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

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Chapter 45 – Heroines Jealous of the Protagonist

Maybe it was the price I paid for eating rich ramen late at night, but I had diarrhea when I woke up in the morning and was stuck in the bathroom all day on the last day of the first semester.

Leaving the house later than usual, I joined the flow of students wearing the same school uniforms heading towards school.

Some students walked and talked with their friends, while others walked silently on their own.

Amidst all of this, I was walking to school with Hinano.

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve gone to school with Master.”

“Right.”

“Summer holiday starts tomorrow! Summer holiday!! I’m excited, but all the homework is kind of depressing…”

If you work on it a bit everyday, surely there won’t be any problems?

“Ah, that’s right, Master! Why don’t we share the homework?”

“Oh? Go on, I’m listening.”

“We could schedule time in the living room to do it together and divide the subjects. I’ll handle math and science, and you can take care of Japanese, history, civics, and English!”

“Hey, wait a second. That’s way too one-sided——Huh?”

I suddenly looked ahead and saw Sasaki’s back walking silently a little distance away.

“Ooh! Isn’t that Sasaki?”

“…Master? Why do you look so happy?”

After all, he’s the only guy I know… Wait, what about Chiaki? No, Chiaki has her own category…

(T/N: MC doesn’t know that Sasaki’s the bad guy…so he thinks Sasaki’s an alright guy.)

“I know! Let’s invite Sasaki to join——”

I picked up my pace a little, but Hinano pulled on the hem of my shirt to stop me.

“Master! This is a rare chance for us to walk to school together, just the two of us, isn’t it? There’s no need to include Sasaki-kun, don’t you think?”

“Eh, but since we’re here… Ah, yes. I’m sorry…”

“Seriously, Master… Shouldn’t you be concentrating on me, who’s right next to you, rather than Sasaki-kun in front? And why were you so much happier when you saw him?! What is this? Are you a homo or something?!”

Hinano puffed out her cheeks and was in a really bad mood.

A heroine jealous of the main character. This is the first time I’ve seen that.

Sighing in my mind, I spoke to Hinano to try and cheer her up.

◇　◇　◇

The last day of school before summer holiday has started.

Today is a turning point in Ishibashi’s life. But despite all my fretting, the first half of the day passed without incident, as peaceful as could be.

During lunch break, wondering if I was worrying too much, I headed towards the student council room, where I found Reika and a rare person.

“Ah, I-Ishibashi-kun… Sorry to bother you.”

Yes, it’s the protagonist, Sasaki Yuuma.

“Ah, it’s you, Sasaki. What’s up?”

“Um… I heard that Ishibashi-kun, Tsukishima-san, and Kohinata-san have lunch together in the student council room during breaks, and… I was wondering if I could join in.”

“Oh, really!”

“Ishibashi… you look oddly happy about that.”

Reika, sitting opposite Sasaki, gave me a tense look.

Well, he’s the only other guy I know, so of course, I’d be happy…

But what’s really wrong? He suddenly wants to eat with us…

Huh? Come to think of it… Today is the day Sasaki confesses his feelings to Reika on the Tsukishima Reika route, isn’t it?

No way… Is that what this is about?

“Eh, should I not be here? Am I being a nuisance?”

“Huh? Ishibashi, what are you talking about? Why don’t you just sit down?”

Avoiding Reika’s gaze, who seemed agitated for some reason, I sat next to Sasaki, opened my lunchbox, and ate my lunch.

“…Hmph. So, you’re sitting over there. Hmph. Well, whatever, it’s fine.”

As soon as I sat next to Sasaki, Reika started making some strange passive-aggressive comments. At times like this, it’s best to just ignore her.

Looking over at the person next to me, it seems that Sasaki is only having a single piece of bread for lunch.

“Is that all you’re having for lunch?”

“Eh, uh, yeah… The store was really crowded… and this is all they had left.”

Come on, you’re a high school guy. You need to eat more than that.

“Here, I haven’t touched this yet. Take whatever you like.”

I said, sliding my lunchbox closer to Sasaki as I scooted my chair over.

“W-wait, I can’t possibly…”

“Don’t be shy… Look, these side dishes are pretty impressive.”

“Huh? Hey, Ishibashi? Aren’t you being too nice to Sasaki-kun? The other day, I only had one piece of bread for lunch, but you didn’t share any of your side dishes with me!”

“…Didn’t you say you were on a diet and deliberately limited yourself to just one piece of bread?”

“…That’s beside the point!”

She’s averting her gaze… She must have forgotten.

“T-that aside, aren’t you close to Sasaki-kun? You don’t need to be so close.”

No way. We’re not even that close!

“Sorry, class took a bit longer…”

Mayu, who was late, entered the student council room.

“Huh? Sasaki-kun? What brings you here?”

“Sasaki also wants to eat dinner with us.”

“Oh, I see… But, Ishibashi-kun, don’t you think you’re sitting a little too close to Sasaki-kun?”

“Huh?”

You’re kidding? Mayu said the same thing as Reika.

Mayu’s expression… She’s smiling, but something about it didn’t feel quite like a smile.

“…K-Kohinata. Why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry, though? It’s just… When I get close to Ishibashi-kun, he moves away, but… With Sasaki-kun, Ishibashi-kun’s the one getting closer… I just thought that was interesting. Not like I’m jealous or anything! Nope, not at all.”

She’s definitely jealous!

Overwhelmed by the silent, piercing stares from both of them, I reluctantly scooted a little further from Sasaki.

…So apparently, it’s pretty common for heroines to get jealous of the protagonist.

I mentally filed this as today’s lesson learned.

After that, lunch time for the student council members, including Sasaki, passed in a harmonious atmosphere.

When the bell rang five minutes before the end of lunch break, signaling it was time to return to class, everyone began standing up.

Amidst all of this, Sasaki spoke up.

“Uh, um! Tsukishima-san!”

“Hmm? What? What’s wrong?”

“Um, well… Could you come up to the rooftop after school today? I have something important to tell you.”

I spit out the tea I was drinking, and Mayu’s eyes widened.

Tsukishima Reika stared at me.