Chapter 2: Opening Moves

Kaito Sugiura was not a people person.

He had no illusions about that. If anything, it was a point of pride. While others wasted time navigating the complex emotional ecosystems of high school-allegiances, rumors, love confessions-Kaito preferred the quiet solitude of his own mind, his manga critiques, and his carefully cultivated distance from everyone else. 

So now, sitting in the back corner of class with his arms folded, watching Mio Hanazwa from across the room... he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

You need to help her fall in love, the goddess had said. Or help her move on. 

Kaito narrowed his eyes. Sure. No pressure. 

Mio looked the same as she did in her manga-soft pink hair, neatly pinned behind one; that perpetually hesitant expression like she was always on the verge of speaking but never quite got the words out. She laughed gently when someone spoke to her, but always retreated to her seat the moment attention lingered too long. 

How do you even approach someone like that?

More importantly, how did he, of all people, do it without looking like a deranged stalker? Even if he was cursed by a divine entity, he couldn't exactly walk up and say, "Hey, I know you're from a manga, and  I'm here to save you emotionally."

No. Kaito needed a plan.

He tapped a pen against his notebook, eyes drifting as the teacher droned on about postwar literature. The page in front of him was supposed to be notes but it was filled with crossed-out strategies instead. 

Option A: "Hey, you dropped this."
Problem: Requires her to drop something. Risk: Staring at the floor like a lunatic waiting for it to happen. Also so cliche. 

Option B: Bump into her by accident.
Problem: Feels forced. Also, he had zero coordination. He'd probably knock them both over and spill someone's lunch.

Option C: Ask about the homework.
Problem: Too generic. Everyone would see through it. 

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. His classmates were oblivious, caught in their mundane conversations and scribbling on handouts. Mio sat two rows ahead, close to the window, her gaze absent as she watched the falling petals outside. Even now, she had that melancholy aura around her gentle, quiet, almost translucent. Like she was here, but not really present. 

Just like in the manga. Always the one who lingered in the background of someone else's happy ending. 

Okay. Don't approach. Create a situation where she has to talk to you. Let it happen naturally. Ish.

He glanced at the empty seat next to Mio.

A spark of possibility.

Switching seating charts. 

By the time lunch arrived, Kaito had already convinced the sleepy class rep to let him "switch spots for better concentration." It was a half truth. He was going to concentrate just on something very different from what the teacher was teaching. 

Now, he sat next to Mio.

Close enough to notice the way she kept her hands folded tightly on her desk. Close enough to hear the faint sigh she gave when she thought no one was listening. 

I'm starting to feel like a creep plotting on an innocent girl.

Now all he needed was the right moment. 

Unfortunately, said moment didn't arrive immediately, Students came and went, conversations swirled around them, and Mio remained quiet. She didn't acknowledge his presence. Kaito naturally didn't push. 

It wasn't until class resume after lunch that fate threw him a bone.

As the teacher shuffled papers at the podium, she said, "Alright, pair up for this next exercise. Discuss the themes of today's reading and present together."

Kaito looked towards Mio finally taking in her appearance of how she truly looks like she just came straight out of a manga. Yea there's no mistaking it she truly is Mio Hanazwa.

Mio looked up. Their eyes met-just for a second. Her lips parted slightly, hesitating. Then, almost as if rehearsed:

"Um... Do you want to partner up?"

Kaito gave a small nod. "Sure."

Wow maybe fate really wants me to go through this doesn't it. 

They spent the next fifteen minutes discussing poetry neither of them cared about. Kaito mostly let her talk, giving short dry responses when necessary. BUt he watched carefuly-her tone, her hesitations, the way her fingers tapped neverously on her page when she spoke. She was trying. She was just unsure. About the subject. About him. About everything.

When it came time to present , Mio struggled to say anything in front of the class for a few seconds so Kaito had to speak up and handle most of the talking. Mio followed along hesitantly. As they sat back down he noticed the faintest hint of a smile on her face. 

Not much. But it was something.

