Episode 21 – The mob character finally encounters all the heroines

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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

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The fun at the amusement park ended safely, and we headed home.

After walking around all day under the scorching sun for the first time in ages, I was completely worn out.

Now, let me tell you a bit about my place.

My place is a fairly high-end apartment building.

Not talking about elevation here—I mean the rent.

It’s got secure auto-lock doors, a 3-minute walk from the station, customizable floor plans for each unit, and it’s a high-spec, 3-year-old reinforced concrete structure.

As I mentioned before, Kyota Toyono’s family is fairly well-off.

So, naturally, the residents here tend to be well-dressed and respectable.

I spotted a girl in sweatpants wandering around in front of the building.

“Huh?”

I let out a sound and stared.

I knew her well, but this was an unfamiliar girl.

Why is she here…? I wondered, creeping closer.

“Ugh, seriously, worst day ever… Why did I have to forget my keys on a day like this… I went to the convenience store for my favorite idol’s merchandise, and this is what happens. The merchandise itself is all random sales tactics too! Ugh, I’m so annoyed! Just let me buy my favorite idol’s stuff normally!”

Listening closely, I heard a girl complaining in a furious tone.

The plastic bag she held was overflowing with what looked like otaku merchandise, probably bought at the convenience store.

And somehow, her lament felt strangely relatable.

In that instant, I somehow became certain she was a woman I knew.

Just then, the girl turned to face me.

Her eyebrows, too well-groomed for an ordinary girl to go unnoticed even under a mask, furrowed in puzzlement.

Since our eyes met, I couldn’t just ignore her.

“Shiraki Ouka san, right…?”

When I spoke, the last of the four heroines of ‘Sakuchiru’, a beautiful girl, widened her eyes.

“That’s me. Um, who… are you?”

“Toyono Kyota. I go to Meirei too. Next class over.”

“…Oh, I see.”

Even after introducing myself, she still looked at me like, Who the hell is this guy?

Even though I’m used to it, it still cuts deep every time.

Even a background character deserves a heart that can be hurt.

But enough of my lamentations.

Shiraki Ouka.

At first glance, she’s a rather plain heroine. Combined with her long bangs, she looks like nothing more than background scenery.

On top of that, she always wears a mask, making her features hard to discern. She’s a girl who’s never once been considered beautiful.

She herself dislikes standing out and is rather aloof with people, so she rarely even comes up in conversation.

It’s no exaggeration to say she’s practically a full-fledged background character.

And even this is just knowledge from the game.

I don’t actually know her.

Because she really doesn’t stand out at all, information about her never reaches me.

Though, as her earlier mutterings revealed, that’s just her public persona.

I ask her what’s going on.

“What’s up? Why are you out here alone dressed like that?”

“…I forgot my keys and went to the convenience store. Now I’m locked out.”

“Huh? You live here?”

“Yes… I do?”

I was stunned by this unexpected fact.

Apparently, I was neighbors with the heroine.

Sweating cold sweat at this spine-chilling coincidence, I forced a smile.

“Did you contact the management company?”
“It was a holiday, so they weren’t responding.”
“…”

After hearing her story, it turned out she was in a pretty pitiful state.

She’d thought contacting the management company might get the door opened, but even that hadn’t worked, leaving her stranded alone.

It was just too pitiful.

Then, suddenly, she fired a question back at me.

“That outfit… were you going somewhere?”

“Ah, yeah. To an amusement park with friends. Oh, and I was with Kijima Aoiko too—she’s in the same class as Shiraki-san.”

“…So you’re friends with Kijima-san.”

I answered because she asked, and she murmured that with a meaningful look.

“…”

“…”

Time passed in mutual silence.

What should I do?

Standing here at a standstill was pointless.

Sure, I could get into the building with my key, but she still couldn’t get into her own room, so it was useless.

“What about your family?”

“My dad’s home, but he said he’d be late tonight.”

“…”

She stared at me intently.
It was as if she was waiting for me to say something.
And there was only one thing she wanted to hear.

—No way, I’m not saying it.

There was no way I could say something like, “Want to come stay at my place?”

It’d be awkward for Sakura to go to a guy’s place, and besides, I’ve said it before—I don’t want excessive contact with the heroine.

Getting impatient with my silence, Sakura closes the distance.

“…Can I wait at your place until night?”

I panicked, not expecting her to suggest it.

“Nah, why not kill time outside?”

“Eh, but—”

“How about a manga cafe? Perfect for killing time, right?”

“…I don’t really want to walk around outside dressed like this.”

“True.”

Come to think of it, she was wearing a tracksuit.

Not my problem, but when she stared at me with eyes brimming with tears, I hesitated to push her away.

Well, she is technically the heroine I’m supposed to win over.

Let’s say this lockout event is actually canon, just not depicted in the original story.

If I don’t shelter her, it might cause some discrepancy in the future scenario.

And if she runs into trouble out there, that’d be even worse.

“…Just until Shiraki san’s parents get back.”
“Thank you.”

