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 19 & 20 & 21

Chapter 19: The Three Stalkers

Things have changed way too much from my previous life because of what I did.

Back then, it would’ve been much later before Jinguuji and Nanase got close.

If I don’t do something fast, Jinguuji’s harem is going to form again.

For now, the problem is how I’m supposed to survive today after school…

※

After school.

Panicking, I looked toward the seats in the back—and there was Nanase inviting Jinguuji to go home with her.

Jinguuji accepted without hesitation, and before the surrounding students could swarm them, the two of them quickly left the classroom.

I immediately chased after them.

I really didn’t want to do this, but now that a spark had lit in Jinguuji’s heart, I didn’t have a choice.

They passed through the school gate where people walked here and there, went straight ahead, and started heading home.

I followed while hiding behind utility poles so I wouldn’t get caught.

From the outside, I probably looked exactly like a s-t-a-l-k-e-r.

“Thanks for coming with me. I’m still a little scared…”

Jinguuji didn’t miss the mumbled word at the end.

“Scared?”

“Y-yeah…”

Nanase’s hands trembled slightly, and Jinguuji pressed in.

“Did something happen before you moved here?”

“I wasn’t going to tell anyone, but… actually—”

And just like in my previous life, Nanase explained it to Jinguuji.

It was, bluntly, about a stalker.

“I don’t know how, but my info got leaked online. I still haven’t seen who it is, but someone was definitely following me.”

“Did you tell the police?”

“Yeah. But I was scared, so just in case, I moved here.”

“I see…”

After thinking for a moment, Jinguuji covered Nanase’s trembling hands with both of his.

“That’s awful. But from now on, leave it to me. I’ll protect you.”

“Yeah…”

Nanase’s expression softened with slight relief, but she still seemed like she couldn’t fully trust him yet.

“But it’s okay. I can’t drag in someone I only met yesterday.”

“I see…”

Jinguuji deliberately let his tone fall, like he was fishing for sympathy.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. But if anything happens, I want you to rely on me. No matter what.”

“Okay.”

Only then did Jinguuji let go of Nanase’s hands.

He’s probably on guard that I’ll interfere again.

If I find out about the stalker problem, I’ll get in the way again and sabotage his harem plan—he’s thinking that, isn’t he?

“Thanks, Jinguuji-kun. Honestly, transferring here was lonely. But if you’re here, Jinguuji-kun, I feel like I can relax.”

“That’s good. You can count on me anytime.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Nanase thanked him again, then said, “Well, I’m going this way,” and tried to part from Jinguuji.

“Want me to walk you home?”

“I’m fine. I just moved, so I don’t think the stalker is here… probably.”

For some reason it felt like she was talking about me, and cold sweat broke out on my skin.

Before long, the two of them walked off in separate directions, each heading home.

At this point, tailing Nanase any farther felt like it would cross a legal line, so I ended the day without doing anything.

※

A few weeks passed after Nanase transferred in.

The two of them were always getting along at school, but maybe Nanase’s guard was stronger than expected—Jinguuji looked like he was having a hard time making progress.

Their relationship hadn’t changed since day one. They were still just friends.

I felt relieved on my own… but I was the same as day one too—I still couldn’t even properly talk to Nanase.

The reason was simple.

Nanase was too popular.

Whenever she wasn’t with Jinguuji, there was always a crowd around her.

In my previous life, I was friends with Jinguuji, so even I could become friends with Nanase—but in this life, that’s not happening.

Right now, the relationship between me and Jinguuji is so tense you could call it outright hostile.

So Jinguuji probably told Nanase something like, “That guy’s bad news, don’t get involved,” or some other convenient lie.

And with me already branded a “thief,” keeping Nanase away from me would be easy.

So what the hell do I do…?

I don’t have time to sit here thinking. Today after school, I’ll make up my mind and try talking to Nanase.

That’s what I thought, but the instant the warning bell rang, Nanase grabbed her things, stood up, and hurried out of the classroom.

She must have plans.

