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 47 & 48 & 49 & 50

Chapter 47: Why She Time-Leaped

Ririka POV

“In our previous life… maybe every one of us, without exception, liked Kouki.”

The moment I heard those wildly off-target words, I lifted my face—and before I knew it, I was already blurting out a denial.

“Don’t mess with me—don’t lump me in with that.”

“……”

The four of them who’d been talking froze for a moment in shock that I’d finally looked up.

In that time, I regained my composure, and belatedly added my usual politeness:

“—Please.”

“It’s true that, in the previous run, all of you were crazy about Kouki Jinguuji. In the previous life, Kaede-chan—Senpai’s little sister—was also part of that group. I couldn’t understand why you’d like a guy like that instead of Senpai. But at the same time, I felt relieved. Because I thought I could have Senpai all to myself—”

After the confession scene in the previous life ended, I planned to speak to Senpai, who would be left alone.

Like a reunion scene in a romance movie.

But…

“That didn’t happen. Because Senpai… died.”

And I told the Senpais who’d said something so off-target:

“Also, Senpai didn’t die protecting you. Senpai died protecting Kouki Jinguuji.”

“Huh… what do you mean…?”

Following Yuzuki-senpai’s confusion, Hina-senpai asked:

“Tachibana-san. That makes it sound like you time-leaped from the future too…”

I answered clearly.

“Just like Hina-senpai said—yes. I also time-leaped from the same future as Yuuya-senpai.”

◇◇◇

In the previous life, after Senpai was stabbed, I rushed over to him as he lay there.

But by then, it was already too late.

Senpai’s eyes were closed. He wasn’t breathing at all.

The other Senpais called an ambulance and tried different things, but it didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered.

And just like I feared—hours later, Kaede-chan told me Senpai had passed away.

But for several days after Senpai died, I couldn’t accept reality.

Maybe Senpai was still alive somewhere.

Maybe he was still coming to school normally, still helping Kouki Jinguuji.

But no matter where I searched, I couldn’t find Senpai.

That’s when I understood completely—

Senpai isn’t in this world anymore.

After I understood that, it took only an instant for me to act.

I—jumped off the school rooftop and killed myself.

I had no attachment to a world without Senpai.

But right before I died, there was one thing I thought.

It was…

I want to see Senpai one more time.

And when I came to, I had time-leaped back to my third year of middle school.

At first I couldn’t understand what was happening.

But when I happened to spot Senpai in town, everything clicked instantly.

I time-leaped.

The first time I saw Senpai again, tears spilled out without me meaning to.

Senpai was alive. Moving. Breathing.

Just watching Senpai live properly was enough to satisfy me.

So I didn’t talk to him.

…That’s what I want to say, but I think I was probably scared.

Senpai wouldn’t remember me, even if I spoke.

Because I had that fear, I didn’t approach Senpai directly.

Instead, I made contact with Kouki Jinguuji, and acted in ways that helped Senpai’s revenge.

And as expected, Senpai didn’t remember me.

But he did remember later on.

When Senpai remembered, I was so happy I thought I’d die.

I got so overwhelmed I even blurted out something like, “Please have sex with me”…!

But despite those feelings, at first I tried again and again to stop Senpai’s revenge.

Because I thought Senpai didn’t need to put himself in danger on purpose.

But watching Senpai’s actions, it became clear how serious he was about that revenge.

So I joined in.

Because if Senpai was that serious, then…

◇◇◇

When I finished explaining everything, Hina-senpai said, “So that means…”—so I opened my mouth to answer.

“If Senpai time-leaped for revenge… then I think I time-leaped to meet Senpai again.”

At my confession, the four Senpais looked at each other.

I continued.

“If Senpai could just be happy, that was enough for me. If Senpai could just live, that was enough.”

But even that wish might come to an end again.

Because right in front of us, Senpai is once again on the verge of death.

If this was going to happen—

“If it was going to come to this… I should’ve stopped Senpai before he saved all of you…”

Even now, every time I look at Senpai’s sleeping face, my chest hurts.

I—again, I…

“That’s not true.”

As I stared at Senpai’s face, close to crying, a voice behind me rejected my words.

It was Mochizuki-senpai, who’s usually expressionless.

“It’s true that in the previous life, I might’ve been in love with that man, but… the me now and the me then aren’t the same. This man saved me when I was about to die. The fact that I’m here now is unquestionably thanks to him.”

Then Mizuki-senpai spoke too.

