I Accidentally Built a Harem of Girls Who All Hate Each Other

Walking home with Reina Kujou was like escorting a live bomb through a crowded museum. Every step was fraught with peril, every glance from a passerby felt like the snip of a wrong wire. The usual fifteen-minute walk from school stretched into an eternity of tense, awkward silence.

We weren't walking side-by-side like friends. That would have been too normal, too relaxed. No, we walked in a rigid, formal formation. She was half a step ahead of me, her posture as straight and unyielding as a marble column, setting a brisk, determined pace. I trailed in her wake like a disgraced courtier being led to the stocks, my own shoulders slumped in defeat.

The few remaining students milling about the school gates stopped and stared. Their whispers followed us like a swarm of gnats.

"Is that... Tanaka with Kujou-sama?"

"What's going on? I saw them come in late together this morning, too."

"No way. He must have blackmailed her. It's the only explanation."

I flinched at that last one. It was closer to the truth than they knew, just in reverse. I wanted nothing more than to peel away from this procession, to run and hide, but Reina's presence was a magnetic force. Her earlier words echoed in my head: I can't very well let you out of my sight, can I? This wasn't a friendly walk home; it was a prisoner transfer.

"Lift your head, Tanaka-kun," she commanded without turning around. Her voice was low but carried easily in the quiet evening air. "You look like a whipped dog. It's unseemly."

"Sorry," I mumbled, trying to straighten my spine. "I'm just not used to being the star of a city-wide gossip broadcast."

"You will get used to it," she stated, as if it were an inevitability. "Proximity to me invites scrutiny. It is a fundamental law of the universe, like gravity."

'Or a fundamental curse,' I thought, letting out a quiet, weary sigh.

The universe, it seemed, had a twisted sense of humor. As we turned onto the main residential street, the sleek black car I had seen that morning pulled up silently beside us. The chauffeur, a man with a face like a granite cliff, stepped out and opened the rear door.

"Kujou-sama," he said, his voice a respectful baritone.

"I will walk the rest of the way, Yamamoto-san," Reina said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "You may return."

The chauffeur looked from Reina to me, a flicker of professional surprise in his stoic eyes. He had likely never seen his young mistress willingly walk anywhere, let alone in the company of a boy with a rumpled uniform and the haunted look of a man who'd seen too much. He gave a short, formal bow, got back in the car, and drove off, leaving us once again in the quiet twilight.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, genuinely confused. "You could have just gotten in the car."

"And leave my leverage to his own devices?" she countered, turning to look at me, an eyebrow arched. "I told you. You are under my supervision. That supervision extends until I am satisfied you are secured for the night. My home is two blocks past yours. This is the most efficient route."

Her logic was flawless and utterly insane. She was walking an extra half-mile just to maintain her psychological upper hand. The dedication was terrifying.

The silence returned as we walked, but my mind was racing. I was mentally preparing for the next, and biggest, hurdle of the evening: my house. And, more specifically, the house directly next to mine. Yui's house. The lights were on. I could see the glow from her kitchen window. She was home.

My heart started thumping a nervous rhythm against my ribs. What would she do? Would she be waiting at the window? Would she come storming out? Would a sniper's red dot appear on my chest? With Yui in her current state, all options felt equally plausible.

As we approached my driveway, I slowed my pace, dread coiling in my stomach. "Okay, this is me," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Supervision complete. You can go now. Please."

Reina stopped and turned to face me fully. She surveyed my house, a modest two-story affair, then her gaze shifted to the house next door. She took in the perfectly manicured lawn, the cheerful flower boxes in the windows. She was assessing the battlefield.

"I see," she said, a new, calculating glint in her crimson eyes. "The proximity is... a strategic complication."

"It's not a 'strategic complication,' it's my life!" I hissed, my frustration finally bubbling over. "Look, Kujou-san, I appreciate... whatever this is. But you've got to go. If Yui sees us together..."

It was too late.

The front door of Yui's house opened.

It wasn't Yui who stepped out. It was her mother, Mrs. Hamasaki. She was a kind, cheerful woman with Yui's warm smile and a perpetual apron tied around her waist. She was carrying a plate covered in aluminum foil.

"Kaito-chan!" she called out, her face lighting up when she saw me. "Yui-chan was a little under the weather tonight, so we made extra Nikujaga. I was just about to bring some over for you and your father!"

My blood ran cold. 'Under the weather.' That was the cover story. I felt a fresh wave of guilt.

"Oh, Mrs. Hamasaki, that's so nice of you, but you don't have to," I said, trying to sound normal and failing spectacularly.

Her friendly gaze then fell upon the regal, silent figure standing next to me. Her smile faltered slightly, replaced by polite curiosity. "Oh, my. And who is your lovely friend?"

Before I could formulate a lie, Reina Kujou, master of the universe, stepped forward and gave a perfect, graceful bow.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hamasaki-san," she said, her voice smooth as silk. "My name is Reina Kujou. I am a classmate of Tanaka-kun's. We were just finishing up some work on a project for the Student Council."

It was a flawless performance. Polite. Respectful. Utterly devastating. She was confirming the lie I had tried to tell Yui earlier, but she was doing it in a way that made it sound infinitely more intimate and important.

Mrs. Hamasaki's eyes widened in recognition. "Kujou? As in, the Kujou Corporation?" she asked, impressed.

"The very same," Reina confirmed with a small, modest smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh, my goodness! Kaito-chan, you never told us you were friends with someone so..." Mrs. Hamasaki trailed off, searching for the right word. "...distinguished."

From the corner of my eye, I saw it. A flicker of movement in Yui's bedroom window. The curtain, which had been still, twitched and fell back into place.

She was watching. She had seen the whole thing. She had seen me walk up with Reina. She had seen Reina, in all her perfect, polite glory, charming her mother on her own front lawn.

This was no longer a simple tactical maneuver on Reina's part. This was a declaration of war, delivered directly to the enemy's home base.

"It was lovely to meet you, Hamasaki-san," Reina said, bowing again. "But I must be going. Tanaka-kun," she said, turning to me, her voice carrying just enough for the window-lurking Yui to hear, "I will see you in the Student Council office tomorrow after class. Don't be late."

And with that final, perfectly placed shiv, she turned and walked away, leaving me standing there in the ruins of my neighborly relations, holding a plate of rapidly cooling stew that now felt like a consolation prize in a game I didn't even know I was playing.

Mrs. Hamasaki looked at me, then at the retreating figure of Reina, then back at me, a confused but happy smile on her face. "Well, isn't she just a wonderful young lady? You've made a new friend, Kaito-chan! I'm so happy for you."

I took the plate from her, my hand trembling slightly. "Yeah," I said, my voice hollow. "A new friend. That's me."

I watched Reina disappear around the corner, her mission accomplished. She hadn't just put me in a cage. She had moved the cage into the middle of a minefield, handed me a pogo stick, and told me to have fun.