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 17 & 18

Chapter 17: The Fanservice Heroine Entrusted to Me

“Ah, Yaohara—”

The moment Chloe called out his name, the classroom once again fell silent, as if someone had splashed water over it.

That was only natural.

For the classmates who had just heard the news of Chloe’s defeat straight from her own mouth, this turn of events was something no one could have predicted.

Even Chloe herself seemed unsure how she was supposed to react after calling his name.

She could only wear a slightly awkward, uncomfortable expression.

She swallowed hard.

With a look of determination, Nayuta Yaohara opened his mouth.

“Um, Mitsushima, can I talk to you for a bit? And Jeromiya too.”

Huh, me too—!?

Being called out in the middle of this tense situation nearly made me jump out of my seat.

I instantly met eyes with Chloe, who was sitting toward the back of the classroom.

And then—

The one who stood up first was Chloe.

“Y-Yeah. That’s fine. …Come, Jeromiya too.”

“O-Okay.”

After exchanging those awkward, clumsy replies, we both stood up from our seats and walked toward Yaohara.

We walked for a while and were led to a quiet, empty part of the school building.

It felt like this spot would do.

I could tell Yaohara had steeled himself for something.

“About this morning… I’m sorry, Mitsushima. And you too, Jeromiya.”

With a sudden motion, Yaohara bent forward at almost a perfect right angle and apologized to us.

Chloe and I exchanged confused looks.

Without lifting his head, Yaohara continued.

“I said something seriously awful to you both… I’m really sorry. I didn’t know anything about what you were dealing with, and I still said something incredibly insensitive. Please let me apologize.”

“Ah—no, it’s fine, Yaohara. At least I’m not really bothered by it…!”

“No. That doesn’t change anything. I was wrong, and I’m not taking this apology back.”

Only then did Yaohara finally raise his head.

His face looked far more worn down than it had that morning.

“After that, Nikaido and Hitotsuba chewed me out pretty badly. They told me there was no excuse for what I said… Honestly, I think I just wanted to feel relieved. Even Mitsushima couldn’t have been unaffected by getting dumped, but I wanted to believe I was the only one who got hurt less than the others…”

At those words, I felt Chloe quietly suck in a breath beside me.

“I couldn’t return your feelings, Mitsushima… and I wanted to run away from that situation. But no matter how you look at it, that was completely irresponsible. I dragged things out for a whole year without giving you a clear answer, and then tried to make myself feel better without even doing the bare minimum I owed you. Honestly, it’s only natural that everyone got mad at me…”

Yeah—figures.

This was exactly what made him a romcom protagonist.

He was dense, insensitive, and indecisive…

But at the same time, he was absurdly kind and had a strong sense of responsibility.

And on top of that, there were always multiple people around him who wouldn’t hesitate to scold him when he messed up.

Because of that, he never made a truly fatal mistake.

Things somehow worked out in the end, his everyday life rolling along smoothly until everything settled where it was supposed to.

Watching this all play out in front of me, I once again found myself amazed at the incredible self-repairing power of the romcom genre itself.

Right then, Yaohara lowered his head once more.

“Mitsushima, I’m done running away. I couldn’t choose you, and I’ll properly carry that regret and reflection with me from here on out—so please, can you forgive me for what happened this morning?”

After his solemn apology—

A few seconds passed.

“Hmph.”

Chloe let out a quiet snort through her nose.

“Fine, whatever—I forgive you. Honestly, I’d already forgiven you a long time ago. Yaohara, lift your head.”

At that commanding tone, Yaohara slowly raised his face, as if carefully checking Chloe’s expression.

The moment his forehead was exposed—

Flick! Chloe delivered a vicious finger flick right to it.

“Gah—!”

Yaohara clutched his forehead in pain.

“That one flick wipes everything clean. Dumping me, and that clueless comment this morning—everything’s even now. I mean, even I don’t want to stay mad at the person I like forever.”

I reflexively looked at Chloe’s face.

She let out a long, exaggerated sigh, then planted her hands on her hips and pushed her chest out proudly.

“That aside, Yaohara—don’t go thinking you’re off the hook just because you dumped me. You still have one huge decision left to make. At the very least, you’ve gotta reject either Hitotsuba-san… or Nikaido-san.”

