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 40: The Girl in the Park

Episode 40: The Girl in the Park

Ever since the incident that morning, I’ve been glancing at Kana from time to time, but the other girls were still distant toward her. Even by lunchtime, the commotion hadn’t settled down. The gossip continued, and it seemed like even the teachers had started to catch on.

“Oh, Sasaki got called in.” As we were walking toward the staircase where we usually ate lunch, Narita muttered. Sure enough, her name was being called over the school intercom.

“Is it about that?”  “Probably.” Kana might be flashy, but she’s usually a model student. It’s hard to imagine this being about anything else.

“This has turned into a mess. Why’d Sasaki get involved in something like that?”
“Well, there must’ve been some reason. I can’t see her doing it without one.”

“True. But what happened that she got photographed in a place like that?”  “Hmm… The most likely scenario is one of the couples in our class went to the Love Hotel district, ran into Sasaki, and snapped a picture.” 

 “That’s probably it. Still, if that’s the case, that couple has awful taste.” “Seriously.”

I sighed deeply. In the original storyline, things didn’t get this bad. Kana was just outed for working at a maid café. Of course, she wasn’t involved in anything like compensated dating.

She got in trouble with her parents, who had forbidden her from working part-time and ended up temporarily staying at the protagonist’s house because she didn’t feel comfortable at home. That was all.

Even while eating lunch with Narita, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kana. Narita seemed the same—his thoughts wandered now and then.

When lunch break ended, Kana returned to the classroom, looking like nothing had happened.

After school, an unexpected downpour had me hurrying home. And then, I saw her.

I happened to have brought a compact umbrella today, so I wasn’t getting wet. Even though it’s summer, getting soaked would leave anyone shivering. I’ve been there before—it’s freezing.

“Sasaki.” I tilted my umbrella toward her, and Kana slowly looked up. Though tears didn’t fall, her face looked on the verge of breaking down.

She was sitting on a bench in a park not too far from my house—one I often pass on my way to school. It was likely she’d come here because it’s close to school but not very crowded. Maybe she planned to sleep outside, or maybe she just wanted to be alone…

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that.”  “Oh… yeah.”She dropped her gaze again.

Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t her usual bright self. The game had its fair share of scenes where she looked mentally drained, but those came with predefined options to choose from.

This was the first time I had to face her in this state on my own. I felt nervous.

Carefully, cautiously—I kept repeating that mantra in my head when Kana suddenly chuckled softly.

“This situation feels nostalgic. Like during the school trip.”  “O-oh, yeah. It does.”

Caught off guard, I stammered. She giggled for a moment, but her face quickly turned blank again, her eyes dropping.

“Going home isn’t an option, is it…”  “If you’re asking that knowingly, Nishikouji-kun, you’re pretty cruel.”  “…I see.”

A heavy silence settled between us. What should I do? Just talking to her and leaving would feel wrong.

Honestly, I probably shouldn’t get too involved with Kana. The more I interact with the heroine, the more death flags I’m likely to trigger.

But still… “Sasaki, do you want to come to my place? I live alone, so it’s just me there. You can’t stay out here all night, right?”

 “Huh? But… that’d be such a burden on you, Nishikikouji-kun.”  “Don’t think about whether it’s a burden or not right now. If you stay here, you’ll catch a cold, and it’s dangerous. If you can’t go home, just come to my place. I promise I won’t do anything.”

Kana stayed silent. If she rejected me now, what could I do?

I’m probably the only person she can rely on right now. But leaving her here wasn’t an option either. If she couldn’t come to my place, she definitely couldn’t go to Narita’s or anyone else’s.

“…Please let me come over. To your place, Nishikikouji-kun.” Hearing her eventual reply, I finally felt a wave of relief wash over me.