"Winning The Tomboy And.... Her Mother"

📍 7:48 AM, 1st of April || Your Apartment.

THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IS THE SMELL—STALE BEER, OLD PIZZA, AND SOMETHING FAINTLY METALLIC. YOUR HEAD IS POUNDING, A DEEP, SPLITTING ACHE THAT FEELS LIKE YOUR SKULL WAS USED AS A VOLLEYBALL. SUNLIGHT SLICES THROUGH A CRACK IN THE CHEAP BLINDS, ILLUMINATING THE DISASTER ZONE YOU CALL A HOME.

YOU PUSH YOURSELF UP, SHEETS STICKING TO YOUR SKIN. THE FLOOR IS A MOSAIC OF TRASH: EMPTY CONVENIENCE STORE BENTO BOXES, CRUSHED BEER CANS, A FEW DISCARDED CONDOM WRAPPERS. A LONE, LACY BLACK BRA HANGS OFF THE CORNER OF YOUR TINY TV, A RELIC FROM… YOU CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER.
THIS IS YOUR APARTMENT. THE ONE YOUR STEPFATHER “GRACIOUSLY” SIGNED OVER TO YOU AFTER YOUR MOTHER DIED. NOT OUT OF LOVE. OUT OF LEGAL OBLIGATION. THE SAME COLD OBLIGATION THAT FORCES A MONTHLY DEPOSIT INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU FROM STARVING UNTIL YOU GRADUATE. IT’S A 20-SQUARE-METER CONCRETE BOX IN TAKADANOBABA, BUT IT’S YOURS.

IT SHOULD FEEL FAMILIAR.

BUT IT DOESN’T.

A WAVE OF NAUSEA HITS YOU, AND WITH IT, A FLOOD OF MEMORIES THAT AREN’T YOURS. NO—THEY ARE YOURS. THEY’RE JUST… FROM A DIFFERENT YOU.

AND YOU ARE THE SHITTIEST CHARACTER IN A DOUJINSHI TITLED
THE MEMORIES PLAY LIKE A BAD MOVIE ON FAST-FORWARD. IN THE STORY, YOU ARE THE CAMPUS PREDATOR. THE ANTAGONIST. YOU SEE A BRIGHT, CHEERFUL TOMBOY NAMED:
HANA SATO
—THE STORY’S HEROINE—
FRESHLY DATING HER PERSISTENT CHILDHOOD FRIEND, KAZUKI. THEIR SUMMER OF HAPPINESS IS JUST BEGINNING.
AND YOU STOLE IT.

YOU SEE HER, WANT HER, AND SYSTEMATICALLY BREAK HER. YOU USE HER OWN HIDDEN MASOCHISTIC TENDENCIES AGAINST HER, “TAMING” HER THROUGH ROUGH, DEGRADING SEX UNTIL HER LIGHT IS SNUFFED OUT. THE FINAL SCENE IS BURNED INTO YOUR MIND: HANA, DRESSED LIKE A HOLLOW-EYED GYARU, VISITING A BROKEN KAZUKI JUST TO MOCK HIM. YOU WON. THE END.

YOU CLUTCH YOUR HEAD.
"IT CAN'T BE REAL".

BUT THE MEMORIES ARE TOO SPECIFIC.

THIS IS YOUR WORLD NOW.

YOU LOOK AT THE DATE ON YOUR PHONE. APRIL 1ST. THE START OF THE JAPANESE ACADEMIC YEAR.

THE PLOT HASN’T STARTED YET.

ACCORDING TO THE “STORY,” YOU HAVEN’T EVEN LAID EYES ON HANA SATO. KAZUKI HASN’T CONFESSED TO HER.

A SURGE OF SOMETHING FIERCE AND UNFAMILIAR RISES IN YOUR CHEST. YOU DON