Zannen Kei na Ojou-sama no Nichijou

1. My life changed into hard mode in an instant

I did nothing in the belief that my life was on auto-mode. Being a lady of the Kumoruiwashi (Grey Eagle) household, my father supplied everything I ever wanted, doting me, protecting me, always siding with my selfishness. Mother drilled into me how a lady should act, I became what every girl admired within the academy like so.
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Terms like the read rose, you, or the red rose, Maria-sama, was used to name me. The origin of these names is pretty, but at the same time, are rumours saying on how high my pride, how dangerous to touch. Everything goes smoothly, the way I want. There are barely any who oppose me either. It was as if the world revolved around me.

However, there is no such thing as an auto-mode in life. That the sudden realisation that appeared before me. This place is the same world of a manga that I knew. Kumoruiwashi Maria, is going to get killed. If you ask why I remembered such a thing in my second year of middle school, it’s the fault of nearly drowning in our household’s pool.

Raising a miserable voice of ‘U-guu-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo’ after the slip, I stared at my surroundings was full of bubbles. Taking away my breath, I remembered they looked a bit like revolving lanterns. I was, a third year in high school named Takikawa Senho, I went to the beach with my friends one summer, and drowned there. I lost consciousness as 18 years of memories as Takikawa Senho rushed into the brain like a torrent.

Takikawa Senho comes from a family, and as a high school girl, enjoys her youthful life in the real world with the group she’s in. However unfortunate, she was the only one without a boyfriend. Hearing ‘Wouldn’t it be bad if your summer just ended like this?’ from her friend, the previous me was merry on dragging them along to the beach. I died just like that. Remembering that froze my heart in fear. Even now, it’s scary. I want to forget, but at the same time, I don’t. There were a lot of fun times too, I definitely don’t want to forget those – the memories of my previous life.

“—Nh”

I can hear someone’s voice.

“—Nee-san”

Nee-san? Who are you talking about? Whose voice is this? I should know… It’s familiar, and mysteriously calming.

“Nee-san!”

I jumped up in surprise at the voice that suddenly got loud. It seems like I sleeping was on a bed. Rays of light shone through the pale, laced, curtains. It’s probably midday. If I remember correctly, I went in the pool during the morning.

“Ah, you’re awake, that’s good”
A familiar person peered in front of my face.
“It looked like you were having a nightmare. I got worried”

Smooth, dark brown hair flowed from the head that leaned over. It’s double layered, the lower narrowed in. Long eyelashes that guard the eyes, a pretty face of a boy. He is, without a doubt, my younger brother, Aoi.

… A-re? My brother is named Kumoruiwashi Aoi. I think I heard of it somewhere in my previous life before but, after living as Kumoruiwashi Maria for around twelve years… Kumoruiwashi Maria? This name, I know of it…

“Mother and father said to take a rest from school tomorrow… Wasn’t Nee-san looking forward to making cakes?”
“Right…”
“If I’m not mistaken, it was to give to our seniors after making them during home economics?”
School… Yes, the current school I’m attending, the School of Tachibana’s palace, I’ve heard of it in my previous life before.
“Hiii--!!”
“What’s the matter?”

The pieces of memories that matched together one after another drained all the blood out of me. A manga that I’ve previously read before, the names of characters were the same. A really, really unpleasant ‘lady’, Kumoruiwashi Maria, has a younger step-brother, Kumoruiwashi Aoi. The School of Tachibana’s Palace was the stage. No, no, no, it’s a lie, right? Is this really the same world as that one? But there’s a number of things that come to mind. The board chairman of the School of Tachibana’s Palace is Maria’s uncle. Okay, it matches. School buildings for the primary and middle school sections are divided by gender. It matches, and is yet to be changed. A tremendously popular, three party group of boys, leading them was Tengenji Yuu, yes, it matches… I slowly gulped down my saliva.

“This… isn’t a dream, right?”
“What are you talking about, Nee-san? You lost consciousness after drowning in the pool. Is your condition okay?”

What a strange sensation… even though I’ve always been together with this brother of mine. Ahh, I see. Something feel with a thump in the heart after knowing the fact he’s a character of a manga. I always had this mysterious sense of discomfort. There was the feel of dejavus when I first met him and heard his name.

“Are you listening?”

He is not real blood-related siblings with Maria, but a male cousin of the same age. However, Aoi lost his parents in an accident when young. Aoi’s father’s sister, at the same time, Maria’s mother, suggested to accept him in due to this, making him the adopted child of the Kumoruiwashi household there off. There was probably, only him, amongst the key characters that mourned for Maria’s death. That was just how much Maria was hated by the main characters.

Even so… was I really born into the world of that manga I read? Is this the so called reincarnation? I’ve read a lot of transmigration manga before, things like characters from a fantasy world of another universe getting transmigrated to the modern era, or vice versa. This manga, a little spice in love, was, technically, supposed to be a romance set in the modern era. It was only supposed to be added with a bit of mystery… Wait a moment, I’m that Kumoruiwashi Maria right now. Isn’t that quite a bad situation?

“Nee-san?”
“Aoi… I… How old was I?”
“Hah?”

It was a manga that I read quite a long time ago, but it was one of my favourites, and I did re-read a number of times. I do, at least, remember the characters and some parts of the story’s development. There was the drama and anime version too. The original work starts in the first year of high school. The heroin enters as a scholarship student. I wonder how much leeway I time I have left.

“We’re in our second year of middle school”
“Middle school…”
“Is something wrong? Your complexion’s bad”

Cause… I am going to get killed. Kumoruiwashi Maria dies in the second half of the manga… A-re-re? And who did she get killed by? It wouldn’t be strange for me to know the criminal but, for some reason, I can’t seem to remember. Maria was kept watched moments before she died right? Following that was getting slashed, then falling of the stairs…

“Uwaaah!!”
“W-What’s wrong!?”

I remember! I died in the sea before reading the manga’s ending. Takikawa Senho’s regret might’ve been that she wasn’t able to read it. She regretted so much that she came here!? No, no, no, Maria’s going to die so she won’t be able to see the actual ending. Saying ‘s-so it was you all along’ while looking at the criminal just before dying, isn’t that a bad end?! Of course she wouldn’t want that.

“I…”
“Are you alright? You’ve been acting odd since waking up”
“want to live”
“Un, Nee-san’s alive so you can calm down. Take some more time to rest”

I was forcefully laid down and covered with a soft blanket. Taking a deep sigh, a shrank my head into my body and shouted ‘What the hell is this!?’, while getting my blanked taken from the worried Aoi just a second after.

My life turned into hard-mode from this day on.