After mother and Akira left, I was left alone in my room. A nurse came in to check on me and take away the fallen IV drip on the ground but… shouldn’t you have done that earlier? Anyway, I was perfectly fine. I didn’t have the time to do it earlier because of my sudden encounter with Akira and the visits, so I laid on my bed to sort out my memories.

First of all, this world is definitely the otome game I played in my past life, “Why Do I Even Bother?” How could I forget the heroine who has painstakingly stayed with me throughout the endless torture that is that crappy otome game...

The game was infamous for it’s no save point feature and how easy it was to get a [Bad End]. It was labeled an impossible game by the masses, and it was unknown if anyone had beaten it. It was different for me, of course. As a hardcore otaku, I played the game many times and have beaten the Fire, Wind, and Earth routes. Sadly, I died before completing Water’s route…

To complete the game, a person would have to sacrifice many hours of sleep and one’s sanity. For example, in Akira’s route you had to not only bring up his intimacy to max level, but also become friends with Akira’s best friend, Wind. If you weren’t good friends with him, then pink-ringlets would kill you, and if you hung out with him too much, then the game would go the NTR route with Akira killing Este in the end. Not only that, but if you didn’t do all of this within a set amount of time, an assassin would come to kill Este.

The title represents the game really well. Really, why does Este bother? All of the capture targets are horrible, with the only good thing about them being their looks. It makes Este look like an angel. Or is she just stupid? The game creators are pretty stupid too… Needless to say, they suffered a lot of backlash from making such a crappy game.

Hm? Wait, is the pink-ringlets that is bullying Este right now the same pink-ringlets that will bully Este in the future? Uwah… Pink-ringlets was born solely for the sake of bullying Este.

Anyways, we aren’t even given a reason as to why Este has such a high MPE. It’s probably because the game creators wanted to make a perfect heroine. But something that’s weird is that game Este’s eyes were both blue, and yet the Este that I know has one red eye and one blue eye…

But that’s not the only thing that’s weird. Another thing is the character Sia Analie. In other words, me. What is my role in the game?

I don’t have one.

I’ve beaten three routes and halfway completed the last one, but I never saw a “Sia Analie.” Este never had a friend in the game, not as a child or as a high-schooler. I am completely unrelated to the game, yet I’d like to think that I am on fairly good terms with Este. She’s a little annoying, but she’s a nice girl and I’d like to get to know her better. But… my befriending Este means that.

It means that I am changing the game.

The door to my room opened, and Akira entered wearing a suit and tie. He held a sparkly blue dress with a v-neck and no sleeves in one hand, and blue slippers in the other.

“What is that for, Akira?” I asked. I closed the book I was reading, inserting a bookmark to save my spot. While Akira was away at school, I was confined in my room reading books. The nurse would bring me a few of them everyday, but she couldn’t keep me company for very long because she had to go back to her office.

“This is for the party that’ll start in an hour!” he said as he showed me the dress with a radiating smile.

“Heh~. I didn’t know you had those kind of hobbies.” The dress is pretty, but I don’t think that’s your color. Don’t you think red would look better on you?

“Not for me, idiot! It’s for you!”

“Oh… that’s a shame. I’m surprised that your father gave you permission for that,” I said. He froze up. That could only mean that he didn’t get permission.

“I see. So we’re going to be rebellious children,” I said. I’m surprised that he would go against his father. Then again, if he listened to everything his father told him then he would be the perfect child… which he is far from being.

“W-whatever! You must also think it’s boring staying in this room all the time, right?!”

“I don’t mind reading books all day, but a party does sound fun.” If it’s a party for rich people, then there's got to be lots of food and dancing. I’ve never danced before, but it sure sounds fun! Ah, maybe I’ll be able to meet my Romeo?

“Where is the party going to be?” I asked.

“At my friend, Kaze’s house!”

Kaze… His friend… In other words, Kaze Hideaki, Wind’s place. Kaze is Akira’s childhood friend that stays with him even throughout high school. In the game he has a sadistic character, and even smiled when Akira killed Este in his NTR route. I think I’ll pass...

“On second thought, I don’t want to go. Who knows what will happen if your father finds out,” I said. No one other than Akira and the nurse comes to visit me, but I’m being kept under surveillance by a camera in the corner of the ceiling. I sure hope that it’s a female on the other side of that camera. This is how my mother is updated on what I’m doing, and she calls me every morning to tell me things such as how her day went.

