Mob Character Reincarnation Loner: As a Result of Supporting the Heroine Who Had Been Rejected, I Ended up Being the Recipient of Her Heavy Emotions…
“Hey, Bun kun… can we talk for a sec?”
“Huh? Uh, sure.”
After school, Nanase and the others called out to me as I was about to head home.
Tsukimi-san beside me had this distant look in her eyes.
What is it… Could it be something heart-wrenching about Tenma and Hana-san again?
Nanase and Serizawa-san exchanged glances, nodded to each other like a signal, and fixed their gaze on me.
“We’ve been through a lot together… You’ve really blended into our group now, right? So from now on, instead of just lunch, wouldn’t it be nice if the four of us went out somewhere after school too~?”
“Huh? Is that okay? Am I not a bother?”
“Of course not!! Actually, since you’re a guy, maybe you’d rather hang out with guys than us?”
“Well, that’s true… But you guys are pretty much the only ones who ever invite me out.”
It sounded pathetic, but it was the truth.
“So, I’d be happy if you invited me… really.”
“Oh, I see!! Well then, keep your schedule open every single day from Monday to Sunday!!”
Every single day…
“Oh, right! Let’s share our schedules using a calendar app for the four of us!”
“Hiyori, that’s a great idea.”
My schedule will be completely exposed…
“Irie, give me your password so I can get the app.”
“Eh, um… I’m not sure about letting others see my schedule…”
“Wasn’t it 123*0#?”
“Wha— really… Hiyori, nice one.”
My password was already known…
The schedule on the handed-over smartphone was packed solid with upcoming plans.
“Alright, Mission ‘Operation: Exclusively Encircle and Capture Irie (After-School Schedule Monopoly Edition)’ complete. Right?”
Huh? What’s that supposed to mean…
Suddenly, my eyes met Tsukimi-san’s, who was standing stiffly nearby.
“…Tsukimi-san, did something happen at the sleepover the day before yesterday?”
“Nothing… Nothing happened.”
“No way, something definitely happened, right!?”
“I know nothing about it…!!”
Dammit, Tsukimi-san. Are you seriously going to play dumb about this…?!
“Alright, Bun-kun. Right after this—”
“Kyaa! Kimura-kun!! So cool!”
“Huh?! What?! Why is Kimura-kun here?!”
A shriek of excitement echoed from the classroom entrance.
My gaze instinctively turned toward the door. It seemed the girls in our class were making a commotion. At the center of the gathered girls stood a male student with model-like good looks, tall stature, and flashy blonde hair.
No mistake. He was Tenma’s best friend and Vice Student Council President, Kimura Ryota.
“If you want, I’ll listen to your story!! Kimura-kun!!”
“Hey!? I was talking to Kimura-kun first, you know!?”
“Huh!?”
He ignored the arguing girls and scanned the classroom.
“…Oh! There you are!! Bunchin!!”
“Bunchin!?”
“Bunchin!! I got free bowling tickets from that senior girl I’ve been talking to a lot lately!! Let’s go together!”
“Huh, is it okay for me to go with you? Ryo-kun?”
“No way… Wait, Kimura-kun invited someone to hang out!? And he did it himself!?”
“Wh-why with someone like Irie…!?”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘Ryo-kun’!?”
The girls grew even more restless at Ryo-kun’s invitation. Um, ladies. Your stares are scary.
“I’m terrible at bowling though, I always get gutter balls.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!! I’ll teach you how to do it properly!!”
“Well, if that’s the case—”
“Hold on a sec.”
Serizawa-san stopped me as I tried to head to the bowling alley.
“Kimura Ryota… What’s your relationship with our Irie?”
She stepped forward, glaring at Ryota-kun with sharp eyes.
Huh? Why is she so openly hostile? Also, what’s “our Irie”?
“Huh? Well… Bun-chin and I are the kind of friends who’d get covered in mud buying croquettes to eat on the street… I guess?”
“Huh? Wh-what? Irie… bought croquettes… to eat? With someone other than me…?”
Huh? Why is she so shocked?
“B-Bun-kun? R-Ryo-kun… what?”
This time, a pale-faced Nanase grabbed my shoulders with a firm grip.
“Huh? Since it’s Kimura Ryota, I called him Ryo-kun… Was that too obvious?”
“That doesn’t matter at all!! Why, that, uh, a-a nickname… Ryo-kun… Bun-chan… Why are you calling each other that? Why?”
