‘If there's something I can do to help you, I'll do it without hesitation. ’

Michael unexpectedly found himself in the world of the manga that he recently read. To save the girl he admires in the story, he planned to ruin some of the events that occurred in the story.

But something's not in the story happened.

“Help me to be with Mikael...”

Can he just forget about his plan and help the girl to be with someone she love? Or to be selfish and save the girl he admires.

BLACK ROSES

A girl silently walked upstairs. She has short black hair that matched her long eyelashes and brown eyes. She wore a tidy white blouse with red ribbon and gray skirt, matching with her knee-high black socks. Her name was Ericka Hernandez. 


—————————————— 


Currently, I was in Mikael's house. I used to wake him up along with my sister Arisa when we were young, but ever since Arisa move into the next town for her studies, that job was left to me alone. 


Our houses were next to each other, that's why our parents became friends and that also goes for the three of us. His parents had to leave early in the morning for work and came back late at night. Sometimes, it takes weeks or months for them to come home. That was why Mikael often spent his time in our house. 


I slightly opened the door of his room and peeked inside. He is still sleeping. 


I fully opened the door and started to walk in. I stood next to his bed and shook his shoulder lightly. 


“Mikael... wake up. It's already morning.” 


He slightly opened his eyes and looked at me. “Ericka?" he muttered. “Please five more minutes...” he added and got back on his dream. 


I didn't speak a thing instead I sat down on the floor and watch him sleep like a child. 


“You're hopeless... Mikael,” I muttered as I poked his cheek. 


I always did this to him every morning. He looked so defenseless hence, I couldn't help myself but toyed his hair or something pinching his cheeks. 


I remember the first time I met him when we were young. 


As expected, my big sister Arisa got the highest grades again, and my parents bragged about it on our neighbors. My parents told me to be like your sister Arisa again, to be honest, I couldn't remember how many times I heard those words from them. 


I was very upset and lonely that day. In the end, I decided to run away from home. 


After hours of walking and wandering around the streets, I saw a playground and decided to shun myself there. 


Unfortunately, the rain started to fall that day and I had nowhere to go except for the wooden playhouses with slides on their side. I didn't expect that someone was already there before me, it was a boy about my age. 


At first, I hesitated to enter the playhouse. After all, I hadn't met any children cause I always spend my time studying and trying to catch up with my sister. But he smiled at me and reached his hand to me, trying to help me get into the playhouse. My reluctance must have shown on my face. He tried to talk to me many times but I was so shy and ended up not having even one proper conversation with him except for asking me for my name and where did I live. 


After the rain stopped it was already nighttime, that day I was scared in dark places and I couldn't prevent myself from crying. He held my hand as we were making our way back to our house, I only found out that we live next to each other after we got home. 


“Ericka?..." I heard Mikael's voice. “Ericka?" I jolted and regained all my consciousness back into my body. 


I didn't notice that I dozed off. Michael was already wearing his uniform. 


“Let's go?" he reached his hand towards me. Honestly, it makes me smile. 


Roses