I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

The matter of Rika’s dark past ended with my promise not to tell anyone—but the awkward air still lingered in the room.

Rika had been unusually quiet, her usual energy gone after being one-sidedly exposed like that.
What could I do to bring her back to her usual self?
While sitting in this awkward atmosphere and mulling it over alone, I soon arrived at a single answer.

If she was embarrassed because I was the only one who’d seen her dark past, then maybe I should share a dark past of my own in return.
“Uh… don’t be so embarrassed. Everyone goes through a ‘eighth-grade syndrome’ phase at least once. I was pretty bad in middle school too.”
“…Really?”

Rika, her face buried in a teddy bear, bit at the bait.
I nodded and pulled up a photo from my middle school days on my phone to prove it.
It was from the time when I was obsessed with urban fantasy manga and grew my bangs long—Kim Yu-seong in 9th grade.

The photo had been taken before I possessed him. He was glaring with a rebellious look in his eyes.
Apparently, Kim Yu-seong had thought he looked cool like that.
“Eek?! That’s you, Ryu-chan? No way!”

Rika leaned in close to stare at the picture, eyes wide with disbelief.
Then she glanced back and forth between the photo and my current face—looking like a kid who just found out Santa Claus wasn’t real.
“You were so tiny and cute in middle school—how did you get so jacked?!”

'…That’s your reaction?'
Her response was completely different from what I expected, and though I grumbled inwardly, I made an effort to explain myself sincerely.
“I felt like I was too weak and unmanly back then, so I started working out ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) over spring break before high school. It just happened to line up with a growth spurt.”

When I first possessed this body, he was 167cm tall.
Once I started working out with Director Nakayama, my height began shooting up, and by first year of high school I was 180cm. Now, I’m 186cm.
The more surprising part is—I’m still growing.
After hearing my explanation, Rika looked at the photo like it was a lost treasure.

“If I had transferred just two years earlier, I could’ve seen this version of Ryu-chan… What a shame.”
“So you’re saying you don’t like how I look now?”
“Ah, no! Ryu-chan now is great too! It’s just… the face in the photo doesn’t match your usual vibe at all!”

Rika frantically waved her hands while trying to explain, but even she seemed to realize how scrambled her excuse sounded. Her face turned bright red and she buried her head again with a muffled groan.
It finally felt like the stiff atmosphere had lightened up, so I smiled casually and said,
“Everyone has embarrassing moments in their past. So you don’t have to be so crushed about it.”

“Ugh… If I could erase just one photo from my life, it would be that one.”
She grumbled and stuck a Pocky stick in her mouth—the snack she had brought up earlier from downstairs.
Still, she did seem much more relaxed than before.

Apparently, sharing dark pasts goes better when it’s mutual.
It gives you the comforting sense that you’re holding each other’s secrets.
Now that we could finally talk like normal again, I bowed my head slightly and thanked her.

“Thanks for inviting me to your house today. Because of you, I got to meet the great Kishimoto-sensei and even get his autograph. Today’s definitely going to be a memory I never forget.”
Rika scratched the back of her head shyly and replied,
“Don’t praise me that much. All I did was ask Papa. If this helps me repay you even a little for helping me on my first day, I’d invite you over as many times as you want.”

Getting to meet Kishimoto-sensei whenever I wanted? As a fan, there’s nothing more thrilling than that.
“Wouldn’t it be a burden if I came over too often?”
“It’s fine! When I was in middle school, my friends came over once a month for pajama parties!”

Having same-gender friends visit frequently and inviting over a boy friend regularly might not be quite the same thing—but for Rika’s sake, I didn’t point that out.
“Well, if I get the chance, I’ll come by again.”
“Hehe, anytime! You’re always welcome!”

With our conversation winding down, the room fell quiet.
But unlike before, it wasn’t an awkward silence—it felt relaxed.
Nothing else came to mind to talk about, so I thought maybe I’d pick a manga off her shelf to read. I stood up.