“Me too. If it weren’t for Yuuya-kun, I wouldn’t be here.”

After that, Hina-senpai and Yuzuki-senpai spoke up as well.

I couldn’t say anything back.

Because if I denied them here, it would be like telling the four of them to “die.”

The girls in front of me now weren’t the Senpais from the previous life that I knew.

The Senpais I knew… are nowhere anymore.

The only ones here now are girls—just like me—waiting for Senpai to wake up.

Chapter 48: A Waking Kiss

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on top of a bed.

In my view was a hospital’s signature pure-white ceiling and pure-white curtains.

Judging from the situation, I was sleeping in a hospital bed. And with something like a mask covering my mouth, it was almost certain.

So… I didn’t die.

Trying to confirm that reality, I started to sit up—only for a sharp pain to tear through my side.

“Ih—” slipped out of my mouth.

“Eh…?”

As I writhed from the pain, a familiar voice reached me from the front.

“Onii…?”

That voice belonged to my little sister, Kaede.

“Onii… woke up…?”

“……”

A single tear slid down Kaede’s cheek as she stared at me, stunned.

“Kaede?”

Not really understanding what was happening, I tried calling her name.

“Thank goodness… thank goodness…”

But my voice didn’t seem to reach her ears.

“Ah—right. I have to call the doctor!”

Kaede suddenly snapped back to herself and hurriedly pressed the nurse call button in the room.

After taking a breath, Kaede sat down on the chair beside me and, like it was nothing, laced her fingers with mine.

“Warm… Onii’s hand.”

Squeezing her hand back, I looked around the room again.

But nothing particularly stood out—it was a normal hospital room… until my eyes caught fruit sitting on the bedside table.

“Ah. That, right? The senpais brought it. I think it was Takasaka-senpai, and Kisaragi-senpai and—”

“Mizuki, and Mochizuki-san… and Tachibana-san.”

At my words, Kaede looked a little confused and said, “How’d you know?”

“Yeah. I know. I know all of them really well.”

Joy at having survived, and the resolve that I’d have to face those girls—those two feelings wrestled inside me.

How am I supposed to face all five of them…?

That anxiety barely had time to swell before the doctor came into the room and quickly checked my condition.

After that, I was told, “Your life isn’t in danger,” and also that “it’ll take a few months before you can leave the hospital.”

From the doctor’s reaction, it sounded like my survival was a near-miracle.

“It was probably thanks to the first aid. Without that bleeding control, it would’ve been really dangerous. You should be grateful to those girls.”

“Yes… I really should.”

Even without being told their names, it was obvious who she meant.

“Alright, I’m going now. If anything happens, press the nurse call right away.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

With that, the doctor left the room.

At the same time, Kaede stood up too, phone in hand.

“I’m going to tell Mom and Dad. And… those five girls, too.”

That “those five” could only mean—

To calm my mind, I lay back down again. And then the phone on the bedside table buzzed.

I picked up my own vibrating phone and checked the notification.

“Yuuya!!”
“Is it true you woke up?”

It was from Hina.

Right after that, similar LINE messages came from Yuzuki, Mizuki, and Mochizuki-san.

But there was no message from the last one.

Did she lose faith in me…? Or did she finally give up on me because I still hadn’t apologized…?

Either way, I needed to apologize fast—LINE was fine, anything.

After replying to everyone, I opened my chat with Tachibana-san and carefully typed: “I’m sorry.”

“Alright.”

I hit send—and at that exact moment, the hospital room door slammed open.

Before my mind could catch up, the person who barged in yanked the curtain open too.

The culprit behind this outrageously intrusive entrance—

was the very girl I’d just messaged.

“Senpai… you really are awake…”

“T-Tachibana-san…?”

“Senpai is… alive…”

Like Kaede, her eyes filled with tears, and as if to hide them from me, she lowered her face once.

“Senpai…”

“Y-yes?”

Still confused, I answered her as she asked with her head down—and then she said something that made the confusion even worse.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Huh? K-kiss?”

“Sorry… I can’t do this anymore.”

“Huh?”

Before my thoughts could catch up, she leaned in close to me—

Chu.

Not my cheek.

She sealed my lips.

I couldn’t understand what was happening; only sensation flooded my body.

A faintly sweet scent tickled my nose, and Tachibana-san’s neat, baby-faced features felt impossibly close.

But it didn’t stop there.

Unbelievably, she even slipped her tongue in.

A deep kiss—one of those.

