Once Shattered, Now Whole

Tough Luck

You wake with a gasp caught halfway in your throat, lurching up from your bed as your hands scramble to feel against your throat and thank your lucky stars that you're somehow alive after that nightmare. Though how could you die from a bad dream? Sure there was the possible heart attack while sleeping but nothing that bad right? You seethed a breath in through your teeth, relaxing slightly when you could breath, at least that dream was didn't give you a heart attack. You still had to find more manga to binge, maybe you could get back into 'My Next Life As A Villainess! All Routes Lead to Doom'? You missed the antics of Katarina Claes and how clueless she was to everyone falling in love with her, you could've sobbed at how you wished for your life to be like that! Wait-
Why does your room look like this?

As you look down at your hands, you notice the weird way they almost look drawn- just like your comforter and the rest of your room, slowly you inch off your bed and usher over to your mirror with a panicked gasp. Holy shit, holy shit- why are your eyes that big?! Your hand pushed through your hair as it seemed longer now for some reason, why was it longer?! And you had on fleek eyelashes too- "At least I don't have acne," you mumble, anime characters never have acne- wait.

"Oh fuck me," you slap your hand against your face, realizing you're going through similar motions like Katarina- your idol- was. Though this time you seemed to keep your own appearance and having no idea how you're getting by because you never took up Japanese lessons unless you count sometimes watching sub but often switching to dub because you couldn't stand reading subtitles at certain scenes. Now here you are, looking at yourself awkwardly in the mirror, poking at your flesh like it would coming off but- it was squishy and a lot more stretchy which felt weird. Your hands grasp and squeeze at your cheeks, poking at the corners of your eyes with a quirked brow, your eyes seemed more saturated too and for a moment you assumed you were like a background character. Sure you had no outward appearance, honestly you looked a little forgettable with a generic face like yours. Your mom did say you'd never make it in show biz, you'd be forgettable as Brett Hand. A wheeze escaped you, "Ah, Inside Job inside jokes," you wipe a mock tear from your eye before retreating from the mirror. Just in time for the revered mother to bust in, pushing open your door without care if you were changing or not- that woman can't knock to save her life.
Her eyes squinted at you, seeing you turn in time to greet her, "Why aren't you dressed?" Her sharp eyebrow rose at whatever excuse you might have, which just made you realize— it was a school night. Meaning it's a school day now, oh shit how much time did you waste looking at yourself?! The woman huffed, hand pulled away from the knob of the door to push against her hip in a fist, "Get dressed! You don't want to be late, breakfast is on the table-" you perked up at that, often times she would use some leftovers from dinner or heat up some freezer food since she had work in the morning but often made sure to get you some breakfast and pack your lunch. "I made you those things you got in a bunch over too," she paused briefly trying to find the right way to pronounce it, "Dora.. Yaki? I think, our neighbor shared the recipe yesterday when I went over to hers for lunch, wonderful lady. You were excited when we came here, you wanted to try all the damn food," she snorted before coming into your room, noticing that you stood awkwardly still.

Her hands came together in a harsh clap, "Well? Get to it! You're on for your second day at that academy, you can't miss school!" In an instant you jumped to the ready, taking out some clothes from your closet while your mother eyed you in a confused manner, "Kid, don't tell me you lost the uniform already."

—

Ok, so maybe it wasn't great- the uniform anyway, the waist of the dress stuck to your mid-abdomen awkwardly while the bow was poorly wrapped around your waist like some sash and the skirt hovered above your knee despite your attempts to pull it down to your knees. You grimace inwardly since your tights were pilling you were gonna have to go without, you ate away at the dorayaki your mom wrapped up in a napkin, giving you a bag where your lunch was and your locker key combination safely stored in it. She had to go to work meaning you were stuck walking to the academy but it would give you time to think about how the fuck you got here. Your brow furrowed, walking off after you locked the door, you didn't even know the way and your phone was no help. For some reason it seemed like your only connection to the world you were formerly in, since when you typed in 'Kamome Academy' into Google it took you to TBHK. At least you could stay updated on the manga and what might happen in the next few however long you stay.
Downside, you couldn't get a text through to your mom or friends. It would 'fail' and you cursed yourself for being unable to find a way around it, "I hate my life, I hate it-" you groan, smacking your head against the screen of your phone but you manage to look up in time to see you were about to bump into some poor girl who was looking for something on the ground.

You watched silently, unsure if she knew English or not or if you could even speak it in this isekai, but she seemed to notice your shoes since she looked your way then up. The familiar ruby pink eyes immediately brought your mind to Yashiro Nene, the sheepish, hapless romantic protagonist of TBHK! Holy shit, it's like meeting a celebrity- "Oh! Uh, hi!" She spoke English? You stood there, stiff as stone adding much to her nerves as she awkwardly shook, "I- I dropped my hairpin, just looking for it! I'm not patting the ground like some weirdo!" Yashiro definitely seemed to be losing her cool- like she had any to begin with- because you hadn't said a word throughout this whole thing.

"Cool," you utter out, in the most blank tone she'd ever heard, the girl stood there staring right at you while you stared right back at her, "Do you need help, dai— Nene?" You were close to saying her nickname but quickly diverged to her first name, much to the girl's shock. Your eyes dilated briefly, right- it's uncommon to use first names unless you're familiar with the other person, and if memory serves you literally just met her.
Damn, you must seem like a creep now.

Slowly, she nodded, the shock wore off as she looked around to refocus her attention on the lost hairpin. By what luck, you notice it right by your shoe and nudged it around while you bent to your knees to grab it; "This it?" You bring it up to the light, letting her see it and quickly her head shakes to a nod.

"Yes, yes! Thank you so much! You're so cool ___!" She exclaimed, quickly pulling it from your fingertips to readjust into her hair, Nene smiled brightly just knowing it was safe and sound! Her eyes darted to yours as you stood, brushing your dress down to smooth out wrinkles, she seemed to now.. Wait for you? Damn, looks like you scored on finding your way to school. "Come on, we're both really late now," her hand extended to yours, taking your hand while her other came to firmly clasp yours betwixt them, pulling you close with a close-eye smile; "So let's run together!"

Congrats, Yashiro Nene is your first friend!