Release Princess Mika!

Chapter 7: Didn’t Plan to Stay Up All Night with Nagisa

I have no thoughts right now. That’s because I’m actively trying not to have any. To be more precise, I’m clearing my head so I don’t have any thoughts.

Sharing a bed with a girl whose looks I can confidently say would outshine any celebrity I’ve ever seen in my life—this is not a situation you can just play cool in.

The only people who could stay calm in a moment like this are probably one of two types: either they’re gay… or they’re in the top 0.01% of alpha males.

And I’m neither! I’m seriously freaking out here!

Honestly, even lying on my side is uncomfortable for me since I’m used to sleeping on my back because of the wings.

And now I’m lying face to face with Nagisa? There’s no way I’m getting any sleep like this.

I might even accidentally stare at her face and get caught, leading to some totally messed-up misunderstanding.

Ah, not that I see Nagisa as a target of lust or anything. Ever since what was attached down there disappeared, I do feel a bit freer from things like sexual desire. I’d say this is more like… admiring a work of art. Something pure.

Still, she’s so pretty that my heart fluttering just from looking at her—well, that’s just a natural physiological reaction. I’ll cautiously excuse myself on that one.

Anyway, I don’t know enough about how women think to guess how a girl would react if her same-gender friend was just… silently staring at her face all night. But from a normal, straight guy’s perspective? That’s nightmare fuel.

Besides, judging from how nearly every student in the Blue Archive world is in love with Sensei, I’d say heterosexuality is the default here. So I’d bet Nagisa would probably feel the same way. That’s just my cautious assumption.

Obviously, I have to avoid any situation where our ten-year-old friendship falls apart because she finds out I’m gay or something.

If things went sour between me and Nagisa, I can’t even begin to imagine how badly the main story would spiral out of control.

I already have zero intention of following the original plot, but if new variables start piling up on top of that? No thanks.

Eventually, I couldn’t take the pressure and turned my back to her. But maybe she did the same, because every time I shifted, our wings kept brushing.

This new body part I never had before—it keeps giving me this weird ticklish sensation every time they touch, and it’s messing with me.

...Ha. I bet Nagisa’s sleeping peacefully by now. It’s not her first time sharing a bed with Mika, and she has no way of knowing that the contents are different now.

Damn it. There goes tonight’s sleep. Please, calm down, heart. I try to steady myself and shut my eyes tightly, mentally counting how many roll cakes are flying through the sky.

One roll cake… Two roll cakes…

What the hell. Am I seriously insane? My brain is broken. If Mika saw someone counting roll cakes instead of sheep to fall asleep, even she would back away like, “Okay, that’s too much…”

In the end, I gave up on sleep entirely and started thinking about my role in the main story.

In the Eden Treaty arc, Mika is undeniably one of the most important characters. Practically everything that happens in that arc is a direct or indirect result of Mika’s actions.

In the story, Mika ultimately walks the path of destruction. But I don’t intend to go down that road. If I’ve ended up in the princess’s body, then I have to make sure this ends in a happy ending.

That way, even if I do manage to return to my original world, the princess will be happy. And if I can’t go back? Then I need that happy ending just to survive.

At this point, I’ve identified three major factors that matter most.

First, the disappearance of Yurika Seiya.

Second, Mika’s pathological hatred of Gehenna.

Third, the completely unexpected burden of being the current Tea Party host.

Starting with Seiya—this one’s totally up to me. Logically, if everything could be resolved peacefully by assuming nothing bad ever happened to Seiya, there’d be no reason not to go that route. But the problem is, she’s been missing for a whole year. And during that time, Nagisa ends up becoming the host.

If that leads to any major shifts in the story or causes things to spiral out of control, that’s a serious problem.

The fact that I have some idea of where the story is going gives me a huge advantage. Mika’s body, being top-tier in terms of power, is another weapon in my arsenal—but only after I’ve fully adapted to using it.

The closer the story sticks to the original, the more I can steer it toward a conclusion I want—but ironically, the original ending is the one I least want.

To be honest, suggesting that Aris take care of Seiya just so I can stay comfortable is nuts. Just because Seiya survived in the original doesn’t mean she’ll survive this time.

And if something does happen to her, the responsibility would fall entirely on me. I’m not ready to live with that kind of guilt.

If at all possible—no, no matter what, I want to protect Seiya. But I don’t think there’s much time. From what I can tell, the student council president will begin pushing the Eden Treaty soon.

So yeah, I’ll have to keep thinking hard on this one. It’s a major decision that could lead to irreversible consequences.