In the end, I had no choice but to accept her.

◇

“Living alone as a high schooler? That’s impressive.”

“Thanks.”

The moment I let her into the room, shr seemed relieved and perked up.

Her polite speech from earlier vanished, replaced by casual talk.

“You’re kinda… relaxed.”

When I pointed it out, she nodded boldly while sitting on the sofa.

“Well, come to think of it, you already know I’m an otaku and have a foul mouth from the get-go. Guess I don’t need to put on a show for you.”

“So you’ve given up pretending?”

“Yep. Oh, and don’t go spreading this around. If you do, I’ll say you dragged me into your room by force.”

“You’re the worst.”

“Heh heh, obviously I was joking. I’m grateful, you know. But honestly, I doubt anyone at school would care if you talked about me anyway.”

Ouka grinned.

True enough, she was known as the quiet type at school. She was right about that.

Now then, why would such an ordinary girl be the heroine of an eroge?

It wasn’t just because she had that “pretending to be someone else” trait.

Ouka has a secret.

In reality, her hidden identity is that of a hot, popular model.

Though she hides it with a mask, her natural face is actually quite striking.

Outside the academy, she leverages that appearance for modeling work.

She seems quite popular too—I just checked, and she has over 100,000 followers on social media.

She’s basically an influencer.

However, she never reveals this in real life.

She deliberately keeps her relationships sparse and keeps people at arm’s length to protect her secret.

There’s another reason she hates standing out so much, but never mind that.

That’s also why her personality and tone differ between her public and private personas.

“I don’t believe in repaying kindness with betrayal. Besides, I’m not that much of a monster.”

“Or rather, was that okay? Even if there’s no key, going into a guy’s place could easily cause trouble, right?”

“Are you planning to attack me?”

“Well, not exactly…”

“I figured. You’ve got that harmless face.”

“……”

I think she was implying I had a socially awkward virgin face, but maybe I’m just being overly self-conscious.

“Why the weird face? I was complimenting you.”

“Sorry, it didn’t sound like a compliment.”

“Really? But you’re Kijima-san’s friend, right? I haven’t heard any bad rumors about you, so I figured you’d be okay. We’re pretty close too, so worst case, I could talk to you if anything happened.”

“You were thinking about a lot of things, huh?”

“Yeah? If you even touch me, just know that the soccer club will become your enemy, via Kijima-san.”

What a dramatic threat for someone her age.

She’s calculating and has a nasty personality. Hard to deal with.

She reminds me of someone else.

Yeah, it felt similar to the tactics I used when I cornered that bullying group just the other day.

…Thinking about it, I really am a bad person.

But this wasn’t the time to be impressed with myself.

Since we’d made contact, there was no reason not to use it.

This Shiraki Ouka was in the same class as Suga Akito last year, right?

The two shared otaku interests, got along, and had built a relationship where they talked reasonably well.

If it followed the original story, that’s about where they’d be.

“You said you’re close with Kijima Aoiko, but what about that childhood friend, Akito? How are things with him?”

“Huh? Suga-kun? …Well, normal, I guess.”

She gave a bland reply to my question.

“We share hobbies, and we exchanged messages occasionally last year. But lately, since we’re in different classes, we haven’t talked at all.”

“Oh… I see.”

“Honestly, I’m not really into guys anyway.”

“……”

It felt like something she shouldn’t be saying, considering she was currently crashing at a guy’s place.

In short, it meant I wasn’t even on her radar.

It was nice to be reassured, but being dismissed like this made me feel like I was losing some confidence as a guy.

Was this the fate of a background character?

…Nah, probably not.

As I was feeling deflated, she suddenly lit up with a bright smile.

Phone in hand, she seemed unusually energetic.

Even with her mask on, her undeniable beauty was directed right at me.

“Ah, Dad said he can come home soon.”

“That’s good.”

“Hehe, I guess I’ll have to thank you somehow. Thanks so much for today!”

“…Huh? Ah, yeah.”

She smiled so genuinely, even though it seemed calculated, it felt like my brain was glitching.

This must be her charm.

Impressed, we went our separate ways afterward.

That said, I couldn’t relax.

In the end, I just kept piling on the fatigue even after getting home—.

……

And then, here.

There’s one important fact.

Some might have already noticed the oddity: why am I so kind to this heroine alone, when I’m usually quite harsh toward Shinori and Yukimi?

Why do I bother with her this much, when I’d normally make excuses to avoid it?

The answer to that question is simple and clear.

—Truth is, she’s my absolute favorite.

Shiraki Ouka is the character I loved most in ‘Sakuchiru’ back in my past life.

…Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous to joke about it now.

But what can I say?

The strongest heroine in ‘Sakuchiru’ history is relying on me.

Of course I’d be kind…

Such were the somewhat complicated feelings of a mob character and social outcast.

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【Shiraki Ouka】

Affection for Akito: 60% (→)

Affection for Kyota: 80% (↑↑)

Maiban

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