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 38 - The Night and Morning of the Sleepover

Chapter 38 – The Night and Morning of the Sleepover

[Hmm. So you ended up staying over?]

“Yeah, that’s why I can’t join you for late-night ramen tonight.”

Late at night, I was woken up by a call from Chiaki and was on the terrace of the Tsukishima house.

In the end, Reika and Mayu pushed me into a sleepover. Needless to say, Hinano was in a very bad mood.

Good luck, future me.

[So… did you do it? A threesome?]

“We didn’t. We just lined up three futons next to each other in the living room and played games while eating snacks.”

Reika, who had been boasting about staying up all night, fell asleep first, and seeing that, Mayu and I cleaned up and went to sleep.

[Huh? Why didn’t you make a move? You definitely could have done it]

“Come on, it’s not that kind of situation. This isn’t some adult game.”

[This is the world of an erotic game, isn’t it?]

Come to think of it, that’s right.

No, it doesn’t matter that it’s the world of erotic games in the first place.

And as for me…

I shook the mineral water I’d brought from the fridge.

[…What’s wrong? You look so gloomy]

“Huh? How do you know that when you can’t see my face?”

[I can feel your nagging aura through the phone. What are you worried about? Tell me]

Chiaki’s voice wasn’t pressing but oddly gentle.

Maybe that’s why I’m able to organize my jumbled feelings and put them into words.

“…I’m just the throwaway character.”

I’m just someone who gets compared to the protagonist… not even a stepping stone, just a second-rate character. That’s me, Ishibashi Tsuyoshi.

“Which is why the one who’s really supposed to be here isn’t me, but the protagonist, Sasaki Yuuma. I feel like I’m stealing the heroines…away from him.”

[What’s wrong with that?]

“Eh…”

[In the first place, why are you staying over at Tsukishima’s house right now? It’s because you helped Tsukishima and the others, communicated with them, and became friends with them. Isn’t that true?]

“That’s… true, but…”

[On the other hand, has Sasaki Yuuma done anything to Tsukishima and the others? He didn’t do anything]

“……”

[It’s true that the original Ishibashi character is a throwaway character, not the protagonist. But it was you who fought with Kuzushima, prepared to drop out for Tsukishima’s sake, and mediated her with Kohinata. Everything was done by you, not Sasaki. If that’s the case, it’s no wonder their hearts turned away from Sasaki and went to you]

“…Maybe you’re right.”

[Of course, I’m right. Besides, even from my perspective, you’re way cooler than that wimpy Sasaki. As a guy, you’re more impressive… and honestly? I like you better, too]

Boohoo!?

The water I was drinking spurted out all at once. This caused me to cough violently.

[Oh? What’s wrong? Oh, maybe you’re embarrassed? You’re so cute~]

“I-I’m not!”

[Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. That was an interesting reaction so I’ll hang up. Goodnight]

The call was abruptly ended.

“……”

I sighed as I returned, and found that Reika had invaded my futon space.

I had no choice but to collapse onto the sofa with just my pillow.

As I tried to organize my head, which had become a mess because of Chiaki, I closed my eyes again.

How long had I slept?

Checking the clock lit by the morning sun, I saw that the short hand was pointing to six o’clock.

Even if I wanted to go back to sleep, I was wide awake now.

I’d been waking up at this hour every morning to do laundry and other chores for so long that it had become a habit. Habits are scary things.

I got up and checked on the two of them.

They didn’t look like they’d be waking up for a while. Since I was already up, I might as well make breakfast.

Looking at the gigantic refrigerator, I thought for a bit about what to make. There were so many different ingredients in it.

For now, something simple should be fine…

While making miso soup, I thought about what else to make.

There’s rice in the rice cooker, and a set of bacon and eggs and red sausages… I think I’ll make the sausages shaped like an octopus, Reika would like that.

“Good morning, Tsuyoshi-kun.”

As I was dissolving the miso, Mayu came into the kitchen.

“Oh, good morning.”

“I’ll help too. Let me guess… bacon and eggs?”

Mayu said as she prepared things skillfully and turned on the heat in a frying pan next to me.

“Sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“No. I always wake up around this time. Habits are scary.”

It seems that Mayu is the same as me.

“But today was different. I woke up to the smell of miso soup… And when I got up, I saw Tsuyoshi-kun and he said good morning to me. It felt…kind of nice.”

“Oh, I see. You’re usually alone in the morning…”

“That’s part of it. But more than that… it felt nice because it was you, Tsuyoshi-kun.”

“Oh, really? Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

I brushed Mayu’s words off.

If that’s the case, it’s no wonder their hearts turned away from Sasaki and went to you.

I remembered what Chiaki said to me last night.

“……”

I looked next to me and Mayu was puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“…What’s wrong?”

“Now that I think of it… Reika-chan told me that Tsuyoshi-kun and Reika-chan had a friendly kiss.”

Mayu’s words almost made me drop the plate.

That idiot! What the heck is she saying?! Cut me some slack here!

“Want to try it with me too? A friendly kiss.”

“…Huh?”

“Right now, Reika-chan’s asleep and no one’s watching. So… If we cheat now, no one will find out.”

Mayu’s face slowly got closer.

Huh? What’s with this turn of events? Was The Game of Life real?

As I was stunned by the sudden turn of events, Mayu giggled.

“Sorry. I guess I was being a little mean.”

“Huh? Oh, uh… so it was a joke.”

Of course. There’s no way Mayu would say something like that out of nowhere…

“It’s Tsuyoshi-kun’s fault, you know? I was pretty brave and said it, but you just brushed it off.”

Mayu pouted and poured out her frustrations on me like a child.

How should I have responded?

“…So, are you not going to?”

Mayu tilted her head slightly, looking up at me.

“Of course not.”

“Aw, what a shame.”

Mayu looked disappointed and went back to cooking.

…How much of that was serious, anyway?

“Oh, by the way, you planned this sleepover together with Tsukishima, right? That was kind of surprising. That’s not like you.”

I decided to bring up a topic to change the atmosphere.

“Well… maybe I got a little jealous of Sakurai-san.”

As she says this, she bumped me on the shoulder.

What? Mayu is jealous of Hinano?

Was there any reason for Mayu to be jealous of Hinano? Sure, Hinano is cute, but Mayu is just as cute.

“Why?”

The words spilled out of my mouth without realizing it, and Mayu just smiled and replied, “Who knows?”

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T/N: Dem, dense MC… At the very least he’s starting to accept what Chiaki said, about the girls’ hearts swaying to him, instead of the protag…