The smell of alcohol spread over the corridor of the restaurant.
People, esspecially, students of a nearby university, were enjoying themselves in the occassion of a farewell to their seniors.
At the corner of the restaurant, on a table prepared for five, was the quittest corner of the room, as if they were on a different wavelength.
There sat two, a couple, whispering among themselves, as they had a little arrangement of their own apart from this farewell party.
"Do you think he will come?", the girl, a second year uni student, asked her boyfriend in the same year, sat beside him.
"Well.....I have no idea. He doesn't even reply to my texts at all. Good thing you met him coincidentally at that seminar...", the boy replied nervously.
"How about Yuiko?", she asked, taking a bite of the french fries, she had ordered.
"She called me a while ago, said she would be here within 5 minutes.", the boy said looking at his watch.
"...Did you tell her that Kenichi is invited too?"
"No, I didn't. She would have refused right away, if I had said that."
"Well, let's see, what happens."
Both of them, holding each other's hands looked at the large gathering, filled with noise, excitement, and something akin to sadness, characteristic of a farewell party, occaissonally looking at the entrance, hoping for both of their friends to come.
After some time, the door opened, and their faces lightened up.
"Sorry, I am late, but why is he also here?", a girl, her black hair tied in a pony tail, wearing a fur coat, looked glazing as if a celebrity had walked into the gathering, garnering everyone's attention.
She pointed to a shabby looking guy, wearing a suit, average looks, but clear disappointement in his eyes, after seeing the girl.
"Come on both of you, just sit down for a moment", the couple forced these two, to sit down, although they were hesitant, they gave in later on.
"Seems like the whole gang is here.", another one showed up, but this time, a woman, possibly in her mid thirties, wearing office suit.
"You invited Minako sensei too, huh?", the shabby guy named Kenichi remarked.
"Yup! It's the reunion of the COTE fanatics!", the first girl named Ichinose exclaimed.
***
Kenichi POV:
How nostalgic.
We were just high schoolers, doing dumb things, forming this dumb club, over some light novel named CLASSROOM OF THE ELITE.
Ichinose, Mahito, me, and this girl sitting beside me, Yuiko, under our club superviser, Minako sensei.
There are bits of holes in my memories of those days, but I am sure of one thing.
My life completely changed after that one point.
That one incident.
My family fell apart, my parents divorced, later on, my mother died, my father followed right after her.
Now, I don't even know what the fuck I am doing.
All these years, I have been asking just one question.
.....Why me?
"How have y'all been?", Minako sensei asked, to lighten up the mood, I guess.
There was a brief moment of silence followed right after that question.
It felt heavy, as Yuiko looked down at the table, not even once looking at me.
I didn't have any answer to that as well.
What should I even say?
That I am alright.
I lost a part time job, as it was messing with the timing of my university classes.
I failed an interview just a few hours ago, because I didn't have any 'experience'.
I am hella broke, with months of rent pending.
And it's not like I have kept in touch with them, for all these years, so it would be awkward to just go on about my pathetic life.
"I am working as an assistant for a light novel writer.", Ichinose finally broke the ice.
"And y'all know him very well. Guess who!", Mahito asked everyone excitedly.
"Don't tell me...", Yuiko finally said something, in surprise for the expectation.
There is only one author, we always admired about, and judging from the hints Mahito gave I guess, 'he' is the one.
"Yup! It's Kinugasa sensei, the author of COTE!", Mahito exclaimed in excitement.
"Wow! That's awesome, isn't it?", Yuiko joined in, her face lightened up too, dispelling all the nervousness or whatever she had in her heart, and turned towards me, albeit reflexively.
I met her eyes, as she averted her face almost instantly, as if feeling embarrassed.
"Congratulations!", said Minako sensei, as she clapped her hands, and the others joined in, me included.
"As for me, I am preparing for the post of an editor", Mahito said, sounding proud of himself.
Well, it was as expected, though.
Both of them have been together since high school, and I also think they are perfect for each other.
"For now...", Yuiko started, "I am focussing on my studies."
"That's great, I am sure you will do well", sensei encouraged her.
After that everyone looked at me, as if expecting a follow up answer.
I looked at them, their eyes filled with a mix of emotions, undescribable.
Pity? Sympathy?
Maybe something similar along those lines.
"I am doing fine."
A fabricated smile showed on my face, as they smiled back at me.
They all started chatting as if they understood everything.
For a moment I thought I was about to cry.
In all these years, there has never been one moment where I felt relieved , as to see these familiar faces.
In all and all, I was happy for the first time, to meet them, the only true friends I had made in my entire life.
