The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem. - Chapter 10: Kansai Guy Sure Does Love A Good Book.

Kansai Guy Sure Does Love A Good Book.

Ever since that intense confrontation with Imamiya-kun, I’ve been keeping my distance from Natsume-san and the others at school. Well, more accurately, they seem to understand the situation too — they’ve been avoiding contact just the same. No need for a background character like me to cause them any more trouble, after all.

Still, we’ve kept in touch through POINE after school. Mostly me and Natsume-san.

That night, after the opening ceremony, she messaged me while I was eating dinner and reading one of my favorite mystery novels.

[POINE Notification Sound]

“Huh?”

si-na: Tennouji-kun! Sorry about what happened today with Toshiya-kun…

Daiki: Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Sorry for the trouble too. Tell Akitani-san and Fuyuki-san I apologize as well.

si-na: It’s okay! Mio-chan and Rin-chan both said they wanted to apologize too~
You might get a message later!

Daiki: Got it. Really, don’t stress about it, okay?

si-na: No way! It was Toshiya-kun’s fault! Hmph!!

Daiki: No need to get that mad…

si-na: I’m mad! I won’t talk to Toshiya-kun for a while! And seriously, staring at my skirt length like that— isn’t that gross!?

…Man, Imamiya-kun, saying that in front of everyone? And now you’re getting called gross to your face. I’ve got no clue how short her skirt was last semester, but I’m guessing she lengthened it quite a bit.

Even after that, she kept going off about Imamiya-kun. No matter what I said, she just kept repeating, “I’m not talking to Toshiya-kun!” to the point I thought I should probably change the subject before she blew a fuse.

si-na: What are you up to right now?

Daiki: Reading a mystery novel. Old one, though.

si-na: Whoa!? You read novels? That’s amazing! I get a headache after ten minutes…

Daiki: If you’re not used to all that text, I guess it can be rough. Manga’s good too, y’know.

si-na: I love manga! I’m reading TWO PEACE right now!

Daiki: Nice choice. Around volume forty it gets really good.

si-na: Seriously!? I’m only on volume twenty, so no spoilers!

Daiki: Yeah yeah, got it (lol).
Tell me what you think when you’re done.

Adults always say, “Manga won’t teach you anything useful,” but honestly, I’ve learned a lot from them — how to enjoy a drink, how to cook, random trivia. Sometimes people who don’t read books or manga actually end up knowing less about the world.

My old man’s a mystery novel nut, and my mom’s all about romance novels, so the study back home is crammed with books. What’s funny is that the same novels from my previous life exist here too. Maybe it’s part of the game world’s logic — there are also original novels unique to this place. I’ve been rereading old ones I never had time for back in my corporate slave days. There was even this pure love story that had me bawling — turns out it’s getting a movie soon, and I’m honestly looking forward to it.

Back when I was working from the first train to the last, there was never time to read. Having hours to myself like this feels like heaven. After school, I can shop for groceries, cook dinner, take a bath, and still have four solid hours to read. This life’s practically paradise.

[POINE Notification Sound]

“Again? Guess Natsume-san really enjoys chatting every day…”

It’s been a few days since the opening ceremony, and we’ve messaged each other every night since. Just idle talk, nothing deep. We never bring up Imamiya-kun — she just gets angry. I’ve never messaged with a girl like this before, so yeah, I get nervous… but it’s fun. Really fun. Guess I’ll enjoy tonight too.

From what I’ve overheard, the Sumizome Academy library’s got a collection as big as the city’s main library — maybe even better. Being a total bookworm, I figured I’d check it out and see if I could borrow something interesting. You never know if a book’s a dud until you try it, so better to test-read it for free before buying.

“Let’s see… mystery section, not literary fiction…”

Damn, this place is huge. It’s hard just narrowing down the genre. Following the guide signs, I peeked down each aisle — and there she was. Short black hair, tall, stunningly beautiful — the heroine, Fuyuki Rinko-san. Looked like she was shelving returned books, stretching her arm as far as it could go.

She looked like she was barely managing… standing on a stool, reaching up on her toes, shaking as she tried to place the book. I had a bad feeling about this.

“…Got it!”

Just when she managed to slot the book in place — it slipped out, tumbling straight down toward her.

“Kyah!?”

Startled, she lost her balance and fell from the stool — and the impact caused even more books to come crashing down!

“—!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!!

“…Huh?”

“Fuyuki-san, you okay? None of those hit you? You didn’t twist your ankle or anything?”

“…Tennouji… kun?”

Just in time. I’d jumped in to shield her, taking the brunt of the falling books myself. Nothing serious, though. I was more worried about her — she could’ve hurt her foot when she fell.

“Tennouji-kun!? Ah, um… my foot’s fine. And the books too… What about you!?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me — this is nothing.”

“Ah, I… I see…”

“What happened over there?”

Guess the noise drew attention. Someone must’ve run off to call a teacher.

“There’s no problem, I’m fine… sorry for the noise.”

“I see. And those books…”

“Don’t worry about it, sensei. I’ll clean them up.”

“Tennouji-kun!?”

“Oh, Tennouji. That’s good of you. I’ll leave it to you then.”

“Got it.”

I started gathering up the scattered books and shelving them again. If I remember right, Fuyuki-san’s on the library committee. Figures. But where’s the other committee guy when you need him?

“Tennouji-kun, it’s fine. Just leave them there — I’ll take care of it.”

“If you say that, you’ll just end up struggling again, won’t you? With my height, I can get them up there quick. You handle the ones on the floor, okay?”

“Eh… but…”

“Come on, let me help. We’ll finish faster if we do it together, right?”

“…You’re right.”

She still looked uneasy, but quietly helped gather the books. Maybe it was just luck she didn’t get hurt worse. A few minutes later, we’d finished tidying up.

“Tennouji-kun, thank you. For saving me from the books… and for helping clean up.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Still… what brought you to the library, Tennouji-kun?”

“Just looking for something interesting to read. You’re on the library committee, right? Know where the mystery section is?”

“Mystery novels? You read those?”

“Sure do. I love reading — any genre, really. But mostly mysteries.”

“Hmm… oh, that reminds me. On the day of the opening ceremony, you were reading a Kindaichi novel, weren’t you?”

“Yeah! Those are great — the clever tricks using then-cutting-edge science, the raw human emotion in the cases… The one I had that day’s my favorite. The psychological battles between Kindaichi and the culprit, those mind-bending tricks — even I couldn’t solve them without checking the answer!”

“Tennouji-kun… we’re in a library. Keep it down.”

“Ah — sorry…”