I Was Reincarnated As a Man who Steals The Protagonist’s Childhood Friend

Netrorare, commonly abbreviated as NTR, is a controversial genre within the realm of h*ntai-related media. It’s effects range from between doujinshis to even R-18 visual-novel like games. It’s central theme revolves around the aspect of “cheating”. For instance, a female protagonist is introduced as having a significant other, which could be a husband, boyfriend, or any partner. However, the storyline of such a genre depicts the said heroine engaging in intimate activities with another man altogether, inciting jealousy in the audience by proxy. The portrayal of the affair can vary, with the parties involved being either willing or unwilling to consent to such a play. Nevertheless, in the doujinshi market, the most sought-after product often features a heroine who’s coerced into a relationship with a stranger against her will, resulting in a forced partnership with a stranger.

The victims of this act suffer a lot emotionally. Some may argue that NTR is comparable to the “guro” genre in terms of its controversial nature and impact on the audience. The reason being that emotional pain is often more agonizing than physical pain, a statement that holds true for many. Emotional pain has a tendency to linger around much longer than physical pain.

While physical pain which can stem from minor injuries, such as a scraping your knee, can usually heal within a few days, emotional pain stemming from the loss of a family member, may persist for several years. This highlights that emotional pain can be considerably more enduring and damaging. Additionally, the aftermath of this emotional pain can lead to self-destructive behavior. It leads to prolonged suffering which can last for months or even years, and may even result in various different health issues. Thus, indicating that the repercussions of emotional pain can be far-reaching and more detrimental compared to physical pain.

Unfortunately, even though there are people who despise such a genre, some find it in an ‘enjoying and arousing’ light and it will never disappear from the spotlight that shines on it, as long as the people who continue enjoying the genre still continue supporting such a thing.

Now that I mentioned what exactly is ‘NTR’, let’s talk about a particular doujinshi that has been recently blowing up on the internet. What are the contents of it, you might ask? Well, not only was it created by a popular artist, which has a reputation of making a decent amount of NTR doujins, but also his most recent creation has lead to some people on the internet fighting with one other. Why, you ask? Well, the doujin is set in a school, and it focuses on a male character who has a very innocent female companion, both of them are childhood friend but then, bam! The artist decided to add a character to not just break her physically but also mentally. Even worse is that the one who breaks is none other than one of her most trusted and closest friends, Ueno Takeshi.

With all of that being said, what if your fate is to steal someone else’s girl? You wouldn’t want to be given such an important key, right? Unfortunately, this is what our unidentified character’s fate has been given to him. Shall we take a look in what happens next in his new life?

“Are you f*cking kidding me?”

Those are the only words I could utter after looking in the mirror. I take another good long look in the mirror to confirm if what I see is reality or some sort of illusion.

“Is this is really… me?”

The ‘me’ reflected on the mirror has a very handsome face with blond hair and a nice stature. Meanwhile, the ‘me’ beforehand had a pretty bad-looking face as nobody even dared to approach me for anything.

“This is….”

I’ve seen this face before. It’s the guy in that one particular doujin that one of my online friends had recommended to me. It’s that one guy where he steals the protagonist’s childhood friend and brutally break the female lead of that doujin and force her to become that guy’s plaything, and that is Ueno Takeshi, he has a good-looking face, an ideal male body that can attract any women who looks at him and his trademark look, the yellow hair. And that guy is now… me.

“Did I die?”

That’s the first and only thought that comes to my head. I don’t really believe in the so called ‘reincarnation’ but lo and behold, this very mysterious phenomenon is the reason I’ve exchanged places with my past life.

“I shouldn’t think too much of it.”

I should focus more on the present rather than thinking too hard about the past. I don’t even want to remember my past life. It’s better to keep it this way.

As I was inspecting this sudden turn of events, a buzzing sound chould be heard behind me. It was my phone which was ringing a lot for some reason. I pick up the phone and check what’s the cause of it. A name was displayed on the screen. It’s a text from one of Takeshi’s (or now my) friend. I check and read the content of the message.

“Where you at, man??? Come to school already!” is what was displayed on my phone’s screen.

What does he mean ‘come to school’? I thought. I then check my phone once again to check what time and day it currently is..

“May 15, 20XX. 11:45 AM. Monday.”

I take a look at myself in the mirror once again. I’m currently wearing a casual outfit. I take a look at my side. My school uniform on the bed was in a completely ruined state. Combining all the information that I have gathered, it seems that today is the first day of the week, and I am already late to school. Unfortunately, I don’t even know where my school is.

“Sigh. Better be late than never.”

