The Prologue of My Story, Yoshino Hoshikawa

The final bell screeched, echoing through the classroom. 

「There you go, class ends here. You may go home now.」

「Thank you very much, teacher!」

Thank god… I can finally go home…

I'm Yoshino Hoshikawa, an 18-year-old in my second year of high school. Just your average high school student. Nothing more, nothing less.

On the other hand…

「Ao! Would you go to karaoke with us?! Let's go!!"」

「Umm… I'm sorry, Kiyo, I can't for now. I need to go somewhere else right now.」

「Hmm… Well, I can't force you then! You hear that boys?! She can't come so it will be us only HAHAHAHAHAHA!」

「That sucks…」

What a nice sight, seeing the boys being dispirited. It's something I'm used to.

And yeah, on the other hand, there's Ao Kizuki, a girl in my class. You can't even compare her to me. She's known not just in our class, but across the entire school for her beautiful face, wonderful physique, cuteness, intellectual mind, and her kind, outgoing nature. I can even vouch for that.

Because of all that, we call her the school's princess. Not by royal decree, as you might think, but she's definitely someone you could call "Her Royal Highness." A princess everyone adores, a vibrant star in our school's sky, if I may say so.

And yeah, despite us being classmates, we'd never really interacted. Or maybe there was that one time she borrowed an extra pencil from me. Pretty sad, right?

That's how far apart the princess and I were up to this point. I didn't see any possibility of us ever talking in the future, or anything that would lead to it.

It's not that I'm pessimistic. I'm just a realist. When something feels impossible, it is impossible.

That's how it is.

But whatever… I'm going home.

And with that, I left the classroom, leaving my dispirited classmates behind.

I always walk home from school and vice versa, and today was no different. I strolled down the sidewalk, lined with trees on both sides, the setting sun casting long shadows as leaves drifted to the ground. It was a scene I'd witnessed again and again, a familiar loop if I may describe it.

Yet, it was nice, having this day after day. It never bored me. It was one of the things that kept me motivated, along with my games, manga and anime. 

As I was walking home, a thought popped into my mind as I gazed at the setting sun.

Why don't I take the alternative path from here?

For some reason, that's what I thought. It wasn't like I was bored with my usual route. It was just that I wanted to take the longer way, to prolong this peaceful time.

And so, I did.

I walked quite a bit until I decided to stop by a convenience store on this unfamiliar path.

As I walked in, I was greeted by the attendant. No one was at the counter.

「Welcome, customer!」

I gave a slight bow and headed straight to check out the goods. Soon enough, the manga section caught my eye.

Whoa… They have this manga special edition here?! The convenience store on my usual path doesn't have this! I'm gonna get one, hehehe…

It was for one of my favorite manga series, The Five Equal Brides. I'm a huge fan. So, I was definitely buying this sixth special edition volume.

As I reached the cashier and placed the manga on the counter, I saw someone I knew standing in front of me. Under the fluorescent glow of the convenience store, I met the gaze of someone I was absolutely sure I knew.

「Wha—What are you doing here… Kizuki-san?」

A moment of silence passed before I got a reply…

「Eh…? Hoshikawa-kun… right?」

「Yup, Hoshikawa here.」

「Eh?」

「Hmm?」

「Ehhhhhhh??!!!」

And just like that, without me even noticing it… a possibility I hadn't thought of, opened up the chance for me to talk to the princess I thought I'd never talk to.