I Realized I Was the Cheating Bastard in a Hentai Manga only after I Had Already Stolen the Heroine - 40

Chapter 40: For Now, I’ve Gotta Hear the Situation First

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“No… The blood… Shuuya is going to die… No…!”

Kyouko was in tears, breaking down in panic. Judging from the pain, it shouldn’t have been the kind of wound that would kill me, but she clearly wasn’t in the right state of mind. 

And then there was the girl who still stood frozen. She looked younger than us. At first, I thought Yamada had shown up again, but… Noticing my gaze, Kyouko looked that way. For an instant, her face froze in shock, but then it immediately twisted into anger.

“Rui!!! You little—!!!”

The girl flinched.

Rui? Which means…

Wait, that didn’t matter right now. First, I had to calm down my beloved girlfriend. I held Kyouko’s face between both hands and made her look at me.

“Kyouko, calm down. I’m fine. Look into my eyes. …That’s it, good girl. Keep looking into my eyes and take a deep breath. …Good, one more time, another deep breath.”

Some clarity returned to Kyouko’s eyes, though they were still wet with tears.

“Alright, you’ve calmed down. Good girl. I need to check the wound. Get me a hand mirror.”

Kyouko pulled out the mirror from her bag and held it up for me. The wound… Alright, it wasn’t deep. Just a shallow scrape, though a bit wide. That meant I would be fine.

I didn’t touch the wound itself, but pressed just below it with a handkerchief. Since it was the one I’d been using all day, I tried not to let it touch the wound itself—just enough to stop the blood from dripping.

If Kyouko stayed here, her anger would flare up again. So I decided to give her an errand.

“Kyouko, I need a favor. Go to the drugstore up ahead and buy the band-aids I always use, some mineral water, and gauze.”

“Okay… sniff… okay, I’ll go buy them… You’re really okay? It hurts, doesn’t it…? I’ll come right back, okay…?”

“Yeah. Get the size that matches this wound. And don’t run, alright? You know it yourself—you’re flustered right now. When you’re like that, you lose focus. If that caused you to get into an accident, I couldn’t bear it.”

“Suuuuuuhhhh… Haaaaaaaahhhhhh… …Alright, I’m okay. I calmed down. I’ll walk, and I’ll carefully pick out what you asked for, okay? Mwah♡ Wait for me, alright?”

She’d calmed down enough to kiss me. That was just like my girlfriend—she could switch gears properly. …Ah, she glared at the girl as she walked past. The girl flinched again.

Alright, Kyouko’s gone. Now then…

“Hey, missy.”

She flinched again. Well, yeah. If you’d just thrown a rock at a guy like me, you’d have no idea what I might do.

“Relax. I’m not angry at you. I think we both know who we are to each other, but this is still our first meeting. Let’s at least introduce ourselves. You probably know already, but I’m Shuuya Hiiragi. What’s your name?”

“…………………………Rui.”

I thought she’d be too scared to say anything, but it seemed communication was possible.

“Thanks for answering. Let me confirm.

You’re Rui Yamada-chan, right?”

“…………………Yeah.”

“I can guess why you threw that rock. But I want to hear the exact reason. Do you know the park just up ahead? I want to talk there. Is that okay with you?”

“………………………Yeah.”

Heh. She was actually a good, honest kid. I sent Kyouko a message saying we’d be moving to the park, and then I headed there. Rui-chan followed after me properly.

We arrived at the park. This was the same park I’d used back when it was Kanae’s case. This felt like fate.

“Alright. Before we talk, I need to confirm one thing. That rock—if I hadn’t shielded her, it would’ve hit Kyouko directly.”

Rui-chan flinched again, her face going pale.

“You didn’t actually mean to target Kyouko, right?”

“…No, I didn’t.”

“Good. That’s enough for me. And hey, no need to force yourself to use polite speech with me. Just talk however’s easiest. Since you weren’t aiming at Kyouko, I want you to apologize to her when she comes back. Got it?”

“…Yeah, I’m sorry…”

Really, such a straightforward good kid.

“So, the reason you threw the rock was me, right? More precisely, me and your older brother.”

Rui-chan glared sharply at me.

“…That’s right! You! You stole Kyou-nee from Kou-nii! That’s why Kyou-nee stopped coming to our house! You told her not to come to our place anymore!”

…What?

“Wait, hold on a second. You’re saying I told Kyouko not to go to your house?”

“That’s right! Don’t play dumb! You said that, didn’t you?!”

“Alright… Let me ask another thing.

Who told you that?”

“Kou-nii did! He said so!”

So that’s the reason why… 

I couldn’t help sighing at how obvious the cause was.

“By the way, what did your brother say about how he and Kyouko broke up?”

“He said you had some kind of dirt on Kyou-nee and forced her to break up with him!”

Yamada… What the hell are you telling your little sister… Enough with the compulsive lying, damn it.

“…Hey. Just now, when I was bleeding, Kyouko was desperately worried about me, right? Does that look like the behavior of someone being blackmailed?”

