Villain: Your Heroines Were Delicious - Chapter 128 - 49

Chapter 128: Chapter 49

The morning sun hung low over the commute to Shunji High, casting long, sharp shadows across the sidewalk.

Tachibana Rei walked with her head down, her usual energetic bounce replaced by a distracted, heavy stride.

The past few days had been surreal.

Suzune, Rindou-senpai, and the others had all returned from their mysterious “training” looking different—sharper, more intense, and possessing a strange air of authority that Rei couldn’t quite grasp.

Yet, Seijirou and Retsu-sensei has yet to return.

Rei was so consumed by her worry that she was basically almost always in a daze.

Just yesterday, she had been sitting on a bench, staring into space, completely oblivious to the fact that her archenemy, Erina, had sat right next to her and casually finished half of Rei’s bento.

’That tiny purple-haired devil,’ Rei grumbled internally, her fist clenching. ’She’s a millionaire! Why is she stealing a commoner’s sausages?!’

She couldn’t understand, that chibi is obviously so rich, so why does she always bully a poor girl like her!?

A few paces behind her, Tadano Taro walked in a state of simmering, self-righteous indignation.

He kept his eyes fixed on the back of Rei’s head, his jaw set.

For nearly a month, since the day she had slapped his hand away when he was just trying to call out to her, they remained in a state of cold war, even when they walk together to go school and back, they haven’t spoken a single word.

Truthfully, this could’ve been avoided with a simple apology from Taro, but he wasn’t one to apologise, especially since he believes he was right.

So he was waiting.

He was certain that any day now, Rei would come crawling back, tearfully apologizing for her “hormonal outburst.”

He knew she wouldn’t be able to handle him acting so cold towards her.

And he, who was the kind, benevolent childhood friend that he is, he would graciously forgive her.

That was how their dynamic worked, ever since they were in middle school.

He ignored her, she panicked, and then she doubled her efforts to please him. Even when she knew that it was his fault, she wouldn’t be able to resist apologizing to him.

’But it’s been weeks,’ Taro thought, his frustration mounting. ’She hasn’t even looked at me. Why isn’t she breaking? Does she really think she can replace me with that delinquent?’

Taro was so deep in his internal monologue that he didn’t hear the steady, rhythmic footsteps approaching from behind.

A shoulder slammed into his with the force of a moving wall, sending him stumbling forward and he nearly face-planted onto the pavement, but managed to barely catch himself.

“Hey! Watch where you’re—” Taro spun around, a snarl on his lips, but the words died in his throat.

He froze.

Standing there was a tall, imposing figure with ash-blonde hair that shimmered in the morning light.

The air around the man felt heavy, vibrating with an invisible pressure that made Taro’s lungs feel tight.

Taro recognised the man immediately, ’Kageyama… Seijirou… he’s back!?’

Seijirou didn’t even look back at him, he simply moved with a new, more oppressive grace, closing the distance to Rei in a few strides.

And at this moment, Rei, who was deep in thought, immediately felt a sudden, familiar weight pull her shoulder down.

A muscular arm wrapped over her, pulling her close against a firm, warm side.

Her first instinct was to jump, her mind flashing back to Taro’s previous attempt to touch her.

Taro, watching from a few feet away, felt a surge of triumph. Do it, Rei! Slap him!

He couldn’t help but snort in disdain. Rei never liked to be touched ever since that incident, obviously, she was going to slap those who dared to even try.

Taro was waiting for Kageyama to get humiliated.

But the slap never came.

Rei looked up, her eyes widened the moment she saw the sharp smirk and the piercing gaze of Seijirou, and her entire face transformed.

The gloom that had hung over her for a month vanished instantly, and her eyes didn’t just brighten; they sparkled with a raw, unadulterated joy that Taro had never seen directed at himself.

“Seijirou-kun!” she squealed, her voice a pitch of pure delight.

She didn’t pull away; instead, she leaned into him, her hands instinctively grabbing his jacket as if to make sure he was actually solid. “You’re back! You’re finally back! I thought the mountain ate you!”

Seijirou let out a low, amused chuckle, his arm tightening around her as he continued walking, dragging her along in his wake. “It tried. But I’m a hard meal to swallow, Rei.”