And that only threw me into even more confusion.

My head spun, dizziness rising, and my body sank into a melting kind of sensation.

I had to pull her away as fast as possible… if someone saw this in here—

Too late.

Behind Tachibana-san stood Hina, looking at me with open contempt.

“You… cheater.”

Along with Hina’s voice, I lost consciousness.

Chapter 49: Guilt

“Hey, Tachibana-san. Doing that to a sick person is a bit much…”

With all five of us gathered in the hospital room, Nanase Mizuki scolded Tachibana Ririka.

“I’m sorry. I really am reflecting on it… I couldn’t hold my emotions back.”

“Just how pent-up are you…?”

At Kisaragi Hina’s retort, Mochizuki Kanon muttered to herself.

“I’ll do it later too.”

“Don’t!”

Takasaka Yuzuki smiled at how strangely desperate Hina sounded.

“Kisaragi-san. You’re awfully desperate—what’s going on?”

“I-it’s not anything… I just thought we should take care of Yuuya while he’s still recovering.”

“Hmmm… then I’ll go ‘let my emotions explode’ later too.”

“Don’t you dare!”

That was the last thing I heard—then I woke up.

It seemed all five of them were already in the room.

The atmosphere, which had been quiet earlier, felt lively now.

When I shifted slightly on the bed, all five pairs of eyes snapped toward me.

I couldn’t bring myself to properly look at any of their faces—guilt was weighing too heavily on me.

“……”

The silence dragged on far too long, and the longer it went, the worse my guilt became.

I had to say something.

At that moment, Tachibana-san spoke.

“Huh? Senpais—why are you crying?”

Reflexively, I looked up—and just like she said, the other four besides Tachibana-san were crying.

Confused, I tried to calm them down, but none of them were in any state to talk properly.

Yuzuki was crying hard. Hina was crying quietly. Mizuki cried with the same guilty expression I felt. And Mochizuki-san’s usual blank face was wet with tears.

I stayed quiet until everyone settled down.

◇◇◇

Once they’d calmed down, they explained a lot to me.

That I’d collapsed in the park. That I’d been taken by ambulance. That the stalker culprit had been caught again. And also… that Tachibana-san, like me, had time-leaped from the future.

“So that’s how it was…”

She was there at that confession scene back then too…

I’d shown her something horrific twice.

I needed to apologize.

I met Tachibana-san’s eyes—she was standing at the far edge of the group.

Just as I was about to bow and say “I’m sorry,” she spoke first.

“Senpai…”

Those moist, oddly alluring eyes gave me a bad feeling.

And that bad feeling—

“Can I kiss you one more time?”

—hit the bullseye.

I never expected her to say that in such a serious atmosphere.

“Honestly… you really are something…”

Hina sighed.

I cleared my throat with a small cough, forced myself back into seriousness, and bowed my head.

“Tachibana-san. I’m sorry—about what I said at the end… when we parted.”

“I don’t like you.”

There’s no way I could truly feel that way about a girl I used to be close to.

“Yuzuki, Hina, Mizuki, Mochizuki-san—thank you too. For saving my life.”

I added “Truly,” and bowed deeply.

One apology won’t erase everything I’d done.

Even so, I had to at least give them the most sincere apology I could manage right now.

I kept my head down for several dozen seconds.

Unless they said something, it felt too frightening to raise my head.

Had they lost faith in me…? Had they given up on me after learning I time-leaped…?

That long silence continued.

Then Yuzuki broke it.

“Hey, Sugita-kun. Is it true you came from the future?”

“H-Hey, Takasaka-san!”

Ignoring Hina’s attempt to stop her, Yuzuki continued.

“I heard it from Jinguuji Kouki… and this—”

I raised my head and looked at Yuzuki.

“That is…”

It was the notebook I’d been using to organize everything.

“Could it be… all of it…?”

“Yes.”

It seemed they’d already seen everything inside it.

All of them.

“Yeah. It’s true. Just like that notebook says—I time-leaped here from the future.”

They’d heard about time-leaping from Tachibana-san already, but hearing it from my own mouth made everyone go quiet again.

“You’ve had enough of me, right…? I time-leaped only for revenge, and I played with all of your hearts just for revenge.”

I’m the lowest kind of trash.

One apology doesn’t make it okay.

I’m not kind enough to deserve affection from girls this cute.

I don’t even have a personality worth liking.

I’m just a filthy person—soaked in revenge.

Someone like me…

“Doesn’t deserve to be happy.”

