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
The sports festival was going according to schedule, and our class was advancing smoothly through the rounds.
Next up was finally the semifinals—if we won that, we’d make it to the finals.
Even though it was just a recreational event, the classroom was buzzing with excitement.
…Except for us.
Now that lunch was over, the usual group was sitting together around us.
However, there was one unusual face among them.
It was Kisa Hiiragi, who had been keeping her distance from us lately.
Just a moment ago, she seemed to have made up her mind to talk to Shinori, and it looked like she was serious about opening up to her.
Shinori isn’t so clueless that she wouldn’t notice the tension in the air.
Seeing the look on Kisa’s face, she remained silent.
Occasionally, she’d glance my way with a look that seemed to say, “What’s going on?” but I chose not to interfere.
I wanted her to handle this exactly as she saw fit.
And then, she finally spoke up.
“I’m sorry, Shinorin. Actually—”
She was about to reveal everything that had happened so far.
How she’d been complicit in the incident where Ami and Hayase conspired to stab me.
But she also expressed regret about it.
—It wasn’t an excuse, but she explained that she, too, had been threatened.
—She told me about the assault she suffered last year, which had led to those threats.
—She revealed that recently, she’d been consulting with Yukimi and me behind the scenes about that matter.
—She felt guilty about all of this, which is why she’d been keeping her distance from Azunori.
—That’s why she wanted to apologize right here and now.
“I’m really sorry. I’m sorry for deceiving you. I’m sorry…”
She concluded with words of apology to Shinori.
Her tone was matter-of-fact, but the content was enough to make even us—who knew the full story—frown.
Akito and Ujiya, whom I’d mentioned earlier, also looked as if they’d swallowed a bitter pill.
As for Shinori, however, she just stood there with a bewildered look on her face.
Then she said one thing.
“…Huh? Is that what you were talking about?”
“Huh?”
Faced with this unexpected reaction, I couldn’t help but ask her to repeat herself.
In response, Shinori scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed.
“Well, I mean, I’m totally surprised, but this went in a completely different direction from the worst-case scenario I’d imagined.”
I couldn’t quite figure out what she meant.
But Kisa laughed in exasperation, and Ujiya was grinning.
“Ahhh… I think I get what Shinorin’s trying to say.”
“Me too, sort of. Well, with an atmosphere like this, if we just kept exchanging glances like that, it’s easy to get the wrong idea.”
“……Ah. ……Huh? Eh, what?”
I felt like I was starting to get what she meant, so I looked at Kisa’s face.
She was sitting right next to me right now.
That’s usually where Shinori sits.
True, if we were exchanging meaningful glances at this close distance, it wouldn’t be surprising if people got the wrong idea.
Just as I was coming to terms with that and feeling a bit awkward—
“Huh? Wait. What are you talking about?”
The one true romantic comedy protagonist was the only one who couldn’t keep up and was left confused.
Everyone laughed at Akito.
It’s been a while since we’ve had an exchange like this.
Somehow, it feels like one of my friends has finally come back.
“Um, are you not going to be mad at me?”
However, since they’d strayed from the main topic, Kisa asked Shinori again.
Shinori thought for a moment, then asked back with her usual smile.
“Is that because I was involved in Kyota’s incident? Or because I kept secret?”
“Both.”
“Hmm, but Kisa-chan is a victim too, after all. To be honest, right now I don’t really care about myself—I’m more worried about Kisa-chan, I guess.”
“……”
“How should I put it… ahaha. …It’s hard for me to say.”
It was a remark that could be seen as too flippant.
It was a childish response, as if she’d given up on thinking.
But she didn’t stop there.
“Honestly, I was just happy you talked to me at all, you know?”
“Shinorin…”
“Up until now, you guys—including Kyota-kun—have been hiding things from me and moving things forward behind my back, right? Honestly, I felt completely left out. The timing was a bit off, but the fact that you told me this means you trust me, right?”
No sooner had she said that than a piercing gaze turned toward me.
Cold sweat ran down my back at the sudden shift in focus.
“So—”
Shinori took a breath and looked straight at Kisa.
“If there’s anything I can do, I’ll help.”
“……You’re really not mad? I’ve done so many terrible things. The scar on Toyo-chan’s arm still hasn’t even faded yet.”
