I Reincarnated as the Villain of an NTR Game, But I Don't Want to Make the Main Heroine Unhappy so I'll Live Earnestly - Chapter 128-129

Chapter 128: Yukimura Seems to Be Worried About Something

That afternoon after school.

“……”

“Hm?”

After all the classes ended, I was getting ready to leave when I noticed Yukimura, who was sitting in front of me, staring off into space without getting up. I felt concerned, so I decided to call out to her.

“Hey, you seem tired.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, thanks… wait, I should hurry up and get ready to leave!”

When I spoke, Yukimura suddenly snapped out of her daze and greeted me. She quickly started packing her textbooks and notebooks into her school bag.

“Are you heading home already? Don’t you have tennis practice today?”

“No, club activities are canceled today. But I’m going out with my parents this evening, so I planned to head straight home after classes.”

“Is that so? Well, I was about to leave too, so how about we walk to the station together?”

“Sure, that sounds good. Let me just finish getting ready, and I’ll be right there.”

“Alright, I’ll wait.”

So, I waited for Yukimura to finish getting ready, and soon after, we left the classroom together.

◇◇◇◇

A few minutes later…

We walked out of the school gate and started heading towards the nearest station, chatting casually along the way.

“So, where are you going with your parents this evening?”

“Oh, actually, my dad was away on a business trip for a while. He’s coming back today, so we’re going out for a nice meal together to celebrate.”

“Wow, that sounds great! It must be nice to have your family together again. You should hurry home, then.”

“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it!”

Yukimura smiled brightly as she spoke. From the looks of it, her family gets along really well.

(Her expression is completely different from earlier… oh, right, speaking of which…)

“By the way, were you thinking about something earlier?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, when I spoke to you in the classroom, you seemed lost in thought. I wondered if something was bothering you.”

I couldn’t help but ask Yukimura, curious about her earlier behavior. She looked surprised and flustered.

“Really? Did it show that much on my face?”

“Yeah, it was pretty obvious. What were you thinking about?”

“Uh, well… it’s just that… remember how I told you there are all sorts of rumors about you? I started wondering who spreads those rumors, and it’s been on my mind since lunchtime.”

“Rumors about me?”

It wasn’t what I expected at all, so my response was a bit flat.

(Wait, her concern was about me, not herself?)

Even so, since Yukimura seemed troubled by it all day, I decided to take her question seriously and respond.

“Hmm, like I said before, it’s probably just other students catching glimpses of me and spreading random rumors. That’s usually how these things start. And most of the rumors about me are completely false anyway. People probably just saw me from a distance and made up scary stories.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. The rumors are probably just baseless gossip, with students spreading their own wild ideas.”

“Exactly. But it’s strange that you’re suddenly asking me about this… Wait, is there a new rumor going around about me?”

“Uh… huh!? N-no, there’s no new rumor about you! D-don’t say weird things like that! And… don’t go looking into it, okay?”

“Uh, sure… if you say so, I won’t dig into it.”

Yukimura blushed and hurriedly told me not to pry any further.

From her reaction, it really seemed like there was a new rumor about me, but if Yukimura says not to worry, then I won’t.

“…Huh? But now that I think about it…”

Suddenly, Yukimura’s expression turned puzzled again. It seemed like she had stumbled upon another question.

—

Chapter 129: Did Something Happen in Ayako’s Past?

“What’s up this time?”

“Oh, um, well… there aren’t any new rumors or anything, but most of the rumors about you were pretty much all lies, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true. So, I guess the new rumor is also a lie?”

“What!? No, like I said, there aren’t any new rumors about you!”

As I asked her with a laugh, Yukimura responded loudly.

“Haha, sorry, sorry, you’re right. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Go ahead and continue.”

“Huh… well, anyway, getting back to what I was saying, even though almost all of the rumors about you were false… there was one rumor that was actually true, wasn’t there?”

“Huh…? Oh, yeah, you’re right. The rumor about Ayako dropping out of school was true.”

According to what Yukimura told me before, there was a rumor going around this school that a female student named ‘Kuzuhara’ got pregnant and dropped out.

And that rumor was actually true. Because my mother, Ayako Kuzuhara, really did drop out of this school.

“Yeah, that’s right. So, when I heard about it, I thought… isn’t it strange? I mean, almost all of your rumors were false, so why was that one the only one that was true? And besides, for a student to know such a private detail about your mother… don’t you think that’s really weird…?”

Yukimura spoke to me with a suspicious expression. I had wondered about that myself, too…

“Well, I was also wondering the same thing until recently… but maybe it’s something like this? If a student has a family member who was a graduate from when Ayako was a student or someone who has an old yearbook, it wouldn’t be strange for them to know that my mother dropped out. And Ayako herself hasn’t kept it a secret that she dropped out of high school. So, I don’t think it’s that strange for someone to know that Ayako left this school.”