“W-What—!? T-That’s—!!”

“I forgave you with one finger flick, but what about Hitotsuba-san and Nikaido-san, hmm? Do you really think they’ll be that easy on you?”

With a thin, merciless grin, Chloe looked down at Yaohara.

“If you dump Hitotsuba-san, I guess your ending is getting stabbed with a kitchen knife, huh? From behind—stab. Knowing her, she’d aim for the spot where you’d suffer the most before dying. As for Nikaido-san, she’s the gentle type, so she probably wouldn’t stab you… but you’d better be careful not to get deadly poison mixed into her home cooking when you reject her.”

“Eek—!? M-Mitsushima, don’t say such creepy things…!”

“I’m not trying to scare you. I’m just worried about you. Because I like you, you know.”

Fufun, Chloe laughed with a knowing, suggestive smile.

“And Yaohara—don’t get careless around me from now on either.”

“Huh—? W-What do you mean?”

“Jeromiya here just told me. If things turned out like this, he wouldn’t surrender quietly. He said he’d run off into the mountains with me and fight you with guerrilla tactics.”

At that moment, Chloe’s arms moved fast.

Before I could even scream, she yanked my head toward her.

“Gweh!?”

She forcibly buried my face straight into the deep valley of her massive chest, pressing it in hard without mercy.

“So—Yaohara. From now on, I’m going to make you seriously regret dumping me by flirting nonstop with Jeromiya right here. Prepare yourself.”

“Mm—! Mmm—!! Ngh, nghhh…!!”

“You’re not going to sleep peacefully anymore. Every single day, you’ll be forced to watch me and Jeromiya acting all close—more than friends, less than lovers—right in front of your eyes. You’ll spend every waking moment squirming in frustration. I’ll make sure the whole school—no, the whole world—knows what happens to a complete idiot who dumps a woman as good as me.”

The unbelievable softness and sweet scent pressed in on me, and before I could suffocate, I almost—no, I really was about to go.

In a panic, I slapped Chloe’s arm to signal surrender.

She finally let go.

I pulled my head free, sucked in huge gulps of air like my life depended on it, and desperately tried to reboot my body.

Then I hurriedly looked at Chloe.

“U-Um, Chloe?”

“What is it, Jeromiya?”

“Uh… is that what you meant by guerrilla warfare? Back then I was just trying to cheer you up, so I honestly didn’t think about the details at all… and also—why am I the target here?”

“Why are you making that ‘what just happened’ face? That’s not what it means.”

With a what are you even saying now kind of look, Chloe continued.

“Weren’t you the one who said ‘the two of us’ would do it? And that we’d mess with Yaohara’s peaceful sleep too. That means this, right? From now on, you and I flirt like crazy as war buddies, and make Yaohara regret dumping me. That’s what guerrilla warfare is, isn’t it? Am I wrong?”

“E-Eh…!? T-That’s how it turns out!?”

When I shouted back in pure shock, Yaohara looked at us and let out a dry, awkward laugh.

“Ahaha… I figured you wouldn’t give up on me that easily, but… wow, you went with that angle. Mitsushima, you really never waver, do you?”

“Of course I don’t. I’m the best woman in the world, you know? There’s no way I’m letting myself get sent quietly to a POW camp. As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep biting at you.”

“Hahaha… I see. Guess I still can’t let my guard down. …Hey, Jeromiya.”

“Y-Yeah?”

While I stood there completely left out of the conversation, Yaohara seemed to reach some kind of conclusion on his own and scratched his cheek with an embarrassed look.

“I might not really be in a position to say this, but… officially, Mitsushima is my closest female friend. So I want to entrust my precious female friend to you. …Will you take responsibility for that?”

“Ehh…!? Y-You too!? You’re seriously on board with this insane plan!?”

“Honestly, thinking about what you two might do to me from now on is terrifying… but still. I know Mitsushima—once she decides something, she never backs down. And besides…”

At that point, Yaohara glanced over at Chloe, who was standing beside me.

“Jeromiya. When Mitsushima’s with you, she looks like she’s genuinely having fun—and she goes back to being her usual self. If it’s you, I know I can trust you with her. So… take care of Mitsushima from here on out.”

