---

The cool breeze and warm sunlight

As the sunlight filtered through my skin, I slowly rubbed my eyes.

“Ugh…”

The first thing that hit me was an excruciating headache.

What happened yesterday… right, Nova didn’t come to the Academy, so I went to check on him and

suddenly he collapsed… I remember taking him to the hospital.

“…Huh?”

And then I realized my current position.

I was curled up like a caterpillar, nestled in someone’s arms.

At first, I thought it was Shia since she often came to my bed to sleep beside me.

But this felt off for Shia, as I fit so snugly in their embrace.

When I finally looked up, the face reflected in my eyes was none other than Nova’s.

“Wha?”

I had my arms wrapped around his chest and some part of his waist.

“Uh…?”

I could feel his heartbeat thump, thump against me.

An inexplicable warm sensation washed over me.

“Whoa, whoa—!!”

With the rising heat, I screamed and shoved Nova off the bed.

“Ugh!!”

Suddenly, memories of what happened yesterday started to flood back.

[Hee~? You like this ♡?]

Me, who had been seducing Nova while laying on the floor.

[I just thought it was cute when you ate!]

Me, spouting embarrassing things without a shred of shame in front of my friends.

[Nova! Can we sleep together today?]

Me declaring that I would sleep under Nova’s blanket.

“Ugh… Stella? Are you awake?”

Nova, who fell to the floor, said with a groggy voice.

Even then, my mind was still a jumbled mess.

What… what did I do… hugging Nova… hugging…

“Ahh!”

With my mind going blank, I randomly grabbed a pillow and whacked Nova with it.

“Forget it! Forget it! Forget it right now!”

“Ugh! Ow! Hey, I’m the patient, the patient!”

“Forget everything!”

“Gah…”

“I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry for?!”

“For bringing that thing into the room…”

“You still remember it!”

Thwack! Thwack!

“Gah! No! I don’t remember anything!”

“I-I…”

A shame so intense I could bite my tongue and want to die,

Even if I was under the influence of medicine, in front of my friends…

Let alone showing that side to Nova…

“What happened last night?”

“I… don’t remember anything?”

“What happened?!”

“I mean, when you told me to forget…”

“Are you going to tell me or what?”

As I raised my fist once more, Nova desperately replied.

“No! I swear, nothing happened! We just slept!”

“Really…?”

“Yeah, we’re not strangers either;

we used to sleep together often.”

“That’s…”

Well, when we were kids and slept together,

it was nothing unusual, but now, with the memories of my past life returning and

having gone through puberty, I want to die from embarrassment.

I really just want to turn back into a man at times like this.

Why do I suddenly have to be conscious of it…

“And, you know, it’s fine for lovers to sleep together, right?”

“L-lovers…?”

“Not?”

“Ugh… that’s, um…”

That smug expression infuriates me to no end.

How did I fall for someone like him?

And he even looks handsome, even in a moment like this…

…Am I out of my mind?

“Are you really getting embarrassed over something this trivial?”

“What, what are you…?”

“Stella, you’re still young…

But then again, you didn’t have any friends, so what would you know…”

“How do you… No! What do you know! I have plenty of friends!”

“Before coming to the Academy… there wasn’t anyone besides me, was there?”

“I-I had tons of friends in my past life!”

“Really…? I don’t think so…”

“…I did have friends, really…”

Suddenly, Nova saw my face

and the surprise was evident on his features.

“W-wait, Stella…”

“Shut up, you idiot!”

You jerk… as if you know anything about it.

You’ve never even seen my past life!

And yet you act like you know everything! How rude.

Leaving those words behind, I stormed out of the hospital room.

*

As Nova watched Stella flee with a face that looked like she might cry,

he felt a chill run down his spine.

“…Oh no.”

He tried to tease her as usual but crossed the line for sure.

He shouldn’t have said such a thing to Stella, who had a complex about affection.

He had never seen her with that kind of expression before. Realizing the seriousness of the situation,

Nova quickly got up and rushed after Stella.

“Stella, wait!”

Outside the hospital, Stella sat on a nearby bench, muttering to herself.

