My Childhood Friend Seems to be the Main Heroine. - Chapter 19

　[ [ I can’t sleep ] ]

　At the same time, late at night, when everyone was asleep.

　A boy and a girl muttered the same thing at the same time.

　They are unable to sleep because they have had several hours of sleep during the day.

　Normally, they would have fallen into a deep sleep by now, but they are completely wide awake.

　It is difficult to sleep for a long time amid a full day’s schedule of forest school.

　Students can’t leave the event in the middle of the day unless they have some special reason, such as poor health.

　Only two students left today for special reasons.

　That’s right.

　They are Minazuki Saito, who threw up due to car sickness, and Machigane Riri, who threw up due to illness.

　It is a pair of childhood friends who have been together for a long time that simultaneously say the same words.

　Is it simply because they are similar to each other?

　Only God knows.

　They do not know that they are muttering the same thing as their childhood friends.

　But how to fall asleep?

　What to do to pass the time until sleep comes?

　They are thinking about how to pass the time until they get sleepy.

(Should I play a game?) (Let’s go outside for a while.)

　After long consideration, their movements are different.

　Saito took out his smartphone, which had been lying in the back of his bag, and launched an application game. He started to play an online game.

　On the other hand, Riri quietly slipped out of her room and went outside the dormitory.

　It was colder than she expected.

　However, it was not unbearable since she was wearing a thick jacket just in case.

　Exhaling a small breath, she looked up at the sky filled with stars.

　The stars, usually obscured by fluorescent lights, are visible tonight.

　It is a spectacular view that is difficult to see unless you are far away from human habitation.

“…beautiful.”

　The spectacular view transfixed Riri’s eyes.

　Then, holding up both thumbs and forefingers, she frames her favorite part of the view with a camera attached to her hands.

　In the center of the frame is the Virgo constellation.

　According to one theory, the goddess Astraia is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Themis, who became a star.

　Astraia is said to be a goddess of justice, possessing a mysterious balance that can measure right and wrong.

　If she could go back to the past and use the balance between the bastard man and the bastard woman, would she be able to realize their true nature?

　She thought about such a meaningless thought.

　The past cannot be changed, no matter how hard we try.

　No matter how much we want to forget, no matter how much we want to wipe it out, we can’t remove what’s stuck in our brains.

[ Be careful on your way home! Machigane-san! ]

“Ugh…”

　It’s because she remembered something from the past. The flashback of the daytime scene comes back to her, and she suppresses her mouth as the nausea comes back.

　But this time, she managed to hold her ground.

　She can just barely tolerate it the second time because after it happened the first time, she has a little tolerance for it,

[ No, it’s not〜. You were sleeping with me because you were dissatisfied with Riri senpai, right? ]

“Haaa, haah, haa, haah…”

　But that doesn’t change the fact that she feels sick.

　Her heart palpitates.

　If she relaxes even a little, the stomach acid rushing up to her throat will come out.

　It’s the worst, she thought.

　Why does she have to be fated to meet that bastard Nishizono?

　God must hate Riri.

　Otherwise, God would not have brought a bad guy to be together with Riri.

　No, maybe it’s not.

　Maybe she met him because he is a bad guy.

　Either way, Riri’s resentment of God will remain the same.

“Haaa… hah… haa…sigh…”

　The worst possible situation.

　However, the fact that this makes it possible to take countermeasures is also frustrating.

“I’m not a doll.”

　The thread was broken a long time ago.

　Who would follow such a shitty fate story?

　Even if someone wants to.

　Even if it is the only way to get a happy ending.

　Machigane Riri does not want that.

　She knows that happy endings do not always lead to happiness.

　Riri is not a good enough person to put her trust again in a man who betrayed her once so badly.

　Most of all, she doesn’t like the idea that the same thing will happen again.

　So, this is where she will make a big breakthrough.

　Here is how Riri and Nishizono came to interact with each other.

Step- step-

“…I caught it.”

　The corners of her mouth turn up as she expects.

　She knew that if she went out at this time, she would catch the fish.

　Riri knows.

　Riri knows that the man who has been following her for a while is not an ordinary man.

　Riri knows it better than anyone else.

　There is no way that he would not take a bite out of such a great opportunity.

　Or, rather, she made a gap on purpose.

　Riri moves her legs again and moves away from the lodge.

　Then she hears the sound of someone stepping on the gravel from far away.

　When Riri comes to a fork in the road, she turns right.

　She hides behind a tree that is close by.

　Sure enough, he runs a little quicker to her, trying not to lose sight of Riri.

Crunch-

　Just in time, Riri grabs her pursuer by the shoulder.

　A gust of wind blows, shaking the trees.

　The trees sway, allowing the moonlight, which had been blocked, to shine on her pursuer.

　He has familiar natural perm hair and a friendly face.

　一一What happened to your face? Your expression is distorted with astonishment.

“Huh!?!”

　Yes, that’s right.

　If it was before, Riri would not have noticed this timing yet.

　But alas, Riri is a time leaper.

　In her first life, she remembers the name, face, and everything about the man who has been stalking her.

“Hey, what are you doing here at this hour? Akashi-kun.”

　Riri smiles good-naturedly and calls out the name of a boy who is a classmate and a friend of Saito’s.