Chapter 6: Why Childhood Friends Always Lose

Kondo Haruka was clearly unprepared for Xiao Chun Miura’s words.

“Ha… Huh——?!”

Her eyes nearly popped out, and the face of the chestnut-haired Childhood Friend instantly twisted into a strange expression.

It was a look caught between anger and shame.

Even Xiao Chun Miura couldn’t tell if Kondo Haruka was more furious at the sudden appearance of a love rival, or more embarrassed from hearing about the innocent troubles of youth.

But one thing was certain.

It wouldn’t be surprising if she started strangling at any moment.

Looking at Kondo Haruka’s extended head and outstretched hands, Xiao Chun Miura couldn’t help but think so.

“You say you admire…what, do you like Sou-kun?”

Kondo Haruka, thrown into confusion by the sudden revelation of affection, mumbled in a low voice with a red face.

Good, it’s working!

As expected, even though her feelings seemed pretty straightforward, Kondo Haruka probably wasn’t ready to make them public yet.

Because of her status as a Childhood Friend, she subconsciously believed “Kanzaki Sou is my destined boyfriend,” so she wasn’t in a hurry to define the relationship.

—Which is why the sudden arrival of an unexpected love rival sent her into chaos.

“I know it’s sudden, and presumptuous…”

Xiao Chun Miura seized the moment, continuing in a timid, self-effacing tone.

“Kanzaki-kun is so outstanding, dazzling like the sun…and I…”

“I’m so ordinary, I don’t even have the courage to talk to him…”

“Just seeing him in person makes me so nervous, I…”

The more she spoke, the smaller her voice became, until it was almost a whisper.

At the same time, she bowed deeply again.

“I’m really, really sorry! For causing trouble for you and Kanzaki-kun! From now on…I’ll be careful to keep my distance!”

Every word Xiao Chun Miura spoke at this moment wasn’t just casual talk.

From the moment she started thinking about Strategy, she seriously considered how her actions would affect future developments.

Advancing by retreating—that was the method Xiao Chun Miura came up with.

First, admit her admiration honestly, then use a sincere apology to show she would keep her distance, aiming to explain her behavior and lower the other party’s hostility.

This was the best way she could think of to “handle things for the future.”

…Considering that there would be many situations where she’d have to interact with Kondo Haruka and Kanzaki Sou afterward, there was no point in hiding everything now.

If she hung around Kanzaki Sou, Kondo Haruka’s questioning was bound to happen sooner or later.

Rather than lying again and again, it was better to give herself a reasonable reason now—even if only to avoid being repeatedly questioned by Kondo Haruka in the future.

For a girl, finding a reasonable excuse to be around a boy often boiled down to one thing…

Naturally, “having feelings for him.”

Of course, it seemed a bit aggressive…but Xiao Chun Miura trusted her judgment.

After all, as a hardcore Player of countless text-based romance adventure games, Xiao Chun Miura was confident she could handle any background, setting, or personality type of girl.

The biggest characteristic of a Childhood Friend like Kondo Haruka was “thinking victory is assured” and “considering herself the higher rank thanks to accumulated time spent together.”

They always looked like the type with the highest chance of winning, and did indeed possess the highest base favorability.

But precisely because of this, Childhood Friends were often the passive side when it came to “confessing their feelings to the Main Character.”

It’s easy to understand.

If friends around them are always teasing, “When are you two getting together? Remember to treat us when you get your marriage certificate,” and the guy has no ambiguous relationships with other girls, it’s only logical for her to see herself as his only legitimate option.

So there’s no need to “be the first to confess feelings.”

In games, it’s usually the Main Character who makes the choice.

If the Main Character doesn’t take a big step to develop the relationship, Childhood Friends usually end up “remaining close friends,” and even if the Main Character gets a girlfriend, things stay the same as before.

Because they rarely take the initiative to express their feelings, even if they watch the Main Character grow closer to another girl, they can only quietly cling to the pride of once being “the only one,” and passively let him go.

This is also why “Childhood Friends often lose” is a common saying.

—So Xiao Chun Miura concluded Kondo Haruka wouldn’t have any over-the-top reaction to her words.

She wasn’t the girlfriend, just a Childhood Friend—basically a closer friend.

If she said she “admired” or “found Kanzaki Sou interesting,” it was still within acceptable limits.

Just saying it wouldn’t make Kondo Haruka do anything—no matter how close she was to Kanzaki Sou, her current status was still only a Childhood Friend, far from the point where she could treat him as her own.

And as long as she made it through this, even facing Kondo Haruka head-on again would be much easier—at least she wouldn’t have to come up with excuses anymore.

That was Xiao Chun Miura’s reasoning for replying as she did.

…And the judgment of a master of text-based romance adventure games was correct.

“…Hmph, is that so.”

Kondo Haruka looked down with a haughty gaze, snorted, and her tone was still unfriendly.

“…At least you have some self-awareness. Sou-kun is really popular, it’s normal for people to be attracted to him…whatever.”

The curly-haired girl seemed to want to say more, but in the end, she just pouted and waved her hand.

“Fine, as long as you understand. Just don’t do any more weird things, it’s an eyesore.”

“Yes! I’m very sorry! I understand!”

Xiao Chun quickly nodded like a pecking chicken.

Kondo Haruka looked her up and down again, and, as if confirming her meek appearance posed no threat, finally turned and left.

Watching Kondo Haruka’s departing figure, Xiao Chun slumped against the hallway wall, letting out a long sigh.

Did I barely make it through?

Feels more exhausting than three days of overtime.

“Ha… She finally left…”

She rubbed her stiff cheeks.

“So this is the pressure of a Heroine… It’s no different from a boss checking up at work…”

***

By the time she returned to the Classroom, most of her classmates had already left.

Xiao Chun Miura stood in front of her seat, holding her bag, and after confirming no one else was around, she sneaked out a whisper.

“——System?”

“……”

Silence.

There was no sign of any floating display screens appearing.

“Still no response?”

Xiao Chun Miura mused silently.

It seemed it had nothing to do with whether there were people around or not.

So she had no way to contact it proactively?

Ever since the so-called “System” disappeared that time, there had been no movement.

It looked like she really couldn’t count on it for any real-time help.

Everything would have to depend on herself.

Xiao Chun Miura shouldered her bag.

Not sure where to go after school, she simply wandered slowly toward the exit of the School Building.

Originally, the plan was to go to the Library, but after Kondo Haruka’s interruption, Xiao Chun Miura started to think about other things.

She had thought that Events here would strictly follow the game’s plot, and she just needed to stop Kanzaki Sou and the Heroines—in this case, Kondo Haruka—from developing their relationship according to the timeline.

But now, it didn’t seem so simple.

Most obviously, they didn’t seem like mere NPCs.

Kondo Haruka coming to confront her was something Xiao Chun Miura hadn’t anticipated at all.

Looking at it this way, wasn’t it just like the Real World?

…Can I really handle things with a “Strategy game” attitude?