Part-2 Ch-01 Ep-01

Whenever I watch a movie, I always end up thinking the same thing. Stories exist for the sake of the protagonist, and no matter how far side characters go, they will remain side characters.

“—That was insanely fun!”

Kagami-kun gulped down half of his juice in a single breath and clenched his fist in satisfaction. Seeing that, Maki and I exchanged glances.

It was the last day of spring break, and the four of us—Maki, Kagami-kun, Todoroki-kun, and me—had gone out together to watch a movie.

The film was a hero movie based on an American comic. A protagonist blessed with special powers saves the city, fighting alongside the heroine, who is targeted by the villain spreading chaos throughout the streets.

After the screening, we stopped by a fast-food restaurant to fill our stomachs. Given Kagami-kun’s usual personality, I had expected him to watch the movie more calmly, but it seems he is still very much a boy at heart.

Todoroki-kun was also a little fired up as he commented, “The protagonist’s overwhelming strength and invincible feeling were really refreshing.”

Maki, on the other hand, seemed to have mixed feelings. After letting out a thoughtful “U~n” and pondering for a moment, she said, “It was really fun, but somehow the protagonist felt too perfect…” Her tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.

Hearing that, Kagami-kun and Todoroki-kun nodded in agreement.

“Ah, Ichinose probably wasn’t into that kind of thing to begin with.”

“Eh, is that so?”

When I looked over at her, Maki herself nodded slightly.

“Well, that might be part of it.”

Eh… really?

Somehow, the two of them understood Maki’s preferences better than I did. As for me, I quite enjoy American comics. They are packed with overpowered abilities, and the protagonist’s victory is practically guaranteed. But now that I think about it, I have never heard Maki genuinely enjoy or talk enthusiastically about stories like that.

This time, I had only joined because Kagami-kun and the others suggested watching a movie on the last day of spring break, and Maki had come along with me.

They knew a side of Maki that I didn’t, and as her childhood friend of many years, I felt just a little jealous. For some reason, the person in question kept glancing at my face.

“…Is there something on my face?”

When I asked, she openly made a disappointed expression and replied curtly, “Never mind. Anyway, the movie was fun.”

That was harsh.

“Well, I personally liked the movie we watched today. The story was easy to follow, too.”

“If I had that kind of cheat ability, I’d probably use it all the time in my everyday life.”

“That kind of thing only works if you’re on the level of the story’s protagonist.”

Well, the two of you are already in the hero slot of this world, after all. I swallowed the words before they could escape my mouth.

This world is the otome game 『Cherry Blossom Oath ―The Story of Us That You and I Weave―』

For some reason, I am living as Nagase Mari, the childhood friend of the protagonist Ichinose Maki, while retaining memories from my previous life.

The boys currently devouring hamburgers with us are the capture targets Kagami Shin-kun and Todoroki Gou-kun.

Under normal circumstances, being this close to Maki at this point would mean we were already on one of their routes. But that does not seem to be the case.

Recently, Kagami-kun has been acting more like an overly meddlesome old man. As for Todoroki-kun, his interest appears to be focused solely on Mahiro’s core strength and muscles.

…If we are talking about interest in Maki's body, he might actually have more potential than Kagami-kun, but somehow that feels off, too.

That said, I haven’t given up yet.

There is still plenty of high school life left, and there are still other capture targets—

“Hey, hey, Nagase. Are you listening?”

“Ue? Eh? What?”

Startled by the sudden call, I hurriedly responded. From beside me, Maki grabbed my upper arm and said, “You were spacing out into some other world again, weren’t you?”

I have been worried about gaining a little weight since spring break started, so I really wish she would stop grabbing my upper arm like that. She was grinning, so she was definitely doing it on purpose.

“Hey, so, what is it?”

I shook off Maki’s hand and turned toward Kagami-kun and the others. At the same time, I mercilessly swatted away another hand that reached out from the corner of my vision.

Lately, the physical contact has been increasing even more.

“So, like I said, we’re talking about which character from that movie we resemble.”

It seemed the movie discussion was still ongoing. At times like this, Kagami-kun could be a real pain. No, more accurately, he had a habit of digging far too deeply into things. I recalled the story of the movie we had just watched.

Needless to say, I would be—

“I think I’m like the heroine’s friend.”

The side character who, during the climax, failed to grasp the hand of the heroine as she was about to fall from a rooftop, creating the perfect stage for the hero’s dramatic entrance.

She had a name, so she wasn’t a nameless background character, but her role existed solely to highlight the heroine and the hero. It overlapped perfectly with my position in this world.

“Eh? That one?”

Kagami-kun looked unconvinced, and Todoroki-kun tilted his head in much the same way. They probably didn’t understand. After all, the two of them already occupied the hero slot.

The hand that the side character desperately reached out with never reached the heroine. No matter how desperately she struggled, no matter how hard she tried, that was the role assigned to her, so it couldn’t be helped.

Even so, she properly fulfilled her purpose. 

She created the highlight moment flawlessly.

“It just somehow feels similar, in terms of atmosphere,” I said, offering a vague explanation.

Beside me, Maki was staring intently at my face, as if trying to read something she couldn’t quite put into words.