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
One day during lunch break, we were fed up with the mountain of textbooks piled before us.
Golden Week had ended, and it was mid-May.
Midterm exams were just around the corner.
Setting aside me, who had no worries about grades, the others looked near-despairing.
“Waaahhh! I haven’t studied for the test!!”
Kisa covered her ears at Ujiya’s scream.
Akito gave a wry smile and shot me a troubled look.
Then, as if annoyed by their reactions, Ujiya narrowed his eyes.
“You’ve got it good, huh? Having a reliable childhood friend and an older sibling to lean on.”
“Nah, Aoiko’s grades aren’t that great, so she’s not really reliable.”
“And me? There’s no way I could ask my brother for help with studying.”
They both immediately denied it.
Ignoring their back-and-forth, I turned to Shinori, slightly curious.
I’d never heard about Hiiragi Kisa’s family before, so it surprised me.
“Hey, Hanesaki.”
“What?”
“Does Hiiragi-san have any siblings?”
“I heard she does? But apparently they’re kind of delinquent… or hanging out with some dangerous people.”
“…Scary.”
For something I was hearing for the first time, it was pretty impactful information.
So basically, her family’s involved with anti-social groups?
I knew she was a bit of a wild child, but her whole family situation seems pretty wild too. Surprising.
Guess you really can’t know someone just from what you see in the game.
And that’s when I started feeling a little off.
Shinori, who usually makes snide comments whenever I bring up girls’ topics, wasn’t saying anything this time.
Come to think of it, since the amusement park trip, she’s seemed a bit more distant.
We still hang out in the same group, but she’s not as clingy as before, or something like that.
Also, I often see her talking with Akito.
It’s natural since they sit next to each other, but it kinda stuck with me.
Well, honestly, it’s practically a dream come true for me.
“Toyono’s just naturally smart, it’s unfair.”
“What kind of complaint is that?”
I just smiled wryly as the conversation shifted from Ujita.
Honestly, it is unfair.
Being reborn with memories of my past life? That’s just pure knowledge cheating.
Though, I wasn’t exactly a specialized genius, so I could only dominate at a general knowledge level.
“But Ujiya, I saw you studying English with Hayase-san earlier?”
Akito’s comment shifted the mood.
The mention of a girl’s name brought a sparkle back to Kisa’s eyes.
“Huh, seriously!? Ujiya, you’re dating Hayase-san!?”
“Hey, keep your voice down! That’s not it!”
His voice was so loud, he seemed to realize it himself.
The girl with the headband looked over at us, flashing a shy smile.
Come to think of it, she was the one who mentioned wanting to study abroad before.
“Hayase’s working part-time to save up for studying abroad, apparently. I hooked her up with a job before, so we hit it off.”
“Huh, so you planted the seed there?”
“Not exactly.”
Pushing the irrelevant love talk to the back of my mind, I stared intently at Hayase.
She was bright, the kind of girl with lots of friends in class.
The so-called popular type who gets along with everyone.
But if my memory served me right, she should have been close with Ami and the others too.
I didn’t know her name, but I recognized that headband.
And I’d seen her laughing when Ami and the others were making fun of Shinori.
Recalling that awkward detail, I couldn’t help but frown.
Honestly, I never really liked that girl.
She basically joined in with those guys bullying Shinori, and as her childhood friend, I have my own thoughts about it regardless of the scenario.
Then again, stopping the bullying probably carried its own risks, and Hayase might have just been unable to defy them.
Besides, Ami and the others aren’t even at this school anymore, so it doesn’t matter.
I was thinking about all this when—
My phone in my pocket vibrated.
I checked the notification and my expression hardened further.
It was a chat app notification, but the problem was the sender.
There, displayed ominously, was the name ‘Shichikajo Yukimi’.
Yes, for some reason, I had exchanged contact info with Yukimi.
The reason was pretty horrifying.
…It was the night after Yukimi had approached me about conspiring for revenge.
I was reworking our plan, coffee in hand, when my phone suddenly buzzed. I checked it.
There, a message had come from Yukimi’s account—an account I was sure I hadn’t exchanged with. My heart nearly stopped.
Needless to say, I trembled with fear, wondering where the hell she’d gotten my contact info.
Well, a ton of my personal info is already out there, so freaking out now feels a bit late. Still, scary stuff is scary.
But what’s scaring me even more right now is Yukimi’s feelings toward me.
Things somehow developed between us, and honestly, it feels like she might even like me a little.
It reeks of repeating the same mistake I made with Shinori.
And it’s not just that the scenario might get messed up. With her, getting involved feels like death is creeping closer and closer.
It’s a family with way too much power + an event where people could die in real time.
I don’t want to get involved in any way.
I stashed my phone away, thinking up convenient excuses like “It’s banned at school~” and decided to escape reality for now.
I decided to ignore this message for now.
Just then, Ujiya clapped his hands.
“Come to think of it, Shichikajo senpai was crazy smart, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah, I think she ranked pretty high in the national mock exams too.”
Since Yukimi reigned as the genius character, that had to be true.
I nodded, and Ujiya flashed a sly grin.
Oh no, I only have a bad feeling about this.
“Hey, hey, could you ask her to tutor me?”
“…Are you serious?”
The words I’d expected flew out immediately, and I blurted it out.
I mean, it’s Yukimi we’re talking about!
A monster who lashes out at juniors from the first meeting.
Like a Showa-era delinquent, sharp as a knife.
That’s exactly what they mean by a jagged heart.
“You know what kind of temper that person has, don’t you, Ujiya?”
“Then you step in and smooth things over.”
“That’s too much for me. Absolutely no way—wait, maybe it’s not so bad.”
I tried to refuse, but stopped myself just in time.
Hang on?
This might actually work.
I scanned the faces of everyone except Ujiya, seeking confirmation.
“So, is it okay if we have a study session with her after school from now on?”
“That’s what I’m thinking, yeah?”
“Then I’m in too. Sounds kinda fun.”
“…Then I’ll join too. Gotta keep an eye on things.”
One by one, everyone answered, leaving only Akito.
And of course, he too.
“No reason for me to refuse either. Looking forward to it.”
As he nodded, I pumped my fist.
This might just… work!
This was a gamble.
By forcing this study session event, I could create a natural-looking connection between Akito and Yukimi.
I’d been thinking about how to fix the mess from skipping their encounter event, and this was perfect.
I just needed to leverage this study session to force them together.
After bringing them together, I could just follow the original story.
Then, with a little tweaking of their feelings, presto!
Before they knew it, Akito would have solved Yukimi’s problem~ That’s the plan.
Call it the ‘If the event was ignored, I’ll create a new one’ strategy.
Of course, I know it won’t go that smoothly.
But it’s far better than the current situation where they have no connection at all.
I couldn’t stop grinning at my own genius idea.
“If that’s the case, I understand. I’ll ask Senpai after school today.”
“Thanks, Toyono!”
While Ujiya nudged my shoulder, I kept wearing that creepy smile.
Just as things were settling down.
—Wait, hold on.
There was one thing I’d forgotten to pick up.
Shinori-san, what do you mean, ‘I gotta keep an eye on things’?
Facing the ever-bizarre doomed heroine, my smile finally cracked.
Maiban