Prologue

They say everyone is born equal, but I’ve always found that hard to swallow. Isn’t it just too unfair that something as pivotal as appearance—a stat that shapes your entire life—is set in stone the moment you’re born?

Take, for example, a tall, handsome classmate who stands at an impressive 180 cm, compared to someone like me, Yagami Ryoya, a mere 167 cm with painfully average looks. It’s clear who’s got the upper hand.

That guy, a shining star in the class’s top caste, is destined to live as a main-character-tier normie, effortlessly stealing the spotlight wherever he goes. Meanwhile, I’m fated to linger in the background as Mob Character B, forever eclipsed by the protagonist, never once standing out.

Maybe it’s because I’ve given up, but I don’t feel much drive for life. My days are a monotonous cycle: wake up, choke down breakfast, drag myself to school at the last second, sit through classes with half-hearted attention, and return to an empty, hollow routine.

I don’t have friends in class, and I’m not part of any clubs, so there’s no place at school where I truly belong. That probably fuels my cynical outlook. And, naturally, I don’t have a girlfriend.

“…If I had friends or a girlfriend, would my life be a little more fun?” I mumbled to myself after homeroom, heading toward the shoe lockers.

But I don’t even know how to make friends or find a girlfriend. Back in elementary school, friendships formed effortlessly, but since middle school, I’ve been at a complete loss. I can hold a decent conversation—my communication skills aren’t that bad—but I just can’t seem to connect. Everyone else makes it look so easy, yet I can’t manage that “normal,” and it makes me feel utterly pathetic.

If I can’t even make friends, getting a girlfriend is a pipe dream. Every crush I’ve had has ended in unrequited longing. Sometimes, I daydream about suddenly becoming popular with girls, like in anime or manga, but I know reality doesn’t work that way.

Lost in those thoughts as I walked down the hallway, I noticed a girl in front of me drop something from a gap in her backpack. It looked like a pencil case, but she didn’t seem to notice and kept walking. I scooped it up and called out to her in a hurry.

“Hey, hold on a sec. You dropped something from your backpack.”

“…Could it be me?” The girl stopped and turned slowly at the sound of my voice.

When I saw her face, my heart skipped a beat. I’d just called out to a school celebrity—Tsurugi Riona, the younger half of the famously beautiful half-Japanese, half-English twin sisters.

Tsurugi-san is the younger of identical twins, with an older sister, Tsurugi Reona, who’s technically in my class. We’ve never had any real interaction, though, so we’ve barely exchanged words. The Tsurugi sisters are like mirror images with opposite traits: the older sister, Reona, is bright with long hair, while Riona is cool and sports short hair.

“Here, this is yours, right, Tsurugi-san?” I held out the pencil case.

“Thanks for picking it up,” she replied, her face expressionless as she took it and set her backpack on the floor.

In an anime or manga, this might’ve been the spark for a rom-com, but this is reality. After slipping the pencil case back into her bag, Tsurugi-san gave a brief nod of thanks and walked off.

“…Something unusual happened today. Maybe it’s one of those days,” I muttered to myself.

Could this be a lucky day bestowed upon me by the gods? If so, maybe I’d finally pull that SSR character I’d been chasing in my gacha game. With that fleeting hope, I pulled out my phone, opened the app, and dumped all my saved-up stones into a pull.

The result was a spectacular failure, and my brief spark of excitement fizzled out. Deflated, I left school and headed to the shopping mall, my sights set on the bookstore for a light novel. The latest volume of the wildly popular school rom-com My Fiancée with Five Personalities had dropped today. Once I reached the mall, I made a beeline for the light novel section and started browsing.

“Oh, this is that one I read on Let’s Become a Novelist,” I murmured, picking up a book. “So it got published, huh?”

As a light novel fan, I often scour the online novel site Let’s Become a Novelist, where top-ranking stories sometimes catch the eye of publishers for print or manga adaptations. I once submitted a story myself, dreaming of getting published or adapted, but it barely got any views, and I gave up after a week.

“The bar for publication is 30,000 points. That’s just impossible…” I sighed. My story had scraped together a pathetic four points in a week.

Shaking off the memory, I grabbed a copy of Apparently, My Modern Gal Childhood Friend Is Directing Some Crazy Intense Feelings at Me, a story I’d enjoyed online. Might as well buy this too. After checking out, I wandered the mall aimlessly. Tomorrow was Saturday, a long-awaited day off, so it didn’t matter if I got home a bit late.

Eventually, satisfied, I left the mall to head home. I must’ve lingered longer than I thought because evening had already settled in. The mall was right by the station, so the streets were bustling with people heading home from clubs or work. I decided I’d flop onto my bed and dive into the light novels I’d bought once I got home. Weekend homework could wait until Sunday—it’d be fine.

As I stood at a crosswalk, waiting for the signal, a piercing scream shattered the air nearby.

“Kyaaaah!”

I whipped around and saw a man dressed entirely in black, his hoodie obscuring his face, slashing at a woman’s arm with a knife. He looked a bit older than me. I couldn’t tell if he was drunk or high on something dangerous, but he was clearly unhinged. The woman’s scream sparked chaos, and the area erupted into panic.

