Silence fell after my confession. Even the students walking to school who had been chattering about the three of them went quiet.

Since my head was bowed, I couldn’t see Nanaka’s expression. Well, her answer was predictable.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know you, have never interacted with you, and have no interest in you.”

She said this decisively with a friendly smile.

I’d expected to be rejected… Still, it hurt a little. Being rejected in front of so many people was quite damaging to one’s mental state.

But that was what made a side character resilient. The next part was what mattered.

“Hey, that guy just confessed to Seo…” 

“He’s too brave. Getting rejected was obviously going to happen. I heard Seo-san is only interested in good-looking guys…” 

“Is that why she’s with Haga? Is she targeting him? Wow, that’s scary…”

People around were talking, some pitying me, others discussing Nanaka’s reputation.

Perfect. Everyone’s attention was completely focused on the three of them and me.

I looked sharply at Isamu, the protagonist.

“Isamu-kun, aren’t you dating Haruka-chan?”

“Yeah, I am… Wait, don’t tell me you’re… going after Haruka next…!”

“No, that’s not it! I’m not targeting Haruka-chan next or anything! …Ahem. What I’m asking is, why are you walking to school with another girl when you have a cute girlfriend like Haruka-chan?”

When I pointed this out, Isamu was visibly flustered. He kept glancing back and forth between Haruka and Nanaka on either side of him.

“W-well, if both of them want to walk to school together, what’s the problem…”

Oh, so that was his approach…

“Let me be clear here! This isn’t out of spite for being rejected! I’m asking you — which one do you actually like?!”

“Ugh…”

Now, agonize, protagonist! Depending on this choice, the heroines’ actions will change…

“Ii-kun…?”

“Senpai?”

Both Haruka and Nanaka looked up anxiously.

Silence continued for a while. Come on, he should immediately say his girlfriend, right? He’d already been quite poisoned by Nanaka…

“The one I like is… o-of course my girlfriend.”

“Ii-kun!”

Having chosen his girlfriend, both Haruka and I let out sighs of relief. But I didn’t miss the momentary look of frustration on Nanaka’s face.

“…I see. Then I wish you both happiness!”

Having accomplished what I needed to, I quickly headed toward the shoe lockers.

“…What was that guy all about?”

“He was a strange person, wasn’t he… But I’m relieved that Ii-kun properly likes me!”

“O-of course I do. You’re my girlfriend, after all.”

“That’s right!”

“…”

“Nanaka, what’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

Though she said that, Nanaka glared resentfully at Shotaro’s retreating figure.

“I really am just a side character, huh.”

Since I didn’t know which classroom was mine, I told the homeroom teacher, “I forgot because of the shock of being rejected,” and was directed with pitying eyes.

My seat was at the very back next to the window. When I sat down, all my classmates were whispering and looking at me.

No students approached me afterward, so I realized I was apparently a loner.

I got rejected and I was a loner, but I must have made a strong impression on the main characters.

And this wasn’t the end for me, the mob character.

Just to be thorough, I slipped a love letter into Nanaka Seo’s shoe locker during lunch break.

“That person from this morning… did he confess on purpose…?”

Little did I know that Nanaka was growing suspicious.

Chapter 4: Oh, The Mob Character Called Her A Bitch

After school, while waiting in an empty classroom on the third floor, Nanaka arrived.

“I thought there was no sender on the letter… so it was you.”

“Hmm, so you remembered my face.”

“Of course I did. You asked which one of us the senpai liked better right in front of me.”

Her smiling face was certainly cute, but from her demeanor, it was clear she was angry.

“Sorry, sorry. I might have said those things because I was in shock from being rejected. Please forgive this defeated loser.”

“And what does this defeated loser want now? I’m actually quite busy. Oh, maybe you’re planning to attack me here for revenge? Oh no, how scary~”

“Yes, yes, act cutesy all you want. Feel free to record or film this too.”

Seeing my attitude, which was hardly that of someone who liked her, even Nanaka seemed to notice.

Her dubious smile disappeared.

“I see… so that confession was meant to interfere with me after all.”

“Obviously. Let me be direct. I’m here to stop you from stealing someone else’s partner.”

“Oh really… Someone like you who just appeared out of nowhere?”

Nanaka put her hand to her mouth, laughing mockingly. In that case, I’d provoke her too.

“Yeah, that’s right—you bitch.”

The moment my words reached her ears, Nanaka’s expression changed strangely.

“Did you just call me a bitch?”

She repeated the words I’d thrown out.

“Yeah, I did. What else would you call someone who tries to steal another person’s boyfriend?”

For some reason, my words made Nanaka intensely agitated and angry.

“What do you know?! Then what should I do?! Just stand by and watch them be happy while biting my finger?! Rather than doing something like that, I’ll take him! What’s wrong with making someone I like mine?!”

I’d heard somewhere that love was equal, but that only applied when the person wasn’t already taken. Once you crossed that line, it became cheating or adultery—things you shouldn’t do.

In other words, people talked about equality but it was actually unequal. The world was full of such contradictions.

“But that stealing will make someone cry, you know? Being resented, causing sadness… even if these things happen, you’ll still go through with it?”

“Of course! What’s wrong with fulfilling my first love?!”

At this point, the conversation paused.

Well, she wasn’t going to easily say, “Okay, I’ll stop trying to steal him.”

If I continued to interfere with Nanaka like this, I’d earn her anger, and she might spread rumors like “He attacked me”—that sort of thing.

So let’s wrap this up with something that wouldn’t earn her anger, as a safety measure.

I pointed at Nanaka and declared:

“Look, I absolutely hate these stealing games. Casually taking someone else’s partner, being satisfied with that act, and then tossing them aside. That’s what I can’t forgive… So show me if your first love is genuine. Depending on what I see, I might back off. The heroine who steals partners—you—versus me, the mob character… Will you succeed in stealing him, or will I stop you? Let’s see which route we end up on—it’s a challenge.”

(Nanaka’s side)

Nanaka Seo was good at seducing men, but she had never actually dated anyone. 

Naturally, she was a virgin. 

She had been confessed to many times before but had no interest and had rejected them all.

That’s why Isamu was the first man who made her so conscious of him.

The man who’d saved her from being hit on. The man who’d interacted with her regardless of rumors. The man who’d cared about her even though he had a girlfriend.

—She fell for him.

She wanted to be by his side. She wanted to be his girlfriend. But… there were two people interfering.

One was his girlfriend Haruka. The other was—this man who had confessed to her. 

(What’s with this guy… Show him if my first love is genuine? Will I succeed in stealing him or will he stop me? Which route will we end up on? It’s a challenge?… Don’t make fun of my love!)

“Fine, I’ll take you on!”

At Nanaka’s response, Shotaro grinned.