Episode 1 – It seems I’ve been reincarnated as the childhood friend of the doomed heroine

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

Apparently, I had been reincarnated into the world of an eroge.

Early April, when the cherry blossoms were falling.

It was in this very scene that I realized I had been reincarnated into the adult game ‘In the Season of Falling Cherry Blossoms’ (commonly known as ‘Sakuchiru’).

‘Sakuchiru’ was an eroge I had played multiple times in my previous life.
A romance adventure that twisted the classic formula into something gloomy, where you progress through the story while confronting the somewhat heavy issues of four heroines.

Within that world, I had been reincarnated as a nameless, faceless mob character.

Reincarnated as a mob, I didn’t realize this fact until I entered high school.

Even if I were a named character like the protagonist or a friend character, it would be one thing, but there was no way I could possibly recognize an existence I didn’t even know the name of.

That’s precisely why, until I entered high school, I couldn’t grasp who I was or even where this world was.

And then, the real problem began.

“…Haa.”

I—Toyono Kyota—exhaled a sigh while rolling my eyes back.

This guy’s life in the original story is miserable.

Even though his name never appears, I know the fate he’ll face.

He’s just an unlucky guy who gets dragged into a certain incident.

With hollow eyes, I stared at the man and woman who were essentially the root cause of it all.

“Hanesaki san, did you do today’s homework? I forgot mine, so I was wondering if I could see yours.”

“Sure. Hehe, then let’s push our desks together.”

The two of them flirting at the back of the classroom.

The guy is Suga Akito, a naturally high-spec “ordinary” guy with lots of friends and a bright personality.

And he’s also the protagonist of the original eroge.

The problem lies with the other girl—Hanesaki Shinori.

She’s the heroine of 『Sakuchiru』, the most popular main character and a beautiful girl.

And she’s the only doomed heroine in the original work with a death ending.

She’s smiling modestly and seems harmless now, but in the game, she’s the biggest problem child of all.

Below are the fates this woman meets outside her own individual route endings.

―――

① If the protagonist fails to set flags, she’s the only one to commit suic*de in the Normal End.

② If the protagonist chooses a bad option, she commits suic*de out of despair in the Bad End.

③ If the protagonist chooses another heroine, she becomes mentally unstable and commits su*cide at the end of that girl’s individual route.

―――

Do you understand now?

This woman, with this appearance, is a demonic doom heroine who destroys every route except her own…!

While other heroines’ bad endings stop at falling into darkness, this one dies.

She dies shockingly quickly.

She dies so many times it defies comprehension.

The cause of death is always jumping.

And each time, for some reason, she drags her childhood friend into ruin with her—the worst kind of heroine who drags others down.

The aftertaste is absolutely awful.

…What’s crucial here is the existence of this girl’s childhood friend.

That mob character she drags down? That’s none other than me.

I didn’t want to believe it either.

But I can’t help it.

I have no choice but to admit it.

Because at this Meirei Academy, I’m the only classmate who’s been with her since kindergarten…

――In short, if things keep going like this, I’ll get dragged into her downfall and die.

Of course I don’t want to die, but I also don’t know what the right move is.

Fundamentally, I’m still just a background character.

All I can really do is pray the protagonist and the doomed heroine end up together.

If I mess with things and change the scenario, that would only bring death closer!…

…

…

But of course, leaving it all up to others won’t work out.

“Suga-kun, do you have plans this weekend?”

Spring of second year high school—Tuesday, April 15th.

In a corner of the classroom, Shinori asked Akito with a shy smile.

This was a branching question I remembered from the game too.

The protagonist just nods to this, leading to the date event—the easy choice.

It’s depicted as the first event in the original story too, so it sticks in my memory.

But the protagonist, Suga Akito, smiled and—declined.

“Sorry! I already promised my childhood friends I’d go see a movie that day.”

“Oh… I see.”

“Yeah! I’ll tell you what I thought if it was good. Oh, and no spoilers, don’t worry!”

“…Ahaha, thanks.”

Akito’s childhood friends were, of course, girls.

Shinori’s eyes darkened completely, having been rejected in the worst possible way—prioritizing a promise with another girl.

Watching that, I despaired.

That was a miscommunication leading straight to a bad ending.

In short, if things continued like this, Shinori would kill herself, and I’d probably die too.

“Haa, what can I do?”

…I take back what I said.

If I do nothing, her fate is sealed anyway.

Then, from here on out, I’ll interfere with the scenario to make this life I’ve picked up last just a little longer.

I, a mere mob character, will forcefully make this doomed heroine on a predetermined path to a bad ending happy.

Maiban