I Saved the First Victim of the Horror Game (The Idol in My Class), and She Became the Ultimate Sweet Heroine Who Smiles Only at Me - 39 END

Chapter 39: After the Ending: The Two of Them and Their Future!

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Chirp, chirp, chirp

I heard the chirping of birds. Several months had passed since I cleared (?) that horror game world. Another weekend had arrived, I’d honestly lost count of how many by now.

“Zzz… zzz…”

The girl who had been slated as the first victim was sleeping comfortably next to me! Her soft chest rose and fell rhythmically, making it extremely awkward to know where to put my hands. For some reason, Mio had started staying over at my place whenever it was a weekend!

My family was overjoyed—“It’s the first time Satoru brought a girl home!” They welcomed her with enthusiastic cheer. From then on, Mio began coming to stay over at my house on holidays with regularity. I swear on my life nothing had “happened,” but looking at the circumstantial evidence alone, this situation looked like trouble waiting to happen!

…Mio suffered just a little from the aftereffects of that horror game world. She had become extremely afraid of the night. She would dread going to sleep. In a bizarre contrast, I had overcome my fear of the dark. So we were experiencing opposite phenomena.

(“Maybe I’d be able to sleep if I hold your hand like back then.”)

Because she said something like that, we always held hands when sleeping. Nominally, futons were prepared separately in the house, but once my family was asleep, Mio always came to my futon. For a normal high school boy, that was… well, pretty tough! I felt like I’d experienced something like this even in the first playthrough! There were days when I couldn’t sleep at all, too restless because of the situation.

“Mm… mm…”

Mio, utterly relaxed, was sleeping peacefully. Well, it was fine since we were dating, but honestly, there was a part of me that couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“Satoru…?”

While I was watching her sleeping face, Mio woke up.

“Good morning.”

“Wait… you haven’t slept…?”

Mio looked at me with a worried expression.

“Did you… protect me…?”

“You’re half-asleep. You’re half-asleep.”

“…Somewhere scary… you squeezed my hand… and my head felt all floaty…”

Mio’s large eyes looked at me blankly. She seemed half asleep, not even fully aware of what she was saying.

“It’s okay. There’s nothing scary here.”

“Yeah…”

She continued staring at my hand with sleepy eyes, tracing each of my fingers as if to confirm I was really here.

“Hehe… so happy.”

“Mio’s become part of the warm-futon clan.”

“Because it feels good.”

Saying that, she burrowed further into my arms. Her slightly cold nose pressed against my neck, and my heart leapt. Of course, we couldn’t spend every day together like this. On normal days, we had endless “falling asleep on call” sessions, and at school, I was always with Mio.

Holding hands, piggyback rides, hugs, hiding in closets, hiding in lockers! After experiencing all of that, our physical boundaries had essentially vanished! At school, Mio would casually link arms and hug me. Gone was the stoic, expressionless girl! We were steadily becoming known as the class’s “lovebirds.”

Honestly, I felt like this was a little dangerous.

“Mio, hey, I want to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“What about your idol activities?”

Mio tensed noticeably.

◇

After breakfast, we went to the library. Looking at the list of people who had been on the bus during the accident, which Mio had obtained, I saw a handful of names, including ours:

Akari Hoshino, Akira Yamamoto, Yuu Sato, Ko Tanaka, Mika Nanase.

All the names of characters from that horror game! Does that mean they actually exist?

“I don’t really want to meet them.”

“I know.”

Of course, Mio had noticed this immediately. But it seemed she didn’t feel very positively about them. Understandably so. All of them had been suspects who might have killed Mio. She hadn’t been treated well either. Since we knew there was a chance they existed, I started researching the infamous “100-person massacre incident” in my spare time.

I didn’t mind doing research like this.

“Satoru, I’m bored~”

Mio dragged a chair over and rested her head on my lap. She got bored surprisingly easily. Dating her let me see so many sides of her.

“Mio, someone might be watching.”

“You’ve been so worried about that lately, haven’t you?”

“Well, of course. You’re an idol.”

Exactly! Forget about Sakuragafuchi for now! This was a bigger problem! Even though Mio was an idol, she didn’t try to hide our relationship at all!

“What if your fans see you? They’ll probably say worse things than they ever did about ‘Air’.”

“I don’t think there are any.”

“Stop saying that. It makes me sad.”

In reality, Mio’s reputation—the girl once called “Air” and stuck in the shadows—was slowly changing. She was constantly lovey-dovey with me, after all! Thanks to her good looks, boys started to find her approachable and liked her. Plus, the classic trick of switching from glasses to contacts had apparently captured even more attention.

Yes, she was now one of the most noticed girls in school.

…Though, secretly, the girls didn’t have a great opinion of her. A socially awkward girl completely obsessed with her boyfriend wasn’t exactly popular. I didn’t really understand that part.

“Then maybe I’ll quit.”

Mio said that nonchalantly.

“What? You’re quitting?”

“I already knew I wasn’t cut out for it.”

“…”

I understood what she meant. Sure, being an idol might not have suited Mio perfectly.

“Isn’t that a waste?”

But I couldn’t help blurting that out.

“Why?”

“Because becoming an idol isn’t something you get to do every day.”

From my perspective, who was desperately searching for what I could do, it was enviable. I didn’t want her to throw away something she actually had. I was trying to do everything I could myself.

“Why not try a little longer? I want to see your live shows.”

“…”

When I said that, Mio looked at me seriously.

“If I become a proper idol, I might not be able to date…”

“T-then let’s date in secret… Besides, we’re used to hiding, right?”

“Hehe, true.”

Mio laughed softly on my lap.

“Then it’s decided. I’ll try being an idol just a little longer.”

“Yeah. I’ll support you.”

“But the closest person watching has to be you, Satoru. No matter where I am on stage, find me.”

“I got it. I’m confident I can find you.”

A tiny side note. After this, Mio became a bit famous as the “unsmiling idol.” Apparently, aloof idols were in demand, and she gained popularity with hardcore fans. Well, actually, she was just nervous. That was why she didn’t smile. 

Slowly but surely, Mio’s entertainment work picked up, and she started getting other jobs.

“W-why would anyone give me a job like this!?”

“…It suits you, doesn’t it?”

“Ehh, nooo!”

Her very first job was… a role in a horror movie! Apparently, she was supposed to be the first to die.

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