Extra: After the Birdcage Broke

With his brown hair swaying in the wind, a man sat absentmindedly on a concrete staircase as he looked out at the nearby river bank dyed by the red of the twilight.

There, the sound of footsteps reached the man’s ears.

Without turning back to look, the man called out to the owner of the footsteps.

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“That footstep, Madoka huh?”

“Hideyori……., what did you do to Towa…….?”

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Without any pleasantries, the green-haired woman asked a question to the brown-haired man.

The man certainly knows the girl called [Towa].

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From Madoka’s perspective, Towa is an honor student who is kind to everyone and is very well-liked by others in return.

She was actually surprised when Emi introduced Towa to her since she already had her eyes on Towa for some time.

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However, ever since their swimsuit shopping trip at the department store, she noticed that Towa was acting a little off and that she was sneaking around with Hideyori and Emi.

Shortly after, Towa’s parents passed away and Towa herself has become a mere soulless husk.

Seeing that, Madoka and Risa tried to comfort her but what they got in return was a question. [Who are you?] that was what Towa said to them with a straight face.

It didn’t look like she had forgotten them but rather that the fact that [They’re friends] had somehow disappeared from her mind.

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Towa’s demeanor was so off-putting that it gave Madoka goosebumps.

She gave Risa a forced reason that [She must have suffered memory loss from the shock] and convinced her.

However, as she was convincing her friend, she had already pinpointed the culprit.

——, It’s Akechi Hideyori.

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“Ahh, Miyamura huh……..she seemed pitiful trapped inside her birdcage, and watching her struggle was fun so I couldn’t help but be a little mean you see.”

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He said that so casually as though all he did was play a small prank on her like hiding her pencil case.

In truth, he had committed many heinous acts such as killing Towa’s parents, groping her, and even implanting her with a false memory.

He has to doubt whether Tsugaru Madoka can guess the extent of what he had done to Towa.

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“Did you hate Towa?”

“Ha? It’s not that I like or dislike her, you know. Well, her body was certainly to my liking but her virgin-ish attitude just made me want to corrupt her instead. She’s the type that I would never take as my girlfriend.”

“………”

“I was really troubled when she started directing those serious romantic feelings at me. Me aside, I just feel sorry for her you know. She really needs some better eyes for men. Personally, I would recommend she go after Takeru though, Hahaha.”

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Frivolous and playful words.

Whenever Madoka sees Hideyori like this, she realizes that this is the face of a man whose values and commonsense were already corrupted.

And the face Hideyori is making right now is something that she has seen many times already.

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Though in front of Takeru, the man he called his best friend, he would never display such an expression.

Despite the fact that they’ve known each other for years, Takeru is still clueless about this hidden side of Hideyori.

Hideyori’s nature is unpredictable. The nature of a man who’s filled with insanity.

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“Hideyori, you used your Gift on Towa, right? You twisted her mind and made her do some horrible things, didn’t you? You must have been involved in the murder of her parents too right?”

“What? Are you going to call the police and the Bureau on me?”

“…….I wouldn’t. I will never do anything that would hurt you, Hideyori. ………..Did you touch Towa?”

“That has nothing to do with you right, it’s a S-E-C-R-E-T.”
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Bringing his index finger to his mouth, he lowered his voice and answered with a grin.

No one, not even Madoka knows if he had taken Towa’s virginity or not.

Only Hideyori himself and Emi, his accomplice, know the truth.

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“…….Why do you use your Gift like that……..Like before, you could have used it to save someone right.”

“Ha?”

“Like back then, you could have used your Gift to save someone like when you saved me……….”

“Don’t be stupid now. I didn’t use my Gift to help you. Some goons were harassing my slave so I just chased them away. I didn’t even realize that you were with Emi back then.”

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Around their fifth year in elementary school, Madoka and Emi were persistently the bullies in their class.

At that time, although Hideyori was in a different class used his Gift to drive them away.

Because of the fear he put in them, the bullies never dared to lay their hands on the two again.

