I’ve Been Reincarnated as the Childhood Friend of a Doomed Heroine. Since I Don’t Want to Get Caught up in Her Bad Ending, I’ll Make Sure She Ends up Happy
After the study session ended without anything particularly happening.
Before I knew it, the clock had passed 7 PM, and it was pitch dark.
Everyone except Yukimi, who said she’d stay behind to work, cheerfully headed home together.
I walked part of the way with Kisa and Shinori, then parted ways and found myself alone.
“…It’s cold.”
It was already May 16th, a fairly warm time of year.
But it still got chilly at night.
Plus, with all the unsettling talk lately, I felt a bit tense.
I found myself on mysterious alert, worried someone scary might emerge from the darkness.
See? Just now, a figure appeared from that corner over there—
Wait.
“Waaaaaah!?”
“Whoaahh!? Wha-what the hell, why did you just scream like that!?”
“…Sorry.”
Someone really did come out, and I couldn’t help but yell.
I recoiled, and the other person was just as startled.
Then, looking closer, I realized it was someone I knew from class.
A cheerful-looking girl with a hairband.
Her name was Hayase, I think.
I was totally freaked out and embarrassed.
Hayase seemed surprised by my weird reaction, but she smiled at me.
“You’re Toyono, right? Heading home now?”
“Ah, yeah. I was at a study session.”
“I heard from Ujiya. I was just finishing up my part-time job? Since we’re here, let’s walk home together.”
“Eh… Well, sure, I guess.”
She was a girl I didn’t really have any connection with.
Sure, we might have exchanged a few words during school life, but that was about it.
Like I said before, she was actually someone I found a bit difficult to deal with.
So I didn’t really understand why she’d go out of her way to suggest walking together, but I couldn’t think of a reason to refuse, so I just nodded.
And I thought to myself.
—Could it be… my popularity period has finally arrived?
Now that I’ve become friends with various girls like Shinori, Yukimi, Kisa, and Ouka.
I chat with Aoiko whenever we cross paths too. My female friends are steadily increasing.
To me, all of this is just maneuvering to avoid disaster, but regardless of the reason, I am spending more time surrounded by girls.
As I pondered this ridiculous thought, Hayase lowered her voice.
Then she suddenly said:
“Um, listen. There’s something I want to apologize for.”
“Huh?”
“I mean… I ignored her before, Hanesaki-san. I turned a blind eye to the bullying too. How should I put it… I’m really sorry.”
“…”
I’d thought this before when Kisa and the others mentioned Hayase.
I knew Hayase wasn’t neutral about Shinori’s bullying—she’d actually been somewhat complicit.
I distinctly remember seeing her laughing along with Ami and the others, not just ignoring it. I hadn’t liked her since then.
But her sudden apology caught me off guard.
As I blinked in surprise, Hayase continued.
“Honestly, part of me was annoyed by how much everyone fawned over her, Hanesaki-san. But after the bullying stopped, I realized… I was the worst.”
“Ah… ah, yeah.”
She’s surprisingly honest.
Whether she was genuinely remorseful or not, Hayase kept saying “I’m sorry” over and over, looking like she was about to cry.
Seeing her like that, I started to see her in a slightly different light.
The trigger for bullying is usually something simple. And since Ami and the others were already acting all high and mighty, Hayase probably couldn’t bring herself to step in and stop it.
Jealousy is something everyone feels.
If she can reflect on it and apologize like this after it’s over, I think that’s pretty impressive.
Forgiving her or not is another matter, but I believe the act of reflection itself deserves credit.
Though, I do feel like the target of that apology is a bit off the mark.
“Hey, listen. I know it’s a bit much to call it an apology, but… how about some ice cream at the convenience store?”
“Nah, I’ve been thinking since earlier, but you should ask Hanesaki for that.”
Yeah, there’s no point asking me.
I’m just a childhood friend.
And as a potential boyfriend candidate, Akito’s a better fit than me anyway.
But Hayase awkwardly looks away.
“I think she’d hate that too. Toyono-kun, put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if someone who helped bully you suddenly apologized and brought it all back up?”
“…Well, yeah, I guess I wouldn’t know how to feel about that.”
“See?”
Apologies are a form of imposition, after all.
“I’ve reflected, so forgive me!” is just self-satisfaction for the forgiver’s own peace of mind.
As I began to understand, Hayase pressed her palms together.
“So please. I know it’s a bother, but I can’t just leave things like this.”
“Well, if that’s how it is, fine.”