The situation was pure pandemonium, and I had no idea when I might become a target. I needed to escape, or in the worst case, I could die.

“D-Don’t come near me!?” A familiar voice froze me in my tracks, despite the danger to my own life.

When I looked toward the voice, I saw Tsurugi Riona, the girl whose pencil case I’d picked up earlier, and her sister, Tsurugi Reona. They’d been caught up in this mess too.

“R-Riona, get up quick!” Reona urged, her voice trembling.

“…Sorry, my legs gave out. I can’t stand. Forget about me, Onee-chan, just run!” Riona replied, her voice strained.

“There’s no way I could leave you behind!”

Riona seemed paralyzed with fear, unable to move. Worse, the man noticed. Still acting erratic, he locked onto the sisters as his next targets.

I could escape while he was distracted. In a situation like this, no one would likely blame me for running. But then, a faint, desperate plea reached my ears.

“Someone, please help Riona…”

Hearing that, I couldn’t possibly abandon them. Even if today might be my last, I knew I’d regret it forever if I left them behind. If I died, at least I’d go out heroically saving two beautiful girls.

With that thought, I tackled the man just as he raised his knife, throwing my full weight into him.

“…Phew, I made it in time,” I gasped.

The sisters stared at me like I was some kind of savior, but it was too soon to relax. The man, silent but clearly enraged after being knocked over, scrambled to his feet and came at me. I barely dodged his wild knife swings, using my backpack as a makeshift shield to fend him off, but I couldn’t keep it up for long.

Still, it bought enough time for the police, alerted by a report, to arrive.

“This is the police! Drop your weapon and stop resisting!” an officer shouted.

Everyone thought he’d surrender, but he didn’t. Realizing he was cornered, the man suddenly shifted his focus to Riona, who was still paralyzed on the ground. Sensing the danger, I threw myself between him and the sisters without thinking.

A searing pain tore through my back.

“Gaaah!?”

The agony of being stabbed was beyond anything I could’ve imagined. Oh, I might actually die. But if my life saved theirs, maybe that was enough. If there’s a next life, I want to be reborn in a sword-and-magic isekai, wielding cheats to my heart’s content and living a harem life. As my consciousness faded, I clung to those ridiculous thoughts.

◇

A few days had passed since I was stabbed shielding the Tsurugi sisters. I genuinely thought I might die, but somehow, I pulled through.

“Well, getting stabbed by a random attacker doesn’t exactly scream ‘lucky,’ though,” I muttered wryly.

When I heard I could’ve died if my organs had been hit, a chill ran down my spine. Apparently, the attacker was a habitual user of illegal drugs, which explained his erratic behavior.

“…This is so boring,” I sighed.

Confined to my hospital room for observation, I was going stir-crazy. As a loner, I had no friends to visit me. The only people likely to stop by were my dad, mom, and my younger sister, Mio, who’s three years my junior. While I was thinking that and reading a light novel in bed, a sudden knock came at the door.

“Come in,” I called, assuming it was a nurse.

To my shock, two people entered—the Tsurugi sisters, of all people, standing in my hospital room.

“Sorry for barging in like this,” Reona said with a warm smile. “Riona and I really wanted to thank you in person, Yagami-kun.”

“Thanks to you, we’re safe,” Riona added quietly. “Thank you so much for saving us.”

“You came all the way to visit?” I replied, flustered. “I’m just glad you’re both okay.”

Their heartfelt gratitude made my cheeks burn, and I managed a sheepish grin. No guy wouldn’t be thrilled to have beautiful girls visit him.

“I’m so relieved to see you looking healthy, Yagami-kun,” Reona said. “We were really worried.”

“Onee-chan and I were on edge the whole time,” Riona murmured.

“Well, if a classmate died because of me, I’d feel awful too,” I said lightly.

“If you’d died, neither Onee-chan nor I could’ve forgiven ourselves,” Riona replied, her tone heavy.

For a moment, I thought I saw something dark and intense flicker in their eyes, but it was probably my imagination. They were clearly worried sick about me.

“I’ll be in here for a bit for observation, but as you can see, I’m doing fine,” I reassured them. “No lasting damage either, so don’t worry.”

“Got it. That’s a relief,” Reona said, her shoulders relaxing.

“We didn’t want you to suffer because of us,” Riona added softly.

Hearing my words, they visibly eased. They must’ve been genuinely concerned.

“How’d you even know which hospital I’m in?” I asked, curious.

“Oh, we asked your family,” Reona explained.

“We begged them to let us thank you in person,” Riona said.

“I see.”

After that, the three of us started chatting. I’d barely spoken to Reona, my classmate, before, so I was nervous at first. But their easygoing vibe put me at ease, and before I knew it, I was talking naturally.

“Visiting hours are over, so we’ll head out now,” Reona said eventually.

“…Already?” I muttered, disappointed.

The thirty-minute visit felt like five—that’s how much fun it was. I doubted I’d ever talk to them again, so I hated to see the moment end. The Tsurugi sisters were way out of my league—a mob character like me had no business even speaking to them. I decided to treat this like winning the lottery.

