Chapter 1:Running Into a Delusional Character on the Rooftop at Sunset Is Basically a Cliché

My name’s Shiragane Tsubasa, and my favorite pastime is letting my imagination run wild up on the school rooftop.

Like imagining terrorists suddenly bursting into the classroom, and me taking them all down.

Or suddenly awakening cheat powers and steamrolling everything.

Or God descending out of nowhere to explain the real reason I was reincarnated.

Stuff like that. I’d get so deep into my daydreams that before I knew it, it’d be evening… sometimes even night. Occasionally, a patrolling teacher or security guard would come chase me off.

But even so, I can’t stop.

Ever since I was born into this life, I’ve been full-blown chuunibyou as a rebound from my previous one. That’s just who I am.

See, in my past life, I was a painfully pretentious type who caught a case of "chuunibyou"—that special kind of teenage syndrome that hits hard in the second year of high school.

I’d laugh cynically whenever others got excited, overreacted to anything remotely “cool,” and acted like I was above it all.

I thought that was the norm, that I was on the “sensible” side of society. But really, I had no clue. That cluelessness lasted from middle school all the way through high school.

In short, I was a massive jerk.

But, little by little, as people around me matured, they started realizing that wasn’t normal at all. People were actually way kinder, more forgiving, and much more open-minded than I’d ever imagined.

My so-called "realistic" attitude was nothing more than a desperate attempt to believe I was different from the fools—or to convince myself that I wasn’t one of them.

In a twisted way, I guess you could call it a warped version of chuunibyou.

When I finally realized that, I was so mortified I wanted to die. And then, in a fit of panic, I ran off… slipped on a banana peel, fell down a flight of stairs, and died.

Yeah. That ridiculous, cartoonish death scene was the final memory of my last life.

So, now that I’ve said all that, you probably get it, right?

...Yep, that’s right.

The truth is—I'm a reincarnator.

And no, this isn’t just one of my rooftop fantasies. It’s the real deal.

Though if I told anyone, I’m sure they’d just say I’m delusional!

To top it off, and I have no idea why, but even though I was a guy in my past life, this time I was born a girl. That alone made everything about this life feel completely unfamiliar from the start.

But living this new life, I realized something:

—If I got a second chance, I wanted to do all the things I couldn’t before.

One of those things? Full-blown chuunibyou roleplay. I call it “pretending,” but I’m so deep in it that it’s not even pretending anymore—it’s just who I am now.

I imagine all sorts of situations, but right now, my favorite is acting like a mysterious, otherworldly girl.

Yeah, the whole “what if I were a mysterious beauty with a hidden past?” vibe. It sounds like one of those cringy self-insert fanfics I used to hate, but now that I’ve actually tried getting into that headspace… it’s a blast. I regret all the times I made fun of people for this stuff.

Daydreaming about how I wish I could be… it’s honestly kind of fun.

…Truth is, in this life, my facial muscles are basically dead, and I can’t express myself well. That’s probably why I daydream about being seen as mysterious or cool.

I’m seriously expressionless. Even when I try to say “Good morning,” all that comes out is a grunt. I’ve got zero social grace.

So, I don’t have many friends. I just spend my days up here on the rooftop, staring at the sky. For some reason, no one ever comes up here.

…Not that I’m lonely or anything.

But if someone were to show up and sit next to me, I’d be happy about it.

I even daydream about someone joining me in my rooftop fantasies—someone who’d play along with my chuunibyou nonsense.

If someone like that showed up, I think I’d really want to be friends with them.

But yeah, this rooftop’s always deserted, so it’s all just a fantasy.

Aah… I wish, just by some weird twist of fate, someone would show up.

Then I could say something cryptic and totally play the role of a mysterious beauty.

If they actually played along, I might even want to become friends with them—just maybe!

...But come on, life doesn’t work that conveniently!

If you don’t take the first step yourself, nothing ever happens. That’s why I’m still a loner today!

…Huh?

Did I just hear the rooftop door open?

—At sunset, ghosts appear on the rooftop.

That’s one of the seven whispered mysteries of Shirayuri Girls’ Academy.

They say a student once threw herself off the roof in despair over a future where she’d have to marry someone she didn’t love.

Another story tells of a girl who confessed her feelings to an upperclassman, was rejected, and attempted a double suicide.

Basically, the rooftop of Shirayuri Girls’ Academy is a place always spoken of with love and death entwined.

—So, I honestly thought one had finally appeared.

There she stood on the rooftop bathed in twilight, her white hair swaying gently in the wind.

Petite frame. Blank expression. Her gaze utterly emotionless as it fixed on me.

The surreal sight sent a chill down my spine.

Ah… So mysterious things really do exist, I thought.

…But then, she tilted her head slightly.

“Kishine… Rio?”

For some reason, she said my name.

Kishine Rio. That’s definitely my name.

She… knows me?

—Was she here to take me away?

The surreal atmosphere crept closer, like the uncanny was slowly bleeding into reality. The idea popped into my head as if I’d been lured into thinking it.

“Are you… a ghost? Or… maybe an angel?”

I asked, nervously, hesitantly.

She replied in a totally flat, matter-of-fact tone:

“Shirogane. Classmate.”

………………What?

I rubbed my eyes and looked at her again.

White hair. Tiny frame. That translucent, unreadable expression.

“…Oh.”

That’s when it hit me—our strangely inconspicuous classmate.

Shirogane Tsubasa. Same age, same school, same class.

Someone who’s always there, yet somehow goes completely unnoticed. Quiet, with an eye-catching appearance, yet constantly blending into the background.

“Aaah!?”

She was definitely my classmate.

In fact, I even greeted her this morning. Like, “Morning!” and everything.

…Wait. Hold on.

What did I just say earlier? Didn’t I ask her if she was a ghost or an angel or something?

N-no way… right?

I must’ve just thought that, right? Like, caught up in the atmosphere and it slipped through my brain?

“H-hey…”

“Not ghost. I have legs.”

…Nope. I definitely said it out loud.

I’d just become that girl.

The one who asked a totally weird question to a classmate and got a normal response back.

So embarrassing I could die.