A Day unlike any others

POV - Tetsuya Asahi

It was the very first day of summer vacation, and here I was, stuck in a classroom taking remedial classes instead of lounging on my cozy bed in my room.

— "Asahi, please stay focused."

— "Sorry..."The teacher simply nodded and

 went on with the lesson. 

Some of us were half-asleep, while others managed to keep their eyes glued to the board. 

As for me, well, I just couldn't do it because of those damn sunbeams and the endless buzzing of the cicadas.

The class finally ended after long hours of pure boredom, just listening to a teacher drone on. 

I practically sprinted out of the high school building, desperate to get back to my room.But barely had I crossed the school gates when two familiar voices called out to me.

— "Hey, Tetsuya! Wait up!”

Like hell I'm waiting for you guys, I have very important things to do. But just as I was about to power-walk away, a hand clamped onto my shoulder as he tried to catch his breath.

— "You were trying to make a run for it, weren't you?"

— "No, I just didn't really hear you... You know, it's crazy hot this summer, Daiki.
He let out an exasperated sigh and crossed his arms.

— "We're heading to the library to hunt for some new books to read over the break. Want to come with?"

— "Absolutely not. You know damn well I'm not the type to read books!"

— "Come on, don't be a party pooper! It's at least forty degrees out here," Ren insisted, catching up to us while adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

That last argument was what made me snap. The prospect of walking under a blazing sun all the way home suddenly sounded horrible, whereas a library at this time of year meant one thing: artificial coolness.

— "Fine... okay, let's go. I don't feel like walking alone under this sun anyway.

You didn't need to be a genius to know that was a total lie. I was only going to freeload off their AC.They laughed, and we headed toward the city center.

A few minutes later, we finally arrived at the library doors. The moment we pushed them open and stepped inside, a blast of cold air hit us, making all three of us let out a synchronized sigh of relief.

Daiki stepped forward and looked left and right.

— "Wow, I didn't expect to see so many people here."

— "Oddly enough, none of them have checked out their items yet, which means the coast is clear for us!"

The two of them immediately split up to look for the manga or light novel aisles. 
As for me, I just started wandering aimlessly through the rows with my hands in my pockets, enjoying the silence and the cool air.

I had absolutely no intention of borrowing a book—or so I thought, until I stopped in front of this intriguing section.

 Despite the dust and the smell of old books tickling my nostrils, a strange feeling washed over me. Was I seriously going to pick up a book this ancient just out of pure curiosity?

I headed to the counter with the book cradled in my arms. Ren was holding a massive stack of manga, which was the exact opposite of Daiki, who seemed pretty invested in light novels instead.

The librarian grabbed Daiki and Ren's books and manga, scanning them with a swift motion without even looking at us. Then, she moved on to mine.

— "Are you sure about this one, young man? It's a very old book."
Ren, who was packing his manga into a bag, looked at the book with curiosity.

— "Since when are you into ancient literature anyway...?"Daiki, who was also packing his light novels, nodded in agreement.

— "More like, since when is he interested in literature at all?"

I simply shrugged as I took back the book the librarian had just finished scanning.

— "I was just curious... Plus, I found it weird that there's no title or author's name on it.”
The three of us stepped out of the library. The sunbeams had grown even harsher, and I was already regretting the free AC from earlier.

We parted ways after a final goodbye, each heading down our own path.I went straight home.

 I tossed my bag onto my desk chair and threw the book onto my bed, ready to read it. 

The moment I opened the very first page, I stumbled upon something strange. Huh... a bookmark. 

Well, maybe it'll help me keep my place if I actually stick with this book.I turned to the next page, and this time, I landed on a rather peculiar section.

— "What is this gibberish...?"

The page was covered in weird letters, symbols, and mathematical characters that made absolutely no sense to me. 
Damn it, I just got ripped off... I gave this book a fortune's worth of my attention span! 

I stuffed the bookmark back inside before throwing the book away from me.I let out a frustrated sigh, got up from my bed, and headed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water to calm my nerves. 

