Chapter 1: Woke Up a Lady

There’s this genre called "villainess stories."

For those unfamiliar, it's a web novel category where the protagonist gets reincarnated or possessed into the body of an outrageously evil noble girl—often the antagonist in an otome game—and works to avoid the inevitable bad ending that would normally befall that role by changing their behavior and altering the course of fate.

In the world of web novels, it’s just about as popular as reincarnation into a VRMMO is for male audiences. The villainess genre is a female-audience staple.

That said, even I—a guy—know about it well enough to say there’s a fair male fanbase too (probably). Some stories even have guys reincarnating or possessing the villainess themselves.

So, why am I bringing all this up so suddenly?

“…Oh my god…”

Well, it’s because I just experienced that exact “possessed into a villainess” thing.

---

Prologue: What Really Matters Is the Aftercare – For_starters...
Episode 1: Woke Up a Lady – I_AM...?

---

To be honest, I need to reestablish a strong sense of identity, since my sense of self is totally shaken right now. So let me confirm things. My name is Kimida Shiren. I liked light novels and watching moe anime. My favorite publisher was Dengeki Bunko. My favorite anime was And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online?—just your typical, boring otaku guy.

At least, I was.

I wasn’t the kind of person who suddenly wakes up in a hospital room they’ve never seen before or looks out the window and sees a cruelly beautiful girl with a dangerously nasty aura reflecting back at them. That kind of absurdity just wasn’t in the cards for me.

So what’s the deal with the girl in the reflection? Given that I’m seeing her in the window’s reflection, it’s pretty safe to say that’s me now.

…Yeah. No joke. I wish it were.

No matter how hard I dig through my memories, all I can recall is the episode of YuruYuri I watched last night. I’ve got no clue how this happened to me.

I tried concentrating—hoping I could at least remember something from this body. But no dice. That feels seriously bad. I mean, isn’t it kind of a fatal problem to not even know anything about the original owner of the body you’re now in?

...Wait.

Now that I think about it, this body I’m controlling clearly isn’t an infant’s. It’s a girl’s, probably around sixteen to eighteen years old. So unless this is an artificially grown clone body with no mind of its own, then there was a soul in here before.

And now I’m here.

Which probably means her soul got pushed out... or overwritten.

…………………………

...Let’s not think about that.

Even if it’s true, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t apologize to someone who’s gone. Even if I told her parents, they’d just think I lost my mind. All I can do is default to that cliché coping strategy: “I’ll live her life to the fullest in her place.”

And just then—

“Well now, looks like you're already awake.”

While I was zoning out, trying to wrap my head around things, the hospital room door opened, and in walked a frog-faced, balding doctor. Something about him had a goofy charm. Not quite cute, but... weirdly likable.

Still, internally, I was totally panicking.

“I won’t ask why you tried to jump into the river. But I’m a doctor who never fails to save my patients. As long as you’re my patient, I will never let you feel like you have to give up your life again. Got that?”

His tone was dead serious.

But for me, it was just more evidence to reinforce a very specific, very terrifying theory.

A frog-faced doctor who saves every patient. That kind of character does exist in a light novel.

Toaru Majutsu no Index. (A Certain Magical Index.)

...

Look, the possession thing is already enough. Can we not pile on more crazy stuff right now?

---

Well, the frog-faced doctor—Heaven Canceller, also known as Meido-Gaeshi—eventually drove me back to the dorms. I told him stuff like, “It was a moment of weakness,” or “I’m scared of dying now so I won’t try again,” and he let it go. He said my tests were all normal and that, aside from a monthly check-in for monitoring, I was free to go.

So… the original owner of this body tried to commit suicide by drowning.

Whatever her circumstances, I’m guessing she drowned, and my soul just slipped in somehow at that moment.

I don’t remember it, but... I probably died, didn’t I?

I mean, I had terminal cancer.

Yeah. It's scary how completely my memories from my final moments are gone. I always knew death could come any time, so I guess it’s not that strange…

Still, even with terminal cancer, I made the most of my last days. I was reasonably satisfied with my life. I wasn’t trying to cling to it by pushing someone else out of their own.

...Suicide by drowning. Damn.

She must have been really struggling. In a city this advanced, to go out of your way to choose that method...

I sat with that for a moment, thinking about the pain she must have been in.

Then I gave up on escapism.

The place I’m apparently living in is Tokiwadai Middle School’s external dorm.

…………………………Nope. Nope nope nope. Tokiwadai!?

Tokiwadai Middle School is the elite girls’ school. Famous enough to be featured in fiction. Two heroines go there. There must be at least ten named characters from it.

Okay, sure, I’ll accept that I’ve possessed a super-troubled, suicide-attempted beauty. It’s not fine, but I’ve come to terms with it.

But why did you have to throw the ojou-sama trait into the mix too!?

