The hallway was brighter than I expected.
Sunlight streamed through tall windows, reflecting off polished floors and white walls decorated with banners and framed achievements. Everything looked pristine, too pristine, actually, like a place that existed purely to be admired rather than actually used by students.
And admired it was, apparently.
The moment Kaori and I stepped out of the principal's office, the hallway went quiet. Not instantly or dramatically, but gradually, the way a room falls silent when something unexpected happens. Conversations slowed to whispers, footsteps hesitated mid-stride, and a few girls stopped walking altogether.
Then I felt it, dozens of gazes locking onto me at once.
Some looked curious, others confused, and a few were openly shocked. But what unsettled me most were the calculating stares, the ones that felt like I was being assessed and catalogued for later use. I resisted the urge to glance behind me, just in case they were all staring at someone else standing there.
They weren't.
Kaori didn't seem to notice the sudden attention at first. She walked half a step ahead of me, humming softly while checking her clipboard with the focus of someone who'd given this tour a hundred times before.
"So! First, I'll show you the main building, then the dorms, and after that, oh!" She spun around suddenly, nearly colliding with me. "You can tell me if you feel uncomfortable at any point, okay?"
Her eyes lingered on my face for a second longer than necessary, like she was searching for signs of distress.
Uncomfortable?
Lady, I was walking into an all-girls academy as the second male in a game that only allowed one. Uncomfortable was putting it so lightly it might as well have been a joke.
"I'm fine," I said, keeping my voice as steady as possible.
A group of girls passed us going the opposite direction. They slowed as they drew closer, their eyes flicking toward me, then to Kaori, then back to me again. I caught fragments of whispered conversation as they passed.
"...another boy?"
"That's impossible, isn't it?"
"I thought there was only one..."
I kept my gaze forward and pretended I hadn't heard anything.
So it had already started, then.
Kaori finally seemed to notice something was off. Her steps slowed slightly, and she leaned closer to me, lowering her voice in what I assumed was meant to be reassuring.
"Um... you're getting a lot of attention," she said gently. "Are you sure you're okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I expected it."
That earned me a curious look, her head tilting slightly to one side.
"You did?"
I almost laughed at that. If only she knew what I actually knew, that this entire world was supposed to be a dating sim where I absolutely should not exist.
We reached a staircase overlooking the central courtyard, and Kaori paused near the railing. Below us, girls gathered in small groups, chatting under blooming cherry trees that looked almost too perfect to be real. The scene looked exactly like a CG background from the game, picturesque and deliberately composed.
And just like in the game, every heroine route began somewhere around here.
Kaori gestured toward the courtyard with obvious pride. "This is the main courtyard. Most events happen here, uh, I mean, most school activities." She caught herself mid-sentence, looking slightly embarrassed.
Nice save, I thought.
I leaned against the railing and looked down at the scene below, trying to orient myself. That's when I felt it, a presence that was somehow different from all the others. Stronger. More focused.
I turned my head slightly and froze.
A boy stood across the courtyard, surrounded by a loose circle of girls who seemed to orbit him naturally. He had neat dark hair, sharp features, and the kind of effortless calm that came from someone who'd never questioned whether they belonged at the center of attention.
Kaito.
The protagonist.
Even from this distance, I could tell. He was exactly how the game portrayed him, handsome in a way that felt almost unfair, with relaxed posture and an easy smile. Girls leaned toward him like gravity pulled them in, and he seemed completely comfortable with it.
Then his eyes met mine.
The smile vanished.
Just for a second, but that second was enough to send a chill down my spine.
His brows furrowed slightly, confusion flashing across his face before being replaced by something sharper and more dangerous, suspicion.
No, wait. Not just suspicion.
Recognition, maybe? But recognition of what?
Kaori followed my gaze and smiled brightly, oblivious to the tension. "Oh! That's Kaito-senpai. The other male student."
*Other.*
She said it so casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world to have two male students at an all-girls academy.
I watched as Kaito excused himself from the group surrounding him and began walking toward us. Each step felt heavy, purposeful, and I found myself straightening instinctively.
This wasn't supposed to happen like this. In the game, the protagonist never approached another male, because there was simply no one else to approach.
He stopped a few steps away from us, close enough that I could see the way his jaw was set, the way his eyes remained locked on mine.
"So," he said, his tone perfectly polite but somehow still managing to sound hostile, "you're the new transfer."
His voice was calm. Too calm, actually, like he was working hard to keep it that way.
"Yes," I replied simply. "Nice to meet you."
A brief silence followed, stretching out uncomfortably between us. Girls nearby slowed down, pretending not to listen while very obviously listening to every word.
Kaito glanced at Kaori for just a moment, then returned his attention to me with laser focus.
"I was told I'd be the only one," he said calmly.
So was I, buddy. So was I.
"Same," I answered, keeping my expression neutral.
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, just a tiny movement that someone less observant might have missed entirely.
Kaori laughed nervously, stepping between us like she could physically defuse whatever tension was building. "Ahaha... isn't it exciting? Two male students! It's unprecedented!"
Unprecedented was certainly one way to put it. Catastrophically game-breaking might have been more accurate.
Kaito studied me for a moment longer, his eyes sharp and analytical, like a protagonist trying to figure out which hidden route had suddenly appeared in his perfectly planned playthrough.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he smiled again.
But this time, the smile didn't reach his eyes at all.
"Well," he said, the single word carrying far more weight than it should have, "welcome to Aurelia Academy."
Something told me that sentence had layers I wasn't ready to unpack yet.
As he turned and walked away, the circle of girls immediately reforming around him like he'd never left, I let out a slow breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
Kaori looked at me with genuine concern flickering in her expression. "You're not in trouble, are you?"
I shook my head, even though I wasn't entirely sure that was true.
"No," I said quietly, watching Kaito disappear around a corner. "But I think I just became one."
Because in a dating sim where only one male was allowed to exist, where the entire structure of the game depended on that singularity, being the second wasn't just unusual or unprecedented.
It was a problem.
And judging by the way the girls were starting to look at me now, some with curiosity, others with interest, and a few with something that looked almost like hope, it was a problem that was only going to get worse.
Much, much worse.