I Was Reincarnated as the Villain in an NTR Eroge, but Since I Don’t Actually Want to Be a Villain, I’m Just Going to Live Normally - 25-26

Chapter 25: Witnessing Sakurajima Talking with a Friend

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

That day after school. I was so happy that Sakagami agreed to let me use the clubroom that my excitement was blasting through the roof.

“Hmm-hmm-hmm… Wait, crap! Oh yeah, I totally forgot to contact Sakurajima!”

Just as I was about to head home humming to myself, I suddenly realized I had completely forgotten about my plans… The truth was, the other day, Sakurajima had forgotten her handkerchief at my apartment. A cute, light-blue one. I had planned to return that handkerchief to her today. I had meant to message her on LIME during lunch, but when the sudden topic of Sakagami lending me the clubroom came up, I got too happy and ended up completely forgetting to contact Sakurajima…

Ugh, but going to see Sakurajima without telling her beforehand feels kinda wrong. If I go to the first-years’ classroom, I’d probably just scare everyone there.

Just talking with Sakurajima the other morning had already caused the students around us to get all nervous. I really didn’t want to cause trouble for her anymore than I already was. So I brought Sakurajima’s handkerchief with me, but… Yeah, I should probably not return it today. I could just give it back the next time she came to my apartment.

“Alright, let’s go with that and just head home for today… Hm?”

I made up my mind and started walking down the hallway toward the shoe lockers, when I heard a group of girls walking ahead of me talking.

“Hey, hey, you know about that delinquent second-year guy?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, I know. That scary senpai named Kuze, right?”

“Yeah! That senpai with that lion-like blond hair and tons of piercings! He totally looks dangerous. He’s super scary.”

The group of girls ahead were talking about me, the delinquent guy. They seemed to be first-years. Of course the underclassmen would be scared of me. I knew eavesdropping wasn’t good, but they were headed toward the shoe lockers too. So since we were all walking in the same direction, I kept hearing their conversation the entire time.

It felt a little awkward… But oh well.

“That senpai really has a scary appearance. And there are so many dangerous rumors about him. It’s really unsettling.”

“R-Really? About Kuze-senpai…? W-What kind of rumors? Like what?”

“I heard he bullies underclassmen for money. And that he does lots of bad stuff like drinking and smoking.”

“Whoa, that really is a dangerous senpai. Shizuku, if you ever see him, you should never go near him, okay?”

“Eh…Ah, y-yeah…Rr-right…”

…Hm? At that moment, I heard a voice that sounded oddly familiar. And that name “Shizuku” too…

Wait… Don’t tell me… Ah, I knew it. That’s totally Sakurajima.

Among the group of girls was indeed Sakurajima. I had thought one of them had a strangely calm tone to her voice and indeed, that was her.

“For a school that’s supposed to be an academic powerhouse, why do we even have delinquent senpai like him?”

“Right? I want to focus on studying for exams and stuff, but how can we focus with someone that scary around? I wish he’d just get expelled already. Right, Shizuku? Don’t you think so too?”

“Eh!? E-Expelled!? N-No, that’s a little… Um, that’s… I-I mean—ah, ahhh!?”

“…”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Shizuku? You look so shocked—wait, hyaaah!? K-Kuze-senpai!?”

“Eh? W-Waaah!? Kuze-senpai!? N-No, it’s not what it sounds like! W-We weren’t saying anything bad or—!!”

Apparently, Sakurajima sensed someone staring at her and turned around. And standing there was me, the topic of their entire conversation. She widened her eyes in shock and suddenly shouted. The girls around her followed her gaze and looked at me too, panicking as they rushed to explain themselves. They were clearly terrified that I might beat them up. But seriously, what kind of guy did they think I was? As if I’d ever hit a girl. They were overreacting way too much.

But… This means the underclassmen really think I’m capable of doing stuff like that…

Well, I had no one to blame but myself. My reputation was the result of my own bad behavior up until now.

“I don’t care. It’s fine. Anyway… It’s after school. If you don’t have plans, just head home.”

“Eh? Ah, y-yes! W-We’re really sorry!!”

“S-So sorry!”

“We-We apologize!!”

Acting like I wasn’t bothered at all, I said that and walked briskly past them out of the school.

