After My Girlfriend Dumped Me, I Got Reincarnated As A High School Student. That Part’s Fine—But Why Are All My Ex-Girlfriends Here Too? - Chapter 15 – Interrogation at a Family Restaurant

“Hmm, I see.”

After what happened with Shima, eight of us—me, Rio, Hinami, Akina, Tomonari, Maria, Miki, and Shima—gathered at a family restaurant within walking distance from school.

We each took our seats around the large table. Akina immediately opened the menu and stared hard at the steak set.

Yeah… knowing him, he’d probably still go home and eat another full meal after this.

“So?”

Hinami, who had pushed Shima aside when she tried to sit next to me and claimed the seat on my left, finally spoke up.

For reference, Maria sat on my right.

On Hinami’s left was Shima. Across from us sat Rio, directly in front of me, with Akina on her right, Miki on her left, and Tomonari beside Miki.

“S-so, should we, um, make a toast or something?”

“Huh?”

Hinami shot me a dead-serious look.

“J-just kidding. Sorry.”

“Yuta,” Rio said, cutting in smoothly. “You should just be honest.”

“Honestly, I still don’t know much about you either, Rio,” Hinami said. “You said you’re a distant relative, but I’ve never met you before. Yet you seem awfully close with my brother.”

Oof. Sharp as ever.

Wait—did she just admit she keeps tabs on all my acquaintances?

“She seems like a nice person,” Hinami continued, “and I’d like to get along with her, but I can’t help being curious.”

Her gaze was piercing. Rio met it calmly, her face serious.

“You’re right, Hinami. The ‘relative’ thing was a fake story I made up to hide my true identity.”

“I knew it…”

“I’m an apprentice angel. I came from the heavens to watch over him.”

“Oh! So, she really is an angel! No wonder she’s so cute!”

Akina-tan, as usual, was completely unfiltered.

“C-cute…? G-geez, don’t tease me like that!” Rio stammered, though she didn’t seem to hate it.

“Akina, stay.”

“Yes, you’re so cute, yesss ma’am!”

“I’ll hit you.”

“…Sorry.”

Miki, sitting beside Akina, had taken on the role of his handler. Maybe out of affection—or maybe something else—she’d started calling him Akina-tan.

Really, if it weren’t for that, she’d be a totally normal girl…

“Well, if you think she’s cute, you should say it to Yuu-nii instead,” Miki said slyly. “Then maybe, hehe…”

If it weren’t for that.

“So,” Hinami said, turning to me again, “watching over him?”

“Yeah. You probably figured it out from what I said earlier, but… I’m not actually from this world. The real me died—Shima pushed me, and that was it.”

Hinami glared at Shima.

Shima quickly looked away, guilty.

“It’s hard to believe,” Tomonari muttered, frowning in thought. “But I don’t think Yuta would lie.”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “If someone told me the same thing, I wouldn’t believe it either. Hell, I didn’t even believe it myself at first.”

“But, Yuu-nii,” Miki said, sipping her melon soda through a straw, “you just reincarnated, right? Yet you already knew all of us?”

“Ah, that.” I nodded. “This world seems like some kind of parallel world—built with the idea that people I knew in my old life live nearby.”

The moment I said that, everyone except Rio and Shima—who already knew—fell silent.

Can’t blame them.

After all, I’d just told them, in so many words, that they weren’t real.

“Anyway,” I continued, “at first, I thought the person who created this world was also the one who killed me.”

“Yes,” Rio said. “I thought so too.”

So even she hadn’t been sure.

“I have no idea who made this world,” Shima said, pouting. “If I could make one, I’d make it just for me and Yuta.”

What the hell—that’s terrifying. I’d rather die. Oh, right. I already did.

Still, I could tell she was serious. Which somehow made her statement more convincing.

“Ahem. Anyway,” I said, “that means someone else made this world. Rio and I are looking for that person.”

“Pretty much,” Rio agreed. “To add to that—the one who actually created this world is someone I know. But there’s another person who told them to do it. I’m more interested in that person’s motive.”

“I-I see…” Hinami said quietly. “Then… I’m not really your little sister?”

“Yeah. In the real world, you were my junior at work. But after I started working full-time, you began calling me ‘big brother.’”

“N-no way…”

Hinami’s face fell, her expression visibly gloomy.

Wow. She’s taking this really hard.

“Then Maria still has a chance!”

“No, she doesn’t!” Hinami snapped, half-crying, cutting Maria off.

“What about us?” Miki asked.

“Well, Tomonari is my real friend, and we worked together. The rest of you I knew as Utubers. So actually, this is our first time meeting in person.”

“That’s not so bad, though,” Akina said suddenly.

“Not bad?”

“Yeah. Think about it—we couldn’t meet in the real world, but here we did. We got to become friends. That’s a good thing, right?”

“Wow, Akina-tan, that was actually deep,” Miki said approvingly.

“I think so too,” Hinami added softly. “Here, I got to be his little sister for real. So… maybe it’s not so bad. Even if that thieving cat’s nearby.”

Wait—thieving cat?

“Maria’s happy she got to meet Yuu-nii too, nya~!”

As if to prove the point, Maria purred and hugged me tightly.

Hey—hey! Something’s pressing against me!

“W-wait! Get away from my brother! I want to hug him too!”

“…What exactly am I watching right now?” Rio muttered, holding her head.

“Maria, me too!” Akina said, leaning in eagerly.

“No, Akina-tan,” Miki said with a sly grin. “You’re supposed to say, ‘Yuto is mine.’ Then after that, hehe…”

She started bleeding from her nose. Tomonari wordlessly handed her a tissue.

“That’s not fair! I want to hug him too!” Shima cried.

“You absolutely can’t!” Hinami and Maria shouted in perfect harmony.

What is this chaos?

Still… maybe Akina was right.

Even though this world wasn’t real, these people, this life—it wasn’t so bad.

For the first time, I felt like maybe reincarnating wasn’t the worst thing that happened to me.

Akina really said something good for once.

You know what? Maybe I’ll start calling him Akina-tan too.

…Wait, when did his steak plate become empty?

“Thieving cat, go eat some cat treats or something!” Hinami snapped.

“That’s fine~ I’ll have Yuu-nii feed me instead.”

“Wha—of course not!”

“Then I’ll do it instead! Here, Yuta—say ahh!”

“Wha—hey!!”

Shima held up a French fry toward me.

“Aaah, seriously…”

I don’t want to fall in love anymore!

That was the cry echoing inside my head as I let myself drift into this new, absurd daily life.

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