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 292-293

Chapter 292: Meeting Kusakabe Again

A little while later.

Of course the signing event got canceled, and the police were called.

I handed over the guy I had pinned down to the police. Right after that, they started the crime scene investigation. Me, Saeki, and Sera-san all stayed to help with it like the police asked.

Once the investigation at the scene was done, we were supposed to head to the police station for questioning. But right then…

―― Tap tap tap!

“Haa, haa! A-Asahi!”

“Eh? Ah, Dad…!”

“Eh?”

“Ah…”

At that moment, Kusakabe came rushing into the bookstore. She was breathing really hard.

But that made sense. Her precious only daughter had almost been attacked by some creep. Of course she’d rush over worried sick.

(Still though… it’s Kusakabe.)

When I saw her face, I remembered the talk I had with Ayako about her. Ever since that day, I kept thinking back on all the stuff I’d done before. I kept remembering all those days of fighting and yelling with Kusakabe.

And toward that same Kusakabe…

“Haa, haa… A-Asahi! I heard you got attacked! Are you okay!? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I almost got in real trouble, but these kids protected me so I didn’t get hurt.”

“Haa, haa… These kids? Who the heck are… wait, what!?”

“…”

Kusakabe looked at my face and froze. Then her expression turned into pure rage as she shouted at me.

“Y-You! Did you attack Asahi!! You damn delinquent!!”

“Eh? N-No, that’s wrong, Dad. This boy actually saved me.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding…! Wait, eh? H-He saved you? This guy saved Asahi? What the hell is going on?”

“Yeah. Um, well…”

…

…

After that, Sera-san explained everything that had just happened to Kusakabe.

“…S-Something like that… really happened…?”

“Yeah, that’s right. So Kuzuhara-kun and the others saved me. That’s why you can’t just start yelling at them like that, Dad. They’re the ones who saved my life.”

“…No way! There’s no chance this delinquent would do something like that! I could believe Yukimura helping Asahi out of kindness, but there’s no way this delinquent guy would help anyone!!”

“Eh, D-Dad…?”

“K-Kusakabe-sensei…”

“…”

Kusakabe kept glaring at me with that scary face and stayed super angry. Of course she would. We were always at each other’s throats. We’d hated each other for a long time.

So even if she suddenly heard that the guy she hated saved her daughter’s life, there was no way she’d want to thank him. It probably just made her even madder.

I could understand how Kusakabe felt. She must be full of anger toward me. And there was only one way to clear up that feeling. That was…

“H-Hey, Dad? Why are you saying stuff like that? Kuzuhara-kun is actually a really nice boy.”

“No way that’s true! You can only say that because you don’t know anything about this hopeless delinquent! Listen, this guy… he’s the worthless punk who never comes to school and just fools around outside at night! He’s been picked up by the police multiple times and caused us teachers tons of trouble! Having to see him even on a day off is way too unpleasant!”

“D-Dad. Come on, stop yelling like that. I don’t know what kind of fights you had with Kuzuhara-kun before, but he’s my savior, okay? So please stop getting mad at him.”

“…”

“Hmph! There’s no way this delinquent is Asahi’s savior! He’s a hopeless troublemaker! So I bet there’s something shady behind this whole thing!!”

“…Suuu…”

“T-That’s just an unfair accusation. There’s no shady stuff. C-Come on, at least listen to what Kuzuhara-kun has to say.”

“Hmph, unfair accusation my ass! This guy definitely has some hidden motive. He was probably planning to cause trouble for the bookstore and the customers too! Hmph, scheming something like that… you really are the worst delinquent in history—”

“…I’m really sorry for all the trouble I caused you!!!!”

“…Eh?”

“…What?”

“…M-Masa-kun?”

I bowed my head as hard as I could and apologized to Kusakabe while she was still glaring and shouting at me.

After receiving my full-powered apology, Kusakabe’s angry demon face instantly changed into one of complete shock.

—

Chapter 293: Apologizing to Kusakabe

I bowed my head and apologized to Kusakabe with everything I had.

“Eh!? M-Masa-kun!?”

