I munched on my sandwiches as I usually did.

  This time, I had five sandwiches for lunch, I was currently on my third one.

  In between bites, Ake stuffed my face with omelets and meatballs.

  “Hey… Mmm… Ake…” I muttered in between chews. “Uh. I know you want me to eat more but like… isn’t this… Mnn.. A bit much…?”

  “Oh? Is it?” Ake asked quizzically, slightly tilting her head as she looked at me.

  “Y-yeah… I asked Mia to make me a bigger lunch so you don’t have to keep making extra for me…”

  “Do you not like my lunch?”

  “N-no. That’s not it…” I replied nervously, looking away. “N-nevermind.”

  ~I guess it’s fine. It’s not like I can overeat anyways since it’s just refilling my mana supply…

  “Anyways, Yoiya.” Ake placed the fork down on a small lavender handkerchief. “Mashiro told the student council that they’re finally making progress on their goal for this year. She seemed pretty excited about it, saying that their new member will be their protagonist.”

  “Ah… Yeah, I guess that did happen…” I chuckled and smiled.

  Ake smiled back at me. “It’s good to see you’re getting settled there. But don’t forget about exams, alright? They’re next week.”

  “Right, right.” I said, assuring her I remembered.

  Ake frowned at me, leaning in close as she placed her hand on my forehead.

  “You’ve been getting enough sleep, haven’t you? You still look pretty tired…”

  “A-ah.” My face warmed up immediately. “I’m fine. I’m fine, I swear!”

  Ake noticed my reaction and her cheeks turned bright red. She immediately pulled away and averted her eyes.

  I scratched the top of my head slightly as I shook my head.

  ~I feel like my face has been warming up a lot lately… But I’ve never seen Ake look like that before… But more importantly, why did that my chest feel weird?

  Ding dong.

  That was the bell signaling that lunch was over.

  I stood up from my seat, quickly heading for the door.

  “Yoiya.” Ake spoke up, bringing me to a momentary halt.

  “Y-yes?” I looked back at her.

  “Good luck and…” She smiled at me warmly. “Try to have fun, okay?”

  …

  I pulled open the door to the library and walked inside.

  Just like always, a breeze blew against my face as I entered along with the smell of tea.

  “Huehuehue! Looks like our protagonist finally arrives!”

  Mashiro leaned over and grinned at me with her usual overwhelming enthusiasm. Raneko and Eliba both let out sighs as they sat at the table. Rea, on the other hand, appeared to be hard at work, her fingers rapidly tapping away on a small laptop computer.

  Hesitantly, I sat down in my usual seat beside her, slightly leaning over to see what she was typing.

  Our shoulders touched, and she turned to look at me, her hands pausing on the keyboard.

  “Oh… Good evening, Yuru-kun…”

  My heart skipped a beat, my chest warming at the sight of her face.

  “G-good evening…” I managed a weak smile as I tried to play off the accidental contact. “Uhm, is that the story? How is it going so far?”

  “Well—” Rea began to speak.

  “It’s going great, our legendary protagonist slash transfer student!” Mashiro declared, pointing at me with the utmost intensity I had seen yet. “Our little doll-like beauty Rea has been working hard on the story we composed!”

  “I see…”

  Raneko placed his hand firmly on Mashiro’s shoulder as he gave her a rather menacing smile. “Mashiro. We still need to discuss the changes to the story. Needst I remind you that we aren’t going to be able to make a whole shounen manga with the time we have left.”

  “Huehuehue…” Mashiro’s immediately collapsed. She let out a weak laugh as she shrunk beneath Raneko’s intense pressure. “Right, right. Uhm… How much do you think we can get done with the time allotted, girls?” She turned her attention to Rea and Eliba.

  Eliba’s eyes softened for a moment as she let out a sigh. They quickly renarrowed as she gave Mashiro a deliberate glare. “The most I can draw before Comiket at the end of the month is three illustrations or thirty manga pages. You’ll have to pitch in if you want more than that before the next three weeks are up.”

  “...I think… I can write maybe about… a hundred…?” Rea replied softly as she looked up at our club leader.

  “Hmmm. That’s enough for a short light novel… Yuru-kun!”

  “Huh?” My attention was immediately grabbed by her sudden shout.

  “What are you good at?”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Uh…” I fumbled around for words, trying to think of an answer.

  I couldn’t exactly just say “everything”. Nor could I mention magic, physical abilities, or anything about my voidborne talents.

  My eyes darted around the room, searching for an answer.

  My eyes darted from Mashiro’s expectant grin, to Raneko’s raised brow, to Eliba’s narrowed stare, and finally to Rea — who was watching me with quiet curiosity.

  ~Crap. Think. Think. Think! Something normal. Something human.

  “I… uh…” I swallowed. “I’m good at… organizing things.”

  Mashiro blinked. “Organizing things?”

  “Y-yeah.” I muttered, nodding way too fast. “Like… uhm… planning. Structuring. Fitting stuff together. That sort of thing.”

  Raneko crossed his arms. “So… outlining?”

  “Y-yeah, yeah! Outlining!” I latched onto the word like a lifeline, nodding so much my head started to throb.

  “Ehhh…” Mashiro looked at me with a frown. “That’s it? I was expecting something… I don’t know… flashier?”