Jinguuji seemed to know it too—he stayed seated and quietly packed his bag without saying anything.

Or so I thought, until Jinguuji suddenly rushed out of the classroom like he was chasing after Nanase.

And—like always—I chased after him too.

※

Just like last time, Nanase left the school gate and headed straight down the route home.

Jinguuji watched her while hiding himself.

I assumed Nanase and Jinguuji were going home together again today—but they weren’t.

Jinguuji, just like me, was stalking her.

He probably asked her to go home with him and got turned down with “I’ve got something to do.”

But even so, I couldn’t understand why Jinguuji would follow her the same way I did.

I found out the reason almost immediately.

Jinguuji tailing Nanase while hiding behind a utility pole.

Me tailing Jinguuji while hiding behind a vending machine.

And then—

In front of Jinguuji, there was an adult man, also hiding himself while following Nanase.

That’s… a real stalker.

Jinguuji followed Nanase because he was wary of her stalker.

So that made me a stalker stalking a stalker who was stalking a stalker.

In this brain-breaking situation, I forced myself to think calmly.

For Jinguuji, “being worried about Nanase’s safety” is just an excuse.

If he truly cared, he’d grab the stalker right now—but he didn’t.

He’s waiting for the perfect moment.

To make Nanase fall for him for sure.

The moment the stalker shows his fangs, the romcom protagonist appears in perfect timing, saves her like some prince, and sweeps her off her feet.

Then he makes her fall, makes her look only at him, turns her into a heroine—trains her.

To stop that, I need to catch the stalker here, before Jinguuji does.

If I do that—putting it bluntly—it becomes my achievement, and Nanase won’t have a reason to fall for Jinguuji.

I have to do it.

I steeled myself and tried to step out from behind the vending machine—

Huh?

My legs wouldn’t move.

They were shaking like a newborn fawn, and I understood: I couldn’t move at all.

Why can’t I move…?

Because my body remembered him.

That stalker—the adult man—was the same man who killed me in my previous life.

My trauma surged back. Sweat slid down my cheeks. My hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

The moment I remembered the pain of being stabbed in the stomach, my mind went pure white.

And while I stood there—

Nanase went into her home.

And the stalker learned exactly where she lived.

Sickened by my own pathetic weakness, all I could do was collapse to my knees right there.

Chapter 20: Lunch Break

The next day, during lunch break.

Because my trauma came rushing back yesterday, I couldn’t fall asleep at all. I was completely sleep-deprived.

While everyone else ate lunch, I was slumped over my desk when Yuzuki spoke to me.

“Sugita-kun. What’s wrong?”

Holding down my hands—which were still faintly trembling—I answered.

“I’m just a little sleep-deprived.”

“Did you stay up late or something?”

“Yeah… something like that.”

There’s no way I can tell her the real reason, so I had to blur it out with a vague answer.

But Yuzuki stared at me with a worried look, like she saw right through me anyway.

“Sugita-kun. Come with me.”

“Come with—hey, wait—”

She grabbed my hand and forcibly dragged me along.

Where she took me was the rooftop—empty, not a single person in sight.

This school’s rooftop was a little run-down and not very popular. You could come and go freely, but the cafeteria and courtyard were way nicer, so people naturally gathered there instead.

Which meant there was nobody up here right now except me and Yuzuki.

Yuzuki stopped near the middle of the rooftop, sat down right there, and held out the bento she’d brought.

“Here. Take this.”

“Uh… what is it?”

“My homemade bento.”

“Wait… did you make this for me?”

“Yeah. So let’s eat together.”

“Thanks. I’ll take it.”

Grateful, I sat down beside Yuzuki and brought the bento to my mouth.

The sweet rolled omelet spread across my tongue, and for an instant, yesterday’s trauma scattered out of my head like fog.

No—more like it was just hiding for a moment.

There’s no way that trauma will ever truly disappear from my body, not even if I spend my whole life trying.

As I was thinking that, Yuzuki set her own bento down and started speaking.

