Parameter Supremacy: The Man Who Seizes a Harem Through Sheer Effort. - Chapter 76.

Satou Minato – Twisted Thoughts

Satou Minato’s POV.

I was thinking about my childhood friends.

Last year’s summer vacation. Me, Shiina, Moe, and Matsuri would often hang out together.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that whether it was big events like the summer festival or small ones where we just chatted, we would contact each other whenever something came up. We went to each other’s houses, met up at the park, and enjoyed what could only be described as picture-perfect youth.

It had only been a year since then.

And yet, what had happened this year? Not a single message from any of the girls. Not one. Meeting up was, of course, completely out of the question.

The only thing I had seen was the cozy, intimate scene of Sagara and my childhood friends at the summer festival. They hadn’t even noticed how miserable I felt.

***

Shiina said she liked Sagara.

Judging from the closeness I witnessed between the two of them at the festival, it didn’t seem like it would take long for them to become lovers.

Shiina was beautiful and had always been proper and reserved.

Even last year, I had tried many times to close the distance between us, but I could never get past the “more than friends, less than lovers” stage.

In the end, I was just a childhood friend. Nothing had changed since we were kids.

But what about now?

In just a few months after entering high school, she had been taken by a guy she had never even paid attention to before. It was impossible.

Moe was also acting strangely.

There was no doubt that she used to have feelings for me. It wasn’t something recent—it had probably been years, ever since elementary school. Even my younger self could tell. It was obvious to anyone watching.

But something had changed.

The moment I clearly noticed something was wrong was the day Moe was attacked by that thug. The day I ran away and left her behind. From that day onward, everything felt off.

The police had avoided giving clear answers, so I didn’t know the exact details. But it was obvious that after I fled, Sagara must have saved her.

Looking at Moe, who came out unharmed, and Sagara, who had ended up hospitalized, there was no room for doubt.

That day, I had lost to Sagara as a man. That had to be it.

The morning pick-ups stopped. The homemade lunches disappeared too. According to my mother, Moe had become the manager of the kendo club and could no longer take care of me.

The kendo club. Sagara’s club. Just thinking about it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I remembered that morning during summer break—seeing Sagara come out of Moe’s house. The two of them walking together toward school, looking awfully close.

It had been very early in the morning. Maybe he had even stayed over at her place. Under the same roof? I shook my head hard, forcing the unpleasant image out of my mind.

Moe was the one person I didn’t want to hand over to anyone.

Her affection for me was obvious, and being with the obedient, easily manipulated Moe boosted my self-esteem. I couldn’t let Sagara have her.

Then what about Matsuri?

She must have had feelings for me too. She had always been easy to read.

Despite her flashy appearance, she was surprisingly modest and reserved. Usually she stayed in the background, smiling and making noise, but whenever I was struggling or feeling lonely, she would step forward and gently speak to me.

She was a kind girl.

Lately, though, it felt like she was avoiding me. There were times when she would blatantly look away even when I called out to her.

Had I done something?

No, I couldn’t think of anything. But I hadn’t seen that bright, cheerful smile directed at me in a while. Why?

When I thought about it, the current state of my relationship with the three childhood friends was honestly not good at all.

Shiina was in love with Sagara. Moe seemed to be getting closer to him as well. And Matsuri was avoiding me, though I had no idea why.

What should I do? What should I do? What can I do?

I didn’t want to give any of the three of them to anyone else. How could I prevent it?

Throughout that short yet painfully long summer break, I spent countless empty hours thinking about nothing else.

***

The new semester began.

I woke up, got ready, and ate a tasteless breakfast. It wasn’t delicious. But the food wasn’t at fault. It was probably just my mood.

Even when the time came, Moe didn’t show up. Of course she didn’t. She had already declared that. Still, the reality of it only truly hit me starting today.

As I left the house, my mother handed me a 1,000-yen bill for lunch money. Once again, it hit me. There would be no more lunches from Moe. I felt it all over again.

I would have to keep feeling this every single day… until I finally forgot.

I trudged toward school in a gloomy mood. The noisy chatter of the other students grated against my heart.

After changing my shoes at the locker, I shuffled toward the classroom. That blonde hair up ahead belonged to Matsuri.

Lately I felt some distance between Matsuri and me. What should I do? Should I talk to her? But…

In the past I could have called out to her casually, but remembering the awkward smile she had given me right before summer break made me hesitate.

Still, if I didn’t know why she was avoiding me, I couldn’t fix it. I wanted to be close with Matsuri again like before.

With the desire to somehow break the current situation, I gathered my courage and decided to speak to her.

“Oh—”

“Ohayo~!”

Matsuri’s loud greeting was directed at Sagara and the others.

For a moment, my resolve wavered. Then came her next words.