  “F-flashier?” I repeated.

  “Yeah. Like…” Mashiro placed her fingers to her chin. “Are you good at any sports, by chance? Run really fast? Can lift heavy objects?”

  “Huh? O-of course not!” I said with the best smile I could muster. “Why would I be capable of stuff like that?”

  Mashiro squinted at me, leaning in close and looking at me like I was some kind of ancient artifact. “I dunno… you sure look like somebody who could secretly bench-press a vending machine.”

  “I… uh… No… I don’t know what makes you think that…” I looked away, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

  Eliba let out a long, tired sigh. “Mashiro. Not every protagonist is a walking shounen cliché.”

  Mashiro gasped. “But he should be!”

  Raneko pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’re not giving him super strength. We don’t have time to draw that.”

  “Fine, fine…” Mashiro pouted, her entire face squinting as Raneko held firm on her nose. “But then what we gonna do about the story?”

  Rea raised her hand. “We… could write a romance…”

  The club turned their eyes to her, causing her to shyly cover her face with her laptop. A silence filled the room. For a small moment, it felt like an actual library for once, but this silence felt a bit too heavy for a place of learning.

  “Romance…?” I muttered, breaking the silence.

  Rea peeked over the top edge of her laptop, her eyes flicking between all of us like she regretted speaking the moment the word left her mouth.

  “…Y?yes…” She whispered. “A… romance between… two people who slowly learn to understand each other…”

  Mashiro’s jaw dropped. “Rea… you want to write a love story?!”

  Rea shrank even further behind her screen. “I?I just thought… it would be easier to finish… and… um… I like writing them…”

  Eliba crossed her arms. “A romance is doable. And it’s less work than a full action series.”

  Raneko nodded. “Agreed. Fewer fight scenes means fewer backgrounds to draw.”

  Mashiro slammed her palms on the table. “BUT WHAT ABOUT PROTAGONIST ENERGY?!”

  I flinched. “W?why are you looking at me when you say that…?”

  Mashiro pointed at me with both hands now. “Because! If we’re writing a romance, then our protagonist needs to be someone who can pull off a slow?burn emotional arc! Someone who can make readers swoon! Someone who—”

  She paused.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  Her grin widened.

  “…someone who blushes really easily.”

  My entire body froze.

  Rea’s fingers paused on her keyboard. She glanced at me — just a tiny glance — but it was enough to make my heart skip.

  ~Why did that look make my chest feel weird…?

  Mashiro clapped her hands. “It’s settled! Yuru?kun is PERFECT for a romance protagonist!”

  “H?huh?!”

  Rea’s face turned pink. “I… think he’d be good too…”

  Eliba sighed. “This is going to be a disaster.”

  Raneko rubbed his temples. “A productive disaster, hopefully.”

  “A-as… For the plot… Uhm… perhaps we can base it off memory?”

  Memory.

  That single word made me freeze completely. My body felt cold, like I was trapped in a glacier.

  ~Memory. Memory. Memory. Mem-o-ry.

  The words repeated in my head. My mind flashed back to my dream.

  Then, a small tug on my sleeve.

  Just like before, I looked over and saw Rea looking at me, her fingers clutching my shirt.

  “Do… you not like it?”

  I smiled at her. It was most likely the most genuine, softest fake smile I ever made.

  “No, that’s not it. It’s a good idea. Though, I’m curious as to why you suggested it.”

  Eliba’s eyes pierced me like a thousand arrows, but my willpower was greater. My smile, fake as it was, did not falter.

  “It’s just… you seem to have a really good memory, Yuru-kun… I figured we could base it off that…” She murmured quietly, almost speaking in a whisper. “Something like… lovers that reincarnated from a past life?”

  My throat tightened.

  Past lives.

  Reincarnation.

  Memory.

  These were all terms painfully similar to what I was dealing with.

  Alternate lives.

  Reiteration.

  And above all else: Memory.

  She was unknowingly brushing her fingers against the very edge of the truth — the kind of truth that would shatter this room if spoken aloud.

  Mashiro, oblivious as ever, gasped dramatically. “Ooooh! A fated?lovers reincarnation story?! That’s so cute! And tragic! And cute again!”

  Raneko nodded thoughtfully. “It’s marketable.”

  Eliba tapped her pen against the table. “As long as it’s not cliché.”

  But Rea…

  Rea wasn’t looking at them.

  She was still looking at me.

  Her fingers loosened on my sleeve, but she didn’t pull away.

  Her eyes searched mine — soft, worried, almost trembling.

  “…I just thought…” She whispered. “That a story about… remembering someone… even across lifetimes… would be beautiful.”

  My heart thumped painfully in my chest.

  ~Why does she say things like that…?

  ~Why does it feel like she’s talking directly to me…?

  ~Why does it hurt… and feel warm… at the same time?

  Mashiro clapped her hands. “Alright! Reincarnation romance it is! Yuru?kun, you’re the protagonist! Rea, you’re writing! Eliba, you’re drawing! Raneko, you’re… Raneko!”

  Raneko sighed. “I’ll handle the editing.”

  Rea finally let go of my sleeve — but her fingers lingered for a moment longer than they needed to.

  And for the first time since I’d joined this club…

  I wasn’t sure if the pounding in my chest was fear.

  Or something else entirely.