Chapter One: The Worries of Youth
Morning.
Still in spring in Chuanye City.
The gentle and cool morning breeze brushed away the glistening beads of sweat from the face of the black-haired girl.
Having completed her daily morning exercises and taking a quick shower, she now returned to her room while drying her long, silky black hair that cascaded like a waterfall with a towel.
The buzzing sound of the hairdryer echoed in her girlish, pink room.
In the dressing mirror reflected a girl with an angelic, perfectly cute beauty, her skin as pale as jade, showing an alluring light pink after her shower.
Her bare shoulders exhibited a delicate texture akin to “a freshly peeled soft-boiled egg,” catching the morning sunlight and shimmering with a dazzling, enticing sheen.
But what truly caught one’s attention was her impressive figure wrapped in a white bath towel.
Whether it was her generous curves or her suddenly tapered waist, or the two long and rounded thighs peeking out from under the towel,
everything about her exuded a kind of charm that was hard to ignore and not typical for her age.
However, what drew the eye the most was—
Her bright eyes, seemingly adorned with countless starlights.
They radiated a charm that transcended all things.
“Oh no, oh no, can I really say that Nagi Hoshimiya is truly deserving of being that special?”
Nagi stared at her reflection in the mirror, the starlight in her eyes flashing wildly.
Otherwise, she felt that at any moment, she might lose herself to the desires surging within her.
Even though she had been a girl for over ten years now,
deep down inside, her soul still felt like a boy with the combined age of a middle-aged man.
When it came to her suddenly enchanting body, she sometimes found herself unable to detach from it.
As the well-known female protagonist “Nagi Hoshimiya” in “Hoshi no Saka ni 2,”
her allure level ranked second among the many female characters, with no one daring to outshine her.
Whether it was her pure and delightful aura akin to a highland flower or her voluptuous curves that seemed to have stepped out from a thin comic book,
the contrast between the two made her often rise to the top of popularity polls for female characters in the galgame “Hoshi no Saka ni 2.”
She boasted an unreasonable amount of CG art that other female characters couldn’t hope to match, with every piece being exceptionally high quality.
Though part of it was due to her being the controllable “female protagonist” for the players,
it also indirectly proved the amount of energy and resources the game developers poured into her character.
And this charm had become nearly impossible to conceal, even before the official start of the game.
The growth of teenagers during puberty was hard to predict.
Nagi experienced this realization for the first time.
“How far is this kid going to develop before stopping!?” Nagi couldn’t help but complain.
After drying her hair,
she maintained the starry state.
She took out the junior high school uniform she was going to wear today from her closet.
Her waist-length hair that fluttered with her light steps brushed past a group photo on her desk.
That was a picture of the super self-developed members.
It included Alice Astrea, who had already transferred away from Chuanye City,
along with DD-chan, who accompanied her in search of her created truths and meanings, albeit appearing as a “normal doll” in the picture.
Also featured were Chika Amamiya, who had graduated from junior high school, and Tokihira Toka, who had retaken the last six months of junior high alongside her; they both became high school students this year.
Though their high school was still in Chuanye City, the distance between them was a bit far.
It was hard for everyone to get together on weekdays.
However, on weekends, they still occasionally made plans to hang out.
The super self-developed group, which had nearly disbanded before, now had only four members left: Nagi, Kanade, Mana, and Ryo.
Nagi, a second-year student, had taken on the role of the new president of the super self-developed group.
After entering second grade,
Kanade had started avoiding going to school with Nagi.
Just like those ordinary childhood friends of the opposite sex at this age.
Avoiding contact with the opposite sex… how strange that is.
Kanade seemed not to act out of that reason.
Nagi noticed that Kanade often couldn’t meet her gaze anymore.
Even when they were together, he would always seem restless and avoid staring directly at her.
In his eyes, there always seemed to be a feeling of guilt and wrongdoing.
From her two previous lives as a boy, Nagi could somewhat sense the reason for Kanade’s behavior.
This kid probably—
had begun to see himself as a side dish far too often.
So now, whenever Kanade saw her or got close to her, he became overly concerned and anxious.
It seemed he worried that his behavior would be noticed.
“If he were to be found out by his adorable childhood friend, there’s no doubt that their close relationship would come to an end!” That thought was all over his face.
Thus, he inevitably wanted to distance himself from her.
This kid has surely reached that age now…
Nagi sighed inwardly.
Back when Kanade looked at her,
his attention usually focused on her face or the black stockings on her thighs.
But recently, his gaze frequently seemed to drift towards her chest.
He might think he’s hiding it well.
But from Nagi’s perspective, this blatant gaze was far too obvious.
Nagi felt a mix of emotions about this situation.
Simultaneously, out of “empathy as a boy,” she understood him well.
The sad part was:
“As a boy,” the resistance and inability to adapt to becoming someone else’s side dish.
The happy part was:
It proved that Kanade now expressed a consistent affirmation of her charm both physically and emotionally, which greatly benefitted her future “plan of lifelong lament.”
Nagi had sneaked a peek at the browser history on Kanade’s phone.
It seemed like it was filled with “dark, straight, bright, cheerful, and naturally slow-witted childhood friend-type manga.”
This kid seemed to have—
become the type that “if it’s not a bright, cheerful, and innocent character with straight black hair like her, he can’t feel uplifted.”
However, Nagi found it hard to find an excuse to blame Kanade.
One reason being:
If the roles were reversed,
and if she had an innocent yet exceptionally alluring childhood friend who not only clung to her all day but also had no defenses,
Nagi firmly believed in her non-trustworthy reason.
Another reason—
Sizzle.
As Nagi put on her uniform, she suddenly heard an unsavory and unsettling sound echoing in the quiet room.
At the same time, she felt a heavy pulling sensation on her chest.
“Are you kidding me…” The starlight in Nagi’s eyes flashed wildly.
She struggled to unbutton her white shirt, which had a recently strained seam.
Underneath was a bra that had gotten stretched and busted.
“This was just bought not long ago—! Nagi Hoshimiya, what on earth is going on with you!?”
Nagi deeply sighed.
Facing a childhood friend who frequently offered such scenes in the morning,
it wasn’t hard to understand Kanade’s current attitude and behavior.
The worries of puberty in teenagers were inevitably permeating between the two.
However, Nagi wanted to say—
If it were just herself, it would be one thing, but if it were someone else like this childhood friend,
such deliberate distancing could very likely be seen as a sign of affection, right? Kanade-kun?
