Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game

Sunlight scattered over the Unrelated Graves built at the foot of Mount Hunger's Cry.

This was an open space at the foot of the mountain, covered with withered yellow grass. It was a place of burial mounds, mostly for those who had starved to death during famine years, merchants who had died violently from disease, and travelers attacked by monsters.

Besides these, there were also the remains of clansmen, retainers, and servants who had escaped after the Moon Galore clan's territory was attacked several years ago, only to succumb to their injuries.

After arriving here, everyone offered simple prayers at the Unrelated Graves. After the prayers, Kutsuki Ikki, dressed in black priestly robes, walked into the open space carrying his sheathed sword.

"Yomei, do you really intend to challenge me?"

Kutsuki Ikki fastened the sword Mayowa to his waist. This precious sword was similar to a long wakizashi. Then, with his left hand, he drew his usual incantation sword from its scabbard.

"You should know very well that you have never once defeated me in swordsmanship. This kind of challenge, destined for defeat, is meaningless..."

"Not necessarily."

The girl's right hand rested on the Mizuwawahime sword. She also drew her sword, its tip pointing towards her adoptive brother.

"Ikki-aniki... I won't keep losing forever."

The two drew their swords and faced each other. In the next instant, the blades clashed together, emitting a metallic tremor.

Clang!

At the moment the blades crossed, a cold smile appeared on Kutsuki Ikki's face, because the instant the girl uttered her fierce words, she was shaken back by his strike.

"I always have the advantage in strength."

He wielded his sword with agile movements, the blade rotating horizontally. He advanced with a twisting motion, executing a second strike. Yomei quickly parried, and amidst the clash of metal, the blades once again rotated, collided, and crashed. Sparks scattered like stardust in the sunlight.

Strike, then strike again, and again. The swords repeatedly separated, flipped, mutually aiming for each other's vitals, deflecting attacks.

The two figures began to move, the conflict of sword light and shadows incessant. Ikki felt that something was amiss. Yomei's arm strength in wielding the sword was becoming increasingly powerful.

A dense array of slashes filled the space between them. Both swords emitted flashes of light, and the fierce impact transformed into twinkling stardust, then intertwined as if locked together.

Swish!

Kutsuki Ikki took a step back, disengaging from the fray. He looked at Yomei with a puzzled expression.

"What have you done?"

He glared at Yomei.

The girl already had several knife wounds from which blood flowed freely.

In contrast, Kutsuki Ikki had not a single scratch. However, he could feel the web of his right hand, which had received the blows, slightly torn—that was not normal strength, but the result of using spiritual power to strengthen the body, to strengthen the wrist strength.

"Ikki-aniki, did you think I would remain weak forever?"

At that moment, the gazes of the two collided fiercely, sparking invisible flames.

"You?"

Ikki opened his mouth in surprise. He sensed the fighting spirit on the girl. The Moon Galore Yomei he knew was radiating intense fighting intent.

"Aniki."

The girl gripped the Mizuwawahime sword tightly in both hands, jumped into the air, and swung it from left to right from above. The long sword, exceeding three shaku, fell, as if the very air was about to be cleaved.

"I will catch up soon!"

Sensing the terrifying power contained in this strike, Ikki could only raise his sword to block it. A sharp clang resounded, and sparks and metallic sounds exploded. Ikki lowered his waist to evade the slash, dodging from below.

However, as Ikki leaped backward, his cheek split open, and blood splattered.

"A-Aniki."

Ayaka's eyes welled up with tears as she watched the battle between her two important relatives. Her heart was filled with all sorts of bitterness.

Hyakusuke silently watched this scene. He knew that among these people, Ayaka, who had reunited with her biological brother, felt the most lost.

The same was true in the game's storyline. Even after reuniting with his sister, Kutsuki Ikki did not say a word to her, even completely ignoring her existence.

This gave Ayaka the feeling of being completely abandoned by her only relative.

'Aniki must have disliked me a long time ago.'

'...Is it because I don't have the clan's power, and unlike Aniki, I'm just an ordinary person?'

'Without the blood of an exorcist, I'm an outsider no matter where I go. That's why he's always ignored me.'

The same was true during this encounter at Gangoji Temple. Ikki aggressively targeted Yomei, ignoring his sister's existence throughout, acting as if he didn't see her.

However, the truth was not so. Ikki simply didn't know how to face his sister. He was essentially a clumsy person. He wanted to play the role of a "villain," but even he himself knew how terrible his acting was.

When facing Yomei, he could still put on a cold facade and say some unpleasant words.

But if he were to face his biological sister, he simply couldn't bring himself to say anything cold.

He knew his weakness, so he simply ignored his sister, pretending not to care about her at all.

"This sibling's knot is very bad for the development of the subsequent plot."

Hyakusuke thought. If both sides had such misunderstandings, it would cause a series of problems later on.

'It seems necessary to intervene. If their relationship is repaired, will Ikki's ending change? If he doesn't die and participates in the final battle, will our camp have a greater advantage?'

He vaguely had some ideas in his mind.

On the other hand, the two were still fighting fiercely.

