Childhood Friend Heroine V1 Final Chapter
Final Chapter: I Want to Be Your Main Heroine
A strange, persistent feeling of being watched had been haunting me for the past week. It started the day Lily and I had lunch on the rooftop, and the sensation had only grown stronger since. But whenever I’d spin around, trying to catch the source of the gaze, I’d find no one there—or so many people that singling out a culprit was impossible.
After a few days of this, my mind, unable to find a logical explanation, drifted toward the absurd.
Maybe I’m possessed by a ghost or something.
I’d even looked up exorcism rituals online and tried a few, but to no avail. The feeling lingered.
“That’s it!”
“Huh? Wh-what is?”
During break time today, as I was pondering new ways to banish evil spirits, I saw my childhood friend engrossed in a book, and an idea struck me.
Right, I should go to the library.
I remembered from a class visit that Seira High School’s library was massive, boasting a collection of a hundred thousand books. Surely, among all those volumes, there had to be at least one or two on exorcism.
“So anyway, you can head home without me after school today,” I announced.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied, utterly lost.
Ignoring her confusion, I resolved to conduct my research alone after school.
***
Later that day, I arrived at the library as planned.
“Whoa… There really are a ton of books,” I muttered, overwhelmed by the sheer volume lining the shelves. “Alright, let’s see, old books are…”
“Kyaa!”
As I psyched myself up and began my search for books on spirits, I bumped squarely into another student, sending her tumbling to the floor.
“Sorry, Kanzaki. You okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine,” she snapped.
It was Kanzaki, one of Lily’s friends. Though I’d never done anything to her, she seemed to despise me. When I offered a hand to help her up, she pointedly ignored it, getting to her feet on her own and briskly patting the dust from her skirt.
“How unusual. Idiot-zuki in a library. Is it going to rain spears tomorrow?”
“…It’s not like spears are going to fall just because I came to the library.”
“It was a joke. Don’t take everything so seriously. That’s why you’re Idiot-zuki,” she said, using her favorite nickname for me. “So, what are you here for?”
“Looking for books about exorcising spirits.”
“Spirits?” she repeated, tilting her head in confusion. After a moment of thought, she said, “…The manga like Jujutsu Kaisen aren’t here, you know.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” I retorted, my voice rising. “I’m seriously looking for books to exorcise spirits.”
“Shh, this is a library. Don’t raise your voice,” she warned with a sharp glare.
“S-sorry.”
Once I’d quieted down, she pressed on. “So what exactly led you to look for books about exorcising evil spirits? Occult stuff like that doesn’t exist, anyway.”
“Actually—”
I found myself explaining everything: the constant feeling of being watched, my inability to find the source, and my conclusion that a spirit must have attached itself to me. When I finished, Minaka stared at me with an expression of pure exasperation, as if looking at a genuine idiot.
“You’re just being stalked by someone,” she stated flatly. “It’s not a spirit.”
“But at the train station platform, there’s nowhere to hide, right?”
“If there were truly nothing there, sure. But if someone stands right next to a vending machine, they can be hidden depending on the angle. Or they could be peeking from the stairs, and you wouldn’t see them.”
“Y-you’re right,” I admitted, stunned by her logic. “Are you a genius or something?”
“…I’m not happy at all being called a genius for something like this,” she muttered, looking displeased. I realized my praise sounded like I was complimenting her talent for stalking. A poor choice of words on my part.
“Well, if you have an idea who it might be, then it’s definitely stalking,” she continued. “Just to confirm, though, do you feel the stares when you’re with Lily-chan?”
Now that she mentioned it, Lily was almost always with me when I felt the gaze. But when I’d asked her about it, she’d said she didn’t feel a thing, so the stares were probably meant for me.
“Yeah, I was usually with her when I felt it.”
“I see. Then pretty soon—!?” Minaka started to say, a look of understanding dawning on her face before she abruptly covered her mouth, as if she’d almost let something slip.
“Pretty soon what?” I urged, but she just shook her head.
“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, if you’re troubled by a stalker, I’d recommend going to the police.”
Though disappointed by her evasiveness, I felt a sense of relief. At least coming to the library had yielded some useful information. I’ll try to be more aware of blind spots from now on, I thought, turning to leave. “Thanks for today, Kanzaki. I thought you were a nasty person, but you’re actually pretty decent.”
