, Pocari Sweat had done a collaboration with the illustrators, featuring a beautiful illustration of the character on the plastic cover. She wasn’t a main or side character, but Pocari had gone ahead and made a flavor with her, partnering with the illustrator's work.

"Just drink and you will meet her," he mumbled, recalling the cringe-worthy line from the ad he had seen on YouTube. "I guess people really do fall for ads," he thought, satisfied with the product of the collaboration with his favorite light novel.

"I guess I’ll head home for now. Finally, I got a taste of my Shinomori anyway. That’s enough," he said to himself. But just as he took a step, his vision blurred, and his body suddenly felt light.

"Huh?" Before he could even straighten himself, he collapsed, his body losing all weight and a wave of drowsiness overtook him.

"Did the heat finally get to me? I shouldn’t have gone out after a month just for this... I messed up," he thought, his thoughts fading.

...

...

"Huff-huff." He jolted awake, finding himself in an unfamiliar classroom. The curtains were drawn, the desks empty, and he was sitting at a desk with his head down. Forcing himself to sit up, he noticed how peaceful it was. The window near his desk let in a chilly breeze. Confused, he stood up and walked toward the door. This wasn’t his school.

"Weird... I think I was outside a moment ago," he muttered, peeking into the unfamiliar hallway. He didn’t remember ever seeing this place before.

"This is weird. I checked the classrooms, but there’s no one around. Alright, let me check the cafeteria one last time."

Without leaving the school, he continued to explore. It felt more like a dream than reality, like he had suddenly teleported to an unknown building. Accepting it as part of his current situation, he opened the door to the cafeteria.

"Anyone here?" he called out, but there was no response. The dining area was eerily silent. As he sighed with a mix of annoyance and confusion, his eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. His eyes widened.

"6:14 AM." What was he doing in an unknown place at this time? It made no sense.

"Hold on a minute. I drank Pocari Sweat and was heading home when I started feeling drowsy and passed out. Does that mean I was drugged and brought here?" He looked around, searching for cameras, but saw nothing. A prank, maybe? But that seemed too risky.

He gulped, walking toward the unfamiliar school gate, hoping for an escape. Panic started to rise. He pulled his phone from his pocket, doing what people do when they panic: call someone.

"Huh? I don’t remember getting this phone model?" He unlocked it with his fingerprint and saw only his mom, dad, and a number labeled "Sister." His brain froze. He was an only child, so how could he have a sister? What’s more, his childhood friend’s number wasn’t there, which made no sense. Trying to suppress his growing anxiety, he decided to call the contact labeled "Mom."

“Hello? Why did you leave so early without breakfast?”

The voice on the other end was cheerful and motherly, but it wasn’t his mom’s voice.

“...Who... are you?” he whispered, his voice barely audible before he hung up abruptly.

As he turned off the phone, the black display reflected his face. Baffled, he realized it wasn't him but it was someone else. More accurately, he was completely someone else.

"Please tell me it's a dream." He gulped, staring at his face, wondering if he was actually dreaming. But everything felt too real to even make him think he had switched bodies with someone. His heart rate increased with panic, so he tried turning on his phone again and opened the map. But it was completely different from what he knew of Japan. Even though he was in Japan, the map showed an entirely strange location that almost felt unreal. He went towards the park looking the map and sat on bench thinking about it to make it more sense, the park was close to the school, yet empty.

"W-what the hell is happening?" he mumbled, checking the location, which he couldn't recall ever existing.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket started ringing, making him jolt in surprise. Looking at it, it was from his sister, or so it seemed.

The call from his siser he didn’t even know.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he decided to answer.

"Onii-sama, you didn’t even take your bento and ran off early! I know you’re excited for the first day of high school, but you can’t run off like a little kid... well, whatever, after the entrance ceremony, just call me, and I’ll deliver it."

A sweet voice came through the phone. It was a new experience for him since he didn’t have a sister. He was surprised but needed to play along with it, no matter how confusing the situation was. After clearing his throat, he prepared his reply.