“Why?! It’ll be fun! There’ll be other kids there, and I think you’ll like Kaze! I’ll get someone to hack the surveillance camera too!”

No, I don’t like him… What’s so great about him? That sadistic guy. But he turns sadistic in 5th grade, so he should be a normal kid right now. Unlike this stupid Charmander.

The only reason he’s asking me to come is because his father asked him to take care of me. Since Akira is practically begging me, I guess I can go. There’s also only one camera in this room, which can be easily hacked by magic, so it seems like he’s telling the truth. Why would an organization use advanced technology for a little girl’s room, after all? I’m actually surprised that for a “Magic” Organization I’ve seen more technology than magic.

“Okay. But you owe me one,” I said.

“Fine by me. Now, change into this dress!” He forced the dress and slippers onto me.

“Okay.” I took the clothes from him and quickly examined them. I was ready to change, but Akira didn’t seem like he planned on leaving the room. You’re kidding me, right?

“Akira,” I said.

“What? Hurry up and change!”

“I will, but you are a boy, and I am a girl. Therefore, go wait outside!” I said as I kicked him out. How troublesome. He has talent in magic and will be a looker in the future, yet he understands nothing in regards to the feelings of a female.

I put on the dress. Despite how flashy it looked, it was fairly comfortable. As for the shoes, they had inch-heels on them, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I opened the door to my room and saw Akira stand against the wall with his arms crossed. Beside him was a man in a black suit and sunglasses. Why the sunglasses? We’re indoors, you know...

“I’m done,” I said.

“Good.” Akira walked back inside the room, along with the man. The man did casted some magic to the camera and the room, and then towards us.

The next thing I knew, I was outside in front of a mansion. Teleportation magic! C-cool!

Akira walked inside the mansion, and I followed. There were many adults and kids wearing fancy suits and dresses. Actually, there are more kids here than I thought there would be. There was a large empty space in the middle of the room for dancing and the high ceiling was decorated with a glass chandelier. I guess this would be the time… for me to swing from the chandelier. Sorry, that was a bad joke.

“Hmm… now where’s Kaze?” murmured Akira.

But none of those are important, because of the tables filled with various desserts! I took Akira’s wrist and dragged him with me to the tables with food.

“H-hey wait, Sia?!” said Akira.

I’ve never seen so many luxuries in one place. There are even some desserts that I’ve never seen before. I took a plate and filled it with one of each dessert. There was strawberry shortcake, truffles, cheesecake, chocolate cake… Oops, I’m drooling.

“Are you gonna eat all of that?! You’ll get fat!”

“Shut up! You’ll never understand the life of a “commoner” like me who never gets to eat these!” I said as I wiped my drool with a napkin. I started with the cheesecake first. The rich creamy taste soothed my soul, and the brown pie crust helped to bring out the sweetness of the cheesecake. Heaven… this is heaven…

When I was busy feasting on my creamy deliciousness, a horde of girls came up to Akira.

“Good evening, Sato-sama!” said one of the girls. Even as a child, Akira has his own entourage? Akira had a disgusted look on his face, but the girls with denseness powers over 9000 ignored it despite how blatant it was. I feel sorry for both parties…

Meanwhile, I ate the next thing on my plate, the chocolate truffles. The taste of the chocolate was a little strong and overwhelming for my tastes. Sorry truffles, but you are disqualified!

“Sato-sama, who is this girl?” Even though the girls had cute, innocent faces, I could feel the ominous aura accumulating around them. You’re only children! Please be normal children and play hide-and-seek or something!

“Someone my father asked me to care of,” said Akira. A normal answer. I was expecting something more condescending like, “A filthy commoner!”.

“I see. How about a dance, Sato-sama?” The ominous aura I felt before disappeared once they found out I was nobody important, and all of the girls asked Akira for a dance. Rich children are scary in a way. I’ll just eat a strawberry shortcake…

“Don’t want to!” said Akira. The girls still smiled and hung around him. How are you girls so stubborn?! And what is so appealing about him?!

Yup. I can’t handle this. There’s so much good food, but the girls are ruining my mood. I’ll just escape. With my ninja skills, I stealthily got away from the horde of girls and Akira. Keyword, “stealthily.”

“Sia?! Where’d you go?!” said Akira.

Hehehe. I came here for the food! Don’t think for a second that you can take away my freedom! Like so, I left the main room and roamed around the mansion.

