I Was Reincarnated As the Hated Scummy Best Friend in a Gal Game and the Protagonist Is Useless

60

16. Sakuya Tanigawa becomes anxious with a cold

“Hideyori… it’s lukewarm.”

“I got it.”

I exchanged the towels, placing the chilled one back on Sakuya’s forehead.

“It’s cold! Be gentle with me.”

“Sure, sure.”

It’s a hassle to take Sakuya seriously, so I just brush it off lightly.

I toss the now lukewarm towel back into the bucket.

“But you know what? I didn’t recognize you as Sakuya without your usual coffee cup hair tie.”

“Don’t judge by the hair tie… Look at my face properly…”

“Sure, sure.”

The way her sentence ends stretches out a bit—it’s kind of cute.

She turns into a spoiled child when she catches a cold.

“Ugh, I’m dying…”

“It’s okay, I tell you. Look, if you’re anxious, I’ll hold your hand.”

When I grasp Sakuya’s right hand, she grips back tightly.

And then, she starts to chuckle.

“I like that about you, Hideyori.”

“Sure, sure.”

“And hey, hey, if I die, make me a grave on a hill with a view of a coffee field, okay?”

“There’s no such place anywhere in the world!?”

I can’t help but laugh at how much she loves coffee.

It’s my first time in Sakuya’s room, and there are so many books about coffee, like “The Delicious Way to Brew Coffee,” “The Complete Guide to Coffee Beans.”

Her passion for coffee is genuine; I can feel it.

“Ugh, I wanted to be in the same class as you, Hideyori. Why did we have to be in different classes?”

“Yeah, it would be nice to be in the same class someday.”

“Hideyori… It’s me, it’s me!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll listen to anything you say today.”

“Your hand… it’s reassuring. Calming. It has the power to make people kind…”

“I wonder if that’s true…”

I’m supposed to be the scumbag villain, the worst kind of friend who spreads misfortune.

But well, Sakuya isn’t one of Hideyori’s victims, not even a mob character who hasn’t appeared in the game.

“I’m sorry for all the awful things I said the first time we met.”

“Don’t worry about it. Now, go to sleep…”

“Mm. Okay…”

With that, Sakuya fell into a deep sleep.

“If you could always say cute things like this, you’d be popular too,” I thought to myself.

Once again, I exchanged the towel, soaking a warm one in the bucket and splashing it around.

“Hideyori… What is the real you… like…?”

———

When I touched her forehead while changing the towel, it was still hot.

It’s not something that can be cured so quickly, is it?

Sakuya has settled down to sleep; maybe it’s time for me to head back.

“Sorry for all the terrible things at first,” she said, such a conscientious girl, even though there’s no need to worry about that.

Really, what’s with everyone?

Emi, Risa, Tsugaru, and even Sakuya.

Why do they seem to get cuter or more beautiful than before?

Takeru has an androgynous look but a good face too.

Isn’t Hideyori’s villainous face and bad vibe a bit too much?

After all, it’s a world conveniently made for Takeru, with him as the protagonist.

I guess I’m just a character meant to bring misfortune to the heroine with my Gift, a mere NTR agent.

Because I never use my Gift for anything decent, only for killing, framing, manipulating, and stealing others’ lovers.

“…Huh?”

Not using the Gift for anything decent?

…Ah, I see. It wouldn’t hurt to try using the Gift for helping others.

I glance at the sleeping Sakuya.

It’s just a thought, but maybe that’s a way to use the Gift?

It seems worth a try.

“Sakuya… cure your cold right now.”

“Mmm…” Sakuya lets out a small sound.

Somehow, when I touch her forehead, it feels like it’s back to normal temperature.

Maybe the Gift can affect not just the will of a person but their cells and organs too? It seems I hit the mark.

Of course, it can’t regrow a severed arm, but it seems possible to do things like eradicate cancer cells or restore the stomach to normal.

As a result, I’ve treated Sakuya’s cold.

There’s no downside to it anyway.

After all, in the game, Hideyori’s gift was explained as a cheat ability with no drawbacks.

If anything, he could do whatever he wanted, like making someone cough up blood and die (although it seemed impossible to cause death by external trauma, like being torn to pieces).

In other words, if one could intentionally break another’s body, then one could also intentionally heal it, right? That was the theory.

It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but it worked out quite well.

It’s just a game world, after all.

The operating company wouldn’t go out of their way to create a setting with drawbacks that would cause them trouble.

Because it was explained as a cheat, a cheat it was.

Sakiya, you’re lucky…

You won’t suffer a tragic fate like the original characters, and you can pursue what you want with determination.

I’m envious, but also relieved.

You are a safe zone in this world.

From noble mtl dot come

“May you find happiness.”

Careful not to disturb the bangs over Sakiya’s eyes, I look away.

Her eyelids were closed in peaceful slumber.