The Villain Who Got Pinned Down Until He Ran Out Of Stamina ~ This Time I Raised The Protagonist's Affection Too Much And Everyone Fell For Me~

During lunch break on the rooftop, Riina and I were eating our bentos together.

However, it wasn’t really “together” in a friendly way—it was more like we just happened to have the same timing. That’s just how our relationship was, I supposed.

There weren’t any particularly exciting topics to discuss, so we were both just silently moving our chopsticks…

While bringing some pork cutlet to my mouth, I glanced over at Riina’s condition.

“…Mm.”

Riina, who was sitting a little ways away, was furrowing her brow and letting out small sighs…

I had been concerned about how Riina occasionally made bitter faces.

What was it? A cavity? Or was she thinking about something?

“Ugh… I messed up…”

Sometimes Riina would mutter something under her breath like that.

She seemed to be acting secretively, so maybe it was something she could resolve on her own to some extent.

But still…

“Ah, ugh…”

I was definitely concerned.

This time, Riina’s tightly clenched fists were trembling, and her eyes looked a bit teary…

No, at this level, it would be strange NOT to be concerned!

But even if I suddenly called out “What’s wrong?”, Riina would probably just brush me off with “It’s nothing”.

It would be better to bring up some other topic first. That way, she might talk about it naturally in the flow of conversation.

A topic… something to say first…

“Ah!”

I had it. Something to say to Riina. And since it was just the two of us now, this was a good chance to say it.

Timing it right, I opened my mouth.

“Hey, Riina.”

“Mmph… mm, what…?”

Still making that bitter face, Riina looked at me.

“Thanks for this morning.”

“…This morning?”

“Yeah, that. What you said after I mentioned I wasn’t going to visit Yuito today.”

At my words, Riina first looked blank for a moment, then nodded with an “Ah” as if remembering.

“—If you have a prior engagement, then it can’t be helped.”

Just that one line had lifted quite a burden from my shoulders.

It wasn’t like I was doing anything wrong, but it had been an awkwardly uncomfortable situation.

“Honestly, it really helped me out.”

“…I see. But i-it wasn’t for your sake or anything.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“…Somehow, being told that also irritates me.”

Riina puffed out her cheeks.

What was with that reaction? Had Riina gotten a bit more troublesome? No, thinking back, maybe she was always like this?

But that cuteness made her somehow endearing—that was very much like Riina.

“Whether it was for my sake or not, whether it was just a coincidence… Even so, you helped me out at that moment. So thank you. I just really wanted to say that.”

I thought anything more would be overdoing it, so I cut it off there.

Riina stared intently at me as I started moving my chopsticks again.

“Hmm… you’re surprisingly conscientious, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think I’m that conscientious.”

“At least, most normal people wouldn’t say thanks for something like that.”

“Really?”

Riina was tilting her head, but I tilted mine even more.

No, normally you’d say thanks when you felt grateful for something, right? Like when someone made you food or played with you.

“…Well, I guess that’s part of your charm.”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“Not really~”

Riina turned her face away with a huff. Why? Well, whatever.

Since we’d reached a good stopping point in the conversation, I’d move on to the next topic.

“So, I’ve been wondering since earlier—haven’t you been looking kind of pained while eating your bento? Did something happen?”

“…No, not really…”

Riina turned her face away even more.

It seemed like something had happened, but apparently she couldn’t talk about the reason.

I wasn’t going to force her to tell me either. I was just curious, but…

“Well, if you want to talk about it, I might be able to help.”

“…”

Well then, I’d said what I wanted to say, so now I’d eat the side dishes I’d saved for last—

“This tamagoyaki… is unbelievably salty.”

I heard that quiet murmur.

Looking over, Riina was staring down at her bento.

“So you messed up the seasoning?”

Riina nodded slightly at my words.

“That’s unusual…”

Riina was supposed to be good at cooking. And I had eaten Riina’s home cooking once before. At her house, even.

She had seemed used to cooking, and it had tasted good too.

For that same Riina to make such a basic mistake as messing up the seasoning on tamagoyaki…

“Could it be that you got flustered because Yuito had a fever and messed up the seasoning?”

I said this in a light, joking tone while glancing at Riina sideways. Like, no way that could be it, right?

“…”

But what came back from Riina was—silence. And a glare.

“Seriously? Did I hit the mark?”

“…N-not really~”

Riina said this while pouting.

Her reaction was so obvious that… I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Haha, I see. So even Riina makes mistakes like that. Well, I guess that’s Yuito for you.”

The heavy love of the beautiful sisters probably had something to do with Yuito’s gentle personality.

“Hmph. It’s fine if I make mistakes.”

At my reaction, Riina puffed out her cheeks sulkily.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t expect my guess to be right. If you want, let me have some. I’m actually curious about the taste now.”

Really, it was because I wanted to reduce Riina’s burden—she was trying her best to finish it all because it would be wasteful.

Riina probably caught on to this a little.

“Hmm… then I’ll give you some. But in exchange for half of that pork cutlet.”

“Ehh… I really like this pork cutlet though…”

Well, including thanks for this morning and everything, I’d make the trade.

I gave her half my pork cutlets. Riina gave me the remaining two pieces of tamagoyaki that had been ruined because Yuito had a fever.

Right away, I boldly ate the tamagoyaki in one bite.

“Agh, spicy!!”

The flavor was so intense that I couldn’t help but exclaim. I reflexively said it was spicy, but… this was salty… So salty it was like chugging seawater…

“…Also, doesn’t Riina make Mahiro-san’s bento too? Is that okay? Isn’t Mahiro-san choking on it right about now?”

Especially in front of the fan girls she was probably eating with—would that be okay?

“Oh, my sister prefers boiled eggs over tamagoyaki, so today I put in soft-boiled eggs. I think it’s fine.”

That did seem like it would be fine.

I felt bad for Riina, but I gulped down my tea.

“Phew, that was intense. But you’ll be fine next time you make it. Riina’s cooking is delicious, after all.”

“…”