“I’m not going to pry if you don’t want me to, but… I can at least be helpful to you…”

She paused, then said, “For example—” and slipped her hand behind my head. She pulled me in hard—

I thought she was going to give me a lap pillow, but instead she rested my head against her shoulder.

“Like letting you lean on me.”

For a second, I seriously thought it was going to be a lap pillow.

“Would you’ve preferred a lap pillow?”

“I-it’s not like… I didn’t say anything.”

“I see.”

Even as she said it, Yuzuki didn’t take her hand away from my head.

“Um… I can’t eat like this, though.”

“Want me to feed you?”

I grabbed the hand she had on my head and pulled it away, forcing my head back where it belonged.

“Seriously…”

I tried to go back to eating, but—

“Your hand.”

The right hand I’d used to pull her away was clenched tight.

“Sugita-kun, your hand’s shaking a little.”

“It’s because you’re gripping it so hard.”

“That… might be true.”

She said that, but she still didn’t let go.

Fine.

“Here.”

That was all I said as I offered my left hand—my free one.

“Hm?”

“If it’s my left hand… I can hold hands even while I’m eating.”

Yuzuki’s expression lit up instantly, and she wrapped both of her hands around my left hand.

“But then you can’t eat, Yuzuki.”

“I’m fine.”

“I see.”

So I kept eating, holding Yuzuki’s hands with my left hand as I did.

※

“Thanks. It was really good. Let me eat it again sometime.”

When I said what I honestly felt, Yuzuki—looking satisfied—stood up.

“Then I’ll make it for you again.”

“Alright. I’m satisfied now, so I’m heading back to class.”

“Yeah. Seriously, thank you.”

When I thanked her one more time, Yuzuki gave me a strangely sensual smile and returned to the classroom.

She’s really good at pushing and pulling.

If she pries too hard, it’ll just make her annoying, so she backs off at a clean stopping point like this.

She understands distance—how to be close to someone without crossing the line.

But still…

“She could’ve stayed a little longer…”

The hand that had been trembling earlier still held onto Yuzuki’s warmth, and the shaking had settled down a lot.

Even if it isn’t my “job” to make her happy someday, what she did just now was the kind of thing that could break my self-control.

Maybe I should just let myself be happy already…

A dangerous thought slipped into my head.

I shook my head side to side, trying to fling it out of my brain.

I still have something I need to do.

Clenching my fist and bracing myself, I opened the rooftop door to head back to class.

As I started down the stairs, I sensed someone’s presence from the side.

There’s no way anyone should be up here. Yuzuki probably went back without noticing.

Who is it…?

I slowly turned my eyes, and there—

Was Hina, giving me that familiar dead-eyed stare.

“Hina.”

So much for being on guard.

I relaxed for a split second, and then—

“Cheater.”

Hina muttered, and walked down the stairs.

I couldn’t even process what she meant, and I just stood there for a while.

Chapter 21: Self-Blame

Thanks to Yuzuki, I’d regained a lot of my composure.

I can do this.

“Nanase.”

I timed it for the moment Nanase was alone and spoke to her.

“Um… Sugita…-san?”

When she said my name, I remembered—only now.

I’d been calling Nanase by her last name without honorifics, out of habit from my previous life.

Back then, I was Jinguuji’s friend, so I could call her that. But in this life, Nanase and I are basically strangers—just classmates who don’t interact.

If I think about how it must feel to be called that by some random guy… it’s way too weird.

“S-sorry. Nanase-san.”

“Hm?”

But Nanase-san didn’t seem to care.

She really is kind. And because she’s kind, she’s the kind of person who gets fooled by bad people.

“No, it’s nothing. More importantly—”

“Mizuki!”

The instant I tried to bring up the stalking issue, Jinguuji seized Nanase-san’s arm like he was snatching her away.

Jinguuji shot me a hard glare, then leaned in close and whispered to Nanase-san, “Don’t get involved with that guy,” before pulling her away from me.

So that’s how it is. Talking to Nanase-san at school is close to impossible.

If I could just tell her about the stalker, the whole situation would flip—but Jinguuji wouldn’t allow it.

