Hoshino Ai
A/N: I mainly add things in this Chapter's Rewrite. I deleted only a little bit, and more to replacing them with better writings.
***
I'm a writer.
[Wait, does anyone even care about my background...?]
Ah, anyway, I spend most of my free time writing. They're usually inspired by games such as Dark Souls, Sekiro, Ghost of Tsushima, or any other Souls type of game.
They're cool, man. I like seeing everyone suffer— okay, that's a bit weird of me, probably, but who cares?
I live alone in a small apartment in an urban area. I didn't really know anyone since I had just moved from the countryside yesterday. Before long, I'll be entering high school.
Brushing my teeth in front of the mirror, I saw the reflection of my face. Yes, you know where this is going.
There was a man with silver-blue hair, serene eyes, and nice features in the mirror. His body was well-toned from his daily training, and he had a calm, cool aura surrounding him. He's me!
Well, it happens once in a while, you know, admiring yourself and all. There's nothing good about constantly looking down on yourself anyway. Be positive, readers!
After I finished cleaning my teeth, I made a simple breakfast of fried rice from the leftover rice. I added scrambled eggs for variety.
I sat on the cushion, turned on my laptop, and enjoyed random videos on the internet while trying to finish my meal. There were still a few days before school started. Before that, I had plenty of time to enjoy myself.
"—urk," an object suddenly fell onto my head, forcing me to drop my plate of fried rice. [The hell?!]
As "it" fell to the floor, I looked over to find a diary of some sort (?) lying open next to me. [I don't remember buying it...]
No, before that, where was it thrown from?
On top of me was just a roof and a tiny bulb. There's no way it could have appeared from there.
[Don't tell me it's a Death Note?]
If so, I'll throw it out.
However, something appeared in my vision when I was just thinking of doing that.
(Congratulations! You received a Heroine's Diary of Ai Hoshino!)
(With this, you can control the fate of her to your liking!)
"Huh..."
[Do I have a mental illness or something?]
It went without saying, I was utterly confused.
[That shit felt real.]
It didn't pop up again, though, so is it really just my hallucination? [Yeah, better treat it that way.]
A bell on the door rang out as soon as I thought about that.
I quickly cleaned up the food on the floor, rushing to the door after putting the broom away where it belonged.
When I opened the door, a woman I recognized was standing there. My eyes widened in shock.
She had long strawberry-blond hair, red eyes, and quite a nice body. She had on a dark crimson blouse that mainly accentuated her chest. Her pants were tight, revealing the curves of her way-too-hot thighs. She looked to be in her middle or late 20s. [—wait, is she Miyako Saitou? From Oshi no Ko?]
"...Oh," she seemed as surprised to see me. "...It appears that I have the wrong address. I apologize for my oversight." She bows slightly.
"It's fine," I quickly replied with a smile, hiding my confusion.
Hearing my response, she lifted her head, smiling gently. "To not take up any more of your time, I will take my leave."
"Certainly. Be careful!"
She chuckled, walking away slowly. "The room I'm about to visit is only next to yours, but thank you for the words."
"Oh, really?" I arched my eyebrows in surprise.
Saitou nodded. "Yes. You can continue your activities unperturbed, um..."
"Hirosha Yoshikawa," I introduced myself, still smiling pleasantly. "I won't bother your meeting as well, then. Please excuse me."
Saitou gave him a polite smile. "Have a great day."
I chuckled. "You too, Ma'am."
Just before I went back to my room, I thought I could see her eyebrows twitching upon hearing that last remark.
I ignored it, and shut the door before picking up the diary on the floor. It wasn't blank.
I quickly read the contents, page by page, seriously. "Ai Hoshino... Hikaru Kamiki... Date... Okay, what the fuck?"
[This... This was like a FanFic story I occasionally saw on the internet with an OC as the main character. In other words, I had practically fallen into one. Is there any way for me to know how and why? ...No?]
Yeah, I don't think there'll be an answer to that. Or, maybe, there's some kind of bored God up in heaven doing this just for fun and I happened to be an unfortunate person as His/Her indulgence. There's no way to know.
(Quest: Alter Ai Hoshino's Fate!)
