I, Who Was Reincarnated as an Evil Character With Cheat-Level Stats in an Eroge, Will Live Freely in This Life
โHiiragi Saki (side)
โโAfter Kisaragi-kun left, I was talking with Mom.
โBut seriously, Dad, why can’t he just come home right away?! He’s never around when it really matters!!!โ
โIt can’t be helped, Mom. He said he had a lot of meetings today, and it’s hard to suddenly clear his schedule. When I called, he was in a meeting and had his phone on silent.โ
It seemed Dad had been swamped with work-related matters until just before the call came in, and now he was rushing home in a hurry.
โI know that, butโฆโ
โI’m fine, so it’s okay.โ
โWell, if you say so, Sakiโฆ But still, how did that guy even find out you’re Himesaki Ruruka?โ
โThatโฆ I don’t know either. There shouldn’t have been any identifiable informationโฆโ
โI watch all your streams too, so I know thatโฆโ
โShould I hold off on streaming for a while?โ
Honestly, I wanted to keep streaming to deliver my songs, but this incident had me feeling uneasy.
I didn’t know if that person had tracked me down on their own, or if someone else knew about meโฆ But one thing I could say for sure was that it hadn’t spread online.
I checked, and my identity hasn’t been exposed. There’s been absolutely nothing related to it online.
If it were out there, it would’ve spread instantlyโฆ I don’t know about the future, but for nowโฆ
โWhy don’t we talk to the police about this first? Personally, I want you to do what you want, Saki. But if you decide to quit, you should talk to your dad, Miku-chan, and Kana-chan, right? And you have fans like Seito-kun, too?โ
โY-Yeah, you’re rightโฆโ
It’s true. Miku-chan and Kana-chan keep supporting me, and even Kisaragi-kun says he’s a fan. If possible, I really do want to keep going.
โStill, Seito-kun is such a great guy. I was surprised by how mature he is. You don’t find many high schoolers like that, do you?โ
โMaybe. At least, there’s no one like Kisaragi-kun in my class?โ
I said my class, but honestly, I don’t think there’s anyone like him in my gradeโฆ or even the whole school.
I know it might sound weird coming from me, since I hardly ever interact with guys, but there’s the fact about Miku-chan and Kana-chan too.
Honestly, I totally get why Miku-chan acknowledges him and why Kana-chan fell for him now.
Like Kana-chan said, he’s dependable and makes you feel safe. This whole incident really drove that home for me. Having Kisaragi-kun there this time really made me feel safe too.
This whole thing could easily have left me traumatized, but it didn’t. That’s definitely thanks to Kisaragi-kunโฆ though of course, it’s also thanks to Miku-chan and Kana-chan.
โBut I was really surprised you could talk to a boy other than Tsubasa-kunโฆ though personally, I’m really happy about itโฆโ
Mom said that with a happy smile.
It’s true, back in middle school, I was so bad at talking to boys that my teacher even contacted Mom out of concernโฆ The teacher tried all sorts of things to help fix it, but it just didn’t workโฆ Middle school was even worse than nowโฆ
โI’m surprised myselfโฆ But I’m trying to get to the point where I can at least talk to boys when absolutely necessary.โ
Back in middle school, I didn’t really care if I couldn’t talk to them, but as I got closer to high school, that mindset changed.
So I wouldn’t have to rely on Miku-chan or Kana-chanโฆ just the bare minimum, you knowโฆ though honestly, I still can’t talk to anyone except Kisaragi-kun and Tsubasa-kunโฆ
โYou can do it, Saki. No need to rush, just take it slow.โ
โYeahโฆโ
โSo, Saki, how do you feel about Seito-kun?โ
Naturally, being asked that threw me into a terrible panic.
Mom, why are you asking me that!?
โUmโฆ that isโฆโ
โAs a member of the opposite gender, you know?โ
โI-I-I don’t know about thatโฆโ
I blurted out in panic. My face must have been bright redโฆ
Seeing me like that, Mom smiled and said.
