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 25 & 26 & 27

Chapter 25: Return Stream

After finally admitting what she truly wanted, Nanase-san lowered her eyes, anxious.

Even after you make up your mind, anxiety doesn’t just disappear.

Nanase-san looked lost about what to do first, so I asked her:

“Nanase-san. Have you posted an apology video yet?”

“I’ve only posted a written apology…”

While facing Nanase-san—still looking down—I let my eyes roam around the room I’d been trying not to look at.

“D-don’t look around too much… it’s messy.”

After spending a week on the bed, of course it would be.

Even so—

“Isn’t it a little late for that?”

“…True. Then it’s fine if you look.”

Nanase-san averted her gaze, a hint of embarrassment showing.

“Then I won’t hold back.”

And only then did I realize it would be faster to just ask directly.

“Nanase-san, do you have a tripod for a phone?”

“I have a tripod… I think.”

She said that and pulled out a serious-looking tripod from the closet—nothing cheap about it.

“What are you going to use it for?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re filming one—an apology video.”

※

It’s undeniably true that Nanase-san wasn’t the one at fault for this uproar. The stalker who exposed her, and the viewers who dropped her instantly, were the ones who set the fire.

But once you’re burning, a streamer has to face that reality.

The internet is full of people who gather into an unfair majority, trample anyone who won’t accept them, drag them down, and in the end, drive them out.

To keep Nanase-san—Mizurin—from being crushed by that, she first needed to accept the “uproar” and show viewers she understood how they felt.

It’s infuriating in a lot of ways, but since Nanase-san is willing to move forward, I have a duty to see it through to the end.

I told my parents I’d be home late, cleaned the room into something usable for filming, and somehow wrote a script with my clumsy wording. Then I set her phone on the tripod.

In front of a green screen, Nanase-san stood in a suit.

On the phone screen, her face was stiff and her body trembled slightly.

To loosen her up, I spoke to her.

“Nanase-san. I know it’s weird to ask after I told you not to trust anyone, but… do you still trust me?”

Asking that after saying “trust only yourself” was contradictory.

“Honestly, I’m still suspicious of everything, but…”

After a long silence—

“Right now, I have no choice but to trust you.”

A fair answer.

I only asked to ease her tension, so any answer would’ve been fine—but there was one thing I still had to say.

“I trust you.”

“…Okay.”

Nanase-san’s stiff expression softened just a little.

“Then… I’m starting.”

“Wait.”

Her voice stopped my finger right as it reached for the record button.

“Not recording. Live is fine.”

I understood instantly. That was her declaration of resolve.

There were risks—but the seriousness in her eyes made my finger move.

—“Mizurin” started a broadcast.

The moment it went live, the comments filled the screen in a flood.

“Mizurin!?” “What is this?” “Is this an apology stream?”

“……”

A brief silence settled over the room, and in front of a viewer count that kept climbing, Mizurin opened her mouth.

“Regarding this incident, there is no mistake whatsoever.”

Mizurin didn’t look at the script I wrote even once. She kept speaking.

“Why did I go live today? It’s because I want to talk about what I’m going to do from here on.”

Her content was completely different from my script—this was nowhere near an “apology stream.”

“What do you mean?” “Explain.” “Is this supposed to be an apology?”

“I’m going to continue making cosplay gaming streams, reach more people, and I want to help grow this scene even more.”

She explained things carefully, one by one, but to the viewers who’d been fueling the outrage, it probably sounded like she was provoking them.

But it also felt like it was so Mizurin, and it made me think she didn’t need a script at all.

She’d already stood back up on her own. Like I told her—she trusted herself, and as a result, she’d grown into someone strong enough to keep walking.

“I still have a lot to learn, but please support me from here on out as well.”

Only then did Mizurin bow her head to the phone.

A few seconds passed, and she raised her head. I thought it was over, but she continued.

“And about the ‘boyfriend’ claim that was posted online… there is no man currently dating me.”

“Is that true?” “So you’re lying to us again?”

“However… I do have someone I like.”

The instant she said it clearly, the comment flow froze like time had stopped.

Then, the next moment—

“Huh?” “Doubling down, lol.” “This is a mess.”

But it wasn’t only negative comments. Here and there, I could see people supporting her too.

“I’m rooting for you, Mizurin!” “What do the people attacking her even want?” “If you’re a fan, wish your oshi happiness!”

Opinions were split, but it was definitely better than before she went live.

“I got courage from that person, and that’s why I decided to do this stream. Without his push, I don’t think I’d be standing here right now. If I can keep streaming, it’s thanks to him. So I won’t betray his faith in me—I’ll keep streaming from here on out. That’s everything I wanted to say. Thank you for watching until the end.”

She bowed deeply one more time.

—“Mizurin” ended the broadcast.

※

“Hey, Jinguuji. Isn’t she talking about you?”

I could hear a friend’s voice, watching Mizurin’s stream on his phone.