“Ahaha. That’s true. About that, um—. This time, I’m facing you head-on, Kisa-chan, really wrestling with this together, putting myself in your shoes. And on top of that, I’ll even let you know exactly what I think—just a little bit.”
“Huh?!”
Even I, just listening, couldn’t help but laugh a little.
She’s usually a super intense, crazy-serious girl, but in the end, this is just who Shinori is.
She confronts people head-on, and then moves forward.
No matter how many obstacles come her way, she never runs away.
It was the same during the bullying incident with Ami and the others.
“……Seriously, thanks.”
As Kisa said this with a laugh, our group finally began to regain our usual vibe.
After the rain, the ground hardens.
That saying somehow came to mind.
It was probably because, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a tear welling up slightly in the corner of Kisa’s eye.
◇
After our lunch break reconciliation.
While everyone around me was warming up for the afternoon match, I was alone, reminiscing about what had just happened.
It was a touching turn of events—though a sad one—but I, at least, couldn’t afford to feel that way.
What came to mind were Chagiri’s words.
“Senpai, why don’t you pass to Kijima-chan too?”
“——Huh?”
“Come on, you seem to know your way around these things. I’m not just going to keep my mouth shut for free, you know.”
After saying something like, “I’ll let you in on it too~,” he made that suggestion.
Was it just flattery to keep me quiet, or did he have some other motive?
I couldn’t tell at the time, but I was genuinely appalled by just how sleazy those words sounded.
I guess his reasoning was that since I already knew, it would be better to make me an ally and bring me in on it.
But he’s got it all wrong.
He probably thinks I’m a total womanizer, but that’s a huge misunderstanding.
“……Hmph. Hahaha.”
“W-what’s so funny?”
As I burst out laughing without meaning to, I suddenly remembered something.
Come to think of it, I’d seen a similar guy in my past life.
The kind of guy who’s convinced that s*x is the pinnacle of human entertainment.
Sure, it might be true that it reigns supreme as a source of pleasure, but I can’t even have a conversation with someone who lets that dictate every single decision in their life.
It’s a fitting expression to say his brain is attached to his lower half.
And besides.
“Hmm. So you were planning to r*pe that person?”
“Huh!?”
He’s so utterly, deeply stupid that I can’t stop laughing.
I confronted Chagiri, who’d gone and blurted out his own planned crime.
“Didn’t I tell you before? To stay away from Aoiko Kijima. That wasn’t just something I said on the spur of the moment, you know?”
“…Hah, ha ha! Just because you know a little bit about me, do you really think you can talk big like that? If I tell the old man, he can take care of someone like you anytime.”
“You mean he can ‘get rid of’ me? Well, that might actually be true.”
“Right?”
“But what if the opponent wasn’t me? For example—what if the matchmaking partner of that old man’s favorite grandson but in a matchmaking situation decided to butt in? Whose side do you think he’d take?”
As I’ve said before, Chagiri hasn’t even linked the Aoiko situation to the Kisa situation in the first place.
Even if he issued a strong warning over the Aoiko incident, there’s no real reason to worry that Kisa’s video will be leaked.
If I understand that, I can fight without backing down.
I’ll use everything at my disposal.
It’s a new way of fighting I learned from that dangerous senior.
However, Chagiri himself didn’t seem to grasp what I was getting at.
“A, a matchmaking meeting? What are you talking about?”
It seems he’s completely cut off from the Sayama family—even news of my cousin’s matchmaking meeting hasn’t reached him.
At this point, it was out of the question.
“Y-you’re definitely going to regret this.”
“That’s exactly what I’d say.”
I smirked as Chagiri walked away, spitting out that parting shot.
I’d already told Aiko to protect herself, and even someone like Chagiri wouldn’t be able to take drastic measures against Aiko, since their only connection is at school.
After all, he has to keep his ties to the Sayama family a secret.
There’s no way he could attack Aoiko on his own, without using his family’s influence.
After all, Akito lives right next door to her—he could rush over in an instant.
Even if he were to lose his mind now, there’s nothing Chagiri could possibly do.
Thinking back on those negotiations that had fallen through, I couldn’t help but laugh.
—So why do I always end up playing the villain like this?
As always, the “minor villain” act suits me way too well.
Maiban