“There’s no need to say it like that…”

He had said it to ease her embarrassment, he knew that.

But isn’t saying that just a tad too much?

Or should I have just laughed it off as her girlfriend?

“Did I overreact…?”

‘No! This time, it was definitely Nova’s fault!’

But she didn’t want to leave it like this. Even if he was a bit infuriating,

she still liked him, so she planned to wait until he apologized.

“How did I end up liking such a guy…”

As she thought this, Stella

vaguely understood the reason.

“Sure enough… he’s kind of similar to him…”

Honestly, there weren’t many people she could call friends, just as Nova said.

But even so, there was one person who could be more than a friend…

Thinking back on it, Nova and he were strangely alike.

Pretending to be indifferent, yet caring for her, always listening to her and sympathizing with her,

even the teasing was honestly spot on—handsome too, included in the package.

“Could it be that Nova is that guy’s reincarnation… nah.”

No matter how she thought about it, that was a baseless conjecture…

“Are you thinking really hard about something?”

“Yeah…? What is it… you?”

Stella raised her head at the sudden voice and found

a girl in a school uniform she had never seen before standing in front of her.

‘Uncommon pink hair…

Wait a minute… I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…’

“Hi! I’m Lily! I’m in the same grade as you,

but in a different class.”

‘Lily, yes, I definitely recognize that name.

During the midterm exam, I remember writing a report for all first-year students,

and I think she was on a team with Serena…

Her combat skills aren’t that great; I remember her casting only support magic.’

“I’m Stella, so… what are you doing here instead of going to the Academy?”

“Um… isn’t that the same for you? By the way, what were you so lost in thought about earlier?”

‘What’s up with this girl? She suddenly appears and then weirdly asks about my personal life…’

“It’s none of your business.”

Stella tried to ignore her and step away, but

the voice from behind stopped her in her tracks.

“Hey~ don’t say that… should I take a guess? You… had a fight with your boyfriend, didn’t you?”

“…How do you know that…”

“I can tell just by looking into your eyes! I’m basically a love expert!”

“Really?”

“Of course! I’ve had thousands of men fall for me!”

“Thousands? What are you, a succubus?”

“I’m serious! Talk to me; who knows? Maybe your problems will get solved…”

Though she was skeptical, Stella found herself interested and began to spill her recent troubles to Lily.

“Oh my… he said that?”

“That’s right! Isn’t it just too much?”

At some point, she had let out her feelings of hurt to Lily,

and she soon dropped her guard.

“Yeah, yeah! That’s just too much… how could he say something so mean… he must be ignoring you.”

“Really…?”

Stella doubted her ears.

Break up… with Nova?

“Think about it… if he didn’t ignore you, how could he say something so harsh?”

“W-well, that’s not it… it was just a mistake…”

“No! It’s because he’s ignoring you that he can say such horrible things.

Just get rid of that trashy guy!”

“Uh, uh…?”

Stella was taken aback by the suddenly proposed extreme solution.

Quietly absorbing those words, Stella interrupted Lily.

“I’ll introduce you to a new guy. We’re having a meeting today; would you like to come along?”

“Cancel it.”

“Huh?”

“Take back what you just said; Nova isn’t trash!”

Her icy tone made Lily gasp in surprise.

“I-I’m sorry… please don’t give me that look~ it was just a joke…”

Just then, Nova’s voice rang out from the hospital entrance.

“Stella—where were you?!”

Turning to the direction of the voice and then glancing at Lily,

Stella’s eyes were still filled with hostility.

“You better not cross my path again.”

With that cold warning, Stella moved away from Lily towards Nova.

Left alone, Lily fell silent for a moment before she quietly spoke.

“…Is that ‘Star’ of this generation… just too cute?”

At that moment, Lily’s pupils transformed.

Her eyes shifted into a peculiar reverse shape,

giving off a strange unsettling feel.

Soon, horns began to sprout from the head of the girl wearing the concealed sheep mask.

“By the way… there’s a guy who’s that obsessed with a ‘Star’… how interesting…”

With an incredibly bright smile, demon Lilyth said,

“Alright, let’s see if I can take that guy for myself.”

 

---