“Oh, I see. That makes sense. If they have a connection to a graduate from this school, there might be a student who knows about Ayako. Oh, that reminds me… didn’t Kusakabe-sensei also know about your mother?”

“Ugh… that guy…”

When she suddenly mentioned that annoying old man, I couldn’t help but show a slightly irritated expression.

“Well, I was so focused on proving your innocence at the time that I’d forgotten, but… yeah, what Kusakabe-sensei talked about back then was about Ayako, right?”

“Yeah, it was. I remember having quite the argument with him… but I never expected him to insult my mother as well. That really shocked me. Though now, I don’t really care anymore.”

“You don’t care…? You were seriously about to lose your temper back then…”

“Yeah, well, at that time, I was. But no one wouldn’t get angry if their family, someone they care about, was insulted, right?”

“Well… yeah, you’re right. But please, don’t do anything reckless again, okay?”

“Haha, of course. Besides, I haven’t been picking fights with teachers or glaring at students lately, right? So, don’t worry about that. Just like I promised you that day… I won’t cause my family any more trouble.”

I smiled gently at Yukimura to reassure her. I must have been visibly furious that day for her to be this concerned.

The Kusakabe guy we were talking about is a strict-looking old man who teaches at this high school. He’s in charge of discipline, so from a student’s perspective, he’s a pretty troublesome teacher.

I had once been called out by Kusakabe for something unreasonable, and he scolded me harshly. On top of that, for some reason, he even insulted my mother, Ayako, during that incident. Even now, thinking about it makes me angry…

(Huh… but if you think about it…)

At the time, I was too angry to think clearly, but now that I consider it… could it be that Kusakabe has been teaching at this school since Ayako was a student?

Because if Kusakabe knows about Ayako’s dropout, that’s probably the case, right?

(And from the way he mocked Ayako’s dropout… did something happen between Ayako and Kusakabe when she was a student?)

Even if Kusakabe really hates me as much as he does, for him to insult my mother as well would require a lot of malice.

So, could it be that Kusakabe harbored some kind of ill will towards Ayako back when she was a student?

(Hmm… well, Ayako did say she used to be quite the rebel when she was a student…)

I can easily imagine that Ayako, like me, ignored school rules and just had fun every day. And from Kusakabe’s perspective, he must have really hated someone like Ayako.

Thinking about all this makes me really curious about what Ayako was like in high school. But…

(But I don’t know anything about Ayako’s high school days…)

I’ve never really had a deep conversation with Ayako about her past. That’s because she was always incredibly busy with work, and I was going through my rebellious phase at the time. We didn’t have many chances to talk…

But now that I’m no longer a delinquent and have outgrown my rebellious phase, I’d like to sit down and have a good talk with Ayako about those days… but I’m sure the conversation will lead to how she met her ex-husband.

(Ugh, I really don’t want to hear about that from Ayako… So, I’ll just ask Miwa-nee about it!)

I definitely don’t want to hear such details from my mother, so I decided to ask Miwa-nee, who’s Ayako’s close friend and was her senior in high school, about those days.

And maybe I’ll even hear some interesting stories about them. Hearing about Ayako and Miwa-nee’s high school days could be fun and intriguing.

So, next time I see Miwa-nee, I’ll ask her about what they were like back then.

“Well, if you say so, I’ll believe you. But you know, you really do care about your family, don’t you?”

“Hm? Haha, of course I do. You care about your parents, too, don’t you, Yukimura? It’s the same feeling.”

“…I see. Yeah, that’s true. Just like how I care deeply for my mom and dad, you care deeply for Ayako-san and Yuna-chan. Hehe, I think it’s really wonderful that you can express that so openly.”

“Huh? Oh, um… thank you?”

Yukimura said something really nice, but I felt a bit embarrassed, so I turned my eyes away slightly.

“By the way, didn’t you say your dad was on a business trip? So he didn’t get to see your one-day-only brown hair?”

“Ah… yeah, that’s right. But I did send him a picture on LIME. He said he was really disappointed that he couldn’t see it in person.”

Yukimura smiled happily as she said that. It was clear from her expression that she has a great relationship with her father.

“Haha, I see. Well, you can always come back to Ayako’s salon. I’m sure she’d be happy to do it again for you.”

“Hehe, maybe I will. Next time, I’ll ask her again so my dad can see it.”

“Yeah, definitely do that. I’m sure Ayako will be delighted, so make sure you come again.”

“Sure, I will.”

With that, we continued walking towards the station, chatting happily about our families.

As we talked, it became clear that we both really love our families.