I didn’t want to intimidate the first-years. And I definitely didn’t want to trouble Sakurajima. So I tried my best to handle it peacefully.

“Man… I’m really that hated by the others, huh… Sigh.”

A little while later, I walked down the road home, muttering with a sigh. I knew I was disliked to some extent, but realizing that that many students hated me was kinda rough. Ugh…

“…S-Senpai!!”

“Haah… Hm? Eh? S-Sakurajima?”

As I was sighing to myself, a girl suddenly called out to me. It was none other than Shizuku Sakurajima. She should’ve been heading home with that group of first-year girls… So why did she come over to me?

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Chapter 26: Sakurajima Came to Me

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“S-Senpai!”

“Oh, o-oh. What’s up?”

Sakurajima came over to me and called out. What was going on?

“I-I’m sorry…! Um, w-we all ended up talking badly about Senpai…”

“Huh? Oh—ah, that. Don’t worry about it. It’s true I used to be a delinquent, and I’m the kind of guy who deserves people talking trash about him, so don’t let it bother you.”

“B-But…Saying bad things about people is wrong in the first place. And yet I couldn’t stop everyone. I couldn’t even stop them from bad-mouthing the Senpai who’ve been helping me… That makes me a terrible person…”

Sakurajima spoke with a pained expression. She seemed genuinely sorry about the whole situation earlier where everyone had gotten excited talking badly about me.

“No, no. Really, it’s fine. If you had tried to defend me there, it absolutely would’ve made things awkward, right? And if you ended up being looked at weirdly because of it, that would’ve been rough on you. So in a moment like that, you don’t need to say anything back to everyone talking trash about me.”

“B-But… But then… Senpai would stay the bad guy forever. You’ll keep being talked about like that…”

“Well, that’s something I brought on myself by acting like a delinquent, so it is what it is. And like I said, if you tried to defend me, people might start treating you differently too, so really. don’t worry about it. If anything, I’d prefer you just go along with them and talk badly about me too. Ahaha.”

“!? Th-that’s… n-no, I could never…! B-Because Senpai…You’re… You’re a really kind person… I-I can’t… sniff…”

“Ahaha—wait, huh? S-Sakurajima…?”

“Sniff… hick… I know Senpai is a really kind person… You saved Mii-chan… You’re her benefactor… And yet… Saying bad things about someone like that… I just can’t… uuu… sniff…”

I had tried to lighten the mood a bit, joking that it was fine for her to bad-mouth me too, but that only made Sakurajima burst into tears, saying she didn’t want to. Seeing her crying like that filled me with guilt for trying to joke about it. And then, once again…

Ahh… I knew it… This girl is incredibly kind.

Watching her cry like that, that thought hit me again. Just like in the original game, she really was a gentle and wonderful girl. So while looking at Sakurajima, who continued to shed tears…

“Um, well… How should I put it… Sorry. That was too flippant of me. I’m really sorry.”

“Sniff… Yes… It was your fault. Sniff… Please reflect properly…”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll reflect. And to respond to your feelings, I’ll change how I think. The reason I was bad-mouthed today was because I’m hated. So if I want to stop people from talking badly about me… I’ll graduate from being someone disliked by everyone. I’ll work hard and become a proper, serious high school guy.”

“Sniff… Really…? You promise…?”

“Yeah, I promise. Also…Thank you for crying for my sake. And thank you for wanting to defend me.”

“Sniff… huh…?”

Pon pon …

As I said that, I gently patted Sakurajima’s head.

“Sniff… Um… Th-that’s…”

“Hm? Ah, sorry. I did it out of habit, like how I always pat Mii-chan’s head. That must’ve been gross, huh?”

“Sniff… N-no, not at all…”

“Good. I’m glad. What I wanted to say was… I’m always helped by your kindness, Sakurajima. And to answer that kindness, I’ll do my best to break out of this ‘hated guy’ situation. So… Really, thank you, Sakurajima.”

“Senpai… sniff… Okay…”

And with that, I continued gently patting Sakurajima’s head. It turned into a day where I once again realized that staying the way I was now wouldn’t work. So, for Sakurajima’s sake too, I needed to start thinking of a plan to stop being someone everyone hated—right away.

Alright then, time to get serious and figure a way out from this predicament!

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー