Chapter 2

“…She really is a beauty, though.”

Having returned to his apartment, Ryuichi relived his encounter with Shizuna.
Really, her looks were indeed convincing enough to make you accept that she was a manga heroine. She possessed a charm so captivating that any man would yearn for her and desire to devour her body.

It was frustrating, yet completely understandable why the original Ryuichi had fallen for her and tried to acquire her by any means necessary.

『Hey Rindo, won’t you become my woman?』
『I will not. I detest a frivolous man like you.』

The introduction began with a conversation just like that.
Right after the protagonist’s perspective ended, the two of them would start trading words… and though it brewed an atmosphere of mutual aversion, Shizuna would soon be assaulted by Ryuichi. In reality, such outrageously out-of-bounds deeds were left unchecked, and after some time had passed, Shizuna being thoroughly and selfishly exploited until she broke down was practically a genre staple of netorare.

“…Sigh, what a deeply sinful world.”

It was a remark only Ryuichi could make because he knew the truth of this world.
After lying down for a while and pondering various things, Ryuichi finally grew sick of his filthy room and started cleaning. He carefully sorted the burnable and non-burnable trash into garbage bags without mixing them up.

After cleaning for a bit, it was still somewhat cluttered, but it had become reasonably clean. Compared to the filthy room he started with, it was good enough, Ryuichi nodded to himself.

“Guess I’ll make some grub, then…”

Even when it came to making dinner, he basically just lived on instant ramen. If he felt like it, he might whip up a simple dish, but his dietary habits were completely in ruins. Whether it was some kind of strange corrective force or just how his body was built that allowed him to maintain such a fine physique despite that remained a mystery.

“…Hm?”

As he poured hot water into the instant ramen and obediently waited, the intercom chimed to signal a visitor at his door. For someone to show up at this hour was unusual—though that wasn’t really the case for Ryuichi.

“Bad timing.”

He pretty much knew who it was, but Ryuichi headed toward the entryway anyway.
Without bothering to check who had arrived, he simply opened the door, and a rather flashy woman was standing right there.

“Yaho~ Ryuichi, it’s been since the day before yesterday.”
“Ah… wait, did you say you were coming?”
“Who cares. It’s you and me we’re talking about, right?”

With that, the woman waltzed right into the apartment.

“Huh? Has this place gotten a little cleaner?”
“I cleaned it up.”
“Hsu~, how rare. Well, it’s still pretty filthy, though.”
“Shut up.”

As if she owned the place, the woman plunked herself down with a heavy thud.
Now, to put it simply, this flashy woman was kind of like a friend-with-benefits. She was a partner he had gotten wild with and established a relationship with before recovering his memories.

Her name was Yorimi Chisa, a college student. True to her flashy appearance, what stood out was her semi-long brown hair, and underneath her jacket, she wore a shirt with an open neckline, making no effort to hide her abundant cleavage.

“Did your vibe change or something?”
“…Who knows. Just figured I might start thinking about how I handle my life a bit.”

He hadn’t noticed it himself, but apparently, to other people, Ryuichi’s transformation was painfully obvious. Even so, Ryuichi didn’t look particularly bothered and started eating the instant ramen he had prepared.

“At least cook a simple meal for yourself. If you keep eating stuff like that, you’re gonna wreck your body, you know?”
“Then make it for me.”
“Well then, just call me anytime. I’ll make it for you.”

To Chisa’s words, Ryuichi brushed it off by saying he’d call her sometime, bringing the conversation to a close.
Strictly speaking, it seemed impossible for a high schooler like him and a college student like her to cross paths, but if you roamed the nightlife districts, encounters were a dime a dozen. Ryuichi and Chisa’s meeting had been at a certain nightclub. It was a place minors weren’t allowed to visit, but for someone as reckless as Ryuichi, that was no big deal.

The two met there, and at Ryuichi’s invitation, they shared a one-night stand. For Ryuichi, it was supposed to end right there, but Chisa had taken quite a liking to him, and their relationship had continued ever since.

…It feels good just doing it, but should I start living an honest life even from now on?

