Iโve Been Reincarnated as the Childhood Friend of a Doomed Heroine. Since I Donโt Want to Get Caught up in Her Bad Ending, Iโll Make Sure She Ends up Happy
The next day, I was relentlessly hassled at school.
โHey, Toyono-kun.โ
โWhat is it?โ
โToyono-kun, you’re smart, but aren’t you interested in studying abroad?โ
โNo.โ
During break, two students stood around my desk.
Hanesaki Shinori and Suga Akito.
They were grinning and egging me on, finding it amusing for some reason.
โWhat a waste. I heard Hayase-san from our class is going.โ
โOh. โฆWho’s that?โ
โThat cute girl with the headband talking up front right now.โ
โOh, that girl.โ
โBut Kyota has better grades, right? I heard basically everyone who applies within the quota gets in. You should apply while you have the chance.โ
Is this it?
Is this some new kind of snide remark? Like, โGet out of our love story! Disappear overseas!โ
If so, what a roundabout way to say it.
I don’t think Akito had a Kyoto setting, but maybe I missed it.
Well, I know he’s not the type to say something like that.
He’s probably just genuinely complimenting my good grades.
After all, this is my second life, and I do possess college-level intellect.
Good grades are only natural.
Then, perhaps because another girl’s name came out of Akito’s mouth, Shinori fixed him with a glare.
Today, as always, she’s the fiercely jealous, passionate doomed heroine.
And the oblivious protagonist who doesn’t notice.
The future looks bleak.
โฆHuh? After that, she made eye contact with me too.
Why?
But well, studying abroad, huh.
Honestly, if I fled the country, it might seem like I could avoid being dragged into a death ending.
But expecting physical laws in a world where reincarnation happens is pointless.
There’s a chance I’d get dragged into trouble the instant I returned to the country for some reason, or Shmnori ight come after me to take har broad with me.
Honestly, leaving this kind of protagonist alone is scarier.
The option to leave this situation never existed in the first place.
Somehow, I’d settled into the role of Akito’s friend B, so I took a moment to reassess the situation.
Currently, Shinori’s feelings remained firmly directed at Akito.
Her approach to closing the distance with me felt unsettling, but it was probably just my imagination.
I still considered their pairing valid.
As I pondered this, a figure appeared beside me.
โToyono, right?โ
I looked up to see a girl with a ponytail standing there.
โHiiragi Kisa, huh?โ
It had been about two weeks since the new class started.
I didn’t really know most people’s names in the classroom, but I knew hers.
Because she was a named character in โSakuchiruโ.
This girl wasn’t a main heroine to pursue, but she was a frequently appearing supporting character, a helper to the protagonist.
She was a bright girl with a gal-like vibe.
That said, being a pure light-element type, she and Iโher polar oppositeโhad never crossed paths.
As I stood there flustered by her sudden approach, Kisaki gave a wry smile.
โCalling me by my full name out of nowhere is hilarious.โ
โโฆWhat do you want?โ
โOh, right. Right. Cleaning month starts today, right? Since we’re assigned the same spot, I came to let you know.โ
That reminded me it was happening.
Lately, I’d been too busy trying to control my own life and death to pay much attention to school events.
โSo, where is it?โ
โUm, the art room.โ
โโฆHuh?โ
But after hearing our assigned area, I was confused.
โWell, that’s it then. See ya!โ
She hurried off once her business was done.
I chewed over her words.
The art roomโ
That was none other than the territory of the second heroine, Shichikajo Yukimi.
โ
โShe’s not coming.โ
After school.
I’d arrived at the art room early to clean, but no matter how long I waited, even after the cleaning bell rang, Kisa didn’t show up.
Guess I’ll just start cleaning alone.
Popular girls are always like this.
Once they realize you’re unpopular, they immediately slack off and dump work on you.
They genuinely look down on me.
I feel stupid for having any expectations just because she’s on the protagonist’s side.
Turns out, this is just how it is.
A gal who’s nice to otaku?
Doesn’t even exist in fictional worlds, does it?
I’d forgotten lately since talking more with friends, but in this world, I’ve basically always been like this.
Even interacting with Shinori and the others doesn’t mean I’ll escape being a background character.
Just as I was moping like this, the back private room opened.
A girl with long silver hair emerged from inside.
It was Shichikajo Yukimi herself, the heroine to be conquered in Sakuchiru
โHello.โ
She was a senior.
Thinking politeness was important, I offered a greeting.
Then, after giving me a single glance, she casually ignored me.
Ah, right.
I remembered.