“Wait.”
“Hm? What is it?” I asked, turning back. She looked awkward, her eyes darting around before she seemed to steel herself.
“Minazuki, what do you think of Lily-chan?”
“What do you mean? She’s just my childhood friend.”
My answer was immediate and honest.
“…I see,” she nodded, her expression serious. “But what if, hypothetically, a white knight prince appeared and took her away?”
“Hmm, just to be clear, by ‘taken away,’ do you mean we couldn’t talk or see each other anymore?”
“Not that kind of taken away. I’m just talking about her getting a boyfriend.”
Her phrasing was odd, but after her clarification, I understood. “That’d be fine, wouldn’t it?”
“!?”
Minaka’s eyes widened in shock, clearly not the answer she was expecting. From an outsider’s perspective, seeing the man-hating Lily get along with me might lead to certain assumptions. But for me, Lily was never that kind of existence. She was, quite literally, my childhood friend—a girl I’d known forever. If anything, I saw her as a troublesome little sister, but never anything more.
“It’s her decision, right?” I explained. “It’s not my place to say anything. Well, if the guy was a total scumbag, I’d probably step in. But if she thinks he’s a good person, then I want to respect her choice. She’s been through a lot, you know? If she can find happiness, that’s good enough for me.”
I wouldn’t be sad if she got a boyfriend. In fact, knowing the hardships she’d faced, I genuinely hoped she would find the happiness she deserved. When I first met her, Lily was like a ghost, so faint she seemed like she could disappear at any moment. An anchor to hold her down would be more than welcome.
“Oh, but I don’t think a white knight prince would suit Lily,” I added with a wry smile, sensing a slight difference in our perceptions.
“Huh?”
“I mean, she looks fragile at first glance, but she’s actually incredibly strong. No matter what kind of trouble comes her way, she’ll fight to solve it herself. She’s that kind of strong heroine.”
Machigane Lily wasn’t a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued. She was a strong heroine who could carve out her own path, and I knew it.
◇
That was seven years ago.
Back in the lower grades of elementary school, Lily was bullied by her classmates. The reason was much the same as before: the popular boys in class liked her, and the other girls targeted her for it. They subjected her to malicious pranks—hiding her eraser and textbooks, breaking her pencil leads, and throwing mud at her on the way home.
Having Saito as a pillar of support helped her endure it, but it was undeniably painful. Learning from her first life, she had tried to avoid making close friends, keeping to herself to prevent the pain of betrayal. But it changed nothing. Being arbitrarily targeted and hurt every day, despite having done nothing wrong, was agonizing, and her frustration mounted.
One day during summer vacation, after she had finally earned a reprieve, Lily was heading to the station to meet Saito when she ran into the girls from her class at a nearby park.
“Wearing such fancy clothes, where are you going~? Those don’t suit you at all.”
“It’s so sad for the clothes to have garbage smell transfer onto them~”
They surrounded her and threw dog poop they found nearby onto her white dress. As the stench filled the air and her clothes were soiled, her classmates laughed with satisfaction.
“…sniff… why… wheeze… why is this happening…“
Her one moment of peace with her childhood friend had been defiled. Large tears streamed down Lily’s face as she tried to protest, but the trauma of her past resurfaced, making her feel sick. She began to hyperventilate, unable to form proper words.
“Wheeze… wheeze…”
“Huh~, what’s wrong~?”
“Oh, I get it. She’s so happy to make friends with poop that she’s crying. Right? That’s it, isn’t it, Machigane-san?”
It was clearly an abnormal state, but the girls, still young, failed to notice her distress and continued their taunts.
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts. Someone, please help me.
Lily crouched down, crying for help in her heart, but no one came. She didn’t know how much time passed, but when she finally looked up, the girls were gone, and she was alone.
For now… I should go home. I can’t let Saito see me like this.
After about five minutes, her breathing returned to normal, and that was her first thought. She couldn’t bear to show her childhood friend such a pathetic sight.
“Lily! What’s with that outfit!?”
“Sai…to?”
But her hopes were dashed. I appeared in the park, my voice filled with alarm. Even though her white dress was stained and smelled awful, I approached without hesitation. Seeing me, the tears she thought had dried up began to flow again.
“Don’t look! This is… this isn’t what it looks like!”
