The Dual Swordsman Who Lost Both Arms On Stream to Save His Doomed Party Gets Exiled—Then the Heroines Go Yandere - Chapter 7: Did I Steal Her? I Was Planning to Break Up Anyway?

Chapter 7: Did I Steal Her? I Was Planning to Break Up Anyway?

“Lemon, just having you at the party brightens everyone up. You’re the mood maker. Even your little gestures are somehow healing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Have I ever lied to you?”

“No, no, no! Natakun is always honest with Lemon!”

“See? And on stream, the moment you start eating, the views shoot way up. That means you’re everyone’s idol.”

“Aww—”

Lemon covered her flushed face with both hands. She was the same age as me, but that short video of loli-looking Lemon eating an onigiri with both hands had hit five million views—the highest in our whole party.

Thanks to the revenue from that, we were able to buy rare items at the purchasing department. Lemon’s contribution to the party was huge.

“You’re not as useless as you think you are. Any party would rely on you. So don’t ever do something stupid like cutting off your own arm to transplant it onto me, okay?”

“…O-okay. Lemon was wrong.”

Lemon wiped the tears pooling under her eyelids with the floppy sleeves of her cardigan.

“Phew. I thought it was noisy in here—turns out Lemon was about to hurt herself. You scared me.”

Misato let out a deep sigh and sat on the bench, arching her back.

I felt someone peeking at us from the wall. When I looked, the figure quickly hid around the corner. They hid their face but not their butt—silver threads of hair lagged behind and gave them away completely.

“Natakun…”

“What’s up?”

Lemon’s small body trembled as she looked up at me with upturned eyes.

Damn!

Those pure, fluffy little eyes made me want to forgive anything.

“Lemon wants to cuddle with Natakun. Is that okay?”

“Uh… well… just this once…”

The moment I gave permission—maybe because I already sensed what was coming—Lemon’s light body pressed against mine. Then her arms wrapped around my back like she was hugging a big bear plushie.

“You’re warm, Natakun.”

She buried her face in my chest, soaking in my body heat.

“What!?”

“Eh!?”

Misato shot up from the bench. Alicia zoomed over from her hiding spot behind the wall so fast it was like she teleported.

“Lemon! What are you doing!”

“Yes, this is a public place. It’s indecent.”

The two tried to pull Lemon away from me, but Lemon…

“You two should cuddle with Natakun too.”

She said the most outrageous thing without missing a beat, face still buried in my chest.

Maybe taking her words seriously, Misato and Alicia glanced at each other with startled expressions and started closing in on me.

Lemon was one thing, but for these two to act like this—what was going on today!?

They crept closer. I couldn’t step back because Lemon was hugging me.

“Hinata…”

“Hinata-kun…”

“Wait, you two… weren’t you just scolding Lemon?”

“I forget things easily.”

“What are you talking about?”

There’s a saying about having a flower in each hand. I had lost both arms. Yet somehow, two of the most beautiful girls in the entire labyrinth exploration school were hugging me where my arms used to be…

Homeroom was about to start, so we all hurried back to the classroom and took our seats.

What happened at the purchasing department kept replaying in my head.

What on earth was that? All three of them hugging me at once… It had never happened before.

Even after beating a floor boss, we only high-fived…

I glanced at Yuki sitting several rows ahead and felt a pang of guilt, but… well, that was over now.

As I thought about it, the bell rang. Sato, our homeroom teacher, walked in and stood at the podium. The very first thing he did was denounce me.

“A disgrace has appeared in this honorable labyrinth exploration school!”

In his tracksuit and muscular build, he looked like the kind of guy who could announce the start of a death game and no one would bat an eye.

“Everyone already knows who, right?”

Sato glared at me like a wild beast, but someone spoke up.

“Mr. Sato, go easy on Nezha. It was his first time as leader and he got carried away.”

Carried away? My face had gone pale when I learned Soma and the others had solo-partied into the raid boss area…

“I tried to stop him… I said it was too reckless. But Nezha insisted it was possible… And the result was Nezha losing both arms…”

Ha ha… what an actor…

All I could manage was a dry laugh.

Soma even had eye drops hidden in his palm, using them now and then to fake crying.

Typical of him. He probably used the Amiro family influence to suddenly shove the leader role onto me and pin the whole failed dungeon run on me.

“Amiro… you’re such a good guy who cares about his teammates! I’m more moved than I’ve ever been!!!”

Sato was actually crying, moved by the fake tears.

Well, there was probably some deference to the Amiro family in there too…

“But I still have to punish Hinata properly! So others won’t imitate him! Listen carefully to the punishment.”

Sato read out my punishment in front of the whole class. It went like this.

First, for a sloppy exploration plan that put party members in danger.

Second, for nuisance streaming that severely damaged the school’s reputation.

Third, for losing both arms through his own fault, making any future prospects zero.

“Therefore, effective today, Hinata Nezha is expelled from this honorable labyrinth exploration school!”

As Sato declared it to me, three chairs scraped loudly from different directions.

“Mr. Sato! Hinata-kun isn’t at fault!”

“Sato-sensei! That’s not fair!”

“Kuma-chan… something’s wrong…”

Alicia, Misato, and Lemon all objected to the decision.

“You three suffered because of Hinata, yet you’re so kind… But this is a strict decision made at the faculty meeting. It won’t be overturned.”

The tough-looking Sato’s cheeks softened at the protests from the three beautiful girls, but he showed no compromise on my expulsion.

Well, yeah…

I had never heard of a dungeon explorer without both arms either.

I was prepared for expulsion.

My only regret was being saddled with Soma’s screw-up and getting cold looks from classmates—no, the whole school.

Whispers leaking from the class mentioned personal responsibility.

Sato had a family, probably. Same for the other teachers. If anyone at the labyrinth exploration school—or Tokyo Metropolitan University and its affiliates—went against the Amiro family, they’d obviously be forced to retire.

Normally I would have had to leave during homeroom, but thanks to Alicia and the others’ protests, I was allowed to attend the final class.

“Nezha-kun… can I talk to you for a minute?”

After the last class at the labyrinth exploration school ended, Yuki stood in front of me. Then Soma appeared silently.

“Nezha, I have one more piece of good news for you. Go on, Yuki—tell him.”

“Nezha-kun… I’m sorry. I’ve fallen for someone else…”

Soma put his arm around Yuki’s shoulder and pulled her close.

“Oh, I see… It’s fine, Yuki. You don’t need to worry. I was actually planning to talk to you about the same thing.”

“Eh?”

“Because, right? No girl would want to date a guy with no arms—it’d feel like she’s stuck caring for him. I couldn’t put you through that. I was having trouble finding the right moment to say we should break up… But if you’re with Soma now, I’m relieved.”

“What are you pretending to be tough for! You’re mad I took Yuki from you, aren’t you!”

“No. Soma, take care of Yuki. She gets lonely easily, so don’t leave her alone.”

Come to think of it, Soma was supposed to be dating Alicia, but Yuki probably didn’t know. Anyway, even if Soma was two-timing, a guy who lost both arms had no right to complain.

She had said the hardest thing for me first, so honestly I was grateful. I felt relieved that Yuki wouldn’t be stared at with curiosity just for staying with me.

Oddly, Soma ground his teeth in frustration, and Yuki’s face was pale…

They were finally together and in love—why did they look like that?