Chapter: 95. I Just Want to Be Your Hero
—Does my existence really save you?
Nagi forced herself to confront this question she had been deliberately avoiding.
In the eyes of others, she was the “childhood friend” who grew up alongside Kanade, the cheerful, gentle, and steadfast girl who always encouraged him to move forward. It was her influence that gradually changed the originally reclusive and silent boy, who harbored hostility towards the world, helping him learn how to trust and protect others.
And she hoped that one day he would become the “protagonist” to save and protect this world.
…But is that really the case?
This bond that everyone took for granted was built on lies from the beginning.
She was not his “childhood friend.”
The so-called childhood friends are two people who have known each other since they were young, who have walked through every stage of growth together, extending a hand when one falls, providing comfort when hurt, and, despite differing personalities, forming a deep bond through shared time and memories.
They would tightly grasp each other’s hands in moments of tears and change future decisions because of each other’s words.
—It is a relationship of mutual influence in understanding the world and building values together.
However, she was not the one who grew up with Kanade.
She was merely an “outlier” with a girl’s appearance similar to his age, harboring the soul of an adult male in a young body. Like some antagonists in works of fiction, she clearly intended to manipulate the protagonist, yet with a gentle smile and kind words, she subtly guided him onto the “ideal path.”
On the surface, she was guiding and saving him, but behind it all, it was for the sake of achieving the “future she wanted.”
Nagi finally realized that she was not the one who illuminated his world.
Instead, she was the one who had altered his life script.
Her kindness, steadfastness, and companionship… were all lies constructed by “starlight.”
She did not accompany Kanade in discovering this world; rather, she forcibly stuffed her version of “the world” into his mind.
That was not guidance, but distortion.
That was not companionship, but control.
—Could she truly claim to have saved him?
The scene before her seemed to be the answer given by the heavens.
Her plan appeared to have succeeded.
In the original game “Star Draw 2,” the almost omniscient male protagonist “Tsukimi Kanade” had long since lost his former shadow under her influence.
That mature and resolute “protagonist” now lay abandoned like a wild beast, isolated among the rubble and dust.
There was no one around him.
Neither the heroine who always rose to the occasion in the original game nor the family and friends who once accompanied him were there… they had all been deliberately pushed away by him.
Due to her death, he had severed all ties, losing all sense of belonging.
The current “Tsukimi Kanade” had become an extraneous existence in this world.
And at this moment, he could no longer pose any threat to her.
She—
“I’m sorry… Kanade… I’m so sorry…”
Nagi knelt on the ground, rainwater trickling from her hair tips, her body trembling slightly from exhaustion and emotion.
She supported herself against the ground, her knees thudding heavily into the cold, wet gravel and mud, splashing up small circles of water.
She had thought that she had made a change in her life.
But it seemed that—everything she did was merely a repetition of past tracks.
Once again, under the guise of “saving,” she mercilessly cleared away every obstacle in her path.
What protagonist?
What savior?
What childhood friend?
In the end, she was just—
A curse.
The curse of this world.
Her existence only brought harm to the important people around her.
Nagi trembled as she lifted her arm, slowly reaching toward the barely conscious Kanade.
Her fingertips quivered in mid-air, yet they remained a mere few centimeters away from him.
As if it were a fragile illusion that would shatter at the slightest touch.
She was afraid.
Afraid that her touch would tear apart everything she cherished once more.
However—
“…Little… Nagi?”
A weak yet clear call startled her.
In the next moment, Kanade, whose arm had lost its strength to lift, suddenly reached out and firmly grasped her trembling hand.
Though his grip was not strong, it was incredibly firm.
“…Little, Nagi…”
Kanade repeated.
His voice was so faint it was almost drowned out by the rain, and his gaze was blurry, as if he were still in a half-dream state.
Yet even so, he held her hand tightly, as if afraid of losing her again.
“Don’t go…”
“Don’t… leave me again…”
Nagi’s throat felt blocked, making it almost impossible for her to speak.
“I never… I never thought of leaving you…” she whispered, tears and rainwater mingling as they slid down her cheeks, indistinguishable as to which was which.
“I’m sorry… I’m truly sorry… Kanade…”
She leaned down, pressing her forehead against the back of his hand, her voice trembling.
