Chapter Two: The Ambitious Plan of the “Feminine” Heart
A ray of morning sunlight evenly bathed the city of Kawanohira, where Nagi and Kanade were, wrapping this small city, far from the metropolitan areas, in a warm hue.
In early April, the cherry blossoms had yet to completely wither.
On the way to school, Kanade occasionally caught a glimpse of cherry blossom petals fluttering down from the sky.
But compared to the dreamlike pink petals, the beauty of the girl walking beside her attracted the attention of passersby even more.
“Hey, that girl over there is way too cute!”
“Is that the uniform of our Hoshikage High School? Could she be a new student?”
“A younger girl and a pure beauty, could my romantic luck finally be turning around?”
……
As Nagi and Kanade approached the school, they gradually encountered more students in uniform.
The gaze and whispers directed at Nagi made Kanade feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.
Nagi’s exceptionally cute figure stood out among her peers, combined with the petals floating in the air, resembling a masterpiece from a master painter, radiating an irresistible charm.
In contrast, Kanade walking beside her looked completely unremarkable, almost like a smudge on this beautiful painting.
Kanade frequently fell into such self-loathing.
A cloud of darkness seemed to settle in her heart, and she couldn’t help but loosen her grip on Nagi’s hand.
Sensing the change in Kanade, Nagi turned to look at her with a puzzled expression and then revealed a gentle smile.
“Kanade-kun, you’ve got a petal stuck to you!”
Before Kanade could react.
Nagi had already moved in front of her, the distance between them so close that it was as if they might embrace right there on the street.
Due to the early maturity of girls at this age, Kanade’s height was half a head shorter than the taller Nagi.
At this proximity, Kanade’s face flushed red as it coincidentally aligned with Nagi’s fair neck, which leaned forward.
In that moment.
Whether it was the flawless skin filling her entire view.
Or the sweet fragrance of flowers filling her nostrils.
Or the soft texture grazing her collar.
Kanade’s mind went blank like a computer crashing, the thoughts of self-harm and inferiority swept away.
—— Right now, standing next to this girl is you, not those others who can only gossip from the sidelines!
Kanade felt a whisper from the depths of her heart, seemingly from a devil.
“Alright, I’ve got it off now~”
Nagi, all smiles, helped Kanade remove the cherry blossom petal that had fallen on her head. The pink petal pinched between her fingers formed a perfect heart shape.
“It’s heart-shaped, how beautiful… Ah, wait!”
“Hurry up, or we’ll be late!”
Kanade could no longer endure the tumult inside her heart and quickly pulled Nagi along towards the school.
If she kept looking at her childhood friend’s lovely smile, Kanade lacked the confidence to hide her racing heartbeat from her.
Since childhood, it was evident that Nagi didn’t view her as a romantic interest.
If Nagi discovered that she looked at her with such eyes, their intimate childhood friend relationship would surely come to an end.
She might even come to dislike her…
Just thinking about being disliked by Nagi and a future where she leaves Kanade made her legs feel weak.
Unaware of the unusual expression on Nagi’s face behind her.
“It seems the plan is proceeding smoothly,” Nagi thought to herself, unable to suppress a smile.
Having played the role of an intimately close childhood friend since kindergarten, it would be ludicrous if her affection were to be snatched away by another girl now that they were at the age of budding feelings.
So today, Nagi suppressed her embarrassment, cast aside the pride of her past as a boy and the dignity of adulthood, and made sure to dress up nicely.
Today’s actions were something she had meticulously planned and rehearsed alone after countless nights of thought.
She had envisioned more than a hundred possible reactions from Kanade.
The determination and resolve she felt were akin to when she sat in front of her computer, documenting and conquering “Hoshikage 2.”
She was determined to make Kanade fall for her before he encountered the original heroine!
“Hoshikage 2” is essentially a galgame; as the protagonist, Kanade would inevitably meet the charming heroines within the game.
Thus, she needed to add an insurance policy for her ambitious plan.
Everything so far had been going smoothly; she was living up to her reputation as a “devious player”—
……
“Master, are you perhaps enjoying this too much?”
“I-I’m not! I’m not! Don’t say that!”
As Nagi and Kanade found where their classes were listed and headed towards the gym for the new student ceremony.
Nagi, as this year’s representative new student, found a chance to be alone.
She temporarily bid farewell to Kanade and moved alone to the rooftop of the teaching building.
The rooftop was spacious, covered with many dark solar panels.
In the eco-friendly Kawanohira, such solar panels were commonplace.
Thus, the rooftop of the teaching building was not open to students.
Aside from the solar panels, the wide rooftop was left with slightly rusty mesh fencing on all sides and a pure white pigeon.
But this pigeon was no ordinary bird; its pure and harmless appearance was merely a disguise.