“Yeah. I’ve been messaging her on LINE every day, so it’s probably me.”

“Damn. She’s totally into you.”

“Yeah.”

Tomorrow, it’ll all be settled.

Chapter 26: Earphones

After the stream ended, the room suddenly went quiet.

It was already past 10 p.m.—late enough that a minor really shouldn’t be walking around outside. Late enough that getting picked up by the authorities was a real possibility.

And yet I didn’t feel panic at all. If anything, I felt relief.

It was over… no. For Nanase-san, it was only the beginning.

“It’s over,” she said.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Thank you for helping me all the way through, Sugita Yuuya-kun.”

For some reason she used my full name, so I answered back in kind.

“It’s fine. Nanase Mizuki-san.”

“Why do I get ‘-san’?”

“Then… ‘-chan’?”

“ ‘-san’ is fine.”

“Got it. Nanase-san.”

We ended up back at the usual form of address.

But at this point, honorifics didn’t really matter. Nanase-san seemed to feel the same way, because she didn’t dwell on it and instead urged me to go home.

“More importantly, are you okay getting home? It’s already 10:30.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty bad. I’m going.”

“Okay.”

I grabbed my things and stood up.

“Thank you for today… no, that’s not right. Thank you for staying by my side this whole week.”

Just like on stream, Nanase-san bowed deeply to me too.

When she lifted her head a few seconds later, I smiled and asked her:

“Hey, Nanase-san. Are you coming to school tomorrow?”

“……I want to.”

She didn’t say it with absolute certainty—probably because the fear was still smoldering inside her.

“Alright. Then is 8 a.m. okay tomorrow?”

“Huh… that means…”

Nanase-san stared at my face and understood.

“Okay. I’ll be waiting. As long as it takes.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t oversleep.”

“That’s… not what I meant.”

I thought she meant it literally, but apparently I missed the point.

“Anyway—yeah. I’ll be waiting.”

“Yeah.”

Her anxiety hadn’t vanished, but looking at the resolve on her face, I turned toward the door I’d walked through so many times this past week.

After I put my shoes on and reached for the door, she called out from behind me.

“Wait.”

“This—”

When I turned around, Nanase-san was holding up a LINE QR code.

“Let’s exchange.”

“Gladly.”

So I exchanged LINE with Nanase-san.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

I left the house I’d been visiting all week.

The route I always walked after school felt totally different at night—dark streets lit by streetlamps.

As I sped up a little and tried to stamp that road into my feet, my phone buzzed.

It was from her—newly added just a moment ago.

“Yuuya-kun. I said ‘Nanase-san’ is fine, but… I actually want you to call me by my first name.”

“So… Mizuki-san?”

“Seriously?”

“Mizurin.”

“You’re mean.”

“Just kidding. Mizuki.”

“Yeah.”

Along with that reply, she sent a stamp of a cute bear giving a thumbs-up.

I replied with a bear bowing, then put my phone away.

※

I got home at 11 p.m.—late for a high schooler.

I quietly opened the front door and took my shoes off, trying not to wake my family.

“Onii-chan. You got home late.”

My little sister Kaede came out from the living room.

“What were you doing?”

There’s no way I could honestly say, “I was helping with an apology stream,” so I deflected.

“What, Kaede—are you jealous?”

“I’m not.”

I meant it as a joke, but I didn’t expect such a serious answer.

“Onii-chan… haven’t you been kind of intense lately? Like… you’re in a hurry, or… scared, or something.”

“……”

“Onii-chan?”

I looked away from Kaede as she tried to peer into my face.

“What are you talking about, Kaede? Maybe you’re the one acting weird from jealousy.”

“Well, if you don’t want to talk, fine. Whatever.”

It’s not that I “don’t want to,” it’s that there’s nothing I should be so intense about… probably.

Turning away from the unsettled feeling stuck in my chest, I headed to my room.

※

The next morning.

—Ding-dong.

When I rang the intercom, for the first time, Mizuki herself opened the door.

We exchanged a “Good morning,” and I looked her up and down.

Something felt off about her in her uniform.

Then I realized what it was: the headphones she always wore around her neck weren’t there today.

With no headphones, her neckline looked cleaner, and she felt oddly fresh.

“You’re not wearing your headphones around your neck today.”

“Yeah. I thought I look cleaner like this.”

“ ‘Look cleaner’ is usually used more like ‘good figure,’ though.”

“But I look better without them, right?”

“Fair.”

I don’t think it changes that much, but still.

“So that means you think I have a good figure, Yuuya-kun?”

“That is not what we were talking about.”

“Just kidding, just kidding.”

That said, she’s a famous cosplayer. There’s no way she wouldn’t have a great figure.

“More importantly, Yuuya-kun. Do you have a favorite song?”

At the sudden question, I immediately answered, “J-pop.”