I wear the tattered uniform, grab my handbag from the floor and prepare myself to go to school. Even though I don’t know where my school even is, my body instinctively guides me to some direction. It’s feels as I’ve been possessed by someone else, even though I too am someone who possessed this current body.

“Oh wow, you’re so early.”

“Shut up, I just overslept.”

The place I lived in is just near the station from my school. How did I know that, you ask? I went and did a bit of digging in Takeshi’s, or my body’s phone and found a picture of a school, which luckily had a name “Tensai High School”. And that’s how I got here. Well, I got here during lunchtime so I was basically absent for every period in the morning. Welp, not that it matters now.

“Kinda rare for you to be late though. Did something happen?”

This guy right here, who’s currently giving me a concerned look is one of Takeshi’s friends, Watanabe Natsu. He’s got long, dark pointy hairs that looks like a bunch of needles being glued above his head. In the doujin, he’s the only character, aside from the main heroine and his chidhood friend. The doujin never mentioned how they met in the first place.

“Like I told you, I overslept.” I told him the reason but I didn’t include that I’m not the same ‘Takeshi’ that he always knew.

“Hmmm… Something smells fishy.”

“Just your imagination.” I gave him a flat response and end the conversation. I don’t know if he’s just making a wild guess or if he’s actually kinda sharp.

I looked inside to see the class’ situation. I can see most of my classmates have left the room for lunch and no one seems to want to stay in this large and gloomy place. The classroom feels deserted, as if it’s been abandoned by everyone. Or it may just be me exaggerating.

“Oh, by the way, we should have lunch together.” My friend here offers for me to have lunch with him but I didn’t bring a lunch box with me. I guess I’ll buy something in the cafeteria.

“Lunch, huh. Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

I check my pant’s pocket to see if I have my wallet on me but I can’t seem to find it. Not in my left pocket. Not in my right too. Nothing in my back pockets either.

“I think I dropped my wallet.”

“Damn bro, first you’re late, and now your wallet’s gone? Definitely not your day today.” he jokingly told me.

“Pretty much, I guess. Meh, I’ll just get it in the lost & found later. No lunch for now I guess.”

I mean, I could live with no food for a whole day in my past life but I still need that wallet of mine. Who knows what other important things are in it besides money.

As we were continuing to talk, a shadow suddenly appeared from behind my back. I take a look behind me, and was shocked.

“Oh, Nakano-san.”

Nakano Hoshino. The doujin’s main heroine. The heroine that I supposedly steal and make my ‘plaything’. She has short, polished black hair with pale, white skin that looks very smooth and moist. If I remember correctly, in the doujin, Nakano has a childhood friend who is seated right besides her. The supposed “protagonist” of this doujin world, Matsuda Naoki. I take a quick glance at his chair, which is for some reason, empty. Where is the protagonist?

“What brings you here?” I looked at Nakano and asked.

“Um, I wanted to ask you if you’re free right now.”

Wait, what?

“Uh…”

I take a glance to my friend at the side to see his reaction, but then he looks at me with a suspicious look on his face.

“Actually, I was going to invite this guy for lunch but I just remembered I have plans with someone else.” He gave me a wide smirk as he was looking at me.

Uh, thanks for the help…?

“Then, I’ll be taking my leave here. See you later bro.”

“Um, bye?”

And there he goes. He rushed back to his seat pretty quickly. What the hell was that? And also, it’s just me and Nakano now. What am I supposed to do here? Maybe I should sleep on my desk to pass the time?

“As you can see, I’m now free. So, what can I do for you?” I asked her once again.

“Um, is it fine for me to have lunch with you?” She timidly asked me.

“Ah, sorry to dissapoint you but I didn’t bring any lunch with me nor do I have any money to buy anything.” I showed her my handbag, which is almost empty except for having a single notebook and a pen. I also showed her my pockets, which were completely empty.. I guess sleeping right now is the best choice for a guy like me who doesn’t have any lunch and no wallet.

“Fufu, you don’t have to worry about that.” She brings out something from behind her. A cloth-covered square object was visible in front of my eyes. Even I can tell what this mysterious object is.

“A bento? And two of them?”

“You can have this one, Takeshi-kun.” She handed me one of her bentos.

“Are you sure about this, Nakano-san?”

She give me a slight nod, signaling that I can freely do whatever I want with this very valuable object that every man wants from a girl.

But what about your childhood friend…? On second thought, I’m gonna just eat this.

“Well, I’ll take you up on your offer.”

I slowly opened up the bento. The bento’s contents was a veggies salad with weiners and fried egg rolls. It’s a simple but mouth-watering dish. I can even feel my stomach telling me to instantly devour this dish that Nakano has made.

