Okuto Nakamura⁰¹

Nakamura didn't care about the new student.

Well... at first.

Yes, he had black hair. Yes, he was quiet. Yes, he also had small eyes. Yes, he read manga between classes. But that didn't mean anything.

Nothing.

It was just a coincidence that the new guy resembled Nakamura in some distinctive features.

...Until, during recess, Hirose approached the new student with a smile. And said:

"Hi! Are you still getting used to school?"

...

The world stopped for Nakamura.

"W-WHAT?!"

Nakamura felt an imaginary alarm begin to sound inside his head.

An imposter! A rival! An upgraded version of him had just appeared to steal the only role he had in the class... and, even worse, Hirose's attention!

While Hirose continued talking calmly with the new student, Nakamura could only watch from afar, completely rigid.

"It's over..." she thought dramatically. "Soon everyone will forget me... because of the new guy."

He tried to convince himself that he was exaggerating, but the words his sister had said to him the night before (they had argued) kept repeating in his head: "You're too simple-minded. Anyone could replace you. "

At that moment, Nakamura had only frowned and ignored her, but now... now there was a new student. Someone who, in some unsettling way, resembled him. Enough to make Nakamura feel a knot in his stomach. If someone like him could appear out of nowhere, what was so special about him? Maybe his sister was right.