“Um, yesterday, with everything that happened, kinda… in the heat of the moment, we just started calling each other by nicknames…”
“W-Why do you call me Nanase-san, but… Bun-chin, Ryo-kun… Bun-chan, Ryo-kun…”
Nanase-san. She’s turned into a robot…
“I haven’t lost yet…”
“Huh? Serizawa-san?”
“Kimura Ryota is a guy, and if I give you a billion steps, I get that I could become close with Irie in just one day… So I haven’t lost yet…!!”
What exactly is Serizawa-san fighting against?
“Th-that’s right!! Even if I give you ten billion steps, Kimura-kun is a boy!! So it’s fine if Bun-kun charms him, right?!!”
What on earth is Nanase saying now?
“If… if Kimura Ryota were a girl, it would’ve been instant death… right?”
“Vice President, are you here?”
Amidst the chaotic atmosphere, Kirifuji-san suddenly appeared from the hallway.
“G-geh, Kirifuji-chan…”
“Ah, so you were here after all.”
Her lustrous flaxen hair fell to her waist, and though petite, her figure asserted femininity. Her dignified bearing and demure demeanor made her appear so mature it could easily be mistaken for a third-year.
When Kirifuji-san entered the classroom, the boys started making a commotion. Her presence made the boys’ eyes sparkle, and even the girls gazed at her with admiration.
Between the reaction when Ryo-kun came and these two… They’re like idols or something.
“Hello, Bungaku-senpai. It’s been a few days, hasn’t it?”
“Hello… Why are you here?”
“I came to see Bungaku-senpai… What do you think?”
“Eh?”
Kirifuji-san’s words made me freeze. Seeing me like that, she chuckled softly.
Ah, what? Just kidding
“Vice President, you were trying to skip out again, weren’t you? The President was angry.”
“Ugh, Tenmachi found out too…”
“Yes. So it would be best for you to go quietly to the student council room.”
“Guh… Guess I have no choice… Ugh, paperwork is such a pain… I wanna go bowling with Bunchin—”
“In that case, how about asking Bungaku-senpai to help with the paperwork?”
Huh?
“Oh!! That’s a great idea!! The paperwork’ll get done faster, and then we can go bowling afterward!”
Huh? Huh?
“Well then, it’s settled. Bungaku-senpai. Please come along with us♪”
“Eh? Eh? Eh?”
Saying that, Kirifuji-san smiled and wrapped her arm around my right arm, pulling me closer to her.
“H-Hey!! Hey!! Stop!!”
Nanase, who’d been in a daze since Kirifuji-san appeared, snapped back to life and clung to my left arm, which she seemed about to drag away.
“You two!! You’re too clingy!!”
Well, um… Nanase-san is clinging to me pretty hard too.
“I don’t think it’s good to be so clingy! People around us might get the wrong idea!”
Exactly. Right now. The guys are totally looking at me like I’m the enemy… I can’t stop sweating bullets.
“Wrong idea? Ah… There’s no problem at all. I like him, Bungaku-senpai.”
“As a senior! As a senior!! Thank you!! I’m so happy!!”
I appeal to everyone staring at me like they’ve seen something unbelievable.
This is bad. The stares around me are bad. Specifically, they’re the kind of looks women give their enemies. No doubt about it. My gut is telling me so.
“Hey, why did you start liking Irie?”
Serizawa-san, who had somehow recovered, dug deeper with keen interest.
“Huh? Well… If I had to say… it’s his face. I guess you could call it love at first sight?”
“Irie, don’t get fooled. This is definitely some kind of love scam.”
“Serizawa-san, that’s pretty harsh, you know? Are you aware of that?”
Everyone else seemed to agree. They must have thought, “Oh, it’s a joke,” because the hostility faded.
“Hey!! What exactly is the relationship between Kirifuji-san and Bun-kun!?”
“My relationship with Bun-kun… Hmm… Would you say we’re on kissing terms?”
“”“Ga?”””
The bombshell was so shocking that not only Nanase and Serizawa-san, but even Tsukimi-san was speechless.
“N-no. It’s a misunderstanding…”
“But… Bungaku-senpai. I was a virgin… and you say something like that… sniff…”
“Indirect kiss!! It was a Indirect kiss!!”
I began a life-or-death explanation to the three girls glaring at me