As a perfectly ordinary male high school student with a sound body and mind (pending confirmation), Narumi Tōru lived a daily life not much different from that of his peers, complete with habits that were a mixed bag of good and bad.
He'd space out in class, joke around with one or two classmates he got along with during breaks, half-heartedly finish cleaning duty while half-slacking off, then head to club activities before finally going home to wrap up another day of commuting to school—of course, that was on days when he didn't have a part-time job.
The one thing that did set him apart from those around him was his lack of enthusiasm for interacting with the opposite sex.
Being assigned to the same cleaning group as a girl he had a slight crush on, pretending to chat casually about everyday topics while secretly hoping for a bit of physical contact during cleaning—even if it was just their elbows brushing briefly while wiping chalk off the blackboard, enough to make his heart race—
He'd never had fantasies or experiences like that.
And to be clear, it wasn't like he was especially keen on interacting with guys either. That point deserved emphasis.
Sure, lively girls overflowing with youth could be dazzling enough to steal one's gaze—but romance wasn't the entirety of the massive subject known as adolescence.
People had more important things to do. Like studying for exams, or earning a living through part-time work. Narumi never held unrealistic fantasies about campus rom-coms, so by never actively approaching girls, he'd effectively been "opposite-sex-proof" his entire life.
Until this inexplicable dating simulation game began.
"So, Koumi, turns out you like older women."
Inside the instrument shop, Yamada suddenly dropped that line while Narumi was helping her pick out a new bass, making him rub his temples in irritation.
"Who on earth gave you the impression that I like Yukinoshita Haruno? I mean, sure, I would love to be kept by a young, rich, beautiful woman and skip a few decades of struggle—but I'd rather she be a bit dumber."
"True. A smart rich woman wouldn't look at you anyway. You're a pain to deal with, Koumi."
"Thank you, Yamada. You don't have to praise me—I already know I'm special."
"I often wonder if my way of speaking is flawed, since it somehow makes you think I'm complimenting you."
This kind of exchange had happened countless times between the two, so neither of them found it strange anymore. The only one sweating internally was the cashier at the counter, wearing a professional smile and praying they wouldn't get so absorbed in chatting that they forgot to buy anything.
"And the main reason I thought that was because of you, you know."
Yamada picked out a bass whose aesthetics and hardware both looked solid. Holding it in her arms, she plucked a few notes to test the sound as she spoke.
"If you hadn't mentioned that love-triangle-between-two-sisters scenario in your novel a while back, I wouldn't have made that connection."
"Hah…"
"Honestly, at first I thought that beautiful senpai just now might've been your ex-girlfriend or something. But then I remembered you're not really interested in interacting with girls at all."
"So even your intuition fails sometimes, Yamada."
Wrong. Your intuition is frighteningly accurate, Miss Yamada.
Narumi tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched Yamada smoothly play the intro to a classic track—Nirvana's "Love Buzz."
Thinking about it… that unreliable system had said after the last simulation ended that events from the simulation would influence reality to some extent.
So just how obvious was that "extent," exactly?
Yamada had appeared in the second simulation as well—did that mean she was one of the people affected by it?
Or to put it another way, could Yamada's pinpoint intuition be so sharp precisely because she'd been influenced by the system?
Overthinking wouldn't help. It'd be faster to just ask her—especially since it was Yamada. She wouldn't read too much into it.
"Hey, Yamada."
Having made up his mind, Narumi spoke up.
"Have you felt like something's been… off lately?"
"Hm?"
Hearing that, the blue-haired girl stopped fiddling with the bass, the intense focus on her face easing slightly.
"What do you mean, Koumi?"
"Uh—just a feeling. Like something in your daily life suddenly changed, or something like that."
At a loss for precise words, Narumi could only phrase it vaguely. After all, while he retained all his memories from the simulation, he had no idea how people in reality might be affected by it.
"Well—if buying this bass means I'll blow all my allowance and end up living on grass for a month, does that count?"
"That one's excluded."
"…Then what about having weird dreams?"
Yamada Ryō looked thoughtful, then casually dropped a line that immediately put Narumi on alert.
"What kind of dreams? Go on."
"Mm… explaining the details would be kind of a hassle."
She pondered for a long moment, then broke into an especially innocent, guileless smile.
"If you help me buy this bass, not only will you save Miss Yamada from the suffering of eating grass for a month, it'll also help her recall those blurry dreams~"
"…You little—"
Narumi shot her a weary glare, but as if he'd expected this all along, he didn't argue and simply handed his wallet over to her.
He knew exactly what kind of person Yamada was. He'd already prepared himself to be fleeced when he left home that morning—and besides, if she really ended up broke after buying the bass, she'd definitely make him pay for meals anyway.
Whatever. I'll find a way to fleece her back later.
"Mm, Koumi, you really are a good person. Let me think…"
Terrible at describing complicated details, Yamada slung the bass over her shoulder and rubbed her temple with her right hand as she tried to recall the absurd dreams.
"Long story short—you died young."
"Uh."
At that moment, Narumi was deeply grateful for the saying 'dreams and reality are opposites' existing in the world.
"That's it?"
"Nope. Not even close."
The blue-haired girl waggled her index finger theatrically. Seeing the 'are you okay?' look on Narumi's face, she added more.
"In my dream, you died a bunch of times."
"..."
Kind of wanted his money back now.
"I dreamed this morning that you got literally split in half by that pair of sisters from your novel setting. If you want, Koumi, I can go into great detail."
"Nope, nope, please spare me."
Yeah. Depending on Yamada for reliable information had been a mistake. Better look for clues elsewhere.
I should find something useful before the third simulation starts—at least enough to understand how this simulation works and how it affects reality.
Narumi made that decision internally, and absentmindedly picked up a guitar nearby, strumming it lightly.
What he'd gained from the second simulation was probably limited to experience with guitar, bass, and live performances.
What Narumi didn't notice, however—was that when his fingers gently plucked the strings, the clear, ringing notes reached Yamada's ears.
She froze, slowly turning her head toward him, an expression of rare, undisguised surprise on her face.
"Koumi… weren't you tone-deaf?"