Ryuichi posed that question to himself.
An ordinary high schooler wouldn’t have a friend-with-benefits, nor would they ever think of stealing someone else’s girlfriend. Well, if you brought that up, the story would completely fall apart, and Ryuichi’s raison d’être in this world would be entirely lost.

“…Having my reason for existence be cuckolding people is just sad.”
“What was that?”
“Nothin’.”

Ryuichi finished off his noodles and slurped down every last drop of the soup.

“You’re finally done eating. Come on, let’s do it.”
“…Isn’t that a bit too sudden?”
“What are you talking about? Whenever I see you, I just can’t hold back. Do you even know whose fault it is that my body got like this?”
“You mean mine?”
“Obviously! Is there any guy out there who gives me a better time than you?”

He didn’t dare say, ‘Well, that’s because I trained you to be that way,’ out loud.
Until recently, Ryuichi used to feel pretty good whenever he heard words like that, but now that his past memories had revived, he had no idea how to respond. Even so, his body remained completely honest.

“Don’t you feel pathetic going after a high schooler?”
“Tch… You’re the one who made me this way♪ Come on, hurry up… Hurry!”

Even though his mindset had shifted, his way of life hadn’t changed overnight… And that was precisely why Ryuichi obliged Chisa’s request.

“As expected, you’re the best. When I’m held by this body, ordinary women just melt right away.”

And once things were finished, a lying-down Ryuichi held Chisa in his arms.
For Ryuichi, who generally didn’t get along with straight-laced folks and only hung out with outcasts, Chisa was an easy woman to deal with, practically cut from the same cloth. She accepted Ryuichi for the kind of person he was and continued their relationship on that basis.

“Chisa, you’re pretty popular at college, right? If they found out someone like you was wrapped around my finger like this, it sounds like it’d be way beyond mere jealousy.”
“You don’t care about stuff like that, do you?”
“True.”

Ryuichi nodded in agreement.
Even if his awareness shifted to a certain degree, his way of living wouldn’t change. Ryuichi had always believed that. That remained true even as he held Chisa and even after she went home.

However, a change in his daily routine was just around the corner.

“Morning, Shishido-kun.”
“…Morning.”

It happened the very next day.
Even after going to school and entering the classroom, Ryuichi was still looked at from a distance just as before, but someone actually spoke to him; Shizuna.

Up until now, Shizuna had never once initiated a conversation with Ryuichi. Defying that norm, Shizuna approached Ryuichi the moment he stepped into the classroom.

“…Shizuna?”

Shizuna’s childhood friend and the protagonist of this world stared at Shizuna’s actions as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. Yet, the person feeling far more bewildered than any of them was Ryuichi. Even granted the fact that he had rescued Shizuna, he hadn’t imagined in his wildest dreams that she would approach him in such a crowded place.

“Shishido-kun, thank you for yesterday. Thanks to you, I was saved.”
“I already got your thanks yesterday, didn’t I? No need for it anymore.”
“…Really? Yesterday, well… I thought it was rude of me not to thank you properly right away.”

She’s way too serious, Ryuichi muttered in his heart.
On top of that, talking with her about normal everyday topics like this was something never depicted in the manga. The sole reason Ryuichi had originally approached her was because he wanted everything she had.

“Is your bluntness just how you normally are?”
“…Nah, it’s not really like that.”

His past lifestyle was what had made him who he was, but naturally, Ryuichi had no intention of opening up that much to Shizuna, of all people. Still, it completely threw off his groove, leaving him scratching his head in frustration. Let alone the latter half where she was melting from pleasure, the fact that Shizuna’s expression toward him in the early parts consisted only of disgust and terror made this feel all too surreal.

“Hey, get back to your seat. Your beloved childhood friend is staring right at you, you know?”
“My beloved? He’s not like that… well, whatever. See you later then, Shishido-kun.”

There is no ‘see you later’, Ryuichi muttered under his breath, though it didn’t reach Shizuna.
He never expected that chance encounter to change the impression Shizuna held of him like this, causing Ryuichi to let out an exhausted sigh.

And right before him, the protagonist was staring at him intensely.