My Childhood Friend Seems to be the Main Heroine. - Chapter 20

“W-well, I couldn’t sleep, so I went outside and happened to find Machigane-san, and I was wondering where you were going. “

　Akashi’s face twitches as Riri catches him by the shoulder, and he explains why he is following her.

　His eyes wander from one place to another, and his behavior is suspicious.

　He is hiding something, but he does not want to tell her.

“…Hmmm. Don’t try to mislead me. I know what Akashi-kun was doing.”

　But this is to be expected.

　Riri decided to suppress him with conclusive evidence.

“Aww!? “

　She mows down Akashi’s legs and rolls him to the ground.

　Then she twists his right hand and seizes the phone in his sleeve.

　The screen shows it is in camera mode, and in the lower right corner is a picture of Riri, which he must have taken earlier.

“What is this? It’s a picture of me.”

“Ah…no, It’s just, you know, it was just because it was beautiful.”

“Well, whatever, I don’t care about this one… However, you also have lots of other pictures of me. At school, when I was on my way home from school, etc… What’s your explanation for this? “

　She opened the file connected to the cloud, not the photo app, and found various pictures, from the usual face profile ones to the more extreme ones that showed underwear.

　When she showed them to Akashi and asked him how he could explain this, his face started to pale as if the blood drained from his face.

“That, uh, that is… um, you know…”

　Akashi tried to devise some excuse, but he could think of nothing in the face of such conclusive evidence.

　Akashi turned his face down as if he had given up.

“I didn’t give you permission to take these pictures. It’s called voyeurism. It’s a crime. You’re not a child, so you know this is wrong, right? “

“…I-I know.”

“But you did it. Why….did you do that?”

“….That is because…”

“Why? “

“I wanted to capture all of the beautiful Machigane-san…that’s why I did it…”

　When asked why, Akashi was at first reluctant to say but soon confessed under pressure from Riri.

　Akashi Kai has always loved beautiful things. And he also likes to take pictures of them.

　It all started with flowers.

　When he was four years old, a certain single flower growing in the corner of a park caught his attention, and he looked at it from various angles.

[ …ah. ]

　One day, however, a child playing in the park kicked a ball and crushed that flower.

　Akashi cried as the beautiful blooming flowers turned into a miserable sight.

　The boy who kicked the ball apologized to Akashi, but he could not stop crying.

　The parents tried to calm him down, but it was no use.

　What should they do to make him stop crying?

　After long consideration, they came up with the idea of showing him a picture they had taken before the flower was destroyed.

　Akashi was also in the picture, but there was still a beautiful image of the flower, and as soon as he saw it, he stopped crying and regained his mood.

　At this time, Akashi learned a lesson.

──Beautiful things will surely disappear someday.

──That is why. I should take many pictures of them before that time comes.

　Then,

　Akashi began to take pictures of beautiful things, both natural things, such as flowers, stars, and the moon, and man-made things, such as buildings.

　However, until he entered high school, Akashi had never taken pictures of people.

　This is because he did not meet enough people to attract his interest in people’s photography.

　The only people that Akashi was attracted to were actresses and models, and it was difficult for him to meet them in real life, and many people had already taken pictures of them.

　But he met her when he entered high school.

　A beautiful girl of a level he had never met before.

　Machigane Riri.

　From the day he met her at the entrance ceremony, Akashi’s eyes were glued to Riri.

　──I want to photograph her!

　──Before she grows up and changes, I want to take a picture of her!

　──But it would be a crime to take pictures of her without permission…

　So he asked a boy who was her childhood friend to take a few pictures of them, but that was not enough to satisfy his desire.

　Instead, he started to go on a rampage for more and more.

　Akashi has no way to stop them.

　──Then, what should I do?

　──Should I request my friend to ask her and let me take some pictures?

　──No, no.

　──She seems to avoid men, or at least, she is uncomfortable with men.

　──As proof, she hardly talks to anyone except a boy she grew up with.

　──I don’t think she will readily accept her childhood friend’s request.

　Then, the only thing he can do is take a spy photo.

　It’s a crime.

　Akashi thought it was wrong to do so, but he began to take pictures of her and avoid being noticed by Riri, in the naive belief that it would be okay if he was not noticed.

