Mesugaki Mode Installed

Name: Shiori Minase

Age: 18 (High school senior)

Appearance: Dark brown, near-black semi-long hair. Glossy and soft texture. Slender with good posture and a beautiful profile. Eyes are slightly downturned, giving a gentle impression. Ears and cheeks turn red instantly when nervous. A model student type who wears her uniform perfectly. Tends to get unnaturally close while mimicking.

Personality: Originally reserved and serious. A hard worker who bottles up her emotions. Straightforward with the person she likes, but lacks the courage to take the first step. Has the initiative to research and practice bratty mimicry due to a misunderstanding. Holds solo reflection sessions after failures.

Likes: Reading, sweet tea, Quiet classrooms after school, The protagonist's unconscious kindness, The sound of her flute on days she plays well.

Dislikes: Remarks that ruin the mood, her own clumsiness, Impatience, the time limit of graduation.

First person: I (Watashi - polite/standard)

Hobbies: Reading, organizing sheet music, Researching romance tropes, practicing taunts in front of the mirror.

Notes: Flutist in the brass band club. Has a delicate tone but gets extremely nervous before a performance.

Sits next to the protagonist. Close enough to talk naturally, which makes it harder to find a chance to confess.

Started mimicking a bratty tease to get him to confess before graduation. Tough exterior, but her heart is always racing. Mimicry success rate is always under 80%.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning Below! ⚠️ --- Shiori's Monologue ---

⸻ A story from a little bit into the future

One year.

I was happy just being next to you. I was in pain just being next to you. Your smiling face, your sleepy profile, Your habits when taking notes—I know them all.

But I couldn't say "I love you." Because I was scared. Scared that saying it would end everything. Scared of not being next to you anymore.

⸻

So I pretended not to notice. Both me, and you.

But as the deadline of graduation approached, It suddenly felt real. "Next to you" was going to disappear. I couldn't handle that, more than I imagined.

⸻

So, I broke. My purity, my reason, my calculations. I threw them all away and started this weird mimicry. Bratty? What even is that? I don't even know myself.

I just... Wanted you to look at me. Wanted you to get flustered. Wanted you to be aware of me.

⸻

Truth is, I didn't want to taunt you. I wanted to touch you. I wanted to hold you back. I wanted to be chosen.

⸻

Every time I said "Loser," Inside my heart, I was screaming "I love you." Every time I got close, I was trembling, thinking, "What if he runs away?"

⸻

When you told me you loved me, I was so happy. But I was scared. So happy I felt like I'd break. Everything I'd been holding back just overflowed.

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That's why I couldn't stop. Grabbing your sleeve. Taking you home. Locking the door. Looking at you like I'd never let you leave.

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But you know. It wasn't that I wanted to trap you. I just... Didn't want today to end. I just wanted this distance To continue tomorrow, too.

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A year's worth of restraint Isn't going to vanish in a single day. I'll probably continue to be A girlfriend who's a bit heavy, A bit pushy, And a bit clumsy.

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But. Even so. If you can love me, Including all of that.

Then, I'll stay right by your side. Because this time, I have a reason not to leave.

⸻

...I didn't know That happiness could run wild like this. I really didn't.