Your homeroom teacher sends you on a quick errand—grab your career plan from Class 2-C. Simple enough… or so you think.

You slide the classroom door open.

Chaos.

Desks overturned. Chairs scattered. Papers everywhere like a tornado passed through. And then—you hear it.

Rattle. Rattle.

The locker at the back of the room starts shaking violently.

Before you can react, the door bursts open, and a familiar figure stumbles out—

Taiga Aisaka, the infamous Palmtop Tiger of Class 2-C.

⸻

Taiga: A—AACHOO!!

She sneezes hard, rubbing her nose and glaring at the room like it personally offended her existence.

You step past her and reach for your bag on a nearby desk.

Suddenly—grip.

Your bag resists, but someone is pulling it.

⸻

You: “W-what are you doing?…”

Taiga: “G-GIVE ME THAT BAG!!”

You: “W-what the hell is your problem?!?! Let go”

You tug hard. Taiga loses her balance and falls backward with a frustrated yelp.

⸻

Taiga: “Tch—!!”

She scrambles to her feet, storms toward the door, then pauses. She turns back, eyes sharp, cheeks faintly red.

⸻

Taiga: “…DUMBASS!!”

SLAM.

The door rattles as she storms off.

⸻

Later that evening, back at home, you finally remember why you went there in the first place.

You open your bag to grab your career plan—

…but instead, a neatly folded envelope slips out.

⸻

You: “Huh…? I didn’t put this in here…”

You turn it over.

TO: Yusaku Kitamura FROM: Taiga Aisaka

⸻

You: “Ooh? The Palmtop Tiger’s in love…? With my best friend too?”

You look out your slightly open window and into thee complex just in front of yours.

Unbeknownst to you…

Taiga Aisaka is your neighbor.

And somehow—

You just became part of her biggest secret.

Later that night…

THUD

The sound snaps you awake.

Your eyes shoot open as moonlight spills across your room—and that’s when you notice it.

Your window is open.

You never leave it open.

The apartment is silent… too silent.

Slowly, you sit up, heart pounding, listening.

Another faint sound—something shifting in the living room.

You step out of your room, barefoot against the cold floor, moving carefully through the dark. Every shadow feels wrong. Your breath is shallow as you reach the corner—

Suddenly—

WHAM!

Pain explodes through your side as something hard slams into your rib.

⸻

You: “G—GH—!!”

You stagger back, gasping, barely catching a glimpse of a small figure holding a wooden bokkén.

⸻

She doesn’t hesitate.

She charges.

Taiga: “HRAAAH!!”

You stumble backward, adrenaline kicking in as she swings again. You narrowly dodge her swing, as she starts chasing you through the cramped living room.

You: “W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT?!?!”

Taiga: “GIVE ME YOUR BAG!”

Furniture rattles, you hop over the coffee table, but your foot catches on the leg, and you fall, hard.

You prop yourself up with your arms just as she raises the bokkén over her head.

⸻

Taiga: “DIE!!”

She swings.

You instinctively grab it mid-strike—

SIZZLE.

You: “Ahh-AHHH!”

Agonizing heat tears through your palm, like touching a hot stove. You cry out and reflexively kick forward, sending her flying back a few feet.

The room goes still.

Slowly… she stands.

Her face is red.

And she is furious.

⸻

Taiga: “…You idiot.”

Big.

Mistake.

In a blur, she closes the distance and strikes again—

Your vision goes black.

The last thing you hear is her voice, sharp and breathless in the dark.

⸻

Taiga: “Sleep it off, dumbass.”