I Was Reincarnated as a Stepping-Stone Character in an Eroge, and by Breaking the Heroines’ NTR Flags in Place of the Protagonist, They Ended Up Falling for Me - Chapter 2 - The Tsundere Heroine Doesn’t Give Up Easily

Chapter 2 – The Tsundere Heroine Doesn’t Give Up Easily

The morning after I was reincarnated, I was heading to school at full speed.

It was five minutes before school started. I barely made it in time. I’d gotten lost on my way here.

In situations like this, there should still be fragments of Ishibashi’s memory to guide me…!

“…You’re late. How long do you intend to keep me waiting?”

In front of the school gates, a sullen-looking Reika was waiting with her hands on her hips.

Wait a minute. Why are you here…?

“…How should I know? You were the one waiting on your own.”

I decided to distance myself from her by saying something cold.

“Huh? Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t really waiting for you or anything.”

But didn’t you just say, “How long do you intend to keep me waiting?”

As I silently walked past the school gate,

“Wait.”

She turned around and grabbed my arm, handing me a paper bag while saying “Hmph.”

Inside were the towel and blazer I’d lent her yesterday.

“You’re not going to tell me you’ve been waiting by the school gates all this time just to give these back to me, are you?”

“Huh? Of course not. I was just running a bit late today, and when I happened to see you, I decided to return them.”

I was waiting!!! Since early in the morning! I waited right here for about an hour and a half!

…Is she for real?

“What’s with that shocked look on your face? It’s only natural to return something you borrowed, isn’t it?”

Well, yes, but… Normally, no one would wait for an hour and a half…

I took the towel and blazer from her, still processing the absurdity of it.

I started walking towards the school building, and of course Reika followed me. The two of us entered the building and changed into our indoor shoes.

I was about to turn right, but Reika headed for the stairs in front of us.

“Ah, right. You’re in the general class, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I see. Well, this might be the last time we’ll meet.”

“…Yeah.”

“So, I’ll say it again. Thank you for helping me out yesterday, and for lending me your towel and blazer.”

“…Yeah.”

As she smiled and extended her hand, I grasped it gently.

With this, the exchange was complete, and our connection——based on lending and borrowing——was over. It was a fleeting moment, but seeing Reika Tsukishima’s softer side at the end made it worthwhile.

We said our goodbyes and I started walking down the hallway.

Let’s see… if I remember correctly, my class should be 1-3.

Remembering the setting of the game, I entered the classroom, and the noisy classroom instantly became silent.

What’s with this atmosphere?

Come to think of it, there was a setting where Ishibashi wasn’t very well liked by his classmates.

Feeling uncomfortable, I sat down and listened to class.

◇　◇　◇

Lunchtime.

I had nowhere to go, so I was just wandering around when I noticed the emergency stairs.

It was hard to be the center of attention, so it was just the right place to spend my break by myself.

“…Yosh.”

I climbed the stairs in one go and reached the top, only to freeze at the sight in front of me.

“…Itadakimasu.”

There was Reika, sitting there trying to eat her lunch by herself. (T/N: Oh no, Reika so sad…)

Why is she here!?

Well, it’s true that, given her character, she doesn’t seem to have many friends, but… I never thought she’d be at the level where she’d be eating alone…

The beautiful heroine, who’s popular with all the boys in school, is eating alone.

…I felt like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have.

“Huh?”

Ah, she’s noticed me.

“…It’s not what you think.”

It’s not what I think?

“I just like being alone, so I’m not a loner. There’s a crucial difference between loving oneself and being a loner. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

Reika said, unusually fast.

“Y-yeah.”

That’s right. This is an accident. I didn’t see anything. No one was here. Let’s leave it at that.

Let’s just get out of here as soon as possible.

“Why don’t you sit down instead of standing there forever? You’re being an eyesore.”

“Uh, no, I don’t want to bother you. I’ll just find somewhere else.”

“I never said you were bothering me, did I? What? Are you saying you hate the idea of eating lunch with me?”

“Well, actually——”

If he says yes, I’ll be really mad.

“I don’t want to cut any more time off my lunch break. I’ll just sit down. Don’t mind me.”

“Go ahead, suit yourself.”

I sat down on the step below where Reika was sitting and started eating my bread.

How did things turn out like this?

“You found this place pretty quickly. Though, I bet you were just wandering around aimlessly until you stumbled upon it.”

That goes for you too.

“You’re keeping quiet, so that means I hit the nail on the head.”

I see, Ishibashi is just like me…!!

Wow, she looks so happy.

“Well, I do owe you one. Since I feel some sympathy for you, you can come here during lunch breaks in the future.”

Why is she looking so smug? It kinda pisses me off.

“Oh, then I’ll think about it.”

Honestly, I hadn’t expected to trigger a surprise event with Reika here, but I suppose it wasn’t all bad. At least I’d gathered critical information.

Never visit the old building’s emergency stairs during lunch, or you’ll run into Reika.

I’ll call it a day since I’ve gotten this information.

◇　◇　◇

The next day’s lunch break.

Learning from yesterday’s failure, I ate alone in the classroom today.

I don’t want to get involved with the heroines and end up on Ishibashi’s pawn route.

I’m going to live a peaceful school life without any contact with the heroines, and without any death events, carnage, or ruin events.

…Though, eating alone in the classroom during lunch break does feel kinda bad.

The moment I was thinking about this and about to eat my curry bread,

Bang!! The classroom door slammed open.

“Ishibashiiiiiiiiii!!”

Surprised by the yelling, I turned to the door and saw Reika standing there, furious.

“Eh, why is Tsukishima-san from the advanced class here?”

“Did she just call out Ishibashi’s name?”

“Aren’t they strangers? What’s going on?”

“What’s going on?”

While my classmates were whispering in their own groups, Reika came over to me without a care in the world.

…I have a really bad feeling about this.

“Why didn’t you come to the spot today!? Unbelievable! I waited for so long without eating my lunch! Normally, you’d show up again, right!? Or don’t tell me——you found someone else to eat with!? You traitor!!”

Watch what you’re saying…!! Reika’s one word caused even more commotion in the classroom.

“Traitor? Don’t tell me…”

“Eh? Does that mean he made a promise to eat lunch with Tsukishima-san?!”

“Hey, are you serious…”

“Ishibashi must have some kind of dirt on Tsukishima-san…”

Wait wait wait, hold on a second.

I didn’t make a promise to eat lunch with Reika, and I don’t have anything on her.

“…How did you know I was in this class?”

I don’t remember telling her what class I was in…

“I checked every single classroom, obviously,”

Give me a break…

“Now, get up. We’re going.”

In the noisy classroom, Reika pulled me by the hand and led me away.

◇　◇　◇

T/N: A determined heroine! And she’s pretty too, what more could you ask…