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The ‘Status’ of the Heroine
When did she get there?
At the entrance of the empty classroom, a silvery-white girl was standing there leisurely.
It was as if I was seeing her for the first time, even though she should have been familiar to me.
The atmosphere of the girl was so different from the one I had seen before.
If she were the girl I knew, I don’t think she would have been able to maintain her sanity in such a situation.
I was alone with a girl, and the distance between us was almost zero. She, being a bit of a yandere, would have puffed up her cheeks and gotten angry.
But now she … Shiho Shimotsuki had a look on her face that exceeded my expectations.
“Ufufu♪”
Smiling wanly, she gazed at me with her hands folded behind her back.
Her expression of dignity almost gave me goosebumps.
Recently, though, perhaps because I’ve become more familiar with her, I’ve become paralyzed by the … sensation.
This girl is really spectacular. Her overwhelming presence almost made me shrink back.
“Mary-chan, … he’s my sweet dear mistletoe …, you know? You mustn’t touch him casually. I can’t allow you to.”
“…”
Mary was overwhelmed, too.
She was supposed to be desperate and trying to ruin me with her, but she was dazzled by Shiho’s dazzle.
I know that feeling.
Standing in front of Shiho, my own filthiness is highlighted.
I am sure Mary is also put off. She must be keenly aware of her own ugliness.
So she could not say anything, but could only stare in amazement.
“Isn’t it nice? My pretty young sapling is very attractive, isn’t he? I can see why you’d want to get your hands on it. Because it’s so lovely.”
The words were spun in a rhythm as if she was singing.
“The more I polish him, the more beautiful and shiny he becomes. When he is carefully tuned, like a beautiful sounding instrument, he becomes a … tasteful and attractive human being. That makes me very happy, but that light attracts a lot of bad bugs.”
Shiho takes one step forward.
The air trembled as she took each step forward, and naturally the attention turned to her. I couldn’t take my eyes off her every move.
Was this girl really Shiho?
That clumsy, adorable girl was nowhere to be found.
Indeed, she was the main heroine.
She has a different air about her, just like her mother, Satsuki.
“But you can’t, okay? I raised him, remember? I lovingly tuned him just for me. So I have a duty to protect him, and a responsibility to get rid of bad bugs.”
Another step forward.
Each time the distance gets closer, I feel an oppressive feeling that makes it hard to breathe.
I kind of felt like running away.
Well, that feeling is probably stronger in Mary-san than in … me.
She was shaking as Shiho hit her with the words.
She looked uncomfortable, as if she were a child whose parents had caught her playing a mischievous prank.
She was hiding from the main heroine and acting like the main heroine, so it was understandable.
“I gave Azu-nyan special permission. Because she will be my future sister, of course. I have the right to receive his favor and I want him to be happy. He can’t be happy unless Azu-nyan is happy, so I gave him special permission to accept her.
“Does that mean that… I’m not good enough?”
“Yes, of course. Not you, right? No, you’re not the only one special. I would never allow any other girl, any other girl, to touch him. Because, after all the time I’ve spent making him sound the way I love him, it would dull the sound if he were to get sullied.”
Shiho has no intention of making the other person understand.
Shiho speaks with a unique sensibility.
“The truth is, I didn’t like it. I knew he was messing around with you and other girls. There was a nasty noise, … a noise I couldn’t bear to hear. It was like he was snapping my little twig.”
“Huh? Did you know?”
The words just came out of my mouth.
I had assumed that this story had nothing to do with Shiho.
I had assumed that she had no idea what was going on and was just going through a peaceful romantic comedy.
But that perception was a little different.
“Yes, of course… Kotaro-kun? There’s very little I don’t know about you. I would especially notice if you were in pain or hurting. Because I love you.”
So in other words, Shiho was going along with… my selfishness.
“I knew that’s the reason why you were trying to protect me. Ummm…it was so wonderful. My little Kotaro was doing his best to protect me, and I couldn’t help but watch over you. Without reaching out to you, I was giving you my protection.”
Oh, well … maybe I was mistaken.
I thought Shiho was the one who needed to be protected.
I had mistakenly thought that because she was so fragile, I had to shield her.
But Shiho is growing up.
She is getting stronger little by little.
She is not a weak girl who is satisfied with just being protected.
“Thank you, Kotaro-kun. I’m glad you feel that way… But know this, okay? When you hurt, there are people who get hurt. Self-sacrifice solves everything only in a convenient fiction, right? This time it didn’t get worse because I happened to be looking out for you, but you better watch out, okay?”
Then she arrived right next to me.
Shiho tugs on my hand to pull me away from Mary, who remains rigid and motionless. I did as she asked, and she hugged me.
“But it was cool. Another thing I like about you…That’s the best part this time, isn’t it?”
Shiho laughs as she says that.
That was all it took for my body to feel the heat of the fire.
I was not at all upset with Mary, no matter what she did to me.
Shiho makes me so passionate just by smiling.
That was the difference between a main heroine and a subheroine.
“…”
The subheroine was made to see this and her expression was distorted like she was hurt.
I’m sure Mary is aware of it. She must be strongly aware of the difference between Shiho and herself because she looks at things from a bird’s eye view.
This is the difference in her ‘status’ as a heroine.
The main heroine always twists the story.
It seems that Mary’s revenge story has been easily put to an end.
“Huh… I can’t win… I give up.”
Saying this, Mary’s shoulders slumped. She walked away from the classroom without looking back.
The loser subheroine, who had produced nothing, disappeared from the stage very miserably.
With this, the second part would come to a close.
With one move by the main heroine, Mary-san’s story was finally … over.
TLN: Ok, two more chapters, hopefully tmrw for this arc. Then there are gonna be 4 sidestories in the next 1~2 weeks. Can’t put a date on that one, I have War Thunder addiction, send help.