[Rachel] I am his plot armor.

Hilarious! I can not even hold my voice anymore.

[ Wha...what did Kurokawa... How did...? Why would she do such a thing?]

C is completely speechless. He can not think straight anymore after such a bombshell from Kurokawa. When I glance at him, my love is clearly stunned by the action of the bookworm. His reaction is totally understandable, to be honest.

I do have to wonder if C knows how cute he is at this instance.

And Kurokawa, now that is how you insult someone intellectually! After all, obscenities are only at the entry-level when it comes to degrading someone.

Making them question their IQ while simultaneously calling them a retard is, without a doubt, on a different plane. Besides, we are not on the same level as the bullies, so we will not be using their way of speech. That much is clear as night and day. There is no need for us to lower ourselves like that.

I can say that Kurokawa has an astounding ability to use her words with utmost certainty. No matter the location or time, she can whip those out without any problem. It must be because of her job as the school's librarian and her interest in books.

Ever since she joined the conversation, Kurokawa has taken control of everything. How she attacked the bully's intellect and underhandedly called him a retard has been a treat for me to see.

C may have a different opinion, though. Not once or twice he talked about jumping in to help her while risking his own safety. Even though he, out of all people, understands perfectly clearly how strong my ability is, C still wants nothing to harm me.

That is what I call chivalry.

Kurokawa may fall a bit behind me when we consider raw strength alone. Still, her ability to make everyone feel mad is second to none. Yesterday, she double-crossed Laura and me without being found out until the end of everything. That should be an achievement on its own.

I mean, I can understand the way she is trying to protect my love. Without special powers given by the system that governs everything, she had no choice but to come up with something else. And in this case, it is the ability to screw someone up using mere words only.

Still, I find it a little bit dangerous. Reckless, even. There is nothing wrong with using words to fight. However, the drawback is that Kurokawa can only do this while I am around since only I can guarantee the bastard will not harm C or anyone else. If there were only C here with her, the bully would not hesitate to attack the two immediately.

Unless...she has already taken me into her consideration.

When I glance over her side, a gaze is also sent back. It seems my hunch is correct. She has already considered everything yet acts as if her actions are from the spur of the moment.

What a sly fox! Even C is fooled by her deception!

Nonetheless, it benefits my love. Therefore, I have no issue with her. I owe her at least that.

"You bitch! What did you mean by that?!"

The punk shouts at Kurokawa with a red face, looking like a tomato about to burst. But answering him is simply Kurokawa's chilling smile.

"Hm? Oh, sorry! My bad! Is it too difficult for you to understand?"

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?! You bitch!"

Oh, man, he really is pissed off.

[ Okay, let me move over slowly like this. It is good that the girls are not noticing anything. If something happens, I will run headfirst into that bully and push him down to buy some time for them. Should I ask Rachel if she brought her knife with her? Hm. Maybe I should. Having a weapon on me is much better than charging in empty-handed. The drawback of asking that so bluntly is a complete denial from her. There is absolutely no way for Rachel to give me her knife. The blond-haired housewife never allowed Han to partake in a fight. That same situation can be applied since the target is me.]

You are correct! Trust me! No need for that, C. Do not forget that I am here. Nothing will happen to our bookworm. Unless you want her to suffer, I will not let anything happen to Kurokawa.

"It means you are a retard." Laura answers nonchalantly. "How on earth are you even breathing with that brain?"

"Pft!" That is it. I can no longer be calm and collected anymore. "Bwahahaha!"

Upon seeing my reaction, the face of said bully is even more red, so much so that it is turning purple. The amount of rage, shame, and embarrassment in that body must be tremendous. Actually, based on the looks on his face, I think he is about to go nuts.

*Whoosh*

"GRAHH!"

Instantly, while screaming like a lunatic, he swings his fist forward at Kurokawa with all his might. Her bang sways slightly from the air pressure, yet she shows no sign of fear. The bookworm stands her ground, unflinching as if waiting for something to come.

"DIE!!!"

[ Shit! The worse thing has come! Wait a second...Rachel? What is she doing?]

