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

The rhythmic tapping of keys filled the quiet student council office. My fingers moved mechanically over the keyboard, typing the last few lines of the report Kagami Hana had assigned me. The room was dimly lit, save for the desk lamps illuminating our respective piles of paperwork. Outside the window, the school grounds were blanketed in twilight, the remnants of the Sports Festival cleanup just barely visible.

“Done,” I muttered under my breath, leaning back in my chair. The soft creak of the chair echoed, breaking the silence.

Across the room, Kagami was seated at her desk, her white hair catching the dim glow of the desk lamp. She worked with the same steady precision she always did, sorting through papers and documents as if the weight of the entire festival didn’t faze her. I envied that about her—her ability to focus, to stay in control no matter what. I could use some of that right now.

I stood and walked over to her desk, placing the completed report in the neat stack beside her. “It’s done,” I said, my voice flat.

Kagami glanced up, her sharp eyes assessing me before looking at the papers. “Good. That’s one less thing to worry about.”

I waited, unsure if she’d have anything else for me to do. Part of me wanted to leave, but the idea of being alone with my thoughts was almost worse.

Kagami seemed to sense my hesitation. She set down her pen and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. “Naoki, you’ve done enough for today. Go home. I’ll finish the rest.”

“You sure?” I asked, not wanting to seem like I was shirking responsibility.

“I’m sure,” she said firmly. Then, after a pause, she added, “You’ve had a long day. Use the time to think.”

“Think about what?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Hoshino,” she said bluntly. Her gaze didn’t waver, and neither did her tone. “And what you’re going to do about her.”

I looked away, my hands curling into fists. “I don’t know what to do.”

“That’s exactly why you need to figure it out,” she said. “Avoiding it won’t make it go away.”

Her words struck harder than I wanted to admit. I nodded stiffly, unsure whether I could say anything more. Without another word, I grabbed my bag and left the office. As I headed toward the exit, my footsteps echoed along the empty hallway. But instead of going straight home, I found myself heading straight to where the rooftop is located.

My footsteps echoed faintly on the tiled flooring as I walked through the school’s quiet hallways. The events of the day played over in my head in an endless loop—my encounter with Takeshi, the surfacing of guilt fragments, and Kagami’s persistent appeal to confront the truth. Everything felt like it was closing in on me, and I couldn’t get rid of the suppressing weight rising up in my chest.

“She’s right,” I muttered under my breath, running a hand through my hair. “I need to figure this out.”

But how? How could I face Hoshino with everything I’d done weighing on me? How could I tell her the truth about “that day” without losing her completely?

I shook my head, trying to clear the spiral of doubts. My feet carried me forward without thought, and before I realized it, I was climbing the stairs to the rooftop. It had always been my go-to spot when I needed to escape—to think.

As I pushed the door wide, I was met by the chilly night air, which brought a sense of tranquility that I hadn’t felt all day. I strolled out onto the rooftop, leaning on the railing and enjoying the breeze without a care in the world. The city lights sparkled in the distance, providing a dramatic contrast to the darkness within me.

As I stood there, attempting to piece together my jumbled thoughts, a faint voice caught my attention. It was muffled and came from somewhere nearby. I sighed and turned toward the rooftop door. The sound didn’t come from below; it came from beyond the door, on the opposite side of the rooftop.

Curiosity piqued, and I moved quietly toward the sound, taking care not to make any noise and hidden behind the wall where I entered. As I went closer, the voices became clearer. One of them had a soft, familiar voice that could only belong to Hoshino. My chest tightened. The second voice was Takeshi’s, calm but uncertain.

“What are they doing up here?” I muttered under my breath.

I paused just outside the door, leaning my back against the wall. The sounds were clearer now, but not loud enough for me to understand them properly. Slowly and carefully, I looked at the side of the wall, wondering who the voice was.

They were standing at the outer edge of the roof. Hoshino’s back was to me, and her short black hair caught the weak light from the city. Takeshi stood a few feet away from her, his posture fixed but open, as if he were attempting to say something important. His hands moved as he spoke, indicating with care and his voice was low and steady.

I couldn’t hear their exact words, but their body language told me enough. Hoshino tilted her head slightly, her arms crossed loosely in front of her. She wasn’t upset—if anything, she looked… curious. Takeshi, on the other hand, looked nervous but determined.

“What the hell are they talking about?” I whispered, my chest tightening with a mix of frustration and jealousy.

Hoshino laughed softly, her voice carrying faintly on the wind. It wasn’t a loud laugh, but it was genuine, the kind that came from a place of trust and comfort. My stomach churned. I had seen that laugh before—countless times when we were younger, when it had been just the two of us.

Now, she was sharing it with him.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. My first instinct was to barge in, to demand to know what they were talking about. But Kagami’s voice echoed in my mind, sharp and clear: “You’ve always been so protective of Hoshino-san. But it seems that protectiveness has turned… obsessive.”

My grip loosened, the tension in my shoulders declining. What exactly was I doing? Spying on them like this? Jealousy had already cost me a lot. If I continued to let it govern me, there would be nothing left to save.

But, despite my efforts to remain calm, the scene in front of me intensified the storm inside me. Hoshino gazed at Takeshi with interest and trust, much like she used to look at me. And Takeshi… He was not simply standing there passively. He was chatting to her about something essential. Whatever it was, it mattered.

I pressed my back against the wall, my breath coming in shallow gasps. The guilt, the anger, the fear—it was all too much.

“I should leave,” I whispered to myself. “I shouldn’t be here.”