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After that, Madoka was left with her gratitude, admiration, and romantic feelings for Hideyori.

Normally, she would play the part of that one loud friend in the group but inside, that was just a way for her to get Hideyori’s attention.

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“The two of us are basically incompatible alright.”

“Can’t you take me as your slave too then? ………I’m taller than Emi and my chest is bigger too! The [Feeling] Emi has for you is forced but you would never have to do that with my [Feeling] you know. So……please, use me……..”

“No. Not you.”

“Why!? I will never betray you! Why won’t you make me your slave!? Why won’t you touch me!? Why……..”

“I told you, I would just be troubled if you directed a serious feeling at me. Also, aren’t you looking down on me here?”

“…….eh?”

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Hideyori coldly severed Madoka’s [Feeling].

With him being so direct, Madoka’s mind turned pure white.

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“You know that I might have ordered Towa to kill her parents. Even so, you still chose to confront me alone. If that’s not you looking down on me then I don’t know what is. A normal person wouldn’t do that after all.”

“N, No……! I just, I wouldn’t tell anyone in the first place……….”

“Madoka, you were telling a man like me to stop you know. Perhaps you still don’t realize the kindness I’m already extending to you……. You will definitely regret getting involved with me and I’m saying this because I don’t want that for you. Despite how it looked, you are important to me you know? I wouldn’t lay my hands on you and the fact that I didn’t try to get rid of you when you know about my Gift made you special already……. Love is not all about the physical stuff you know?”

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That was the true feeling of the beast in human skin.

Even this man is a human.

He’s not a fiend with zero consciences.

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“But I…….I still want you to need me……”

“I need someone who knows about my Gift to consult with. You’re already helpful enough.”

“That’s not it……., I want to be more like Emi…….”

“It’s not that I like that girl though. Maybe it’s more of a pity…….I took her as I awakened my Gift after all. No one can replace her. If I have to choose between a hundred slaves and one Emi then I would choose Emi. You are one of the hundred, Madoka. Just give up on a bad guy like me, okay?”

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Saying so, Hideyori stands up as though he wants to project his clear refusal.

He completely rejected the idea of using Madoka.

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“Hideyori! ………please, need me……”

“I need you. It’s just that my need is not what you expected, Madoka.”

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Hideyori gently tapped Madoka’s shoulder.

He showed her his true kindness, not the fake one that he used to deceive Towa and the others.

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“Hideyori…….”

“It’s easier for me to act like a thug or a frivolous idiot in front of the others you see. Later, Madoka.”

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Although his tone was playful, his words were packed with the most love he could muster for her.

And if that’s what he wants then she will hide her true feelings and continue to act the part of the lesbian character.

Until the day that he’s willing to open up to her.

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Tsugaru Madoka kept her virginity until the day she died…….

Author Note: It’s a serious style gag.

Despite how he’s a little secretive, Hideyori is mostly speaking his true feelings this time.

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Although he’s a scumbag, the original Hideyori seems to be popular.

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I wanted him to be a character that the readers hate but still looked cool and charismatic so that might be why he’s strangely popular.

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Although the ways they act are different, there are a lot of things that he has in common with Mitsuhide-kun like how they hide their weakness using jokes, sarcasm, and general sleazy behavior. Also, they’re both popular with weirdos.

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Just like the Puppeteer from Hell (TLN: Takato Youichi from Kindaichi) I want to make him a character that readers usually hate but occasionally become likable at times.
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The reason why Tsugaru Madoka was a non-capturable character was that she always had a crush on Hideyori so she never had eyes for Takeru.

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In the original game world, Emi and Madoka were bullied by several strange bullies(boys) in the past.

Hideyori was the one who drove them off.

Because of that experience, the original Madoka became a man-hater.

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Despite how he said all kinds of things to Emi, the original Hideyori also loves Emi quite a bit.

It’s just that his love was quite distorted.

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In the main story, Kurusu-san became Madoka and Emi wasn’t a slave + various story deviations, they were not bullied.