Chapter 44 - The Unrewarded Comedic Heroine
I couldn't believe she had the nerve to order a hamburger steak set when she didn't even have any money. And wasn't it weird that she said she didn't like greasy food, but a hamburger steak was totally fine?
I had a lot of questions, but it was already a done deal, so there was no point thinking about it. Because right now, Wannai Misuzu was sitting in front of me and was currently inhaling her hamburger steak.
“Mmm! Sho ghood!”
“Hey, Sato-kun, Wannai-san may be petite, but she sure eats a lot, doesn’t she?”
“I am not petite! I’ll have you know I’m 150 centimeters tall!”
“Eep! S-sorry… Sato-kun, can you... can you tell her I said I'm sorry?"
Mogami-san's shyness with strangers was, as usual, in full effect. She couldn’t even look Wannai-san in the eye and had been speaking to me the entire time instead.
At this point, I really was acting like her translator. Mogami-san was even scared of someone as harmless as Wannai-san.
...Then again, Wannai-san might have actually been enjoying this. She was usually underestimated by everyone, so having someone be afraid of her for once probably didn’t feel too bad.
“Fuko, you should eat more too, you know?”
Maybe her meal had lifted her spirits, because she suddenly started acting all high and mighty. She leaned back with the kind of satisfied expression only a full stomach could bring.
“You’ll never grow big like me if you don’t.”
No, if anything, Mogami-san was already plenty “big.” And no, I didn’t mean in terms of height, seeing as the two only differed by a few centimeters at most. But in one particular area, there was an overwhelming gap.
“Grow big and… wait, you’re big big! Hey, can I ask you something? What do I need to eat to get that big? Tell me! Hey, why are you so big? Fuko, make me that big too!”
“I-I-I-I’m not big!”
"Uuuu... If only I were as big as you..."
Wannai-san had more of a petite, loli-type figure. The kind that might appeal to a certain niche, but was a tough sell for the general audience. Her archetype might add more variation in the cast, but she was a little too weak to be the main heroine.
That was why it was hard to deny that she tended to be overshadowed by the other stacked heroines. That was probably why she was given all those other traits, like being an “airhead,” a “loser” and “mentally weak.” It was all just to make her character stand out.
Still, a character with such a ‘comic relief-heavy’ trait like her usually just got in the way when things turned serious. So honestly, I doubted she’d ever be rewarded in the story.
“…Haa. I think I finally understand why Saiga is so interested in Fuko.”
Now that she'd finished her meal, Wannai-san seemed to have calmed down. She wasn't an emotional wreck like she was when we first ran into her. It looked like she was finally calm enough to have a real conversation.
Why had she even approached us in the first place? Why… had she chased us all the way here, practically stalking us?
She was too much of a mess to talk to earlier, but... I figured it was probably okay to ask her some questions now. There were a lot of things about this girl that just didn't add up.
"So, Wannai-san... you said you had something you wanted to tell Mogami-san, right?"
"Yeah. It's just... I want her to make Saiga happy."
She'd said the same thing before. But we didn't know the context for that. And because of that, we just couldn't understand what she meant. It seemed like I needed to dig a little deeper into that.
“…Why do you feel that way?”
“Because Saiga’s always talking about Fuko.”
"So, in other words... you thought Sanada liked Mogami-san, and that's why you came here to ask her to make him happy. Is that right?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
“Right… but let me just ask one thing. You like Sanada yourself, don’t you? So wouldn’t you want to be the one to make him happy?”
"If I could do that, of course I would!"
...Okay, that was a little mean of me. Wannai-san sighed, but she still gave a firm nod.
Yeah, that made sense. She was trapped in a hopeless, one-sided love. And deep down, she already knew her feelings weren't going to be reciprocated. Even so, she was willing to go this far, all for the sake of the guy she loves.
It was touching, really. Her selfless devotion almost made her look like a loyal puppy who would do anything for her master. And actually, that was part of why she was very popular among fans.
Still, her personal struggles didn’t really have much to do with Mogami-san. Sure, Wannai-san was in a pitiful situation. But Mogami-san wasn't the type to just irresponsibly offer a helping hand just because she felt sorry for her. Sometimes, a careless act of kindness could end up hurting someone even more.
It was like feeding a stray dog. A wild animal that gets used to being fed loses its ability to hunt for itself. It becomes completely dependent on humans for food. That kind of irresponsible kindness could destroy someone.
Just like Mogami-san herself used to be. Misunderstanding Sanada’s kindness, letting it consume her, and nearly breaking under the weight of it. Maybe that’s why she was able to look Wannai-san straight in the eye and say what needed to be said.
“I’m sorry. But I can’t be the one to make Sanada-kun happy.”
She said it clearly, without hesitation. Just a little while ago, she couldn't even make eye contact with her. But now, she was looking at Wannai-san straight in the eye as she spoke those words—.
