“Okay, Satoshi-kun. Aah~n.”
Sakurazuki, with a smile like cherry blossoms in full bloom, tried to feed me an apple she had brought as a gift. I felt my cheeks twitch.
“Maybe you’re not in the mood for an apple right now? Was it no good? If so, I brought other things, so please tell me if there’s anything you want to eat?”
Her natural and headstrong nature is one of Satsuki Saionji’s charms, but when she actually does it, I feel more embarrassed than happy.
“Um, I can eat by myself…”
“No, you can’t! Satoshi-kun is still a patient. The doctor told you to have complete rest, right?”
“No, that was just right after I woke up. My body has healed quite a bit. It’s bad to trouble Sakurazuki any further, or rather…”
It still hurts when I move, but I can move a lot more than before. I’m getting tired of lying in bed.
In other words, what I’m trying to say is that I can eat a meal by myself.
“So, you don’t need me anymore…?”
“Eh, no, it’s not like that.”
“I’m no longer needed…”
I meant that since my body has recovered to the point where I can move, there’s no need to trouble Sakurazuki anymore. Maybe it didn’t come across properly.
“Look, my body can move a lot now, right? So, I don’t need, uh…”
I tried to move to reassure her that I was okay, but the spot I moved hurt.
“See? You’re still not okay at all, and you’re pushing yourself. And yet, you don’t need me. Hehe, if I’m not needed by my savior, then what am I living for…”
Sakurazuki gripped her skirt tightly and looked down.
“I’m sorry for being useless, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
She became like an emotionless machine, muttering words of apology like a curse.
It’s too heavy, okay!?
“Sakurazuki!”
“Ah, sorry. It’s just that having a gloomy and useless person like me around only makes the atmosphere worse, right? I won’t come here again.”
She’s not okay at all!?
I grabbed Sakurazuki’s arm with my left arm as she stood up from the chair with her eyes devoid of highlights. She looked at me with a creak. If I say the wrong thing here, it’s over.
“N-no, no! I’m always grateful to Sakurazuki.”
She reacted with a twitch. Good, she’s willing to listen.
“I was just trying to act tough to reassure my benefactor, even a little.”
“…Really?”
“I’m a man too. I want to show off in front of a cute girl. Well, it seems I was too beat up to even show off…”
This is my honest feeling. I was bored in bed and wanted to move, but I realized that it’s still too early.
“So, I still need Sakurazuki’s help… I think. I’m sorry.”
“…No, it’s okay. I misunderstood. That’s right. You’re a man, after all.”
Good. The light has returned to Sakurazuki’s eyes. The room feels a little brighter, too. And then, she gently wrapped my left hand in both of hers.
“I’m happy that you called me your benefactor, you know? But for me, Satoshi-kun is my savior. Helping you or taking care of you isn’t enough to repay my debt. So, please let me stay with you as long as I’m needed, and I’ll repay you ‘for the rest of my life’…”
“Ah, yeah. Sure.”
“Okay! Ehehe.”
That’s why it’s too heavy, okay!? What’s with “for the rest of my life”!?
Sakurazuki is giving me a carefree smile, but a cold sweat is running down my back. I have to make sure she doesn’t find out.
“Then, I’ll feed you the apple, okay? Here, aah~n.”
She held out an apple on a toothpick towards me. Of course, I have no choice but to accept.
“A-aah~n.”
It’s so embarrassing!?
I can’t get used to it no matter how many times she does it.
“H-how is it? Is it delicious?”
Sakurazuki looks at me anxiously. That upward glance is unfair. My heart was captivated by that image that I had seen many times in the game.
“…Yeah, it’s delicious.”
“I’m glad! Ehehe.”
She’s cute, so I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. The taste was also about a hundred times sweeter than usual.
After that, I chatted with Sakurazuki. Well, it was mostly me listening to Sakurazuki’s stories and nodding along. She talked about her part-time job, how she’s looking forward to university, and other everyday things, all while sounding happy.
This is it, this is it.
I played LoD because I liked Sakurazuki, who talked about ordinary changes with such genuine joy. It’s not like I played it because I wanted to see her fall into darkness.
“The protagonist is so unfair…”
“…”
I can’t help but envy the position of the protagonist, Sano, in LoD. He’s liked by such a cute girl. Sano is really unfair.