It actually worked pretty well.When I reopened my bedroom door, the glass almost slipped right out of my hands.
 Sitting on my bed, right where I had left the book, was a girl looking back at me with a bored expression.

A girl. A girl of such unreal beauty that she didn't even seem to belong to the same plane of existence as my dying, groaning fan. 

She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pink dress.Okay, the heatstroke I got on the way home is starting to give me serious hallucinations.

 We just stood there in total silence, staring at each other.She finally narrowed her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

— "...Of all realities, I had to drop into this one, and in front of a boy, no less..."

She kept staring at me as if I were some kind of particularly annoying insect.

— "Uhm... who are you?"

She lifted her chin slightly, with an air of absolute nobility that had strictly no business being on MY bed.

— "I am Erisvelle Seralune.”

— "Oh, Erisvelle Seralune... huh, interesting," I replied, crossing my arms. 

"And how exactly did you get in?"She blinked, a bit surprised that I wasn't falling to my knees before her royal presence. 
She started raising a hand toward the book.

— "Well, I just..."

— "Yeah, save it for the police, stalker!" 

I cut her off cleanly, pulling my phone out of my pocket, thumb hovering over the keypad.For a split second, Erisvelle’s face froze. Her blue eyes widened in pure outrage.

— "A... what?! A stalker?!" she repeated, her voice trembling with royal indignation. "How dare you use such a vulgar term with me, you miserable commoner!"

— "Oh, so on top of breaking into my house, you're insulting me?" I shot back, my thumb dangling right over the call button. 

"That's a minimum of three years in the slammer for trespassing in Japan, just so you know."

Erisvelle jumped to her feet. Her pink dress fluttered around her with an airy grace, while my poor fan continued to move hot air around with a pathetic creak.She pointed an accusing index finger at the book abandoned on the floor.

— "I did not 'break into' your house! You are the one who opened this book and broke the seal! You should be thanking me for honoring you with my presence instead of threatening me with that... that strange plastic rectangle!"

I shot a suspicious look at the old book, then at my smartphone, before locking eyes with her piercing blue gaze once again.

— "'Plastic rectangle'? It's a phone, lady. And drop the delusions of grandeur, intruder. We're not in a cartoon. Magical books with princesses inside don't exist. So you're going to kindly tell me how you got in: the door or the window?"

She crossed her arms, looking away with a pout that, I had to admit, made her look terribly cute.

— "I am telling you the truth! I have absolutely no idea what this place is, nor why the air here is so suffocatingly hot. All I know is that I was… elsewhere, and the next instant, the power of your book materialized me right here."

Her tone sounded sincere, almost a little disoriented despite her haughty posture. My thumb hovered over the screen, hesitating. If this was a prank set up by Daiki and Ren, it was brilliantly executed.

 But professional cosplayers don't just spawn in high schoolers' bedrooms out of thin air.

— "Let’s say I believe you for two seconds," I grumbled, slowly lowering my arm. "What exactly do you plan on doing now? Because my parents are coming home tonight. If my dad finds a girl in a ballroom gown sitting on my bed, I am a dead man."

Erisvelle stared at me, looking a little less confident all of a sudden.

— "Well… since you are the one who summoned me, it is your responsibility to shelter me until I find a way back!"

— "What?! ...Yeah, no, I really don't think that's a good idea."

— "And why not, pray tell?" She crossed her arms, her foot impatiently tapping the floor. "I expect a logical explanation, otherwise you will suffer severe consequences!"

— "A logical explanation?" I let out a nervous laugh. "You materialized out of thin air on my bed because of some dusty, authorless book. Logic packed its bags and left the room the exact moment you sat your butt down here."

She opened her mouth to shoot back, but I cut her off by pointing an index finger at her.

— "And as for those 'severe consequences', what are you gonna do? Attack me with magical glitter? Go ahead, I'm waiting."

She growled, pointing a finger right back at me as a bizarre pattern flashed within her eyes.

— "An insignificant being like you shouldn't exist in any reality… Vanish!"

…

— "…Sorry to interrupt, but… uh, was something supposed to happen?"
She didn't reply, remaining dead silent. Instead, she took a few steps backward toward my open window, her cheeks flushing a deep pink.