♫ I love strawberry shortcake ♫

♫ And chocolate truffles ♫

♫ And cheesecake ♫

♫ Ah, creme puffs are good too! ♫

I was singing to a song I made up on the spot, and found a expensive-looking bench in the halls to sit on and relax. There was nobody in the halls but me, so it was fairly quiet, although I could hear the faint sound of people talking from the main room.

Akira’s best friend Kaze, huh? In my past life I had a best friend too, but other than memories relating to the game, I don’t remember anything else about her.

Why was I a shut-in? Why was Lily my only friend? How did I meet her? And why did I not get along with my family?

It seems like whenever a question is answered, more of them seem to pop up. How troublesome~

I poked at my plate with my fork for another bite of mouthwatering deliciousness, only to find that I finished all of my dessert. Looks like I have to go back to the main room to get some more.

I walked towards the main room like normal, when I accidently bumped into an accent table that was holding a vase.

“Ah…”

The expensive-looking vase had expensive-looking gems embedded into it with an intricate, expensive-looking design. No!!! I have no doubts about the expensiveness of that vase! I am only a child with a poor financial backing, there’s no way I could pay it back if it falls!

The time around me went into slow motion, and the vase was gradually, but surely, falling. If this continues, I’ll fall into a predicament similar to a certain Haruhi!

I reached towards the vase and touched the handle of the vase with the tips of my fingers, but it slipped from my grasp! The vase hit the ground and shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.

Crash!

I could only stand agape at the fallen pieces of porcelain, frozen in time as I imagine my imminent doom.

The people from the main room definitely heard it… People will come to see what the commotion was. Once they see me next to the incident, they will ask me who I am and what household I come from. They will tell me to pay it back, but I’m so poor that my family will fall into debt! I’ll live on the streets and my mother will have to work everyday and eventually sell her own body to save the daughter she loves…

“Um… Excuse me?” said a boy who saw the disaster. He had light grey hair and grey eyes, along with a mature aura which would make him into a cool bishounen in ten years time. Even if he’s a child, I still recognize him!

Sadistic prince, Wind, a.k.a Kaze Hideaki!

This won’t do… No one was in the halls earlier so it would’ve been safe if I just ran for it, but I’ve had a chance meeting with the son of this house and one of Este’s future love interests!

Why aren’t you in the main room right now?! Shouldn’t you be greeting your guests or talking with your entourage?! Maybe hanging out with Akira?!

My mind went into panic mode. T-this boy, what will he do with me?

“You don’t have to worry, I saw what just happened so I’ll talk about it with my father—Eh?”

Not wanting to listen to another word, I gently set my plate and fork on the ground and ran for it.

Yes, I ran for it. Sorry mother, I am a coward. Not just any coward, but a shameless coward. I won’t be going into debt at a young age of five years old!!!

In the main room I saw a gathering of little girls. I pushed through the gathering, which Akira was in the middle of.

“Hey, who are you?! How rude!” said one of the girls.

“Sia!? Where have you been the whole time?!” asked Akira. Ignoring his question, I grabbed his wrist.

“Who cares about that! We’re running!” I said as I forced through the horde of girls.

“Hey, where do you think you’re taking Sato-sama?!”

The girls’ words went through my ear and out the other. We made it outside the mansion, where the crescent moon lit the night sky.

“Why are we leaving already? You didn’t even meet Kaze yet,” said Akira. I grabbed his shoulders and gave him my evil smirk in response.

“Listen, Akira. Some things are better left unknown. Following that advice, would you like your father to know that you snuck us out? You wouldn’t, right? So bring us back to the organization already!”

“O-okay, fine.”

And that was how the night at the party concluded for Akira and I.

Author's Corner: Hey guys. I just wanted to share with you something that I thought was funny. So I let my friend read my chapters first, kind of like a proofreader but not really. Too boring to explain.

Anyways, a few days ago I finished a chapter, and she said she'd read it later and surprise me. She said she'd surprise me because the last time I finished a chapter she was too busy to read it and she didn't tell me when she commented on it, so when I looked back at the chapter I saw her comments which surprised me...

(Pictures will be put in spoiler tags to avoid wasting space)

Spoiler : As you can see, this was my last chapter.

When she said she'd surprise me, I retaliated and said I'd surprise her back with another chapter before she even gets to reading the last one.

Spoiler : Which of course, I did. Curse words are censored because this fiction is PG-13.

Unknown to her, I had another surprise coming for her.

Spoiler :

She responded with this.

Spoiler : The flashy colors represent my friend's comments. The words in the picture says "Illuminati confirmed."