Part-3 Final Chapter Ep-06

Maki POV

The sky on the day of the graduation ceremony was brilliantly clear.

The air carried a refreshing crispness, and the petals of the fully bloomed cherry blossoms drifted gently through the sky.

Even after the final homeroom session following the graduation ceremony had ended, none of us could quite bring ourselves to leave. We chatted with our classmates, freely scribbled messages into one another’s albums spread across the desks, and lingered in the classroom, reluctant to let this moment come to an end.

New Nitobe-sensei had been surrounded by students for quite some time, but eventually, with a gentle expression in his eyes, he cast one final glance around the classroom before returning to the staff room.

I was especially conscious of how much he had helped me with my future plans, so I had already gone to thank him personally.

He told me, “Get along well with Nagase-san,” which left me feeling a little embarrassed.

Amid the lively noise filling the classroom, I looked around. Mari was chatting with Haruno-san and Seishuku-san. Kagami-kun and Todoriki-kun were playfully shoving one another around together with the other boys in the class, albums and graduation certificates in hand.

I chatted with the other girls, thinking how fortunate it was that I hadn’t missed the graduation ceremony.

Before long, underclassmen began appearing along the hallway, and students from the same year started moving between classrooms, making the atmosphere even livelier.

“Um, Nagase-senpai, Ichinose-senpai.”

A reserved yet familiar voice reached us, and I turned toward the classroom entrance.

It was the loyal dog Hachiko, or rather, Inui-no-kun, peeking out from behind the door.

With third-years overflowing into the hallways and everyone in unusually high spirits today, Inui-no-kun seemed somewhat nervous as he looked around. He resembled a trembling puppy.

“What’s up?” I asked as I walked over to the doorway.

By now, I no longer stood over him intimidatingly and chased him away the way I used to.

Mari quickly hurried over as well. “It’s Inui-no-kun!” she exclaimed, her face lighting up with delight.

These days, Mari’s attitude toward him didn’t irritate me nearly as much anymore.

Well, “nearly as much” is the important part.

As I reflected on how much our relationship had changed, I suddenly realized that being around Mari had somehow resulted in me acquiring far more male acquaintances than I ever expected.

“Um, well…”

Inui-no-kun fidgeted awkwardly for a moment before slowly extending two bouquets toward us.

“Nagase-senpai, Ichinose-senpai, congratulations on your graduation! And congratulations on getting into university too!”

Inui-no-kun smiled warmly as he congratulated us. Before I knew it, I was smiling back.

When I glanced at Mari beside me, she looked unbelievably happy, her expression completely immersed in dere mode.

Honestly, I’ll permit her to make that face toward someone other than me just for today.

Even while thinking that, I still found Inui-no-kun adorable somewhere deep down, so I sincerely replied, “Thank you.”

After the greetings had ended and people gradually began heading home...

“Shall we head back soon?” Mari asked after packing up her belongings and getting herself ready.

“Yeah,” I replied, and we left the classroom together.

Once we stepped outside, Mari naturally started walking toward the school entrance, but I caught her hand and gently pulled her toward the back gate instead.

“Eh, what’s wrong?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Our plan for the rest of the day was to stop by each other’s houses, get ready, and then leave on our graduation trip. I had no intention of letting her out of my sight even briefly, hoping to ease her anxiety as much as possible.

We left the school building through the rear exit and stopped just before stepping off the school grounds.

“Eh?”

“There’s something I want to talk about here first.”

Saying that, I released Mari’s hand and turned around.

We were standing beneath the largest and most magnificent cherry blossom tree on the entire campus.

I honestly felt like someone ought to praise me for the thorough investigation I had conducted the previous day, walking around the grounds in search of the perfect location.

Mari stood frozen, her eyes wide with surprise.

She muttered something along the lines of “The confession spot for the capture target……” but it had become such a normal part of daily life that I ignored it.

If I reacted to every single thing Mari muttered under her breath, the day would be over before I knew it, and even if I asked what she meant, I rarely received an answer that satisfied me.

But “capture target,” huh.

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

In that sense, I had already been captured by Mari since we were children.

The realization brought a smile to my lips as I turned toward my childhood friend.

We had both been accepted into our first-choice universities. Kagami-kun and Todoriki-kun had as well. Asahina-kun got into the vocational school he wanted, and Seishuku-san had apparently secured acceptance through recommendation quite some time ago. So that was why she had always been reading books, I thought.

Starting this spring, everyone would walk their own separate paths.

That was why, on this important day marking a major turning point in our lives, I wanted to tell Mari something properly.

“Mari, thank you for choosing me.”

“Eh, what……”

“On the day of the sports festival during our second year of high school. When I saw you collapse right in front of me, I felt it so strongly. Choose me.”

When Todoriki-kun tried to carry the unconscious Mari away, saying he had been asked beforehand, a dark emotion burned and swirled inside my chest. Rely on me, not anyone else. Choose me.

When Mari later gathered her courage and confessed to me, I was genuinely, overwhelmingly happy. My nose stung, and my vision blurred with tears. Since that confession came from you, I wanted to be the one to show some courage this time.

“That confession came from you, so now it’s my turn to say it, okay?”

