I Reincarnated as the Villain Who Bullies the Protagonist in an Erotic Game, but I Just Want to Stay a Nobody, Yet Somehow the Heroines Keep Obsessing Over Me - Episode 28: Confrontation with the Former Protagonist (Part 3)

Episode 28: Confrontation with the Former Protagonist (Part 3)

“Kanako-chan…!?”

“I heard everything. But I’ve never felt like we shared a connection, and I definitely never thought that you were trying to deceive me, so can you take back what you said?”

Wow. I can clearly sense the killing intent coming from behind her. It’s true that when a beautiful girl gets angry, it’s terrifying. From now on, I’m definitely going to avoid making Kanako mad.

“That’s not true… but Kanako-chan… no, you said back then that we had our own little secret, didn’t you? That meant you trusted me, and I believed that you trusted me too.”

“I did trust that you wouldn’t tell anyone my secret. I tried to trust you. But that doesn’t mean I fully trusted you as a person, and there was no secret shared between us that couldn’t be told to anyone else. Others knew about it too. It wasn’t just you.”

“That’s… that’s cruel. That’s way too cruel! What was that promise we made? I was the only one who believed in it. This isn’t some joke!”

It’s clear that Taida is really struggling now. His face looks drained, and he seems like he’s about to fall over.

“You misunderstood. I’m sorry if I made it unclear, but I never intended to make it seem like we had a secret. And more importantly…”

Kanako takes a step forward.

“That doesn’t give you the right to insult my friends.”

Kanako speaks firmly, and for some reason, my heart feels a little warmer.

“Kanako-chan, you’re wrong. Those people—those guys are unworthy of you. You shouldn’t be associating with people like them.”

“Then who should I be with?” she replies, her voice getting sharper.

“Of course, people like Kitagawa or Yamaguchi, the ones who are more prominent. The ones you hang out with.”

“Like I said, they’re my friends. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t get along with people like Nishikouji-kun or Narita-kun. I’ll decide who I want to spend time with, not you. What gives you the right to decide that for me?”

Kanako’s words come at him fast, and Taida is clearly on the defensive now.

“What do you mean, ‘what gives me the right’? I’m just telling you what’s right!”

“To me, there’s nothing right about what you’re saying. I don’t like how you look at people like that. I don’t like you,” she says, coldly.

Taida’s face loses all color. After a pause, he raises his head, his expression twisted with rage.

“Shut up, you damn bitch!”

Suddenly, it’s like a switch has been flipped, and he lunges at her. I instinctively run toward Kanako.

I catch his fist in my hand.

Ah, this moment feels so familiar. At least I didn’t get hit this time, so it’s better than before.

“Taida, you never hit a girl.”

“But she…!” He protests.

“No, you don’t get to do that.”

“She lied to me!”

“I don’t know what happened between you two, so I can’t say much. But I don’t think Sasaki did anything wrong. Besides, no matter what happened, hitting her is never the answer.”

Taida is still struggling, trying to free his hand from mine. He hasn’t learned his lesson, it seems.

Just as things are about to get worse, the bell rings.

“The next class… it’s homeroom due to a schedule change, right?”

Kanako mutters quietly. No way…

“That would be disadvantageous to Sasaki, don’t you think? I mean, it wouldn’t leave a good impression.”

“I’ve been telling you this over and over. You guys are my important friends. I want everyone to know that you’re good people.”

“…Thank you. I’ll leave it to you then.”

I say to Kanako, who nods and slowly walks toward the teacher’s desk.

But even from where I’m standing, I can clearly see her hands trembling. Of course, she’s scared. She was just about to get hit.

I hold onto Taida’s hand until Kanako is out of sight.

“Uh, today we’re supposed to start homeroom, but it seems Nishikouji-san has something to discuss first.”

The teacher says with a confused look, and class begins. It looks like Kanako informed the teacher in advance that I had something I wanted to say.

“About the gym clothes and bulletin board incident… I need to clear up something. I wasn’t the one who did it, just so you know… I mean, I’ve said this before.”

Yeah. I’d already mentioned it in homeroom once before. With the knife showing up, I had no chance to explain myself.

As soon as I speak, the class starts murmuring.

“He’s saying it again.” “How can we believe anything Nishikouji says?” “Honestly, this is getting scary.” “You can’t trust him, can you?” “But if he’s said it this many times, maybe it’s true?”

The reactions vary, but most of the class still doesn’t believe me.

I had planned to only show the recording to the teacher, so I’m not trying to change the class’s opinion of me, but it’s still kind of sad. I sigh, and then, suddenly, Kanako stands up.

She walks confidently over to the projector and connects her phone to the cable.

On the screen in front of the class, the same recording from earlier appears.

No way…

“Oops, my hand slipped,” Kanako says casually.

The whole class freezes in shock at her blatant lie.

Taida stands up, trying to stop her. He might try to get violent again. I quickly stand up and grab his hand to stop him. Taida struggles to get free.

The recording plays out, showing Taida’s previous actions.

“Stop! Please!” Taida cries out in despair.

As the recording continues, the class’s suspicion of Taida grows stronger. The worst part is when he tries to hit Kanako. A few girls let out small gasps of horror.

“Oh… Oh no…”

Taida is speechless. He can only make weak noises, unable to say anything further.

“So it was all a setup…?” “That’s just gross.” “Wow, I really wronged Nishikouji…” “Taida seemed quiet, but turns out he’s like this…” “I always thought he looked a little scary, but still…”

No one in the class believes Taida anymore.

It’s like everything that happened until today—the sympathy they had for him—was a lie. The way they turned on him so quickly feels a little extreme, but I guess this is how it goes.

“Oh…”

The final time Taida speaks, his voice falters, and it’s clear that the whole class is now focused on him.

“To summarize, Nishikouji-kun didn’t do anything this time. It was all Taida-kun’s self-directed performance.”

Kanako declares firmly in front of the teacher’s desk.

The class falls silent.

Man… Kanako is scary. Too scary. I’m definitely not going to make her mad again.