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
“Haa…”
The next day, I dragged myself along feeling heavy-hearted.
As I leaned my elbows on the desk and sighed, a shadow fell over me.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah… Hanesaki.”
Shinori stood there looking concerned.
After seeing my reaction, she gave me a slightly sulky look.
“What’s with that reaction? Disappointed it wasn’t some other girl?”
“…I’m not really that into girls, you know?”
“Huh.”
“You don’t believe me. …Anyway, have I ever once made a big deal about girls, from kindergarten all the way up to now?”
“Nope. Not once. Come to think of it…”
“…”
True to being my childhood friend.
It was a convincing excuse precisely because we’d known each other for over ten years.
Getting an immediate answer was a bit irritating, but I’ll let it slide since we’re such close friends.
…Nah, we barely even talked until recently, so there’s no such thing as “close friends.”
“Seriously, though, you had this crazy look on your face? Eyes rolled back, drool hanging out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I should probably fix this habit of my pupils disappearing when I’m tired.
Seeing Shinori’s utterly horrified expression, that’s what I thought.
Still, telling me not to be depressed is pretty unreasonable.
If I could just relax after hearing about Yukimi yesterday, that would be a problem in itself.
The root of the issue runs deep, and frankly, it feels like my words alone won’t be enough to put the brakes on Yukimi’s desire for revenge.
It really needs to come from Akito, the protagonist.
That said, Akito hasn’t even been acknowledged by name by Yukimi yet.
We need to get them in contact quickly, through that study session thing.
“Hey, are you really okay? If you’re feeling sick, should we go to the infirmary?”
“Nah, I’ll just sleep through class. I’m fine.”
“How do you even get good grades like that?”
“Well, as you know, I’ve been a genius since childhood.”
“Ugh, annoying.”
I ended up teasing her after she was so kind.
But I can’t cause trouble for Shinori.
What I’m doing behind the scenes is something Shinori especially shouldn’t know about.
Even though I’m dealing with Yukimi’s event, Shinori is still my top priority.
I absolutely wanted to avoid dragging her into any weird trouble and making things more complicated.
After our usual light banter, I stretched to shift my mindset.
Then, my gaze shifted to the pencil case she was holding.
It was a new pencil case that had been catching my eye occasionally lately.
Because of that incident, her old pencil case had become trash, so it seemed she’d bought a replacement.
I think she started using this new one a few days ago, but what exactly happened?
“You bought a cute pencil case, huh?”
When I touched it, she looked startled for a moment before quickly looking down.
“…You noticed.”
“Of course I did. I actually noticed a few days ago.”
“Then you should’ve said something right away. …I went shopping for it with Suga-kun the other day.”
“Oh.”
Come to think of it, those two seem pretty close lately.
For a while, Shinori seemed to be losing interest, and I was on pins and needles.
But after a little time apart, it seems her relationship with Akito has revived.
The fact they picked out a pencil case together means they went on a date somewhere.
Well, well, this finally pays off all my worries.
As I pondered this, Shinori stared intently at my face.
“…What do you think?”
“Huh?”
I tilted my head at the vague question.
“What do I think… Well, it’s fabric instead of metal this time, so I just thought, ‘She’s got a cute taste, huh.’”
“Hmph! …That’s not what I was asking about.”
“…”
Hold on a second.
Things are taking a turn for the worse.
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead as Shinori’s expression hardened with every word I spoke.
Her gaze felt like she was testing me.
It practically screamed, ‘I went out with another guy, so how do you feel about that?’ Was I just being overly sensitive?
Frankly, it looked like she was trying to make me jealous.
Lately, Shinori and I had been drifting apart.
Conversely, I often saw her hanging out with Akito.
I’d convinced myself it was just a momentary lapse, and she was returning to the pure love route.
But what if all of that was just a setup to gauge my reaction…?
Nah, nah, I’m overthinking this.
Just like in the original story, Shinori is getting closer to Akito.
She’s probably just seeking an objective opinion from a third party about that.
It’s definitely just a confirmation like, “We went to buy pencil cases together, but does this look like we’re getting along well? Suga-kun, this means there’s a chance, right?”
I pondered the meaning of her question carefully.
Then, perhaps sensing the awkward silence, Shinori waved her hands frantically.
“N-no, it doesn’t mean anything! See ya!”
“O-okay.”