I joined in the conversation from time to time.
It shifted from various topics to casually ending on one, that light novel.
"Guess we were called fanatics for this reason.", Mahito said.
And it hit me hard, as I realized the only thing keeping my life intact was that light novel only.
If not for that story, I wouldn't have met these people at all.
"I still have that copy when Kenichi drew the entire heirarchy of COTE at volume 10 of year 1.", Yuiko said laughing, but didn't realize what she had said, as she felt embarrassed later on.
I guess she still hates me.
"Excuse me for a second.", I slipped out of the group, feeling awkward myself.
"Kenichi.", a familiar voice called out from behind.
"Yuiko...what is it?", I guess she slipped out from there too, after me.
"Are you really alright?", she asked.
"Why are you asking me that, I already answered didn't I?"
"No, I just.....thought, you don't look so good right now. It was awkward enough to ask there, but I guess you don't want to talk about it, do you?"
Again, those eyes.
Those eyes filled with concern, was what made me fall for her, when I was in high school.
My first ever girlfriend.
Well, until that incident...we broke up after that.
But now, that look of concern feels like poison to me.
As if she feels pity, making me feel more pathetic than I already am.
"I am fine, and don't ask that question again.", I averted my eyes, out of hate, and started walking away.
But, there was something wrong with my senses, as suddenly, everything around me became dark, darker by the time, and seemed like everything was going up.
Thud!
Before I knew it, I was on the ground, stripped off my senses.
It was all blurry, as Yuiko was screaming something I couldn't hear.
The others came running but I had no energy to look up.
Yet I was happy to see them.
I am glad, I was able to meet with them.
Even if for a brief moment of time, I had forgotten how I had lived so far, and felt genuinely happy.
Only if I could have talked with them a bit more........
***
Hospital Corridor – Late Night
White.
That was the first thing anyone noticed.
White walls, white lights, white sheets—so clean it almost felt cruel.
Yuiko stood frozen outside the emergency room, her hands trembling uncontrollably. The faint smell of antiseptic filled her lungs, sharp and suffocating. Mahito paced back and forth, running his fingers through his hair again and again, while Ichinose sat on a bench, her head buried in her hands.
Minako sensei stood still.
Too still.
Like she was holding herself together purely out of habit.
"Say something…" Ichinose muttered weakly, not lifting her head. "Someone say something…"
No one could.
Because no one knew what to say.
The red light above the emergency room door stayed on.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Thirty.
An hour.
Each second stretched unbearably long.
Yuiko hadn't moved from her spot.
Not even once.
Her eyes were fixed on that door.
As if staring hard enough would change what was happening inside.
Finally—
Click.
The door opened.
A doctor stepped out, removing his gloves slowly, his expression unreadable—but not hopeful.
Everyone stood up at once.
"How is he?" Mahito asked, his voice cracking despite trying to sound composed.
The doctor hesitated.
That hesitation said everything.
Yuiko felt her heart drop before he even spoke.
"I'm sorry…" he began.
Those two words.
Simple.
Final.
"He collapsed due to severe physical exhaustion and underlying health complications. There was… significant delay before intervention. We were able to restore his heartbeat, but…"
"But what?" Yuiko's voice came out sharper than intended.
The doctor looked at her directly now.
"…there is no brain activity."
Silence.
Complete silence.
"As of now," he continued gently, "he is clinically declared brain dead."
***
Kenichi POV :
"Alright now, what the fuck is this!?"
I shouted at the top of my lungs, as there was no way to describe what I was seeing in the mirror.
There stood, a familiar young face, on the other side of the mirror.
It was a face I saw once in the illustration of the light novel COTE.
Yamauchi Haruki.
The face definitely belonged to him.
But what the hell am I doing in his body?
This doesn't make any sense at all.
I pinched myself real hard, slapped myself multiple times, hoping this to be a dream.
But the pain was too real, to be discarded as a dream.
"Is this really happening?"
I thought to myself.
Transmigration, a theme of fantasy stories, happening right in front of me.
How am I sure that this is Yamauchi and not someone else?
Well, I was one of the fanatics of this light novel club as well, so naturally, I remembered every illustrations of this story thoroughly.
They are like printed in my memory.
Yet, that was not the real problem here.
The real problem was at what point in the story did I transmigrate to.
I quickly scanned the room, found myself a calender, and looked at the date,
February 4th.
If my memory serves me right, it's time for the Ichinose arc, of year 1 volume 9.
If this is my reality now, then, let's see how the variable, that is me, changes the storyline.
*********