The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem.

The Protagonist Engages in Wild Deduction.

Takii and Doi left after mentioning something about Rinko.

I still had no idea how to fix the fact that I’d pissed them off, but… Rinko?

Come to think of it, there’d been whispers going around school about bullying lately.

Could it really be about her?

I scrolled further down the underground board.

334 Anonymous Student

【Breaking】Fuyuki Rinko’s true face revealed!

She’s apparently fuck-buddies with Tennouji and some random old dude lmao

Total slut wwwww

335 Anonymous Student:

334 Proof or it didn’t happen?

336 Anonymous Student:

335 I saw it with my own eyes! She went into a love hotel with the old guy! Here’s the proof!!!

“What the hell is this!?”

The attached photo showed a girl about to enter a love hotel. It was obviously supposed to be Rinko, but… those piercings. Her ears were absolutely covered in them. And… her tongue too!?

What the hell, Rinko… No! This isn’t her! There’s no way Rinko would ever do something like that!

Club activities didn’t matter anymore. I rushed home, determined to fight back against this garbage post.

***

Once I got home, I immediately replied to post 334.

412 Anonymous Student:

334 What is this incomprehensible photoshop crap!? Delete it!

413 Anonymous Student:

412 Dude’s dead serious lmaoooo Another white knight riding in? Www

Don’t you dare joke about “white knight”! You’re slandering Rinko and mocking me too!

This isn’t about that! I’m going to protect her!

414 Anonymous Student:

413 Wrong!! But there’s no way my Rinko would ever do something like that!!

415 Anonymous Student:

414 “My” Rinko lmaoooo Stop simping for that ugly bitch, it’s embarrassing www

Ugly!? Don’t make me laugh! If Rinko’s ugly, then every girl on the planet is ugly!!

Is this poster even a girl? Just jealous, huh!?

416 Anonymous Student:

415 I’m pissed! Who the hell are you!? Stop hiding behind anonymity and show yourself!

417 Anonymous Student:

416 As if anyone would lmao idiot www

Damn it all! Fine—if that’s how it is, I’ll hunt down the bastard who posted it, drag them out, and turn them over to the teachers myself!

But… how am I supposed to find them…?

At times like this, Takii’s the one with all the connections… but we just cut ties…

No good. I don’t know anyone else who could help.

That’s when it appeared.

419 The Cat’s Eyes Are Watching

334 Posting maliciously doctored images alongside baseless statements that severely damage an individual’s social reputation constitutes defamation. You are in violation of defamation laws. You will be arrested and face criminal penalties. Furthermore, earlier posts containing personal insults also fall under the crime of insult.

Who the hell is this guy!?

He’s acting all high-and-mighty, but… wait, seriously…?

Even anonymous board posts can lead to arrest!?

Holy crap… good thing I didn’t write anything too crazy…

421 The Cat’s Eyes Are Watching

420 Are you unaware of the numerous cases where people have been arrested even on anonymous SNS and forums!?

There exists something called a “disclosure request for sender information.” Through provider logs and the like, perpetrators have been identified and arrested in multiple instances.

Additionally, I have observed posts threatening to kill a specific individual; these constitute the crime of intimidation.

Should the targeted individual suffer mental distress, a civil lawsuit may follow, and you could be sued for damages ranging from several hundred thousand to several million yen. Do you understand what “being sued” means?

Holy… he’s untouchable.

Eventually, the original poster (334) could only respond with “die” and “idiot.”

That’s it!

Perfect idea!

If I claim that I’m the one who wrote as “The Cat’s Eyes Are Watching,” and use that to catch whoever’s bullying Rinko, I can regain her trust!

There’s no way anyone here can tell who really wrote it anyway!

This is my comeback plan!

426 Anonymous Student

425 Hell yeah, keep going! Punish anyone who badmouths my Rinko!

427 The Cat’s Eyes Are Watching

426 Silence.

Hey, no need to be that harsh…

***

The next day, I approached Rinko to check her ears myself.

There wasn’t a single extra hole.

“Rinko.”

“What is it?”

Her voice was ice-cold… but I couldn’t back down now.

“Could you… show me your tongue for a second?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I mean… you don’t have any piercings or anything, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. A tongue piercing? Why on earth would I do that?”

“Right!? Of course! S-sorry…”

So it really was fake all along. Relief washed over me.

It became painfully clear that Rinko was being targeted.

Someone had put a dead bird in her locker. She was terrified. Unforgivable…

But touching a dead bird is gross… ugh, Tennouji’s insane—he cleaned it up without hesitation.

The next day, for some reason, cockroaches appeared in Tennouji’s locker and he lost his mind.

