“…How’d you get that injury?”
“Hm? Oh, no. I clumsily got hurt. Haha, and right before enrollment too, what was I thinking…”
“That’s rough… be careful, okay?”
“Eh? Oh, thanks.”
I was surprised when Sano showed concern for me while I was forcing a dry laugh in self-deprecation.
Come to think of it, I’ve only been worried about the heroines, but I never once considered what happened to Sano after the bad ending.
Strangely, I don’t sense any of the nastiness from Sano that I felt in high school.
Could it be that as the [Protagonist] of [LoD], he was exposed to the 『World’s Corrective Force』 and was pushed toward the bad ending? A question arose whether he had become strange due to the 『World’s Corrective Force』.
After all, for him not to approach the [Four Beauties] that he wanted to make his own so badly—that’s about as unlikely as a meteor falling from the sky.
If that’s the case, maybe I can let bygones be bygones.
Rather, thinking of us as fellow victims of [LoD], strangely enough, feelings of sympathy welled up from the depths of my heart toward someone I had hated so much.
“Serious injury, same high school…”
Sano was muttering something in thought, so I was pulled back to reality.
“Something wrong?”
“No, just thinking…”
He was looking over my body as if appraising me. It felt uncomfortable, like I was being evaluated. Then, as if he thought of something, he sent me a probing gaze.
“Wait, was the guy who got hit by a truck in front of the high school on graduation day… you, Iriya?”
I was surprised that he actually remembered.
“Yeah, that’s right. What about it?”
“—”
Then Sano’s gaze became cold as a midwinter freezing wind.
“Tch… so that’s how it is. Everything finally connects… so it was you.”
Sano’s tone clearly changed. A chill ran down my spine, and his eyes looking at me swirled with contempt and hatred as much as possible. Naked hostility was directed at me, and a bead of sweat trickled down from my forehead.
Seeing me like that, Sano looked at me as if exasperated.
“Don’t you realize you’re doing something terrible?”
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
I responded to his incomprehensible question with my own question.
“Let me make it easy to understand. Let everyone go, let the [Four Beauties] go, you piece of shit.”
“Huh?”
An eye-opening statement. I must be making quite the foolish expression.
Also, I take back what I said. It’s not about the 『World’s Corrective Force』 or whatever—he’s just normally a nasty guy.
However, I don’t really understand why he’d hate me this much either. Rather, he should be grateful…
“I’ve been wondering all along. Why none of them would respond to my messages. You know about my relationship with them, right? Since we were at the same high school.”
“Well…”
The fact that the [Four Beauties] had fallen in love with the mob protagonist [Sano Yuuto] who could be found anywhere was quite the rumor within school. Rather, it would be stranger not to know about it.
“Sigh, you’re the worst. You…”
Even I’m starting to lose my patience. I don’t like being told off so one-sidedly.
“What are you trying to say? Don’t tell me you think I deliberately got into an accident because I wanted the [Four Beauties] to take care of me?”
“I’m not blaming you for the accident itself. That’s unfortunate for you. But—”
He made an annoyingly deliberate condolence gesture, then glared at me with sharp eyes.
“What I can’t forgive is your attitude enjoying the current situation. You piece of shit.”
It was a statement with the pressure befitting a protagonist, but it only amplified my anger.
“Take back what you just said… there’s no way I’m enjoying being like this. Cut it out already.”
“I wonder about that. Deep down, you’re happy that all the [Four Beauties] are worrying about you, aren’t you?”
“I told you that’s not true. Stop talking to me.”
Thinking he wasn’t even worth talking to, I tried to move my wheelchair with my left hand. But the next moment, the handle was grabbed firmly, so I turned around and glared at Sano, but he was glaring back at me too.
“Satsuki and the others are kind, so they can’t just abandon you after you got into an accident right in front of them—of course they’d be dedicated. What’s wrong with calling you a piece of shit for exploiting their goodwill?”
“—That’s…”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
[I saved Satsuki and the others as their lifesaver!] [You’re hated by all of the [Four Beauties]]
Refuting Sano Yuuto should be easy, and there should be so many things I could say about what a piece of shit he is that I couldn’t finish in a whole day.
And yet, no rebuttal comes from my mouth at all.
Sano’s words—that I’m exploiting their goodwill—pierced my heart like a knife.
I’m letting them do as they please until their guilt disappears, but am I really doing that out of such admirable intentions? If I really tried to push them away, I should have been able to do so as much as I wanted.
Isn’t [because they’ll fall into darkness] just my convenient interpretation for being with the heroines, rather than for their sake?
Am I actually just reveling in this situation where I can have the heroines to myself—
The pitch-black true feelings I didn’t want to see overflowed, and a suffocating feeling as if my heart was being grabbed attacked me.
When I snapped back to reality, Sano was looking at me with contemptuous eyes.
“So you were aware of it after all… you dirty man.”
“N-no. That’s not what I—!”
“Satsuki and the others should want to enjoy their rosy campus life too, but they’re being parasitized by a pest that devours people’s kindness—how annoying. Don’t you think you should set them free?”
“…!”
Those naked words pierce my chest one after another like blades. I want to deny it. I want to refute it. However, the voice within me trying to justify it was swallowed up by the pitch-black emotions swirling inside me.
“I don’t want to say these things either, you know.”
Saying that, Sano let out a short breath.
“It’s just… when I think about Satsuki and the others, I think it’s my role to play the villain.”
“Sano…”
Understanding that he wasn’t just attacking me out of anger, my heart was squeezed even more.
“All Iriya has to do is say one thing—that you’re okay now. You can do at least that much, right?”
“That’s…”
Just because I’m their lifesaver doesn’t mean it’s okay to use that as chains to bind them for life. They have their own lives. Otherwise, there’s no meaning in protecting their futures. If the lives I protected only lead to imprisonment, I’d become the same as those who created this world.
But my ugly true nature refuses to set them free.
I don’t want to be alone anymore—
An egotistical, self-centered wish. When it took shape in my head, I felt pathetic.
If I can only connect with people by burdening them with guilt, maybe it would have been better to die back then—
Naturally, my head bowed, and my heart sank into darkness. When I glanced at Sano’s expression, he was smirking with contempt and sarcasm, but I didn’t care anymore.
“What do you think you’re doing—”
Reine’s sharp gaze, cold as ice, pierced through Sano. Despite this, Sano showed not the slightest hesitation, directing a calm smile toward Reine.
“It’s been about a month. How have you been… hey…”
Ignoring Sano, Reine matched her eye level with mine. Remembering my pathetic state from earlier, I averted my gaze, but Reine smiled as if looking at a helpless child.
“I’m sorry, Satoshi. I’m a bit late.”
“No, that’s fine. More importantly…”
“There’s no need to continue.”
Saying that, Reine gently placed her hand on my lips.
“I’m happy that you care so much about us, Satoshi. But you know, if you think it’s all based on guilt toward you… that makes me a little sad.”
“Reine…”
Reine’s eyes briefly lowered. But she immediately returned to her cool, refined expression and silently grabbed the wheelchair handles.
“Now, let’s go to lunch. Shino said she wants to eat ramen. She wants to experience commoner cuisine, apparently.”
“…Haha, that’s so like Shino.”
Reine’s cold yet dignified voice is warmer than anything right now. It was strange. The suffocating feeling from earlier eased a bit, and I felt reassured. Reine pushes my wheelchair from behind. Usually I feel embarrassed and want to get off right away, but now I felt very secure.
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