In less than a second, my body moves in front of Kurokawa. One hand of mine grabs the flying fist before it can touch her. Already expecting me, the bookworm adjusts her body slightly to not collide with my body. At this point, there is no doubt that she has been planning for this to happen.

With a tiny *pan*, the bully's knuckles are stopped in its track within my palm. The impact is by no means small, yet it is nothing that I can not handle on my own.

"Wha...what?! How are you able to block that?" It seems that the bully is flabbergasted. I wonder if he thinks of me as someone feeble and delicate. Contrary to his reaction, Kurokawa is as calm as ever, and Laura does not seem to care a bit.

[ Rachel saved Kurokawa... That is...a little unexpected. As a yandere, she should not be doing that. I would have to thank the gods if she did not try to hurt her or anything else for that matter...

...Then again, she has been willing to share a boyfriend with Laura...]

Come on, silly C, you should look at the current me, not the past me. I am your Rachel, not this world's Rachel.

[ No! There is no way I should be thinking like that. I should judge her based on her present, not her past. My thoughts of Rachel based on what she did in other iterations alone are just lazy and unfair. She has shown me more emotions and pain than she ever did! That is why respect is the least I can give her.]

...

Aw!!!

I can feel my heart flutter from his wholesome thoughts. If I did not know any better, I would say that I was transmitting my thoughts to him just like he has been doing to everyone. Thankfully, that is not the case. My love would instantly run away from me right when he found out what I wanted to do with him.

Oh! The things that we can try!!

C, dearest, I can not possibly love you any more than I currently do, dummy...

Obviously, the school bully seems surprised. His face is still purple due to anger, but his mouth is widely opened because of my sudden appearance.

"Guh! Kuh!" He tries his best to pull his arm back out. However, no matter how much he is forcing and shaking, it has no use. I can guarantee that.

From behind me, C hurriedly asks: "Rachel! Are you alright?!"

"Don't worry, C. I'm unscathed." I look back at him with a smile.

There is not a single thought behind his words. Besides being worried, he is not even thinking anymore. C is simply trying to look out for my safety.

"Believe it or not, this guy is bad news! We should get on our way. School is about to start, after all. This small...discussion has taken too much of our time already." My darling explains.

[ This may sound too much like a coward, but I have no idea how to handle the school bully. In the past, whenever I tried to kill him, the script would change so that he lived until the very end to decimate Laura and me. The role of being Laura's savior was never meant for me but for Han. Now that their affection has been pushed toward me, I have no clue... Unlike Han, I have no plot armor! Let's get away from this guy first, then I will try to find a way later so that the girls are not involved in this mess.]

It is okay, my love. Lucky for you, I am your plot armor! Remember to reward me later, okay?

*Crack crack crack*

"Gah!! R-Rachel, I didn't mean to punch you!" I tighten my grip so hard that cracking sounds can be heard from the bully's hand. However, before C can think about my action, I throw it back at the bully, pushing him back a few steps.

I can break it if I want to. Still, right now is a bit early for C to remember my...protectiveness. At least, I plan to do it whenever he is not present. My love should only know the best thing about me. Everything else can be hidden in the darkness for his ease of mind.

Very quickly, the face of the bully turns pale, and cold sweats appear on his forehead. Although I did not break it, I figured some cracks in his bones would be a good starting lesson.

"Sorry, Rachel! I was meant to hit this b-bitch right here. That girl behind you and the brown-haired one insulted me! Th-they laughed at me, you see. What are they to you?" The bully tries to appeal to me. It is utterly ridiculous how he still thinks that he has a chance.

"Does it matter that much?" Instead of answering, I toss another question at him.

"It does! Because I would not have lost my temper like that if I knew better. All thanks to you that things did not take a drastic turn, Rachel! If you weren't here, I would have..." He points at the class rep and the bookworm.

Kurokawa opens her mouth to say something, but a familiar voice has already spoken with pure disdain.

"Tell me, School Bully A! What would happen if Rachel was not here? Would you have punched Kurokawa in the face? Would you have called Bully B and Bully C here with a camera? Would you have raped them while I watched?"