Whoosh!

As the sword tip tore through the ground, Yomei pursued relentlessly. She poured her strength into her waist and legs, catching up to launch an attack.

Ikki raised his sword to meet the attack. The two cold steel blades collided with each other, and the two also placed their strength, fighting spirit, and the weight of their entire bodies on the edge.

The next second, the two swords pressed together, emitting a mournful wail as if about to break. The two exchanged positions as their powers intertwined, their sword tips pointing at each other's throats from afar.

"You, for the sake of battle... are you willing to go this far?"

As a high-level exorcist, he saw through the tricks Yomei was playing the moment their swords crossed.

'A talisman that can be activated remotely... was it secretly activated by the little girl from the Kariya family? Is this cheating?'

Ikki thought. Cheating was truly despicable.

However, this didn't seem like something the rule-abiding Yomei would come up with, nor was it the idea of the stubborn old man Matsudaira. Not to mention the scatterbrained and thick-skinned Kariya Tomoe... His sister Ayaka wouldn't be involved in such things either.

'Then, that only leaves that ninja from the Kurohimeyama family.'

Ikki glanced at the ninja outside the open space, a smile blooming on his lips. Interesting, how did you convince Yomei to go this far?

He wasn't angry at all, but instead felt joy.

--Very good.

--Really good.

To be able to prompt Yomei, who loathed fighting, to use cheating methods in order to forcibly win.

How on earth did you do it?

Also, Ikki's eyes turned to Yomei.

The girl gritted her teeth, enduring the excruciating pain brought about by the overloaded talisman enhancement, and stared intently at him with eyes full of fighting spirit.

'This is an expression I've never seen before...'

Ikki thought. Yomei had never had any competitive spirit in the past. She always had an attitude of avoidance towards fighting with people.

I thought she was so cowardly that she would even give up her father's belongings, but now she was looking at him with the fierce eyes of a beast.

The intense hostility projected onto him caused even a strong person like Ikki to break out in a cold sweat.

"I'm coming."

Her facial expression was distorted, enduring the pain, she took a step forward and charged.

"Ikki-aniki, take this!!!"

The girl's gaze was as sharp as a blade, pointing directly at him.

Kutsuki Ikki could guess that at this moment, all the muscles in her body should be groaning. It seemed that every inch of her body was wrapped in the talisman's enhancement technique, her physical strength, endurance, muscle strength, and reflexes were all super-enhanced.

"Very good, very good."

He maintained his cold smile, raising the blade in his hand high. The next second, he unleashed a lightning-like slash at a vertical angle.

Yomei swung her sword horizontally, and two arcs of moonlight unfolded in mid-air, then collided. Amid the sound of metal exploding, a sword flew out of her hand.

"I won."

The girl exhaled, her upright bangs swaying. The sword she held in both hands pointed at the empty-handed Kutsuki Ikki, the tip of the sword pointing at his throat.

"Hmph."

Ikki sneered.

"Resorting to cheating and fraud to achieve victory, the glory of the Moon Galore clan will be tarnished as a result."

His voice pierced Yomei's heart like cold metal, and her face flushed red.

"N-No, that's not it..."

"However, I don't dislike it either."

Ikki untied the Mayowa from his waist and casually tossed it to her.

"Unlike you, I accept defeat. Mayowa is yours. I won't interfere in the affairs of the Moon Galore family anymore."

He turned around and left without greeting anyone, turning away elegantly.

"I-Ikki-aniki."

The girl wanted to say something, but her legs weakened, and she almost fell to the ground. She still used her sword to support herself on the ground to stand up straight.

Aniki.

...Why?

Yomei couldn't understand why, in the final blow, Ikki had no intention of resisting. It was as if, at the last moment, he had chosen to give up voluntarily.

She looked in the direction Ikki left, and the man's figure disappeared into the shaded path.

'...Aniki.'

Ayaka watched the departing figure of her biological brother, heartbroken.

Her brother still hadn't had any communication with her, treating her, his sister, as if she were nothing, indifferent to her.

'D-Do you really not want me?'

In the blink of an eye, tears rolled down her cheeks.

Just then, a hand rested on her shoulder.

"You?"

She wiped away her tears and looked at the masked man behind her.

"Ayaka-san, you should have something to say to your Aniki, right?"

Hyakusuke, without waiting for her to react, picked up the petite Ayaka.

"The opportunity is rare... Ayaka-san, I'll take you there--"

What?

Ayaka, held by the strange man, showed a blank expression.

On the other hand, Yomei, who had finally won, smiled and reached out to Hyakusuke.

"Hyakusuke-kakka... I, I think I won against Aniki."

Suddenly, she noticed Ayaka being held in a princess carry, and Hyakusuke holding her. Her whole body froze in place, tilting her head slightly with a dazed expression.

"S-Strange... Hyakusuke-kakka, wh-what are you doing?"

"Sorry, Ayaka-san and I have something to do, we'll explain later."

He rushed forward at full speed, activating the Shukuchi charm at the same time. In the brief instant of a blink, he chased after Ikki and disappeared before everyone's eyes.