“That’s broad… well, whatever. Here—”

Mizuki held out one side of a set of earphones plugged into her phone.

“What’s this?”

“An earphone.”

Ah. I get it now.

Now I finally understood why she didn’t bring the headphones today.

She wanted to share music with me.

Honestly, I’d always kind of admired this sort of situation too, so I gladly took it and put it in my ear.

Because the cord wasn’t very long, the distance between us naturally shrank.

Mizuki’s breathing. A familiar song playing into one ear. Our shoulders lightly touching.

“This song is nostalgic.”

“Nostalgic? It’s only from like three years ago.”

“Is it?”

“It is.”

Listening to the same music, trading those small words, I walked the route to school—normally alone—side by side with her.

Chapter 27: The Second Confession Scene

Since we were getting close to school, we took out our earphones.

We passed through the usual school gate, walked down a hallway that felt louder than normal, and then opened the classroom door where the air felt different than usual—together, with Mizuki.

The classmates who normally pretended not to see me were watching us with obvious interest today.

No—rather than me, all their eyes were fixed on the girl beside me.

“Huh? Why’s she coming in with the thief?”

The moment we entered, that voice reached my ears.

“They just happened to walk in at the same time, that’s all.”

Next came voices worrying about Mizuki.

“Nanase-san, are you okay?” “I watched your stream.”

They treated me like I wasn’t even there, brushing me aside like background noise.

Right then, a LINE message came from the only girl in class who’d actually been looking at me.

“Can you explain?”

It was Yuzuki.

If I had to “explain,” the most I could honestly say was—

“We got closer.”

But of course that was nowhere near enough. As expected, Yuzuki stared at me suspiciously.

Trying to escape her gaze, I turned my head toward the hallway.

And the instant I did, my eyes met him, walking straight toward us with the face of a demon.

He grabbed my shoulder hard and demanded, as if interrogating both Mizuki and me:

“Hey. Why the hell did you come to school together?”

This is bad.

With that one line from Jinguuji, everyone’s attention—attention that hadn’t been on me—snapped onto me all at once. Even students from other classes who’d been chatting in the hallway started staring.

We had only just arrived, and yet the fact that we came together was already common knowledge.

Beside me, Mizuki’s face showed anxiety, conflict, and panic all at once. Meanwhile, Jinguuji wore only one emotion—pure anger—as he stared me down.

“Come with me. We need to talk.”

Thinking, This won’t get settled here, Jinguuji forcibly yanked both me and Mizuki by the hand and dragged us along.

When we reached the back of the school building—an area with absolutely no people—he finally let go.

The moment he released us, Jinguuji—unable to hold his anger back anymore—asked Mizuki as if I didn’t even exist:

“I’ll ask again. Why did you come to school with this guy?”

Mizuki answered without hesitation.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Why him of all people…?”

“By ‘him,’ you mean Yuuya-kun?”

“Yuuya… kun?”

As he repeated it, Jinguuji shot me a sharp, murderous glare.

It was the kind of look that said, Don’t touch what’s mine.

“Why—”

“Huh?”

And then—

“Why the hell is it him!?”

Jinguuji’s anger exploded.

“You already forgot the favor I did you!? I saved you when you needed it! Who saved you from that stalker, huh!? Answer me! Why do I have to lose to some lame guy like him!?”

In the empty space behind the school, Jinguuji’s unforgivable words echoed and stabbed straight into my brain.

This is dangerous. I can’t predict when he’ll start throwing punches.

I tried to stop the argument—but Mizuki spoke, weakly yet defiant.

“It’s true… Jinguuji-kun saved me. But the one who made me who I am right now is him. Without a doubt.”

Mizuki glanced at me once, then turned her eyes back to Jinguuji.

“If he hadn’t come into that lonely, pitch-black room… I wouldn’t be here. Not just school—I might’ve left this world entirely. It’s terrifying even to imagine it. But that didn’t happen, and it’s because of him. So I…”

Mizuki shifted her gaze from Jinguuji to me again, and then—

“Sugita Yuuya-kun. I like you.”

With the oddly sensual look in her eyes, I reflexively looked away.

“You’re gonna regret this. I swear you will.”

Unable to bear it, Jinguuji spat a parting threat, clicked his tongue—“Tch”—and walked away with heavy steps.

“……”

In the two-person silence, Mizuki said, “Let’s go back too,” and started walking.

I walked beside her.

“By the way… you like me too, right, Yuuya-kun?”

And then, as if to finish me off, she kept going.

“Because if you didn’t, I don’t think you would’ve come to my house every day when I was getting flamed. Most people would think, ‘I might get dragged into this too,’ and they’d want nothing to do with me.”

…She wasn’t wrong. I found myself reluctantly agreeing.

When I couldn’t answer at all, Mizuki—like she’d read me—walked half a step ahead.

“It’s fine. I’m not asking for an answer.”

Then she looked back at me and added:

“Not yet, anyway.”