— "Normally, you should have been completely erased from existence... but it seems I am experiencing a minor technical difficulty. ...By the way, you have a rather nice window."

— "Thanks, I guess…"

Once again, we stood there in total silence, staring at each other. The atmosphere was getting seriously awkward. She flashed me a wide smile the moment she stood directly in front of the window, and that's when I finally realized what she was about to do.

— "Hey, wait!"

Too late. She had already jumped. I rushed to the window, expecting at the very least to see her faceplanted on the ground below, but she had completely vanished.

A moment later, a loud knock echoed at my front door. Knowing exactly who it would be, I bolted out of my room, dashed down the stairs, and swung the door open. I found myself face-to-face with two police officers looking dead serious.

— "Your neighbors reported hearing screaming and witnessing a strange girl jumping out of your window. Is this true, young man?" the taller one asked.
I froze for a few seconds before nodding rapidly.

— "Yes! A girl broke into my house and then she literally jumped out of my window!"
The two officers exchanged a look.
Not the worried look I was hoping for.
No.

The exact kind of look you give someone who just claimed a pigeon stole their bank identity.

— "…She jumped, you say?" the taller officer repeated.

— "I am telling you the truth, I swear!"

— "Yeah, yeah, sure kid… Take this," he said, handing me a small package.

— "Uh, what am I supposed to do with this pack?"

— "It’s ice. It’ll help cool your head down…"

They walked away from the house and closed the door behind them, leaving me all alone with a melting ice pack.

I decided to just let it go, take a quick bath, and wait for my parents. Maybe they were right. Maybe the summer heat was finally making me lose my mind.

After a quick rinse, I collapsed onto my bed to take a short nap.

When I slowly opened my eyes, waking up from a long sleep, my gaze drifted toward my window, which seemed a bit higher than usual. 

The sun had long gone, giving way to the night. Had I really slept that long?

Strangely enough, I had rolled onto the floor during my sleep, which explained why my window looked so high up.

I pushed myself off the floor, approached my bed, and froze. My eyes widened as I took in the surreal scene before me. Sitting right there on my bed, once again, was the pink-haired girl… Erisvelle Seralune, currently squatting my mattress.

A long twig was tangled in her hair, and her face was covered in dirt.

— "…Did you lose a fight against a bush or something?"

She jumped, letting out a sharp gasp before glaring at me with daggers in her eyes.

— "Why are you disturbing my slumber?!"

— "Why did you kick me off my own bed?!"

She simply crossed her arms, making herself comfortable on my sheets. I was about two seconds away from dragging her off my bed by force.

— "I felt a bit sleepy… and the other humans outside are incredibly loud. They simply could not handle my glorious presence."

— "Just say you got completely ignored by everyone."

— "Tsk…"

Her stomach suddenly let out a loud, rumbling growl, forcing her to clutch her belly in sheer embarrassment. Wow. Talk about a massive blow to her royal pride...

— "…I’ll go see what I can find in the kitchen," I sighed.

— "Hmph! ...It is the absolute least you could do," she snapped, turning her nose up.
Right then, my bedroom door slowly creaked open.

— "Tetsu, Mom and Dad are waiting for you downstairs…"

It was my little sister. She stood in the doorway, clutching her frog plushie against her chest, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of us with an expression of pure, unadulterated suspicion.

— "Uh, wait, let me explain—"

— "So you're inviting girls into your room now... I'm telling Mom.”

A.N: ============================================================

📢 WELCOME TO THE DECISION ZONE ! 📢

And that is how Chapter 1 ends! Tetsuya is officially trapped, 

and Erisvelle's secret is about to explode... But what happens 

next is ENTIRELY UP TO YOU! 🫵

Welcome to the interactive world of this Light Novel. At the 

end of every chapter, you, the readers, will hold the destiny 

of our characters in your hands. 

You have exactly 48 HOURS from the publication of this chapter 

to cast your vote in the comments below! ⏱️🔥

Here are your options for Chapter 2:

👉 [CHOICE A] : The Bribery Route

Tetsuya immediately negotiates with his little sister, promising