Episode 81 – Nanashima Tsubasa’s Melancholy and Composure

I, Who Was Reincarnated as an Evil Character With Cheat-Level Stats in an Eroge, Will Live Freely in This Life

●Nanashima Tsubasa (side)

“Haa…”
“Tsubasa, you’re sighing again. You okay?”
“That’s gotta be like the tenth time now, right? I was wondering about it too. Something up?”

That night, I was playing games with Seiya and the others like usual.
There were three of us who often played FPS together, including me.
The first to point it out was Seiya, my longtime friend.
Then there was Hanagaki, who’d been my friend since our first year of high school.

“What do you mean… Well, it’s obviously about the remedial class…”
“The remedial class? This isn’t like it’s the first time for you, Tsubasa. You never seemed to care about it before.”
“Even when you got stuck in remedial after the midterms, you acted like it was no big deal. Well, you did look annoyed, but still…”

Seiya and Hanagaki said that, but the situation this time was different.

“It’s not that I have a problem with remedial classes themselves, it’s just bad timing this time… I mean, the remedial class is on Saturday, right? Saturday is exactly the day of the first event… It’s the worst because I’ll be left behind…”
“Ah, I see. Come to think of it, you did mention something like that.”
“Well, it’s only a few hours difference, so it should be fine, right?”
“You two can say that lightly since you don’t have the tutoring…”
“I wonder? Actually, maybe that’s why you asked us to help you study right before the test too?”
“But the event on the tutoring day was announced that very day, so it couldn’t be helped… Honestly, you guys don’t study either, so how come you never fail?”

I do have other friends I play games with, but I play with these two the most. And even though they play games just as much as I do, they never fail… Honestly, I don’t get it. Well, I’ve only heard about Hanagaki’s situation, not seen it myself.

“True, we don’t fail, but we barely scrape by every time. It’s not something to brag about.”
“Yeah. We cram hard right before the test and basically pull all-nighters memorizing stuff on test day.”

They say that, and sure, looking at their scores, you could say they’re barely scraping by. But seriously, these two haven’t gotten a single failing grade since high school started… How the hell is that possible?

“How come you guys don’t fail… when I do?”
“Well, I guess it’s because Seiya and I don’t sleep during class?”
“Not that I do either…”

I can’t exactly say I don’t sleep either…
My weak subjects are English, math, and especially classical studies. Those three just make me so sleepy. On days with afternoon classes, I often find myself dozing off… Now that you mention it, I guess I do have this image of the two of them actually paying attention in class without sleeping…

“Haha, it’ll be fine. Tsubasa just needs to finish tutoring early and come home.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Hey, Tsubasa, you got more failing grades this time than usual, right? Usually it’s just one or two, right?”
“Well, yeah…”

Before, even if I got failing grades, it was only one or two subjects.
But this time, I failed three subjects.

“Before, it felt like you were getting help from Suzukaze-san, but is that different lately? I don’t really see you hanging out together much anymore?”

Miku… Yeah, the difference between this time and before is that I haven’t studied with Miku and the others at all.
Honestly, not being told to study was nice and easy… But this time, I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t say anything…
If she’d forced me to study with her, maybe I wouldn’t have failed this time.

“Well, lately I’ve been playing games with you guys all the time. New releases and stuff kept coming out, so I was busy with that.”
“That’s true. I should’ve said something, but we really were just playing games all the time.”
“Yeah… We really need to cut back a bit from now on…”

Then, as if suddenly remembering, Hanagaki spoke up.

“Hey, you know, lately, Suzukaze-san and Hiiragi-san have been talking with Kisaragi sometimes, right? A lot of people are pretty surprised. Those two and Kisaragi seem like complete opposites… Tsubasa, you seem like you’ve known Suzukaze-san and Hiiragi-san since you were little, but do you know anything?”

…This kind of topic again…
It’s common knowledge that Miku and I are close. Because of that, people often ask me about Miku and Kisaragi talking, instead of asking Miku herself.
Every time, I just give a vague answer, but it’s really annoying.
　
Kana aside, there’s no way those two serious girls would think anything about some delinquent like that.

As I was thinking about that, Seiya spoke up.

