A Late Bloomer's Powerful Restart ~My Second Life Starts at a Prestigious School Where the Gender Ratio Is Totally Off, and for Some Reason, All These Talented Girls Get Attached to Me...!?~

Chapter 27.2: The Heroine and the Villainess

Suddenly, I felt a gaze from the direction of the school building. When I looked back, the curtain was just being drawn shut.

Someone had seen me…!?

Leaving the rumors about Mishina alone any longer would be bad.

The way people treated her might get even worse.

Not every girl who attends this school comes from a wealthy family.

There are commoner girls like Tsukimi too, and they seem to be looked down on every day by the girls who got in through recommendation slots.

If that resentment ever turned toward Mishina as well… I had to prevent that.

I would never forget today’s regret.

With that promise in mind, I called Grandpa to ask him for a certain favor.

After school, back at the dorm, I started getting ready to head to the Western-style sweets shop where Tsukimi worked part-time today as usual.

What I needed right now—was information.

If I couldn’t change Mishina’s way of thinking, then the ones I should target were Morozumi and her followers.

Especially the connection between Morozumi and Mishina’s older sister—I still didn’t have enough information about that.

But in the end, it was nothing more than high school girls messing around. There had to be some kind of opening I could use.

—Ding dong!

Suddenly the intercom rang.

Ousei was always courteous and contacted me ahead of time, so this pattern meant it was Sasa.

Come to think of it, she had been strangely quiet today.

I gave her the light novel I bought yesterday, but… she probably hadn’t stayed up late reading it, right?

“Sasa, did you already finish the light nov—”

“…Sasa? You mean Kanaka-san?”

“Huh…?”

When I opened the door, the person standing there wasn’t Sasa… it was Shika.

She hadn’t talked to me in class either, so I had assumed we were only friends outside the school grounds.

Her coming all the way to the boys’ dorm… and to see me?

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

As soon as I closed the door, the cool atmosphere she usually wore vanished.

She must have been carrying something heavy, because when she set her bag down, there was a solid clunk.

What was inside…?

“Um… I brought my game console—”

So apparently she had come to play games.

We had met at the arcade, but before that she had apparently been buying home console games at the store, so this was probably her real hobby.

“More importantly, you just said Sasa… Does she come all the way to your room?”

“Yeah, pretty often. Oh, want some snacks?”

“Yes, please.”

Was she worried about Sasa?

Well, Shika had always avoided Sasa whenever she tried to talk to her before. It would probably be awkward if they met face-to-face.

Still, I hoped they could become friends if possible.

“Since we’re on the topic, she’s actually a big gamer too.”

It was an unexpected common point between the two of them. If this could become an opportunity for them to get along, that would be great… but her expression didn’t brighten.

“Hmm… I see. So the two of you are always playing games together…”

Huh…? For some reason, her eyes looked scary.

Did I say something wrong?

While I stood there confused, she eventually turned her face away with a pouty, sulky expression.

Maybe, like Ousei said, she saw the Kanaka Group as a rival and wanted to keep her distance.

I didn’t really get it… I’d probably understand later.

“On the other hand, I’m curious—did anyone see you coming to the boys’ dorm?”

“Of course not… I hid perfectly. Ehehe.”

“…This isn’t a game, you know? It might cause more rumors, and you can’t stay too late anyway.”

I had reflected after what happened with Sasa before.

I decided that when I needed to say no, I would say no.

Unlike with Sasa, this time it was Shika—my first love.

Even I had my limits when it came to keeping my reason in check.

“Hmmm… So when you’re with Kanaka-san, how late do you usually stay together?”

“…………It’s obviously until dinner time.”

She had asked the one question I really didn’t want to answer, and I ended up blurting out a lie.

She could feel competitive toward Sasa all she wanted, but please don’t drag me into it.

“Even if there aren’t many guys in the hallway, it’s dangerous if someone sees you late at night, okay? If worst comes to worst, I’ll walk you back to the girls’ dorm.”

“H-hmm… So if it gets late… you’ll walk me back…?”

“Of course I will.”

Shika’s cheeks faintly flushed red; she seemed embarrassed.

For some reason that looked unbearably cute, and I had to desperately hold myself together to keep my reason intact.

The most dangerous person here is the one standing right in front of you… No, actually I don’t want you to realize that because I don’t want you to hate me… Anyway, Shika really needed to value herself more.

“Alright, let’s play some games right away.”

I was about to say that to change the mood—

“Oh my? Taiki, leaving the door unlocked like that is so careless…?”

Without any warning, the door opened and Sasa walked right in.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect… or worse. The room instantly froze at her sudden appearance.

Instinctively, Shika shrank back and tried to hide behind me… but Sasa’s amber eyes had already locked onto her completely.

For some reason… I felt cold sweat running down my cheek.