"Eh?... Where are you going, Sensei?"
Seeing Nach walk away from the self-service gas pump, heading toward the cashier store with a baseball bat in hand, the answer to Rei's question should have been obvious—yet Rei still asked, refusing to believe that a teacher would steal money from the cashier.
"I'm just gonna borrow some money from the cashier, Rei."
"You mean borrowing without permission..." Rei said, grabbing onto the end of Nach's jacket and refusing to let him go. "...That's stealing."
Was it because her father was a policeman? Nach wondered, seeing Rei still holding onto her morals despite the chaos of the undead outbreak. That was commendable, but they didn't exactly have a choice.
"Don't you have any money with you, Sensei?"
Rei had left her money in her bag back at school, and Nach had been transported into the story with only his shirt, trunks, and a pair of slippers.
"Don't you remember what I'm wearing at school?" Nach said, making the point that he didn't have pants to carry a wallet—only for Rei to turn flustered and embarrassed, remembering not her question about why a teacher was wearing such indecent clothing at school, but rather the sensation of Nach's rod poking her belly when he embraced her earlier.
"If it makes you feel better, I'm just gonna take what we need to fill the motorcycle's fuel."
Understanding Nach's reasoning—that they wouldn't be able to catch up with their group without a ride—Rei let go of his jacket and allowed him to do what he intended.
"Should I come with you?" she asked, trying to make amends for her blunder.
"Just guard the motorcycle. I'll be back in a bit," Nach said before leaving Rei and entering the store.
Although there wasn't supposed to be any undead inside, Nach still carefully scanned the surroundings the moment he stepped in. With no undead or anyone else present, he quickly made it to the cashier and broke the cash register with his baseball bat, knowing it wouldn't open easily. As soon as he grabbed the money—
"AHHH!"
Rei's scream echoed from outside the store.
Right on cue, Nach thought as he rushed outside—not to help Rei yet, but to try and give her more character development.
Since Nach was sure that the key events of the story were still happening according to the original plot, he knew Rei would get assaulted when he left her alone with the motorcycle. Nach could intervene and prevent it, but like what he accidentally did to Takashi—ruining his character development by keeping Hisashi alive—saving Rei too early might ruin hers.
Regardless, his concern was that the story itself was slowly changing, and it might put the lives of the main cast in danger. And right now, he was seeing small but very noticeable changes in the details.
"HAAAHAHAHA!"
The crazy thug was supposed to grab Rei from behind, restraining her as he wrapped his left arm around her waist and pointed a knife at her neck. But instead, he was now straddling Rei on the ground, pressing a pocketknife to her neck so she wouldn't resist as he was about to violate her right out in the open at the gas station.
"Hey bro, your girlfriend here is quite a catch," he said, looking at Nach before roughly tearing apart Rei's blouse and pulling down her bra to grope her ample, soft right breast.
"Hngh!" Rei shrieked—not in pleasure or pain, but purely in fear. And that frightened expression only drove the thug into ecstasy.
"AHHH, your voice and tits are so fucking great. Ya got nice, big floppy milk jugs."
Meanwhile, despite the danger to Rei's life and chastity, Nach was having random thoughts—not about the difference in how the thug was assaulting Rei compared to the original scene in the story, but rather Rei's ranking on his list of all the female characters in Highschool of the Dead, based on who he lusted after the most.
"Nach... Sensei!" Rei shouted, snapping Nach's attention back from his random thoughts, crying out for help as the thug kept groping her breast and pressing harder—not his knife this time, but his erection against her crotch through her panties, her legs spread wide apart.
"I know, Rei... You're seriously in need of some character development."
"What does that even mean... Ahh~!"
"Sensei? Shit, bro, you're fuckin' your own students?" the thug said, interrupting Nach and Rei's conversation, then continued while getting aroused by his own fantasy.
"It must be nice, fuckin' your student, right Sensei? Now get rid of that bat. If you don't, I'll cut this whore wide open."
"Anything else you want?" Nach said as he tossed the baseball bat away.
"Anything? I'm gonna fuc' this bitch, of course."
"Aren't you gonna ask me to fill the motorcycle fuel?"
"Why would I want your bike instead of her? I'm probably not gonna live long enough to fuc' another bitch again."
While keeping the knife pressed to Rei's neck, the thug finally stopped groping her breast—but only to frantically remove his shorts and briefs, exposing his erection to Rei and to Nach.
Oi, oi… That's too much character development already.
Nach swiftly drew the revolver behind his waist, aiming to shoot the thug in the head before Rei got further traumatized and before the thug could disgrace Rei's panties—which had more appearances in the manga than any other side character's.
But before Nach could pull the trigger—or before the thug could rub his erection directly on Rei's panties, or worse, tear them apart—the thug suddenly went stiff, as if trying to restrain himself, only to fail and abruptly climax, drenching Rei's uniform with his release.
Well… That was a quick shot… No—"Now, Rei!" Nach shouted, cutting short his pun to let Rei take the opportunity as the thug pulled the knife away from her neck, overwhelmed by his own climax.
Rei quickly moved her hand, raised her hip, and drew the revolver behind her waist. And without hesitation—Bang!—she shot the thug point-blank in his right shoulder.
"AHH! It's—ahh! The hole! Blood's coming out!"
As the thug stumbled and fell, sitting on the ground and frantically screaming in pain and agony, Rei stood up, drew the retractable baton from her pocket, and repeatedly beat the thug—hitting him again and again all over his body, rage and madness painted across her face, her right breast still exposed, glaring at him as if he were worse than the undead.
"AHH, no more! It hurts! Help me! It fuckin' hurts!"
"You deserve to die, asshole!"
The MC would have stopped the heroine of the story from mercilessly beating an enemy, but not Nach. He let Rei beat the thug to the brink of death while standing behind her, waiting for the exact moment when her rage and anger would subside enough for her to feel guilty about what she had done—until she cried and embraced Nach, burying her face in his chest.
"I'm sorry, Rei... I should have been more careful."