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Chapter 19: You Are Nothing
Takashi could no longer sit still. He had intended to wait until Rei was alone, but seeing her join Suyan's group was too much. Rei had never been close to any other guys.
"Rei, who is this guy?" Takashi stood in front of them, his voice cold.
Rei felt her scalp tingle. Why did he have to keep pestering her? "Didn't I just say? I'm not close to you. Stop calling me by my first name and stop bothering me, okay?"
Rei took a step forward, shielding Suyan and Saeko. Since he was unavoidable, her personality made her unwilling and hesitant to let her own affairs involve others.
Hearing such cold words, Takashi finally broke. "Rei, you've changed." He couldn't understand why the childhood friend he used to share everything with had suddenly become so cold.
"Before?" Rei was stunned for a moment, then she couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. "You think you're worthy of talking about the past with me? How did you treat me when I complained about Mr. Shido? We grew up together, yet you actually chose to side with an outsider instead of believing me."
"I know Mr. Shido; he's not that kind of person," Takashi stammered. He finally realized this was the root of the problem. But seeing was believing and hearing was not; he couldn't just take Rei's word for it. Mr. Shido's reputation at school wasn't bad, and offending a teacher was never a good thing in his eyes.
"Since you think Mr. Shido is such a good man, then I'm the villain, all right? Go find him and stop hounding me!" Rei was so angry she laughed.
"Rei, that's not what I meant. This is all for your own sake. Can you really win against a teacher? Apologize before things become unmanageable."
"For my own good?" A wave of revulsion rose in Rei's heart as she stared at him. "Takashi Komuro... you make me sick!"
"You—?!" In a moment of desperation, Takashi instinctively raised his hand.
Rei didn't react at all. She didn't think he would actually hit her. She just lowered her head and closed her eyes. But the pain didn't come. Had Takashi suddenly pulled his hand back?
Rei opened her eyes to see Suyan had stepped forward, firmly gripping Takashi's wrist. Suyan had no choice but to do so. For one, he thought of the public service announcements he'd grown up watching. For another, if this happened while she was with him, then that slap wouldn't be hitting Rei's face, but Suyan's own.
"Who are you?" A trace of regret flickered in Takashi's heart, but it was quickly replaced by rage.
Suyan glanced at him. "A hero of justice? A passing Kamen Rider? None of that matters. What matters is that Miyamoto was right—you really are disgusting." Suyan's understanding of him hit a new low. Self-righteous and controlling—he was clearly a piece of trash.
This couldn't help but remind Suyan of a scene from the early part of the anime. Shortly after the zombie crisis began, Takashi let Shido on the bus despite Rei being adamantly opposed. Rei had acted very decisively, causing the protagonist's group to split up.
"It's not your place to interfere!" Takashi tried to wrench his arm away, but found the other's strength to be unexpectedly immense.
Suyan asked, "Are you her dad?" Takashi shook his head. "Then are you her husband?" Takashi shook his head again. "Are you her son, then?"
"What the hell are you trying to say?!"
"See? You know your place perfectly well, don't you? You are absolutely nothing to her." Suyan opened his hand.
"You!" Takashi lunged at Suyan with a heavy punch.
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