"Wait… you're Kira, right?"
My ears must've short-circuited. I just stood there, halfway crouched, halfway frozen, as if reality was buffering in 144p.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Did Mia Santos --Mia freaking Santos, my ultimate crush, the golden girl of our entire batch just say my name?
My name?
I blinked. My heartbeat was in full-blown Ultra Instinct mode. My chest thumped so hard I felt it in my throat.
"AH. Y-Yeah. I'm Kira. Hi. I mean, yes. Yes, I'm Kira. Thank you—wait, not thank you—uh."
Kill me.
Right now.
Just let lightning strike me here in the school courtyard with my bag guts spilled across the ground and my dignity bleeding out.
Her laugh came again, light and honest, like wind chimes in summer. "You're funny," she said, crouching to help gather my notebooks. "You dropped your math homework."
My math homework.
Oh God, please don't let her see the JJK doodle on the corner of that page.
My hands moved fast, too fast, scrambling to grab it before she could peek. "Uhh, I can—I'll take care of it, it's fine—"
But she just smiled, brushed a strand of her ponytail behind her ear, and handed me a sheet.
"I remember everyone's name in class," she said. "It's not that hard."
No. No, no, no.
This is not happening. This isn't some anime where the loser protagonist gets noticed by the girl of his dreams after a clumsy encounter. This is real life. This is reality.
And in this reality, I'm not the main character.
I'm not even a side character.
I'm a damn NPC a background extra with no plot armor, no luck stat, and no shot.
"Maybe this is my moment…" some stupid voice in my head whispered. "Maybe this is like Blue Box or Horimiya or something—"
NO.Kira, wake the hell up.
This isn't a manhwa. This isn't a romance story.
This is the same world where Daniel Montefalco and other people slaps you around for breathing wrong. The same world where your little sister begged you not to talk to her in school 'cause you're a walking embarrassment.
Reality's harsh, bro.
The only one who's on your side is you. That's it. End of story.
Still, my hands were shaking a bit as I shoved my stuff into my bag.
"Thanks," I mumbled, still avoiding her eyes. "Uh, I'm… I'm kinda impressed you remembered my name."
She stood up beside me, brushing dust off her skirt.
"I try my best," she said, voice still soft, still sincere. "And I figured I should remember classmates who always sit near the back. You've been quiet since last year."
I froze.
She's noticed me before?
Was this a trap? A joke? Am I getting filmed? Was Daniel behind this with some new "prank" content?
Before I could spiral harder, she tilted her head, as if trying to guess what I was thinking.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah. Just…" I cleared my throat. "Kinda surprised. That's all."
She gave a small nod, like she understood something I hadn't said. "Well, I'm headed to 3-B. We're classmates, right? Might as well walk together."
Huh?
HUH??
W-walk together?
My legs moved