This woman always treated everyone except the protagonist, Akito, like this.
Being completely ignored like it’s normal really pisses me off.
There’s nothing worse than being acknowledged and then ignored.
โSeriously, what am I supposed to do with this woman?
Even with my heroine buff, I can’t defend how harsh her attitude is.
Knowing how sweet she can be when she’s being affectionate probably just makes me even more annoyed.
But I mustn’t forget.
To complete the common route, resolving this girl’s issues is essential.
Like with Shinori, I need Akito to get involved with Yukimi’s problems too.
And this time, it’s even harder.
I need him to trigger Yukimi’s flags, but I can’t have him end up on her route because of it.
Ultimately, he absolutely must enter Shinori’s route.
That means I need to adjust his affection levels even more meticulously than last time.
Can I really pull off such a delicate maneuver?
My stomach started to ache.
And, I probably looked like I’d swallowed a bitter pill.
Misinterpreting something, Yukimi spoke up.
โWhat’s with that face?โ
โHuh?โ
She must have thought it was hostility directed at her.
She stood directly in front of me and spoke.
I hadn’t expected her to talk to me, so my eyes widened.
She fixed me with a sharp gaze.
โFrowning the moment you see someone’s faceโฆ Unpleasant.โ
โโฆโฆโ
Ah, so she’s in a foul mood.
Shinori’s event taught me one major lesson.
That isโฆ there’s no benefit to me being liked by the target heroine.
My current relationship with Shinori is somewhat precarious.
Her affection for me has grown so strong that my very existence risks becoming a barrier between Akito and Shinori.
This is putting the cart before the horse.
All of this stems from my accumulation of minor mistakes, but honestly, it’s beyond what I could realistically avoid through effort alone.
No matter how I act, some deviation from the script is bound to happen. I have no choice but to give up.
What I’m trying to say is this: as a mob character, it’s fundamentally fine for me to be disliked by the heroines.
Compared to being liked, it’s actually more advantageous.
I met Yukimi’s gaze head-on.
โAnyone would make this face if their greeting was ignored.โ
โ! โฆAn outsider barged in uninvited. It’s only natural to be wary.โ
โEven so, I’m just the cleaning duty guy. Can’t you see I’m holding a broom?โ
Having nothing to lose, I retorted with a slightly sharp tone to counter her baseless accusation.
Yukimi looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected me to talk back.
But she quickly scowled and glared at me.
Her attitude suggested she thought her glare alone would intimidate me.
โDon’t give me that scary face. That kind of gap moe doesn’t work on me.โ
โโฆHuh?โ
โSorry, that was just me talking.โ
Shit.
I miscalculated my output.
It seems my inner voice slipped out.
โEh. Grossโฆโ
โโฆโ
For some reason, her wordsโwhich must have come straight from her heartโhit me harder than anything today.
The genuinely harsh rejection was clear from her unusually broken speech.
Being disliked like thisโฆ well, it seems to hit me pretty hard mentally.
Feeling threatened by my words, Yukimi took a step back.
Her expression showed not just anger, but fear of the unknown.
Damn itโฆ
I ended up picturing an eroge scenario in my head. How careless of me.
โAnyway, I just came to clean. I don’t deserve to be lectured by someone who won’t even return a greeting.โ
I stated it firmly. She fell silent and began looking me up and down from head to toe.
It felt like she was sizing me up, which I didn’t like, but I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I stood my ground.
Or rather, do I have to save this heroine too?
She’s just as troublesome as Shinori, if not more so, with her own complicated issues. Honestly, I’d rather not get involved.
Even setting that aside, we just don’t click as people.
If I had protagonist buffs, she might be showing me a little affection by now.
Instead, all she’s giving me is a glare that could kill and a slightly mocking smirk.
The situation stalled, and a mysterious silence hung in the air as we locked eyes.
Just thenโฆ
โHuh? What’s going on?โ
It was Hiiragi Kisa, another art room attendant, arriving late with only minutes left in cleaning time.
The moment she entered, she widened her eyes at the strange atmosphere between Yukimi and me.
Even without asking what happened, the tense air alone made it clear they’d been arguing.
โโฆHmph.โ
Perhaps her mood spoiled by the interruption, Yukimi snorted and left the classroom.
โSorry for being lateโthough that’s not really the mood, is it?โ
I gave Kisaki, who was smiling wryly, a tired look.
Only an eerie silence remained in the room.
โโโ
ใShichikajo Yukimiใ
Affection for Akito: โโ
Affection for Kyota: โ100% (โ)
Maiban