“Thank you for the food!”

I give my thanks and started indulging in the dish with chopsticks. The first thing I take is this long, yellow and rectangular-shaped food, which is a fried egg roll. As I went to grab it, it gives off a smooth, squishy and bouncy texture. I put the roll in my mouth and savor the flavor.

“So? How is it?” I didn’t notice it until Nakano spoke, but her face is right in front of me and is unsually close with a sparkling expression that could blind an innocent man’s eyes.

“This stuff is good. It’s delicious.” I gave her my honest opinion of her dish. The egg rolls are salty with just a hint of sweetness. I’ve never had such good food even in my past life. Although I did say that I don’t want to remember any of it, I can’t help but compare what I usually ate back there, which was generally instant food.

“Really? I’m glad you like it.” She says with a bright smile on her face. If you make that kind face, I feel more inclined to really really steal you, you know?

I continued eating the bento with vigor and sure enough, it’s already gone.

“Ah, that was the best lunch ever. You really saved me here, Nakano-san.” I give her my gratitude for her providing me with the best lunch that I ever had in my entire life. Well, this body’s life at least.

“Fufu. If you’d like, I can make these for you everyday.” Nakano tells me a very tempting offer. If a normal guy were to hear this, he would surely be on cloud nine every single day. But in my case,

“Sure, if you don’t mind.” I’m a part of those normal guys, so I’ll just fully accept her offer. Free food! Who doesn’t want that?

“Then, it’s settled!” Now she looks way too happy. Uh, I think I shouldn’t have accepted that offer. Welp, not like I can take it back, anyways.

School bell ringing

Eeverybody swiftly left the classroom as soon as the bell began ringing. Now it’s just me and myself sitting at my desk with an even bigger problem to face..

“I have an exam on wednesday… Can I even pass the test?”

A cruel reality has hit me like a truck: exam days were going to start two days from now. Unless the test we take in this world is the same as my old world, I doubt I could pass the exam. I’ll guess I’ll check out the school library tomorrow.

All of a sudden, someone did a side hug beside me, and it’s none other than Natsu himself.

“Yo! Takeshi! So, how was the lovely date with the most beautiful girl in our class?” he happily asks. Well, thanks to his sudden excuse to leave, I got a free lunch with a pretty girl.

“Shocking, really. I don’t even know why she approached me even. What about her childhood friend?”

“Ah, about that. I think he caught a fever, that’s what I heard from around class.”

Huh. No wonder I didn’t see him today.

“Even though you had bad luck struck you today, Lady Luck herself ensure to also give you a very amazing day. Dang, I’m so jealous!”

“Oh, shut it. You already have a girflfriend man, isn’t she enough?”

His girlfriend, Suzuki Airi, is the same year as us, a 2nd Year High School student but she’s in a different class, unfortunately. Even in the doujin, she wasn’t ever mentioned, let alone being shown. How did I know he has a girlfriend? It was all in my phone. I checked some messages and I found all our previous convos while in class and the f*cker always sends me a picture with him and his GF. I’m surprised the old Takeshi had such a high tolerance for this kind of convo. If I had a friend like that in my old life, I would’ve definitely punched the guy’s face.

“Well duh! She’s the best girlfriend ever! She’s pretty, popular, can cook, and even great in bed!”

“Ugh, do you really need to add that last part?” You don’t have to tell me about your s*x life with your girlfriend.

Another day, another stupid talk between the two of us and time passed by quickly as we blinked and chatted about.

“Oh shoot, I gotta go bro or else she’ll get mad at me. I’ll see you tomorrow!” he disappears just as suddenly as he appears..

“Must be nice having a girlfriend.” I thought. I guess I’m just gonna take a nap in the classroom and then go home later. My wallet? I guess that can wait for after I wake up.

“-shi-kun…”

Hmmm?

“-akeshi-kun…wake up…”

Did someone call me?

“Takeshi-kun… Wake up…”

I slowly opened my eyes to see who was distrubing my peaceful nap. I see a… girl? Who is this girl!?

“Ah, you finally woke up, Takeshi-kun.”

Ah, it’s just Nakano. Wait-

“N-N-N-Nakano-san?! What are you doing here??”

I force myself to wake up because of this weird scenario. Just what the hell is Nakano-san doing here?

“I’ve been waiting for you, but you didn’t show up ay the gate, so I came back here and found you sleeping. And I’ve been waiting for you to wake up ever since. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting… And everything seems to be worth it. Fufufu.”

“Um, okay?”

Okay, she’s acting a little weird but it doesn’t seem to be extremely creepy..

“Shall we go home together then?”