Chapter 11: The Next Move
The seat by the window in the back was just as dazzling today.
"Yorito-san, would you like to go to the beach with me this weekend? My relatives have a private beach, and they invited me to come."
"Miyuki-senpai, that sounds great. It's been getting hot lately, so a trip to the beach might be fun."
"Hey, no fair! I want to come too, Yorito!"
"Of course, Karen. I wouldn't leave you behind."
"Yay! I'm looking forward to going to the beach with you, Yorito!"
"Hey, Yorito-kun, you didn't forget about me, right?"
"How could I forget, Yuna? You're coming with us too."
"Hehe, you're so kind, Yorito-kun."
"Alright, let's all have a blast. Swimming in the day, and BBQ and fireworks on the beach at night. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"That sounds wonderful. Let's all join my relatives at their private beach this weekend."
The protagonist, Fusekawa Yorito.
The traditional beauty sitting next to him, Hanazaki Yuna.
The energetic childhood friend with twin tails, Himeno Karen.
The half-British student council president, Sakuramiya Miyuki.
Once again, I watched the harem rom-com unfold in the classroom from my seat in the front row.
Judging by their conversation, the next episode is probably going to be the swimsuit episode. It’s a fan-favorite service episode in the original story, and when it aired in the first season of the anime, it captivated audiences nationwide with its fantastic animation.
Fusekawa Yorito will see the girls in swimsuits he’s never seen before, blush when asked to apply sunscreen, and frolic on the sandy beach under the clear blue sky.
After the beach fun, they’ll enjoy a barbecue on the sunset-dyed shore and end the day with fireworks under the starry sky, laughing together.
But such a splendid youth is something that will never come to me.
After all, I exist solely as the villain who disrupts their relationships.
If I were to interfere in the rom-com unfolding at the window seat, I’d be headed straight for an unhappy ending.
This world demands the original story’s conclusion. It compels me to fulfill my role as a villain, even if I don’t want to, resulting in that inevitable storyline.
So, it’s wise for me to stay in the background rather than be forced into the villain role.
(But I don’t plan to continue this role forever.)
It's my second day after reincarnation.
To escape my role as the villain and avoid the tragic ending, I’ve already started taking action.
I’ve devised various plans for today. Yesterday, while doing some muscle training, I kept thinking about what I should do.
First, I need to diligently attend classes and answer all the teacher’s questions without fail. If I continue behaving unlike a villain, I believe my standing in this rom-com world will gradually change.
Second, I must cut ties with other villains in this school.
Surprisingly, there are many people in this academy who share the same role as me. They are necessary for creating events that highlight the protagonist.
If I keep associating with them, I’ll never escape my role as a villain. By severing these connections, I can secure a different position.
Lastly, third, I need to make friends with people who have roles other than being a villain.
Rom-coms have many roles: the protagonist, the heroines, the protagonist’s best friend, romantic rivals, background characters, and so on.
I don’t just want to avoid the tragic ending; I want to have the best youth experience in this world. To achieve that, I need to acquire a role as compelling as the protagonist’s.
Making friends with someone who holds an attractive role is crucial to escaping the villain role.
I set these three goals for today and prepared myself before classes started.
The first plan is simple: attend classes seriously. The second plan involves staying in the classroom to avoid being surrounded by the villain-side students like yesterday.
So, my preparations focus on the third plan.
I need to make friends with classmates who have entirely different roles. I scanned the class roster and looked around the classroom.
Thanks to my knowledge of the original story, I can guess what roles my classmates play.
The students gathered near the hallway are background characters, as are the girls chatting in the middle of the classroom.
Making friends with background characters probably won’t help. I believe the villain role is relatively high among supporting characters.
Villains have a distinct appearance and a different aura from other background characters to highlight the protagonist.
I had been given the role of the strongest villain in the story. If I were to become friends with background characters, I would stand out too much. A villain befriending mob characters would be too conspicuous and unsatisfactory for breaking free from my villain role.
Therefore, I concluded that befriending someone with a memorable role in this world, equal to my special role as a villain, could help me escape the villain role sooner.
With that in mind, I directed a fervent gaze at a particular male student.
As I watched, the protagonist, Yorito Fusekawa, who had been chatting with the heroines, walked over to the seat of the male student I had my eyes on.
"Reo, would you like to join us for the beach trip? It’s more fun with more people."
Yorito was speaking to Kizaki Reo, a handsome, sporty guy with bright silver hair that illuminated the background characters.
Kizaki Reo, radiating an aura as brilliant as the protagonist’s, was one of my potential friends.
"Ah, Yorito. I heard you, but I'm busy with club activities on the weekends, so it might be tough."
"That's too bad... I thought it’d be more fun with you there, Reo."
"I'm happy you invited me, though. I'm really sorry, but I'll make it up to you. Let’s do something another time."
"Alright. I’ll invite you again another time then."
"Yeah, I’m looking forward to it."
Kizaki Reo, who spoke with the protagonist Fusekawa Yorito as equals, was easy to identify with my knowledge of the original story.
Kizaki Reo is the protagonist's best friend.
He holds the highest position among the supporting characters.
The protagonist, Fusekawa Yorito, has a plain appearance, average grades, and average athletic ability—traits that make it easy for readers to empathize with him.
In contrast, the best friend character embodies the ideal friend that readers want. Reo is approachable, supportive in academics, courageous in facing challenges with the protagonist, and athletic, making him the perfect foil for Yorito.
Kizaki Reo’s character traits make him the ideal friend, highlighting the protagonist’s plainness and generating a sense of superiority among readers.
While being friends with background characters would make me too conspicuous, befriending the high-spec best friend character might allow me to blend in despite my distinctive appearance.
However, this approach carries significant risks. Kizaki Reo is the closest male character to the protagonist. If I get too close to the protagonist, events requiring my role as a villain might occur.
Even if it wasn't in the original story, I can’t let my guard down. My very existence in this reincarnated world is already an irregularity.
My actions could trigger unforeseen events, so I must minimize such uncertainties.
For now, I need to avoid getting close to the protagonist and heroines, and instead focus on getting closer to the best friend character. Depending on how I manage this, I might successfully escape my villain role.
With this in mind, I carefully observed the interaction between Yorito and Reo before class started.
I remember the swimsuit episode vividly, having rewatched it multiple times as it’s one of the most popular episodes of "Fusekoi." I even memorized Fusekawa Yorito and Kizaki Reo's conversation word for word.
Following this conversation, the heroines interact briefly, and then the scene shifts. The daily life at school is skipped, and the story jumps to the beach trip.
With this knowledge, I knew what would happen next. No events would occur between the protagonist and the best friend character for a while. This meant free time with no Reo-related events.
Now was the time to become friends with Kizaki Reo. By maintaining an appropriate distance, I could steadily escape the villain position.
Alright, let’s do this.
As I steeled myself, the bell for the first period rang.
The chance would come during the third-period P.E. class. Kizaki Reo is in the basketball club, and today's P.E. class involves basketball. This class is my best opportunity to get close to him.
