First Jump

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I head back to the house, as I don't want a panicking Sora early in the morning.

I go to Sora's room, the only room with a bed, and notice that Sora has gone back to sleep... Then, as if sensing my presence, she slowly wakes up.

Releasing a sigh, I slowly approach the bed, and embrace her as soon as she lifts herself from the bed and softly say to her, "Good morning once again, sleepyhead."

She flinches a little, probably not expecting her brother to suddenly hug her early in the morning - especially after how shocked she was with the peck from earlier. She doesn't back away though, and just replies in a low voice, "Good morning."

After a short while, I let her go, step out of the room, and head towards my own. As I'm walking, I realize that I need to take a bath. As soon as I reach my room, I look for my stuff, underwear, bath towel, etc.

I then make my way to the bath. Thank goodness I have this body's memories now or else I would be in quite the pickle right now.

I step into the bath, turn on the tap water, and wait for the tub to be filled. There is a bath mirror attached to the wall. After I'm done taking off my clothes, I head over to the mirror and examine my naked body.

Toned muscles and abs. Smooth and pristine skin. It's going to sound narcissistic, but I must say that I have a very fine-looking body and face. My height should be about 168cm.

I find someone peeping inside through a gap in the door using my senses. Seriously...?

"You can get in with me if you want to?" I say in a loud voice.

Sora is startled by my voice as she quickly moves away. This girl...

Oh well.

After a solid thirty minutes, I leave the bath, put on some casual clothes, head to the kitchen, and take a seat on the table as Sora cooks. I take a look at her and notice that she is in her school uniform.

Oh. I had completely forgotten about school... I don't think it's necessary to go to school though considering how I have much more important things to focus on.

Irritated, I ask in a low voice, "Do I need to attend school?"

[No. It is recommended that you move to another location once you have returned from Project Charlotte.]

That's a relief. But, why do we need to move though?

"Is there a reason for moving?"

[Yes.] She affirms. [As your body has the aura of time and fate attached to it, once you leave the Rift, it destabilizes the laws here. Janus has already taken actions to deal with this, but some effects still remain.]

Was this supposed to answer my question or make me even more confused? I try to ask for a clearer response, but she refuses to elaborate. Whatever; I will just leave it at supernatural shenanigans that require us to move. There is plenty of time to find out what she exactly means in the future.

Once breakfast is prepared, Sora and I silently eat. At the end, I inform Sora that I'm not going to be school today, to which she replied, "Then I won't be going too. I don't need to go if you aren't going."

I'm not going to be reprimanding her. After all, this might probably be what she needs; a little rest from outside considering everything that has happened. Not to mention how this place must be making her feel.

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I tell Sora that I will be taking a nap, to which she just nods. Following that, I head to my room, and lie down on a tatami laid on the ground.

αφήνω

The next moment I find myself in the Mete, with Juno waiting for me. Upon noticing my arrival, she moves towards me and says, "As I've told you before, the Mete will be providing you a physical body when you transport to a Platform. There are three methods of doing so."

She then proceeds to tell me about the methods.

The first method is transcription. It's basically creating a carbon copy of my body in the Rift for a Platform.

The second method is arrogation. I get to take over the body of an already existing character, at the cost of being affected by their emotions and thoughts. It can be extremely dangerous if attempted on a non-human.

The third and last method, Juno refused to tell me about no matter what. She claims that it's useless if I know about it, and will do more harm and good if she did so right now.

Juno suggested that I use arrogation for this transport, and take over the body of some guy that goes by the name, Yū Otosaka.

According to Juno, arrogation alters reality to the point that my appearance and existence will combine with that of Yū, to the point that everyone that knows him wouldn't suspect a thing unless I make them think so deliberately.

Once I'm done preparing, my vision blips as I feel like I'm propelled from space and thrown in a random direction.

After what seems like an eternity, I find myself in my new body, lying on the ground in an alleyway.

Memories suddenly start to flow into my brain, even though they're supposed to be already there. Memories of the original owner of this body.

One day, he suddenly received a power that let him possess people for five seconds, while his body became unconscious during the process. He wasn't shy of using his power, in fact, he used it on a daily basis to his advantage. Possessing girls to check their bodies out, possessing a guy in a group of thugs before punching the others to start a fight, possessing the smartest students in his class to copy their answers during examinations, and other such abusive uses.

His best usage of the ability was at school, which he took advantage of whenever he could. As a result, he became the top student in his school and was recommended to go to a prestigious school. He scouted for smart students that were going to be taking the entrance exam, and once the day arrived, he successfully managed to attain the top score, making him get chosen as the representative of the freshmen.

He didn't stop there but aimed for the most beautiful girl in the school. The first time he made contact with her was after he had "saved" her from a truck that had lost control. The reality of the situation was that he had possessed the driver and steered the wheel in the girl's direction, before coming in himself to save her at the last moment like the white knight he was.

This effectively left an impression on the girl, as she invited him out to eat with a female friend of hers.

After this, things go downhill, as he is called in by the student council the very next day, claiming that he has cheated and that he must take the exam again in front of a student council member, and must get a score of at least 90.

During the event, he possesses the body of the student council member and attempts to find anything that could help him in the exam, but it was to no avail. Once he returns to his body, he notices that there is a white-haired girl beside him, pointing a camera at his face.

He panicked when the girl began explaining how she has been observing him for while now, and runs out of the room. He then realized that he was being chased by something extremely fast.

That's where the memories come to an end.

I realize that it's disadvantageous for me to continue remaining where I am, so I begin running.

The next thing I know is that my speed has decreased a lot. It should still be abnormal, but not as much as it used to be.

As I continue to run, I finally leave the alleyway and reach a staircase. My senses that have been dulled alarm me of something. I look back behind me and see a blue-haired guy with glasses and a black school uniform just standing there. Upon a closer look, I notice several bruises and scratches all over his body. They appear to be fresh ones.

He suddenly shifts his body in a way that shows he is planning to sprint towards me. The next thing I know is that he runs at an incredible speed, that should be thrice as fast as I'm currently capable of in this world, before he grabs me and holds onto me as we launch into the air.

I use some force to break free from him and kick him away from myself towards the water beneath us. As for me, I let myself fall, confident in my endurance.

When I reach the ground, I am on the other side of what seems like a water canal, with the guy in glasses slowly swimming over.

"Who are you, and what's with that speed?" I ask once he is on land.

"Teleportation," he replies, ignoring the first half of my question, "An ability that allows me to cross great distances at a great speed, although I am unable to determine my stopping point. Who knows how many times I've been to the hospital because of it." His tone is a pitiful one towards the end.

The heck? Did he not attempt to master it or he simply can't?

"You didn't answer me properly. Who are you, and what do you want with me?" I ask threateningly.

"As I've told you before, I'm Nao Tomori, student council president of Hoshinoumi Academy. We are here to get you to transfer to our school." I hear the voice of a girl behind me.

Turning around, I spot a beautiful girl that seems to be about 'my' age of fifteen years old. She has medium-length greyish-white hair tied into short twin tails with dark hair ties. Her eyes are a beautiful sapphire blue. She wears what seems to be a school uniform which consists of a red blazer with a yellow bow tie, and a reddish-brown pleated skirt.

"And what if I were to refuse?" I question her with a squint of my eyes.

The next moment, she turns transparent. I am barely able to see her even with my improved eyesight, but I can sense her properly. She throws a punch at my face, to which I casually tilt my head and avoid.

So, that's her ability. The guy can 'teleport' in a shitty manner while she turns invisible.

A look of surprise covers the girl's face, seemingly not having expected me to dodge her attack. I grin as I expectantly wait for her next move.