Stagnation of a Cheat Character and Growth of a Losing Heroine

Kirari's phone call to Kotaro was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

There was no particular intention. If she was forced to give a reason, it might be that she wanted to share the topic of conversation with Mary after she left and then have a chat with him.

She turned down the volume to the lowest possible level so that Mary would not hear it. Without checking to see if the call was answered, she left it in her pocket.

If Kotaro answered the phone, he would be able to hear the conversation.

(Well, and ... I'll move him along, as ... Mary-san wanted me to do.)

She has finished what she wanted to do.

The rest was up to Kirari to satisfy Mary's mood, she decided. In the meantime, as a "Senpai" who fell in love with Ryoma Ryuzaki, she decided to give flowers to her junior.

Even if it is only a temporary satisfaction..., Kirari hopes that she can use this happiness to live strongly in the future unrequited love life.

Little does she know that their feelings are beautifully at odds with each other.

But that discrepancy has created enough misalignment to throw Mary's gears out of balance.

Kirari is no longer confused by the subheroine who calls herself a creator.

Although it is a roundabout way of going about things, this event is, in essence, "Kirari, who was once the losing heroine, is now able to compete with Mary, who dominated the story in Part II".

・Mary, who was set up as a cheat character, has been "stagnant" in the same state forever because of her all-powerful nature.

・ Kirari, who was once defeated and hurt, overcame the pain and "matured" more than in the past.

This event was intended to explain these facts.

Mary's malice was dealt with by Kirari with good intentions within her unconsciousness.

She is no longer just a pawn to be pushed around by the narrative.

So now, Kiraly has an advantage over Mary.

"Because both I and Kirari love Ryoma!

"... I-I was surprised at the suddenness of that. Haha."

"But I don't like him."

"Eh!? Then, only I like him, I'm lucky♪"

"I-I don't mean to say that, but…"

Pretend to be upset.

Am I bad at acting? She was inwardly worried that she might not be a good actor, but she understood that her worries were unfounded because Mary laughed happily whenever she replied.

(I don't really understand her, but ... after all, she's a heroine in love just like me.)

Mary's eyes light up when she talks about Ryoma.

Kirari did not miss that small change.

"I just happened to hear that ... Ryoma seems to know that Kirari and the others were good friends with Kotaro before!"

"You know, Ryoma lost his beloved Shiho to Kotaro, right? That's why he has this weird rivalry with him, right?"

"When he found out that Kirari, Azusa, and Yuzuki were connected to Kotaro, he said, "I don't want hand-me-downs!""

"I think that kind of stupidity is cute, but what about Kirari? Can you love that kind of bad part, too?"

Mary has a bad personality.

She dared to say things in a way that played on Kirari.

But it was so blatant that Kirari even thought it was rather funny.

(I understand! She wants to be the only one who likes Ryu-kun. ...That's why she's deliberately trying to make me angry!!)

This is a path Kirari once took.

She understands how it feels to feel alienated from the other heroines, painfully so.

That's why she wanted to fill Mary's heart by pretending to be hurt, that's what she thought.

"What's that?"

Kiraly made a sad face and turned her head down.

She even acted like she was trying to hold back her eyes. She looked at Mary and saw that she was smiling and looking satisfied.

"Oh my? Kirari doesn't like Ryoma's no-good parts?"

No, not really?

Ryu-kun is pretty cute even with those no-good parts.

--Of course, Kirari didn't say anything, but continued to act sad.

“I really hate Ryu-kun…!”

She was not even a third-rate actor.

“Why are you like this, Ryu-kun? I'm…"

She uttered a shaky voice and clenched her fists in frustration.

Compared to Kotaro's performance he once gave at a cultural festival, she was like a kindergartener in a playground.

But it was enough to fool Mary.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry... Sorry? I have to go home. See you at school."

And she finally seemed satisfied.

Perhaps judging that Kirari was crying, she quickly got up from her seat and left.

At the same time, the black-suited machos who had been sitting in every seat in the establishment all left at the same time.

After confirming that no one was there again, Kiraly finally let out a breath.

"...Ha, you're finally leaving."

Somehow, the fact that Mary was a scary presence didn't change until the very end, and now Kirari finally realized that she had been nervous.

She relaxed, took another breath, and then pulled out the phone in her pocket.

(Ko-kun, what would you say?)

Thinking about this, Kirari converses with her former friend for the first time in a long time.

Well, it's time to end the subheroine's point of view around here.

The cheat character's "stagnation" and the losing heroine's "growth" have already been written in the event...

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