The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem. - Chapter 46: The Protagonist Is Pulled Into the Chaos.

The Protagonist Is Pulled Into the Chaos.

Imamiya Toshiya’s POV

Preparing for the cultural festival is fine and all, but why the hell is Tennouji running the show…?

Aren’t you supposed to be a delinquent? Shouldn’t you be slacking instead of working seriously?

And what’s with that nickname—“Ten-chan”? That’s literally just the “Ten” from Tennouji’s name!

Even with the takoyaki stand, he said he’d take care of all the grilling… Did the summer heat fry his brain or something?

“Well… I mean, thanks to him everything is moving smoothly… but still, it just doesn’t sit right with me.”

Exactly. If the class rep were leading things, fine. But even the class rep now waits for Tennouji’s instructions like it’s the most natural thing in the world! What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“Man… is 2-C really gonna be okay like this?”

I muttered that as I headed toward the vending machines— and that’s when I noticed them.

A bad-looking group.
Oh crap… third-year delinquents. Nope. Not getting involved. Don’t make eye contact. Just walk past and—

“Hey. If it ain’t Toshiya. …Oi, Toshiya!”

“!?”

They called out to me. And that voice— it couldn’t be worse.

“T-Taishou-senpai… g-good afternoon…”

“Yo, Toshiyaaa. Livin’ the youth? Keepin’ that regular spot on the team?”

“Y-yes, thanks to you I’m doing my best…”

“That so? Good, good. Tenma or Momodani givin’ you trouble?”

“Heh…”

Worst case scenario.
Taishou-senpai—the nightmare of the basketball club.

His reputation is terrible, inside and outside the school.

He bullies underclassmen, commits fouls constantly, and injures players in away games—tackles, stomping on ankles, you name it. I’ve had the ball slammed into my face, been smacked on the head for no reason, cursed at—nothing but bad memories.

“Well, anyway. Oh right—since you’re a second-year, you must know this guy called Tennouji?”

“Eh? A-ah, y-yeah, he’s in my class…”

“Great, great. Don’t you think that famous delinquent Tennouji-kun’s been gettin’ a little full of himself lately?”

…I didn’t really get what he meant.
Is Tennouji acting cocky?

Well… he did stand out at the ball-tournament thing, so maybe?

“Oi, Tsuruhashi. Tennouji’s seriously struttin’ around, right?”

“Yeah. He was showin’ off in basketball. Guy’s been real flashy lately, actin’ like hot stuff. So we figured we oughta teach him a lesson.”

“That’s right! Time to make him eat dirt!”

This is bad. I don’t know what’s happening, but this is really bad. I’m definitely going to get dragged into this…

“I-I see…”

“Yeah. Like this.”

He said that—and slashed our class poster with a box cutter.

“Ha! Look at this lame-ass poster! What is this crap? Seriously ugly!”

“Right? Let us fix it up—make it look cool! Gyahahaha!”

He ripped it to shreds. That poster… the one Fushimi and Kuzuha-san worked so hard on…

I couldn’t stop them. I was too scared to move.

“How’s that! Looks way cooler, right, Toshiya!?”

“Stupid, like you can say anything when your own class’s poster just got shredded! Gyahaha!”

“Well anyway, we’re planning to drag Tennouji out and beat some sense into him. Toshiya, you help too, yeah?”

N-no way…! If I get caught doing this, I won’t get off with just a suspension…! But… if I say no… I don’t know what they’ll do to me!

“He’s freakin’ scared, see? Drop it, Taishou. We don’t need useless trash like this.”

“Heart smaller than a mosquito.”

It’s flea, idiot… Laughing about how they wanna “beat up Tennouji,” they headed toward the cafeteria.

My mouth was dry, but I turned back and washed it at a nearby sink before returning to class.

***

When Tennouji discovered the torn posters, he didn’t even get angry. He just calmly reprinted everything from his computer. I genuinely admired him for that.

I knew who tore it.
But if I snitched… Taishou-senpai and Tsuruhashi would kill me. So I kept my mouth shut.

***

“Yo, Toshiyaaa.”

“!? G-good afternoon! Taishou-senpai!”

“Relax, relax. I ain’t gonna eat you. Hey, Toshiya—don’t you think Tennouji’s seriously mocking us? What the hell’s with that poster? We tore it twice and he keeps reviving it. That thing got extra lives or something?”

“I-I dunno… I really don’t…”

“Ohhhh? You sure you’re not hidin’ something?”

“I-I swear I don’t know! One moment it’s gone, next thing I know he’s making a new one—!”

“Hmph? Fine, whatever. Anyway, if the posters don’t work, I’m thinkin’ we should hit the food stall next.”

No way.That’s seriously bad.

Everyone worked so hard on that…

“I-I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Hah? What’d you say? You trying to play hero and tell us to stop?”

“N-no! It’s just… if you get caught, it’ll be really bad…”

“No one’s gonna catch us. We’ll do it super early in the morning. Teachers won’t know who did it. We’re gonna use our ‘artistic spirit’ to make it look cooler. You’re helpin’ too, right?”

Tsuruhashi-senpai draped an arm over my shoulder. Crap.
If I refuse… I’ll get beaten up for sure…!

But telling a teacher? Reporting it? If they find out it was me, I’m dead.

There was a rumor… Didn’t Tsuruhashi-senpai take on three guys at once and beat all of them unconscious…? There’s no way I can win. Not even Tennouji could—

“I-I… I can’t…”

“Ha! He’s shaking! What a loser. If you said ‘yes,’ our respect for you would go up, y’know? Anyone we set our sights on is gonna suffer.”

Suffer…?
What the hell does that mean…?
Somebody… please help me… I can’t refuse, I can’t tell anyone… I’m trapped.

“C’mon, Tsuruhashi. Don’t bully the poor kid. He’s a cute little underclassman.”

“Heh. Bet you’ve been hitting him too. He hates you.”

“That ain’t true, right, Toshiya?”

“H-haaah!? N-no! Not at all…!”

“Good. As long as you don’t snitch or do anything stupid, we’re all good. Be a good boy now, okay?”

“Y-yes!”

Muttering “class is boring, let’s skip,” they headed off again. Thank god… I didn’t get dragged into anything worse.

But… the signboard… If this keeps up…

Yet I was too scared to tell anyone.

And the next morning— the sign really was vandalized with spray paint, completely ruined.

“We worked so hard… How could they!?”

Kuzuha-san was crying. Beside her, Tennouji looked furious— a terrifying expression I’d never seen before.

Honestly… way scarier than Taishou or Tsuruhashi.

“Heh… if they want a fight that badly… then I’ll see it through to the end. And when I find the bastard who did this… they better be ready for what’s comin’—!!!”

He actually plans to fight those seniors…!? I knew it. He is a delinquent. Fighting is the only thing he’s good at… If he finds out… if he realizes it was the seniors… he’ll—

I kept silent.

***

After school the next day, while helping rebuild the signboard, someone spoke to me.

“Imamiya. Got a minute?”

It was Tennouji. My heart jumped— his face looked… angry.

“…What do you want?”

“There’s somethin’ I wanna talk about. Just the two of us. Mind steppin’ outside for a bit?”

A cold sweat ran down my back.