I’m seriously at my limit here!

And on top of that... I don’t even know what my room number is. Heck, I don’t even know this girl’s name!

I was hoping Heaven Canceller would drop her name casually, but he just kept calling me “you.”

I only just realized I could’ve checked the nameplate outside the hospital room. It didn’t even occur to me before…

From what I can see—those shoulder-length blonde twin-drills, those piercing emerald eyes—it’s probably a Western-sounding name, right?

So, what now?

…Yeah, I should probably just ask someone. I can say I’m a little fuzzy from the shock of nearly drowning. That should be enough of a cover.

“──Blackguard, huh?”

Just as I stood outside the dorm, lost in thought, a voice called out from behind me.

A dignified, resolute woman’s voice. Calm, yet laced with the kind of pressure that made you feel pinned in place.

Th-This voice...!

“…The dorm supervisor?”

The demon teacher (well, maybe) from A Certain Scientific Railgun. A legend said to twist high-level teleporters like infants and stand unchallenged even by Academy City’s third-ranked esper. That dorm supervisor!?

Ugh... My instincts are screaming at me: Don’t go against this person!

Well, even if they weren’t, I’m a goody-two-shoes. I wouldn’t dare disobey a teacher anyway.

“…Hmm.”

The dorm supervisor nodded slightly with her usual unreadable expression as soon as she laid eyes on me.

“It seems the tension has left your face. Did something happen at the hospital?”

“!”

Wha—Her insight is terrifying! She noticed something was off in just one glance!? Or am I that easy to read!? That’s actually kind of a problem…

“Y-Yes. A change of heart, you might say…”

I managed to force a reply, barely keeping the panic out of my voice. My gaze was threatening to waver, so I slightly averted my eyes just to be safe.

…Ah, wait. Isn’t this the perfect chance to ask my room number?

“…However, I’m afraid my memory is still a bit foggy. I’ve forgotten my room number.”

As I said that, I couldn’t help but think:

Speaking like an ojou-sama is so unnatural for me…

I mean, given that I’m now a Tokiwadai student, speaking like a noble lady probably is the norm, so I’ve been trying to go with the flow, but seriously, this is beyond embarrassing. Way worse than putting on a girly voice.

How do the other students manage to keep this up all the time? Is it actually a school rule or something? Maybe it applies to everyone except Level 5 espers...? Then again, I have seen some girls at Tokiwadai not using formal speech, so probably not.

The dorm supervisor didn’t react strangely, so I guess my act is passable...?

“…What? Memory confusion? Is that alright? Did they run detailed scans…?”

“Ah, no need to worry! It’s only semantic and procedural memory that’s affected! My episodic memory is intact, and the doctors said the others should return to normal soon!!”

“…? Semantic... episodic...? I’m no expert on memory studies, so I don’t fully understand, but... if you say there’s no problem, then there’s no need to deny it so desperately. Anyway—your room number, was it?”

The dorm supervisor took out a tablet from her pocket.

“Room 201. It’s the room next to Misaka Mikoto’s—does that ring a bell?”

She said it like it was nothing.

Mikoto...? Wait, Misaka Mikoto?! Seriously!? What are the odds!?

Maybe once I’ve settled in, I should stop by and say hi, like “I just got discharged.” Too eager? Maybe. But still, meeting a character from a novel feels like bumping into a celebrity from another world. It’s kinda exciting.

I mean, she is a Level 5 esper—way out of my league—but still.

………

…At the time, I was still thinking that way, all casual and carefree.

That peace of mind vanished the moment I stepped into my room.

---

I arrived at Room 201, my assigned room, and gave it a once-over.

There was one bed and a desk. In the corner stood a small electric stove and a fridge, both looking untouched.

Based on the room layout, it seemed meant for two, but there were no signs of a roommate. That emptiness gave the place a bit of a lonely vibe—but to be honest, I was very relieved to have the room to myself.

Once inside, the first thing I did was check out the belongings of this body’s owner—Blackguard-san. I felt terrible about it, but if I was going to survive in this body, I had no choice.

After all, I didn’t know a thing about who Blackguard-san was. Not a single memory. Trying to live as someone when you don’t even know who they are? That’s asking for trouble.

If only there were something like a diary...

As I silently apologized to Blackguard-san in my heart, I opened the desk drawer.

And there it was. An actual diary.

…Thank you, God…! I mean, you could’ve made things a bit easier, but still—thank you!

With silent gratitude to the divine (and more apologies to Blackguard-san), I took out the diary and began flipping through it.

…And then, silently, I raised my middle finger at God.

---

April 5 – Clear Skies

Today marks the beginning of my life at Tokiwadai Middle School.
To commemorate the occasion, I’ve decided to start keeping a diary.