It popped up again...
In the FanFic I read, they were called "System".
But why should I...? I'm not desperate for girls. I don't care about her fate. And if I had to choose, I'd pick Miyako anyway.
Let's treat that as a joke.
I won't ignore Ai Hoshino's death. I'm not some edgy, cold, heartless, brainless, and whatever-you-call-them MCs that did evil for no reason. Most of them are just teenagers, you know? Well, though if you ask me if I'm a good person, I'll answer no right away. No way, no how.
[How do I use this diary...?]
That was my primary question.
It looks handwritten, out of a pencil, which eerily resembles mine. I can wipe it off with an eraser, surprisingly. I quickly rewrite them, though. I don't want something bad happened with my change.
[System-san, can you help me with the know-how of using this?]
(Understood.)
(The way you use them is simply to rewrite them to your liking. However, your narration must be within the range of logic. Illogical and overly unrealistic entries will be automatically canceled.)
It seems that the Heroine's Diary works by giving the user their life story in a diary format. They are also all quite detailed and thorough. From time, activity, and the heroine's feelings.
I can't read the past, only the future. The heroine's death will needless to say be the final straw for the story. However, it seems that I will also become one should I try to intervene.
I read the upcoming events.
"Let's see..."
***
Friday, March 8, 2024
7.00 A.M.
I was about to go out when there was something in front of my door stopping me at once. It was a bundle of white flowers? I didn't know who the sender was before I carefully examined it, discovering the identity as... Hikaru Kamiki! Woah, what a surprise! I think I've seen him before when I took acting lessons. I don't know much about this kind of stuff. Is it a gift or something?
***
After reading that, I scratched my forehead with a frown, sighing in defeat.
I know him, of course. Although it's been a while since I read the story, he's one of those iconic characters that I just can't get it out of my mind.
He's an actor, Ai Hoshino's ex-boyfriend, her impregnator, who led her to give birth to Aqua Hoshino and Ruby Hoshino. To top it all, he's the Idol's killer.
It would be too long to describe what happened after that. To cut it short, Ai Hoshino grew interested in knowing his motives. That's when their relationship started to develop.
This just came into my head suddenly, but is Ai Hoshino the only one with the Heroine's Diary?
(No. You can get the others if you follow the Quest)
So I have to be the Quest slave, huh? That kinda kills the fun...
(You'll earn Miyako's Heroine's Diary if you follow it)
[Well, guess there's no helping it.]
***
What did I do, you ask? It's simple, really.
I grabbed white flowers in front of my neighbor's door and threw them to the side of the apartment with no hesitation.
I can only hope that Hikaru Kamiki—the crazy guy who put them here—didn't see his gifts flying away from a second-floor apartment because of some random guy.
(Congratulations! You have changed the Heroine's Fate!)
(As a reward, you will receive Miyako Saitou's Heroine Diary!)
I smirked internally, pumping my fists quietly.
The Diary in question—with a different cover from Ai Hoshino's—appeared magically in my hands.
Since the door to my room was only on my side, I quickly threw the thing away before going back to the doorstep of Ai Hoshino's room.
For whatever reason, Hoshino had been living alone even before she started a family. I still couldn't figure out why, and to be honest, I had no intention of reading her diary so deeply. I just wasn't interested enough. I'm sure it'll be more interesting if only they give it in a novel form.
Leaving the diary in my room didn't make me feel safe. At the same time, carrying one with me at all times in my hand wouldn't be practical, so I currently still leave Ai Hoshino's and of course, the new Miyako Saitou's Heroine Diary inside the apartment. I was thinking of buying a small, inconspicuous bag for at least one diary later on.
I had made the first changes in Ai Hoshino's Heroine Diary, and now just had to put them into practice.
I was originally thinking of having the first meeting with her by chance somewhere like a convenience store or something, but I didn't think they would leave enough of an impact, and, for personal reasons, that was just too cliché.
I gently knocked on her door.
At first, there was a vague sound of footsteps approaching. At some point, there was a funny "—whuh~?!" accompanied by a light thud.
In front of the door, I faintly smiled in amusement. [It worked.]
"...W-Wait a minute!"
