I Was Helping Out With The Harem Plan Of The Romcom Protagonist I Admired, But Now That I’ve Realized He’s A Scumbag, Next Time I’m Going To Stop It And Make The Girls Happy Myself - Chapter 10 & 11

Chapter 10: Resolve

In the middle of town, Jinguuji’s gaze collided with Hina’s.

We started dating to make him jealous, so this should’ve been the perfect chance.

The one and only opportunity to show off that we were on a date.

Or at least, it was supposed to be—until…

“Kouki!”

Hina shouted his name, desperate to stop him.

She probably did it because Jinguuji saw us in the middle of our date and didn’t show even the slightest sign of being shaken. Like he didn’t care at all, Jinguuji tried to walk right past us.

It was the reaction you never want from the person you love.

“Wait! Kouki! This isn’t what you think!”

I’d never seen Hina this panicked before.

The usual her—always a little composed, always sharp-tongued—was nowhere to be found.

“Kouki!”

Completely losing her calm, she called his name again and again and chased after him.

Our “relationship” as lovers… completely collapsed in a single day.

※

That night.

I sent a message to the only girl at school I’d exchanged LINE with.

“Hina”
“You okay?”

After that, Hina—who’d chased after Jinguuji—sent me a LINE message that just said, “Sorry,” and we ended up splitting up as things naturally drifted that way.

At this hour, she should’ve been home already.

“I’m okay.”

I felt relieved when I saw her reply—only for that relief to vanish an instant later.

“Maybe I’m not.”

The moment I saw that follow-up, I knew.

“Where are you right now?”

Hina was outside.

She might even be crying somewhere alone.

“Where am I…”

But my worry turned out to be pointless.

“Karaoke.”

“Huh?”

※

After getting her location, I rushed over to the karaoke place where Hina was.

“You okay—? Wait…”

The instant I opened the door to the room she’d told me, Hina’s full-on singing slammed into my ears.

“Oh. Sugita, you actually came.”

“You ‘actually came’…?”

Hina looked completely fine, like nothing had happened.

So much for all that worrying.

“Anyway, sing too, Sugita. Here.”

She shoved a second microphone into my hand.

“Sing—? I don’t even know this song—”

“Just do it, just do it. Match me.”

A hopelessly tone-deaf guy like me ended up singing a song I didn’t know at all. It must’ve been painful to listen to.

I even started thinking dumb things like, What if the sound is leaking into the next room?

And yet, for some reason, Hina was laughing so hard at me she could barely breathe.

“Hey.”

So I stopped singing.

“Haa—seriously, you’re hilarious.”

I’m not hilarious at all.

“By the way, Sugita. Why did you come?”

The moment I hit the stop button, Hina suddenly got serious. It honestly made me feel a little worn out.

Why did I come…? There’s only one reason.

“Were you worried about me?”

“It’s not like that.”

“I see. You’re kind, Sugita. Even though I ended things in such a terrible way earlier.”

“That part’s fine. I understand it was fake.”

“Yeah. We only dated to make Kouki jealous.”

I knew that too, so I didn’t argue.

“Hey, Sugita.”

Before I could ask what, Hina spoke first.

“I think I’m going to confess to Kouki.”

“Huh?”

For a moment, my thoughts completely stopped.

“Sorry for dragging you into something so weird.”

“No, it’s fine. But confessing… I thought you already…”

When she chased after him earlier, I assumed she’d already confessed and gotten rejected.

That’s why I figured she came to karaoke—to blow off steam.

“You thought I already confessed?”

“Y-yeah…”

“When I chased Kouki earlier, all he said was, ‘I’m not bothered by it.’ Hearing that… made me finally commit.”

At last, she was going to say the feelings she’d kept hidden all this time.

I should’ve stopped Hina right here.

He’s garbage. Forget a guy like that, find a new love, and… be happy.

But when I saw Hina’s expression, I couldn’t say it.

No matter what I said to Hina right now, it wouldn’t matter—my instincts told me that.

Because Hina was already drowning in love.

No matter how awful Jinguuji was, no matter how clearly he reeked of ulterior motives, once you fall for someone, you can’t just control your heart.

So I didn’t stop her. I couldn’t.

“Next week, on the day of the field trip. I’ll confess when we’re alone.”

“I see…”

I couldn’t honestly cheer her on—but wishing for her happiness was real.

“What? Sugita, are you lonely or something?”

“As if.”

My grip on the mic was slick with sweat, and my legs were trembling a little.

Even so, the girl beside me wore the face of someone who’d made up her mind.

Chapter 11: Field Trip

At last, the field trip begins.

In my previous life, nothing happened on the field trip—but this time won’t be so easy.

Because right now, I don’t have a single friend.

The only person I’ve exchanged LINE with is Hina, but unfortunately, we’re in different classes.

Which meant I had nobody to sit with on the bus—hell, I didn’t even have anyone to form a group with.

There wasn’t a single group that would take the leftover me.

So I had no choice but to raise my hand and tell the teacher, “I’m left over.”

I decided that, and the moment I lifted my hand—

“Hey. You’re Sugita-kun, right?”

