I Was Reincarnated as a Mob, and After I Kept Listening to the Losing Childhood-Friend Heroine’s Complaints, I Somehow Maxed Out Her Affection Rating - 63 END

Chapter 63: The Two of Them After That

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Mio’s POV

Lunchtime. I spread out my bento with my friends like I always did, chatting about nothing in particular. And yet today, the atmosphere felt strangely restless.

“Hey, hey, Mio. Kaede-chan and Yuuta-kun really look perfect together, don’t they~?”

My friend brought it up with unusually high energy.

“…Yeah, you’re right. I think they really suit each other.”

I replied with a smile, but my own voice sounded just a little subdued to my ears. My friend didn’t notice and kept going.

“Aren’t they even closer than you and Shouma? Those two.”

“M-maybe… Yeah.”

I answered while smiling, but even I could tell that something cold spread deep in my chest. Because.. At a table across the room, Kaede-chan was tugging on Fujiwara-kun’s sleeve and laughing. Yuuta-kun, clearly embarrassed, was still smiling as he gently patted her head.

…What was this feeling? I was just looking, and yet somewhere in my heart, something pricked painfully.

“…I wonder why Shouma-kun ended up like that.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them. My friend blinked in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah—no, nothing. Really, it’s nothing.”

I hurriedly laughed it off, but my feelings refused to catch up. I knew it in my head… That it was Shouma’s own fault. The way he treated Kaede-chan, how he ended up hurting himself, and how somewhere along the way he stopped seeing me at all. But still…

“…Maybe I should have supported him better.”

My true feelings spilled out without permission.

“Huh, Mio?”

“I said it’s nothing, really.”

Smiling, I gently turned my gaze away from the two of them. Those days would never come back. Just thinking that made my heart tighten painfully.

“…It’s all in the past. Yeah, I’m fine. I really am.”

I murmured it as if trying to convince myself. But the small ache left behind in my chest was something I just couldn’t lie about.

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Yuuta’s POV

Lunchtime. In our usual classroom, Kaede and I were sitting side by side, eating our bento.

…No, to be precise, we were flirting while eating.

“Here you go, Yuuta-kun. Say ahh~”

“K-Kaede. Hey, this is a classroom, you know? People are watching.”

“It’s fine. Everyone already knows~”

Kaede puffed out her cheeks and absolutely refused to pull the spoon back. In the end, I gave in and ate it—and by then, the mood in the classroom had completely shifted to ‘Yeah, yeah, a couple was born,’ which made an indescribable embarrassment well up inside me.

But…It wasn’t bad. After we finished eating, Kaede cheerfully stood up and said.

“I’m gonna go buy some juice!”

Right after that, a shadow fell softly over me.

“…Ah, Fujiwara-kun.”

“Huh—ah, Shinomiya-san?”

My voice wavered slightly from the awkwardness and surprise.

“So you started dating, huh? The whole classroom is basically in celebration mode.”

Mio chuckled softly and shrugged exaggeratedly.

“You really suit each other. I’m not teasing. I mean it.”

“Th-thanks…”

What was it? There wasn’t even a dramatic moment, and yet my heartbeat skipped once for no reason.

“But you know, I’m really glad. That it was you, Yuuta-kun, who saved Kaede.”

“Saved her… I mean, I mostly just listened to her complain, honestly.”

“Someone who can listen to complaints is strong, you know. Kaede-chan is really shining right now.”

Mio looked kind, but her eyes seemed distant somehow.

She probably still hasn’t fully sorted out her feelings about Shouma…

That was what my intuition told me.

“Oh my? You look like you’re having fun?”

My spine froze. The voice was soft, but it carried thorns.

“K-Kaede…?”

Kaede had returned, holding a paper carton of juice. She was smiling brightly, but only her eyes weren’t smiling. That gaze pierced straight through Mio and me.

“Oh, did I interrupt something? Sorry.”

Mio smiled awkwardly and hurried back to her seat. As she left, I heard a small “Be happy,” and I was pretty sure it wasn’t just my imagination. And Kaede… While sipping her juice through a straw, was staring at me intently.

“Hey, Yuuta-kun. What were you talking about with Mio-chan just now?”

Her voice was sweet. But her eyes weren’t smiling. At times like this, Kaede was clearly entering her slightly-jealous mode.

“Uh… It wasn’t anything big, okay? She just said it was good that I was the one who saved you, and…”

“…Mm-hmm.”

“And that ‘the current Kaede is shining the brightest.’”

“—Well, obviously.”

She cut in immediately. She puffed out her chest with a smug look, which was kind of cute.

“Because, you know, if you hadn’t listened to my complaints, Yuuta-kun… ‘The me right now’ wouldn’t even exist, okay?”

As she said that, Kaede slid over toward me from her chair. Then, without a hint of hesitation, she hugged me.

“H-Hey, the classroom—”

“It’s fine. There’s no one here right now.”

It really was the latter half of lunch break, when most people had already left. The arms wrapped around my back tightened gently, making my heart leap.

“You’re going to keep listening to lots and lots of my complaints from now on, okay? And of course, you’re going to take responsibility…For me ending up like this.”

Her voice was dangerously sweet. Her breath brushed against my ear. My awareness felt like it was about to melt away.

“…Of course. I’ll definitely make you happy. Kaede.”

Before I realized it, the words had come out naturally. The moment I said that, Kaede looked surprised but then, she smiled brightly and hugged me even tighter.

“…I really love you.”

Saying that, Kaede clung to me. I wasn’t a “mob character” anymore. I wasn’t someone who just watched from the edge of the story as a background extra.

I had decided to stand beside Kaede.

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