Shinori immediately returned to her seat.
She went straight back to chatting and laughing with Akito, who sat next to her.
Hmm.
But, you know…
…I feel kinda uneasy about this.
Akito and Shinori going on a date behind my back…
Ah, but I don’t have any weird feelings or anything, okay?
It’s more like a parent watching their daughter get married, I guess.
No, really.
That must be it.
As I nodded vigorously, as if defending myself to someone, another girl called out to me next.
“Hey, did you get caught cheating and get grilled?”
“Where do I even start denying that?”
As always, it was Kisa teasing me about my relationship with Shinori.
In my field of vision, her ponytail bounced up and down.
Seeing that, I remembered.
This wasn’t the time to be spacing out.
There was something I’d meant to ask this girl.
Regarding Yukimi, I only knew what I’d heard from her directly and what I could gather from the game.
But what about Kisa, the popular girl?
She seemed well-connected. Maybe she knew something from another source.
So, I asked her about Yukimi.
“Ah, I heard rumors too about Senpai getting caught up in some nasty incident.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. And apparently Senpai was absent for about a week because of it. I don’t know if the incident actually happened, though. But I do know that four people who were badmouthing Senpai at the exact same time got expelled all at once. Plus, apparently a few people at other schools suddenly stopped coming too, so it probably is true.”
Just as I thought.
Getting the info I wanted, I felt relieved.
Unfiltered gossip stories you can’t get from the original script or the person themselves are surprisingly valuable.
Kisa tilted her head at me, listening intently.
“But what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“Nah, I’ve had chances to talk to that person recently and heard some rumors too. I was just wondering if there’s anything I could do.”
I dodged the question, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either.
Truthfully, I couldn’t handle everything on my own.
Putting Akito on her would be best, but I wanted to be a little more helpful myself.
Honestly, this was no longer about the script or anything like that. It was pure human emotion.
At my words, Kisa’s eyes widened for a moment before she flashed a mischievous smile.
“Not bad. You’re quite the ladies’ man.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. But come to think of it, it kinda resembles that rumor about Toyo-chan the other day.”
“What about it?”
“The whole thing where people involved in bullying and other serious stuff all got expelled at once.”
Now that you mention it, maybe it is similar.
But the reality is completely different.
At most, I threatened to expose them online, using a pathetic tactic that sacrificed a bit of myself.
On the other hand, Yukimi’s case involved her family seriously laying the groundwork in society, moving to silence people with genuine organizational sanctions that even rendered the police ineffective.
Knowing the inside story, the difference in scale is so vast it makes me chuckle.
“…So, what kind of thing would help senpai? Do you think she wants revenge or something?”
When I casually slipped in the core question, Kisa groaned.
“I don’t know much about the actual incident, but from what I heard, it was attempted r*pe, right? If that’s the case, yeah, she probably hates him enough to want to kill him.”
Her words carried weight precisely because they came from someone usually so lighthearted.
And she was just an ordinary high school girl like me.
Her words resonated far more deeply than anything I could say.
If that option—killing him—was on the table, then maybe it really was impossible for a nobody like me to stop Yukimi.
As I fell silent, Kisa flashed me a faint smile.
“But what are you gonna do? If Senpai said she wanted to kill someone, would you help her out, Toyo-chin?”
“…Don’t be stupid. Like I’d do that.”
“The target’s probably just some college student involved with anti-social groups, right? Well, even Toyo-chan wouldn’t cross that dangerous bridge.”
“…There’s nothing a high school kid like me can do anyway.”
As I said that, I thought.
The only one without a concrete plan is me, just an ordinary person. Yukimi is different.
She’s clearly confident in her plan, and if she moves, she seems capable of fighting whoever the opponent is.
As I sank back into thought, Kisa laughed brightly.
“Yeah, right. Ahaha. But hey, be careful. We’re just kids, and getting involved in dangerous stuff will only get us hurt.”
“You’re right.”
Her words, painfully obvious, made me frown again.
Somehow, my gaze was drawn to Kisa’s retreating back as she went off to talk to another friend.
Hmm, what is it?
I feel like I’m missing something.
But I can’t figure out what it is.
Honestly, my head’s a mess from overthinking.
For some reason, my heart feels unsettled, but I can’t grasp what it’s pointing to.
I thought about it for a while, but in the end, there was no way I could find the optimal solution for my actions right here.
Maiban