Taro stood frozen on the sidewalk, his hand still half-raised in a gesture of protest.

He watched as his childhood friend, the girl who was supposed to be his shadow, walked away, laughing and clinging to the man he hated most.

He felt invisible.

He felt small.

And most of all, he felt humiliated and angered. How come his childhood friend, who was supposed to be on his side, allow another man to casually wrap their arms on her like that!?

“Wait! Get your hands off of her!” Taro’s voice cracked as he screamed, the sound echoing off the surroundings, startling some people who were walking on the street.

Seijirou and Rei stopped, turning in unison.

Seijirou’s expression was one of bored curiosity, but Rei’s face immediately twisted into a deep, frustrated frown.

“Taro-kun, what are you doing?” Rei asked, her voice hushed but sharp. “Stop shouting. We’re almost at the school gates. You’re making a scene and bothering everyone.”

“What am I doing? What are you doing!” Taro stomped forward, his finger trembling as he pointed at the arm draped over Rei’s shoulder. “Why aren’t you slapping him? Why aren’t you fighting back? You told me you were suffering from trauma! You told me you couldn’t handle being touched! Why are you just letting him manhandle you like that?”

Rei blinked, her brows furrowing in genuine, honest-to-god confusion. “What do you mean? Seijirou-kun is… well, he’s Seijirou-kun. He’s a friend. This is normal. Why are you making such a big deal out of a hug?”

“Normal?!” Taro’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “You didn’t say that when you slapped my hand away! You acted like I was a criminal for just reaching for you!”

“Because you tried to grab me without permission!” Rei snapped back, her voice rising in defense. “That was rude! And intrusive!”

“And he didn’t ask permission!” Taro shrieked, gesturing wildly at Seijirou. “He just walked up and grabbed you! How is that any different?”

Rei paused, looking up at Seijirou for a second before looking back at Taro with a look of confusion. “It just is, okay? He’s Seijirou, a friend, so of course it’s natural. This is this, and that is that. End of story.”

“You—” Taro felt the world tilt.

The sheer, effortless rejection in her words was a physical blow.

What angered him even more, what truly sent a chill of despair through his heart, was that Rei wasn’t lying.

She wasn’t making excuses to hurt him.

She genuinely, fundamentally believed that Seijirou’s touch was a blessing and his was a violation.

To her, the hierarchy was set in stone.

Seijirou, who had remained silent, finally tightened his grip on Rei, pulling her flush against his side. “We’re wasting time, Rei. The first bell is going to ring, and I’m not in the mood for a lecture from the homeroom teacher. Let’s go.”

“Right!” Rei chirped, her anger at Taro vanishing the moment Seijirou spoke.

She practically bounced alongside him, leaning into his warmth as they continued toward the gates, leaving Taro standing frozen on the sidewalk like a discarded prop.

Seijirou glanced back over his shoulder one last time.

He saw the pathetic, shaking form of the “Protagonist” and felt nothing but a cold, clinical detachment.

Before the Mirror of the Void, Seijirou had operated under the delusion of the “Gamer”.

He had thought that if he just stayed away from the plot, and not interfere, the world’s natural “hero,” Tadano Taro, would eventually step up.

He thought he was just a temporary guardian, holding the line until the script took over and gave these girls their happy endings.

But the Void had stripped that lie away.

Tadano Taro was nothing but an empty vessel, and in the original game, he was a blank slate for the player to inhabit.

Without a “player” like Seijirou to guide him, Taro had no resolve, no strength, and no soul of his own.

He was a man who would watch Rei descend into madness, let Touka be taken away by someone who is more of a man than he is, and allow Haruka to be sold into slavery, all while crying about his own feelings.

The reason why these heroines get the happy ending they deserves isn’t because of Taro, but it is because he was the one who spent countless hours enduring pain and torment.

He was the one who repeatedly have to suffer from gut-wrenching bad ending and repeat every route to ensure he made no mistakes.

He was the one who achieved the impossible harem ending.

And even the final message of the Heroines, {And now, even if the game ends, our heart will always belong to you}

That message wasn’t meant for Taro, the protagonist, it was meant for him, the player.

And now, faced with the obvious affection of the girls…why should he shove them and turn away?

As for Taro?

Hmm, if Retsu was here, she would probably call him,

An NPC.