Chapter Fourteen: A Female Protagonist Filled with Flags
In a galgame, what kind of changes occur when entering a certain female protagonist’s personal storyline?
The answer is—everyday collapse.
Morning.
Kanade slowly opened his eyes, the memories of his dreams lingering in his mind.
The hands that had clasped together last night had long since loosened.
He slowly sat up, thinking he was in paradise.
Beside him on the bed lay a beautiful, enchanting angel with black hair.
The morning sunlight streamed through the window, spilling onto the bed.
It illuminated the angel’s small and delicate cheeks, making every fine hair on her flawless skin clearly visible, casting a dreamlike glow around her stunning face.
Kanade could clearly see the angel’s long, lightweight eyelashes fluttering slightly with her gentle breaths, making it impossible for him to look away from her peaceful, adorable sleeping face.
But at that moment, the angel’s sleeping visage overlapped with the one from his dreams.
—Is this an angel whose wings I have broken, yet she remains by my side?
“…..Huh?” Did she notice his gaze?
The angel let out a sweet sound, sleepily opening her eyes.
As her eyelids slowly lifted, they revealed a pair of eyes that sparkled like a brilliant starry sky.
“Good… morning, Kanade-kun…”
The normally cheerful Nagi, who was brimming with energy at any time, now spoke softly and weakly, like a feather brushing against Kanade’s ear.
“Yeah, good morning…”
But the longer Kanade stared at Nagi, the heavier his heart felt.
“I’ll step outside to change into my uniform first….”
Faced with Nagi’s smile, for the first time, Kanade fled from her side as if escaping.
Soon, during breakfast in Nagi’s living room.
Nagi enthusiastically tried to engage Kanade in conversation a few times, but received only perfunctory responses in return.
On the way to school.
At first, Nagi shared interesting stories from school just like usual, but gradually, as if she noticed the coldness in Kanade’s attitude towards her, her voice became quieter.
“Kanade-kun, did I do something wrong?” Finally, she came to a stop, walking beside Kanade.
“I’ll apologize, so, so I’m sorry!” Nagi looked uneasy and lowered her head.
Watching this scene, Kanade felt as if his heart was being sliced.
—No, it’s me who should apologize…
—If I comfort Nagi here, she would surely smile like before and stay by my side, right?
—But do I really have the right to continue enjoying her warmth?
“No, it’s not Nagi’s fault; it’s just that I… didn’t sleep well last night…” Kanade turned his head away, unable to meet Nagi’s gaze, and took a step forward.
“…You’re lying.” Nagi’s quiet words reached Kanade’s ears, but he chose to pretend he didn’t hear her.
Nagi was very popular at school.
Whether during breaks or lunchtime, students always surrounded her.
Sitting at his desk, Kanade couldn’t help but think.
He hadn’t paid attention before, but now, with a slight focus, he noticed just how popular Nagi really was.
Students from his class, as well as those from the neighboring class, and even upperclassmen from different grades greeted her warmly.
Unbeknownst to him, his childhood friend had already become quite the celebrity at school.
—Right, that’s where she truly belongs.
—Even without me, there would never be a lack of people caring for her.
—After all, I’m merely enjoying her warmth unilaterally…
As Kanade thought this, he turned his head to look out the window, angling himself so that he couldn’t see Nagi.
But Nagi, through the crowd around her, quietly fixed her gaze on Kanade’s back.
Beside her, Mana couldn’t help but squint, scrutinizing the unusually quiet two.
After school, Nagi and Kanade arrived at the clubroom for the Super Research Committee as usual.
Yet along the way, they remained silent, walking one behind the other, further apart than ever.
……
……
“Child, the day of the promise is near. Bring the ‘Miko’ back…..”
In the Super Research Committee room.
Hidden in Nagi’s backpack, DD-chan recalled the reason for coming here.
Remembering “Mother’s” command.
It discreetly cast a glance at the “Miko.”
The “token” on her radiated “Mother’s” aura, standing out like a bright light in the dark.
In DD-chan’s memory, it certainly headed straight for the Miko.
But when it regained its senses, it found itself possessing a “suspected carbon-based lifeform.”
Had it succumbed to temptation? Impossible! I am a loyal spirit! Always putting the mission first.
As DD-chan thought that, it couldn’t help but reach out towards the Miko.
Though it was a bit late now, as long as it took the Miko back, Mother surely wouldn’t blame it.
DD-chan’s outstretched hand had quietly touched the Miko’s shoulders.
Even though it couldn’t currently leave that carbon-based lifeform, all it needed to do was summon Mother, and Mother’s power could bring the Miko back.
Just as DD-chan was preparing to silently chant Mother’s revered name.
The Miko seemed to sense something and turned her head. The starlight in her eyes interrupted DD-chan’s invocation of Mother’s name.
In an instant, DD-chan suddenly came to its senses.
What was before it was not the Miko. No, she is the Miko; she was just the Miko until recently?
DD-chan trembled and pulled away from Nagi.
This child is really hard to read, Nagi thought to herself.
In the Super Research Committee room.
