It was cold. Not just "winter air" cold, but a deep, hollow frost that seemed to settle into my very soul.
Yet, strangely, I felt light. Weightless. Like a feather drifting in a vacuum where gravity didn't exist.
Where am I?
"What is it that you desire at this very moment?"
The voice didn't have a direction; it was just... there, echoing inside my head.
What? Who's talking?
"Give me your answer."
My answer? I tried to think, but my memories felt like water slipping through my fingers. There was only one thing I could hold onto, the one thing that made my heart beat faster even in this void.
"I... I want to see them," I whispered into the nothingness. "I want to be in my favorite world. I want to watch my favorite anime."
"As you wish."
A pinpoint of light flickered in the darkness. It grew rapidly, radiating a warmth that felt like a mother's embrace, thawing the ice in my veins. I reached out for it, and the second my fingers brushed the glow—CRACK.
The sound of shattering glass tore through the silence, deafening and sharp, as the light exploded to swallow the shadows whole.
A beam of honey-thick, golden sunlight filtered through my eyelids. I grumbled, shifting against the sheets, but something felt wrong. These weren't my blankets. They were too crisp, too new. I forced my eyes open, blinking against the glare, only to be greeted by a plain, cream-colored ceiling.
Weird. Since when did I repaint my room?
I groaned, pushing myself up into a sitting position, but a sharp, jagged sting shot through my skull. It felt like a thousand needles were being pressed into my temples. I squeezed my eyes shut, taking slow, shallow breaths until the throbbing subsided into a dull ache.
Finally, I let my gaze wander.
The room was unfamiliar, yet there was a bizarre sense of déjà vu tugging at my brain. The walls were a clean, pristine white, the air smelled faintly of laundry detergent and... cherry blossoms?
My heart skipped a beat. This wasn't my room. This wasn't my house.
What is going on?
My frantic thoughts were cut short by the sharp clack of a door at the end of the room swinging open. A woman who looked to be in her early twenties stepped in, dressed in a crisp, professional nurse's uniform.
When she realized I was actually awake and sitting up, she made a beeline for my bed, flipping through the pages on her clipboard. She offered me a practiced, polite smile before glancing down at her notes.
"Hikarari-san, feeling any better now?" she asked, her tone light but observant.
I blinked, looking around the room as if the "correct" answer was hidden in the corners. "I... think so?" I blurted out, my voice sounding a little foreign to my own ears.
She let out a soft chuckle and scribbled something down before turning away. "I certainly hope so. It's only your first day, it would be a shame if it were your last, right?" she joked, her tone teasing as she moved toward the door.
I didn't laugh. Instead, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, my heart skipping a beat the moment I looked down. My breath hitched. This wasn't my uniform. The fabric, the colors, the cut, everything was different. And yet, a cold shiver of realization raced down my spine.
Wait. Why does this look so familiar?
"I think you're good to go now! Shoo, off you go, you don't want to be late on your very first day," she chirped, giving me a polite little shooing motion with her hand.
I stood up, my legs feeling like jelly, completely lost.
Late? First day? First day of WHAT?
Before she could disappear back into her office, I turned around, the confusion written all over my face. "Wait! Where am I supposed to be going, exactly?"
She paused, looking at me with a calm expression. She let out a little sigh, not the annoyed kind, but the kind you give a confused puppy, and gestured for me to follow her.
I trailed behind her, my heart racing as we stepped out into the hallway. It was the weirdest feeling; every corner we turned felt oddly familiar, like a heavy case of deja vu. I felt like I knew this place by heart, yet I was positive my feet had never touched these floorboards before.
"You're a first-year in Class 1, right?" she asked over her shoulder.
Class 1? My brain stalled. I wasn't in Class 1. Better yet, Class 1 didn't even exist back at my school.
We stopped in front of a sliding classroom door. The nurse gestured for me to wait outside, and I gave a small, shaky nod before she slipped into the room.
Left alone, I leaned against the wall, humming a random tune to keep my nerves from spiking. My eyes drifted toward the window at the end of the hall, and I squinted as the view outside came into focus. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom, their pink petals drifting down near a set of massive, dark gates. The school was perched on a hill, overlooking a town that felt... wrong. Not because it was ugly, but because it felt like I was looking at a postcard I'd stared at for years.
It's just a coincidence, I tried to tell myself. All Japanese schools look like this.
The sharp clack of the door sliding open broke my trance. The nurse stepped out, her smile still warm. "Ono-sensei said you can come in as soon as she calls your name."
I blinked. Ono-sensei? Why does that name sound like it's on the tip of my tongue?