The sound of frantically approaching footsteps echoed from inside before the door slammed open.
I know I was the one who set this up, but wow, when it's actually working, it's still surprising.
A slender girl with flowing deep azure hair emerges from the back of the room. Her pair of eyes were truly striking. How did she get them? She was in her casual clothes, which exposed quite a bit of skin, especially on her arms and legs. Her cute face wasn't covered by anything, as one might expect.
"W-What's the matter?" She asked rather in a weird tone, and seemingly out of it.
For the context of what I changed:
In order not to draw attention to herself in public, Hoshino normally had to cover her face with something when going out.
I couldn't write anything too illogical in Heroine's Diary, and so I decided to take advantage of Hoshino's clumsy nature to let down her guard and be panicked by the small incidents deliberately arranged by myself, which eventually led her to face me without any cover on her face.
I tried to write something silly for an experiment, such as Hoshino having the ability to get a laser beam out of her eyes, but the Diary automatically changed the writing to the original. It was too illogical, and it's kind of a letdown.
In any case, now that I faced her, I put on an amicable smile on my face.
"Good morning, my name is Hirosha Yoshikawa. I only moved from my village yesterday. I had thought to say hello to you... but I seem to be interrupting your day. I am deeply sorry for that."
My expression turned apologetic immediately.
"No, no, you don't have to apologize...!" She yelled, prompting me to raise my head at once. "Oh, and I'm Ai—" she stopped midway, her face growing pale. She must have realized her mistake by now.
"You are...?" I pretended to not know and looked at her in confusion.
"I-I'm—" her eyes went darting to and fro.
I didn't have any control over anything from this stage onwards.
"Wait, what?" her face morphed again to a surprise. It was a funny sight. "—wait, you don't know me?"
"No, have we met before?" I stared at her in confusion.
"E-Eh? No, of course not, but..." she halted.
I glanced over her shoulder, my eyebrows twitching. "You sure have such a cluttered room."
"Huh?" she reflexively turned to her back. She seemed surprised.
She quickly turned back forward with a funny, angry look on her face. "Peeping into a girl's room is not a nice thing to do...!"
"Right, I'm sorry." I raised my hands.
Hoshino nodded sagely. "I'm a busy woman, okay? I don't have time for superficial things like tidying a room."
"You're only about my age, though," I pointed out.
"Urk, w-well, that was—"
I gave her an understanding smile. "You don't have to lie."
"I'm not!" she responded angrily, though I couldn't take her seriously. "—and, huh? You're sixteen?"
"I am. What's wrong?" I raised my eyebrows.
Her eyes had widened in shock. "I thought you'd gone to college by now."
I was only chuckling at that.
"That's a preconception. It's not good to rely on that."
"Then it applies to me as well...! So what if I'm a sixteen years old girl, huh?!"
"Then try telling me with clarity on what you're so busy with, oh Miss Bussy Woman."
"Gh," she groaned.
I chuckled. "I know I apologize a lot, but I'm sorry. I can't help it."
"...Hmp," Ai also recovered from her condition rather quickly, but pouting afterward. "I didn't know you to be a tease. Yoshikawa-kun, right?"
I laughed awkwardly. "It just doesn't feel complete for me if I don't."
Hoshino faintly smiled. "You're a funny guy, you know?"
"Glad to hear that."
She gazed at me without a word for a while. There was a mysterious gleam in her eyes.
"So which village do you come from?"
"Nagoro," I answered offhandedly. "Or the "Scarecrow" Village. Well, I don't think it'll make you know any better."
Indeed, she didn't look like she recognized the name. Either way, she nodded with a radiant smile. "My name is Ai Hoshino, and Idol is my profession! I hope that is only a secret between us, Yoshikawa-kun."
She winked one eye, and brought one hand in a V-pose to her face. [When she did that, it was actually super cute.]
"...Although I don't know why I should keep it a secret, I will," I shrugged, extending my right hand. "Nice to meet you, then, Hoshino-san."
"Me too, Yoshikawa-kun," she returned it with no reservations, smiling brightly. "You look pleasant to be around. Please take care of me."
"I will. Don't worry."