A supporting character in a romance anime? I became a god using a rat talisman.

"With Dad and my sister around, I don't need to talk to them..." Iri shrank back, feeling wronged.

"Your dad's not here! Your sister's not here either! All you have is me, a doll you can't show to anyone!" Xiao Ke jumped up and down on her knees. "Tell me, what do we do next?!"

Yili buried her head back into her knees, her voice muffled and almost inaudible.

"Let me think..."

"What's the point of thinking about it! There's simply no way to break this deadlock!"

"Yes...there definitely is..." Ichiri's voice was muffled. "If all else fails...there's one more situation I can ask for help with..."

"What's going on?"

"During the performance..."

Xiao Ke was stunned for a moment.

"In the extreme atmosphere of a band performance..." Ichiri said slowly, "Only on stage, under the spotlight and enveloped by the music... can I barely... say a few words to the audience..."

"So you mean, we should find a stage now and hold a concert?"

"...No...I was just saying..."

"What's the point of saying that!"

"Don't...don't rush me..." Ichiri buried her face back in her knees, her voice muffled, "Let me think of something..."

"What solution? You can't even speak up, what solution could you possibly come up with?"

"Waaah..."

It shrank into an even smaller ball.

Xiao Ke sighed, floated to her side, and poked her head with its tail.

"Speaking of which, your father, Qianyu, was really something. What on earth did he do back then to make such a mess of the future, and he didn't even explain it to his own daughter?"

"Dad...Dad must have his reasons..." Yili said in a muffled voice.

"What reason could possibly allow the world to descend into such chaos? Those superpower cards are flying everywhere, turning ordinary people into monsters just by getting them. You've been working yourself to the bone cleaning up this mess lately, aren't you angry?"

"I'm angry... a little bit..." Ichiri's voice trailed off, "but... but I want to see Dad more..."

Xiao Ke looked at her speechlessly.

This girl's father-obsessed nature is truly something else.

I wish I hadn't come up with that terrible idea.

Sending a socially anxious person through time to find someone? Isn't that just asking for trouble?

But there's no other way now.

"Seriously... how could Chiba have such a socially awkward daughter... Michiyo is clearly a social butterfly... this genetic mutation is just too outrageous..."

On one floor of the teaching building, a black-haired boy who had just walked back from the old school building's connecting corridor sneezed unexpectedly.

Who is thinking of me?

Just as Ichiri was hiding in a corner racking his brains for a solution, footsteps and voices came from the other end of the corridor.

"Has Yui been acting a little strange lately?"

"It's more than just a little; she missed two club activities yesterday. When asked, she stammered that she was busy, but couldn't say what she was busy with."

"She probably has her own things to do."

"What could be more important than club activities? Even the Service Club is practically turning into a private tea party for Yukino and me."

Yili subconsciously shrank back.

But Xiao Ke's reaction was completely different; he glanced in the direction of the sound.

Then it flew to the gap in the stair railing, peeked out, and immediately retreated, landing on Yili's shoulder, its claws poking at her neck.

"One mile! One mile!"

"Um……?"

"That pink-haired woman looks like your mother."

"Um?"

Yili looked up into the corridor and saw two girls walking side by side.

The one on the right is wearing the standard uniform of Sakigawa High School, with long, black hair hanging down her shoulders and tied with a red ribbon bow. She exudes a cold and aloof aura that keeps strangers at bay.

The girl on the left was also wearing a school uniform, but her long pink hair was tied into a loose low ponytail. She had a smile on her lips, was carrying a stack of books, and was chatting with the person next to her as she walked.

Although he looked more than twenty years younger than I remembered, his face, his smile, and his aura that seemed to attract attention wherever he went made me recognize him instantly.

She's a younger version of her mother.

"Hey, did you hear me?"

Xiao Ke poked her neck furiously with her paws. "What are you standing there for? Aren't you supposed to be a messenger fallen from the sky? Even if you have severe social anxiety, you can't be so incapable of talking to your own mother!"