Just like on entrance day, Jinguuji put a hand on my shoulder and spoke to me.

“Wanna join our group?”

“Huh?”

It was an invitation I never expected.

But I couldn’t read why he was inviting me. Did he still have a conscience left, and decided to pull the loner me into a group?

There’s no way.

Because even while I was standing right there, Jinguuji was smiling—just slightly—careful not to let everyone around us notice.

The moment I saw it, I knew.

Jinguuji invited me purely out of spite.

A mob who lays hands on a heroine gets crushed.

If this was spite, then Takasaka-san—who was in his group—had to be involved somehow.

He was probably planning to rub it in my face, showing me him flirting with Takasaka-san… something like that.

It was just a guess, but for some reason, it was the only explanation that made sense to me.

Either way, I had no right to choose a group. So I had to join Jinguuji’s.

And that’s how I ended up in the group with Jinguuji and Takasaka-san.

As for the bus seat, there was nothing to do about it—I got stuck next to the teacher and somehow endured it.

“Nice to meet you, Sugita-kun.”

Takasaka-san spoke to me.

“N-nice to meet you, Takasaka-san.”

I returned the greeting with words that were neither poison nor medicine.

※

Time flew by after that.

Before I knew it, it was the morning of the field trip.

We gathered at school and boarded the bus one by one. Just as planned, I sat next to the teacher.

Naturally, Jinguuji had already claimed the seat next to Takasaka-san, chatting with her like he was having the time of his life.

While karaoke and quiz games happened on the bus, there was no way I could fit in, so I stayed quiet until we arrived.

We reached a scenic-looking spot, listened to the teachers explain the schedule and the rules, and then split into our groups.

“Everyone’s here. Today we move as a group, so don’t go off on your own.”

Group leader Jinguuji took charge.

Everyone answered energetically, so I tried to answer too, but right as I did—

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Takasaka-san, in my group, spoke to me.

Since we were in the same group, talking was normal—but I couldn’t hide my surprise that she’d talk to me right in front of Jinguuji.

“H-huh… y-yeah.”

It came out clumsy.

“Did you decide anywhere you want to go today, Sugita-kun?”

“No, not really…”

“I see. I—”

Why was she going this far to involve herself with me? I couldn’t read her intent at all.

Was she gathering information like this to get back at me for the field trip money incident?

While I was thinking something ridiculous, Jinguuji raised his voice slightly and spoke to everyone.

“Let’s get going. Don’t get separated.”

※

We got separated.

Me and Takasaka-san—alone.

What happened was simple: I went to the restroom, and when I got back, everyone was already gone.

And for some reason, the only student left there—waiting for me—was Takasaka-san.

Was this Jinguuji’s scheme too? He tried to isolate me as harassment, but the plan went off-script, and somehow only Takasaka-san stayed behind.

For now—

“Guess we can only try to regroup somehow.”

But I didn’t have anyone’s LINE except Hina’s, so we’d have to rely on Takasaka-san.

“Takasaka-san. Can you message someone in the group on LINE?”

I asked, but she didn’t answer—she just murmured to herself.

“Regroup…”

“Takasaka-san?”

“Huh!? Ah—y-yeah. Contact them.”

With a vague reply, Takasaka-san pulled out her phone and contacted someone from the group.

Maybe she was thrown off by the unexpected situation too.

By now, when Jinguuji realizes both Takasaka-san and I are missing, he’s probably furious.

“For now, let’s sit somewhere nearby and wait.”

“……”

I led the silent Takasaka-san to a bench near the restroom and sat down. She sat down beside me.

“……”

I knew it would be like this, but it was still awkward.

There was no point forcing conversation. Staying quiet was the safest option—if I said something unnecessary, I might just provoke her resentment.

That’s what I thought, but then, unbelievably, Takasaka-san spoke first.

“Hey, Sugita-kun… do you want to walk a little?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a field trip. If we just look around nearby, I think the others will forgive us.”

What was her goal…?

While I hesitated, maybe unable to stand the silence, Takasaka-san kept talking.

“I understand why you want to keep your distance from me, but…”

After a long, long silence—

“About that field trip money… the one who stole it really was—”

“Ah, there you are.” “We’ve been looking for you!”

Right as her words were about to reach my ears, voices from our group pierced through.

“Sorry—both of you. We didn’t notice.”

Behind the apologizing student stood our leader, his face twitching stiffly.

After I apologized too, our displeased leader started directing everyone again with, “We don’t have time.”

The group followed after him.

I thought we were all moving together—but Takasaka-san behind me was frozen for some reason.

“Takasaka-san? Everyone’s going.”

“Y-yeah… but before that…”

“Hm?”

As I frowned in confusion, Takasaka-san pulled out her phone and turned a LINE QR code toward me.

“Wanna exchange LINE?”

“Huh? Sure, but… can I ask why?”

“The reason is… I don’t know when we’ll get separated again.”

Now that she said it, she was right. Better safe than sorry.

“Okay. Let’s exchange.”

And just like that, a second friend was added to my LINE.