I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

“…….”

“……Why?”

Seeing Sota looking at me with such awkward eyes, I questioned back.

No, even if I look like this, I’ve received a reputation for being somewhat good-looking in my class, so being stared at like that makes me feel a bit bad.

It’s not a wound. I know the nature of that gaze; it was similar to how my younger sister looks at me.

But by the time I became a university student, I guess I’ve matured a bit, and my way of speaking has softened.

Or maybe it’s thanks to me taking care of her as my sister until then…

……

Um, should I stop thinking about that? Because remembering what came after brings up only bad memories.

“Yuka is better, right?”

“……No, isn’t this situation a bit, well, strange?”

Sota maintained his awkward stance, slumping his shoulders as he spoke.

To be honest, I’ve been thinking the same thing. Have we dragged this out a bit too long?

Even if he’s being called a stalker, he hasn’t done anything dangerous yet…

Since there’s no setting in the original work where Sota is killed by a stalker, it might not be a big problem without me.

But at the same time, it’s true that I’m worried.

I never thought of the possibility that I did something to provoke a stalker around Sota, or that someone related to me did.

But at the same time, given that this is a setting that’s not found in the original work, I can’t help but have a bit of an overly self-conscious thought that it might be my influence.

“So let’s finish this quickly.”

I said that and started walking.

“What are you planning to do?”

“If we walk side by side, the stalker will probably react. I mean, up until now, there’s been no confirmation, right? We need to find evidence that they’re following you and tell them to stop.”

The other party is around our age.

That doesn’t mean teenagers can’t commit serious crimes. In fact, being teenagers might make it more likely they wouldn’t understand.

There are stalkers even among male celebrities.

But if they do something similar from the point we realize it, we should report it to the police. Or at least, ask for Shii and Sota to be included in the protection list.

The best outcome is, of course, that they get scared and never show up again.

….

Now that I’ve said that, we really seem to be taking a big risk.

“Well then… Shall we walk?”

When I asked, Sota nodded.

*

Despite his sullen expression, Sota managed to carry on a conversation with me. To be expected; he’s essentially a good kid. And once we started talking, we could smoothly engage in trivial conversation.

After all, haven’t we hung out together, gaming and battling a few times? If I had to say, we’re quite close.

Trying not to look back, we slowly walked into the residential area.

Even though it was the weekend, there weren’t many people around. I knew this, which was why I deliberately came this way.

If we made too much noise, people would look, but—

“Ah!?”

We heard that bang from behind, but when we turned around, the stalker couldn’t make any loud noise.

Standing there with hands clasped in front of her chest, looking anxious, she just stared at Yuka, Koko, and Shii surrounding her.

Um, at least it doesn’t seem like she plans to pull out a knife. Well, she didn’t bring a bag, so…

However, when Yuka and Shii, Koko looked at her, their expressions shifted to one of complete shock as soon as Sota and I turned.

“Wait a second.”

As that girl quickly tried to turn away, Yuka reached out and grabbed her arm.

Actually, if she started shouting at us, acting all indignant about what she was doing at this point, we would have been in quite a predicament. She seemed so flustered that she didn’t even think of that, it seems.

“Hmm?”

Sota responded that way.

I mean… it sounded completely casual, almost deflating, as if the tension from the side was gone.

“Do you want to check it out?”

“Uh, well…”

I hadn’t expected her to express gratitude or anything, but since the response was so flat, it made me think, ‘Maybe it’s okay if we don’t help,’ yet I shook my head and approached her.

“Ah, uh…”

That girl, too flustered to articulate properly, when she got close enough to Sota’s face, her expression turned even worse.

“Hmm?”

Sota repeated his earlier lackluster response.

No, even if she doesn’t look intimidating on the outside, she was still a stalker.

Even so, I couldn’t tell Sota to, “Be afraid,” so I just decided to observe the situation for now.

The girl hid her face with her hands.

At the very least, it seemed like she was not just stalking for a confession, as Yuka initially suspected. She seemed to realize she was doing something shameful.