There are two main ways to eliminate a stalker.

The first is to call the police directly. Honestly, it’s not very realistic.

Nanase-san already reported it herself, and even if I explained it as an outsider, the police wouldn’t move easily.

Even if they did respond, it would take at least several days to investigate.

And if Jinguuji got there first in that time…

That leaves the second method.

I have to stop the stalker myself.

I have to do it.

Cold sweat started again, and the trembling I’d finally calmed down began to return.

Even so, knowing it was dangerous, I made up my mind: today after school, I’d execute the plan immediately.

※

After school.

I followed behind Nanase-san as she left the classroom together with Jinguuji.

They took their usual route home, and I hid myself.

The key question was whether the stalker would show up today.

So far, I couldn’t see him.

And honestly, it’s more likely the stalker isn’t watching Nanase-san every single day.

If he gets greedy and stalks too often, people get suspicious, Nanase notices, and the moment she finds him, his life is basically over.

So it would be weirder if he were stalking her every day.

That thought made me feel a sudden, stupid wave of relief.

Even though I’d “resolved myself,” I hated that I was clutching the spot on my stomach where I’d been stabbed in my previous life.

This won’t work. I won’t be able to protect anyone. Be ready to get stabbed again. Be ready to die again to protect her.

As I forced those words into my head, my eyes caught it—

That man, moving closer to Jinguuji and Nanase.

“Ah…”

A pathetic little sound slipped out.

It was already too late. My resolve became meaningless in an instant.

The direction I was hiding from was the complete opposite. The stalker had been waiting ahead, hidden in front of the route they were taking.

In this life, Jinguuji and Nanase’s relationship had developed freakishly fast.

And because of that, the stalker bared his fangs more than twice as early as in my previous life.

The exact same scene unfolded right in front of me.

A man with a cap pulled low—his face impossible to see clearly, identity unknown—stepped in front of Nanase-san.

And the one standing between them to protect her wasn’t me.

It was, unmistakably, the “protagonist.”

“That man there. Stay away from Mizuki.”

Behind Jinguuji, Nanase-san trembled. She didn’t know anything—she couldn’t.

I thought Jinguuji was insane: using even a stalker as a tool to make her fall for him.

“Hey, Mizurin. Who is that guy to you?”

Nanase-san’s legs shook, but she didn’t answer.

Of course not. From her perspective, the stalker she fled from had followed her even after she moved. She had to be terrified.

“Hey, answer me, Mizurin. Why won’t you answer? So you really do have a relationship with him you can’t talk about?”

The stalker kept escalating.

“Hey. Hey. Hey!”

He looked like he was about to lash out any second.

“Stop it! You’re scaring her!”

And finally, the protagonist moved.

“If you keep this up, I’m calling the police. If you still come at us, then I’ll deal with you.”

Jinguuji raised his fists, and the stalker recoiled slightly.

“I-I wasn’t talking to you! Shut up! I’m asking Mizurin—hey, answer me, Mizurin!”

“……”

Nanase-san still didn’t respond.

So the stalker pressed harder—opening his phone’s photo folder and showing her the images.

“Look—lately, Mizurin, you’ve been with that guy all the time, right? I even know where you live now.”

When she saw the photos of her house, Nanase-san finally collapsed to her knees, crying from fear.

Jinguuji snapped, and his anger looked too real to be acting.

“You bastard!”

Jinguuji’s fist cut through the air and smashed into the stalker’s face.

The stalker hit the ground instantly, his face smeared with tears and blood as he shut his eyes and completely passed out.

After that, Jinguuji called the police, and the stalker was arrested with shocking ease.

While Jinguuji and Nanase-san both let out relieved breaths, only I stood there—my body shaking, not with excitement, but with raw tension.

Because from here on—

This is my fault. Because of me, Nanase-san—popular streamer “Mizurin”—is about to get absolutely flamed online.

I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.

But my apology meant nothing.

The next day—super-popular streamer “Mizurin” got dragged into a massive online firestorm.