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
It was late at night, and the sound of rain echoed outside the window.
Ouka was sitting at her desk in her room, a sly smile playing on her lips.
In her hand was a smartphone with a note-taking app open.
The screen displayed a long list of items she’d jotted down.
———
✓ Talk to him at school
✓ Walk home together
✓ Stop by somewhere together after school
・Borrow something from him at school
・Eat lunch together
・Exchange contact information
✓ Tell him I’m a model
✓ Invite him to a modeling photoshoot
・Confess my feelings
・Kiss him
・Have s*x
———
As she checked off the items she’d already accomplished, Ouka squirmed in agony.
She groaned while wriggling her legs.
“Ugh, what am I going to do! I blurted out that I’m a model on a whim, but was that too sudden? Come to think of it, we’ve only ever exchanged a few words up until now… Sigh, I’m so sick of my own social awkwardness.”
It had been a complex of hers since childhood.
Her inability to read the room would strain relationships, and her lack of social awareness caused people to avoid her.
Just thinking back a little brought to mind a mountain of similar episodes from her elementary and middle school days.
She writhed and thrashed about again, only to receive a message from her father in the next room telling her to “Be quiet,” and she silently buried her face in her hands once more.
To be honest, it was because of this past that Ouka hated standing out too much at school.
Her bad habits had caused rifts not only in her school relationships but even within her own family.
In middle school, they were the catalyst for her parents’ divorce.
It was after parting ways with her mother and starting over in a new place that Ouka changed.
Hating to see others drift away because of her words and actions, she stopped asserting her individuality.
Since she also found it annoying to be shunned for her appearance, going without makeup became her default look.
Thanks to that, she’s hardly had any trouble lately.
“……”
Looking in the mirror, Ouka silently traced the mole near her mouth.
It was a pesky “charming feature” she’d inherited from her estranged mother.
However, this trait was actually well-received by her manager, photographers, and fans.
She didn’t understand what was so great about it, but since she was benefiting from it, she felt conflicted.
“Wait, more importantly, the real problem is this…!”
Ouka looked down at her checklist once more.
Then, she tilted her head again and groaned.
“A-are kissing and confessing supposed to be in reverse order? No, but that’d make me sound like some kind of slut… But then again, I’ve heard it’s normal to go all the way before even dating…! B-but isn’t that weird? How am I even supposed to bring that up? If I say it out loud, he’ll probably think I’m sexually frustrated. Ugh, there’s no way I can do that. I’d die. It’s just way too unrealistic.”
She looked at the final item at the bottom of the list and felt a wave of despair wash over her.
There was no way she could possibly make it that far smoothly.
After all, this was the very first time in her life she’d ever felt this way about a boy—
Needless to say, this checklist was a memo outlining the steps to take to start dating Kyota.
“I mean, getting physical is way too soon anyway…”
Frantically, she crossed out that item.
But then she changed her mind, added it back, and crossed it out again.
She spent nearly an hour on this utterly pointless task, and the clock had struck 3 a.m.
Before she knew it, the complaints from her father had stopped coming.
It seemed he’d fallen asleep.
Or rather, if she didn’t get some sleep herself, it would affect her classes the next day.
She didn’t exactly have a lot in common with Kyota.
That said, he was special to Ouka
He was the only one she could be her true self around, and he was the only one who snorted derisively at her “plain” persona and called her“cute.”
Once she got interested in something, she was like a runaway train.
The more they talked, the more she couldn’t stop thinking about Kyota.
“Ugh… was I really this easy to sway…?”
She was well aware of how self-serving this was, which was exactly why she felt so awkward.
But here’s the thing.
When it comes to trying to date Kyota, the high hurdle isn’t just him.
In fact, an even higher wall looms over him, towering like a barrier.
Ouka muttered as she twirled her mechanical pencil.
“First of all, Shinori is 100% in the way. She’s definitely after him. I mean, she’s even giving off that ‘girlfriend’ vibe. That face of hers just really gets on my nerves.”
Ouka was already convinced that Shinori was a formidable woman.
When Ouka tried to talk to Kyota at school, Shinori would casually cut in front of her to block her, or forcefully drag him away.
She was definitely treating Ouka as an enemy and on her guard.
Of course, this was a game of cat-and-mouse taking place entirely behind Kyota’s back.
The battle between the girls was already raging beneath the surface.
“Well, the odds are in my favor since Toyono-kun himself is playing it cool. It seems he has no intention of dating her, so I guess I can breathe a sigh of relief… or maybe not. From what I’ve heard, the two of them are childhood friends, right? That’s way too much like the main female lead in a romantic comedy!”
Ouka was getting annoyed from her otaku’s perspective.
And there’s still another problem.
“Next up is Yukimi Shichikajo. She’s quite a tough opponent, too. She’s not as blatant as Hanesaki-san, but it’s a fact that she sees Toyono-kun as special. Her nasty personality is confirmed by rumors and Toyono-kun’s testimony, and on top of that, she’s quick on her feet and incredibly smart… If I get distracted by Hanesaki, she’ll slip right in and steal him from me.”
Shinori and Yukimi.
For Ouka, who had been gathering information bit by bit recently, these two were people to watch.
And she thought to herself.
—In that case, she had no choice but to outmaneuver them.
She invited him to the photo shoot that evening, but that alone wasn’t enough.
There were still about three days until the scheduled event, and if she just waited silently, the situation could change.
Since she didn’t know when he might fall into their clutches, the situation remained just as dangerous as ever.
“Heh, heh heh… That’s right. It’s no good to just play defense.”
Up until now, he’d been the one to strike up conversations, or they’d chat when they happened to pass each other in the hallway.
But things couldn’t go on like this.
To snatch him away from those two beautiful girls, she had no choice but to take the initiative herself.
“Just you wait, Toyono-kun. …Ahah, ahahahahaha.”
With dark circles forming under her eyes, Ouka clenched her mechanical pencil tightly.
―◇―
[Shiraki Ouka]
Affection for Akito: 60% (→)
Affection for Kyota: 100% (♡)
Maiban