Chapter 25 – Help! My First Kiss Was a Hostile Takeover

My grand plan was a spectacular disaster.

I’d planted the seeds for my epic revenge arc, sure. Siegfried, the fake hero, was locked away and swearing vengeance on me. This was, objectively, a win. The problem was everything else. The problem was that my party members now saw me as some kind of strategic genius and infallible judge of character. They thought I was a hero. Which meant I couldn’t get a moment’s peace.

We took the day off to recover. Kenji and Daisuke immediately decided to go train, their usual meathead routine. But they didn’t leave without giving me a mission of my own. A mission I wanted absolutely no part of. They forced me to go out with Reina.

Kenji had clapped me on the back, his smile unbearably bright.

“Reina’s been wanting to explore the town, Ryuuji! It’s the perfect team-building exercise!”

Daisuke had just grunted in agreement.

Traitors. Both of them. They were actively sabotaging my carefully constructed loner persona. I needed solitude. I needed to brood. I needed to stand on rooftops and stare moodily into the middle distance. Instead, I was standing in the town square, waiting.

My stomach twisted into a knot. This wasn’t a team-building exercise. It was a date. An actual, legit date. With a girl who was beautiful, sweet, and probably insane. My intel on her yandere tendencies was limited but terrifying. This whole situation had a seriously bad vibe.

Then I saw her.

Reina walked toward me from across the bustling square. She wore a simple white sundress that made her look like she’d stepped out of an angel-themed anime. Her long, dark hair was tied back with a simple blue ribbon, framing a face with a smile that was just a little too perfect, a little too bright. She looked cool and breezy, completely at ease. Her eyes, big and brown, held an intensity that could probably melt steel. Or me.

She waved, and her smile widened.

My fight-or-flight response kicked into overdrive. I chose flight, but my feet were glued to the cobblestones. She was a predator, and I was a cornered rabbit with a stupid haircut.

“Ryuuji! Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”

I cleared my throat, trying to sound casual and aloof. It came out as a squeak.

“No. I just got here.”

She stopped right in front of me, way too close. Her personal space awareness was zero. I could smell her shampoo. It smelled like strawberries and impending doom.

“I’m so glad we get to do this. I’ve been wanting to spend time with you. Just the two of us.”

Her voice was soft, but her words felt like a cage closing around me. I took a half-step back.

“Yeah. Kenji’s idea.”

Her smile didn’t falter, but her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second. A flicker of something dangerous.

“Of course. But I’m happy he suggested it. Aren’t you?”

This was a test. The correct answer was “yes,” followed by a charming smile. The loner anti-hero answer was a cold, indifferent shrug. I tried to find a middle ground.

“It’s whatever.”

Wrong answer. The temperature seemed to drop by ten degrees. The cheerful noise of the market around us faded into a dull hum.

“Oh.”

I had to correct course. Fast. My survival depended on it.

“I mean, it’s cool. A day off. Exploring the town. It’s a good way to gather intel.”

Her smile snapped back into place, brighter than before. The crisis was averted. For now.

“Exactly! You’re always thinking one step ahead, Ryuuji. So smart.”

She looped her arm through mine. Her touch was electric, and not in a good way. It was the jolt you get right before a lightning strike. My entire body went rigid.

“Let’s go! I saw a street with a bunch of cool-looking shops.”

She started walking, basically dragging me with her. My feet stumbled to keep up. This was bad. This was a nightmare. I was being paraded through town like a prize she’d won at the carnival. Every villager who saw us probably thought we were a cute couple. The thought made me want to throw up.

We walked through the crowded market. Stalls were overflowing with colorful fruits, weird-smelling spices, and handcrafted leather goods. The air was thick with noise and energy. Reina pointed at everything, her enthusiasm genuine and, to me, terrifying.

“Ooh, look at those! They’re called Sun-Kissed Berries. Do you think they’re sweet?”

I glanced at the bright orange berries. They looked suspiciously like the ones I tried to poison them with.

“Probably not.”

She squeezed my arm tighter.

“You’re probably right. You know all about which fruits are safe, don’t you?”

I flinched, remembering how my plan to be a villainous poisoner had turned me into a heroic nutritionist.

“I just have a good eye.”

A burly merchant jostled past us, bumping hard into my shoulder. He grunted an apology without looking back. Before I could even react, Reina’s head snapped toward him. Her sweet smile was gone, replaced by a chillingly blank expression.

“Excuse me.”

Her voice was quiet, but it cut through the market noise like a shard of ice. The merchant stopped and turned around, looking annoyed.

“Yeah?”

Reina gently let go of my arm. She took a step toward the man, who was a full head taller than her.

“You should be more careful. You could have hurt him.”

The man scoffed, looking down at her.

“It was a bump, lady. Relax.”

“He’s more important than you can possibly imagine. An apology isn’t enough.”

My blood ran cold. I could see it in her eyes. She was calculating the best way to utterly destroy this guy for a minor inconvenience. This was my chance. I could let her go wild. It would prove she was unstable. The party would have to reconsider her. But it would also draw a massive amount of attention. My plans required subtlety.

I quickly stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Reina, it’s fine. No big deal.”

She turned to look at me, and for a second, the blankness remained. Then, it melted away, replaced by her usual adoring smile. It was like flipping a switch.

“If you say so, Ryuuji.”

She turned back to the merchant, her smile now looking predatory.

“You got lucky. He’s feeling merciful today.”

The merchant just stared, confused and a little scared. He mumbled something and hurried away, swallowed by the crowd. Reina looped her arm back through mine as if nothing had happened.

“Where were we? Oh, right! The shops!”

My heart was doing a drum solo against my ribs. She wasn’t just a yandere. She was a high-level, expertly controlled yandere. That was so much worse.

She pulled me toward a small storefront tucked between a bakery and an armorer. The sign above the door read “Curios & Keepsakes.” The window was filled with polished stones, silver jewelry, and other trinkets. It looked like the kind of place my mom would love. I hated it instantly.

“Let’s go in here!”

Before I could protest, she dragged me inside. A little bell chimed above the door. The shop was cramped and smelled like old wood and incense. An elderly woman with kind eyes looked up from behind the counter.

“Welcome.”

Reina immediately started Browse, her eyes scanning the glass cases with an unnerving focus. I stood awkwardly by the door, plotting my escape. Maybe I could fake a stomach ache. Or a sudden-onset plague.

“Ryuuji, come look at this!”

Her voice was filled with excitement. I shuffled over, my feet dragging. She was pointing at a pair of bracelets resting on a velvet cushion. They were simple silver chains, each with a small, interlocking charm. One half was a sun, the other a moon. It was the cheesiest thing I had ever seen.

“Aren’t they perfect?”

My mind raced. This was a trap. A relationship trap. Matching bracelets were a gateway to holding hands, going on picnics, and eventually, a life of domestic misery. It was the polar opposite of my dark, vengeful destiny.

“They’re… bracelets.”

She beamed at me.

“Exactly. For us. So we’ll always have a piece of each other, even when we’re apart.”

I had to shut this down.

“That’s a little much, don’t you think?”

“Not at all. It’s a symbol of our bond. Our party. We have to stick together.”

She was using the party as an excuse. A brilliant, unassailable excuse. Kenji would probably cry tears of joy if he saw us wearing these. I was trapped.

Reina waved the shopkeeper over.

“We’ll take these, please.”

The old woman smiled warmly.

“An excellent choice. A powerful symbol for a young couple.”

I choked on my own spit.

“We’re not a couple!”

Reina just laughed, a light, airy sound that made the hairs on my arms stand up.

“He’s just shy.”

She paid for the bracelets with a few silver coins. The shopkeeper put them in a small velvet bag. Reina turned to me, her eyes sparkling. She took out the moon bracelet and held it up.

“Give me your wrist.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a command. I felt a cold sweat break out on my forehead. I reluctantly held out my arm, my posture as stiff as a board. She gently took my wrist, her fingers warm against my skin. The contrast was jarring. She fastened the bracelet. The little silver moon felt as heavy as a shackle.

Then, she held out the sun bracelet to me.

“Your turn.”

I stared at the bracelet in her hand. My brain was screaming. Do not put the matching bracelet on the crazy girl! Abort mission! But her eyes were fixed on me, wide and expectant. Denying her now felt like it would have catastrophic consequences. With trembling fingers, I took the bracelet and fumbled with the clasp on her wrist.

“There.”

I muttered, not meeting her eyes.

She lifted her arm, admiring the way the light caught the silver sun.

“Perfect. Now we match.”

She held her wrist next to mine. The sun and moon charms clinked together. It was my worst nightmare come to life.

We left the shop and continued our walk, though it felt more like a victory lap for her. She was practically glowing. I felt like I was wearing a glowing neon sign that said “Property of the Yandere.” We ended up in a small, quiet park with a large stone fountain at its center. The sound of trickling water was the only thing that broke the silence.

She led me to a stone bench near the fountain, finally letting go of my arm. I immediately scooted to the far end of the bench, trying to maximize the distance between us. She didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she was just letting me think I was safe.

“It’s really pretty here.”

I grunted in response, staring intently at a pigeon pecking at the ground.

“Ryuuji.”

Her voice was soft again. Too soft. I risked a glance at her. She had moved closer. When had she moved closer? She was looking at me, her head tilted, that same intense expression in her eyes.

“I’m really happy.”

“That’s… good.”

My vocabulary had shrunk to about ten words, all of them useless.

“You make me happy. You saved us. You saved Siegfried, even though he was a total creep. You always do the right thing, even when it’s hard.”

Every word was a dagger in my carefully crafted evil persona. I wasn’t doing the right thing. I was doing the selfish thing! I saved Siegfried for my own future revenge plot! Couldn’t she see how much of a scumbag I was?

“It’s not like that.”

“It is, you pretend to be this cold, distant loner, but I see the truth. I’ve always seen it.”

She leaned in closer. My back was pressed against the hard stone of the bench. There was nowhere left to run.

“You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met.”

Her face was just inches from mine. Her eyes were huge. My brain shut down completely. All systems offline. All I could hear was the rushing of blood in my ears and the faint sound of the fountain.

This was it. The final blow.

She leaned in the rest of the way. Her lips pressed against mine for a single, shocking second. It wasn’t a passionate kiss. It was a peck. A quick, decisive action. Like stamping a letter. Or claiming property.

She pulled back, a faint blush on her cheeks but a triumphant look in her eyes.

My brain slowly rebooted. System check: complete. Status: compromised. I touched my lips with my fingertips. They tingled.

That was my first kiss.

It wasn’t a moment of epic romance under a starry sky. It wasn’t the culmination of a hard-won battle. It was a tactical strike in broad daylight, and I didn’t even see it coming.

Damn it. I felt like a shoujo manga heroine who just got cornered by the popular guy. This was the exact opposite of the dark, gritty seinen story I was trying to live.