She didn’t want me, of all people, to be disappointed in her. She didn’t want me to abandon her like the boys in her class had. So she pushed me away, telling me not to look.
“What do you mean it’s not what it looks like? I don’t get it. Anyway, let’s go to your house.”
“It’s not poop!”
“I know that! Obviously! Anyway, just shut up and follow me.”
But I didn’t stop. No matter how dirty she was, I didn’t care. I took her arm to lead her home, and it was then that I learned she had been bullied.
“What the hell is that! I’m gonna crush those guys.”
“Stop! Saito. Please stop… Having you is enough for me.”
When I heard the story, I was furious. I wanted to punish the bullies, but she was afraid that if I did, I would be seen as a bad guy too. That wasn’t what she wanted. Just having me get angry on her behalf and stay by her side was enough.
“Are you really okay with that!? Lily! Aren’t you pissed off!? Don’t you want to fight back!? You didn’t do anything wrong! Do you really think that!? Hey, answer me!”
“I… I…”
But I saw through her lie. I had crossed a line that everyone else knew to avoid, and it made her heart waver. Of course she was angry. Of course she wanted to fight back. But what would acting on emotion change? The adult thinking from her time leap whispered that it would be meaningless.
“It’s impossi—”
“It’s not impossible!”
“—!?”
Just as she was about to say it was impossible, I forcibly overwrote her words.
“You can definitely do it! So don’t give up!”
I declared it without any basis, simply believing that she could.
“!? What do you know about me, Saito!? What do you know when we only meet once a month!? Don’t talk like you know everything! Get out!!”
That single statement seemed to deny her entire first life, and she couldn’t stand it. That day, Lily kicked me out of her house.
Afterward, she was tormented by self-loathing and became a shut-in. She knew I had said it with her best interests at heart, but she had denied it. She didn’t want me to leave, yet she had pushed me away. Most of all, she hated herself for lying about her desire to fight back.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, but by the time she noticed, the July calendar had turned to August. The air in her room was stagnant from the constantly running air conditioner and closed curtains. When she opened the window for some fresh air, an arm suddenly grabbed hers.
“You finally showed your face, you shut-in. Today, I’m definitely gonna straighten out that rotten attitude of yours!”
“Lily, do your best, desu yo!”
“Huh? Ehhhh—!?”
There I was, dressed in a judo uniform. As I forcibly dragged her outside, her mother, Lucy, handed her a judo uniform of her own. Confused, she was kidnapped by her childhood friend and, before she knew it, arrived at a run-down dojo.
“Yamada-ojisan, I brought her!”
“Oh, Saito-kun. You really brought a new student. Grandpa is so moved!”
When I knocked on the door, an old man with a cane appeared from inside.
“Ow, ow, old man, your beard hurts. Shave properly every day.”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was busy with various things this morning.”
“Huh? What’s going on?” Lily asked, watching us exchange a passionate hug.
I puffed out my chest and announced, “From today on, you’re gonna attend this dojo too. For now, the goal is to beat up the guys who’ve been bullying you. Do your best!”
“…I don’t understand anything anymore,” she muttered quietly and collapsed.
Once she had calmed down, she demanded an explanation. After being kicked out of her house, I had apparently wracked my brain for a way to stop the bullying. My conclusion, with an IQ of 30, was simple: if you become strong, you won’t get bullied. It was true that in elementary school, knowing judo or karate earned you a certain respect. And if you actually had some strength, you could make opponents think twice. That’s why I wanted her to learn judo.
Frankly, she thought it was a stupid idea. If it were that simple, bullying would have been eradicated long ago. She tried to leave, thinking it was meaningless.
“I used my precious New Year’s money for this. You’re definitely gonna do it! I won’t forgive you if you run away.”
However, I had paid the dojo’s one-month tuition with my saved New Year’s money. Threatened with my wrath if she wasted it, she had no choice but to stay.
And so, Lily reluctantly began attending the judo dojo. She spent the first few days practicing how to fall, which she picked up surprisingly well. Since it was summer vacation, she was specially taught a single technique: osoto-gari, a beginner-friendly move where you hook your opponent’s leg to knock them down. She remembered it from middle school PE, and the more she practiced, the smoother her execution became. Three days before the end of vacation, she managed to score an ippon against a kid her age.
