Location: Earth. Bedroom of Sakura Himura.

  Time: 6:45 AM.

  The alarm on Sakura's phone blasted the opening theme of Star-Crossed Paladin, jabbing her right in the eardrum.

  She slapped the snooze button, groaned, and immediately opened the WebNovelz app.

  It was a ritual. Before she brushed her teeth, before she put on her uniform, before she even opened her eyes fully, she had to check the stats.

  Story: The Rose-Colored Kingdom & The Knight of My Heart

  Author: Sakura_Dreams_14

  Views: 4,102

  Likes: 18

  Comments: 4

  Sakura's heart did a little skip. Eighteen likes! That was two more than yesterday. Someone named User_FluffyCloud99 had left a comment at 3 AM:

  omg the dragon scene was so random but cool?? prince haruto is dreamy <3 update soon pls!!!

  Sakura squealed, kicking her legs under the duvet. "They think he's dreamy," she whispered to the empty room. "See? People get it."

  She rolled out of bed, grabbing her glasses from the nightstand. Her room was a disaster zone of textbooks, sketchpads, and half-empty water bottles. Posters of anime boys with improbable hair plastered every inch of the walls.

  She shuffled to the mirror. Her hair—dark brown, shoulder-length, and currently looking like a bird's nest—was a mess. The single streak of blue dye she’d put in last month was fading to a weird greenish-gray.

  "You look like a potato," she told her reflection.

  She sighed. In the mirror, she was just Sakura Himura. Class 2-B. Average grades. Average height. Average everything. But in her laptop, sitting closed on her desk? She was Princess Sakura-Aria. And she was the most important person in the world.

  Location: North High School. Hallway.

  Time: 8:20 AM.

  "Did you study for the history quiz?"

  Hana adjusted her glasses, looking at Sakura with that laser-focus that made the younger girl feel like she was under a microscope.

  "Uhh," Sakura said, clutching her bag strap. "Mostly?"

  "Sakura," Hana said, her voice flat. "Define 'mostly'."

  "I read the chapter titles," she offered weakly.

  "You were writing again, weren't you?"

  Sakura flinched. "I had inspiration! The dragon scene needed a follow-up! The emotional fallout of the fountain incident was critical for character development!"

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Hana sighed, the sound of a disappointed parent. "Character development won't get you into high school, Sakura."

  "Leave her alone, Hana," Yuki chimed in, linking her arm through Sakura's. Yuki was the peacekeeper, the "mom" friend who always had snacks. "At least she has a hobby. I think it's cool she writes so much."

  "It's not just a hobby," Sakura mumbled. "It's a web novel. People read it."

  "Eighteen people," Hana noted.

  "Eighteen people with excellent taste!" Sakura shot back.

  They turned the corner toward the shoe lockers, and then—the world stopped. Or at least, Sakura's world did.

  He was there. Haruto Tanaka.

  He was leaning against the lockers, laughing at something his friend said. He wasn't wearing shining silver armor; he was wearing the standard school uniform. He didn't have a crystal unicorn; he had a soccer bag.

  But the smile? That was the same. That easy, blinding smile that made Sakura's stomach feel like it was full of helium balloons.

  "Don't stare," Hana hissed.

  "I'm not staring," Sakura whispered, staring so hard her eyes watered. "I'm observing. For reference."

  In her story, Sir Haruto would have sensed her presence. He would have turned, locked eyes with her, and bowed. In reality, Haruto Tanaka looked right past Sakura like she was part of the furniture. He high-fived his teammate and walked away.

  See? Sakura thought, a familiar ache settling in her chest. Invisible.

  That was why she wrote. Because in the Kingdom of Luv-Luv Hearts, nobody looked past her.

  Location: Math Class.

  Time: 11:15 AM.

  The teacher, Mr. Saito, was droning on about quadratic equations. Sakura had her textbook open, creating a wall. Behind it, her notebook was open to a fresh page.

  The fountain scene had been weird. She remembered writing that the fountain tasted like "liquid rainbows," but when she re-read the draft this morning, the description had changed to "High-Pressure Aquifer Feed."