Hey, hey… getting the wrong target could be dangerous… you might end up in the red-light district as payback…

A few days later, classes were basically cancelled.

Word was the bully had been caught.

Wait… Tennouji caught them?

Then “The Cat’s Eyes Are Watching” was… Tennouji!?

No, the chances are still low… I’m not giving up yet. I will earn Rinko’s trust again!

Then the unthinkable happened.

Rinko was pushed down the stairs by a girl from Class E named Tsuruhashi.

Tennouji shielded her and was taken away in an ambulance instead.

When Rinko came back to the classroom…

“Daiki… Daiki…! Daiki… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…!”

“Mio-chan, take Rin-chan to the nurse’s office! She’s in no state…”

“Yeah… you’re right… Rin-chan, let’s go to the hospital, okay?”

“N-no… Daiki…”

She was completely out of it, unable to form proper sentences.

After Mio and Shina left, I quietly slipped into the nurse’s office.

“Rinko…?”

“Daiki, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… Daiki… Daiki… I want to see Daiki…”

“Rinko… I’ll protect you…!”

I made up my mind right then and there.

But being by her side right now wouldn’t help anything.

That day, I finally admitted it to myself—I love Rinko.

So I wrote her a letter. She was absent the next day, but I slipped it into her shoe locker.

She’d definitely read it…!

***

She came to school the following day. Yes! Perfect!

I wonder if she read my letter.

I’d only written: “Meet me behind the gym after school.”

I spent the entire day fidgeting, praying for the final bell.

And then—the fateful moment arrived.

I waited behind the gym. Footsteps approached.

I turned around. It was Rinko.

The moment she saw me, she let out a long, weary sigh.

“…So it was you.”

She glared at me with eyes colder than winter.

“R-Rinko…”

“So? What did you want to talk about?”

“Well… the bullying… it must’ve been rough…”

“Yes. Thanks to you all, the school’s issues are mostly resolved. Not completely over, though.”

“I-I see… Hey, Rinko… I was working behind the scenes to stop the bullying too.”

“How kind of you. Specifically? Tennouji-kun handled everything, though.”

“It’s not just that! On the underground forum—those photos of you covered in piercings! I kept it from spreading further… that was me! Did you know?”

“…Oh?”

For some reason, her eyes sharpened even more.

But there’s no way she could tell who wrote what!

“So the one calling her ‘my Rinko’ really was you, after all.”

“Huh? No, that wasn’t— I meant the ‘Cat’s Eyes’ account!”

“No. The one who wrote ‘my Rinko’ was you. I couldn’t imagine why you suddenly asked to see my tongue, but now it makes sense. You were completely taken in by that pathetic fake information. That’s why you said something so ridiculous.”

Rinko… knows about the forum!? She actually saw it!?

“Anyway, I’m busy. Was that all?”

“N-no, wait! The real reason I called you here… Rinko! From now on, I’ll protect you! Stay by my side! I love you! That’s why I want to protect you! Please stay with me!”

“I refuse. As if I would ever stay by your side.”

Instant rejection. She was furious.

“Protect me? Stay by your side? You really do look down on me, don’t you? Of course you do. You called Shina a brainless idiot, and the things you said about Mio were so disgusting I could rant for hours. That’s why they both left you—how do you not see that? How foolish.”

“B-but…”

“If I stayed by your side, I’d just end up looked down on like Mio and Shina.”

“I never looked down on them!! Who the hell are you dating!?”

“Me.”

“Wha—!? Tennouji!?”

“Daiki…”

“Sorry, Rinko. Came to check on you. Then I saw Imamiya here looking ready to pounce.”

“Daiki…!”

“No way… no way no way! You’re dating Shina and Mio, and now you’re stealing Rinko from me too!?”

“I didn’t steal anything. Shi-chan, Mio-chan, and Rinko all agreed. We’re officially dating.”

“You’re lyinggggggggg!!!”

“Shut up already. Let me make this crystal clear: Shina, Mio, and Rinko are my girlfriends. Try anything funny again and see what happens.”

“I believe I told you never to speak to me again. And thanks to that photo incident, it’s also clear you never trusted me in the first place. Let me say it once more: never speak to me again.”

“R-Rinko…”

“And only my boyfriend Daiki is allowed to call me Rinko. I never gave you permission. Let’s go.”

“Yeah. Shi-chan says we’re hitting Mikudo.”

“Maybe I’ll have the apple pie…”

“Mio-chan was saying the same thing.”

As they walked away, Rinko’s face was no longer the cold mask she’d worn for me.

She was gazing at Tennouji with the softest, gentlest smile.

I collapsed to my knees in despair, unable to move for a long while.

The three childhood friends I thought would always be mine… had all been taken by Tennouji.