Episode 39 – Bearing the fate of being the childhood friend of a doomed heroine

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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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Led out of the art room and brought to the staircase landing.

Just as I wondered what was happening, she pressed me against the wall.

The sudden closeness made my heart skip a beat.

Shinori instantly grabbed my flustered hand.

“Hey, tell me more about yourself. —Kyota-kun.”

Staring at me from a distance where I could almost hear each other’s heartbeats, I froze.

One second passed, then two… Time dragged on slowly.

I really didn’t understand what was happening.

This was an unusually forceful move for Shinori, who was usually quiet and reserved.

Then, seeing me not speak, she seemed to snap back to reality.

After a moment, Shinoripulled away from me.

“S-sorry. That was too sudden.”

“Yeah. Way too sudden, honestly. Man, that scared me.”

Even as I said it, I honestly hadn’t processed what was happening.

What the hell just happened?

Seeing my confusion, Shinori started talking.

“I heard it from Shichikajo senpai.”

“What did she say?”

“That your speech earlier was mostly your scheme.”

“……”

She’s still the same, always meddling in things she shouldn’t.
I was trying so hard to get Shinori to focus her interest solely on Akito, but telling her about my involvement halves the effect.
Realizing why Shinori was acting strange, I sighed.

Honestly, nothing ever goes right.

Maybe trying to manage someone else’s feelings is just presumptuous to begin with.

As I agonized over this complete rejection of my past self, she puffed out her cheeks.

“Hey, why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“No no. The situation was complicated. What could I do? Besides, even though I helped plan the strategy, it was him who solved this whole thing.”

“Suga-kun said it was Kyota-kun’s plan too.”

“Hey, why’d he spill the beans too?”

Well, it’s true I didn’t stop him from mentioning my involvement.
It wasn’t something I could hide anyway, and I never intended to cover it up.

My goal with this whole thing was purely to make Shinori understand that ‘Akito’s a cool protagonist who’d risk himself for Shinori’s sake, so you can trust him.’

Sure, Yukimi hinting at my involvement without reason is a pain, but it’s not enough to derail the plan fatally.

So whether Akito mentioned me or not was within my expectations.

…But look at the current situation.

Shinori’s stance is problematic.

It’s as if she wants to say everything is thanks to me.

“You protected me twice, yet you won’t tell me anything. That’s sad.”

“…”

“It’s my fault you got stabbed, right?”

Hearing that, I realized.

Seems this girl actually feels responsible.

“Of course not. That was just the fallout from me acting on my own last time. It’s not Shinori’s fault.”

“Well, you did go a bit overboard.”

“…Oh, uh…”

Just as I was trying to think of something else to say to convince her, she nodded at my first sentence, surprising me.

“So what I’m trying to say is, I wish you’d at least consulted me, that I could have shared your worries with you.”

“I see.”

“Hey, do you get it?”

“I get it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Shinori, who was glaring at me.

Somehow, I suddenly found myself being scolded.

This was weird.

Just moments ago, she’d been practically pressing me against the wall, yet now I was getting hit with sound reasoning.

Then, Shinori cleared her throat.

“So, you see. I want you to open up to me a little more.”

“Huh.”

“You’re a bit too secretive.”

“Well, maybe you’re right.”

I think her point is valid.

But still.

I’m a reincarnated person. I understand how this world should be.

Plus, I’ve seen a future where I might die very soon.

And the one holding the power of life and death over me is this very Shinori. What exactly am I supposed to show her?

Even if she tells me to bare my soul, that’s asking the impossible.

So far, I’ve wrapped up both the Shinori event and the Yukimi event.
The common route scenario has finally reached the halfway point.
But still, it’s only halfway.
The road ahead to get Akito onto the Shinori route is still long.

In this state, having a normal, open conversation with Shinori is impossible.

I’ll surely keep scrambling behind the scenes to revise Sakuchiru’s scenario.

Given this game’s inherently heavy depressive elements, getting dragged into dangerous situations will only increase.

The possibility of getting caught up in another stabbing incident can’t be called zero.

But.

That isn’t the core of this conversation right now.

Probably not.

The essence lies elsewhere—in the very topic I wanted to avoid most.

“…Because you’ve been doing all this for me. I’ve finally realized how I feel.”

