"Ever since the first day I laid my eyes on you, I have been unable to look at any other girls. P-please, Rachel! Please let me make you the happiest woman in this school! N-no! THE HAPPIEST WOMAN IN THIS WORLD!!" As loud as he can, a desperate male student confesses his feelings out of nowhere. Even though he clearly sounds nervous, stuttering over his sentences, the owner of that voice still manages to finish what he has in mind.
In a way, he is much better than Han. At least he can express his feelings without being scared of the outcome. As for Han Som the Handsome...
Well...
Let us not talk about the protagonist behind his back like this. Just know that the amount of hope I have for Han is...um...limited.
But thanks to the male student, every shadow person gathers around us, forming a big circle out of nowhere. The usual unintelligible noise settles down, leaving everything to that particular student. I have a feeling there is an invisible spotlight shining down on him.
The girls, especially blondy, may not know who that person is. I most certainly do. It is, without a doubt, the school bully who has a crush on Rachel.
Do you still remember Laura's tragic death? If you do not, let me help remind you about what happened in that event.
See, it is clear Rachel murdered Laura. Blondy was the ending to Laura's appearance in the main storyline. No matter how hard I tried to keep her from harm, the results were...undesirable, to say the least. Not to mention, I even made it worse by intervening, which was why I kept myself from going overboard.
Anyhow, there is no doubt that was how our class rep died. However, if not for this guy right here, Laura would have never gotten the chance to be saved by Han. And without such a catalyst, the class rep would not have...offered her body to the main character as a reward. The school bully was the one who caused everything. He loved Rachel but did not have the guts to confess when she was still available. However, once everything was said and done between blondy and Han, he regretted his decision and tried to make things right.
I mean, that was technically not a bad thing. Being persistent is always good, no matter what you are trying to do. But the school bully did not see the red flags in his actions.
Even now, when the plot has deviated far away from the original storyline, he is still as clueless.
Firstly, it is Rachel. THE Rachel we are talking about.
What harm could it be, right?
"Piss off." As she turns and looks back at him, Rachel says so with a wild smile. "Or else."
*Guuuu*
Shivers me timbers!
See?! What did I say?
"I...uh..."
Bro, stop, drop, and roll! Wait... That is a wrong sequence...
Do not try to talk back. Rachel is clearly not interested. Hear me out: save yourself, walk away for your own safety.
An intelligent man would back off at this point. The school bully, frankly, is not such a type of gentleman as me. And that brings me to our second point.
He has no idea when to take a step back.
"Please! Rachel! You are the only one in this world for me!" The school bully yells, clearly ignoring blondy's darkening facial expressions.
"Shut your mouth!" Her ice-cold voice is filled with annoyance.
Truthfully, I do not need to worry about the bully's situation since I can not ever forgive what he did. Maybe I am a hypocrite, yet he can eat crap for all I care.
"Don't get involved with him." I hastily tell Rachel and Laura.
If I could, I would tell them what would happen if we kept interacting with this guy. Sadly, they would look at me with worried eyes and bring me to the hospital after hearing my story.
It makes sense, though. Who on earth would believe in such a story? Unless they knew about it already, blondy and the class rep would only put their hands on my forehead to check if I had a fever.
"Got it, C!" Laura nods slightly. Now that I am glancing over her side, she does not seem to care what is happening behind us. The class rep's face is a little scary, though. I wonder why...
Phew, I thought she was about to stand in between Rachel and the school bully. This is good. At least there will be no confrontation, and she will not get into danger.
"C, Can I get involved with you instead?" My arm sinks deeper into the valley of softness.
"Rachel!" The class rep says so with anger. Coincidentally, on Laura's side, I can feel her even more. "Stop trying to steal him!"
...I am not hearing anything. I am not seeing anything...
As you should all know by now, the girls are more important. In addition, with this current situation, the person I am more worried about is actually blondy. At her core, I guess Rachel is still a yandere. And although her target has been switched from Han to me, she still has that nature within her heart.
"Without you, I'm like a fish out of water!" The bully continues his cries.
"Then suffocate." Rachel bluntly says. The air around her is getting worse by the second.
"I-I'm hopeless without...!"