The three of them were all silently focused on their work.
Chika, having accidentally learned about her junior Hoshimi’s hidden past last night, didn’t know what expression to wear when facing Nagi and couldn’t muster the courage to speak.
Kanade remained silent as he was determined to distance himself from Nagi.
As for Nagi, who should have been lively and active, she had also changed her usually bright and cheerful demeanor, focusing solemnly on the piles of papers before her.
Since she had to play a suspicious female protagonist from now on, it was time to show a heavy-hearted expression, right?
Every female protagonist preparing to sacrifice herself for a silly cause has to reveal this unusual side, right?
If she didn’t intentionally drop some hints this time.
How could she make Kanade and the others suddenly realize later, “So that’s why Nagi did that!?”
Nagi glanced at the piles of Super Research materials that had been neatly organized, estimating in her mind.
If things went smoothly, she could clean everything up before leaving school today.
If that were the case, the magazine titled “Supernatural Phenomena: Shyly Observing Your Dokidoki-chan (Part 2),” which she had secretly hidden at the bottom, would be discovered by Kanade and the others.
It was still a bit too early for them to find out now; she thought she should lay some more groundwork. Observing that Kanade and Chika were not paying attention to her, Nagi quietly pulled out that magazine from the very bottom of the stack.
If she only wanted to avoid being noticed by Kanade and the others, she could simply sneak it into her backpack and take it away while they were distracted.
But just as Nagi believed, a top-notch actor should pursue “foreshadowing and buildup.”
So Nagi intentionally opened the magazine in front of them and carefully adjusted the vocal cords in her throat…
“Ah!”
Nagi’s uneasy exclamation made Chika and Kanade turn their heads abruptly.
What they saw was Nagi hastily stuffing something into her backpack with a look of slight terror on her face.
In the midst of their confusion.
Nagi put on a forced smile, trying to laugh it off, “I, I suddenly remembered, today I… have plans to hang out with a friend after school; I almost forgot~”
“Is, is that so?”
Kanade felt something was off. A person like Nagi, who was both reliable and good at remembering things, would never forget a promise with someone.
But lately, with the spirit trouble, she had been distracted, and it wasn’t strange for her to forget for a moment, right?
In his subconscious desire to distance himself from Nagi, Kanade interpreted things in a direction he was more willing to believe.
“In that case, Hoshimi and Tsukimi can leave first; I’ll take care of the remaining work… I’ll notify you as soon as I find it.”
Chika suggested that Nagi and Kanade leave first.
“Mm-mm, sorry, Chika-senpai, and Kanade-kun… I’ll head out first~” Nagi quickly stood up.
“Little Nagi, I…”
Kanade stood up wanting to chase after Nagi, but at that critical moment, a memory flashed before his eyes, preventing him from taking that step.
Nagi, with her hand already on the doorknob, paused at the sound, then turned to smile and said.
“It’s okay; just wait for me to go home with my friend, and then Mom and Dad will be back tonight…….”
“So… thank you, Kanade-kun, and goodbye (sayonara)…..”
At the moment Nagi pushed the door open, the smile on her face flashed with a hint of sadness in the setting sun.
……
…..
“What do you want to do?”
In the empty corridor.
DD-chan’s head poked out from Nagi’s backpack.
“It’s obvious that I left his side because I’m very worried about Kanade-kun, right?”
Nagi pulled out the Super Research magazine that she had just stuffed into her bag.
“Not many girls as gentle, considerate, and self-sacrificing as I am exist, you know?”
“Supernatural Phenomena: Shyly Observing Your Dokidoki-chan (Part 2)”
【Dokidoki-chan is a changeable and emotional child.
If it notices you spending too much time interacting with others.
Its gaze will shift away from you to that person.
So if you don’t want to lose this good child Dokidoki-chan, please be sure to keep your distance from others!
However, if there’s someone you dislike, you can use this opportunity to let it make friends with them!
Whenever a curse is transferred, the suffering and the speed of disappearance experienced by the next target will intensify.
If you don’t maintain proper distance from others, perhaps the next one to disappear will be you!~
……】
Because she had discovered this secret, she worried that the curse would be transferred to Kanade-kun, proactively distancing herself from him.
What a perfect excuse! What a wonderful reason!
Kanade-kun, don’t you want to distance yourself from me? Then I will do as you wish.
When you realize your actions have put your childhood friend in danger, will you still be able to save me in time?
Under the setting sun, the corners of Nagi’s mouth couldn’t help but rise.
“Hehe, hehe…” DD-chan’s nonexistent teeth rattled in fear at the evil spirit before it.
“But I’m not lying, okay? I’m really going out to play with my ‘good friend’ next!” As Nagi spoke, her gaze turned toward DD-chan in the backpack.
Now, DD-chan was trembling all over.
“J-just to ask, where’s the destination…?”
“To the shrine~” Nagi’s eyes looked at the mountainside not far from the window, “Since I’m afflicted by the spirit’s curse, isn’t it reasonable to go to the shrine to pray to the gods for blessings?”