“Th-that’s…”

Exactly. The cracks were already showing.

“…When Kyouko gets back, will you hear her side of the story too?”

“Yeah… I thought I should do that anyway…”

Before long, Kyouko arrived at the park.

“Shuuya! I bought everything! Here, show me the wound…?”

“Thanks. Honestly, it’s hard to deal with the head myself, so can I leave it to you?”

“Yeah, I’ll rinse it first, okay? It’ll probably sting… Sorry…”

Kyouko washed the wound, patted it dry with clean gauze, and applied a band-aid. Truthfully, it wasn’t necessary to be this thorough, but if she didn’t, she’d just stay anxious. If our positions were reversed, I’d be just as anxious, so I could understand her feelings.

“Alright, that should do it. As expected of you, Kyouko. Perfect job.”

“Ehehe… Sorry I lost it earlier…”

“Uh, um…”

“Do we need to go to the hospital? Honestly, I’d prefer it if you did…”

“Ky-Kyou-nee…”

“That band-aid… Is that the kind you don’t need to change? Will it be okay if the doctor takes it off…?”

Oof. Complete and utter disregard. This was… Yeah, actually really pitiful. Rui-chan’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“…Kyouko. I’m fine. More importantly, we should talk properly with Rui-chan, don’t you think?”

“…Huh? With the girl who hurt you…?”

Rui-chan flinched again.

“Kyouko. I’ll say it again—I’m fine. I know your attitude comes from how much you care about me. But that’s exactly why you need to face Rui-chan properly.”

“…Fuuuuuuhhhhh… Alright. You’re right, I have to. Rui-chan.”

“Y-yes!”

“I acted immature. I’m sorry.”

Kyouko bowed her head to Rui-chan.

“N-no, I’m the one who’s sorry!!”

“I’d rather you apologize to Shuuya than me, though…”

“Ah, my bad. I asked her to apologize to you, Kyouko.”

“…Geez, Shuuya’s the one who got hurt, you know? So, why did you do something like that…?”

Rui-chan repeated the same explanation she’d given me.

“That guy…! Listen, Rui-chan. I love Shuuya, that’s why I’m with him, okay?”

“…You mean… Kou-nii was lying?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“No… that can’t be…! Kou-nii loved you so much! He was always talking about you… He said you were both madly in love… Kyou-nee, aren’t you going to come to our house anymore? Dad, Mom, and I are so lonely… The house is always so dark… If you were there, Kyou-nee, then…”

“…Hey, Rui-chan. Have you ever once heard Kouta thank me for anything?”

“…Eh?”

“You haven’t, have you? Sure, maybe at the very beginning. But at least in these past few years—not once, right?”

“Th-that’s…”

“I was suffering all the time. It was painful. My life was being consumed for his sake…”

“B-but! If that’s how you felt, then you could’ve told me or Mom—!”

“‘I know my big brother might be a bit awkward and can’t communicate properly, but please continue looking after him’? You’re going to say something like that, aren’t you?”

“-!!!”

“After all, you love your brother so much, Rui-chan. Do you really think I could tell you it was painful?”

So that was how it was… I was glad, all over again, that I’d met Kyouko before she’d reached her breaking point.

“Th-that can’t be… But still…”

“…I know it’s hard to accept right away. It’s only natural you don’t want to believe your beloved brother was lying. That’s why I kept my distance from you too. And that’s why I’m never going back to that house. It’s not that I dislike you, Rui-chan. I just can’t forgive him, more than anything.”

“…Okay, I understand. I still… I don’t want to believe it, so I’ll think about it carefully myself. I won’t make selfish demands of you anymore, Kyou-nee…”

“Good girl. You’re really smart, Rui-chan. When you feel calmer, you can contact me anytime, okay?”

“…Yeah. Thanks, Kyou-nee. Um, Onii-san.”

“Hm? Me?”

“Yeah… I’m sorry I hurt you…”

“Heh, good job apologizing. Of course I forgive you. So don’t worry about it anymore, okay?”

“…Thanks, Onii-san. Kyou-nee. I’m going home now.”

“Bye-bye, Rui-chan. See you again, okay?”

“See ya. Be careful going home.”

“Yeah… bye-bye…”

Rui-chan trudged away.

“…Man, Yamada really does have a talent for being a swindler…”

“I’m starting to think so too… He really is nothing but trouble…”

“Rui-chan was a good kid, though.”

“Yeah… She’s already set to enter our school next year. I hope we can get along again then…”

“Let’s hope time heals things. Anyway, let’s get going.”

“Yeah. Hey, what about the hospital…”

“Yeah, let’s go. Honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary, but if it makes you feel better, it’s worth a shot.”

“…! Yeah!~♪ You knew that’d reassure me?”

“Well, if our positions were reversed, I’d want you to see a doctor too…”

“…♡ Okay, let’s go♡”

So we went to the hospital and then headed home. As expected, the doctor said there was nothing wrong. He just told me to take it easy for a few days, just to be safe.

…Wait.

…Does that mean no sex either?

…For a few days?

…Seriously…?

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