I, Who Was Reincarnated as an Evil Character With Cheat-Level Stats in an Eroge, Will Live Freely in This Life
――A little over a week has passed, and today is Saturday.
There have been no particular changes since then, just peaceful everyday life.
I went on another date with Kana last Sunday, and I’ve been talking to Miku more often. Nothing much has changed with Saki, except that I thought I was greeting her more often, but this week I didn’t talk to her at all. Well, we weren’t that close to begin with.
Anyway, that’s how it is.
Then there’s the matter of school. To be honest, when I talk to Miku, it’s basically in the classroom, so there are probably people who see us talking.
I can tell from everyone’s gaze how they react to me and how they see me, but I think it’s gotten much better. I hardly ever get nasty looks like I used to, and I hardly ever hear people whispering behind my back anymore.
Sometimes people even nod at me… though if they’re just nodding out of fear, that’s a different story, but it doesn’t feel like that.
Of course, I don’t think anyone has a good impression of me, but it’s still better than being looked at with disdain.
The conversation has strayed, but even when people see me talking with Mikku in the classroom, it doesn’t cause much of a stir.
I don’t know if it’s because my reputation has changed or if people just think Miku is paying attention to me. Incidentally, I think it’s probably the latter.
That said, I used to worry that something might happen between Nanashima and Miku because of this, but I’ve stopped wondering about that now.
That’s because both Kana and Miku told me that they choose their own friends and that it’s not my place to worry about it.
It might sound a little cold, but I thought that was true, and I understand that they’re being considerate of me by saying it so clearly. If I keep worrying about it even though they’ve told me not to, it might end up making them feel bad, especially Kana, who’s my girlfriend.
And one more thing about Nanashima
It’s about how Kana and I spend our time at school, but in the end, we decided to just talk during lunch break like we always have.
Basically, Kana and I are in different buildings, and the only time we can meet is during lunch break. Plus, I’m not in the classroom during lunch break, so it’s just not possible physically.
Now that I think about it, it’s obvious, but both Kana and I, along with Miku, were overthinking it and had overlooked that fact. Saki apparently told the two of them that, and they both agreed, as I heard later.
Well, that’s how it is. We don’t plan to announce that Kana and I are dating, but we don’t plan to hide it either.
We hang out together normally outside of school, so eventually someone will see us and spread the word.
Kana and I are famous at school, for better or worse, so there’s no need to think about it.
We decided that we should just be ourselves.
Well, that’s what happened over the past week or so…
“What’s that?”
It was 6:00 p.m.
I had just finished eating out and was on my way home when I spotted someone across the street.
It was a little dark outside and hard to see, but I was sure it was her.
It was Saki, but something was off about her.
She was walking quickly and looking around nervously.
Saki wouldn’t do anything strange, but from the outside, she looked pretty suspicious, and it seemed like she was scared of something.
I wondered what was going on, but then I remembered what Kana had told me.
Come to think of it, Kana mentioned that Saki had been looking a bit down lately.
I didn’t talk to her, so I’m not sure, but she did a commemorative live stream last Saturday, and I didn’t notice anything unusual then…
I thought about it for a moment, but quickly gave up. There’s no point in thinking about it.
Kana was worried, and even if she wasn’t, I couldn’t just leave her in this strange situation.
And so I chased after Saki and crossed the crosswalk.
◇
I was running after her, but maybe she reacted to my footsteps because she started running too.
Was it a bad idea to chase after her? I thought so. It was getting dark outside, so maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all.
I felt bad for scaring her, so I called out to her in a voice loud enough for her to hear.
“Hiiragi! It’s me! It’s Kisaragi Seito!”
It was a bit of an odd way to call out to her, but I figured that since Saki and I hadn’t really talked much before, it would be difficult for her to recognize my voice alone. I also wanted to make sure my call was clear and concise, so that’s how it turned out.
When Saki heard my voice, she suddenly turned around and stopped, then started crying.
