I Was Reincarnated as a Mob in a Completed School Rom-Com Manga, and When I Tried My Best to Cheer Up the Broken Losing Heroines, I Realized I Had Surpassed the Original Story - 24

Chapter 24: Sudden Illness

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“Hiyori-senpai, so you were here!? Let’s go back to practice!!”

Kirari was the one who appeared.

“Ugh…”

Found, Konno-san immediately hid behind my back and hissed “Shaaa!” like she was trying to intimidate the hunter who came searching for her.

“If Hiyori-senpai really hates it, I won’t force you, okay? But we were planning to go out for yakiniku together after the performance, and if you run away now, we will have yakiniku without you…”

“Y-Yakiniku…”

Konno-san wavered under Kirari’s skillful bait.

“So, what will you do…?”

Kirari grinned with a fearless smile. At this point, no one could tell which of them was the real senpai.

“Snf… I-I’m not going to be lured so easily… By something like food…”

With drool dripping down, she had absolutely no persuasive power whatsoever. Feeling a little sorry for her, I spoke up to confirm Konno-san’s true intentions.

“Konno-san, if you had to say whether you want to do this idol live or not, which is it?”

“S-Sixty-forty…”

“You mean 6 to 4? And which side is 6?”

“The wanting to do it is 6…”

Konno-san stared downward, looking just like a small child being scolded after whining too much. It was so adorable that my tone and expression softened more than usual without me meaning to.

“Then… Shall we go back?”

“Kurosaki-kun… Are you treating me like a kid?”

She puffed out her cheeks, sulking. It seemed Konno-san—so sensitive to changes—saw right through my thoughts instantly.

“N-No, it’s not like that. As someone who’s looking forward to your live performance as a fan, I just don’t want you to regret anything.”

“Oh, sure. Well, I’ll go back quietly today, but it’s not like I was lured by yakiniku or anything.”

“I know, I know…”

What an incredibly easy-to-read person…

Thinking that, I watched her walk back toward the clubroom. I tried to follow after her, but for some reason Kirari didn’t move from where she was standing.

“You’re not going back?”

“Looks like leaving it to Kazuto was the right call after all~”

At that loaded expression, I froze.

“No way… You already knew Konno-san would be here, and deliberately let her be with me?”

“Pretty much, yeah?”

Now that she said it, it made perfect sense. Kirari was probably someone who had read the source material more thoroughly than I did, so she should’ve known exactly where Konno-san would run off to.

“Don’t tell me… You heard the whole conversation just now…?”

Kirari raised her thumb sharply.

“Of course!”

“Why go through all that trouble…?”

“It’s better if I play the villain, you know? I’m the whip and Kazuto is the candy. When you think of it that way, our compatibility is kinda perfect, isn’t it…?”

As she held her hair against the colorless wind, something like melancholy flickered in her expression.

“I don’t think Konno-san dislikes you or anything though…”

“Hiyori-chan is like… She has this wild animal instinct. I think she doesn’t trust me very much…”

“Why do you think that?”

“You can tell if you watch. Ah, but being the oblivious person you are, Kazuto probably can’t~! You’re just like a light novel protagonist~!”

Kirari acted cheerful, but I felt like I caught a glimpse of sadness beneath that mask. As we left the rooftop and descended the stairs, Moe rushed toward us, breathing hard in a panic.

“Onii-chan! Kirari! It’s terrible! Senpai—Nazuna-senpai—she…!”

My usually gentle little sister was so shaken that it was clear something serious had happened.

“What happened to Nazuna!?”

“I’ll explain while we run—hurry!”

When we rushed back to the clubroom, Nazuna was lying on the floor, her face flushed bright red.

“She suddenly collapsed… She’s conscious, but when I touched her forehead, it was burning hot… What do we do, Onii-chan…?”

Moe was teary-eyed, clinging close to Nazuna.

“For now, let’s take her to the nurse’s office. Everyone, help me.”

With everyone’s help, we managed to carry her to the nurse’s office, and after a while her mother arrived to pick her up and take her to the hospital. Nazuna’s temperature had apparently gone over 39 degrees Celsius. She must have been struggling since the morning, yet hid it from everyone and still showed up for practice. It would’ve been no surprise if she collapsed at any moment.

We canceled practice for the day and sent Konno-san and Moe home first. Kirari and I stayed behind in the clubroom to discuss what to do next. After the two had left, Kirari began crying, shedding large tears as she blamed herself.

“It’s my fault… I pushed Princess too hard…Even though I knew how hard she works…”

Seeing this weak side of Kirari for the first time made me feel I had to be strong for her.

“It’s not your fault, Kirari. None of us noticed Nazuna wasn’t feeling well. I share responsibility too…”

“But… Because I made such a harsh schedule, Princess is…”

“You don’t have to blame yourself. You did your best in your way, and Nazuna did her best in hers. No one is at fault. It was just an unfortunate accident…”

“What if something happens to Princess…?”

“It’ll be okay. I’ll visit Nazuna’s house tomorrow to check on her condition. So focus on what you need to do now. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“Kazuto…”

Her face a mess with tears, Kirari grabbed my arm and buried her face in it, crying until my sleeve was completely soaked.

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