After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered - Chapter 37.2: Found by the Person I Absolutely Shouldn't Be Found By

Chapter 37.2: Found by the Person I Absolutely Shouldn’t Be Found By

Her uncle was walking beside her.

Her hair fluttered in the wind, dancing lightly, and it gleamed as it reflected the sunlight. Her figure was so strikingly beautiful that it drew the eye.

But meeting her face-to-face here would definitely be bad. She might not just get suspicious; she could figure out my plan.

“…”

I quickly ducked into a back alley and held my breath.

Pressing my back against the old stone wall and hiding in the shadows, I waited tensely for her footsteps to pass.

If she didn’t glance my way at the moment we passed each other, I should be able to avoid being noticed. No, I could only pray that she wouldn’t notice.

“…”

My heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat trickled down my neck.

Her footsteps approached slowly but steadily.

And right at the moment we passed—

“Huh—!?”

As if on cue, Satori glanced my way. Our eyes met suddenly.

Found.

“Akira, why are you lurking over there like that?”

She asked with wide eyes full of shock.

“G-good morning.”

“Why did you come all the way over here?”

She took a step closer and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Her gaze seemed to pierce right into the depths of my heart.

“I-It was just a coincidence. I was out for a walk by chance.”

“Suspicious.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just head home from here.”

“Head home? If you’re heading home, that means you came from somewhere?”

“I-It was a walk.”

“…Suspicious.”

Her dubious gaze intensified.

Behind her, her uncle wore a complicated expression, as if recalling the past.

“…Suspicious.”

“Satori, if you keep fussing with him, we’ll be late. Let’s go.”

“But…”

“Isn’t today an important meeting? You shouldn’t be wasting time loitering around here.”

“…Fine.”

It seemed her uncle had thrown me a lifeline, and Satori reluctantly broke off her gaze from me.

She walked toward the venue, glancing back repeatedly.

I watched her back and let out a sigh of relief.

*

“Man, what should I do about this?”

I couldn’t bring myself to go straight home, and before I knew it, I had ended up at the top of the cliff.

This was the place where Mahiru and I had once shared our blood.

I had come to this spot, full of memories both good and bad, because I realized I myself was wandering aimlessly.

I should sort out my thoughts while taking in the grand view. Maybe I had unconsciously decided that.

“Should I try to stop Satori?”

To begin with, I thought I had been following the Satori route.

In the Satori route, she became the head and brought all sorts of changes to the island.

She brought a fresh wind to the insular, tradition-bound island, and that wind spread not just to the three great families but to the islanders as a whole.

And exchanges with the outside world became lively.

That was why I figured that advancing this route would naturally loosen the island’s hold, allowing free travel in and out.

That was how the original story went, so it had to turn out that way.

And yet, not only had my plan failed, it was heading in the exact opposite direction.

Satori had become someone closed-off, who approved of staying on the island— the very picture of a three great family member.

“What if I just seriously try to escape the island for real?”

In the past, I would have thought that and headed straight for the ferry without hesitation. But things were different now.

Satori, Mahiru, Toa.

The faces of all three came to mind immediately.

Leaving them behind wasn’t an option. If I left the island, I would take everyone with me.

There was no other path.

That was exactly why it tormented me so much. Toa and Mahiru aside, Satori didn’t want to leave the island.

And if Satori were to leave, the issues with the three great families would inevitably follow.

Even if we escaped the island, we might get chased…

There were mountains of problems to resolve everything.

“…No idea.”

I gazed at the view while my thoughts circled endlessly.

The wind was stronger than usual today, and the sea was rough. High waves crashed against the rocks, splashing with loud crashes.

The wind blew upward, messing up my hair badly. It was all tangled. More tangled than bedhead, to the point where I wouldn’t care about bedhead.

That must have been about two hours later.

I didn’t know the exact time, but judging by the sun’s position that it was around noon, I slowly stood up.

Time for lunch. If I skipped it, Mahiru or Toa would get mad at me.

With that in mind, I bid farewell to the sea view, turned around sharply, and took a step forward. That was when—

“So that’s where you were. You made me have to search the whole island because of it.”

From afar came the sound of a staff striking the ground, and the white-haired old lady in her kimono appeared. It was the Shiomine old lady.

She had been looking for me?

That fact gave me a bad feeling, but I still asked.

“Do you need something from me?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

A favor? From the head of the Shiomine family to me?

I couldn’t shake the sense of wrongness, but the old lady wore an unusually grave expression.

An air of bloodthirsty intensity, and yet, a face that seemed to fear something…

With eyes intertwined with fear and fierce emotion, the old lady slowly opened her mouth.

“Will you take Satori and leave the island?”