“It’s me… who has been… using you…”
Nagi quietly said, the starlight in her eyes dimming.
With that long-restrained voice falling, her eyes, resembling a shattered starry sky, finally revealed themselves fully.
At that moment, she shed all her disguises—
Once again appearing before Kanade as “Nagi.”
In truth, this was how it should have been from the start.
When she was “revived” by the Final Nagi, she should have gathered the courage to face Kanade when she opened her eyes in this world still ravaged by phantoms.
But she hadn’t.
She chose to run away.
Because she was afraid.
Afraid that Kanade had already forgotten her.
Afraid that she was no longer the person he loved.
Even more afraid that her appearance would only invite disdain and rejection.
“…Little Nagi… your eyes…”
Even in a foggy state, even as his body grew weary, Kanade still noticed her abnormality.
Gently, he pulled his hand away from her grip, slowly reaching towards her cheek as if handling fragile glass.
His fingertips softly wiped away her tears at the corners of her eyes, the motion so gentle that it seemed even the sound of rain muted for a moment.
Nagi’s eyes, like a shattered starry sky, reflected in his dim gaze.
“…Is this… my fault…?”
His voice was soft, yet it seemed to penetrate through the night and the downpour.
“Did I hurt you again… Little Nagi…?”
“Not at all!”
Nagi abruptly lifted her head, her voice almost a cry, interrupting Kanade.
“The one who should apologize is me! It’s me who has repeatedly hurt you—”
“I always thought… as long as you became strong, this world could be saved… I believed that was the best choice for you, for everyone…”
“But I was wrong.”
“I had no right to decide your life… I was just—self-righteously… forcing you to become the ‘protagonist’ I envisioned.”
“You’ve become what you are now, and it’s all my fault.”
Her voice choked, every word felt like slicing into her own wounds.
However—
“…No.”
“…That statement… is undoubtedly… wrong…”
“I was… saved because of you, Little Nagi…”
Kanade murmured softly, his voice carrying a slight tremor, yet it resonated clearly in Nagi’s ears.
His hands were still trembling, his body swaying from blood loss, yet he still strained to lift his head and gaze firmly at the girl before him.
“You say you were using me… That you pushed me towards being the ‘protagonist’… but for me, none of that was ‘using.'”
His grip tightened inch by inch, as if he were holding the most important thing in the world.
“Even if that was a lie, a plan, a deception, it doesn’t matter—I have never regretted it.”
Amid his words, Kanade struggled to sit up, shaking as he raised his arms, gently embracing the trembling girl before him.
The rain lashed against their bodies, but their warmth intertwined, creating a small, warm world.
“The time you spent by my side… was so happy and joyful for me; that feeling is not false, it is—true redemption.”
“I don’t care about your motives or the outcome; what matters is—the process I personally experienced.”
“It was that experience that determined who I am…”
“Because you were there, I felt—like I wasn’t a meaningless existence.”
Nagi kept her head down, obscuring her expression, but she silently tightened her arms around him.
“…Kanade…”
“…Little Nagi… I want to ask you.”
Kanade leaned down, his forehead gently touching hers, as if trying to coax the girl before him to lift her head. His voice was soft, as if afraid to disturb something important.
“Was that time… happy for you?”
“Yes… The days with you as my childhood friend… those were my… happiest and most important moments.”
“That’s enough.” Kanade released one of his hands, gently pressing against her back to pull her closer.
“Little Nagi… you don’t need to apologize…”
“The one who should really apologize… is me.”
“It was I who… promised you…”
“I vowed to protect this world for you… yet time and again… I chose to run away.”
He hugged the girl tightly as if wanting to engrave her warmth deeply into his memory, even if he were to lose consciousness the next second, he wouldn’t want to let go.
And Nagi remained still, embracing him, feeling his fading warmth, her fingertips could even sense his trembling.
Kanade’s eyelids were slowly drooping, his consciousness like a candle flame swaying in a storm, ready to extinguish at any moment.
Yet even so, he strained to voice his last thoughts.
“I… do not exist to become a ‘savior’…”
“I just… want to be your hero.”
“Your hero, belonging only to you.”