“We’re doing this, but does it really have any meaning?” she muttered on the way home from the dojo one day. She felt herself getting stronger, but she still doubted whether this power could solve her problems.
“It definitely does. Trust me, it’ll work out,” I encouraged, but her anxiety remained.
Just then, they encountered the two girls who had ruined her dress.
“Huh~ Machigane-san. On a date with a boy~. How impudent~”
“Eww, really. A man who’d choose such a shit woman must be shit-smelling too.”
At the sight of their nasty, grinning faces, Lily’s body began to shake, and her breathing grew ragged. Her vision swam, and she instinctively looked down.
“Look forward,” I said, grabbing her head and forcing her to look up. “Are you really okay with just taking it? Are you okay with ending it without doing anything? How about it?”
I asked her the same questions as before. Were you really okay with that? Don’t you feel anything? Are you just going to crouch down like always?
“I… I hate it,” she finally said, her voice trembling with emotion. “I don’t care if I get made fun of. But I hate that you get made fun of, Saito! I can’t forgive them for making fun of my childhood friend who worked so hard for me!”
She had regretted lying that day. She really did hate it and wanted to fight back, but she had thought it was meaningless. Now, it was different. They hadn’t just insulted her; they had insulted her precious childhood friend. That was unforgivable.
On this day, for the first time in her life, Lily honestly expressed her anger. The girl who never got angry, no matter how much she was hurt, was now furious on behalf of someone else.
“Good! Well said,” I grinned, satisfied. “You can do it. So go give them hell!”
“Yeah!” she answered energetically and marched toward the girl who had insulted me.
“Hmph, I don’t know why you’re so angry. Don’t get cocky, you garbage woman. You’re just going to get bullied by us any—gyaa!?”
From the girl’s perspective, Lily was just a weakling who couldn’t do anything. Caught completely off guard, she was easily thrown to the ground.
“…What just happened?” the other girl stammered. “What did you do to Yumi!? Let her go!”
“No. I’ll let her go if you apologize.”
“Don’t get smart with me! Acting all high and mighty when you’re just garbage—eek!?”
Lily met the other girl’s charge with another swift osoto-gari, sending her down as well. With a strong will to make them apologize to her childhood friend, she glared down at the two on the ground.
“Apologize!” she demanded, her voice filled with all the emotion she had held back. “Apologize for calling Saito shit-smelling!”
The intimidating power in her voice, seemingly impossible for a girl not yet ten, made the two bullies burst into tears.
“S-sorry!”
“Sowy!”
Satisfied, Lily added one final warning. “Fine. But don’t you dare make fun of Saito ever again. If you do, I’ll throw you again.”
Then she ran back to me, her face beaming.
“I did it! I did it, Saito! I got them to apologize!”
“Yeah, good job,” I said, smiling as I ruffled her hair. She hugged me, rejoicing in the fact that she had fought back and changed her world, even if just a little.
On this day, the girl named Machigane Lily changed. She stopped being a tragic heroine, always afraid and waiting for help, and took her first step toward becoming a strong heroine who would face any hardship head-on.
◇
I’m feeling stares.
Lily was thinking the same thing as Saito. But unlike him, she knew exactly who it was. When she glanced over, her eyes met her ex-boyfriend’s. He immediately looked away, pretending he hadn’t been watching. The fact that he averted his gaze the moment they made eye contact made it completely obvious. That was just the kind of man Nishizono Haruki was.
Having dated him for two years, Lily could read him to some extent—though not as well as she could read Saito. Haruki was also a fairly simple person.
He’s probably trying to “help” me from Akashi-kun, just like the first time.
Haruki had started glancing at her today, and from that, she deduced several things. Her ex-boyfriend also had memories of the past. And, for whatever reason, he was trying to get back together with her.
He’s really an idiot.
Haruki, who seemed to believe he could replicate the past without a doubt, seemed pitiful to her. If he just looked around, he would easily see that she was different from the old Lily. She was getting along with a childhood friend who hadn’t existed in her first life. She was starting to talk with Kai, whom she had previously avoided. She had friends who shouldn’t have existed yet.
But Haruki refused to face that reality, continuing to act as if this were his first life, waiting for an incident that would never happen. What else could you call it but pitiful? Seeing him try to repeat the past like a broken machine, all her hatred and disgust over being cheated on seemed ridiculous. She had been an idiot for being trapped by such a person.
