Volume 9 - CH 27

Akechi Hideyori Fails

“………”

“……..”

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We were in each other’s embrace for about 5 minutes. It was a little awkward so both of our faces were bright red.

If It was the old Madoka I would have teased her for it but now that I know she’s Kurusu-san, I don’t know how to act around her.

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Still, things would keep being awkward like this if I do nothing so I take another bite of the pudding and sip the tea to calm my nerves.

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She probably made a pudding like this one in our previous life too huh…..

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“……..”

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When I think about it, I realized there’s a side of Kurusu-san that I never knew of.

Ahh, it’s no good!

I can’t stop being nervous.

Right! My Phone!

Deciding to browse something on my phone to change my mood, I opened up Instagram.

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I went over to StarCha’s Instagram, it seems she ran into some troubles when she went out for tea with LeafChild today.

She also attached the photo she took with LeafChild to her post.

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Ahh, StarChild and Leaf Child are wonderful as usual!

Let me give her a like.

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I couldn’t see Seiko at all during the Golden Week but since she’s so busy, I guess it couldn’t be helped.

At most, I would interact with her on Instagram or Twitter like this.

Because of that, It really makes me wonder what kind of siblings we are though.

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“What’s Seiko-chan to you, Akechi-kun?”

“Woah!?”

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Before I knew it, Madoka was already on me and peeked at my phone from behind.

A surprise like that is bad for my heart you know.

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“Sh, She’s my little sister! Obviously!”

“Well, that’s a given. But it’s more complicated than that right?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, I also have a little sister but since I’ve never had a sister in my previous life, there were times that I thought of her as a stranger you know?”

“Ahh, I get that. It’s only been two years since I got to know that Seiko is my little sister after all. She’s indeed my sister but it just doesn’t feel all that real to me yet too.”

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Like my real parents here who I don’t even know their names, the two of us live with two different families with no ties to each other.

In fact, I kind of envy Madoka and Nodoka because they get along so well.

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“Then do you see her as a woman?”

“Right. Putting it like that wouldn’t be a stretch. She’s an idol that I’m a big fan of after all.”

“Hmm.”

“?”

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Madoka narrowed her eyes.

She probably felt disgusted that I’m attracted to my own sister but there was no helping it.

After all, Seiko is so cute when she treats me as her big brother.

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“That’s unfair…….”

“Madoka?”

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She looked at StarCha’s picture with a complicated expression.

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After that, we talked about why she started playing [Breaking the Chain of Sadness].

Since we started sharing our past, it felt very refreshing.

We continued talking about trivial things and an hour quickly flew by.

Noticing that, I decided to forcibly interrupt our conversation and bring up something I absolutely must discuss with her today.

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“Hey, I need to talk about something important with you.”

“R, Right! If Akechi-kun is okay with it then we can start go–……Eh!? Something important?”

“Ah, sorry……”

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When I was about to shift the conversation, Madoka was saying something at the same time.

I’m sorry for interrupting her.

But this is something that I should let her know as soon as possible.

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“Actually, Ennoia’s is onto me.”

“…….Eh? Ennoia?”

“Yes, Ennoia. Remember Gainen-san the club president?”

“Ah, so that Gainen-san was Ennoia after all. She’s the last boss of the game right?”

“Yeah….. And she has already marked Akechi Hideyori as a dangerous individual.”

“EHH? W, What do we do!?”

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There’s nothing to be done.

She’s the Last Boss after all. It’s no wonder how she sniffed me out.

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“Madoka is not a Gift Holder so Ennoia shouldn’t have noticed you yet. She still doesn’t know that Madoka has a previous life. And I don’t want you to fall into the same situation as me.”

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If Ennoia set out to actively eliminate her threat, Madoka would have no means to protect herself.

I can take whatever she may throw my way but that’s impossible for Madoka.

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“I, I got it! It’s…..it’s okay! If I just blend in with Emi and Towa then she would only see me as an ordinary person too!”

“Y, Yeah, that might work but……..”

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I still don’t know what she might do next.

Ever since Ennoia vanished from my bedroom, I always have this bad feeling in the back of my mind.

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“Even so, we have to try and predict Ennoia’s next move.”

“Her next move?”

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I handed over a notebook I prepared for today to Madoka.

I’ve written the names of the heroines from the first to the final game like Juumonji Risa and Mishima Haruka in it.

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“Ahh! This is nostalgic! I remember this girl! Akasaka Otoha is Juumonji-kun’s cousin right? Richiho Aisa would be the key to defeating Ennoia isn’t she? Ahh, Akane too, that’s nostalgic.”

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Madoka went [I remember her!] as she goes through the list of names.

Perhaps because I know that she’s Kurusu-san, I realized now that she has all kinds of expressions.

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“So, I thought to myself, what would I do if I were Ennoia. That’s when I noticed that she would take countermeasures against Richiho Aisa, the heroine of the final game. I think that I might need to take her into my protection.”

“Richiho Aisa? There was no heroine by that name you know.”

“…….Ha? We were just talking about her, weren’t we? You said that she would be the key to defeating Ennoia. We even confirmed that she’s in the same school year as us together back in April right!”

“Richiho Aisa? Was there really someone like that at the academy?”

“Ha…..? Wh, what are talking about?”

“Nn?”

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I felt chills run down my spine.

Madoka and I went to confirm that she got into the academy the same year as us.

Of course, Madoka also recognized her existence as a heroine until just now.

She even agreed that we might need to protect her.

And just a moment ago, the name [Richiho Aisa] clearly came out of her mouth…….

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But, the existence of Richiho Aisa, the most important character you need to defeat Ennoia, conveniently vanished from Madoka’s mind.

She’s extremely important as it’s impossible to take Ennoia down without her so I already made a plan to get into contact with her by the end of the year.

Panicked, I took the notebook from Madoka’s hand.

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What! Even her name here is gone!?

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The name [Richiho Aisa] that had been on the notebook until just now has been erased.

Perhaps, even from Madoka’s memory, no, perhaps the very existence of [Richiho Aisa] was erased from this world……..

Ennoia had already made her move.

This is definitely her moving behind the scenes……..

The only people who still know of her existence are probably me and Ennoia.

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It’s clear that something happened to Richiho Aisa…….

I’ve underestimated Ennoia.

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“Akechi-kun? Akechi-kun!? Are you okay, your face is pale–!?”

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I failed, I failed, I failed, I failed, I failed, I failed…………..

Realizing that I may have inflicted an irreversible change to the game’s story, I was struck by fear.

I might have set in motion something unthinkable……

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After that, Madoka said [You don’t look well, Akechi-kun, you should go home and rest for the day.” and we parted.

In truth, there were still things I wanted to discuss with Madoka but I don’t know what to do anymore…….?

Bathed in the warm breeze, I walked back to my house.

TLN: And that’s the failure………