Volume 9 - CH 14

Akechi Hideyori doesn’t look

Without anything in particular to do, my long holidays are getting shorter and shorter.

Today, my aunt asked me to do some shopping for her and I’m now heading back home with a bag in hand.

I need some time alone to think.

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In the first place, have I really been knocking down my death flags…….?

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With days I spend doing nothing, the stress just keeps piling up.

Now look on the other side.

There’s Concept-san who nonchalantly appeared at school.

The Gift Hunters lurking behind the scenes.

Yoru Hiru’s revenge.

There’s just no end to Akechi Hideyori’s death flags and it feels like I have to tackle them all alone.

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The fear of not knowing when death will suddenly come for me probably also played a part in why I can’t think much about romance right now.

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When I was Toyotomi Mitsuhide, I never had to worry about when I would die after all………..

I want to go back to those days.

How long do I have to live as Akechi Hideyori I wonder…….?

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—-that’s uncharacteristically sentimental of you.

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When I was alone with my thoughts, the Hideyori inside started talking to me.

I’m not particularly friendly with him so I try not to interact with him much.

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I have a feeling that he’s getting stronger every day but I still don’t know what to do with him.

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Is it not just a matter of time?

Will I disappear?

I don’t want to do this anymore…….

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I strongly grip the shopping bag.

What can I even see beyond the game’s ending…….?

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“Haa……”

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I keep walking with constant sighing.

The safest way to avoid my death flags is to simply eliminate Takeru, Yoru, Mitsuki, and anyone who can possibly kill me.

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But there’s no way I can do something like that…….

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If they all have to die then I’d want to reincarnate again and redo everything…….

I better reincarnate as the protagonist next time alright!

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That way I can say goodbye to the walking death flag like Akechi Hideyori!

I won’t have to worry so much about the future, find a girl I like, and flirt with her like an idiot every day.

I can find myself an ideal heroine like Eien-chan and live my carefree life in easy mode!

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Being threatened by the main heroine on the first day of school, getting attacked by some exhibitionist Gift Hunter, almost dying and losing consciousness for a whole day, what’s up with my life? No one would be able to call this a good life right…….

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“Maybe I should just abandon everything and run huh……….”

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Leaving my uncle’s house, going somewhere no one would recognize me, exploiting my Gifts at work, watching StarCha on my phone, and marrying a nice girl. She doesn’t have to be as cute as the heroines, an earnest girl is enough for me…….

I can also check in on Takeru, Emi, and Madoka from time to time.

That would be my best life.

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I can say goodbye to this high school life where I don’t know when I will lose my life.

I can let the protagonist and the main heroine worry about Concept-san and I can just watch from afar……

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……..that would be the best but that also seems like it’s going to be a boring life too huh.

Rather, there’s no way I can just leave my friends and sister now.

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Walking alone through a residential district like this made me pretty negative.

I quicken my pace to get home as soon as possible.

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Having been keeping my gaze down at the road, a short girl comes into view when I look up.

An elementary schooler?

She seems like she’s looking for something but to avoid starting a weird rumor by calling out to a little girl on the street, I pretend not to see her.

From my experience, this is the type of situation where it will be nothing but trouble if our eyes meet.

And for this Akechi Hideyori to avoid trouble, I opt to not look at her as much as I can.

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“U, Uhh……”

“…………..”

“Ex, excuse me!”

“…………..eh?”

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The girl purposefully approached me.

Trouble is coming my way on its own.

Her behavior was like ‘If you don’t see me then I just have to get close enough until you do’.

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“Actually……., I’m looking for someone!”

“Good luck with that! Bye!”

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I give her a word of encouragement and leave.

I’m not the supportive type so you can’t expect me to treat every girl like I treat Starcha you know.

Oba-san said that she’s making sukiyaki for dinner tonight so I’m looking forward to that.

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“Wait a minute, Onii-san!”

“Eh?”

“I’m looking for someone!”

“I see. I’m not. Bye!”

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Oba-san said she got her hand on some nice beef too, the dinner is gonna be extravagant.