“Hey…”
“Hmm? Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something.”
I apologized normally since I really wasn’t listening if she was talking about something.
“No, don’t worry about it. Satoshi-kun, what do you think of ‘Yuto Sano’?”
“Sano?”
I don’t understand the intention of the question.
I have almost no connection with Yuto Sano in the settings. So, it would be strange for me to know much about him. I decided to just talk about something harmless.
“I haven’t had any direct contact with him, so I don’t know much. But he was famous at school. Rumor has it that he’s taken down all of our ‘Four Beauties’.”
“…”
The “Four Beauties” is the collective name for the heroines of LoD. They are called that because their names each have a direction, like Satsuki Saionji.
But why did she suddenly start talking about Sano… Ah, I see.
My question was quickly resolved. I’ve heard in some book that girls like love stories. This must be a sign that she wants to talk about that.
Even after what happened, she still likes Sano.
Then, it’s the gentlemanly thing to do to be considerate and make it easier for her to talk.
“Well, I’ve only had a little contact with him, but I could tell that Sano is a good guy… He’s kind and a good person.”
I’m terrible at praising people.
I want you to forgive me for this. He’s the protagonist who led us to the bad ending, so I have nothing but resentment, not gratitude. It’s quite difficult to praise someone you hate.
Well, I think I gave a good pass. Given Sakurazuki’s personality, she’ll probably start talking happily about the person she likes. I’ll listen with tears in my eyes… Sakurazuki’s acting strange.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hey. Do you really think that about ‘Yuto Sano’?”
Her gaze was like she was clinging to something. It felt like she was begging me not to lie.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Even so, I lied. There’s no point in saying I hate him. However, I noticed that I unconsciously averted Sakurazuki’s gaze, so I decided to make my words more convincing.
“W-well, I only know him from rumors, but I think Sano likes Sakurazuki, you know? I also heard from rumors that Sano likes Sakurazuki, I heard that-” “Stop it,” …eh?”
A sharp, knife-like rejection was thrown at me. When I looked at Sakurazuki, she was smiling without any expression.
“I don’t like Yuto Sano at all.”
“Eh… no.”
That’s impossible. You even confessed to him.
Then, Sakurazuki moved to my right side and started touching my right arm. I can’t feel it because I have no sensation, but I’m more curious than excited by her strange behavior.
“I used to like him… We were childhood friends, after all.”
She told me as if she was spilling a secret.
“The reason I started as a gravure idol, the reason I tried hard at cooking even though I’m bad at it, the reason I got into the same high school, it was all because I wanted to be with Yuto…”
I remember that setting well because I actually played the game. Sakurazuki, who was desperate to get Sano’s attention, tried to become famous because Sano wouldn’t budge no matter how much she appealed to him.
It’s a clumsy way of thinking, but I supported Sakurazuki, who was working so hard with such devotion.
“But, that wasn’t my intention (・・・・・・・・・・).”
“Eh?”
Did I mishear…?
When I tried to ask her what she meant, she made a contemptuous expression, and I was horrified. It wasn’t the usual yandere expression. It was a look of disgust towards something despicable. Although I couldn’t feel it, it seemed like a tremendous force was being applied to my right arm, which she was holding.
Sakurazuki noticed my gaze and immediately smiled.
“Ah, sorry. What I’m trying to say is that I used to like him, but now I think of him as nothing more than a piece of trash. I don’t want to talk to him ever again, and just imagining him makes me want to throw up.”
“Ah, ah, I see.”
Come to think of it, she was given the worst proposal of becoming a sex friend. No wonder she’s lost all affection for him.
“Yeah. Sorry? For talking about such a piece of trash.”
“No, it’s okay. Sometimes it helps to talk about it.”
“You’re so kind… Satoshi-kun.”
Sakurazuki took my right hand and pressed it against her cheek. Then, with a blissful expression, she rubbed her cheek against it. She was so alluring that I thought she might lick it at any moment.
“…I can’t see anyone but you anymore. Let’s be together forever, okay?”
“Ah, yeah.”
With her cheeks flushed and an inscrutable smile on her face, I could only give Sakurazuki a vague reply.
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