Villain: Your Heroines Were Delicious

“Good morning,” Suzune greeted her friends as they gathered outside the school’s main building.

Yukina, Emi, Erina, and Touka were already there, though the group felt unusually small compared to their usual morning assembly.

Suzune adjusted her bag and looked around the courtyard. “Where are Shou and the others? I haven’t seen any of the boys since I arrived.”

Yukina shrugged, her expression one of mild annoyance mixed with a lack of surprise. “Apparently, when they found out through the group chat that Seijirou was going to skip class today to finish up his business in the mountains, they decided to skip as well. Something about ’solidarity’ or ’taking a mental health day’ because the boss isn’t here to keep them in line.”

“What a bunch of lazy bums,” Suzune grumbled, crossing her arms.

Then, she looked around, her eyes scanning for one specific person. “Where is my pe—ahem, where is Rei? She’s usually the first one here, especially if there’s even a remote chance of getting a head start on the morning gossip.”

The others shook their heads in unison.

“That’s weird,” Suzune noted, her brow furrowing. “I texted her thirty minutes ago and she hasn’t even read it. Knowing Rei, she usually replies with five stickers and a voice note before I can even put my phone back in my pocket.”

“Maybe she’s just busy?” Said Touka, thinking that Rei probably hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep especially after she told her about her night with Seijirou.

“Nah, couldn’t be it.” Suzune shook her head.

Rei, no matter how busy, would always reply to her as quickly as possible, after all, she was the one providing her money.

Just then…

At that moment, a sudden, sharp commotion occurred at the gates of the school.

Students who were walking toward the building suddenly stopped in their tracks, turning their heads as a collective gasp rippled through the morning air.

It was the kind of silence that only happened when someone, or something, truly extraordinary entered the premises.

Suzune and the others also turned, curious as to what caused the commotion, and their eyes widened in absolute, staggering disbelief.

Walking through the gate was an incredibly beautiful young woman with long, vibrant pink hair that shimmered like silk in the morning sun.

She was dressed in the school uniform, yet it looked entirely different on her—tailored to perfection, accented with high-end accessories that screamed of sophisticated fashion.

She walked with a grace so effortless and glamorous that the surrounding world seemed to dim in comparison.

Every step was deliberate, every movement radiating a refined elegance that commanded the entire courtyard’s attention.

“Is that…” Emi trailed off, her mouth hanging open.

“Rei!?” Erina shouted, her voice cracking.

The new Tachibana Rei seemed to hear their call and turned toward them.

However, she didn’t offer her usual frantic wave or loud greeting; instead, she offered a subtle, practiced smile and began walking toward them with the poise of a runway model.

“Good morning,” she greeted them.

Her voice was the same, yet the tone was lower, smoother, and possessed a velvety quality that felt entirely alien to her usual high-strung energy.

“Rei? Is that you?” Erina stared at her childhood friend in absolute, paralyzing shock as she stepped forward, reaching out as if to check if this was a holographic projection. “What… what happened to you?”

“Why, of course,” Rei looked confused, touching her cheek with a manicured finger. “Who else could it be but me? You all look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Why are you wearing a wig!?” Yukina demanded, pointing at the long, luxurious pink locks that cascaded down Rei’s back. “And since when did you do great makeup!? You look like you just stepped out of a magazine shoot!”

“Forget that, since when did you decide to dress up!?” Emi added, her eyes wide. “You, who looked so conflicted on what food to buy that you’d spend twenty minutes comparing prices of bread! You, who would bring home handfuls of ketchups from fast-food restaurants to save a few yen on groceries! This… this level of luxury is impossible for you!”

Touka and Erina nodded in agreement.

Rei crossed her arms, her posture perfect and her expression one of mild, regal amusement. “Of course it’s me. And please stop listing my dark history, it’s quite shameful. A woman must become better, after all. I simply decided that my previous aesthetic was… lacking in substance.”

“I don’t believe you,” Suzune frowned.

At that moment, she reached into her wallet, took out a crisp ten thousand yen bill, and tossed it onto the pavement between them.

It fluttered in the breeze, a small fortune lying in the dirt.

Suzune then turned her gaze back toward Rei, expecting the girl to dive for the money with her usual predatory, penny-pinching reflexes.

The others waited, certain that the “Real Rei” would reappear the moment cash was involved.