I hurried over to her, had her sit down at the side of the road, and sat down next to her.
This is bad… I seem to have scared her a lot, and I wasn’t considerate enough.
I didn’t think she would be so scared, but I guess it’s understandable that a girl would feel anxious… While Saki was crying, I kept thinking about that and reflecting on my actions.
◇
――After a while, Saki stopped crying and calmed down.
“I’m really sorry for scaring you. I wasn’t considerate enough.”
“No, I’m sorry. Usually, there are quite a few people running here, so it wouldn’t be like this, but right now…”
It’s true that there aren’t many cars around here, and there are a lot of streetlights, so it’s a popular running route.
Still, Saki said she’s just a little… She didn’t say anything else, but I wonder what happened?
She might not want to talk about it, but I heard from Kana that Saki has been acting strange lately, so I couldn’t help but ask.
“Um, did something happen recently?”
“Eh, wh-why?”
“Kana told me that Hiiragi hasn’t been feeling well lately, and earlier she was looking around nervously, so I got worried.”
When I said that, Saki replied listlessly.
“Y-yes, that’s right…”
Seeing Saki looking so down, I suddenly realized.
Could it be… that event?!
The big event that happens to Saki is that a stalker appears.
The stalker is a fan of Hiiragi Saki, or rather, Himesaki Ruruka, but the reason Saki realizes it’s Himesaki Ruruka is when he steals a file from her father’s laptop.
The reason he stole her father’s files was because, due to his work, her father and the man were casual acquaintances, not exactly friends but people who talked because of work. The man was jealous of her father’s songwriting talent and took the opportunity to steal the files, which contained Hiiragi Saki’s songs and other information.
Unfortunately, the man was a fanatic fan of Himesaki Ruruka and had been making troublesome comments and engaging in problematic behavior on social media.
Originally, the man’s goal was to steal her father’s songs, but he ended up becoming a stalker of Hiiragi Saki, who was Himesaki Ruruka.
Thinking about it that way, it makes sense why Saki was afraid and why she didn’t confide in anyone.
Saki usually confides in her parents, Kana, and Miku, but the more important the matter, the less she confides in them.
The reason is probably because she doesn’t want to worry them or because she’s afraid of taking it seriously, but for the shy Saki, that’s a big reason.
But this event was supposed to be in July, right?
There should still be more than a month left… I have my doubts, but I have to do something about it anyway.
Thinking that, I tried to talk to her in a slightly aggressive manner.
I have to hear her story, even if it’s a little forceful.
“Were you being chased by someone?”
“Huh?”
“No, it’s just a guess. I approached Hiiragi because she seemed off, and I heard the same thing from Kana. Plus, the fact that she reacted to footsteps she usually wouldn’t notice and ran away makes me think that’s probably what happened.”
When I said that, Saki started crying again.
“Well, maybe that’s true… For about a week now, I’ve felt like someone was watching me, and I’ve been scared the whole time. When I saw Kisaragi-kun earlier and cried, it wasn’t because I was scared, but because I felt relieved and just let myself cry…”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone about it?”
“Because I didn’t want to worry them…”
“Then why are you out at this time of night?”
“Because I had cram school…”
She was going to cram school so her parents wouldn’t worry, I guess?
By the way, Miku and Saki go to different cram schools.
Still, even if it’s not as bad as Miku’s case, hearing that she didn’t talk to anyone about it makes me pretty worried.
Well, this matter needs to be resolved quickly, so I should consult with Saki’s parents right away.
That’s what I thought, so I said,
“When you get home today, make sure you talk to your parents, okay?”
“But… I don’t want to worry them…”
Since Saki was still saying such things even at this point, I interrupted her.
“Then why did you tell me?”
“Well, it’s because… I felt relieved and let my guard down…”
“I see. But we should still talk to your parents. You understand that it’s too late once something happens, right?”
“U, uh…”
“Then I’ll take you home.”
“Oh, thank you…”
And so I ended up taking Saki home.
Maiban