Its true identity was a summon beast that Nagi had made a contract with when she was still the protagonist in her previous life, a fantastic creature governing storms—Garuda.
Because the contract was firmly bound with her soul, after Nagi reborn as Hoshimori Nagi in this life, Garuda had also reincarnated along with her soul.
“Hoshikage 2” is a fantasy narrative set in a modern background, where boys and girls with special powers fight against fantasy creatures to save the world. In this context, fantasy creatures can make contracts with these powered individuals, becoming workers to save the world…
“Could it be that you actually enjoy living as a super beautiful girl, Master?”
“Master! I’m just trying my best to complete the tasks you’ve set! Don’t tarnish my reputation!”
Nagi covered her face with her hands, attempting to hide her now flushed cheeks.
The pair of dark eyes peeking through her fingers were now devoid of all starshine.
They had transformed into the decaying fish-eye expression unique to overworked corporate slaves.
Nagi, now reincarnated for a second time, did not want to become a wage slave saving the world.
And Garuda, also a wage worker under Nagi, clearly had little interest in the life of a corporate drone.
So the two of them came to a mutual understanding, and Garuda outlined this “feminine” ambitious lifelong plan for Nagi, which she would implement step by step.
Because the essence of this plan was to fall in love.
As a great mage who had been single for two lifetimes, Nagi had to recruit Garuda, who had lived over a thousand years and guided countless couples, as her strategist for this plan.
“You call me Master, and I call you Teacher; we each have our own titles.”
“Although I do want you to pay attention to the length of your skirt and give the other party small perks… but aren’t these sheer black stockings a bit excessive?”
“But, but other beautiful girls all wear this…”
“Who are you using as a reference?”
“Heroines from galgames…”
Garuda spread one wing over her face in disbelief.
“…….Could it be that you actually enjoy the attention from boys?”
“!”
“……Master, it seems you’ve indeed started to fall into femininity in your thirteenth year?”
“Gah! K-Kill me!”
“……”
Though Garuda appeared to be a harmless pigeon, the coldness of her gaze was piercing.
It was enough to leave the suddenly knightly Nagi frozen in place.
“It’s not like that! It’s just that the body of a girl somehow evokes a joy from being recognized for its allure, but I’ve been trying hard to suppress those feelings…”
Nagi knelt, her voice trembling, her pupils shaking.
Girls often perceive such gazes as an affirmation of their attractiveness by the opposite sex and feel happy about it.
But the part of her soul that remained a boy wailed in stark opposition.
These two conflicting emotions intertwined, ultimately forming a somewhat pleasurable discomfort, as if a massive door had forcefully swung open before her…
“Enough! Don’t suddenly confess to what awakening you’ve had, we need to discuss the next steps in our action plan swiftly.”
“Teacher!” Nagi felt deeply moved.
“I’ll come find you tonight to discuss further.”
“Gah, kill me!”
Nagi realized deeply that suddenly becoming a girl and living life as one was not frightening.
What was terrifying was having a friend who knew your original form right beside you, finding pleasure in it.
“Today is a crucial turning point in the plan. During middle school, Kanade-kun will not only begin to slowly encounter supernatural beings but will also start to meet multiple heroines of fate…”
“Multiple? Heroines of fate? Harem?” Garuda couldn’t help but interject.
However, that’s how the protagonists are in galgames.
Before entering a heroine’s personal route, they often maintain ambiguous relationships with multiple heroines on the shared path.
But this was a fatal problem for Nagi’s plan.
To grant Kanade the power to save the world, she had to ensure that all his affections were focused solely on herself, then have him suffer for a lifetime through her death.
If Kanade were to pursue a harem route and she died, would not the other heroines comfort him?
Not painful enough! Far from it!
Thus, the next step in Nagi’s lifelong plan was—
“To become the white moonlight in the hearts of all the heroines, making it difficult for them to consider Kanade as a romantic interest.”
The heroines in the original story were all good girls; if it was clear that the protagonist had a romantic leaning towards someone, they would no longer intervene in their relationship.
But that’s a game mechanism. In reality, an extra insurance policy was required.
That meant increasing her weight in their hearts; if she was someone they valued, then they would not snatch Kanade away from her!
“In simple terms, that means becoming all the heroines’ best girlfriend?” Garuda’s expression turned skeptical.
“Master, although you may appear as a beautiful girl, you are still a man at heart, right? Is it truly possible to become friends with so many vibrant beautiful girls?”
Being a best friend requires having a delicate girl’s heart, you know? Garuda added.
“That’s why I need you to help me, Teacher!”
“Honestly, I think it would be more efficient for you to just fully embrace your femininity…”
“Humph! Do you think someone like me, a man of stature, will ever embrace femininity?”
“…… Will there really be a day when a man in a little skirt and black stockings appears?”
