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

62

18, Tanigawa Sakuya bears the burden

“Is it really okay to keep going like this…?”

“It’s fine. Besides, I love this shop too much to leave it…”

Telling my father about encountering the two demons at school today led to a discussion about moving and transferring schools.

But it’s clear we don’t have the money for that.

Probably, it would mean starting anew, even closing down the shop.

There’s no way I can choose to sacrifice my father’s life for me.

I just have to endure it for three more years.

That’s all there is to it.

At school, I might as well be invisible.

There are days I don’t speak a single word.

That was my normal.

“…………”

One day, as I was about to sneak home as usual, a woman’s voice stopped me.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Ye-yes, what is it!?”

Caught off guard by someone I just made eye contact with.

She was a beauty with long, light purple hair and a generous figure.

I thought, if I were as beautiful as her, could I have confidence in myself too?

But she, who spoke to someone like me, I think she’s a kind person.

“Hello.”

“…Hello.”

“You are…”

She was facing Juumonji-san and Tsugaru-san, who are in the same class as me.

So she was one of the popular crowd after all.

Next to her, I caught sight of another woman.

—Gasp!

She looked at me with emotionless eyes.

This woman was the devil who smashed my father’s car window.

Realizing this was bad, I panicked and turned back to the classroom entrance.

“Excuse me, I have to go.”

I uttered words of rejection.

It’s okay, I won’t interfere with you guys.

With tears in my heart, I ran outside.

“…………”

Feeling the discomfort of their gazes, I hurried away.

————

“It’s just under 38 degrees.”

That weekend of the incident, I came down with a fever just shy of 38 degrees.

Completely breaking down, I caught a cold.

Lying there, my father draped a blanket over my body.

“Father… you should go to work.”

“There’s no way I can go… You’re a child, listen to what adults tell you.”

On Sunday, my father closed the shop to take care of me.

I truly am okay on my own, I feel sorry.

“Ugh… I’m sorry. Because I don’t have friends, I’m causing trouble for you, Father.”

“No, even if you had friends, I wouldn’t leave your care to them. Just sleep quietly.”

“If I die, make my grave on the hill with a view of the coffee fields and flowers.”

“You’ll be put in the Tanigawa family grave, normally. And don’t say such unlucky things.”

In about two days, the fever subsided, and I was able to go to school.

But school life is dull.

Whether I catch a cold or not, neither the teachers nor anyone else worries.

That’s the extent of my presence.

I wonder if my mere existence in the classroom is a nuisance to someone, and sometimes I walk the halls without purpose.

During lunch break, I often seclude myself in the library.

Today, as I was about to read a cookbook, I spotted them again.

And another person.

The beautiful person who spoke to me was sharing their personal story.

“First, I want to hear about your father’s situation.”

“Understood.”

Hiding away, I ended up hearing all about the girl in the birdcage’s circumstances.

She’s being forced to live by her father’s rules.

There are all kinds of fathers in this world, I think.

And then, the devilish man confesses that he was receiving corporal punishment from his uncle while putting on an insincere act.

This is something I actually heard from the father.

However, that doesn’t mean the man feels sympathy for the girl in the birdcage; he only harbors shallow feelings as if he’s found a new toy, something I understand as an outsider looking in.

Ah, I’ve come to the realization that this girl in the birdcage will be made a target of misfortune.

…I regret coming to the library.

No, following the vile beasts’ advice won’t grant the girl even a shard of the future she desires.

I don’t want her father to be killed, and I can’t tell her directly.

But maybe I can strike back in some way.

I usually dawdle on my way home, but today, I need to hurry to meet her curfew.

After finishing the HR, I dash to the school gates at full speed.

I wasn’t certain that the caged girl hadn’t left yet, but I had no choice but to wait.

Then, after about five minutes, the girl struggling with her caged life hurried out of the school, and though I felt sorry, I had to speak to bring her back to her senses.

“Be careful, please…”

From noble mtl dot come

“Eh?”

I blurt out an apology, my words insufficient.

I’m not used to talking to people, so I’m unsure what the right words are.

Neither Akechi Hidetaka nor that girl, Sasaki Emi, are the good people you think they are.

I want to tell her they’re devils cloaked in a veneer of sanity, but I hold back.

Don’t interfere too much…

If I fail, the curse to kill her father will be activated.

I carefully chose the words that could serve as a subtle warning.

“In the library… I overheard the conversation… I’m sorry…”

“Ah, ahh… you heard that? Sorry for making you listen to my weird family issues…”

The caged girl smiles sheepishly.

I’m sorry to make her act despite her troubles.

A feeling of apology wells up inside me.

“Just… be careful… your father…”

“Ah, yeah! It’s okay! I’ll definitely solve my father’s problem!”

“…Please, take care of your father.”

“Yeah! Sure, he can be naggy, but I do care about him! Well then, I have to go home soon.”

It’s no use.

My message isn’t getting through.

She has a trusting relationship with those two devils.

But to someone like me, a social outcast, she only returns a safe, top-student response, which is sad.

It’s my fault for neglecting to build relationships.

Charm over righteousness.

The dryness of human relationships only deepens my solitude.

“Please be careful… those two are devils… more than the scum that pretends to be friends… cherish your father more… I pray that blood won’t be shed…”

As the girl in the cage disappears from sight, I pray.

Please, may she find a redeeming end.

May she seize a bright future for herself.

“I wish this ‘gift’ would just disappear.”

Ending my prayer, I head home.

That’s when I felt a hand grasp my right shoulder.

“Hello, Sakuya-chan.”

“!?”

A cold sweat spreads all over my body.

Turning to the icy voice of the woman, I see her standing there with a seemingly kind smile.

The beauty mark under her left eye seemed to reveal the darkness seeping out of her.

It’s the advent of Emi Sasaki.