As I was lost in thought, Riona suddenly spoke up. “Hey, can I borrow your phone for a sec?”

“Sure, but what for…?” I asked, puzzled.

“I want to add Onee-chan’s and my contact info to your phone,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Eh!?” Her unexpected request made me forget I was in a hospital room, and I yelped loudly. If this weren’t a private room, I’d have earned glares from everyone.

It seemed I was about to experience my first-ever contact exchange with girls—an event I thought might never happen again.

“…Yagami-kun, do you not want to?” Reona asked, her voice tinged with worry.

“If you’re okay with it, we’d like to add ourselves,” Riona added, looking a bit crestfallen.

“N-No, it’s not like that!” I stammered, feeling a pang of guilt at their expressions. “Here, go ahead and add yourselves.”

“Thanks,” Riona said, her face brightening as I unlocked my phone and handed it to her. She typed at lightning speed.

“Done,” she announced. “I added Onee-chan and me to your contacts and LIME friends.”

I checked my phone and saw Tsurugi Reona and Tsurugi Riona added to my contacts and the chat app LIME.

“Thanks,” I said, a grin spreading across my face. “This is my first time exchanging contacts with girls, so I’m kinda happy.”

“Ooh, so Riona and I are your first?” Reona teased, her eyes sparkling.

“We stole your first time,” Riona added with a faint smirk.

Unlike before, they now looked delighted. For a split second, they seemed almost too excited, but that was probably my imagination. Wait, did this mean they planned to stay in touch?

“We’ll come back to visit tomorrow after school, so look forward to it,” Reona said cheerfully.

“See you tomorrow,” Riona added.

With those words, the two left my hospital room. I stood frozen, struggling to process reality, but slowly, it sank in.

“Exchanging contacts with girls wasn’t just an urban legend after all,” I muttered, still dazed.

Until now, the only women’s contacts in my phone were my mom and Mio. But now, the ultra-beautiful Tsurugi sisters had joined the list. It felt so surreal that I wondered if it was a dream, but when I pinched my cheek, the pain confirmed it wasn’t.

Still buzzing with excitement, I picked up the light novel I’d been reading. Anyone looking at me would probably think I was in a great mood. I read for a while, but when my phone’s notification sound went off and I glanced at the screen, something felt off.

“Huh, my phone’s battery is already this low…?” I muttered.

The battery, which should’ve been over ninety percent, had dropped to about fifty percent. I hadn’t touched the phone since exchanging contacts, so why had it drained so drastically?

“I’ve been using this phone for a while, so maybe the battery’s starting to degrade,” I reasoned. “Might be time for an upgrade.”

Unable to think of any other explanation, I settled on that conclusion for now.

◇

That day, when we sisters were caught in the random attacker incident, it wouldn’t have been surprising if we’d died. As the threat closed in and our past flashed before our eyes like a montage, we genuinely thought it was the end.

But we were saved—by an ordinary boy, our classmate, Yagami Ryoya. There were countless people around, but Yagami-kun was the only one who risked himself to save Riona and me. He protected us, even at the cost of his own safety.

It’d be impossible not to fall for someone after that.

In my life so far, I’ve had people like me, but I’ve never fallen for anyone myself. Honestly, I’ve never had a boyfriend, nor did I particularly want one. But now, I want Yagami-kun so fiercely it’s overwhelming. I’ve always had a stronger possessive streak than most, and I want him all to myself. I don’t want anyone else to lay a single finger on him.

The only exception is my twin sister, Riona. We were born from a single fertilized egg that split into two. In other words, Riona and I were originally one, and she’s practically half of me. What belongs to her is mine, and what belongs to me is hers.

As identical twins, our tastes are nearly identical. So, just like me, Riona is head over heels for Yagami-kun.

“Is the remote monitoring app working okay?” I asked Riona as we walked home after leaving Yagami-kun’s hospital room.

“It’s running fine,” she replied, checking her phone.

“Good. Now we can stay one step ahead if any pests try to get close to him.”

When we exchanged contacts earlier, Riona had installed something on his phone—a remote monitoring app that lets us secretly view his emails, SMS, LIME messages, and browsing history. It was originally designed for parental monitoring or theft prevention, but we’re using it to keep tabs on Yagami-kun’s every move. The app stays hidden, making it perfect for covert use, though it has one drawback: it runs constantly in the background, which can slow down the phone or drain the battery quickly. Since his phone is old, he might chalk it up to that.

“By the way, he’s currently searching online for ‘exchanging contacts with girls, chances of dating,’” Riona noted, glancing at her screen. “Looks like he’s thinking about dating us.”

“He’s definitely a proper guy, huh?” I said with a smirk.

Needless to say, both Riona and I fully intend to date Yagami-kun. In fact, we won’t allow him to date any other girls besides us.

“We’ll make him ours, no matter what,” I said, my voice firm.

“Yeah, we won’t let anyone else have him,” Riona agreed, her tone equally resolute.

For now, we’ll keep visiting him every day after school to get closer. He didn’t seem opposed to us, so if we keep meeting under the guise of hospital visits, we should grow even closer.