  "Maybe I wrote it in a fugue state," she thought, tapping her pen against her chin. "My subconscious is smarter than me."

  Anyway, today was the day. She needed to fix Sir Haruto. She felt like his armor was too plain. She wanted him to look tough. Battle-hardened.

  She started scribbling.

  Sir Haruto stood in the throne room. He looked super handsome but also tough. His armor wasn't just shiny silver anymore. It had a cool dent on the chest!!!

  She paused. Is a dent enough? Maybe he needs a scar?

  Also he had a small scratch on his cheek that looked rugged and cool.

  Suddenly, her pen stopped writing. Not ran out of ink. It felt like... resistance. Like someone was pushing her hand back.

  Sakura frowned and pressed harder. She tried to underline the part about the dent. The paper ripped.

  "What the..." she whispered.

  She looked at the sentence. It felt wrong. Spiritually. Like the story was rejecting it. Why can't I give him a dent? She scribbled it out aggressively.

  Fine!!! No dent. But his armor was REALLY shiny. Like a mirror.

  The resistance vanished. The pen flowed smoothly again.

  "Weird," she muttered. "Writer's block is getting specific."

  "Miss Himura?"

  Sakura snapped her head up. Mr. Saito was standing over her desk. The class was giggling. "Since you are so diligently taking notes," he said, "perhaps you can solve problem number four on the board?"

  Sakura looked at the board. It was a jumble of x's and y's. She looked at her notebook. It was full of knights and sparkles.

  "Uhh," she said. "X equals... love?"

  The class erupted. Haruto Tanaka, sitting three rows ahead, didn't even turn around.

  Location: Home.

  Time: 5:00 PM.

  "Sakura! Did you start your homework?"

  "Yes, Mom!" she yelled through the door. Technically, opening the book counted as starting.

  She opened her document. It was time to type up the next scene: the Princess meeting a mysterious, helpful stranger in the garden. She didn't have a name for him yet.

  She walked into the garden and saw a guard standing there. He looked different from the others. He looked... tired. But kind.

  Sakura chewed her lip.

  He had messy dark hair and eyes that looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He wasn't sparkly like Sir Haruto. He looked real.

  The Princess asked, "What is your name?"

  The guard sighed, like just answering was a lot of work. "Toby," he said.

  "Toby," Sakura said aloud. "Yeah. That sounds like a Toby." She liked him immediately. The story needed someone who wasn't sparkly.

  "Well, Toby," the Princess said, "You are my favorite guard now."

  She smiled and hit [UPLOAD].

  A few seconds later, a comment appeared.

  User_FluffyCloud99: First!! Omg Toby sounds cute in a weird way? Is he a new love interest??

  Sakura laughed. "No, he's just... Toby."

  She closed the laptop. For the first time all day, the heavy feeling in her chest was gone. She wasn't just Sakura who got caught writing in math class. She was Sakura the Creator.

  [MEANWHILE: IN THE STORY]

  I stared at the shapeless blob of metal in my hand that used to be a sword.

  "Shapeshifting weapons," I deadpanned. "She gave us shapeshifting weapons to fix a continuity error."

  Marcus, holding a blob that was currently leaking molten magic onto his boots, looked terrified. "Sir? My spear is melting."

  "It's not melting, Marcus," I sighed, summoning the Red Pen. "It's 'magic.' Don't overthink it."

  I looked up at the sky. A new notification—not a box, but a handwritten note in the margins of my vision—had appeared.

  [CHARACTER UPDATE: "Toby" has been promoted to "Favorite Guard"]

  [AUTHOR FAVORABILITY: +10]

  I blinked.

  "Favorite guard?" I muttered. "She... likes me?"

  I looked at my reflection in a puddle of magical weapon-goo. I looked tired. Messy. Distinctly un-sparkly.

  "Huh," I said, a strange, tight feeling in my chest. I turned to Marcus. "Alright. Let's fix these weapons before we accidentally shapeshift them into snakes."

  I raised the Red Pen. But for the first time, I didn't feel pure annoyance at the author. She was messy. She was breaking the laws of physics to avoid admitting a mistake. But she’d noticed me.

  "Touché, kid," I whispered to the sky. "Touché."