Because of her twisted ankle, Miura was swiftly well, swiftly enough attended to by Yukinoshita, who immediately called over a teacher. The teacher then instructed her friends, Onozawa and Yumiko, to take her to the infirmary.
Onozawa Kae gently touched Yumiko's ankle with a worried expression. "Does it hurt, Yumiko?"
"It's fine, really. The teacher said it's nothing serious just a minor twist. Some spray and I'll be good to go."
Kamizawa Junko, fuming, glared at the hallway. "Did Yukinoshita push you, Yumiko? I just knew that girl was heartless!"
Miura instinctively defended her. "Of course not. I twisted my ankle myself, and Yukinoshita actually caught me before I fell."
Well, not quite caught more like embraced.
But the moment she fell into Yukinoshita's arms, a wave of panic and tension surged through her, making it impossible to speak the truth out loud.
Onozawa giggled. "With that usual ice-queen look she has, who'd have thought Yukinoshita could look so flustered and distressed. She must really care about you, Yumiko."
Miura blushed.
And then, oddly enough, she felt a strange mix of helplessness and... a tiny bit of smugness.
Clearing her throat, she crossed her arms and put on a face that screamed "Yukinoshita is such a pain, I'm absolutely not enjoying this at all," as she waved her hand dismissively and boasted, "She's just a little emotionally confused. I'll help her find her way back."
Truthfully, she had no idea how to "help Yukinoshita find her way" or what that even meant.
Meanwhile, Yui sat on the edge of the infirmary bed, lost in thought.
When she saw Yukinoshita standing alone, isolated from the crowd earlier, she'd hesitated. Just as she was about to step forward, Yumiko had already strode confidently toward her.
Yui had wanted to ask the questions that had long lingered in her mind questions left unsaid.
And why Yukinoshita had transferred into Class 2-F… Could it be that she'd once considered explaining things to her?
But now it seemed like she would never get the chance to hear those answers.
"What do you think, Yui?"
Yui quickly snapped back to attention and forced a cheerful smile to match the mood. "Ahaha, you're all totally right~"
Yuigahama Yui, ever sensitive to the atmosphere and quick to follow the flow, played the role of mood-maker in the group.
She had an adorable face, always wore stylish makeup, and was a trendy, fashionable high school girl.
At first glance, she seemed like a typical soft-spoken, sweet girl your classic "innocent-looking" type but in reality, she had an incredibly kind disposition and was just someone who couldn't say no to her friends.
Also... she had big boobs. [Highlighting key detail.]
Miura's gaze paused blankly on Yui's chest for a moment.
She'd heard vague rumors in the past that, before Yukinoshita had swooped in on that classmate Hikigaya, she and Yuigahama had actually gotten along fairly well?
But when asked, Yui only said they knew each other but weren't close.
......…
Back in her own apartment, Yukinoshita had just earned another "Mental Point" from Miura. As always, she was in top condition.
It was the weekend, and she had returned early to her place.
As scheduled, her newly hired tutor would arrive later to teach her that day.
Staring at her dumb AI system, Yukinoshita sighed.
Currently: Mental +5.
Well, that's energetic. At this rate, she was practically a "Little Miss Mentality."
[Can't you just give me a proper status panel like in a game? You've seen what the other systems can do show some pride, will you?]
Still having to tally her stats by hand what kind of half-baked system was this?
At least the "Negative Image Reduction Progress Bar" was working consistently.
[Negative Image: 95%. Possession Success Rate: 95%.]
No surprise there. Miura was the ultimate point grinder, cold and efficient. Dropping to 95% in record time. [Blank expression, sending love.]
Once she got that rate down to 50%, she could hold her own against any would-be body snatcher.
But honestly, what was it about this body that made it such a hot target for possession in the first place? And why was there still a chance someone might try in the future?
Could it be… she was a high-demand character?
Okay, maybe a little humor to lighten the mood.
Yukinoshita might've been a bit narcissistic but not that bad.
[Anyway, can this system reward anything besides mental energy?]
Her stamina was pitiful. She'd even taken up aikido to compensate, but even then, she was basically high attack, low defense. Once she ran out of energy, it was game over.
If the system could boost her physical stamina too, maybe she'd stop feeling like her battery was always at 5%. Heck, maybe one day she could even lay the smackdown on her obnoxious older sister.
Thinking of her sister made her pause.
It had already been nearly a week since she'd woken up in this new timeline, but there hadn't been a single message from home. Not even from her sister.
In the past, no matter what, her sister would always send some snide, sarcastic message through LINE just waiting to get a rise out of her.
Could it be that the blonde version of Yukinoshita had already cut ties with the family?
She and Yukinoshita Haruno had always had a rocky relationship, but it was just your usual sisterly spats. She remembered how, when they were little, she used to cling to her sister all the time, following her around like a duckling.
It had never gotten bad enough for a complete fallout.
Grinding her teeth, she mentally dragged that golden-haired Yukinoshita back out for a round of posthumous scolding.
Aside from her newly added tutor, she'd deleted everyone else from her LINE contacts. The only one she kept was Haruno.
She opened the chat and typed:
[Are you there?] Delete.
[Still mad at me?] Delete.
[Want to go shopping this week? I've got something I want to buy.] Delete.
She spent a long time staring at her phone, typing and erasing again and again, before finally letting out a long sigh and slumping over her desk.
Yukinoshita had always been fiercely competitive with Haruno. But now, being the one to bow her head first especially when it wasn't even her mistake?
She just couldn't do it.
Curse this stupid pride of hers.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Three quick chimes.
Was that the tutor?
Yukinoshita opened her LINE chat with Sawamura Eriri. [Eriri-sensei, are you here?]
[Yep~ I'm ringing the bell right now~]
Wearing loungewear, Yukinoshita quickly tidied up her clothes and went to open the door. She put on her friendliest face then froze.
Standing there was a tall, alluring young woman. A white headband held back her sleek, waterfall-like black hair. Her demeanor was elegant, refined, and full of artistic grace.
Yukinoshita's expression went flat as she glared at her. "Sawamura Eriri?"
The girl gave her a once-over with a tight-lipped smirk, silent for a moment.
"…Yuigahama Yui?"