If you regret it that much, you shouldn’t have dumped me.
After that mental jab, she opened her favorite book to calm herself.
Rustle.
A folded piece of paper fell from between the pages.
“What?”
Having no memory of putting anything but a bookmark inside, she suspiciously picked it up and unfolded it.
‘I’ll be waiting on the rooftop after school. From Makabe’
“Again?”
The letter was a summons to the rooftop from the same boy who had confessed to her shortly after she started high school. The reason was almost certainly another confession. Lily held her head, sensing trouble.
After school, Lily saw Saito off to the library and then headed to the rooftop. Honestly, she didn’t want to go. She considered pretending she hadn’t seen the note and just going home. She and Makabe hadn’t spoken a single word since his first confession, so the outcome was obvious. Did she really need to go and tell him in person?
But the thought of endless confessions if she didn’t put a stop to this now made her reluctantly decide to go.
Clank.
When she opened the rooftop door, Makabe was already there waiting for her.
“Thank you for coming today, Machigane-san.”
“I really didn’t want to come, though.”
“Haha, that’s harsh,” he said, scratching his head apologetically at her cold reception. The sight was strangely irritating. Wanting to get it over with, Lily cut straight to the point.
“What do you want?”
“The same as that day. Please go out with—”
“I refuse.”
“—such an immediate answer,” he finished, his voice trailing off as she cut him down mid-sentence. “Hehe, ahahaha.” His face twisted with frustration before he broke into unnerving laughter. A sudden alarm went off in Lily’s mind, and she took a step back.
“Hehe, yeah, I knew this would happen,” he cackled. “Of course. Because Machigane Lily hates men. She can’t even talk to them, let alone let them get close. So I watched you from afar, thinking. ‘How could I date you?’ How could I become friends with you like Minazuki Saito? But no matter how much I observed, there was no legitimate way for a mob like me. So I had a flash of inspiration. I should use cowardly methods. I should just threaten you! Hey, go out with me if you don’t want to die, Machigane Lily!”
As he screamed, Makabe pulled a box cutter from his pocket and lunged.
“Lily!?”
At that moment, the door burst open, and Haruki appeared, his face a mask of panic.
“Who the hell are you? Don’t get in my way!” Makabe snarled, turning his attention to the intruder.
“Lily, run! I’ll handle this—” Haruki yelled, positioning himself to protect her.
The target shifted from Lily to Haruki, and Makabe charged with the knife.
“You’re in the way,” Lily said coolly.
“Huh?”
Ignoring Haruki’s order, she slipped past him and glared at Makabe.
“Die—!”
Makabe was already swinging the knife down at her face. A direct hit seemed unavoidable. But just as everyone thought it was over, Lily’s hand shot out and caught his arm, stopping the blade inches from her face.
““Huh?””
Both men stared, their eyes wide with disbelief. Leaving them stunned, Lily moved to her next action. She grabbed Makabe’s collar, pulled him off balance, swept his legs out from under him, and twisted his arm into a joint lock, pinning him to the ground.
“Ow ow ow, Lily! What the hell is this!?”
“Well, what could it be, I wonder?” she replied calmly.
“Ow ow ow!”
Makabe, who had looked down on her as just a girl, couldn’t accept being so easily subdued. He demanded an explanation, but Lily had no intention of giving one. She mercilessly twisted his arm until he dropped the box cutter.
“Haruki. Pick that up.”
“Y-yeah.”
Her hands busy, Lily instructed Haruki to retrieve the weapon. He did so, his face a picture of bewilderment. “Are you really the Machigane Lily I know?” he asked, his mind reeling. As someone with memories of the past, he knew the weak Lily. This scene was too unbelievable for him.
To that, Lily smiled. “I’m Machigane Lily. The very same Machigane Lily that you cheated on and abandoned. But thanks to a certain someone’s influence, I might be a little different now.”
The moment Haruki heard that, his eyes widened to their limit, and tears began to stream down his face.
◇
A few minutes later, Saito and Minaka burst onto the rooftop, having heard that Lily was being attacked. They found her calmly pinning her attacker to the ground.
Seeing the scene, Saito puffed out his chest proudly. “See?” he said, as if to say, I told you so.
“…No way,” Minaka whispered, standing frozen in a daze.
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