Chapter 23: I Want to Awaken My Possessive Talent – Side Story: The Dependent-Type Girlfriend, Around Then

Lately, something’s been off about him.

Up until now, he never looked at any girl other than me, but now he keeps staring at this girl you only ever hear bad rumors about.

If I remember right, that girl is Shirosaki-san.

I heard she goes after the guys her friends like. That she never refuses a confession—she’ll date anyone—but then she gets dumped right away.

I can’t stand it. I can’t stand you having your attention stolen by a girl who only has awful rumors like that.

Why? You were only ever interested in me until now.

You should be looking at me—only me.

If you pay attention to anyone but me, I won’t allow it.

Every time he tried to talk to her, I’d talk to him first, trying to make it so he wouldn’t have time to bother with her.

“Hey, hey—did you read this novel?”

“Did you watch that drama yesterday?”

That’s what I’d do.

But then something I didn’t account for happened. She started talking to him first.

It’s like… she and I aren’t even competing in the same arena. Put simply, her communication skills are on a whole different level from mine.

For me to start a conversation, I have to dig up one of my few tiny topics. Meanwhile, with her, it’s not just “topics”—it’s like she’s got endless material. Put simply, interesting things just pop out of her mouth one after another.

If I’m a little puddle I’m desperately trying not to dry up, she’s a hot spring that just keeps gushing.

Honestly, it’s not even a match.

After just a few days, she stole even the morning time I used to spend talking with him, and even during the occasional break, she started talking with him nonstop.

Why? You’ve got other guy friends, don’t you? But I only have him.

Even the frequent messages I used to get from him started coming in only here and there, and at school, all I could do was watch him from a distance.

Thanks to him, I did make friends, but friends don’t fill the emptiness of not having you.

Did he abandon me? Does he not care about me anymore?

No… I can’t do it without you.

I can’t do anything.

No. I can’t. I can’t take it anymore.

It’s been a week since I stopped having chances to talk to him at school. I message him every day, but his replies are slower than before—and shorter.

He used to enjoy messaging me so much. It used to be our secret time at night—mine and his.

Could it be… are you in contact with Shirosaki-san?

Not just at school—are you going to let her monopolize you at home, too? I won’t allow that. Absolutely not.

While I was thinking that—

Ping!

A notification went off. What? I don’t need messages from anyone but him right now.

But then my eyes locked onto a single message.

“Tomorrow, if you’re free, want to go hang out? We haven’t really talked at school lately.”

It was from him.

What is that?!

Of course I’m saying yes. There isn’t even an option to say no. I hurried to reply and locked in plans for tomorrow.

That day was the most fun day of my life. It wasn’t anything special—we just ate, went to a bookstore, and wandered around—but it was a deeply satisfying 5 hours, 30 minutes, and 27 seconds.

He didn’t abandon me. Because not only does he talk to me like this—he even gives me a precious day off to spend with me.

So I’ll endure him talking with Shirosaki-san at school.

Because it’s him. Maybe he has a reason.

I understood that reason right away.

Not long after the week started, I started hearing an unexpected rumor about her.

Apparently, unlike before, she’d become a kind, polite girl.

People who had been saying, “No way, not her, that can’t be true,” were overwhelmed by her bright smile and gentle atmosphere, and they couldn’t help but admit she’d changed.

And then it clicked.

Ahh… he’s a hero—the kind who helps girls like me and her, the ones who tend to stand out in a bad way.

So that’s why he was paying attention to her. Proof of that is how she became so kind it’s like she was reborn—she’s gained more same-sex friends, and apparently things are going well with her boyfriend, too.

That’s my guy. My savior.

I’m glad he didn’t betray me.

Take care of me from now on, too.

Chapter 24: I Want to Awaken My Worship-Type Talent – Step 1: Talent Hunting

Alright—so far, I’ve managed to bring two yandere into the world, and I think, as far as I’m concerned, that’s pretty solid work.

School’s only been in session for about two months. If I can keep producing yandere at this pace, that’s twelve in one year, thirty-six in three years… and if ten years pass, 120!

Nothing but dreams.

Also, this is probably just a guess, but I think Shirosaki’s boyfriend ended up becoming a yandere-lover.

If I don’t just create yandere, but indirectly create yandere-lovers too, that leads to a world that’s kind to yandere—a world where yandere can live more easily—and by extension, a world overflowing with yandere…!

Okay, it’s a huge leap, but still, I’ve been doing pretty well. There, there.

Now then, I thought, Alright, third yandere!—but there’s something I need to be careful about from here on out.

That “something” is making sure I don’t cause a situation where a yandere gets hurt because I left her alone after creating her.

As the initial hook, I get her attached to me and awaken her yandere talent—but that’s basically for convenience.

I’m carrying the role of having to keep producing yandere, so I can’t stay involved with just one person forever.

But if I create one and go, “Okay, done!” that doesn’t mean I truly love yandere at all.

When I was awakening the possessive-type girlfriend’s talent, it got dangerous. I feel embarrassed that I assumed Sugisawa could stay fine with her yandere talent awakened just by becoming dependent on someone else because she made friends.

Sugisawa’s face when I happened to see it was something else.

Like a Hannya—yet somehow also lonely—and it made me realize I had to hurry and support her.

That was close. Seriously. If I’d left her alone like that, it definitely would’ve ended with yandere hurting each other.

That’s not what I want at all—and if that had happened, I probably wouldn’t have been qualified to say I like yandere anymore.

So from now on, the right move is probably to awaken talents while also keeping an eye on how the yandere I’ve created are doing.

Hmm. Anyway, next I want to create a worship-type, if possible. But first—what kind of person even is a worship-type?

A worship-type is someone who, literally, worships the person they like or their lover. They believe everything that person says is correct, and a defining trait is that they’ll do whatever they’re told.

Because they don’t have confidence in themselves, they convince themselves the other person is right, and by being devoted to them, they end up giving and giving.

By worshiping that person, they stop seeing anything else, and that makes them cling harder and try to monopolize them even more.

At a glance, they just look like a girl who tends to be devoted, but in the sense that they’ll do anything the other person says and become fixated, they still show classic yandere traits—

That’s what makes them different.

Nice! Respect turning into obsession. A different type!

So then—what kind of girl would have that talent?

Rather than someone who states her opinions clearly, it would be someone who can’t really speak up and tends to go along with others… or someone who’s used to living by taking someone else as her standard.

Thinking about that, I looked over my classmates, but there aren’t many who fit.

There are a few girls who can’t really state their opinions clearly, but most of them only can’t in big groups, or when they don’t have close friends—once you get closer, they end up being able to say what they think.

I don’t see anyone who, the closer you get, starts thinking the other person is always right and ends up respecting their opinions too much.

I want a girl who always goes along with anyone’s opinions, and who has a hard time acting unless she has someone to serve as her goal! That girl definitely has the talent.

Hmmm… what should I do…?

While I was thinking that as I walked, I bumped into someone.

“Ah, sorry,”

I said, and she looked down and said, “No, it’s my fault too,” in a voice so faint it felt like it might disappear.

Long hair, short height—she looked like the kind of girl you want to protect, but at the same time, it’s like she’s hard to notice, like she has no presence.

I’ve never seen her before…

Hm? Hard to notice? Doesn’t that sound like she might have worship-type talent? Maybe. I don’t know.

I’ll observe her a bit.