Prologue

"Tenma," could be heard through the haze of sleep that still hung thick in her senses. "Tenma, wake up!" cried a beautiful blonde girl lightly shaking the young Tsukamoto awake.

"Eri…?" muttered the Tsukamoto girl.

"I'm in big trouble! I need a favor and you're the only one that can help me!" continued Eri.

Tsukamoto Tenma, still half asleep remained slumped for a moment. "Tenma…? Who's that?" she asked, still not fully aware.

She stood up and considered herself and her perspective in relevance to her position. Her eyes widened, and she cried "Hey! Hold on a minute—have I always been this tall?"

For some reason, Tenma was now 165 centimeters tall.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Tenma, but I can't find my textbook and without it, I can't study. I would buy a new one, but I lost my wallet, too. And I have to take the big exam tomorrow." She looked down at her shoes, tears welling in her eyes. "Why do I have to be such a loser?"

"Don't worry! I'll give you mine!" replied Tenma, smiling.

"But then you wouldn't be able to study!" whispered Eri.

"That's okay, because I've already memorized the entire book!" Tenma said with a wink.

"Thank you so much, Tenma." said Eri as she took Tenma in a dramatic embrace.

"It's okay! You should always help out when a friend's in need," replied Tenma, returning an identical warmness.

Soon after that, Tenma received a similar problem with her friends Akira and Mikoto. They had needed help with a math problem, and she solved it easily. For some reason, her IQ ascended to 165.

A similar pattern occurred throughout her day. Gradually, she discovered that the height of her jump was 165 centimeters, her record for wrestling matches was 165-0, she scored 165 points in karaoke, and she turned down dates from 165 boys respectively.

The young girl sighed, her improved height, IQ, and charisma only newly discovered as she leaned in the sill of the window in the solitary classroom. The only light that penetrated into the empty chamber was the soft yellow-orange light of the day's end, adding to the dreamlike romanticism of the whole day with that subtle beauty.

"What a pickle," she said aloud to herself. "Everyone seems to really like me… and that makes me happy." Tsukamoto Tenma's eyes lowered, and she blew another sigh, this one of vague sadness. "…But what about him, the boy that I really like?"

She stood there, looking down at the school yard listlessly for what seemed like a few minutes.

"Miss Tsukamoto," said a strong, soft voice, interrupting her contemplation.

She jumped a little, startled by the sudden disturbance. "Who is it?" she called as she turned around to view the speaker. She turned around completely to face him, and a troubled look crossed her features as she nervously slipped both her arms in front of her.

"What's the matter? You look so serious…" she observed quietly.

"Listen," said the young man with the whiskers and the sunglasses. "There's something important I need to tell you,"

A moment passed as Tenma stared at him, perplexed.

"I love you," he declared, finally.

"No, wait! That can't be true! No!" cried a flustered Tsukamoto. "Harima, I thought you had feelings for Yakumo!"

"I don't. Since I met you, you're the only one I've loved," replied Harima Kenji, the evening sun reflecting off of his dark spectacles.

A gasp escaped her as she took a step back. A small breeze could have knocked her over in that moment as she considered the man.

"Tenma," he started. "Go out with me,"

Her eyes popped open and she jumped completely upright in her chair, a surprised gasp escaping her lips. After a long moment of silence, she studied her surroundings, finding herself in the library. She had been studying for final exams, but that had become less relevant, obviously, for she had fallen asleep.

"Oh, it was just a dream…" Tsukamoto Tenma sighed and relaxed again, folding back onto the table, resting her head on her folded arms. "Why would I have one like that?" she whined. "It was so weird and silly…!" She mulled the dream over again, recalling the end. "But still…" The young Tsukamoto pictured Harima Kenji saying those words. She replayed it over and over in her mind: "I love you."

"I was surprised to hear Harima say that…" she said, and lowered her gaze in consideration of that imaginary moment of unpredicted romance.

She studied her surroundings again to try to dismiss the notion of that dream. It was the same yellow-orange from the dream.

"Its late." she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I can't study now…!" She thrust her books into her backpack and zipped it closed. She threw it over her back and started out of the School Library.