“…”

From Shinori’s strained whisper, I simply understood my complete defeat.

This… might be impossible now.

There was no doubt about it.

“Kyota-kun. I… I…”

When Shinori started to say that last bit, I closed my eyes.

I had pushed myself this far.

It began with Akito’s careless refusal of a date, and my life of covert action started, trying to defuse the landmines he’d stepped on.

But it all ended in failure.

I managed to prevent Shinori from falling into darkness, but the crucial main mission—‘make Shinori fall for Akito’—failed completely.

Today was no different.

I’d prepared the perfect setting, yet somehow Shinori ended up turning toward me.

I know why.

This was an impossible game from the start.

――The moment I was reincarnated as Shinori’s childhood friend, it was already madness.

As if affirming that fact, Shinori grinned.

“Just kidding. I won’t say any more.”

“……”

“You’ll have to tell me that yourself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hehe. I know you’re not that slow on the uptake, Kyota-kun.”

I’d noticed she’d started calling me by my first name sometime ago.

It sounded oddly familiar to my ears.

Of course it did.

Ten years ago, none other than Shinori herself had called me that.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to shield me this much and then say you don’t mean it.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Her devilishly playful tone made me let out a wry smile.

I was completely defeated.

Before anything else, I needed to confirm one last thing.

“Wait, weren’t you supposed to be making plans to hang out with Akito?”

“Hm? Oh, right, we did talk on the phone about Friday.”

“Isn’t that a date?”

After saying all this to me, going on a date with another guy? I don’t get it.

That’s what I thought when I asked.

“Hmm? That was just us saying we should hang out again sometime, right? Nobody said anything about going one-on-one or anything—”

“Eh, oh, really?”

“What’s up? Could it be… jealousy?”

“!”

My face burned.

No.

It’s not like that.

But for some reason, being called out on it made me feel intensely embarrassed, and I shook my head vigorously.

“No, no! Who would be jealous?”

“Come on, you don’t have to be shy.”

“Don’t mess with me. Anyway, I’ve been saying over and over that Hanesaki should date Akito, right?”

“Yeah. I’m not interested, so relax?”

It’s over.

I casually let her say the crucial part.

She hadn’t explicitly stated it before, but my words led her to deliver the final blow.

She has no intention of dating Akito.

Right now, she definitely said that.

At this moment, my plan seemed to have truly and irrevocably failed.

“I mean, Shinori”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head at Shinori, who suddenly started introducing herself.

Then, she continued with a big smile.

“I’m not Hanesaki. I’m Shinori.”

“I see.”

“Call me?”

“…Hanesaki.”

“Hehehe, next time you call me by my last name, you might not be able to use your right arm either?”

“Don’t say such dangerous things!”

“It’s okay. it’ll be your two arms then.”

“No, thank you.”

She was still saying terrifying things.

I felt it keenly once again.

This girl was, through and through, a dark-attribute, doom heroine.

I sigh, glancing sideways at the bizarre woman who starts skipping happily on the spot.

—Well then, this world line is dead.

If, as Shinori stated, the romance flag with Akito has vanished.

That means the sole survival route from the original scenario has been crushed.

In short, the only path left for Shinori and me is—the jump-to-death ending.

But wait, think about it.

Has the scenario really progressed smoothly up to this point?

This world has shifted drastically just from my minor actions.

In other words, it also proves the scenario is unlikely to follow its original path.

Given this, there’s only one choice for me.

To create a survival scenario for Shinori from scratch, one that doesn’t follow any route from the original work.

I’ll completely ignore and destroy the original work, ‘In the Season When Cherry Blossoms Fall’.

“Kyota-kun”

“Yes, what is it?”

“When do you think you’ll tell me you like me?”

“Hmm, maybe in the next life?”

“Hehehe, you’ll say it.”

For me, where the idea of the next life isn’t entirely unrealistic, it’s a bit of a delicate phrasing, but for now, this will do.

――Sigh, what can I do.

Well then, let’s just do it.

I’ll make this doomed heroine happy with my own hands.

No matter what it takes.

Watching Shinori’s back as she walked back to the art room, I reaffirmed my resolve.

―◇―

【Hanesaki Shinori】

Affection for Akito: 83% (↑)

Affection for Kyota: 100% (♡)

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Maiban

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