【Future Sight】Saving Tragic Beautiful Girls and Making Them Obsessively Fall for Me 〜I Selfishly “Helped” the Witches Who Were Gonna Destroy the World Just to Train My Martial Arts, and Now They’re All Dripping with Obsession and Worshipping Me〜

Chapter 14

…Hm. She’s gone.

But… was Sakurako crying just now? My eyes didn’t miss the sparkling droplet that fell.

The question is why.

“Anyway, I should go after her. It’s dangerous to let her wander around alone.”

She might get targeted by the Zigo crew, after all. So—

“Taylor-kun, Fuka’s coming too! I’ve never seen Sakurako big sis like that before…!”

“Hm. Yeah, having someone close like Fuka along might be better. Then let’s—”

“—Hold it. You’re going by yourself, dummy.”

Hm? That voice…

“Makina?”

“Yeah. Seriously, this guy has zero delicacy…”

What? She pops out of nowhere just to insult me. Well, it’s true I don’t really get the subtle stuff with women.

“…So? Why only me? I think having Fuka there would let me handle it with more delicacy.”

“Y-yeah, Makina! Fuka’s worried about Sakurako big sis too!”

“What’s this, Fuka? I thought you understood… Well, if you don’t know, that’s fine. But you really have no delicacy, Faust.”

“That’s why I’m asking.”

“…Lately that girl has looked really happy. Ever since you started coming and taking her out around town.”

“Huh?”

Is that so? Come to think of it, Leen said something like that earlier too.

“We’ve been putting a huge burden on her this whole time. She’s beautiful, educated… Without her, this place would’ve been in way worse shape. We probably would’ve had to deal with the hunger and sickness that’s normal in the slums… And she’s been carrying all that by herself.”

I still don’t see where this is going. What does that have to do with me going alone—

“—That’s why. At the very least, I want her to taste the little bit of youth that I stole from her.”

“Youth…?”

“…! W-wait, does that mean… Sakurako big sis is…?! No, but…”

What’s up, Fuka? Did you figure something out?

“Don’t say anything extra, Fuka. You’re grateful to Sakurako too, right? …Can’t you let her have today?”

“Uuuu… but Sakurako big sis is so pretty, and Taylor-kun… Still, she’s always been so good to me…”

I’m totally left out of the loop here. At this point it doesn’t matter if Fuka comes or not, but we need to hurry or Sakurako might be in real danger.

I was thinking she should just give me an answer already, when Fuka, who had been groaning, finally spoke like she was making a painful decision.

“…F-fine! Then, then, Taylor-kun! …Please… take care of big sis…!”

Hm. I don’t know what kind of inner conflict she just went through, but if it’s decided I’m going alone, then—

“—Got it. Leave it to me. I swear I’ll bring Sakurako back without a single scratch.”

I bent my knees a little and gathered power in my legs.

She’d probably put some distance between us by now, so I’d have to chase seriously. I reached out toward the magic floating in the air to take a shortcut and—

With that, I kicked the ground hard. My body shot into the sky and raced through the air at high speed.

I could clearly sense my target. The thickest miasma I’d felt lately. She hadn’t turned into a witch yet, but if I left her alone it would only be a matter of time.

…Fighting a witch sounds really appealing, but I can’t just stand by and watch a girl I’ve gotten pretty close to lose her personality.

The scouts coming after Sakurako are enough for me right now. So—

“Wait for me, Sakurako. I’ll stop the future where you end up killing your whole family with your own hands—”

And so.

I raced through the sky at explosive speed and spotted the glossy black hair shining below me—Sakurako. The place was the top of the hill we’d visited together before. Luckily it looked like no punks had bothered her.

Alright, then. I slowed down and landed right in front of her.

“…Kyaa!?”

Sakurako looked up with a cute little scream, her eyes red and swollen as she stared at me.

“…Faust.”

For a split second I thought I saw a flash of happy surprise on her face. But the expression vanished almost instantly, and she frowned, looking down.

“…What are you doing here? Please just leave me alone.”

“No way. It’s dangerous to be out here by yourself. You’re already being targeted.”

“Yeah, I might get dragged off to the Zigo guys… But I don’t care anymore. Anything’s better than staying there—”

Hm. Just like Makina said.

Life back there had become too much for her, and it had finally hit its limit earlier. I didn’t know exactly what triggered it… but it was probably my fault. In that case—

“—Sorry.”

“…Eh?”

My lowered head felt Sakurako’s gaze stab into it. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but if my actions had hurt her, I had to apologize.

That was my thinking, but it seemed Sakurako didn’t like it at all. Sharp words flew at me while I kept my head down.

“…Raise your head.”

“You don’t sound like you’re forgiving me.”

“Of course not! You don’t even understand what you did to me…!”

I had no comeback. Apologizing without even knowing what I did wrong is usually pretty rude.

“Just go back already…! That kind of empty apology doesn’t mean anything…!”

…But.

“I can’t go back. And… I hesitated even to ask what I did wrong.”

“…Eh?”

“Because every time you look at me, Sakurako—you squeeze your eyes shut for a second like you’re saying ‘I don’t want to be asked anything.’”

“—!”

The moment I said that,

Sakurako’s eyes flew wide open. Her mouth opened and closed like she wanted to say something, but no sound came out, so she finally closed it again.

Then, after a little while,

“Ah… haha… What is that? You’ve been acting like you have zero interest in me this whole time. I actually liked that… but after you saw that… it just hurts so much deep in my chest…”

The words spilled out like she couldn’t hold them back anymore. Sakurako let out a big sigh.

And then,

“I changed my mind. Right here and now—I’m going to cut off all these stupid lingering feelings. Will you listen to me one last time?”

With a smile that looked resigned and tired—the usual mix of decadent and world-weary—

Sakurako began to speak.