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
With midterms over, we’ve finally entered June.
Since it’s the rainy season, this is a time of year I personally dislike.
It’s been cloudy since this morning, too.
It’s almost as if it reflects my state of mind… but if I were to say something so poetic, everyone I know would laugh their heads off.
That just goes to show how I’ve been treated lately.
Anyway, putting that aside.
From here on out, I’m once again facing the task of completing the “Sakuchiru” event.
It’s been about half a month since I resolved Yukimi’s event.
This time, I have to step in for Akito and somehow prevent the tragedy that’s about to befall that plain-looking girl who’s just putting on a cat-like facade.
As I mentioned briefly before, Ouka’s event is, quite simply, a social media firestorm.
If we go by the “Sakuchiru” scenario, she’s actually been eagerly engaging in flame wars with haters on her secret account every day.
…However, one day in early June, she accidentally replies to one of them from her main account, exposing her true identity.
Naturally, her haters go wild, like fish in water.
On top of that, she becomes mentally unwell from having her face and words exposed day after day—a slightly different kind of depressing storyline awaits compared to what Shinori and Yukimi went through.
As you know, she has a sharp tongue.
It goes without saying that her image takes a massive hit after her secret account is exposed.
It’s exactly the kind of scandal you’d expect from an influencer character.
And, as the original story goes, the plot revolves around somehow coming to her rescue.
It’s a classic storyline where the protagonist, Akito, stands by her side and supports her, thereby setting up romantic flags.
But, however—
“Hmph. There’s a chance I might actually come in first on this test.”
“…You’re in a pretty good mood, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am—I did well on the midterms.”
Come to think of it, she was supposed to be a genius… I recalled that as I stood there, bewildered by the girl sitting next to me—a girl who was far too plain to be called a “beauty.”
Wednesday, June 9.
As far as I remember, it would be strange if Ouka’s social media scandal hadn’t already happened by now.
I don’t recall any specific dates or times being mentioned in the original story, but it’s been over a week already, so this really is odd.
I check my account every day and keep an eye on trending news on social media.
But still, there’s no sign of anything like that.
Above all, there’s her cheerful mood.
This is… that, isn’t it?
“Relax? Don’t worry—if you get a failing grade, I’ll let you know.”
“Don’t just go labeling me a poor student. I’m in the top five every time.”
“Huh? That’s surprising.”
“…Thanks a lot.”
I sigh as I speak to the rude Ouka.
I almost went off on a tangent—let’s get back on track.
It seems something unexpected is happening.
Up until now, there have been instances where Akito didn’t participate in resolving events due to the Shinori situation, or where the encounter event between Yukimi and Akito was skipped altogether.
That said, the main event itself still took place.
Following a similar flow to the original story, it was simply a twist where the choices that were originally meant for the protagonist were instead given to me, a background character.
In short.
—This is the first time the incident itself has been canceled.
What should I do?
It’s peaceful enough when nothing happens, but am I the only one with a bad feeling about this?
If an event happened right in front of me, I could resolve it, but if an even more complicated and troublesome incident were to occur behind my back, I’d be completely helpless.
I wouldn’t be able to save the heroine, and I’d have to give up on my goal of completing the common route.
What’s more, as a result,Shinori might start heading straight toward ruin.
If that happens, I’ll get dragged into it too—and die.
Just thinking about that worst-case scenario is giving me a headache.
I’d better take my mind off it for a bit.
By the way, since exams are over, we’ve got the sports festival coming up.
I’m actually feeling a bit nostalgic for this flurry of student-like events.
And right now, we’re in the middle of practice for that.
I’d chosen basketball, and that’s how I happened to run into Ouka, who’d picked the same activity.
As I sat down to rest, she plopped right down next to me.
Just to be clear: right now, a certain “doomed heroine” is out playing softball, so there’s no risk of us getting caught chatting and getting killed.
……As long as Akito or Ujiya don’t rat us out, that is.
“Actually, you’re surprisingly athletic, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah. I was pretty active in various sports since I was a kid.”
Flattered, I smiled wryly as I reminisced about the past.
I didn’t have any friends, but back in elementary school, I once joined a soccer club team just to make up the numbers.
I was good enough at ball sports that, during one of those matches, I acted like a total brat—even though I was a beginner, I beat the opposing elementary school kids to a pulp and drew some disapproving looks.
Plus, since I’d dabbled in it a bit in my past life, I have a decent grasp of martial arts as well.
Well, in short, I wasn’t exactly a wimp.
I’ve mentioned several times that I’m athletic, but even before I was reincarnated, I was already pretty skilled.
At my words, Ouka gave a sly grin.
“You’ve got some cool moments, don’t you?”
“You’re definitely not complimenting me with that, are you?”
At first glance, it sounds like a compliment, but the word “also” is the key here.
It’s basically saying I’m usually uncool, so my face twitched.
I knew Ouka was the type to say whatever came to mind, but it still stung a bit.
Mind you, she’d been treating me like a social outcast since the moment we met, so this wasn’t exactly anything new.
Still, she really takes it to the extreme.
I took another look at her appearance and was impressed.
Even though she was in the middle of exercising, she was still wearing a mask as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It must be suffocating, but she seemed determined to keep her face hidden at all costs.
Just then…
Ouka poked my knee with her finger.
“Hey, you. What do you think the percentage of women in the industry who have boyfriends is?”
“That’s a weird topic to bring up out of the blue. And what do you mean by ‘the industry’?”
“You know, like online streamers, VTubers, idols, voice actors, actresses… models. Well, celebrities in that sort of field.”
“Oh, that kind of thing. …Wait, don’t say ‘having a boyfriend’ as if it’s a given.”
While poking fun at her phrasing—which made it sound like she was talking about an object—I started to think.
It’s not something I’ve really thought about before.
Unfortunately, I lead a life completely detached from the concept of having a “favorite” idol or anything like that.
If anything, my interests lie almost exclusively in the 2D world.
That said, I found it a bit amusing—and a little perplexing—to be asked this by my former favorite heroine, but I was still pondering the question.
Without waiting for my answer, Sakura started talking on her own.
“Personally, I think it’s almost 100%.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, isn’t that how it is? They come out into the open because their need for validation isn’t being met, and then, through those connections, they start getting hit on by guys in positions they’d never normally be able to reach… Don’t you think they’d be tempted?”
“Hmm. It feels like an extreme argument, but there’s some truth to it, isn’t there?”
I get what she’s getting at.
But if I said something like that, it would ruin the content.
Just as I was giving a wry smile, wondering what had suddenly come over her, Ouka stood up with a bored look on her face.
“……I guess, in the end, I was on that side too.”
“?”
She muttered something under her breath at the end, but it was drowned out by the sound of the buzzer.
I tried to ask her to repeat it right away, but—
“Hey, Toyono. It’s time for the next match!”
“Oh, okay.”
I was stopped by Ujiya, who had just come over to call out to me.
Taking advantage of that moment, Ouka strode away.
As I watched her back grow smaller, Ujiya and Akito, who was standing next to him, shot me a sidelong glance.
“Were you hitting on another girl again? Um, that one was, I think…”
“It’s Shiraki. From the class next door.”
“Oh, right, there was someone like that.”
“I was in the same class as her last year, after all.”
They were saying some rude things, but more than that…
Amid our usual lighthearted banter, Akito let slip something that made me feel a little lonely.
After all, she was originally Akito’s girlfriend, too.
Feeling a bit conflicted, I went over and joined the two of them.
In the end, I had no way of knowing what she had been trying to say.
Maiban