"Ah, well, is that so? I’m sorry for making you go through the trouble. Wouldn’t it be a problem to come all the way to school? Also, how far is your school anyway?"

"Hah, nice dumb play as always, you know already it’s not a problem. Oho, are you telling me you’re concerned that the senpais in your school might get charmed by my beauty?"

That was annoying no matter how you looked at it. She didn’t answer the real question I asked. Maybe her school was nearby, or perhaps she was skipping school and had enough free time to deliver the bento. Wait, no matter how you looked at it, I’m in big trouble. Ignoring her sassy reply, I went ahead with the most concerning question.

"Also, hey, when is the entrance ceremony starting?"

Yes, I don’t even know what’s happening right now, but today this body has the entrance ceremony, feeling it was my must attend duty. I don’t know the exact reason, but after gaining my senses, I found myself in the classroom, so that’s probably why I feel so strangely about it. I’m genuinely concerned as if I ask my mom or sister for my way home, it will look weird since I don’t even know my address, and I don’t even know what they look like. Things already felt awkward when I talked to my mom and sister on call, who I didn’t even know.

"It’s on 9:00 AM! Oh my god, Onii-sama, there’s no way you even forgot the timings! I’m really disappointed." She squealed with disappointed.

"Sorry... I’ll talk to you later."

"H-hey, we’re not done ye—" I cut off the call as I looked at the time on my phone it was already 8:24 AM. The park I was in was still empty, and there were even fewer people on the street. And I could already see a few students passing by. After noticing their outfits, I realized they were the same as mine. Hurriedly, I ran toward the school gate leaving the park, which had gotten busier completely different than it was. Students were already entering the school, and there were senpais giving a warm welcome to the newcomers. It was a warm sight, if only it wasn’t in this strange situation. I’m already a third-year high school student, and I’ve been through these parts before. Now, strangely, I’ve been placed into this body, and the maps don’t even match the real Japan I know yet somehow it felt nostalgic and weird.

As I passed through the school gate slightly late, since I had been idling at a park thinking rationally. I couldn’t help but notice the unfamiliar faces around me. Of course, they were unfamiliar. After all, I didn’t even know where I was, let alone who these people were.

The students seemed cheerful as they strolled along the path to the main building. Trying to act as if everything were normal, I followed suit. Soon, I noticed a crowd gathering near the bulletin board. It seemed to be where the designated classrooms for new students were posted.

"Ah... I have to go through this again?" I muttered to myself, sighing as I reluctantly waded into the crowd to find my name. In Japan, this sort of thing was supposed to be a fun, nostalgic experience—something about the thrill of finding your name on the board at the start of the school year. Personally, I found it more exhausting than anything else. And this was the second time I was doing it as in my real body I am already in 3rd year of highschool.

After some pushing and shuffling, I reached the bulletin board. My eyes scanned the lists for my name... but then I froze.

Wait. What is my name in this body anyway?

I quickly stepped back from the crowd, fumbling with my phone in search of some kind of clue. But no matter where I looked at my contacts, emails, messages, nothing jogged my memory.

Then it hit me about the admission numbers! Each name on the board had an admission number next to it. If I could just find mine, I’d be able to match it to the list. After digging through my emails, I finally found the number I was looking for. I didn't pay attention closely before when I was trying to search the emails but on 2nd time I was more calm and was able to find it sooner than expected.

“Got it!” I whispered to myself, weaving back into the crowd. This time, I managed to match my number:

“Amiya Kitsuragi... Class 6-B.”

I repeated the name and classroom number under my breath as I made my way toward the assigned room. When I stepped inside, I immediately recognized it—it was the same classroom where I’d first woken up.

Still... it’s strange. Coming back to this place, sitting in this seat again... I probably shouldn’t have left in the first place.

With that thought, I glanced around at the other students. Their faces were unfamiliar, and most of them looked pretty sharp compared to my plain, average appearance. Then again, even in my real body, I was nothing special, so it wasn’t something that bothered me much.