This is my punishment for messing with everyone’s feelings.

“……”

At my words, everyone’s expressions darkened at once.

“Don’t mess around…”

The one who said that, head lowered, was Hina—standing in the middle.

Chapter 50: Confession

“Don’t mess with me… seriously… how selfish can you be…”

A harsh, low voice I’d never heard before came from Hina.

Even though I felt drained, I didn’t look away—I stared at Hina as she kept her head down, so I could accept her feelings.

“Yeah. You’re right. I dragged you all into this for revenge… I’m selfish beyond belief.”

That’s exactly why I think I don’t deserve to be happy.

“That’s not it!”

Hina suddenly looked up and cried out.

“That’s not what I’m saying!”

A single tear ran down her cheek as she shouted.

It wasn’t the kind of tear you shed from relief—this was pure sadness.

…Loneliness.

Looking into Hina’s eyes, I could recognize that feeling too.

I made Hina cry.

As I stared at her with guilt weighing on me, Hina wiped her tears and looked straight at my face.

“Hey, Yuuya. Do you really think doing that will make up for your sins?”

“That’s…”

I don’t.

Even if I spent my whole life, it wouldn’t erase what I’ve done.

Maybe Hina read that on my face, because she met my eyes with a determined expression.

“You don’t seem to get it, so I’m telling you. And I’m only saying this once.”

Silence ruled the room for a moment, but Hina took a deep breath—and finally let everything out.

“If you really think you’re in the wrong—then stay with me until you die! That’s the greatest happiness you could ever give me!”

When she finished, Hina’s face turned bright red and she bowed her head again.

Then, as if taking her place, Yuzuki spoke.

“The one who gave my life color is Sugita Yuuya-kun. Only you… so if you truly wish for my happiness, then I want you to stay with me until the end.”

They were right.

If I truly wished for their happiness, then all I had to do was spend my life making them happy.

But…

The moment hesitation flickered inside me, Mizuki confessed her feelings the same way she once confessed she wanted to keep streaming.

“Yuuya-kun. You’re all I can see too. Just like Yuzuki said—if you really wish for our happiness, then I want you to stay by my side for the rest of my life.”

Like a finishing blow, Mochizuki-san and Tachibana-san revealed what they felt too.

“You saved me from dying, and now you’re trying to disappear on your own… I won’t forgive you. You’ll make it up to me over your whole life, so be ready.”

“I… I can’t imagine a world without you anymore, Senpai. I want to hold you every day, kiss you every morning, and be close with you every night. So please… don’t leave me alone for the rest of my life.”

After everyone finished, Hina—who’d gone quiet—spoke again.

“Our happiness… it’s just one thing: the person we love being happy. That’s all! So, Yuuya—shut up and let us make you happy!”

After she said that, Hina lowered her head again.

Her ears were bright red, and it was obvious how much courage it took.

So I had to show courage too.

“I…!”

I made up my mind and declared—

“I’ll spend my whole life making all of you happy!”

I threw the biggest confession I had at them.

T/N: HAREM END

Kouki’s retreat

After Sugita Yuuya got stabbed by that stalker and ended up hospitalized, Kouki tracked the five girls to the hospital and tried to sneak into Yuuya’s room when they were gone.

But Hina caught him—and with a cold, murderous glare and a knife in hand, she warned him not to touch Yuuya.

Kouki panicked, shoved his former childhood friend out of the way, and fled—only for Yuzuki to whisper, “I’ll never let you get away.”

Terrified, Kouki ran from the hospital, decided to stop getting involved, and—at last—gave up on being a romcom “protagonist.”

Afterword (life after)

After a long hospitalization and rehab, Yuuya finally got discharged and returned to school, only to find Kouki had disappeared (whether by dropping out or transferring was unknown).

Rumors spread among classmates, and Kouki’s face ended up circulating online, getting heavily criticized—especially by Mizuki’s fans.

When Yuuya tried asking Ririka about it, she played dumb, but her creepy smile made it feel obvious she’d done something.

Back in the classroom, Ririka clung to Yuuya openly, acted shamelessly, and even made a crude, suggestive gesture—only to get scolded for it.

Looking out at the rainy sky, Yuuya realized that even if the rain looked the same to others, it felt completely different to him now.

“Are you happy now, Senpai?” Ririka asked.

Yuuya joked it sounded like she was trying to sell him an expensive jar, then answered honestly:

“Yeah. I’m happy.”