However, Rei just stared at the bill, and then back at Suzune, looking entirely unimpressed.

She didn’t even twitch.

“You definitely aren’t Rei!” everyone pointed at her in unison, their voices rising in a chorus of denial.

Even the usually quiet Touka rose her voice in absolute shock.

Rei shook her head at their childishness, letting out a soft, elegant sigh. “Of course I am. But I am a changed woman. I have realized my true worth, and chasing after paper bills in the dirt is completely… inelegant. It’s beneath me.”

Just then, she took out her phone, a new, high-end model they hadn’t seen before, and checked the time with a flick of her wrist. “Anyways. Classes are about to start, and a lady must never be late. We shall meet again, friends. Do try to compose yourselves.”

With that, she turned and gracefully entered the gates, her heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete, leaving the five women staring at her back in a state of stunned, silent wonder.

*

*

*

Later that evening.

At Seijirou’s house.

The front door of the luxurious house swung open, and Seijirou entered, letting out a long, weary sigh.

He was dressed in casual clothes, a sword case slung over his shoulder, looking exhausted but satisfied. “Finally back. Now I can rest. That mountain air was starting to make me miss the smell of smog.”

He entered the living room and dropped several heavy bags onto the floor, containing an assortment of gifts and souvenirs they had picked up on the way back.

You see, when Seijirou, Haruka, and Yuko were about to board the train earlier that afternoon, Seijirou had suddenly been struck by a sense of guilt for leaving the others behind, so he had insisted on a shopping spree in the station mall.

They had stayed for quite a while, which was why they had arrived home much later than anticipated.

“I’ll go change and prepare for dinner, Seijirou-sama,” Yuko said, offering a warm, tired smile as she headed toward the kitchen. “I’m sure you’re starving.”

“Hm… I’ll help,” Haruka added, following her mother. “We have a lot of those local vegetables to process.”

Seijirou nodded as he collapsed onto the large, plush couch in the living room before he checked his phone, seeing a flurry of messages from Suzune and the others.

Earlier, they had texted him repeatedly asking when he’d return, claiming they had something “vitally important” to show him.

He had replied that he was already on the way, and Suzune had immediately responded that she would be over in ten minutes and was bringing the whole group along—excluding Rindou, who was apparently very busy for the upcoming school festival.

At that moment, the front door suddenly burst open with a familiar, loud *bang*.

“Seiji! You’re home!” Suzune called out, her voice echoing through the house.

Seijirou stood up and smiled as Suzune, Emi, and Yukina practically sprinted into the living room, and before he could say a word, the three of them collided with him, wrapping their arms around him in a tight, desperate hug.

“We missed you!” Emi muffled into his chest.

“That’s right! It has only been a day but it feels forever!” Yukina nodded.

“Aaah, Seiji’s smell~” Suzune sighed dreamily.

Meanwhile, Touka and Erina entered at a more sedate pace, standing to the side and smiling warmly at the chaotic reunion.

“So?” Seijirou asked, gently patting Suzune’s head as they finally pulled back. “What is this ’important thing’ that you all wanted me to see so badly? You sounded like the world was ending in your texts.”

At that moment, the three girls broke the hug and stepped aside, pointing toward the doorway of the living room.

Just then, the “new” Rei entered the room, and in that instant, Seijirou’s eyes widened, his jaw nearly dropping.

He stared at the long pink hair, the masterful makeup, and the sophisticated, expensive-looking outfit she was wearing.

The aura she projected was entirely different—gone was the frantic, money-obsessed girl he knew, replaced by a woman who radiated a dangerous, magnetic beauty.

Rei’s eyes seemed to brighten with an intense, obsessive light the moment she saw him.

And without an ounce of hesitation, she walked straight toward him, her movements fluid and confident.

Before Seijirou could even offer a greeting, she reached up, wrapped her arms firmly around his neck, and pulled him down into a deep, passionate kiss.

The room went deathly silent.

Her action shocked everyone present—Suzune, Emi, and Yukina gasped, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

Even Seijirou himself was momentarily stunned into paralysis, his mind struggling to reconcile this bold action with the Rei he knew.

After a long, heated moment, Rei broke the kiss.

She didn’t blush or look away; instead, she leaned in close, her lips almost brushing his ear, and offered him a brilliant, mesmerizing smile.

“Welcome back, darling~”