“…”

Saeki and Kusakabe both stared at me with shocked faces.

But I get why they looked like that. Me apologizing to Kusakabe was something that would’ve been completely impossible before now.

“…Why are you apologizing to me?”

Kusakabe crossed her arms and glared at me while asking. I totally understood why she’d ask that.

Ever since my first year, Kusakabe had gotten mad at me over and over. And I’d gotten mad right back at her. I’d even grabbed her by the collar a few times, and there were moments when I almost punched her until other teachers stopped me.

Whenever we saw each other, things would instantly get tense. We’d been full-on enemies for so long, so of course she’d ask something like that.

That’s why I looked her straight in the eyes and told her the reason.

“I’ve done a lot of bad stuff up till now. Because of that, I caused trouble for the school, the teachers, and the other students. Of course I caused trouble for you too, Kusakabe. I really reflected on it and decided I wanted to apologize to you properly.”

“…Bad stuff, huh. So why did you even do all that bad stuff in the first place?”

“It wasn’t anything big. I just felt frustrated and wanted to rebel against adults. I was just a stupid kid. When I looked back at everything I’ve done, I finally realized how awful I really was.”

“Masa-kun…”

“…”

“So even though it’s way too late, I feel really sorry for causing trouble for everyone. I have no excuses. I’m seriously reflecting on it. So please let me apologize again. I’m really sorry for all the trouble I caused you…!”

“…”

I said that and bowed my head to Kusakabe once more.

Up until now, I only ever felt hatred toward Kusakabe. The reason was that I hated how she kept getting mad at me, and she’d also said some pretty nasty things about my mom, Ayako.

Anyone would get pissed off if that happened. It’s normal to feel irritated when someone yells at you, and it’s totally natural to get super angry when they badmouth your mom.

But the whole reason Kusakabe started getting mad at me was because I was acting like a delinquent in the first place. All the school rule-breaking I did is what started those days of her scolding me.

Even so, I never backed down. I just kept snapping back at her every single time.

And since I kept getting mad and refusing to reflect, of course Kusakabe got really fed up too. I bet that’s when my mom’s name came up by chance while she was trying to lecture me.

Once that topic came out, there was no way I wasn’t going to explode. That’s how things between us kept getting worse and worse, until we were completely at each other’s throats.

But when I think about it now, it was all my fault for breaking rules and acting like a delinquent. If I hadn’t done that, Kusakabe never would’ve gotten so angry at me.

In the end, I just shouldn’t have acted that way…

That’s why, with all my reflection behind it, I apologized to Kusakabe with everything I had.

“…Lift your head, Kuzuhara.”

“…Eh?”

“You said you’re properly reflecting, right? Are those words true?”

“Yeah. They’re true.”

“I see. In that case… I forgive you. I’m glad you admitted your mistakes.”

“Eh? Ah…”

―― Pat pat…

Kusakabe said that and gently patted my shoulder. Her face was still in a frown, but she still told me that.

“…Is that really okay? You’re forgiving me that easily? What if I’m lying?”

“After doing this job for a long time, you can tell. You learn the difference between a fake apology and a real one. And even if this somehow turned out to be a lie, I still forgive any student who comes to apologize properly. That’s part of a teacher’s job.”

“…Kusakabe…”

“Also… I’m the one who should apologize. When I argued with you, I let my anger get the best of me… and I ended up saying a bunch of horrible things about your mother. I knew it was wrong no matter how I thought about it. But every time I talked to you, I’d always lose my temper… and that’s why I could never apologize to you before. It’s way too late now, but I want to apologize too. I’m truly sorry for saying such awful things and badmouthing your mother.”

“…Nah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I already know my mom Ayako was a troublemaker back when she was a student, and that she caused you problems too. She’s reflected on that time and said she wanted to apologize to you properly.”

“She said that? …I see. So she grew up too, huh.”

“Haha, of course she did. She raised a big guy like me, after all. So she’s not the same delinquent high school girl you used to know anymore.”

“…Haha, yeah. You’re right about that.”

We both laughed together after that. The tense atmosphere from before completely disappeared, and a calm, peaceful feeling wrapped around us.