With that thought, a little hope sprang up in me. Maybe if I handled it well enough, she wouldn’t follow anymore.

“Um, haven’t we met before?”

Sota’s words weren’t strange for someone talking to a stalker, although they did sound a bit soft. At least, for a stalker to be one, they would have had to have seen each other at least once.

But the next thing that came out was a bit confusing.

“No, that’s not it… actually, we know each other.”

“……Ehh.”

The girl groaned while hiding her face.

Yuka, Koko, Shii, and I exchanged glances between the girl and Sota. Yuka had already let go of the girl’s arm by now.

“Sorry, but can I at least see your face?”

“……”

At Sota’s request, the girl’s fingers slightly parted. Her beautiful eyes, revealed through the space of her middle and ring fingers, were prettier than I expected. After all, from a distance, it was hard to understand why such a pretty girl would become a stalker.

She gave off a cheerful vibe, not a true beauty, but someone popular in school who would receive confessions multiple times in a semester and lots of chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

“Huff.”

After locking eyes with Sota, that girl sighed deeply, then finally lowered her hands. Although she still slightly bowed her head, her gaze looking up at Sota was quite intense.

It felt more like a longing than a glare…

Hmm.

Somehow, looking at them like this, it didn’t feel like just a stalker and their victim. What could the reason be?

But I soon understood that reason.

Sota’s expression brightened significantly after seeing the stalker’s face.

“Could it be, Nanami?”

“Do, do you remember!?”

Nanami?

I tilted my head.

It felt as if I remembered something…

……

Ah?!

Only after hearing the name did I recall. She was one of the heroines from the original work. The childhood friend heroine symbolizing Sota’s ordinary life, Nanami.

Sorry, but I don’t really remember her last name.

“Of course, I remember! We played together almost every day when we were kids!”

I wondered how young they were when they say “childhood.” Perhaps it refers to the time when it was just Yuki, Harumi, and me, back when we were younger. Since Sota and I have known each other long enough to have a friendship much like childhood friends.

To be precise, we’d known each other long enough now. Given our current ages, it hasn’t been that long since we’ve known one another.

“Nanami… sister?”

Shii tilted her head. It seems she doesn’t remember well. It could have been because that was far too early in their childhood, and she was too busy living separately from Sota to know much about anyone around him.

The tension that had been present on Yuka’s face dissipated as she looked at me with an expression of interest, while Koko kept tilting her head, listening to the two talk.

And I—

“…Koto Ne.”

—I found my face burning bright red.

“See? She’s just a friend I’ve known since childhood. I didn’t expect to run into her like this.”

To be honest, I had something to talk about too.

Even friendships can lead to serious crimes. A stalker could exist among acquaintances, and sexual offense cases tend to happen more often among people who know each other.

Moreover, wasn’t Nanami’s behavior enough to make one suspicious? If we were childhood friends and thus knew each other so well, then she shouldn’t have secretly followed him for a whole month.

But…

But here’s the thing.

I know the original story.

And I know that even Nanami in the original story shows some stalker-like tendencies and causes trouble by often barging into Sota’s house, but fundamentally, she’s just a heroine who really likes Sota.

At the very least, she wouldn’t stab him with a knife out of jealousy if she saw him with another girl.

So, with my logic, I really had nothing to argue against her.

“Um, Sota, this girl is…?”

Furthermore, perhaps that month was spent hesitating to approach him because she might have thought Sota had a girlfriend.

If she liked him and didn’t want to hurt him, then…

“My… little sister-type girl.”

“Who are you calling ‘little sister’?”

I flared up at Sota’s words.

Huff.

Yuka couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

Shii was looking at Nanami with an even more tense expression—and, naturally, Koko just couldn’t understand the situation and kept tilting her head.

Yeah, Koko.

It’s okay to learn about these complicated relationships later on.

At the very least, I thought about trying to prevent Koko from becoming a heroine, and I attempted to escape from this embarrassing reality.

But the embarrassment didn’t fade away. Sadly.

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