Princess Connect Academy: The Sufferings of a Hopeless Boy - The Lost Transfer Student and the Destined Person She Met on the Rooftop

"…Huh?" Morning at Aoba Station, South Exit. Tanaka Yuuki looked from the map app on his phone to the station building towering in front of him, and back again, muttering to himself. The arrow on the map pointed right. But the only road that looked promising was to the left. No, wait. Hadn't that arrow been spinning in circles for a while now? "No way. Which way is it…?" He raked his fingers through his short black hair. The bedhead spikes at the back of his head got even messier. White dress shirt, black school uniform jacket, and a tie that had been crooked since morning. The small crescent-shaped scar above his left eyebrow disappeared under his fingers as he unconsciously touched it — a habit he had whenever he was troubled. Kiraboshi Academy City, Aoba. Starting today, he would be attending high school in this city. His first day as a transfer student. And yet, he hadn't managed to move a single step from the station. The reason was clear. He had a catastrophic sense of direction. Aoba Station was huge. Eighty thousand people passed through it every day — the heart of this academy city. The station building, "Aoba Terrace," had a bookstore, a café, a knick-knack shop. Too many people, too many signs. It made his head spin. "…South Exit, North Exit, got it." He looked up at the information board and tilted his head. The bus stop was at the North Exit. From there, it was a fifteen-minute bus ride to school. That's what the map said. Okay. North Exit. He made up his mind and started walking. Ten minutes later. "…I've been here before." The fountain in front of the South Exit. Not third time's the charm — third time around the same loop. A passing salaryman glanced at him and quickened his pace. Well, of course. A high schooler wandering around the same spot since morning looked like nothing but a suspicious person. His phone buzzed in his pocket. "Yuuki, are you there yet? Today's the day, right? You're going to be late." It was a message from his mom. "…I don't think I'm ever getting there." He muttered quietly and put his phone away. Since then, he'd boarded the bus twice. The first time, he went the wrong direction. The second time, he got the destination number wrong by one. When the driver asked him, "Kid, where are you trying to go?" with genuine concern, he wanted to jump out the window. It was over an hour after leaving the station that he finally found what looked like a school gate. Private Kiraboshi Academy. A big white school building stood against the blue sky. Across the gate hung a banner: "No. 1 in Couple Formation Rate." …What even was that. He forgot to fix his tie and passed through the gate. Getting from there to the classroom was another ordeal entirely. He walked the connecting corridor the wrong way, hit a dead end behind the gymnasium, stared down a "No Entry" sign in front of the old school building, and passed by the stairs to the rooftop garden three separate times. And each time, it caught his eye. "Birthplace of the Legend of the Red Thread of Fate — Minagiri Shrine ~ Welcome to Academy City Aoba ~" Tourism posters plastered everywhere. A vermilion torii gate and a photo of a couple holding hands. The catchphrase sparkled obnoxiously. "…Fate, huh." He stopped in front of one of the posters. Before he'd come to this city, his mom had told him. Aoba was famous for the legend of the "Red Thread of Fate." Young people came from all over to find their destined partner. Honestly, he'd been skeptical. But the sheer number of these posters — what was with that? The entire city was way too serious about romance. When he passed by the school store, he was even more surprised. A long line of female students. Each of them holding a small bag. Pink, with a heart drawn on it. "Hey, is that the new matchmaking charm?" "Yeah! It's a limited design from Minagiri Shrine!" "No way, I totally need one!" Shrill voices flew back and forth. A matchmaking charm, eight hundred yen each. Apparently sixty percent of the girls in this school had one. …Sixty percent. More than half the class. "Is this school okay…?" He quietly slipped away. Three hours later. He was still wandering the school building. His feet hurt. His throat was dry. Sweat plastered his dress shirt to his back. His tie had come completely undone and hung from his neck. "…Where the hell am I?" An empty corridor. Outside the window, it was already evening. Orange light stretched long across the floor. That was when he found the emergency stairwell. A small sign on the iron door read "Rooftop." He grabbed the rusted handle and leaned his weight into it. With a creak, the door opened. He stepped forward. —And his foot slipped. "Whoa!?" The last step of the staircase — maybe there'd been a pebble or something on it. His body pitched forward. He reached for the handrail and grabbed air. Thud. He tumbled onto the ground shoulder-first. "…Ow." He raised his head. It was the rooftop. No — not just any rooftop. Flower beds. White benches. A wooden fence. A small garden dyed in the sunset. The sky felt impossibly close. —A rooftop garden. He'd seen it in the school pamphlet. This place was apparently called the "Holy Ground of Confessions." Confession success rate: ninety-two percent. …Again. This school tied everything to romance. He pushed himself up and looked around. And then he noticed. Someone was sitting on the bench. A petite girl, backlit by the setting sun. Light brown long hair braided into two tails at the sides. Her hair swayed softly in the wind. Large sky-blue eyes looked straight at him. She was sparkling. Not just her eyes. Everything around her, the very air itself. "…Um." The moment he tried to speak— She broke into a radiant smile. Like a flower blooming, all at once. "I finally got to meet you, Yuuki-kun!" —Huh. She sprang up from the bench as if leaping, and ran straight toward him. