Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way.

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Prologue: “Childhood Friends, Are They a Curse?”

I think childhood friends are a curse.

I mean, isn’t it true?

Everything is excused with “because we’re childhood friends.”

Isn’t this the most terrifying curse?

Even if there are others, like “because he’s my brother” or “because she’s my sister,” they are still family.

It might be different for others, but for me, that’s within the acceptable range.

But childhood friends? I can’t accept that. They’re practically strangers.

We’re not even that close, yet just because we met as kids, we’re labeled as childhood friends – it’s a curse within a curse.

Like equipping something you can never remove?

I really hate it.

So, why am I talking about this? Because I have a childhood friend too.

We just happened to sit next to each other in kindergarten. Our houses were close, and our mothers got along well, so our fate as childhood friends was sealed.

His name is Yuto Miyahara.

Ever since I met him, I’ve lost so many things.

Material things are okay. They were trivial.

But it’s different with people – my step-sister, the kind lady from the neighborhood, another childhood friend – they all changed after meeting him. To be honest, I don’t care much. They became strange before we got too close. It might be a stretch to say he ‘stole’ them.

But it’s not just about me. He has a way of ensnaring someone’s crush, their childhood friend, their sister, their brother, driving them mad.

And somehow, it always comes back to me being at fault.

“It’s because you, his childhood friend, didn’t keep him in check.”

Give me a break!

I’m not his keeper.

We might be childhood friends, but we’re not even really friends to begin with.

Due to Yuto, our relationships soured around upper elementary school when romantic feelings started to mix in.

Perhaps it was a silver lining that in middle school, more people understood my struggles, and the number of male victims increased, so I had plenty of friends.

Yuto, though lacking male friends, always seemed happy surrounded by a ridiculous number of female friends.

All we could hope for was to get away from Yuto as soon as possible.

And so, those days continued. Or, at least, they were supposed to.

“I’ve decided to date this girl!”

“Huh?”

This spring, as I entered my third year of middle school, something unexpected happened.

After the opening ceremony, I was about to head home when a beaming Yuto approached, arm-in-arm with a girl from the next class.

“Just thought I should tell you, I’m dating this girl now!”

“Huh?”

“I figured I should tell you. Didn’t you say you were interested in her? I thought it was only polite to let you know.”

Interested? I never said I liked her in that way… I started to object but then stopped.

In Yuto’s mind, I was the one who liked this girl, who now clung to him with a sickening smile, thinking she was cute. He believed he had stolen her from me.

Explaining seemed pointless, and more than anything, I wanted to escape this public execution of sorts, being called out in front of other students and the disciplinary teacher.

“Ah, congratulations. But I’m surprised. You never made any of your close friends your girlfriend before.”

“She’s the one, I guess.”

“Mou, Yuto-kun, you’re so…”

I think to myself, keep it up for a lifetime.

More than that, I want to escape the pitying gazes of my fellow students.

It’s not like that. I haven’t been rejected. I don’t even like her, someone whose name I barely know.

I was just concerned, nothing more. Damn it!

“Well, I’m heading home now.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow, Natsuki! You should get a girlfriend soon too!”

“I’ll introduce you to my friends sometime!”

I want to shout “Shut up, you annoying girl!” but instead, I start running.

Everyone must think I’m running away crying after being publicly rejected.