I Reincarnated as a Mob Character in a Romcom Manga—After I Kept Comforting the Third “Fanservice” Heroine When She Got Dumped and Cried, I Feel Like She’s Started Directing Some Seriously Heavy Feelings at Me - Chapter 04: The Fanservice Heroine Who Can’t Let Go

Chapter 04: The Fanservice Heroine Who Can’t Let Go

Right—Kanade Nikaido.

She was the second heroine of the romcom manga Schrödinger’s Love, the “childhood-friend” heroine who harbored feelings for the protagonist, Nayuta Yaohara.
She was modest, gentle, and shy—but also incredibly domestic.

In the story, she often treated Nayuta Yaohara to her home-cooked meals and made him happy that way.

Naturally, as Reiji Jeromiya, I hadn’t met her yet.
She was a character I hadn’t spoken to even once.

“Ah—no, I mean! Nikaido-san is close with Nayuta Yaohara, right? And she just seems like the homey type, doesn’t she!? I was just guessing!”

When I hurriedly tried to cover it up, Mitsushima stared at my face for a long moment—

Then let out a short, bitter laugh.

“Well, yeah. Nikaido-san is good at cooking. She’s treated me before, too. Yaohara totally let his guard down, smiling like an idiot, saying things like, ‘Nikaido would make a great wife someday.’”

“Tch.” That sharp sound made me widen my eyes as I looked at Mitsushima.

She flipped her chopsticks around in her hand—thud—and stabbed a piece of fried chicken straight through.

“Seriously, what is it with childhood friends anyway? If you’ve basically grown up like siblings since you were little, you should just get together already. You know this? Yaohara and Nikaido-san are next-door neighbors—they’ve been childhood friends forever.”

When I nodded after a brief hesitation, Mitsushima clicked her tongue again and shoved the piece of fried chicken into her mouth, chewing it aggressively.

“And yet Nikaido-san never once showed her romantic feelings, just stayed quietly by Yaohara’s side acting all modest. She probably thought, ‘I’m the childhood friend, so no matter how much you appeal to him, you’ll never be on equal footing with me,’ right? Honestly… she was not someone you could let your guard down around—”

“Y-Yeah, exactly! That’s what I’m saying! She looks gentle, but Kanade Nikaido is one of the scariest heroines out there! And Nayuta Yaohara’s no better either! He kept acting all suggestive with both you and Kanade Nikaido—!”

Before I knew it, I was no longer speaking as a background character in a romcom world, but as a full-blown fan of Schrödinger’s Love.

“Remember when you all went to the beach!? You asked him first to watch the fireworks together, right!? And then, right before it started, that idiot said he had to go look for Kanade Nikaido because she got lost—and in the end, he watched the fireworks alone with her in the woods! That was way too much! Anyone would say that’s not okay! I felt so bad for you I almost cried reading that scene!”

When I said that, Mitsushima’s eyes flew open like How do you know that!?—but in the very next instant, that surprise was blown away, replaced by flames of anger.

“Yeah, yeah, that happened! I remember now! Back then, I seriously thought about strangling Yaohara! But then that idiot came back all beat up, carrying Nikaido-san on his back because she’d fallen and twisted her ankle in the woods! After seeing that, how was I supposed to stay mad!? And Nikaido-san was clinging to him with the happiest look on her face!”

“Right!? She was totally wearing that look—anyone could tell she liked him at that point! And yet he kept acting dense afterward like nothing was going on! The guy never even considered seeing Kanade Nikaido as a woman instead of just a little-sister type—he’s hopeless!”

“Exactly! This isn’t just being dense, it’s on a whole other level! Do you know how many times I tried to make my feelings obvious to him!? Like I’d ever do stuff like that with someone I didn’t like!”

“Ahh, seriously, exactly that! I’m saying the same thing! There’s no way anyone would hold back—or even could—if a hot woman like you pinned them down on the infirmary bed wearing nothing but her underwear! When it’s that blatantly served up, how the hell do you not go for it!? At this point, the male instinct inside that guy is just way too dead!”

Before I realized it, we were completely in sync—venting, ranting, and tearing into Nayuta Yaohara like two long-time fans airing their shared grievances.

After the two of us let out all the built-up frustration we had toward Nayuta Yaohara in one long burst…

Sniff.

A quiet sound followed, and tears welled up at the corners of Mitsushima’s eyes.

“…Even so, you know… I still ended up falling for a guy that dense…”

Yeah… I knew it.

She was even more devoted than I’d thought as a fan of the original story.

She brushed away the tears with her fingertips and let out a long sigh.

At the same time—oh crap—

I realized I’d talked way too much, spilling things Reiji Jeromiya definitely shouldn’t have known.

I could practically hear the blood draining from my head.

“Uh—Chloe. About that just now, I mean, I just kinda guessed, you know—”

“It’s fine. Don’t bother trying to cover it up now. I don’t know why, but you know everything about us, don’t you? Otherwise, there’s no way you’d know what I did to Yaohara in the infirmary.”

She said it so matter-of-factly that I finally gave up.

“Y-Yeah. I guess that’s true. B-But it’s not like I was stalking you or anything—”

“I know that too. Even if you were stalking me, there’s no way you’d know what Nikaido-san and Yaohara did at the beach. You’re not explaining, which means you want to hide the reason, right? I won’t ask.”

“O-Oh. Thanks… that helps.”

“Hey, Jeromiya.”

“Y-Yeah? What is it?”

“Haa…” Mitsushima let out a sigh so deep it felt like her whole body was deflating.

“From your point of view… what did I look like? Did you think it too? That I’m just… that kind of girl?”

The sudden question made me catch my breath.

“I know, you know. People around me whisper that I’m cheap, shameless, all that. I can’t really deny it. I was always throwing myself at Yaohara, trying to get his attention. That was the only way I could think of. He was that dense, after all…”

She said it with tears pooling at the edges of her eyes.

“But when you’re in love… you really can’t see anything else. I kept praying all the time, hoping somehow a happy ending would fall into my lap. Even after I knew it was impossible… I still couldn’t give up.”

Sniff.

Her blue eyes blurred as tears finally spilled over.

“Honestly, I’m the worst. I did all those embarrassing things, and still got dumped so easily… it’s pathetic, just pathetic—Ah, sorry, sorry, Jeromiya. I really haven’t gotten over it at all yet. You already comforted me yesterday, and here I am again, just dumping my complaints on you…”

Her words trailed off, fragile and unguarded, like she was finally letting herself fall apart.

Watching Mitsushima place her bento beside her and desperately wipe away the tears spilling out, I felt a fresh surge of anger at just how cruel this all was.

I’d said it before, but the third “fanservice” heroine role was basically a curse in romcoms—a front-row seat to guaranteed defeat.

That position was almost always given to girls who didn’t have some special bond with the protagonist.
Not a childhood friend.
Not someone who’d promised marriage long ago.
Nothing like that.

So what options were left?

She had no choice but to put her body on the line.
To act foolish, to act shameless, to push her femininity so hard it bordered on force—because that was the only way she could compete.

Even while being reminded again and again that she was the one who would never be chosen.

Even so, she had to keep going until the hopeless battle finally ended.

That was the role—
The cruel role—forced onto Chloe Mitsushima.

It was unfair.

No matter how you looked at it, her situation—and others like her—was far too merciless.

And hating that cruelty with everything I had, I spoke.

“…Don’t call yourself pathetic. I really, really get how you felt.”