Rin opened his locker at the end of the day, almost expecting to find something inside. But his clear locker greeted him.
'Is the harassment over? Or is this the calm before the storm?'
There was no way to answer this question other than to wait and see. But when nothing showed up even after three days, Rin had to consider that the earlier incident was a fluke.
Listening in on gossip informed Rin that Reina and Amelia's harassment had stopped as well. And according to the rumor mill, it had been Reina who found the person responsible and dealt with them
Rin had no idea how people even knew this, but he decided to confirm it with Reina.
And speaking of Reina, one more change had occurred between her and Rin.
Usually, he was the only one who contacted Reina and asked her to hang out. But these past two days, she had started to make an effort to be around him as well. Her presence usually kept other people away from Rin, but since he needed her help in the future, he didn't mind her staying around.
Still, he wanted his curiosity to be satisfied, so he asked Reina the question on his mind
"Reina, about that harassment case… did you resolve it? Can you tell me who was behind it?"
"Why do you want to know? Just be happy that it's over and move on."
Rin expected Reina to show her usual attitude regarding this matter. So her mature response took him aback, leaving his mind blank.
"Ah, it's nothing. It's just… you know… I thought you'd tell me about it since it involved me as well."
Was it foolish of Rin to expect Reina to include him in her circle? He felt disappointed, but then reassured himself, remembering that they had only been acquaintances for a few days.
Time would close the distance between them, but only if Rin made an effort.
Reina looked at Rin, and in a steady voice, she told him this—
"Kid, there are things in life that are better left unknown for your own sake. Don't look too much into it if you want to live a carefree life."
Her words made it seem like she knew more about the situation than she was willing to let on. And it just made Rin even more curious.
But knowing Reina's character, it was clear that she was burying this topic, and Rin should bury it as well.
He didn't bring it up again.
…
A whole week passed before anything exciting happened again. This time, it was the school festival, and Rin knew this was the final (mentioned) big event before the apocalypse.
To get close to the harem members, the MC often brought up stories of the times before the apocalypse. Since he was a returnee, he naturally knew the backstories of the early heroines and used them to gain their sympathy.
One such story had been Amelia's kidnapping during her school festival.
Rin still recalled the bullshit the MC had cooked up to make Amelia let her guard down. It went something like this—
["Ah, the world has gone to shit, but at least we now have the power to protect ourselves. I can still recall how helpless I felt when I almost got kidnapped during my school days—"
"No way—! You almost got kidnapped as well? I heard that Amelia was also almost kidnapped—! Ah—! I am sorry. I should not have said something."
Amelia looked at Sera, who was another potential harem member (Sera had the ability to extract knowledge from things around her and use them as weapons), with a pale face.
"A-Ah… that was such a long time ago. At that time, my sister… let's not talk about it now."
The MC snuck up beside her and draped his arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner.
"I can tell that it's still hard for you to talk about it, so let's not. However, as someone who shares a similar experience, I can always lend you an ear.
Amelia's smile turned soft, and she looked grateful for the undeserving help. That was when her love for the MC started to grow—]
'Ugh—! I feel like I want to vomit thinking about this. That bastard!'
Amelia thought of the MC as someone helpful and special. But in reality, he had only brought up that topic to make her feel closer to him.
It was the most toxic way to make someone dependent on you.
"Ah—! As much as I don't want to change the timeline for other people, maybe I should at least change this event. It will be a nice gift for the MC."
Just thinking about the MC trying to invoke trauma bonding with Amelia, only for her to not have any trauma to share, filled him with satisfaction.
'That bastard deserves at least this much for emotionally distressing all the girls around him on purpose.'
But the bigger question was—why was Amelia even kidnapped in the first place? She was not rich, and her health was also not good. Her family was normal as well and didn't have any major enemies…
Honestly, Rin was willing to believe that her kidnapping was just an oversight on the writer's part and also a plot hole that would never be explained.
"How should I go about saving Amelia? Should I inform Reina—? No, that won't help, and she would become even more suspicious of me. Then, should I ask my people to follow her around and stop anyone who seems suspicious—?"
There was a lot he could do for Amelia, but deciding on a course of action was difficult.
While he was thinking this, he noticed that Amelia was hanging around the school. It seemed like she had decided to attend today, which was rare.
But it also meant that the kidnapping incident would likely happen today.
"Shit—! What the hell is this timing? I better leave Reina a message and alert my security team as well—"
Along with them all, one more person received the message as well—Shelly.
She looked at the message on her phone with a calm expression and then turned around and headed toward Rin's school.
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I wrote an extra chapter today, so I'm posting it. Please give me power stones and I might get motivated to do another extra chapter this week.