Before enrollment, I achieved Level 4 as a high-ranking esper. Over the next three years, I will reach Level 5 and make the name Reicia Blackguard known throughout Academy City—no, throughout the world.

Misaka Mikoto? Shokuhou Misaki? I don’t care who they are.
I refuse to remain beneath third- or fifth-ranked nobodies forever.

By making full use of Tokiwadai’s top-tier ability development curriculum, I will reach Level 5—reach the very pinnacle.

——

April 10 – Clear Skies

It seems there’s a thing here at Tokiwadai called “factions.”

Of course, I did my research beforehand and was aware of them, but I dismissed them as mere ragtag groups and didn’t bother taking countermeasures.
However… it appears that I need to revise that view.

Apparently, beyond simply being research groups or social clubs, these factions also function as symbols of authority, directly tied to the influence of their leaders.
Naturally, someone like me must possess a symbol of equivalent status.

So today, I gathered a few underclassmen with similar abilities who already knew my name and founded my own faction.
According to the information I gathered, such a move will inevitably provoke existing factions into making a move out of fear.

If I overcome that and crush them, my faction will be established as one of Tokiwadai’s true powers.

This is the perfect opportunity.
I’ll show the rabble at this school just how terrifying I can be.

——

April 11 – Clear Skies

Today was a most refreshing day.

The ones who challenged me included a faction composed mostly of second-years specializing in molecular interference, and another faction of third-years focused on developing industrial-grade cutters.
They were called something like the Ennai Faction and the Satsuka Faction, I believe?

Well, their names no longer matter.
Both of their factions have been absorbed into my Blackguard Faction.

They were insolent, yes, but perhaps the sheer force of my ability left them too terrified to even consider resisting.
This is how it should be. This is the view from the top.

…In fact, it may have been a stroke of luck to absorb them so early.
By taking in the data their factions had accumulated, my own ability development should progress even further.

——

September 21 – Clear Skies

Today was infuriating.

When I was delivering a bit of discipline to some fools who dared defy me—she interrupted me.
That girl, Misaka Mikoto.

She’s clearly gotten arrogant just because her power output is a little higher.

The dorm supervisor showed up, so I let it go for now.
But one day, when I reach Level 5, I’ll knock her down a peg or two.

Until then, she can enjoy her little illusion of queendom.

——

April 6 – Cloudy

Starting today, I’m a second-year.

Last year, I was outpaced by Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki.
But that won’t happen this year.

My faction is now the largest in the field of molecular control.
It still lags behind Shokuhou’s in overall scale, but by leveraging our specialization, I believe we can accelerate our development pace.

To that end, we need to increase our research tempo.
Lately, the other members’ attitudes have grown complacent.
It might be time to tighten the reins a little.

——

July 4 – Cloudy

My power output hasn’t budged.

My grades are fine.
Our research is progressing.

So why hasn’t my ability improved?
Am I training the wrong way?

But I’ve already reviewed the fundamentals time and time again.
The instructors just keep repeating “Don’t rush, take your time.”

I never imagined that the teachers at this prestigious school would be such passive, incompetent idealists.

Recently, the other faction members have also started showing signs of defiance.

They wouldn’t even be in such a powerful faction if it weren’t for me—what ungrateful little…

Maybe it’s time they remembered who they should be afraid of.

——

………………

Impossible.

This can’t be me. It has to be a lie.

Please, let me wake up from this nightmare.

I’m supposed to be perfect… undefeatable…

Yes. If this is a dream… then maybe, if I die…

……………………………………

---

No no.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!

What is this? Reicia-chan has an absolutely horrible personality!!

I mean—this is straight-up textbook villainess stuff, isn’t it? Fancy girls’ school setting, constantly picking fights with Misaka… she’s the very definition of a villainess. A web novel-style villainess, at that.

You know the type: commits every imaginable evil, weaponizes her terrible personality to the max, then gets pitifully beaten by the protagonist and vanishes from the story. …I’m guessing that’s how it went for her in whatever manga or novel she came from too. Just totally written out as a side character.

She’s the Villainess. In the native English sense. The female version of a villain.

Just… seriously…

“…Oh my god…”

That about sums it up.

She’s the perfect example of a villain. So obsessed with ambition and pride that she couldn’t stand not being the top of the world around her.

So she challenged Misaka, took her frustrations out on her faction members… and then what? They turned their backs on her? Or maybe she got caught bullying them and Misaka stepped in and shut it down?

Either way, it probably ended with her being crushed—her confidence, her pride, her whole position shattered.

And that’s when she chose to die…

………

And yet, for some reason… I can’t bring myself to hate her.

It’s not because of some lingering emotions from the body, or muscle memory sadness or anything like that—I can say that with certainty. If that were the case, I’d have remembered something from reading her diary.

No, the reason I feel sympathy for her… is because of one small stain in the corner of her diary.

