How to Handle a Yandere Harem - Chapter 12 - When the Past Came Back

I’ve heard this voice before—the cadence, the pitch, unmistakable. But from where? That nagging feeling of familiarity swirled around in my mind, elusive and teasing.

“It’s been a long time, Adriel.”

His words hung in the air, heavy with an unspoken history. Could it be…? No, the memory wouldn’t come.

Try as I might, I couldn’t place him. The face didn’t match the voice’s echo in my memories. Who was he? What past did we share?

“Adriel… the coveted…”

“Coveted? What a weird nickname… It had to be you, huh? Adriel, ‘the pesky one’.”

Issei burst into uncontrollable laughter, his glee echoing off the walls. This guy, always so clueless, yet somehow endearing in his naivety.

“Shut up, BL magnet,” I snapped, more amused than annoyed.

“Take that, Norisa, you idiot.”

Man, I needed to maintain my composure. This was a serious arc about my past, not some slapstick parody—though I hope it wasn’t too stiff.

“Yandere magnet.”

“Hey, cut it out, both of you! I’m right here. I was about to introduce myself, and you two start bickering. Please, stop…” The villain’s voice cracked, on the verge of tears.

We paused, taken aback. “Sorry…” we muttered in unison, feeling a pang of guilt.

“Muahahahahahaha, got you! I was just pretending to cry to let your guard down. Mwahahaha!” he cackled, revealing his ruse.

“Nice try, but no…”

I scoffed, though I was pretty sure I had seen a real tear.

He might’ve been losing his cool after all.

“Anyway, I’m the ‘Justice,'” he announced, his tone full of solemnity.

“What a childish name, man,” Norisa snickered, unable to resist poking fun.

“Sorry,” the guy quickly apologized, perhaps more to the universe than to us for choosing that name.

“Norisa, please, can’t you see he’s about to cry again? Why are you so mean?” I chided.

“Because his name is downright childish, ‘Justice’—man, who names themselves that? Probably just you and your three imaginary girlfriends,” Norisa scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically.

“Norisa, my man, my friend, you barely have enough friends to afford losing any.”

“You’re the worst friend I could ask for; you steal all the girls I like…” Norisa grumbled, his voice a mix of jest and jealousy.

“Heyyyyyyy!” the guy—Justice—yelled, finally snapping.

“See, Norisa, you made him angry.”

“No, you did…”

As the tension mounted, the air around us chilled—the first sign of Leonardo’s brewing ice magic. In an instant, the environment shifted as he summoned his powers, crystals of ice forming and swirling around him, a dance of frost driven by his emotions.

Reacting swiftly, I tapped into my basic magic, a simple spell to enhance my agility. Light flickered at my feet, and I was darting around, just barely ahead of the creeping frost that sought to encase my steps.

Norisa, not to be outdone, mirrored my movements, his body blurring with similar enchantments, both of us a whirlwind of motion against the icy onslaught.

“MY NAME IS LEONARDO, AND YOU TWO STOP ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER AND FOCUS ON ME!” he roared, the air crackling with icy energy as he demanded our undivided attention, setting the stage for a showdown none of us could have anticipated.

As the air continued to shimmer with the icy threat of Leonardo’s magic, Norisa prepared for a closer confrontation, true to his specialty in hand-to-hand combat. Despite his basic knowledge of Karate, Norisa faced a challenging opponent in Leonardo, who wielded his ice magic not only as a weapon but as a formidable shield.

Norisa started with a burst of speed, darting towards Leonardo with the intent to close the distance between them quickly. His strategy was straightforward: get in close where Leonardo’s ice magic would be less effective, using his Karate skills to deliver rapid, targeted strikes.

As Norisa advanced, Leonardo reacted instinctively, his strategy centered around maintaining distance to leverage his magical advantage. With a swift motion, he conjured a wall of ice spikes from the ground, aiming to slow Norisa’s advance and keep him at bay.

Norisa, anticipating some resistance, attempted to maneuver around the spikes, using his agility to sidestep the icy barriers. He threw a series of quick jabs and kicks, each one intended to break through Leonardo’s defenses and force him to engage at close range.

Leonardo, however, remained a step ahead. With a calm demeanor, he created sliding sheets of ice on the ground, making it slippery and difficult for Norisa to maintain his footing. Each time Norisa seemed to gain ground, Leonardo would summon another burst of ice or a swift gust of chilling wind, pushing him back and disrupting his rhythm.

The dance between them became a tactical game of push and pull. Leonardo’s strategy was to exhaust Norisa by making him fight against both the environment and the elemental attacks, exploiting his control over the battlefield to keep the upper hand.

Norisa, growing increasingly frustrated but not deterred, tried to adapt by looking for patterns in Leonardo’s casting, aiming to predict and dodge the ice attacks. He looked for an opening, a brief moment when Leonardo’s concentration on his spells might wane.

Leonardo, sensing his opponent’s determination, ramped up his efforts, creating larger, more complex formations of ice—towers and barriers that not only hindered Norisa but also began to encircle him, slowly boxing him in with a frigid maze.

Despite Norisa’s skill and persistence, Leonardo’s superior control over the space and his relentless barrage of icy constructs ultimately kept him at a disadvantage, illustrating a clear mastery of both magical prowess and tactical foresight.

As the ice and fists flew, Norisa’s frustration boiled over, his voice cutting through the chill air. “YOU JERK, WHEN WILL YOU JOIN THE FIGHT?”

“Soon, I’m explaining the strategy you used in a simple way here…”

“Stop being weird and join me NOW…”

Just then, the air shifted, taking a turn into the unexpectedly personal. “Norisa, I love you so much, but… you’re always with this damn Adriel. Why? Why always him? Can’t you see me?”

“WTF man, I don’t like guys, I’m straight, don’t get it twisted,” Norisa retorted, clearly taken aback by the emotional bombshell in the middle of a battle.

Retreating slightly, Norisa seemed to reconsider his position, his expression a mix of confusion and determination.

“I will be with you for now…”

That was the last thing I heard before the world spun dizzyingly, and darkness crept in at the edges of my vision.