A quiet sigh escaped the lips of a weary figure. She stumbled along through the morning haze, thoroughly unprepared for the coming day. Her chestnut brown hair felt thick and heavy. Combing it had been an ordeal, just one sleepless night had turned it into an unruly beast. Her skin was in a similar state. She would frequently brag about never using makeup, but today it would have come in handy. The exhausted brunette eyed her uniform. Normally a point of pride, now the wrinkled vest was just another worry in the back of her mind.

She could only pray that others wouldn’t notice.

“Hey, May.” A monotone voice greeted her from behind.

May tensed for a moment, and then turned around.

“Ah~” Her friend’s voice rose to a more comfortable pitch, something that was happening more often recently. “You just finished that game, didn’t you?”

“Ahaha…” May laughed weakly. “Is it that obvious?”

Belle blinked, realizing her mistake. “No, no, you look fine.”

“That bad, huh?”

“No, really, you’re fine.” Belle repeated, this time with confidence. “Anyways, how was it?”

May straightened up, only noticing her slouch as she corrected it. Once she opened her mouth, May was unable to stop. Scenes and emotions sprung into her memory and then rushed out of her mouth. May continued to gush about everything she’d experienced within the past night while Belle listened with a slight grin.

“…I-I never thought I’d get so immersed in something other than a book.” May added hastily. An excuse appending her stream of consciousness. “After you told me how dating sims have multiple routes, I got so curious about how every romance would end that…Well, this happened.”

May turned her palms upward, gesturing to her disheveled appearance.

Belle’s only reply was a smug grin and a short nod. May frowned.

“Ugh, don’t look so proud of yourself. When I gave the game back to my brother, he had that exact same expression. Then he said ‘huhuhu, another convert’. What a creep. Please tell me you have some other games lying around so that I don’t have to borrow from him.”

“I have a few.” Belle replied.

She actually had an entire attic’s worth, but May didn’t need to know about that. At least, not until Belle moved some of the more questionable games into a separate room.

“That’s a relief.” May said with a smile.

The pair continued their conversation while walking to school. May’s exhaustion was forgotten as they discussed the different romances in the game. Then, the subject inevitably turned towards real-life.

“Never.” Belle’s curt reply was followed by a frown. “And considering what happened to my brother, that’s probably for the best.”

“Wait, what happened to-” May cut off as she felt an arm snake across her shoulder.

“Moorning!” Tammy practically sang her greeting as she pulled the pair in for a hug. “What were you two, like, chatting about?”

May glanced at Belle who was busy squirming under Tammy’s embrace, fighting against her abnormally honed instincts.

“Belle just told me that she’s never fallen in love.”

“R-Really?” Lia spoke up, poking her head out from behind Tammy. “I was kind of hoping you’d have a story about a prince in some fantasy world.”

“I wouldn’t call it romantic…” Belle said, ducking out of Tammy’s arms. “But I was…courted…by a prince once.”

“Really!?” The trio responded in unison.

Belle stepped back as they pushed further into her personal space.

“Y-Yea. The first time Kazama and I were thrown into a fantasy world, we were forced to travel through a few different kingdoms. We met a really annoying prince in one of them. He practically forced us to invite him into our party.”

“And this guy joined your party to, like, get with you?” Tammy raised an eyebrow. “Did he at least look like a prince?”

“He was objectively attractive.” Belle conceded. “But he was also really arrogant about it.”

“A haughty pretty-boy type…” Lia nodded in understanding. “How annoying.”

“Fortunately, he left almost as quickly as he came.”

“The sheltered prince couldn’t handle travelling?” May theorized. The brunette’s expression darkened as she looked into Belle’s eyes. “Or did you…?”

“I didn’t need to. Apparently, he ran into a demon during a simple scouting mission. The Prince was barely injured, but the experience traumatized him. He left the instant we reached a new town.”

'“T-That’s understandable…” Lia muttered. “Anyone would think twice about adventuring after that.”

“Not really.” Belle replied flatly. “Fighting demons is par for the course in that world. Plus, Kazama was his scouting partner. We were pretty strong in that world, so there wasn’t any chance of him getting…”

Belle trailed off as she looked at the trio’s incredulous faces. “…What?”

“Your brother was with this guy? When they were attacked?” May questioned.

“Yea?”

'“And no one else saw the demon?”

“It was a long time ago, but I think it was just them.”

“And this guy totally changed his attitude afterwards?”

“Before, I couldn’t get away from him. After that…he seemed to be avoiding me.”

Belle cocked her head, expecting more questions or an explanation. Instead, the three girls patted her shoulder in turn.

“That’s the way it should be.” Lia nodded seriously.

“As an only child, I’m jealous.” Tammy matched her friend’s tone.

“My brother’s useless, so I’m also jealous.” May added with a sigh.

Belle blinked in confusion, but the trio was already walking ahead. The pink-haired girl decided to ignore their strange reactions as she hurried to catch up. From there, the conversation shifted away from the prince. By the time they reached the gates, May, Lia and Tammy were listening in awe to the tale of an unwilling pair of heroes and a bungling Demon Lord.

May found herself smiling at the absurdity of it all. Her morning’s exhaustion and anxiety was already in the past. Being Belle’s friend was nothing if not novel.