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
Let’s go back a few days.
Sitting next to me, Kisa had frozen in place, her spoon still poised over her chawanmushi.
As expected, this was our second visit to a high-end ryotei, and the place had been reserved exclusively for us.
From what I’d heard, this restaurant had a very close relationship with the Shichikajo family and was essentially their personal supplier.
Last time, I’d felt a slight sense of unease.
That’s because, even though it was a private room, I’d felt the staff were uncharacteristically loose-lipped.
However, after hearing the circumstances, I understood.
If it’s a restaurant under the family’s influence, the risk of information leaks is virtually nonexistent.
No wonder it’s perfect for secret meetings.
Besides, since it’s common knowledge that the restaurant is connected to the Shichikajo family, both the wealthy and government officials avoid using it.
In other words, they can’t risk leaking classified information to the Shichikajo family.
The two of them didn’t seem particularly saddened by Chagiri’s death.
That’s to be expected from Kisa, since she was the victim to begin with, and as for Yukimi… well, she’s Yukimi.
She’s not the type to feel any mercy toward s*x offenders, so her expression seemed to say that evil deserved to be punished.
I couldn’t quite be that detached, but that didn’t mean I felt any sympathy either.
Especially since I knew he’d been planning to attack Aoiko next.
Just then, after Yukimi suggested we take down the Sayama family, I asked:
“‘Take them down’… What exactly do you plan to do? Even if Chagiri’s death was, as you said, the work of the Sayama family, I feel like it would be downright dangerous for us to get involved clumsily.”
To begin with, we had already agreed that negotiating with Hiroyoshi Sayama was the best way to resolve this.
I chimed in, thinking it was way too risky, but Yukimi just laughed.
“That said, I don’t think they’d lay a finger on anyone from Shichikajo family. It’s safe to say my personal safety is guaranteed, isn’t it?”
“…Huh? What about me?”
“Hehehe.”
“This isn’t a time for ‘hehehe’.”
A senior who never loses her sense of playfulness, no matter the situation.
As expected of her.
Though I really can’t find this funny at all.
Anyway, I frowned.
For me—whose every action up to this point had been driven by the single thought of “I don’t want to die”—this didn’t seem like a very good plan.
But that’s beside the point.
Having come this far, it just felt wrong to just leave things be from here on out.
“I have a dinner meeting scheduled with Yuzo Sayama next Tuesday. So I plan to make contact with him then.”
“Wait, wait a minute. Actually, I forgot to ask earlier—is there any evidence that Chagiri’s death was a homicide?”
To begin with, the consensus was that, based on circumstantial evidence, it was definitely a s**cide.
Even though I’d been doubting it all along, it didn’t feel right to just accept Yukimi’s word for it.
If he’d jumped, then—motive aside—it was a plausible s**cide.
At that, Yukimi smiled defiantly.
“Evidence? Of course I have it. …I mean, hehehe.”
After building up the suspense as much as she could, she said with a devilish grin.
“The only people at the scene that day were Chagiri Kanaya himself, the person who actually killed him, and Chagiri Kanaya’s father—just those three. On top of that, I’ve received testimony and evidence directly from Chagiri Kanaya’s father.”
“…Huh?”
“Kayaya Chagiri’s father—Yota Chagiri. As I mentioned before, he’s currently employed through the Sayama family’s connections. Needless to say, the goal was to sever his ties with antisocial groups and keep him under our watch, but the Sayama family was also using him as a ‘sensor’ to expose hostile forces that might approach us without knowing about the relationship between the Chagiri and Sayama families. And when the topic of an arranged marriage between the Sayama and Shichikajo families came up—partly because Kayaya Chagiri and I attend the same academy—the Sayama family tried to assign Yota to keep an eye on me. …So, I decided to turn the tables and use that to my advantage.”
Yukimi’s casual mention of her own arranged marriage talk left Kisa looking bewildered, with a strange expression on her face.
But I, for one, was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and couldn’t keep up.
“Well, in short, they had bribed him. They knew he was a frivolous man, and since he was well-versed in the inner workings of the Sayama family, there was no one more suitable than him to serve as the Shichikajo family’s eyes and ears. ……It seems the Sayama family was paying Yota Chagiri a considerable sum to keep him on their side, but we at Shichikajo offered an even larger amount. Of course, since acting openly would have alerted the Sayama family, we had to go to great lengths to find the right methods.”
After finishing her explanation, Yukimi took a sip of water.
……This is bad.
As a commoner, I could barely understand what she was saying.
All right, let’s sort this out.
Yota Chagiri, Kayaya’s father, was essentially being “kept” by the Sayama family under the guise of a “connection-based job placement,” which also involved monitoring his conduct.
On top of that, he was tasked with gathering intelligence to ensure that the antisocial forces he’d been associated with for years weren’t hostile toward the Sayamas.
Then, when the arranged marriage between Hiroyoshi Sayama’s grandson and Yukimi was set, Yota went to observe Yukimi’s behavior, but Shichikajo turned the tables on him and made him switch sides.
Originally, the murder of Kayaya should have been a small-scale operation involving only his father, Yota, and the perpetrator, allowing for a complete cover-up.
However, since Yukimi had bribed Yota, she was able to learn the truth about the incident by having him leak the information to her.
If I were to summarize it based on my own interpretation, that’s about it.
“That’s how I took it, but is that correct?”
“Hehe, that’s exactly right.”
“Wait, how do you understand things so well? Toyo-chan, aren’t you seriously smart?”
“Well, I did come in third in the class on the midterm exam the other day.”
I nodded, feeling a little pleased to have been praised by Kisa.
“Ugh, gross.”
“Could you please not brag about something as trivial as third place?”
And just like that, I was met with scorn from everyone.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and my vision blurred.
I’m sad.
Still, as always, both Shichikajo and Sayama are acting completely out of line.
With money and connections, they can do whatever they want.
Is it precisely because they’re trying to forge ties between families through arranged marriages that they’re constantly sizing each other up and keeping each other in check?
Come to think of it, I was also being monitored by someone from Shichikajo and had all my personal information scoured—maybe everyone in this crowd is like that.
I really don’t want to get too close to them.
That said, I see.
Was this really a move with that much certainty and a good chance of success?
“Well then, I guess I have no choice but to do it.”
“Yes, that’s right. But you don’t have to come along if you don’t want to, you know? …Though I’d like Hiiragi-san to accompany me.”
“Well… of course.”
Kisa was the one who was assaulted by Chagiri, so no matter how much Yukumi says she’ll handle the negotiations, it goes without saying that I should go with her.
However, as Yukumi said, I’m different.
As I’ve been told time and again, I’m an outsider.
There’s absolutely no reason for me to stick my neck out without regard for the danger.
Besides, with this much evidence in hand, victory is guaranteed.
We’ll retrieve the video data and delete everything from the source.
If there’s any sign it’s fallen into someone else’s hands, we’ll take responsibility and have the Sayama family retrieve it as well.
That’s all.
Just then, I hesitated.
“Wait a minute. …I’m going too.”
Another worry that had been weighing on my chest all along suddenly surfaced at that very moment.
Remembering that, I looked ahead.
As I called out to stop the two of them, Yukimi raised the corners of her mouth as if to say she’d been waiting for this.
“Oh… you’re looking rather grim.”
“It’s just my natural expression.”
What I’m about to do isn’t right.
But I’m not so obsessed with justice that I’d feel guilty about getting my way against a group of criminals at this late stage.
And so, the curtain quietly rose on the final showdown.
Maiban