โHehe, I see. Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone you like eventually, Saki. When that time comes, give it your best shot, okay?โ
โY-yeahโฆ I’m going to my room to rest!โ
Embarrassed, I said that and fled to my room.ใ
โ
โLying on my bed in my room, I muttered.
โUgh, Mom, why did she have to say something like thatโฆโ
Sure, I want to get married someday, have kids, and build a happy familyโฆ But that’s all in the distant future. Getting a boyfriend? That’s way too much for me right nowโฆ
โBut Kisaragi-kun really was kindโฆโ
Tsubasa-kun was the only guy I’d ever properly interacted with outside my family, but he and Kisaragi-kun were completely different types.
Tsubasa-kun was more of a handful, always needing looking after, but I thought all boys were like that.
Kisaragi-kun was totally different, though. He was incredibly dependable, always worrying about me and comforting me. When he said he’d protect me, it gave me such a huge sense of security. Plus, every single word he spoke had warmth in it, and it felt really good.
I hadn’t interacted much with boys before, so I didn’t realize they could be so different.
I wondered which one was โnormal,โ but I guess Kisaragi-kun is just special. Miku-chan and Kana-chan have such good impressions of him too.
When my mom asked me what I thought of Kisaragi-kun, honestly, my heart was pounding.
When he protected me from that man back then, when he held me tight, my heart was definitely racing.
It wasn’t because I was scared. Of course, I felt scared too, but on top of that, I was definitely also flustered by Kisaragi-kun.
I mean, even before that, he’d looked at me with such sincere eyes and said he’d protect me. There’s no way I wouldn’t be happy about that, no way my heart wouldn’t race.
I’d only ever heard words like that in mangaโฆ Like Kana-chan said, Kisaragi-kun’s casual words and actions are so smart and wonderful. I really understood that over this past week.
I thought about it again just now, but I think it’s thanks to him that this incident didn’t leave a huge scar on my heart.
โCome to think of it, Kana-chan asked me a while back if I had a crush on someone, didn’t she?โ
I remember being really surprised and flustered back then, probably because it was right after I started reading romance manga and it felt so timely. Plus, I’d never even talked about my own love life before, so it was even more unexpected.
But I don’t even remember what I said anymoreโฆ
If she asked me now, how would I answer?
Kisaragi-kun is Kana-chan’s boyfriend, her boyfriendโฆ but there’s a part of me that can’t forget Kisaragi-kun’s kindness, his strength, his coolness.
It was only a week, but Kisaragi-kun’s presence had definitely grown larger inside me.
โSo this feeling really isโฆโ
The more I thought about it, the more my head felt fuzzy and my face grew hot.
This feeling is new to me. Right now, I’m definitely really drawn to Kisaragi-kun. And as a member of the opposite gender.
โBut why?โ
After the incident, I could talk to Kisaragi-kun normally, right?
If I really did fall for him, I don’t think I could talk so casuallyโฆ
My heart pounded wildly whenever I spoke with him, yet somehow I felt at ease talking to him. It might sound contradictory, but that’s truly how it felt.
Even with the Himesaki Ruruka thing, I was scared to tell him because I thought he might be disappointed. But since the stalker had already come out and said it, I figured Kisaragi-kun, who said he was a fan, couldn’t possibly care, so I took a chance and told him. He believed me and accepted it so easily, and I was incredibly happy.
Kisaragi-kun acknowledged that both Himesaki Ruruka and me, as Hiiragi saki, have lots of good points, and it made me really happy.
In just this one weekโit was only a weekโI found myself caring about Kisaragi-kun enough to want to get closer to him.
I still don’t quite understand what this feeling is.
But I guess that’s probably what it isโฆ
Even as I thought such things, whether from accumulated fatigue or relief, I fell asleep. But soon after, Dad came home, I woke up, and the three of us talked.
Maiban