Rachel cuts him off instantly: "Then kill yourself."
Take the hint already! God!
As he keeps begging, I am afraid of blondy suddenly attacking him out of nowhere. If Rachel kills him in the middle of the crowd, her school life will definitely end. More importantly, deep inside, I do not want to see her hurt by anything or anyone. It is a weird feeling considering what happened between us two in the previous runs. One would expect me to be full of hatred toward that blond-haired girl. On the contrary, when I saw her crying alone, I felt like my heart was torn.
Although I know blondy has inhuman strength, that does not mean she can not get hurt. She even got stabbed by me countless times when I tried to save Laura from her. Rachel is by no means invincible. She is actually more fragile than anyone would think.
Maybe I am overthinking this. In the past, Rachel tried to hide her violent tendencies when Han was around. Except when he cheated on her, of course. Since I am a surrogate for the protagonist, I hope blondy does the same for me.
"I'm sorry..." The school bully quickly bows down. "It seems that I am too late."
"Let's go, C. Our precious time will be wasted here." Rachel turns her back to him.
Laura silently walks forward. As for Kurokawa, she is already ahead of us.
"But can you at least tell me why you chose him?"
Hey, hey, hey! No personal attack!
Yet before I can say anything, someone has already taken the first step.
"What do you mean why she chose him?" That is Laura's voice.
The school bully glances at Laura and then back at me.
"I see nothing good coming out of that guy." A finger points straight at my featureless face. "Scrawny, ugly, boring. He lacks only a pair of glasses to become a true king of the nerds. Why are you two fine ladies hanging out with such a thing?"
Ouch! My feelings...
The dude knows how to hit me where it hurts the most. Since the beginning, I already get that my existence does not belong in this group. I mean, come on, a faceless guy hanging out with the main characters? If something like that does happen, it is no longer an eroge but a full-fledged hentai.
Suddenly, Laura lets my arm go.
"Excuse me for a second." Saying so, she quickly walks back to the bully. Her whole atmosphere changes from apathy to that immense rage in a fraction of a second.
"Eh?" A surprised sound escapes my throat.
"Sorry, C. But I need to take care of something." Almost at the exact moment, Rachel moves. She even cracks her fingers on the way.
"You, too?"
From the dark looks on their faces, they seem to be furious. Is it because the bully was bad-mouthing me?
"Girls! Girls!" I call out to the two, desperately trying to hold them back. "I'm fine! His insults mean nothing."
It feels weird being the mediator in this type of situation. Usually, the ladies would be doing this thing, no?
"It is not fine, C." Kurokawa's voice appears next to me. "He did something he should not have done."
After saying that, the bookworm joins Rachel and Laura with haste.
Now, facing the bully is not one, but three people.
"Take it back." The class rep orders. Her voice is totally blank and void of any emotion.
Sitting at the highest position of the school, obviously, ol' bully here will not comply so easily. "Take what back?"
"Don't play dumb, asshole. You will swallow your words and apologize to C, or I will make you swallow your tongue instead." Blondy gives no room for negotiation.
"There are things you shouldn't do. I could not care less if you wanted to approach Rachel. She is attractive, for sure. But what you said about C was simply unacceptable." Even though she is covered in bandages, Kurokawa still stands straight without fear. The bookworm makes me feel like she is the one giving it, to be honest.
"Heh!" The bully scoffs. "It is rare to see so many first-class beauties at once. Before we begin anything, can I ask for your names? Rachel does not need to tell me. I already know hers by heart."
"I do not plan for you to get to know me. What you should know is that C is my boyfriend." Laura stresses every word in her sentences.
"The same goes for me. Although I care about C, I am but an acquaintance."
Is it just me, or Kurokawa sounds a bit sad?
"It does not matter who they are. Say sorry. Now!" Rachel grabs the collar of that bully.
"Sorry, Rachel." He smiles.
"Not to me, shit-for-brain! To him!" Rachel turns her head slightly in my direction.
"Him? Alright, alright. He must be an important person to you."
*Ptui*
He spits on the ground.
"Pussies like him are not even worth my attention."
*SLAP!*
His face turns to one side after a loud slapping sound.
"So are you." Laura chillingly exclaims.