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. "Whoa!?" The next moment, she was hugging him. A soft sensation. A sweet scent. Shampoo, or maybe something like candy. Her hair brushed against his shoulder, tickling him. "Ahh, I knew it! It's Yuuki-kun! I've been waiting for you this whole time!" She buried her face in his chest and squeezed tighter. His heart was pounding. No — that was wrong. He was just startled. "H-hey! Let go! And how do you know my name…!?" When he said that in a panic, she looked up. Her sky-blue eyes stared at him. So close. Close enough that their noses almost touched. "Because you're my destined one, of course." —What? His mind went completely blank. Destined one. A phrase he'd heard over and over since coming to this city. Posters, charms, banners. But he never imagined a girl he'd just met would say something like that to him. "…Huh?" He could only repeat the same word from before. She giggled softly. "I'm Pecorine! I'm a first-year, same as you, Yuuki-kun. You transferred in today, right? I've been waiting since this morning." Pecorine. An unusual name. No — more importantly. "…Why do you know my name?" He finally pulled free of her arms and took a step back. She was beaming. "Of course I know. Because you're my destined one." …This conversation was looping. "Destined one, you say…" "Ah, I'm getting hungry. Hey, Yuuki-kun, do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten since morning, I'm absolutely starving!" The topic jumped. And "starving" — was she making a pun on her own name? "…No, I don't have anything." "Oh, I see…" Her shoulders drooped. Her braided hair seemed to wilt. …What was with this girl. He scratched the back of his head. A habit. Whenever he was flustered, his hand always went there. "Hey, first of all, introductions or whatever — why do you know about me—" "Oh! Right!" She suddenly pulled a small bag from her chest. A pink bag with a heart drawn on it. —That was. "Look at this. It's a charm my grandma gave me." She took a small red charm out of the bag. It looked like the same kind the girls in line at the school store had been holding. But something was different. It was old. Very, very old. The cloth was faded, the embroidery thread coming loose. But you could tell it had been treasured, carefully, for a long time. "My house is next to Minagiri Shrine. My grandma used to be a shrine maiden there, a long time ago. And me — I've been able to see the red thread since I was born." —The red thread. The legend of this city. The Red Thread of Fate, passed down at Minagiri Shrine. Girls born in Aoba occasionally possessed the power to sense, vaguely, the distance and direction of their destined partner. "Red Thread Sensing," they called it. It was written on the poster. An ability held by only about three percent of the city's residents. …But still. "…That's unscientific." He'd said exactly what he was thinking. Because it was true. A destined one? A red thread? That was a fairy tale. Her smile didn't waver. The sunset dyed her hair gold. Her sky-blue eyes reflected the orange light, shining like jewels. "When you're near me, Yuuki-kun, my chest gets warm. Like a gentle glow. Today, when I was waiting near the school gate, it happened suddenly. That's how I knew you were coming this way." She placed a hand over her heart. "If this isn't fate, then what is it?" Her eyes were direct. No doubt, no teasing — nothing like that. Just pure, honest eyes. He searched for a rebuttal. But nothing came. Because her eyes were too serious. And more than that. —Because his own chest had gotten a little warm, too. It was the sunset. He decided to think so. "…You're a strange one." That was all he managed to squeeze out. Pecorine broke into that radiant smile again. "I get that a lot! Ah, but it's a compliment, right? Right?" "…Who knows." "Whaaat!?" She looked exaggeratedly shocked, puffing out her cheeks. What was with this girl. Before he knew it, the corner of his mouth had loosened, just a little. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The chime signaling the end of the school day echoed through the building. Pecorine looked up at the sky with a start. "Ah, it's already this late! I have to go home. My grandma's making dinner and waiting for me." She spun around to face him. "Yuuki-kun! I'll be waiting at the school gate again tomorrow! Promise!" "Wait, hold on, I still haven't even made it to my class—" "See you then! My destined one!" She ran off toward the emergency stairwell, bouncing with each step. The iron door slammed shut. Silence returned to the rooftop. He stood alone in the rooftop garden, dyed in the sunset. The wind blew. The flowers in the beds rustled dryly. "…What was that about?" He said it out loud. No answer came. He sat down on the bench. A small bench painted white. The place where she'd been sitting just moments ago. He thought he could still smell a faint, sweet scent. …Destined one, huh. He looked at his own hand. He unconsciously touched the scar above his left eyebrow. An elementary school field trip. That day, he'd gotten lost. Three hours in the mountains. He'd taken a different path from everyone else and cried alone. "Lost Tanaka." That's what they'd called him ever since. Even in middle school, nothing changed. "Hey, Lost Tanaka! You get lost again?" Laughter. Pointing fingers. He'd laughed it off. It was the only thing he could do. Even if he asked someone for help, he'd only be a burden. He wasn't the kind of person who got chosen by anyone. He wasn't special enough to be someone's "destined one." …And yet. He looked at the view from the rooftop. The sun was setting. The streets of Aoba were dyed orange. In the distance, he could see a vermilion torii gate. —Minagiri Shrine. The birthplace of the Red Thread of Fate. Beyond that torii gate was her house. …Why had she looked so happy? Calling him her destined one. A guy she'd just met — one with a ter

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Episode 1

Name: Princess Connect Academy: The Sufferings of a Hopeless Boy
Author: Novelia

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