“Having both your girlfriend and Moe-cchi attending you first thing in the morning~ So hot! You three!”

Out of everything Matsuri said, one single word pierced straight into my ears.

Girlfriend.

Matsuri had referred to Shiina as “girlfriend.” Whose?

The three of them were looking at me.

Ah… I see. There was only one guy among the three of them. Right. Of course.

Sagara Ryuuji. So it was you.

“Shiina, are you dating Sagara now?”

“U-Um… yeah. Since summer break…”

Shiina’s affirmative answer.

Ah… So that was it. No matter how much I wanted her, Shiina had already become Sagara’s woman.

My thoughts came to a halt. For now, I should just head to my seat.

***

Night.

I lay on my bed, thinking.

Shiina was already Sagara’s girlfriend. There was nothing I could do about that. I probably had to accept it and give up.

I tried telling myself that a childhood friend who might spread her legs for Sagara was just a bitch and didn’t matter, but it wasn’t something I could forget so easily.

How many years? How many years had I spent thinking about her? Don’t lump it together with some cheap, shallow romance like the ones those nobodies around me were having. Don’t fuck with me.

It hurt. It hurt so much. My chest felt tight.

Tears spilled out, but there was nothing I could do.

I fell into a heavy, mud-like sleep just like that.

***

The next night.

Was there really no way to win Shiina back?

If I could make Shiina hold negative feelings toward Sagara, maybe I could force the two of them apart, at least for now.

After that, I could start over with Shiina from the beginning.

The faint fantasy made me feel slightly more positive, but no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a way to break them up.

What should I do? What should I do… What should I do?

Without ever stopping my thoughts, I eventually drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

***

The next night.

Come to think of it, what was Sagara doing coming out of Moe’s house that morning?

Maybe the two of them had spent the night together. A physical relationship… No, Moe was a reserved and innocent girl. Unless it was forced, it was unlikely they had gone that far.

Judging from Moe’s expression that morning, it didn’t seem like anything like that had happened.

Then why?

What exactly was the relationship between those two?

Shiina had said she started dating Sagara during summer break.

When exactly?

If they were already dating on the day Sagara came out of Moe’s house…

Was it cheating?

Sagara cheating. What if he was messing around with Moe even while going out with Shiina?

It was possible. That guy whose thoughts were impossible to read.

Using the trust he gained from saving Moe, he was slyly having an affair with her.

Yeah. That made sense.

If that were the case, what would happen if Shiina found out?

There was no doubt Shiina would grow disgusted with Sagara.

My plan was set. Now I just needed to figure out how to let Shiina know about this…

Directly?

No, that would be too difficult. Lately Sagara was always by Shiina’s side.

What should I do? How could I make this happen?

***

During lunch that day, I invited a few male friends to eat together.

“Minato~ I heard Kayano is dating Sagara. Is that okay with you?”

My friends, who knew about our childhood friend group, looked at me with pitying eyes. They probably thought I had been cuckolded. How annoying.

Still, this topic could be useful.

“Yeah, it seems so. Well, we weren’t dating to begin with, and I don’t have feelings for her, so if Shiina is happy, then I’m satisfied.”

I lied about my feelings and played the part of the good childhood friend.

“I see. Sorry for asking something weird.”

“It’s fine. Thanks for being considerate. Actually, there’s something that’s been bothering me a bit.”

“Something bothering you?”

Here it was. Time to lead them where I wanted.

“Yeah. It looks like Sagara, who’s dating Shiina, might actually be cheating on her with Moe…”

I put on the act of a kind person worried about his childhood friends.

“““Eh?”””

My friends’ faces filled with shock. I continued.

“I saw Sagara leaving Moe’s house early in the morning. Since I live near Moe, I noticed… They’re definitely doing it. It’s cheating.”

“No way…”

“Yeah. Since both of them are important childhood friends to me, I want to do something about it, but I still haven’t figured out how. If it became a rumor though, Shiina might notice…”

I observed my friends’ expressions. They were all listening with serious faces. Good. Perfect.

“Is there any good way to help my childhood friends?”

And just like that, their eyes turned toward me, filled with goodwill.

“I’ll help spread the rumor.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah. Kayano is way too pitiful for this.”

Yes. Yes. Yes. Good. Good. Do it. Do it. Do it.

“Really? Thank you. I’ve been worrying about it, so this really helps.”

I put on a kind, benevolent expression. I was known as a gentle person. I was aware of that reputation myself. It might not suit me as a guy, but right now, that reputation was working in my favor.

With this rumor, Shiina would surely start doubting Sagara. Moe would attract hatred from the entire class, and she wouldn’t be able to stay with her cheating partner Sagara. If I timed it right and comforted her, she would definitely come to rely on me.

Ahaha. Just watch, Sagara.

Both Shiina and Moe will be mine.