The Kansai Villain’s Rebirth: I Accidentally Ended Up With a Harem. - Chapter 9: A Kansai Native—Crossing Paths With The Protagonist.

A Kansai Native—Crossing Paths With The Protagonist.

Imamiya Toshiya. The well-known protagonist of NTR HAZARD. He’s about 170 cm tall. If you put it bluntly, he can be a bit of a coward. He’s kind, thoughtful, and has no patience for people who do wrong. He wouldn’t hesitate to take a hit if it meant protecting someone. He’s terrible at mornings and usually gets woken up by Akitani-san. He’s on the basketball team and is, for the record, a regular. Academically average, athletically average — basically the kind of protagonist you see in countless games.

So imagine my surprise when that protagonist marched up to me in a fury. What on earth is he so mad about?

“Hey? What’s up with you?”

“What did you do to Mio and the others?”

“Do what? We were just chatting this morning — literally just said good morning and talked.”

“Don’t lie! You were hitting on them, weren’t you?”

What the hell. He was laying into me for no reason, as if he hadn’t even listened to anything I’d said before.

“Toshiya-kun, you’ve got it all wrong. I was the one who called out to them. I just invited Rin-chan and Mio over, that’s all.”

“W-what? Shina… is that you? What happened — your hair and… your skirt looks a bit longer…”

“Huh!? W-what are you staring at!? Pervert!!”

“No — that’s not it! Anyway… why the black hair?”

“Because Tennouji-kun told me to make it like this.”

I didn’t say that.

“W-what?! Tennouji told you to do that?! Hey Tennouji! What did you tell Shina?!”

“I told her to stop dressing like a gal.”

“Tennouji, did you get some kind of leverage on Shina…?”

“Are you all right? Your paranoia’s out of control.”

“Tennouji-kun wouldn’t do something like that. I guarantee it!”

Please don’t guarantee anything — that kind of assurance gives me a bad feeling. Still, what’s with Imamiya? In the game, Tennouji tries not to interact much — he only starts talking to heroines later, after Imamiya and the heroine are already dating.

“Shina… are you sure Tennouji didn’t do anything to you!?”

“He didn’t! If anything, he saved me!”

“Wha—?! So you’re saying he took advantage of that and—”

Imamiya clenched his teeth and muttered non-stop, so many points to pick on, but if you told me “well, it’s Tennouji, you can’t really blame people for thinking that,” I wouldn’t argue. Tennouji Daiki’s past behavior was terrible; he did a lot of bad things before. I have to be aware of that.

Looking around, I realized a bunch of classmates had frozen. Of course — they were biting at the toxic drama that was literally centered on me.

“Hmm, Natsume, I’m going back to my seat. This is about to turn into a huge fight.”

“Ugh… Tennouji-kun isn’t the bad one.”

“Toshi-kun, we were literally just talking, okay? He didn’t hit on us or anything.”

“Right. We just got pulled into Shina’s thing. Tennouji didn’t do anything.”

“You’re defending him too!? This delinquent!!”

“It’s true there are rumors he’s a delinquent, but have you actually seen him do those things?”

“He is a delinquent! He skips school, he hits on girls in town! I heard he even hits on middle schoolers!?”

“No. That’s crossing the line. I’ve never done that. Never.”

That was true. I remembered being hit on and going along with someone before — maybe people assumed I was the one doing the hitting on? I don’t know. Middle schoolers and high schoolers are technically both teens, so “hitting on” is murky… But if a thirty-something in my previous life did that, handcuffs would be immediate.

“Liar!”

“Toshi-kun, please stop!”

“Why are you saying such awful things about Tennouji-kun!?”

If this continues, it’ll escalate from me vs. Imamiya to Imamiya versus Natsume and Akitani. If our group fractures now, it’ll be a disaster.

“Well, middle-school hitting on girls, huh. Not that bad, I guess.”

“Tennouji-kun!?”

“Tennouji-kun…?”

“Looks kind of funny — I’ll think about it.”

“…Ha! See? I knew it! Then don’t get close to Shina and the others!!”

“Alright then. Bye.”

“Tennouji-kun!”

“Hey, stop, Shina! You shouldn’t hang around delinquents, right!?”

“…Tennouji-kun’s not a delinquent…!”

“Shi-chan…”

“Imamiya, you’re behaving strangely.”

“I’m not strange!”

He put on the villain act and backed off, but damn — that got awkward fast. I should’ve cut things off and left before Imamiya showed up. If someone like me had been involved, I can see why he’d worry… though Imamiya snapping like that was over the top. Still, no choice — Akitani-san somehow calmed both Imamiya and Natsume down, and things settled.

“Good morning. Everyone, the opening ceremony is about to start, so gather on the field. Hey Tennouji. You’ll obey what Kannari-sensei said, right?”

“Of course, Sensei. I’ll be there.”

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry. But you using polite speech is weird as hell.”

“Sensei, that’s cruel.”

“Hahaha! Just kidding! Now, off to the field!”

A lot of stuff left me unsettled… but fine, let’s go to the opening ceremony. Imamiya’s mood is really bugging me.

***

—Imamiya Toshiya’s perspective

When I walked into the classroom that morning, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Shina, Mio, Rin — Tennouji Daiki was right up in their faces with that creepy grin. That bastard… what’s he doing hitting on my Shina and the others!?

What’s worse, Shina was vehemently denying everything I said. Not a delinquent? Just because he dyed his hair black doesn’t erase his history of bad behavior. Rumor even says he lured middle schoolers into hotels — that’s extremely dangerous. He’s the kind of smooth talker who’d manipulate them into going to a hotel, no question.

“Hey Toshi-kun, is it true that Tennouji-kun was hitting on middle schoolers?”

“What? Even you are doubting now, Mio? Some guy from another school’s basketball team said it. Said he even took them to hotels.”

“R-really…? But it’s just a rumor, right?”

“Rumor or not, Tennouji’s the kind of guy who’d do it.”

“…I guess so…”

“Maybe Mio’s got something on her that Tennouji knows about?”

If that were true… yeah, Mio’s clumsy. She’d be the kind of person someone could exploit. She’s short and well-endowed — an easy target. Shina’s dumb in a different way and always gets tricked. He could take advantage of that. Even Rin, who’s smart — but she’s tall with a small chest, so would he target her? Tennouji probably goes for Mio and Shina more… but Rin could still be a target. Guys have confessed to her since middle school.

“…Hey Imamiya-kun, were you thinking something rude when you looked my way?”

“N-no, I wasn’t…”

That was close. Rin has sharp instincts — think wrong thoughts and you’re in trouble. Rin’s beautiful. Shina and Mio are cute too. I told the other guys on the basketball team that I was secretly dating all three — that’s my childhood-friend privilege. When they asked if we’d done it already, I told them not to be crass, and they went crazy. Being surrounded by childhood friends like this? It’s a guaranteed win.

Who’d let some Tennouji take my Mio? Nobody. If I keep telling him to stay away — “It’s dangerous” — he’ll eventually back off. Right now it’s all talk, but soon they’ll confess to me, we’ll date, and I’ll enjoy being popular. Watch me, Tennouji. I won’t let you have her.