Later that day, he found himself in the library, sitting alone again. The smell of old books and silence was oddly comforting. He should've been reading, but instead he was replaying the conversation in his head. 

Progress. Even if it is small.

He didn't hear the footsteps until they stopped beside his desk.

"Kaito Sugiura," came the now familiar, melodramatic voice. "Plot development already? I'm pressed."

Kaito didn't look up. "Don't you have a love triangle to mess with somewhere?"

Aphireia flickered into view, shimmering in the air like heat haze. She wore a knowing smirk, hovering just above the floor in ethereal form. "You're doing well. She spoke to you. That's more than most mortals manage in a week."

"I didn't do it for you," Kaito said flatly. "This is damage control. I'm just trying not to get erased from reality or whatever divine punishment you're planning." 

The goddess leaned on a nearby shelf, examining her nails. "Oh relax. You'e made a connection. That's what matters. One thread of fate gently tied."

Kaito scoffed. "what am I supposed to do now? Sit her down and psychoanalyze her?"

"You do whatever it takes," Aphireia said sweetly. "Just remember-her heart is still broken, even if she doesn't show it. You're not just a guide, Kaito. You're her lifeline. Treat this seriously."

He stared at the bookshelf in front of him, the reality that a life relies on him is finally weighing down his shoulders. 

It wasn't just about happy endings.

It was about saving someone. 

Kaito mutters, "to place someone's life in another's hands, a life that requires things like love and acceptance. To place that life in the hands of someone who only views relationships as nothing more than simple conveniences of wants or needs." His dull gaze shifts towards a group of friends talking. "Don't you think you're being a bit reckless even for a goddess?" His eyes then glances towards one girl in the group who looks to be smiling but has an expression of nothing but boredom of her face. 

Silence drowns in as every other sound within the library fades away, leaving only Aphireia to stare upon him, as if sound has completely left the library. 

Aphireia could only close her eyes and let out a hard sigh. "It's true this is nothing more, but recklessness. Even as a punishment this is reckless." Her eyes open with a fierce gaze, but filled with certainty behind it. "But I didn't just place that life within those hands just out on a whim and carelessness. I did it for the sole reason of knowing whose hands they belong to."

Kaito shifts his head towards the goddess with a look of confusion plastered upon his face. 

"For someone to view life in way that is filled with nothing more of people just filling themselves with relationships for convince doesn't make them unqualified to care for another life, No it makes them more qualified than any other person," Aphireia stated, her voice softening.

Kaito eyes narrows. "what are you-"

Aphireia holds up one finger in the air causing Kaito to stop mid sentence. "Someone like that unless hypocritical, wouldn't just treat a life as something as a means to an end to get by, but as someone whose life holds just as much importance as theirs. 

Kaito covers his mouth with the palm of his hand as he places his head into head while he looks up at the Goddess. "Thought you said realist logic wouldn't work for this situation," Kaito said with a snarky tone. 

Aphireia displays a smug look while looking down upon Kaito. I said your realist logic wouldn't save you, not that any realist logic wouldn't save you."

Kaito annoyance rises as he looks away from her.

Aphireia chuckles to herself before her form starts to fade which forces her to come to a sudden stop. "Looks like my time is up here," she says pretty disappointed. She looks at Kaito one final time before smiling at him. "Good luck Kai-to~." 

And then she was gone.

The day ended as quietly unlike how it began, but now Kaito walked the halls processing what the goddess had said to him. Then he ruffles his hair with his own hands in frustration. 

Aughhhh that da*n goddess giving me that smug look just pisses me off so much. 

Passing students just walk around him or just do a complete 180 just to avoid him.

Outside on the school grounds Kaito is walking alone towards the front gates until he spots Mio Hanazawa.

She's talking to some friends she made in the manga, who were Mio's number 1 supporters in her race for the winning heroine role, but Kaito labels them as Female support 3 and Female support 5. 

Mio doesn't smile while talking, but shes holding the conversation unlike when talking to someone who isn't the MC from her manga.

Kaito just watches for a bit before walking off through the school gates while rubbing his head thinking. Not my realist logic huh?