Luna woke up shivering on cold hard ground. As she pushed herself up lethargically, the coarse grains dug into her palms. After looking around, she realised that she was in a large cylindrical tube. Dim light glowed at both ends. The pin-drop silence was occasionally broken by the sound of cars in the distance. Luna looked down and found herself dressed in a dark blue sailor uniform. There was also a small label on it. XX high school.   /This uniform… It’s the same as Hina’s, right?/  [Matches the description!]  /What was the original soul doing? Sleeping out here in the cold, and in her uniform…/  With that signal, BaoBao triggered the memories of the original soul, who was a girl called Nozomi Kuro.     Her only clear memory of her father was when she was five. It was of him leaving through the rundown main door of their small house with her m

“Of course, it’s just a matter of time.” Her shadow spoke again. “You were just lucky.”  Nozomi concluded that the shadow could hear her thoughts while the book could not. She had to be careful.  “What’s this? It’s like this is the first time that you’re meeting us. You haven’t recovered from earlier? Girl, you’re already losing it at such an early age! I’m disappointed!” Shrill mocking laughter that grated on Nozomi’s nerves echoed inside her head and worsened her mood.   “Are you really okay with going out just like that? You can’t possibly be okay leaving the world as it is?! How is it fair for you to be forsaken by everyone and suffer so much, only to die quietly like that?!” Slowly, the mocking voice changed to one of anger.   Throughout the entire time, BaoBao could not hear a thing. To him, Nozomi was either talking aloud to herself or thinking to herself. It was like listening to one half of a conversation while someone was

Following the original story, Hina started to seek Nozomi out more frequently. Hina had taken it upon herself to find out who Nozomi was. However, all she could find was Nozomi’s name and class. No one really knew anything else about her. Even the teachers only remembered Nozomi by checking the class register, and the most they knew was how Nozomi was a poor orphan. Heck, the only ones who were aware of Nozomi’s presence in class were those who sat close to Nozomi and found her creepy. These students confided in Hina and revealed how they would rather Nozomi not come to school. “She’s always drifting in and out of sleep, she might as well stay home instead of spreading her gloominess around.” They gossiped. Hina frowned with reproach and suggested that Nozomi could be having a hard time. However, the girls brushed Hina’s comment off as her being nice and naïve as usual, then left her alone. Nozomi was fully aware of the background checks and investigation that Hina was doing

When Nozomi woke up, everything was dark. She was alone in the room, like the first night she had spent in this house. However, this time, she was so groggy that it was as if she had not slept for days. Her body screamed at her to fall back asleep, but Nozomi knew she should not.   “Fuck...” She had not expected to sleep for this long, so she had not covered herself in spiritual energy. The moment she did, a huge weight on her shoulders became apparent and pressed her down against the table. There was also something cold and clammy holding onto her legs under the table.   Goosebumps rose all over her body. /Will I ever get used to this?/

BaoBao brought up everything that he could pass as an accomplishment, no matter how small it was, to argue all of Nozomi's self-deprecating thoughts. If Nozomi lacked optimism, BaoBao would be that voice for her.  /Bao... Bao...?/ Nozomi finally responded.  In his agitated state, BaoBao missed her weak voice and kept shouting.   [IF YOU’RE SO DETESTABLE AND USELESS, HOW COULD ANYONE FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU?! DOESN'T YOUR FAMILY LOVE YOU? DOESN’T THE FAMILIAR SOUL