The nurse gave me a final encouraging nod before heading back down the hall. Suddenly, the silence of the corridor felt heavy. I was standing in front of a door that felt like a portal. Was I about to walk into a room full of strangers, or familiar faces, like my classmates?
My hand hovered over the door, my heart hammering against my ribs. There was only one way to find out. I pressed my ear closer to the door, listening to the muffled hum of the students inside until a sharp, rhythmic knock sounded from the other side. My cue.
I took a deep, shaky breath and gripped the handle. I have no idea what's happening, but I guess I'm just rolling with it for now. Let's see where this rabbit hole goes.
The door slid open with a smooth clack. I stepped into the room, my heart doing double-time as I made my way to the front of the class. It was a sea of unfamiliar faces, strangers I didn't recognize from my old life, or any life, for that matter. The teacher had her back to me, rummaging through her bag for something, while the students started whispering among themselves. The collective stare was making me sweat.
"Alright then," the teacher said, still distracted. "Hikarari-san, why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"
I froze. That voice. That oddly specific, comforting tone. I knew that voice.
I slowly turned my head toward the teacher and felt the air leave my lungs. It was her. Ono-sensei. Minaho Ono-sensei.
Wait. If she's here, then that means—
My head snapped toward the rows of desks, my eyes frantically searching the room for one very specific color. Something vibrant. Something that would stand out like a flare in the dark even if you weren't looking for it.
And there it was.
That unmistakable, almost glowing shade of tangerine. It was like a beacon in the middle of the classroom, impossible to miss. My heart stopped as my gaze locked onto a pair of expressive, wide brown eyes staring back at me with pure curiosity.
It was him. In the flesh. In 4K. Not just 4K. 3D, 4D whatever you call reality.
"Hinata Shoyo!!"
I instantly slapped my hands over my mouth, the shock of my own outburst hitting me like a physical blow. The entire classroom pulled a synchronized 180, their eyes darting from me to the tangerine-haired boy in the back.
Hinata looked more confused than anyone, pointing a finger at himself and stammering, "Wait, me? Do we know each other? Did I do something?"
Ono-sensei arched an eyebrow, looking between us. "Hikarari-san, are you and Hinata-kun already acquainted?"
Hinata's head started shaking so fast he looked like a broken bobblehead. "No! Never! I've never seen her before in my life!"
Wait. WHAT is actually happening?! I felt like my brain was short-circuiting. Am I seriously in one of those tropes? Did I just get "Main Character" transmuted into a shōnen sports world?!
Internal panic set in, my thoughts screaming at a thousand miles per hour. I clutched my head, my body going rigid. Why can't I remember anything? How did I get here? Is this a vivid fever dream or...
"Am I dead?" I whispered, the words barely escaping my lips.
No, that's impossible. Must be a dream, yeah, a dream.
"Hikarari-san? You're looking a little pale. Are you alright?" Ono-sensei asked, her voice laced with genuine concern as she stepped toward me.
I looked back at her, my vision swimming, and blurted out the most ridiculous question possible. "Sensei... is this Karasuno High School? Am I a student here?"
The teacher blinked, her expression shifting from concern to pure bewilderment. "I would hope so," she replied slowly, "considering you're the one who submitted your enrollment papers here."
Oh. My. Gosh.
Is this actually happening?! My brain was basically a browser with fifty tabs open, and all of them were crashing. I started mumbling to myself, a frantic stream of consciousness that definitely caught Ono-sensei's attention.
"Hikarari-san, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should head back to the infirmary for a bit." She suggested, reaching out to steady me as I did a dramatic little sway.
I shook my head violently, forcing a bright if slightly unhinged, smile. "No! No, I'm totally fine! Just a tiny bit of vertigo, no big deal!"
She gave me a skeptical look, but I doubled down on the reassurance. If this is a dream, I thought, my heart thumping against my ribs, I am going to milk this for everything it's worth. I found my center, stood up straight in front of the class, and gave them my best "Main Character" introduction.
"Sorry about the outburst, everyone! I'm Hikarari Yanase, but you can call me Yana. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all!"
The class erupted into polite applause and "Nice to meet yous," but I was barely hearing them. My focus was elsewhere.
Ono-sensei pointed me toward my seat, a prime spot by the window, only a few desks away from him. My eyes were glued to the back of his head the entire time I walked down the aisle.
"Hinata Shoyo," I whispered under my breath, sinking into my chair. I stared at that shock of tangerine hair so intensely I'm surprised it didn't catch fire.
Absolutely adorable.