For me, it was just free ice cream, so there was no downside.
Feeling a bit annoyed, we stopped by the convenience store together.
◇
We ate the ice cream we bought at the convenience store outside.
The parking lot was eerily quiet.
Normally, local high school kids would be making noise, but for some reason, it was deserted today.
It felt unnervingly strange.
I sensed an odd, spine-chilling atmosphere hanging in the air.
Then, abruptly, laughter echoed through the silence.
“Heh heh, ahahahaha!”
“Huh?”
It was Hayase who suddenly started laughing.
She was doubled over, laughing her head off, though it was unclear what was so funny.
The ice cream she’d been eating had been tossed aside and was now squelching on the ground, completely melted.
I didn’t get it.
“Toyono-kun, did you actually think I was seriously reflecting?”
“Huh—?”
“Ahh, you always go way too far, you know? I heard you and Shichikajo-senpai were scheming something and snooping around lately? Now you are stuck with all the trouble.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Well, I guess it’s fine since I get paid, huh?”
As if on cue from Hayase’s shout, footsteps echoed through the eerily quiet parking lot.
Numerically speaking, it wasn’t just one or two people.
Probably around five.
Turning toward the sound, I saw a familiar face.
One that had been fading into the corners of my memory lately, a face that made my skin crawl at just one glance.
Seeing it, everything clicked into place inside me.
—Ah, I see.
It seemed I’d been set up.
Standing in the center of the group that emerged from behind, Kato Aki gave me a smile.
“Long time no see, creepy otaku.”
“That’s a pretty nasty way to start a conversation.”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
The last time we spoke, she’d been surprisingly polite. What a change in attitude.
Her expression practically screamed they had the upper hand.
Her face, brimming with confidence, made me panic.
This is bad.
The blatantly tense atmosphere made me acutely aware of the danger I was in.
…Maybe I’m about to get beaten up right here, right now.
Seriously, one-on-one unarmed, I don’t think I’d lose. But they might be armed, and there are five of them.
Outnumbered, that’s what it is.
I’m racking my brain, trying to figure out what to do.
Then, Aki started laughing again.
“You know, you were lying to scare us, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That recording you made back then? If you think about it calmly, it’s full of mistakes, right? You recorded your own threatening voice too. If the police found out you threatened us to get us expelled, wouldn’t that be bad for you too? So, doesn’t that mean it’s not really usable as blackmail material?”
“……”
Seems like all those past mistakes are finally catching up to us.
I figured you’d be too dumb to notice, but maybe someone tipped you off?
Looks like that one mistake finally broke these guys’ brakes.
“Well, if you just edit that part out, netizens won’t notice.”
“But if it goes viral, won’t the cops investigate?”
“Hmm, who knows?”
I tried to cover it up in desperation, but they’ve got my weakness completely figured out.
So threats don’t work either, huh.
Or rather… right.
So that’s why they’re here now.
Back then, I threatened to leak the video if they ever touched Shinori again.
But that video lost its leverage when the mistake was exposed.
And honestly, I never included “don’t take revenge on me” as part of the deal.
After the pencil case incident, I’d been alone in the abandoned school building, jokingly considering risks like ‘the possibility of me getting stabbed personally’ and laughing about it. But it seems that’s become reality.
You really shouldn’t plant flags like that.
As Ami and the others inched closer, I lifted my hips, preparing to respond.
“Look this way.”
The instant she spoke, something flashed right beside me.
I scrambled back, but a faint pain shot through my left arm.
Hayase, completely outside my guard, had slashed my left arm.
“Huh!?”
As I instinctively backed away, Hayase closed the distance leisurely.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. Just so I can get back the study abroad money my trashy big bro blew, I’ll just need you as a hostage.”
Her words cleared my head.
Maybe it was the adrenaline, but the cold night wind felt sharper than the pain.
Amidst it all, I heard her words with surprising calmness, piecing things together in my mind.
—The perpetrator’s younger siblings, joint liability of the perpetrator’s family, overseas study, part-time job referrals…
Key phrases from past conversations flashed through my mind one after another.
Ah, so that’s how it was.
No wonder Yukimi got involved.
The case seemed to have started earlier than I thought, in a blind spot, and was already tangled in complex ways.
With my mind finally clearing the confusion, I instantly chose my next move.
“Ha ha! Don’t think your hero act will work every time!”
Taking Ami’s voice as their cue, the girls all started chasing after me at once.
Taking that as my signal—I took off running.
Like a hare escaping, I melted into the darkness at full speed.
Maiban