“Well, yeah… I guess that’s fine? Anyway, let’s move on already!”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s none of my business anyway.”
“Exactly, Tsubasa, let’s move on.”
“…Yeah, I guess…”

◇

“Haa…”

I sighed after finishing the game.
It was about the extra lessons, but also about Miku and the others.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t really talked much lately…”

Between what happened with Kana and all the new games coming out, I hadn’t talked much with Miku or Saki recently.
Plus, before, just thinking about Kana would make me so irritable I couldn’t stop, so distracting myself with games was part of the reason too…

But you know what? Before, just thinking about it would make me furious, but the truth is, I’ve started to not really care about Kana anymore.
Maybe I’ve cooled off, or maybe I’ve just lost interest. I’ve gotten to the point where I think, “As long as Miku and Saki are here, that’s fine.” It’s just going from four to three, after all.
Besides, she prioritized that guy she barely knew over me, who’d been there for her all along. Can’t blame her… He’s selfish, and I really don’t like his attitude.
And honestly, Kana being my stepsister and all that hassle probably played a part too.
Anyway, more importantly, I haven’t hung out with Miku and the others lately. Maybe I’ll invite them out once the tutoring and game events are over…
But those two are close with Kana… If I invite them, maybe one at a time? I’m fine with it, but it’s their thing. If I suggest hanging out as a trio without Kana, they probably won’t be too keen.

“Seriously though, I heard something… Kana not failing any exams? That’s impossible…”

Kana hates studying just like me, and she’s bad at it. Yet she didn’t fail last time or this time… This time too, Miku and Saki must have been tutoring her… Could it be they focused all their tutoring on Kana to make up for me being absent? Even so, Kana pulling off two straight tests without failing? That’s Miku for you…
Anyway, studying is a pain, but being below Kana… Thinking about it makes me feel super lazy…
Actually, that’s one thing, but there’s something else that bugs me way more.
That Kisaragi… That guy getting first place on every test… And full marks, no less.
I seriously don’t get it.
He barely even showed up to school before, and now he’s first every single time? That’s just impossible…
Some delinquent, irresponsible jerk like him ranking above Miku? That shouldn’t be allowed… No, wait, it’s not allowed…

Honestly… or rather, I can say this plainly: I still don’t like Miku and Saki talking to Kisaragi. If anything, like I said before, I’d rather they didn’t have anything to do with him at all.
To be completely honest, I want them to stop associating with that guy, but saying that would probably just make things awkward again, so I’m holding back.

Well, at first I was a bit flustered about her talking to him, but thinking about it, Miku’s competitive and hates delinquents like Kisaragi, even if I didn’t ask her directly. Even with the debt of gratitude for helping her, she must have mixed feelings.
Saki probably dislikes that type of guy too, so when I think about it, the two of them and Kisaragi just don’t fit together no matter how you look at it. Hanagaki said the same thing earlier.
Right now, they’re probably just interacting out of kindness and gratitude, not because they actually want to be involved with him.
It doesn’t seem like they talk that much at school either.
I’ve been checking in occasionally, but it’s mostly just morning greetings or brief chats here and there, and the conversations themselves aren’t that long.
I’m sure they’re keeping a certain distance, unlike Kana.
　
“Well, maybe I should invite him out for something, give him a change of pace.”

That’d be a change of pace for both him and me, killing two birds with one stone.

Actually, it’d be quicker and easier if that guy caused some trouble… Then those two would realize they shouldn’t have gotten involved with him.
Still, after hanging out with Kisaragi for a while, even if Saki doesn’t get it, smart Miku should realize by now that he’s no good. She’ll be fine.
No need for me to say anything; things will probably just go back to normal.

As for Kana… I don’t really care anymore. Once we’re adults, we’ll probably interact less anyway. Worrying about it just builds stress. Kana seems intent on staying friends with Kisaragi , so let her regret it later. Of course, I won’t help her. Serves her right.

As I was thinking that, something suddenly occurred to me.

…Actually, if Kana hadn’t cared about that guy, wouldn’t Miku and Saki have already stopped associating with him? Even if she was saved, saying thanks once should be enough under normal circumstances. And it’s him, after all… Thinking about it, Kana really is putting up with a lot… It makes sense why Miku and Saki would go out of their way to deal with someone they dislike—it must be for Kana’s sake.
　
Kana probably hasn’t even noticed the two of them talking to Kisaragi for her sake, but next time I’ll have to tell her myself.
There’s no need to force yourself to talk to that guy for Kana’s sake.
Kana’s becoming a high schooler now, so it’d be a problem if she didn’t start acting on her own without the two of them going that far. It’s a hassle if she keeps dragging us into everything.

Well, I guess I don’t need to think about Kana anymore.

“Still, remedial classes are seriously the worst…”

Gotta finish Saturday’s remedial class quick and hurry home… Ugh…

Maiban