Originally, Takashi Komuro had planned to wait until Rei finished chatting with the others and separated from them before approaching her again. But the moment he saw her join Shuya's group, he could no longer sit still.
After all, Rei had never had any close male friends besides him before. Now, out of nowhere, this guy had appeared.
And from what he had heard and seen, Rei had even eaten this guy's bento and washed the box before returning it?
"Rei, who is he?"
Takashi stood in front of Rei, blocking the group's path, and asked coldly.
Rei felt her scalp go numb.
She had already tried her best to avoid Takashi and ignore him. Why was he still stubbornly clinging to her?
"What does it have to do with you? Didn't I already say we're not close? So please stop calling me by my first name and stop bothering me, okay?"
Rei stepped forward, positioning herself in front of the group and shielding Shuya and Saeko behind her.
Since she couldn't avoid it, and given her personality, she refused to let her personal issues drag others in.
Hearing such cold words from Rei for the second time, Takashi finally couldn't hold back. With obvious disappointment, he said, "Rei, you've changed. You weren't like this before."
He couldn't understand why his childhood friend—who used to share everything with him—had suddenly become so cold.
"Before?"
Rei paused for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. "You have the nerve to talk about 'before'? When I complained to you about that bastard Koichi Shido, how did you respond?"
"We grew up together, yet you chose to defend an outsider instead of believing me. And now you want to talk about 'before'?"
"I know Mr. Shido. He's not that kind of person. You must have some misunderstanding about him," Takashi said hesitantly.
Only now did he finally realize where the problem lay.
Even so, he still didn't think Koichi Shido was at fault. After all, seeing is believing. He couldn't just take Rei's word for it.
Although he wasn't very familiar with the teacher, Shido had a decent reputation at school and didn't seem like the kind of person Rei described.
Besides, he was a teacher. Offending a teacher was never a good idea in Takashi's eyes.
"If you think Mr. Shido is a good person, then I'll just be the bad guy, okay? So please go find your precious Mr. Shido and stop bothering me from now on, alright?"
Seeing that Takashi still didn't get it, Rei was so angry she actually laughed.
"Rei, that's not what I meant."
Takashi tried to persuade her earnestly. "I'm doing this for your own good. Even if what you said is true, can you really fight against Mr. Shido?"
"Just listen to me. Apologize to him while things haven't blown up yet, before it becomes impossible to fix."
"For my own good? This is what you call 'for my own good'?"
Rei looked at Takashi in disbelief, a chill running down her spine. She said word by word:
"Takashi Komuro, you make me sick!"
"You—!"
Hearing this, Takashi's nameless rage exploded. In a fit of anger, he raised his hand and slapped toward Rei's face.
Rei had never expected Takashi to actually hit her, even though their relationship had already fallen apart. She didn't react in time, let alone dodge. She could only stare blankly as the palm approached.
She instinctively lowered her head and closed her eyes.
However, the expected pain never came.
Had Takashi suddenly pulled his hand back?
Rei opened her eyes, only to see a tall figure standing protectively in front of her, firmly catching Takashi's swinging hand.
It was Shuya!
In that moment, Shuya's figure reflected in Rei's eyes seemed to glow.
Yes, Shuya had stepped forward. He had no choice but to step forward.
First, the countless public service announcements he had watched as a child made it impossible for him to stay indifferent.
Second, if this had happened somewhere else it might have been different, but it was happening right in front of him—while Rei was with him.
That slap wouldn't have landed on Rei's face. It would have landed on his.
"Who the hell are you?"
A trace of regret flashed through Takashi's heart. Even he hadn't expected he would actually try to hit Rei in the heat of the moment.
But when he realized his slap had been blocked by this sudden intruder Shuya, that tiny bit of regret vanished instantly, replaced by pure anger.
Shuya glanced at him indifferently. "A hero of justice? A passing Kamen Rider? None of that matters. What matters is that I think Miyamoto-san said something very right—you really are disgusting."
Originally, Shuya had felt neutral toward Takashi, the anime protagonist.
That was normal. Unless the character was exceptionally standout, who really remembered the protagonist's personality from the anime they watched?
But from what Rei had told him earlier and what he had just witnessed, Takashi kept lowering the bar again and again.
Self-righteous, controlling, always using "I'm doing this for your own good" as an excuse to manipulate the people around him while siding with outsiders.
He was clearly a scumbag.
Shuya could now somewhat understand why, in the original story, Rei would rather choose the protagonist's best friend over him.
This also reminded him of a certain scene early in the anime.
Shortly after the zombie outbreak, when the group reunited and planned to escape on the school bus, Koichi Shido suddenly appeared with a large group of students wanting to board.
Rei firmly opposed it, saying that if Shido got on, she would get off. Anyone else could board, but not him.
Yet Takashi still ignored Rei's objection and let them on.
Rei decisively got off the bus alone, and Takashi chased after her to win her back.
This caused the group to split up. Later, the two of them triggered a "hero saves the beauty" scene at a gas station.
It seemed that it was precisely after that event that Rei's attitude toward Takashi began to soften.
"This is between me and Rei. It's none of your business," Takashi tried to yank his hand free, but found Shuya's grip terrifyingly strong. Unable to break free, he still spoke defiantly.
Shuya asked calmly, "Are you her father?"
Takashi shook his head.
"Then are you her husband?"
Takashi glanced at Rei, saw the coldness in her eyes, and shook his head again.
Shuya asked with mock surprise, "Don't tell me—you're her son?"
"What the hell are you trying to say?!" Takashi snapped impatiently.
"Look, you already understand your own position perfectly. You are nothing."
"You—!"
Takashi was speechless for a second, then flew into a rage and threw a heavy punch straight at Shuya.
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