"Well, well... it's not that bad..." Ichiri's voice was so muffled it was almost inaudible, "but my mother doesn't recognize me now..."

"Who cares if she knows you or not! Just treat her like a helpful senior who looks like your mom, walk up to her, ask for directions. Three steps and you're done."

"Three steps..."

"Yes, three steps. Stand up, walk over, and open your mouth. You can do it."

Yili crouched in the corner, staring at the pink figure that was getting closer and closer, while a fierce internal struggle was raging within him.

Her social anxiety instincts screamed wildly, urging her to keep curling up into a ball, but something deeper was pushing her outward.

It was a sense of security that was hard to describe.

Unlike the suffocating fear she felt when facing strangers, just looking at the back of that pink-haired woman made a string in her heart that had been taut loosen slightly.

Ichiri took a deep breath and walked out of the dead end of the stairs.

Michiyo and Yukino happened to be near the stairwell.

"Hey, Yukino, have you noticed that Yui seems to have a bit of cat hair on her lately? Like, a blue one."

"Maybe she has a cat."

"Doesn't she have a dog? If she keeps a cat too, there'll be endless chaos."

"That's someone else's cat."

"Hmm—something feels off."

Michiyo tilted her head, about to say something, when she caught a glimpse of a pink figure emerging from around the corner of the corridor.

"that……"

When she saw a female student she didn't know approach her, she stopped and politely asked if the girl was having any trouble.

Yukino, who was standing nearby, also looked over at the sound.

"What's wrong?" Michiyo asked with a natural smile. "Have you run into some trouble?"

Faced with the gazes of the two, Ichiri's social anxiety kicked in again, and he stammered for a long time without being able to speak, his eyes only daring to keep glancing at Yukino.

Chapter 232 Where Did This Love Rival Come From?

Yukino noticed her gaze.

This genius young girl understood the situation in less than a second.

She glanced at Ichiri's flushed face and evasive eyes, then at Michiyo, and understood.

"Michiyo, let me take this stack of books back to the classroom for you."

Without a word, Yukino reached out and took the half-stack from Michiyo's arms. "The teacher's urging me to go, so I'll head out first."

"Huh? You don't need to—"

Michiyo was about to say no, but Yukino had already taken the half-stack of books from her and placed it on top of hers.

"We'll talk about Yui later."

After saying that, she nodded slightly to Yili, turned around, and walked away down the corridor.

The footsteps gradually faded away around the corner.

As Yili watched the black-haired figure disappear at the end of the corridor, her entire body visibly relaxed, and even her ahoge (cowlick) regained its elasticity.

Michiyo glanced in the direction Yukino had left, then looked at the relieved girl in front of her, and roughly understood what was going on.

She gave a gentle smile, shifted the position of her arms holding the book, and softened her tone.

"Alright, now it's just the two of us."

"Take your time and tell me what's wrong, there's no rush."

Just as Ichiri was about to politely introduce herself by her full name...

My name is Kazama—

But she had only uttered three words when Xiao Ke's voice exploded in her mind.

"Hey, you're not thinking of saying your name is Kazama Ichiri, are you? Do you even know what your father's surname is in this era?! If you say Kazama's surname here, your mother will be blown away on the spot! Can you take responsibility for the mess that happens to the causal chain?!"

Yes, that's right...

If you were to say the name "Kazama Ichiri" here, it would be like saying to your mother, "I am Kazama Chiba's daughter."

Although Mom doesn't know yet that she will marry Qianyu in the future, this level of information overload will definitely cause huge trouble.

Yili instantly realized what was happening, and the syllables on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back.

"Kazama...?" Michiyo's smile remained, but her eyebrows twitched slightly.

"No, no, no, that's not it!" Ichiri shook her head frantically, so much so that her hood almost flew off. "Um, um... everyone calls me... calls me Little Pochi!"

"Little Pochi? Is that a nickname? What a unique name."

"Um...yes, Pochi."

Michiyo silently repeated the name in her mind.