As I walked over to the wall-to-wall bookshelf and began browsing, Rika—who had been eating snacks comfortably on her bed—called out,
“Come to think of it, Ryu-chan, what made you start liking manga?”
While scanning the spines of the titles, I answered,

“I spent a lot of time alone at home when I was little. Both my parents worked, so there wasn’t anyone to play with. I think I just naturally started reading manga.”
After picking one that looked fun, I sat back down on the cushion and asked her in return,
“What about you, Rika? What got you into manga?”

Hugging a cushion and watching funny videos on her phone, Rika tilted her head and said,
“Me? I mean… my dad’s a manga artist, so I ended up reading them naturally. On days when Mom was out and Dad was watching me alone, he’d always show me manga. Hmm, I guess you could call it early education?”
I flipped open the first page and teased her,

“You’re not calling them ‘Papa’ and ‘Mama’ now.”
Rika let out a tiny shriek and blushed.
“I-I don’t always call them that, okay?!”

“Whoa whoa, calm down. No one said that was wrong.”
As we chatted and I read through the manga Rika recommended, two hours flew by in no time.
***

To be honest, I’d already fulfilled my main goal of getting the autograph.
And even though it was a friend’s house, staying too long would be impolite. So at a natural stopping point, I closed the book and stood up.
Rika, also reading her own manga, tilted her head.

“You’re leaving?”
“Yeah. I’ve been here quite a while. Gotta eat dinner at home.”
I pointed at the wall clock, and Rika muttered, “It’s already this late…”

Since I’d arrived at noon, it had already been four hours.
“I’ll see you out.”
She got up from the bed.

While grabbing my bag from the floor, something came to mind and I asked,
“Right, didn’t you say you’re going on a family trip abroad starting tomorrow? Where to?”
Rika raised two fingers in a peace sign and answered proudly.

“Hawaii.”
“Have fun. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen.”
“Hehe, sometimes you really act like a dad, you know, Ryu-chan?”

Honestly, it felt more like looking after a younger sister with a big age gap, but I didn’t bother correcting her.
After saying goodbye to Kishimoto-sensei in the study and Maria-san watching TV in the living room, I put on my shoes at the front door. Rika, wearing a cat-like smile, said,
“Guess we won’t see each other for a week. Ryu-chan, don’t cry from missing me, okay?”

I gave her a flat look and raised my hand to make a phone-call gesture.
“If anything comes up, call me. I’ll help out if I can.”
“You gonna swim all the way to Hawaii?”

“…I’ll just take a plane like a normal person. Even if I have to break into my savings.”
Rika giggled and nodded.
“Okay. See you at school, Ryu-chan.”

“Yeah.”
As I opened the front door, I said,
“See you at school.”

***
Kishimoto Rika clutched her chest, heart pounding, as she watched Kim Yu-seong’s back grow smaller in the distance.
'If anything comes up, call me. I’ll help out if I can.'

Honestly, that was cheating.
Just when she thought things had wrapped up and let her guard down, he had to say something like that.
It was true—her initial interest in Kim Yu-seong came from how much he looked like a shounen manga protagonist.

But it wasn’t love at first sight or anything.
At first, she just thought they’d be comfortable friends.
But walking beside him, laughing and talking… at some point, her eyes naturally began following his back.

He might seem blunt on the surface, but the way he quietly paid attention—she liked that gap.
He was big and bear-like, but not scary. In fact, it made her feel safe.
From elementary to middle to high school, countless boys had confessed to her over her 17-year life.

But she hated the leering eyes that always drifted toward her mature-for-her-age body. So she rejected every single one of them.
Kim Yu-seong, on the other hand, always looked her straight in the eyes when they talked.
There were rare moments when his gaze dropped, but he’d quickly look away, flustered—like a hopeless dork.

With him, she wasn’t scared.
In fact, it made her happy to know that he cared.
'I like you.'

She mouthed the words silently as she watched his back fade into the distance.
She’d practiced saying it to herself so many times at home, but when she stood in front of him, it never came out.
The one saving grace was that there was still plenty of time until graduation.

'One day, for sure.'
With that vow in her heart, she reached down and gave Taro, who was clinging to her feet with puppy-like affection, a vigorous rub on the neck.