No—being told that so refreshingly didn’t exactly fill me with joy or a sense of duty.

Honestly, all I felt was confusion.

More than anything, I was a complete mob character—my name didn’t even properly appear in the story.

I was such a gloomy nobody that even my classmates barely knew my name.

Sure, I had memories from before reincarnating, but still—

Putting someone like me in line as a possible replacement next to one of the heroines?

Even if this was a romcom world that was absurdly kind to introverts, wasn’t that pushing it a bit too far…?

Right as I was drowning in pure confusion, Chloe suddenly grabbed my left hand without any warning and laced her fingers through mine.

A full-on lovers’ handhold.

Of course, I panicked instantly.

“Wha—!? Y-Your hand—!!”

“Well then, nice to officially work with you, partner! Yaohara, you better watch closely! We’re going to look at least a hundred times happier than whoever you end up choosing in the end! Try not to get your throat slit in your sleep by us, okay!?”

With a sharp sniff, Chloe pointed straight at Yaohara with her free right hand and boldly declared war all over again.

As for me—

I’d never held hands with a ridiculously beautiful girl like Chloe before.

Between the unexpected coolness of her hand and how small it felt, my brain short-circuited, and all I could do was stand there in total, suspicious silence.

Watching the two of us like that, Yaohara let out another dry, awkward laugh.

One thing became clear to me.

In romcoms, there’s usually no loser revival.

But an overtime match?

Yeah—sometimes, that does happen.

Chapter 18: The Fanservice Heroine’s Advance

“Now, Jeromiya—say ahh.”

“A-Ahh…”

“Geez—open wider! That tiny little mouth won’t fit the hamburger I woke up at five to make. Open up properly, like a man!”

“A-Ahgh…!”

“Good, good. Alright then—Jeromiya’s very first cheeseburger of his life… here it comes.”

The moment she said that, a solid chunk of meat was shoved straight into my mouth without mercy.

I closed my mouth and chewed seriously for a while—munch, munch—then let out a long sigh as I pressed a hand to my forehead.

“…So this is what normal people eat every day. No wonder they stay healthy. Damn it—if I was going to die anyway, I wanted to stuff myself with tons of unhealthy but delicious food before I went.”

“What are you saying such ominous things for? So, is it good?”

“My life’s been mostly bad memories, but this is good enough to erase, like… three of them at once.”

“Ahaha, you really are fun to feed, Jeromiya. Yaohara would just mutter weird stuff while holding back because of Nikaido-san or Hitotsuba-san.”

“Yeah. Hitotsuba’s clumsy anyway—she can’t cook at all.”

Three days after that one-sided declaration of war, during lunch break, I was once again sitting on the familiar stairs behind the school building, enjoying a bento made especially by Chloe Mitsushima.

Thanks to Chloe’s renewed declaration, our relationship had apparently been upgraded from “comforter and the one being comforted” to “war buddies.”

Because of that, the atmosphere behind the school no longer felt gloomy like before. Instead, it was filled with a loose, sweet mood—almost like a normal couple flirting with each other.

I had worried whether it was really okay for a bargain-bin gloomy mob like me to be doing this, or whether this would completely wreck the original story…

But honestly, it wasn’t like I could read the original anymore anyway. Once I forced myself to stop worrying about it, my mind felt a little lighter.

“Hey, hey, Jeromiya—what do you want to eat next? I’ll go ahh for you again! Come on, tell me which one you want!”

As she said that, Chloe leaned closer and closer, her face unbelievably cute, her eyes sparkling far too brightly.

As her face closed in, I instinctively leaned back a little, desperately trying to calm her down somehow.

“Uh—um, I can eat by myself, you know…! If we keep doing this, lunch break’s going to end, right? Maybe I should feed myself already…!”

“Geez! Now you’re saying the same kind of stuff Yaohara would! That’s not cute at all, Reiji Jeromiya! What, you’re saying you can’t accept a war buddy’s ahh!?”

“Are you some kind of drunk who gets extra clingy!? I-I mean, if a cute girl like you keeps doing that to me, I won’t even be able to properly taste the food! That’d be such a waste, right!?”

When I said that with the resolve of someone ready to die, Chloe blinked in surprise for a moment.

Then, the very next second, she grinned.

