Mob Character Reincarnation Loner: As a Result of Supporting the Heroine Who Had Been Rejected, I Ended up Being the Recipient of Her Heavy Emotions…
“This time!! Taking advantage of Ayabe-san’s kindness!! By cross-dressing and deceiving you about my gender, I ended up deceiving Ayabe-san. I am truly, deeply sorry!!”
“Fumika-chan!? H-hold on!! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden!? L-lift your face up!!”
Following Ichika’s lead as instructed, we ended up in an empty classroom devoid of people.
I immediately started with a deep bow, but… Ichika was so flustered she kept calling me Fumika-chan.
Huh, did I get it wrong…?
“…Um, didn’t you call me out to settle the score because I’m some perverted bastard who dressed up as a girl to try and get close to you?”
“N-No!!”
It wasn’t… That’s a relief.
“Sorry. Ichika, I made you wait… Huh? What’s going on here?”
“T-Tenma-kun!”
The protagonist, Kamito Tenma, appeared looking confused.
“Ah, um… I was sorry for tricking you into eating with me earlier… I thought that’s why you called me here.”
“No, no!! Looks like I gave you the wrong idea. Sorry about that.”
Tenma smoothly extends his hand to me.
The protagonist, as expected. He looks cool up close, and even now he’s kindly offering me his hand. I might just start liking him.
I grab the offered hand and stand up.
“Um… Irie-kun. Is Hiyori-chan doing okay?”
“Huh? Oh… I think she’s fine…”
“Is that so…”
What is this? It’s like… I have something I want to ask, but I can’t… I feel this kind of frustration.
“Well… does Hiyori-chan know about us…”
…I see.
“I hear a lot about the two of you. It’s okay. Nanase hasn’t started disliking you two or anything.”
Well, sometimes when you two talk, her eyes go dead like a fish’s.
“Ah… I see…”
Ichika let out a deep sigh of relief.
…She must have been terribly worried. That’s how important Nanase Hiyori was to Ayabe Ichika.
She must have guessed why Nanase stopped eating lunch with them too.
“Actually, today I was going to ask Irie—”
“Tenma-kun. I’ll handle this…”
“…………Alright.”
Stopping Tenma as he started to say something, Ichika closed the distance between them in one determined step.
“Hey! I have something I want to ask Irie-kun…”
“Me?”
“Well… I want you to help me get back to being friends with Hiyori-chan like before.”
She was serious. Her gaze conveyed that level of earnestness.
This request was truly important to her. To Ayabe Ichika… to put it dramatically, it was something that would greatly impact her future high school life.
That’s precisely why she didn’t understand.
“Why me?”
“I truly trust you as a friend, Irie-kun.”
“…Huh? Even though I’m a cross-dressing pervert?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. I haven’t done anything to earn Ichika’s trust up until now.
In fact, I only done things that would make it recoil. Honestly.
“The reason you cross-dressed… was for Hiyori-chan’s sake… right?”
“Well…”
“You dressed up to avoid us misunderstanding, and to help bring Tenma-kun and Hiyori-chan together, right?”
Right? she asked, but Ichika was certain. Deciding evasion was pointless, I nodded silently.
“Not many people would go to such lengths to help a friend. That’s precisely why I want to truly cherish and trust someone like you, Irie-kun, as a friend.”
“…I’m flattered you trust me that much, but—”
“Above all… I’m certain Hiyori-san trusts you more than anyone else right now.”
“…That’s way too generous.”
“Otherwise, Hiyori-chan wouldn’t have gotten that angry.”
…Could she have seen the confession during lunch break?
“Seeing Hiyori-chan at lunch… I knew for sure. That Irie-kun had been supporting her.”
It must have been that confession from Sasahara-senpai that finally connected everything for her… including the crossdressing.
That’s why she called me out.
“…Honestly, I was about to give up. But if Irie-kun was there… I thought maybe. You helped bring Tenma-kun and Hiyori-chan together during lunch break. If it’s that kind of Irie-kun… then surely…!!”
Her desperate expression made me freeze in place.
This isn’t something you tell just anyone. No, it’s not something you tell anyone at all.
But even so… she told me. Her wish and her feelings.
“I know I’m being incredibly unreasonable and selfish… I know it painfully well. But she’s the first friend I’ve ever made. That’s why…!!”
Snapping back to her senses, Ichika apologized weakly in a slightly smaller voice.
“…I’m sorry.”
“No…”
Having friends distance themselves and lose touch is incredibly sad and lonely. For Ichika, who has almost no friends, it must be even worse.
That’s only natural, and I don’t think it’s selfish.
Ichika looked at my face again, her expression serious.
“Irie-kun… please.”
“I’m asking you too.”
Ichika and Tenma bowed deeply.
They must be grasping at straws…
Ichika’s clenched hands trembled with tension.
What to do with that trembling was left up to me.
Surely, if I accepted… we could reach an ending not even in the original story.
A happy future… the kind everyone desires. As a story, it would undoubtedly be beautiful.
“…I want you both to look up.”
I speak to the two who still keep their heads bowed.
The expressions visible when they look up are very stiff.
“For me… Nanase is an important friend, and Ayabe-san and Kamito… I think of them as equally important friends… But I’m on Nanase’s side.”
“…Hiyori-chan’s side.”
I nodded at Ichika’s words.
“If Nanase wants it, I… I’ll do everything I can to help the three of you make up. But if Nanase doesn’t want it… I’ll make so many happy memories that she’ll forget about the two of you. That’s all.”
It wasn’t just me. Surely, Serizawa-san and Tsukimi-san would think the same as me.
“So, if you truly want things to go back to how they were before, could you please trust Nanase and wait for her? Even knowing how things might turn out, please respect the courage she showed in properly conveying her feelings.”
Yes, finally, I looked at Kamito’s face and said one last thing.
“…Ah, um. Well, that’s… kind of how it is… Sorry for being so half-hearted and not meeting your expectations, and for just lecturing you like that.”
Just as I ended up bowing my head repeatedly, BAM!! A loud smacking sound echoed.
Wondering what happened, I looked up in surprise to see Kamito slapping his own cheeks with both hands.
“Irie, thank you. I’m awake now.”
“…Huh? Ah, oh, o-okay.”
“Irie-kun.”
“Y-yes.”
“I’ll trust Hiyori-chan and wait too. So, if… she chooses you, I’ll leave it to you.”
Ichika gently but firmly clasped my right hand with both of hers.
Her action made my heart race involuntarily.
“…Ah, um, I’ll do my absolute best with whatever I can do…”
“Seriously, why are you using honorifics? We’re close, aren’t we?”
“…Yeah, I guess.”
I awkwardly smiled back at Ichika, who was smiling troubled-lookingly.
“Well then… I’ll be going now.”
“Ah, Irie. See you tomorrow.”
“Irie-kun. Thank you for today.”
Waving goodbye to the protagonist and heroine, the moment I stepped out of the classroom first, I swallowed the words that threatened to escape my lips.
“Eh, Nanase…san?”
“…………………………Bun-kun”
Because there, crouched near the door, trembling, was Nanase Hiyori.
Cliffhanger-kun, why!?