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“Wai~~~t! I’m going to cry! I’m going to cry okay!”

“……..”

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It’s me who wants to cry.

This is definitely that type of situation.

She’s trouble after all…….

Why do I have to get in some kind of trouble whenever I take a walk outside I wonder?

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Is this Concept-san’s curse…….?

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Reluctantly, I turned my face down to the girl who was about 145cm tall.

She really looks like an elementary schooler.

Haa……, this is such a pain…..

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“Nn?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ahh, no. Nothing…….”

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I think I’ve seen this girl before…….

But from where?

It’s like I’ve seen her long long ago.

Have I met her before……?

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“So, you’re looking for someone right? Who’re you looking for?”

“A good-looking Onii-chan!”

“……….”

“Don’t lea~~~ve!”

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That kind of ticked me off so I turned back to leave but she followed me.

Why do I have to help this little girl find a handsome Onii-chan in the first place?

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“At least tell me his name. What’s this Onii-chan’s called?”

“Takeru-Oniichan!”

“………..Ha?”

“Takeru-Oniichan! His last name is Juumonji.”

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Takeru-Oniichan…….

Juumonji………

What an unusual name!

His name sounds just like a certain Galge protagonist’s.

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“………”

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Takeru-Oniichan?

Ah, it seems I just remembered something I forgot.

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D, D, Don’t tell me, this girl is–!?

A [Breaking the Chain of Sadness]’s heroine!?

There was one like her right!

I don’t remember much about her face and name but I’m sure that there was a heroine who referred to Takeru as Takeru-Oniichan showing up in the second game!

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Yoru, Risa, Mishima, Mitsuki, Eien-chan, I clearly remember the 5 heroines from the first game but from the second game onward I have to check my notebook for the details…….

If I remember correctly, the heroines from the second game were Yoru, Emi, and Akane, there were also two others but I don’t remember much about them.

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“C, Can I ask your name………?”

“Akasaka Otoha. Nice to meet you.”

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The elementary schooler-like girl lowered her head.

A, Akasaka Otoha…….

Right, it’s been a while but I remember that name…….

She’s even more of a Loli than Emi but she’s just one year younger than us.

And she’s also Risa and Takeru’s cousin…….

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The heroine of the one single route in [Breaking the Chain of Sadness] where Takeru succumbs to darkness.

It’s a route where Takeru and Hideyori committed a massacre at school.

And the tragic heroine, Akasaka Otoha, was the trigger that led to that massacre.

The route itself was aptly named, Shattered Justice.

Author Note: No, we don’t go into the serious part yet.

If Akasaka Otoha didn’t become a heroine, StarChild/Hosokawa Seiko would have become capturable in the second game.

At the planning stage of the sequel, Seiko’s inclusion was met with a lot of hate because of the fact that she’s Hideyori’s younger sister and her route was scrapped.

It’s a shame since the best friend’s younger sister trope is such a great cliche for galge……

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All [Breaking the Chain of Sadness] games consisted of 4 heroines + Yoru, making 5 heroines in each game total.

In this sense, Yoru exerted quite a pressure as a heroine.

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Sasaki Emi? Tsugaru Madoka? Fukamori Misuzu? Ennoia?

There’s no way you can go after them right!

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By the way, if Takeru reaches the ending without dating anyone, he would enter the Hideyori Best Friend Forever END.

From the perspective of the players, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

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Height summary of the main characters.

185cm Touno Tatsuyuki

178cm Master

175cm Akechi Hideyori

173cm Juumonji Takeru

172cm Yamamoto

172cm Fukamori Mitsuki

171cm StarChild

170cm Uematsu Yurika

168cm Miyamura Towa

164cm Tsugaru Madoka

163cm Yoru Hiru

160cm Kuromaku Gainen

158cm Juumonji Risa

155cm Tsugaru Nodoka

155cm Emi

153cm Tanikawa Sakuya

152cm Hosokawa Seiko

150cm Mishima Haruka

149cm Sasaki Emi

145cm Akasaka Otoha

130cm Ennoia

Next time, Scumbag Best Friend, the search for Takeru-Oniichan.