“Heeeeh? What was that? That sounded like something I can’t just let slide. So~? Jeromiya, you think I’m that cute?”

“O-Of course I do! If there were ten people, all ten would say you’re cute!”

“And I assume Jeromiya is included in those ten?”

“…Are you trying to turn an objective opinion into my personal opinion?”

“So? Am I included?”

“Y-Yeah…”

The moment I nodded like I was raising a white flag, Chloe’s grin stretched even wider, like it was about to split her face.

“Such honesty—very good. From now on, Jeromiya gets my smile for free, forever. If you want to see it, just say the word, okay?”

—Damn it… this woman is 99% adorable and 1% makes me want to punch her…!!

I clutched my chest and turned my face away, and Chloe burst out laughing.

“Now, now, Jeromiya—look over here! Alright, next up is ahh with this boiled egg. Come now! Say! AHHHH!”

I’ve gotta say it again.

How did Nayuta Yaohara survive this kind of nonstop offense for a whole year…?

Calm down, calm down.

Telling that to Chloe—and more than anything, to myself—I somehow tightened my cheek muscles enough to speak properly.

“S-So, Chloe. Just to make sure… we’re not actually dating or anything, right?”

“Mmm—nope, we’re not. Besides, you’re the one who said it wouldn’t be good if we dated, remember? What’s with the sudden question?”

“Y-You agreeing so casually just makes this whole situation even harder to explain…! I-I mean, Chloe, doing stuff like this to a guy you’re not even dating is kind of… not good, or how should I put it…”

Ah—great.

I was saying things that sounded exactly like a third-rate romcom protagonist.

And sure enough, in response to my painfully weak attempt at lecturing her, Chloe narrowed her eyes and shot me a sticky, unimpressed glare.

“What’s with that? You’re saying stuff just like some dense, indecisive guy from somewhere else. That really kills the mood…”

“I-I can’t help it! When you actually throw me into the same situation, only lame words like that come out! I’m honestly surprised myself!”

“We might not be dating, but we’re already war buddies, right? In a way, that’s an even stronger bond than being lovers.”

Chloe kept going, still glaring at me with those half-lidded eyes.

“And don’t you think love isn’t just about hugging and kissing? Teaching a guy who barely knows what good food tastes like by personally cooking for him—that’s a kind of love too, you know. Ever heard this? The kanji for ‘romance’ has ‘heart’ at the bottom, so it’s about hidden feelings. But ‘love’ has ‘heart’ right in the middle—that’s sincerity.”

“W-Why did this suddenly turn philosophical!? T-That might be true, but still! Even if I was the one who said all this first, if you keep doing things like this, even I’m gonna start getting the wrong idea, you know…!”

I was in the middle of stumbling through my words when it happened.

…Suu.

The usual light vanished from Chloe’s blue eyes.

Instead, something dark—something unsettling—seemed to seep in.

At least, that’s how it looked to me.

All at once, it felt like the temperature around us dropped a few degrees.

A cold, sharp chill burst out from Chloe, brushed against my cheek, and spread outward.

“That’s not a misunderstanding, you know?”

“Huh?”

“I already like you quite a lot, Jeromiya. Sure, it might be a little different from what I feel for Yaohara—but if that weren’t the case, do you really think I’d be waking up early every morning just to make you bento?”

Chloe said that with eyes and a tone that felt—just barely—like she was blaming me.

“Do you really think my feelings are that cheap? I’m just being honest with what I like, and with the people I like. And now even you are saying things like that, Jeromiya? Are the things I do… a bother to you?”

Hearing that—

Something clicked hard inside my head.

Right.

She’d already gone through being told similar things over and over by Nayuta Yaohara.

Realizing that my attempt to gently hold her back had instead piled on another painful blow, I scratched my head in deep regret.

“Ah… y-you’re right. Sorry, Chloe. I ended up saying something just like Yaohara would… That last line totally disqualified me as a war buddy.”

As I muttered that, filled with genuine remorse—

Suu.

Chloe Mitsushima slid closer, inch by inch, pressing her body toward mine.

Her right hand brushed against my waist, and she leaned in, peering straight into my face.

“Say, Jeromiya.”

“W-What?”

“Be honest… Do you actually like me?”

◆

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