　In class, at school, and throughout the day.

　Secretly, he was taking pictures of Riri by any means necessary.

　However, this is still better than the previous life.

　Since not much time has passed since Akashi and Riri met, the photographs are of Riri in her natural state.

　Before her time leap, Akashi had a lot of obsession with Riri and started to want to see her crying face and expression of anguish, so he not only took voyeuristic photos of Riri but also bullied her behind her back and even tried to kidnap her.

　Nishizono happened to pass by the scene and stopped him. He was caught for voyeurism, attempted kidnapping, and disappeared from high school.

(Now, where do we go from here? )

　Riri sees Akashi looking down in despair as his phone is taken away, and she thinks about the future.

　As planned, she succeeded in luring Akashi out and catching him.

　Now all that is left is to call the police just like before the time leap, and Riri will be free from stalking and voyeurism and will never have to encounter Nishizono again.

　──Perfect.

　This is the ideal situation Riri had envisioned.

　There was no need to overthink this situation, but for some reason, Riri was troubled.

　She doesn’t know why.

　She just has a vague idea of what she should really do.

　He is a shitty man who attacked her in her previous life.

　A man who must be dealt with without hesitation.

　And yet, strangely, she can’t act.

[I see, you’re right. Thanks for telling me. If you are in order of attendance number, are you Akashi Kai, whose name is written at the top of this page? My name is Saito Mizunazuki. I look forward to working with you this year.]

[…Nice to meet you too. Minazuki-kun]

　As she was thinking about the reason, she suddenly remembered the image of her childhood friend happily holding Akashi’s hand.

“Sigh────! Ah, it can’t be helped now. Akashi-kun, now recite what I said! “

　Riri let out a loud, loud sigh and suddenly said to Akashi.

“What? “

　───What is she talking about all of a sudden?

　Akashi could not understand what was happening and let out a bewildered voice, [Just do as you are told!], he thought. He shook his head up and down reflexively.

“I am a disgusting criminal. I have been stalking and taking voyeuristic photos of my classmate Machigane Riri. As evidence of that, I have a photo of Machigane-san in my cloud. Now, it has been revealed to Machigane Riri that I have been taking spy photos of her. “

“….I-I am a disgusting criminal. I have been stalking and taking voyeuristic photos of my classmate Machigane Riri. As evidence of that, I have a photo of Machigane-san in my cloud…Now, it has been revealed to Machigane Riri that I have been taking spy photos of her. “

“However, Machigane Riri, a very beautiful girl with a good personality, has forgiven me on the condition of absolute obedience from now on. From now on, I want to change my mind to the merciful Machigane Riri and devote myself to Machigane-san.”

“However, Machigane Riri, a very beautiful girl with a good personality, has forgiven me on the condition of absolute obedience from now on. From now on, I want to change my mind to the merciful Machigane Riri and devote myself to Machigane-san.”

“Yes, then, go say it again.”

“I am a disgusting criminal. I have been stalking and taking voyeuristic photos of my classmate Machigane Riri. As evidence of that, I have a photo of Machigane-san in my cloud. Now, it has been revealed to Machigane Riri that I have been taking spy photos of her. However, Machigane Riri, a very beautiful girl with a good personality, has forgiven me on the condition of absolute obedience from now on. From now on, I want to change my mind to the merciful Machigane Riri and devote myself to Machigane-san…… what?”

　Akashi finished his recitation and looked at Riri’s face as he digested and understood the meaning of what he had said.

“Well, then, Akashi-kun, you will obey me absolutely from now on. Oh, I’m recording this, so you can’t make any excuses.”

“Wait, what? “

　Riri says as if nothing happened and then deletes everything else from the cloud and the app, leaving only a few spy photos.

　She sends the video she just recorded to the dm section of her Minsta account and hands the phone back to Akashi, who is still in a confused state.

“B-but…why? “

　───Why was I excused?

　Akashi, expecting to be taken to the police station, asked Riri why.

　Riri answered with a disgusted look on her face.

“Because a certain childhood friend of mine will be sad if the police catch Akashi-kun. Well, if you do it again, I’ll crush you and you will be punished at that time. This time is special.”

　After saying this, Riri went back to her lodgings by herself.