I took a deep breath.

A breeze swept past us, and cherry blossom petals danced softly through the air between us, wrapping around the two of us.

Mari’s cheeks were flushed with nervousness as she nodded.

How adorable, I thought.

I sincerely wished that this precious person would remain mine and mine alone forever.

“I, Ichinose Maki, love Nagase Mari very much. Please stay by my side for the rest of my life.”

The moment the words left my lips, Mari let out a soft “Uwaa……” and covered her mouth with both hands.

Then her knees gave way, and she collapsed right there on the spot.

Startled, I hurried over to her. Large tears streamed down her face as she nodded over and over again.

“I feel like I have no more regrets in life…”

“That’s not true. Our lives are only going to continue from here. Probably.”

I crouched beside Mari and gently stroked her head, as though soothing her.

Whether it lasted several minutes or several dozen, I continued stroking her head and back the entire time.

I wonder how much time had passed.

I glanced up at the sky to gauge the sun’s position.

The sounds coming from inside the school building had grown distant, and it seemed there were very few students left.

I wanted to stay like this a little longer, but we had plans, so it was probably time to leave.

“Mari, do you think you can stand now?”

I peered into her face.

“I’m okay.”

Mari answered while still sniffling slightly and rubbing her eyes.

The childish gesture was so endearing that I reached out and stroked the head of the Mari who stood just a little taller than me. “Nn.”

“So, your answer? It’s okay, right? Right?”

“Your way of forcing a confirmation is kind of scary… But well, yeah. I mean, we’re already dating anyway. Of course, please take care of me from now on too.”

Mari said this while rubbing both of her eyes.

Yosh, I got her answer, I thought.

She said she’d stay by my side for life.

After that, if we could begin living together immediately after graduating from university, that would be perfect.

I’m sure everything from here on out will somehow work itself out.

There are still a few things I need to explain to Mari, but in her current state, I can probably persuade her.

The idea of getting married on a whim had crossed my mind too, but I wanted us to take things one step at a time.

We still hadn’t told our parents either.

But I’m sure it’ll be fine once we do.

That was precisely what I had spent years preparing for by carefully laying the groundwork.

“Now then, since the graduation ceremony is over, shall we head home?”

Mari nodded, looking slightly nervous.

The cherry blossom tree before us stood right beside the school’s back gate.

Once we passed through that gate, our high school lives would truly be over.

And Mari was afraid that the world itself might disappear because of it.

Bring it on, I thought.

Whether it was God or anyone else, if something tried to steal away the future I had chosen, I would crush it in my grasp. I still wanted to live this life of mine for a very long time.

We stood side by side in front of the school gate.

“Okay, let’s hold hands,” I said, extending one hand.

To reassure her that everything would be alright, we clasped hands, and with my free hand I adjusted my bag.

Then, at last, I turned around and looked up at the school building one final time.

Goodbye.

I whispered the word silently in my heart.

Now all that remained was for the two of us to walk through this gate together.

It was such a simple thing, and yet I felt strangely excited.

“Ready…”

The cherry blossom petals dancing in the wind enveloped our bodies.

Holding each other’s hands tightly, we took our first step into the world beyond.

The End

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Authors Note  

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And with that, I Was Reincarnated as the Heroine’s Childhood Friend in an Otome Game, But the Person Herself Won’t Romance the Capture Targets at All has reached its conclusion.

I chose to end it this way so that readers could freely imagine what lies beyond that single step forward.

This novel didn’t originally begin because I wanted to write an isekai reincarnation story or a typical “Naro” style work. It started because I wanted to write about a yuri girl who had developed overwhelmingly powerful feelings for her childhood friend. In my mind, Maki had always been the true protagonist.

When I reread the original rough memo I wrote in 2023, I discovered a note titled:

“I Became a Mob in an Otome Game, But the Heroine Won’t Do Her Job.”

At first, Mari wasn’t even a supporting character within the game. She was a completely insignificant mob character.

The story was also originally planned to conclude in only six chapters.

Once I actually began writing, however, six chapters weren’t even enough to finish the first year of high school.

Naturally, I revised the plot afterward, and it eventually became the story it is today.

It was incredibly fun.

There were many aspects I never had the chance to explore deeply enough, but Mari is actually the type of person who naturally thinks, “As long as Maki is here, that’s enough.” I wish I had conveyed that more clearly during the early stages of the story.

There’s no point criticizing the version of myself from three years ago, though.

I’ll make use of those lessons moving forward.

Thank you so much to everyone who stayed with this story until the very end.

I was only able to continue this far because of all of you.

I received an incredible amount of encouragement.

I look forward to the day we might meet again somewhere.

Thank you, truly.

Chirichiri

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Translator Note  

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I am kinda emotional, this is my first Series to concluded , I still am hoping for some extra chapter (Probably it won't get any but I will keep a tab on it.)

Fan translations exist to bridge the gap, but original creators require tangible support to keep writing. If you enjoyed this project and have money to spare, visit the author's official page to show your support:  https://kakuyomu.jp/users/haruk34

Thank you for reading along with this release. 

Well there already author link in this series homepage but I thought might as well.