Next: Mika’s hatred of Gehenna. This is honestly the root of all evil. Just by secretly forming ties with Gehenna, the future could become a lot more hopeful.

But I’m a bit worried about losing control and going berserk if I do meet any Gehenna students. I don’t know how much Mika’s “Mystic” influences me, but if the hatred—likely derived from the Archangel Mikael’s Mystic—gets passed on to me as well, then this issue might be completely unfixable.

So I’m begging you—please, don’t let that happen. If I end up meeting Hina and my eyes suddenly go red and I start a fight, that would just make things worse than in the original.

Going by the lore, it’s hard to predict who’d win, but since I’m still not used to handling Mika’s body, Hina might have the upper hand.

Also, forming a good relationship with the Arius Squad? I’m not sure if it’s possible, and I don’t have much confidence. But if I do succeed, the payoff could be huge.

Finally: the fact that I am currently the Tea Party host. That’s a massive variable—and a tricky one.

If I publicly propose improving relations with Gehenna, the hardliners in the Pater Faction might start working to impeach me. On the other hand, backing Nagisa too much could be political suicide.

But if I don’t back her, how am I supposed to handle her anxiety issues later? After spending time with her, I realized… she’s just too kind-hearted. I don’t want to see her suffer.

Just thinking about having to personally endure Trinity’s upper-echelon politics already gives me a headache.

A normal guy in his twenties doesn’t know the first thing about politics, okay? Why does this world even have high school girls biting at each other’s throats with political schemes…?

Still, there’s probably a lot I can do with the authority of the Tea Party host. The trick is figuring out which actions will benefit the future and which ones will backfire.

Because if I screw up and end up dragging Blue Archive’s “bright and wholesome” world into a “dark and messed up” one, the one who’ll have to clean up that mess is Sensei.

But hey, if Sensei managed to handle all the chaos real Mika caused, maybe he could clean up after me too?

…Yeah no, that’s way too irresponsible. But when I think about how all the students love that strong, manly guy, maybe it wouldn’t hurt for him to suffer a little.

It was right when I was deep in all these thoughts—

"Mika?"

"Gah?!"

"Ah, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I couldn’t sleep, and I noticed you were awake too..."

I’m not joking—I nearly choked. I was lying there like I was dead! How did she know I was awake...?

...Ah, crap. I forgot students here have that. Ugh, damn Halo sensors…!!

"N-no, it’s fine. You just surprised me, that’s all. I couldn’t sleep either. Um, is it because of me? Because I keep tossing and turning...?"

"It’s not that. It’s more like... my mind’s been a bit unsettled. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I was thinking maybe I’d read for a bit so I don’t bother you."

"Huh? What’s that? If Nagi-chan’s not sleeping, then I’m not either."

Before I knew it, Nagisa and I were facing each other again. I was about to die from the pressure, but she probably felt totally fine. I’m so jealous.

Honestly, if she just left the bed, I could probably sleep. The reason I can’t sleep is mostly because of her.

But if that really happened, I’d basically be kicking her out. I’d rather stay awake with her than do that. I’ll just survive tomorrow on energy drinks or something.

"...You’ll be tired at the Academy tomorrow, you know?"

"Same to you, Nagi-chan. Will you be okay?"

"Pfft, fair point..."

She chuckled softly and covered her mouth with her hand. She really is the textbook noble lady character.

"Hey, Mika. Do you mind if I tell you some stories from the past?"

"Huh? Stories...?"

"I thought maybe hearing about things from the past might help you regain your memory."

"Ah..."

...Crap. I feel really guilty now. None of this is going to bring back the Mika she knows.

But I can’t tell her that. And I can’t just reject her either. So maybe the best I can do is listen earnestly.

"Yeah, please do. No—I'd really like that."

What choice do I have? I didn’t ask for this, but now I have to carry this burden. All I can hope is that this soft-hearted girl doesn’t end up hurt.

"Though... it might not be a very exciting story. I’m not great at storytelling. But this one happened back when we were in kindergarten..."

She said she wasn’t good at storytelling, but I didn’t find it boring at all. And seeing that smile on her face as she recalled the past—smile never fading—made me feel like just hearing her story was already worth it.

The next morning, on the train to school, some Trinity students spotted us dozing off against each other.

A strange rumor nearly broke out that Nagisa and I were dating. I had to personally deny it firmly.

For some reason, Nagisa seemed a bit passive about it, but maybe that was just because she trusted me to handle it.