As an introvert, I stayed quiet, observing the new faces as they entered the room. Some students were already chatting with their seatmates, while others sat down and fiddled with their phones. A few had even started forming small groups. Meanwhile, I gravitated toward the window seat and kept to myself, as always.

I need to figure out what’s going on here.

Laying my head on the desk, I closed my eyes and let my mind spiral into a whirlwind of thoughts. Before I knew it, sleep had overtaken me.

"Um, excuse me... it’s already time."

I felt a gentle poke on my shoulder and slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurry at first, but it soon cleared, revealing a girl with white hair and striking blue eyes. Her appearance was almost ethereal, as though she had stepped right out of an illustration. Her hair swayed slightly in the breeze coming through the open window.

For a moment, I was captivated. She looked eerily familiar, like a character from one of my favorite light novel.

“O-oh...” I stammered, utterly unprepared for the interaction. I wasn’t used to girls, the real ones, at least going out of their way to talk to me was more heart burning to me.

"Sorry did I startle you? I’m Shishie Shinomori. Um, the entrance ceremony is about to start, so everyone’s heading to the gymnasium."

My eyes widened in disbelief. No way. This couldn’t be real. Standing before me was Shishie Shinomori.The Shishie Shinomori from my favorite romantic comedy light novel series!

"W-wait a second! This can’t be happening!" I blurted out, startling her. She took a step back, her expression turning to one of concern frowning her eyebrows.

Nothing about this felt real, not my identity, not my face, not the map of Japan I had seen earlier, and now, not even this girl. To make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, I glanced at the blackboard. Written on it, alongside a cheerful welcome message, was the name of the school:

Utamori Gakuen.

"Ha... haha... seriously?" I chuckled nervously. Utamori Gakuen was the academy where the characters from my favorite light novel went to school. And now, standing in front of me, was Shishie Shinomori, in the flesh.

It wasn’t that I had switched bodies or gone insane. I had somehow ended up in the setting of the light novel. Strangely, I wasn’t the protagonist or even a side character. I was just your typical nobody.

Still, I needed to confirm something. If Shinomori was here, then the other characters should be as well. I was asleep in the class so might have missed their sight.

"I-I’m sorry for shouting earlier," I said awkwardly. "Let’s go. It’s getting late, and thanks for waking me up. I owe you one."

Was that the right thing to say? I had no idea. Talking to people wasn’t exactly my forte, and my nerves were frayed. But at the very least, she seemed to relax as she drops her shoulder.

"Um... sorry, but..." she began, holding out her hand slightly. I realized she was prompting me to introduce myself.

"Oh, right! I’m Amiya Kitsuragi," I replied.

To my surprise, she giggled. It was a soft, refreshing sound that caught me off guard.

“Sorry what’s so funny?” I asked, geeking self-conscious.

I am sure I was being creepy.

"Hehe, it’s nothing. It’s just... how many times have we both used 'sorry' to each other already? It’s kind of funny, don’t you think?"

"A-ah...sorr—" Before I could respond, her giggles turned into a lighthearted laugh. Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but smile. It felt refreshing enough that all my tension could feel washed away.

Without exchanging any more words, we started walking toward the gymnasium together as it was already getting late. It felt natural, even though we had just met and had an awkward conversation.

But this wasn’t the time to get distracted. I needed to confirm whether the other main characters were here. If they were, then Shinomori could end up in danger. There is a huge reason behind it.

I made up my mind. I was going to change this story—for my own sake, and for hers, for theirs too.

With a sly smirk, I slipped into the line for my classroom as the entrance ceremony got underway. My eyes scanned the crowd, landing on a familiar face straight out of the novel. So, I was right after all.

It was one of the main character.

Sorry, main characters, but I’m not about to let you mess with Shinomori’s fate. Whether it’s your romantic comedy antics or tangled love triangles, there’s no way I’m letting her get dragged into your overdramatic scenarios. We aren't even side characters but background character, and we are meant to stay in the background like props—and I’m keeping it that way.