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
After a little while, Ouka rushed back home at an incredible speed, timing her return with her father’s.
She must have been terribly homesick.
It was a bit complicated, but it was good it ended with a happy ending.
In any case, she was a woman like a storm.
“Whew… I thought my heart was gonna stop.”
I had plenty on my mind, but those were the first words that came out.
I never imagined a day would come when I could spend time alone with my absolute favorite heroine.
No, I know.
Of course, this isn’t the time for such thoughts.
I have no intention of retracting my earlier declaration, and I won’t get overly involved with the heroine going forward.
That resolve is unshakable.
But I can’t help wanting to savor the afterglow just a little.
She treated me badly, but that stubbornness was good.
She was smart despite it all, and her way of speaking—where calculation and clinginess peeked through every word.
That duality is just her thing, that kind of heroine!
Just to be clear, when I say “dual-natured heroine” here, I’m not talking about the type who seems natural but is actually a troubled mess, or the type who’s indifferent to others but clings to you with overbearing interference, or the type who seems soothing but is actually a snapping, ranting brat.
I’ll deny that wholeheartedly.
Anyway, enough about my quirks.
Ouka’s family situation is a bit complicated; she currently lives with just her father.
I never imagined it would be this apartment, but I did know that much about her background from the game.
Incidentally, for some reason, she didn’t tell me her room number.
It’s unfair that only I know the address.
I let out a deep sigh and took a sip of my coffee.
In the end, I ended up forming connections with all four heroines just today.
I was supposed to stay out of it at first, quietly supporting Shinori and Akito’s relationship…
But before I knew it, I was living the exact opposite life.
“Toyono… are you actually some kind of secret mastermind behind the scenes?”
I asked the empty space, but there was no answer.
When you end up involved with so many people like this, you can’t help but wonder.
Wasn’t Toyono Kyota, this original background character, actually someone with significant connections to the protagonist and heroines outside the original story?
Maybe it just wasn’t depicted because it wasn’t a major element from the perspective of Akito’s romantic comedy.
Right?
It’s hard to believe my actions alone caused me to end up involved with all four heroines.
The distance with Shinori is my fault.
I can say that for sure.
Aoiko too—she’s a byproduct of me being forced
But when it comes to Yukimi and Ouka, I don’t think my actions had anything to do with it.
Even if I hadn’t saved Shinori, I would’ve ended up as janitor anyway, and today’s incident where Ouka was locked out of the apartment would still have happened.
Plus, think about it logically.
Why would a random mob character get dragged into a heroine’s jump?
It’s only natural to assume there was some underlying relationship value at play.
Which deepens the mystery surrounding this guy, Toyono Kyota.
As long as I don’t understand this guy’s true role, I can’t even objectively evaluate my own actions.
Come to think of it, earlier, various possibilities associated with deepening my relationship with Shinori came to mind.
If it was a double suicide, that kind of death would be unnatural unless they were extremely close.
And then there’s the hypothesis that Toyono Kyota is the second candidate for boyfriend.
If, in a world line other than the Shinori route in ‘Sakuchiru’, Toyono Kyota had taken Akito’s place and become Shinori’s boyfriend…
These mysteries would come much closer to being solved.
In short, it’s the possibility that in a world where Akito doesn’t date Shinori, Toyono Kyota would have become her boyfriend instead.
If that’s the case, then what?
So if he hadn’t dated that girl, I could have avoided death?
…But then, it feels like the premise itself would change.
Ah, forget it. This is messed up.
The more I think about it, the more tangled it gets.
“Anyway, I should organize my next schedule.”
I glanced at my constantly buzzing, annoying phone and turned off the notifications.
Looks like the group chat from today’s outing is buzzing.
But I’m not in the mood for that right now.
Rather than hypotheses, I should aim for survival based on a certain scenario first.
Since Shiraki Ouka’s appearance event isn’t until next month, I’ll put that aside for now. First, I need to figure out a strategy for the immediate event.
Wednesday, May 7th.
That means tomorrow.
The day the event with Shichikajo Yukimi finally happens in the original story.
It marks the end of Golden Week, a clear turning point, and it was etched in my memory.
Tomorrow, Akito and Yukimi will finally meet for the first time.
As far as I know, Akito and Yukimi haven’t even spoken yet, so this is where everything begins.
I have to be extremely careful.
On top of that, I’ve been adding events that are supposed to happen from there.
“…What should I do?”
Regarding this woman, Yukimi, I’ve come to know her personality firsthand.
And honestly, she’s even tougher than Shinori.
And the protagonist is that guy, Akito.
He’s the super clueless jerk who turned down even a straightforward date invitation, saying he was hanging out with Aoiko and the others.
There’s no way I can believe he’ll keep finding the optimal solution in his communication with Yukimi.
Plus, Shinori’s current level of interest in Akito is honestly pretty low.
In fact, she’s more often bothering me.
Because of my meddling, the very accident I feared most has happened.
So even if he manages to clear Yukimi’s event, there’s no guarantee Shinori won’t see it and think, ‘Oh, Suga-kun likes Shichikajo senpai. whatever.’
No, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what she’ll think.
From here on out, it looks like things will keep relying on Akito again.
And once more, every time he messes up, I’ll have to work behind the scenes to manipulate her affection.
“The Normal End is a world line where you cleared the common route but didn’t collect all the heroines’ flags. The Bad End is a world line where you couldn’t resolve all the heroines’ issues in the common route to begin with.”
As I said before, Sakuchiru has three branching endings.
The Normal End: Problems are solved, but no heroine’s affection is maxed out, so you can’t date any of them.
Next, the Bad End: Problems aren’t even solved, and all heroines fall into darkness.
And finally, the Happy Individual End: Max out all heroines’ affection in the common route, enter one heroine’s route, and reach a happy ending.
Which world line will we end up on if we keep going like this?
For now, even though it was me, not Akito, who solved it, Shinori’s case is probably marked as cleared.
That means I still can’t let my guard down.
From here on out, we’ll be forced into life-or-death operations again.
The recent peaceful days crumble away.
Taking a moment to catch my breath, I sipped another mouthful of coffee.
Then, it suddenly struck me.
—Why do I remember so much about the game I played in my past life?
I do have a decent memory, but this feels excessive.
My past life means these memories are at least 17 years old.
Why are they stored in my head, almost completely intact?
I pondered and reached a conclusion.
“Ah, I see. My life since reincarnation has been so utterly mundane that there was nothing else worth remembering.”
No friends, no fresh experiences, no lasting memories.
Naturally, my brain’s memory storage must have had room to spare.
Even I found this pitiful answer tear-jerking.
“Alright, it’s decided. I’ll protect Shinori no matter what, and I’ll live a happy life free from the fear of death too.”
Thinking about tomorrow’s event, I climbed into bed.
Maiban