She must have been sad. She must have been frustrated.
This girl… the only way she knew how to affirm her place in the world was by wielding her power.

……Objectively speaking, that approach was foolish. Maybe even ugly.

But was that really all her fault?

Couldn’t someone have stepped in and guided her before she reached this point?

She was fourteen, for god’s sake. Just a girl.
Instead of writing her off as rotten, shouldn’t someone have taught her—shown her—what it means to truly connect with others?

Before she gave up on the world and tried to take her own life…
Shouldn’t an adult have done something?

Surely, there was time to reach out.

According to the diary, she had regular contact with her development instructors.
Couldn’t someone have helped her before she broke like this?

…Isn’t that what adults are supposed to do?

……

Why did it have to come to this?

Why did it take some nobody old man’s soul randomly slipping into her body…
Why did it take this for someone to be here in her place?

……

…Well. No use dwelling on it now, I guess.
Maybe I’m asking too much of a development supervisor anyway…

Let’s change gears.

I don’t have time to sit here and mope.

What I can do now is live this life as fully as I can, for Reicia-chan’s sake.
That’ll be my way of mourning her.

To do that, I’ve got to get educated. Fast.

I mean, Tokiwadai Middle School’s already a prestigious institution. If I go around saying “Whoops, forgot everything,” I’ll be expelled in no time.

That’s why I bluffed the dorm supervisor with that crap about “semantic and procedural memory disarray.” I’ve bought some time with the whole “still recovering from a suicide attempt” excuse, but I have to cram in knowledge before that window closes.

Fortunately, I’ve got some pretty solid memory retention—this is Academy City, after all, and we do specialize in cognitive development…

With that thought, I cracked open a physics book. It looked like it had detailed info on molecular bonding or something.

…Hmmm.

flip

……Hoohhh.

flip flip

………I see, I see…

thud

I… I think I get it now. All of it.

Wait, wait, wait, wait! I don’t know a damn thing about physics, okay!?
So how the hell am I able to access Reicia-chan’s semantic memory? Is it because “the body remembers”? But if that’s the case, why can’t I remember her episodic memories—the actual experiences?

…And while we’re at it, what about my original memories?
I can still recall my own past, my episodic memories.
And even earlier, I was pulling up bits and pieces of knowledge—my own semantic memory—without really trying.
Where’s that coming from?

Well, it’s probably because my soul is here, so I can draw from my previous life’s knowledge. That makes sense.
But if that’s the case, then why can I access Reicia-chan’s semantic memory, even though her soul’s supposedly been overwritten by mine?
That shouldn’t be possible.

Hmm… I remember Index touched on concepts like souls too, but it was all pretty vague when it came to memory and identity. That whole “Angel Fall” thing was a mess—I’d have to reread it to even begin to understand what was going on.

…“Angel Fall,” huh.

Right, that arc introduced that serial killer with dissociative identity disorder—Hino Jinsaku, was it?
In Index, multiple personalities were treated as separate souls, if I recall. But beyond that, the rules for how souls work were kind of murky.

So yeah… still a mystery.

…Wait.

Just now, something clicked in my brain. Like gears locking into place.

What if… just what if…

I originally assumed that when my soul took over this body, it completely overwrote Reicia-chan’s soul. That was my first conclusion.

But if I consider this from the worldview of A Certain Magical Index, doesn’t it make more sense to say that I didn’t erase her… I just pushed her aside and took the front seat?

In other words…

Reicia-chan’s soul might still be alive.

That would explain everything.
Why I still have my memories—why I can still tap into her semantic knowledge despite supposedly replacing her.

If her soul is still intact, then it makes perfect sense: I’m just accessing her memories from the backseat.

And that changes things.
That changes everything.

Reicia-chan’s soul is still alive.

Maybe it didn’t get overwritten—maybe it just shut down from the trauma of the suicide attempt.
Or maybe, before that, some “incident” made her retreat and pretend to sleep.
Or maybe she got shoved into the back of her own mind during the shock of the possession.

Whatever the case… she’s still in here. She’s still alive.

In that case—
Let me do it.

Let me show Reicia-chan all the things no adult ever managed to teach her.
Let me share the joys she never got to experience.

I may not look like much, but I am technically an adult.

This… this is the least I can do to thank her for letting me borrow her body.

Yeah. That’s it. That’s my decision.

Besides, it’s not just about gratitude—this is something I’ll need to do if I want to keep living in this world.

I’m going to untangle all the messed-up relationships Reicia-chan left behind—one by one.
And then, I’m going to show her.

That life… isn’t something you throw away so easily.
That even a terminal cancer patient like me could find hope and joy and reason to keep living.

That life… is full of wonderful things.

I hereby declare the launch of “Project Human Relations Recovery = RESTART”…!!