*Click*
Reiji walked into his apartment, throwing his jacket onto the table before collapsing onto the sofa. He reached for a remote next to him, closing the curtain with the push of a button.
He smiled wryly as he watched the luxurious drapes slide close. He still hadn't gotten used to this standard of living, but he was going to thoroughly enjoy it.
As darkness enveloped the room, Reiji closed his eyes to gather his thoughts. He had a lot to consider after the events that happened today, because everything had spiraled far beyond his control.
He had managed to prevent Yui's introductory event.
Except.... Not really.
'They were supposed to first meet at the fountain, why did Riku and Hina show up at the opposite end of the mall?'
Reiji rubbed his temples in an effort to think more critically. In reality, why they were there didn't really matter. It didn't change the fact that the two parties had met.... and clashed.
He recalled the detailed events that were supposed to happen if he didn't step in.
Riku and Hina, who would be heading for the entertainment section of the mall, would stop by at the fountain.
There, the protagonist would see a beautiful red haired girl watching the ongoing light show by herself, and would be given different choices as usual:
1) Walk up to the girl and strike up a friendly conversation
2) Walk up to the girl and flirt/ask for her number
3) Ask Hina to befriend the girl to help her come out of her shell
3) Tell the security that the girl is a shoplifter as a practical joke
This meant that there was no possibility of not interacting with Yui. It was a forced event, whether the player wanted to talk to her or not was not important.
Aside from the last one, none of the other option seemed that egregious at first glance. In fact, this happened quite often, where the given options were difficult to determine whether or not they would lead to positive or negative interactions.
But the catch here was that NONE of the options ended positively for the player.
Option 1 and 3 would lead to a mild annoyance from Yui, who disliked it when people talked to her if she didn't allow it. She would cut them off, respond rudely, and leave the scene.
If these options were taken, Yui wouldn't form a deep hatred or anything, but she would remember those two and that would lead to future interactions that worsened her favorability towards them.
If Option 2 was chosen, the Villainess would bare her fangs and rip into the protagonist by pointing out his flaws, shortcomings, and appearance. Obviously, that would end in terrible favorability from the perspective of both parties.
But the cream of the crop, if any player daring or idiotic enough to pick the last option out of curiosity.... It would lead to a deep hatred and an unresolvable grudge between the two.
Think about it. Who would appreciate it if someone falsely accuse you just for some fun, let alone the fucking Villainess?
Option 4 essentially cuts off any chance for the protagonist to bury the hatchet between them at the end of the game, while the other three still leave some room for personal growth.
This was the seemingly unassuming, but heavily important event that brought the Villainess, Tachibana Yui, to the main plot.
The problem now was.... Reiji hadn't managed to prevent them from meeting.
If he had succeeded, then their future interactions would likely have been removed or minimized in some way, giving him some breathing room.
But not only had they still ended up clashing, the interactions had nothing to do with the original options that Riku was supposed to choose from.
It was a completely random, completely new route that could lead to a branched pathway for their future meetings. He couldn't tell to what level Yui's favorability for them had dropped, nor could he tell what their next meeting would be.
Each option led to a different second interaction, and now Reiji was in the dark about the next step.
'Damn it.... Why can't everything just work out? Well.... it's not like preventing them from meeting would guarantee they would never end up at each other's throats, so there's no use lamenting over it.'
Reiji walked into his kitchen and took out a can of lemon sparkling water. He poured it into a glass, added some ice, and sat back down on the sofa as he sipped the refreshing drink that managed to slightly calm his nerves.
'What I should really be worried about is Riku.... What the hell is wrong with that guy?'
Reiji's wariness about the protagonist had shot up a lot more than before, and it was strangely because of how completely idiotic and ignorant he seemed.
He had ignored Greeny's predicament with the bullies.
He had ran away from a literal child being attacked by dogs.
He kept choosing mid to horrible choices when talking to heroines.
And in general, he did not seem like a protagonist in any shape or form.
Though most of those could be attributed to poor decision-making, or the lack of an actual interface of options where he could somewhat predict the better routes, it was still frustrating to watch him bumble his way through his life.
Normally, Reiji wouldn't have really cared. He had decided to help out the various characters when it really mattered, so Riku probably wouldn't cause much harm with his ignorance.
Probably.
The reason why he was worried though, is because of that dastardly message he had read before he had transmigrated into this world. The swirling hypnotic text on the screen of his computer that had started it all.
~Live, Laugh, Love, it's time to enjoy your life, but with more than a little SPICE~
At first glance, that's a really wholesome, hopeful, and exciting message!
But Reiji had always been wary about the second half of that line. What aspect of his new life would be the 'SPICE' that the message referred to?
Maybe it was just a random line, to have some semblance of a rhyme.
Perhaps a reference to the severity of some of the events in the game?
Or maybe it was talking about his ridiculous background, his terrible reputation, and the fact that he had started off in a pretty depressing situation.
When Reiji had first transmigrated, that's what he had assumed. He had always found that second half weirdly ominous, and he thought the devs were playing a joke on him, wanting to see how he adjusts to this new life with those significant drawbacks.
But now..... There was this gnawing feeling, a persistent thought latched onto the back of his mind that screamed that it wasn't so simple, so obvious.
He could also tell that it wasn't referring to Riku's idiocy and lack of sensitivity. No, that would also be far too simple.
Reiji didn't have any evidence or logical reasoning as to why he felt this way. But the warning sign was blaring so loudly in his head that he couldn't refute it.
Till now he had pretty much cruised into a fairly happy life, with good friends and a broken body that he was still trying to uncover the limits to.
He really hoped that wouldn't change.
'This is starting to hurt my head. I don't even have a way to find out what the issue is, so once again it comes down to me not panicking just because I'm in the dark....'
He was starting to think he was saying 'well can't do anything about it' too often, and he didn't like that powerless feeling.
"Hmmm.... I should pay more attention to the main cast from now on."
Reiji finished his drink and went into the bathroom to freshen up. He took off his shirt, placing it in the laundry basket beside him, and then turned to face himself in the mirror.
"There's a lot to do and a lot to watch out for.... But thankfully there's no events that need my intervention for over a week, so I can focus on my clubs for now."
Reiji cracked his neck, his fingers, and his wrists. The tension had built up without him even noticing, so he decided to have a nice, long, hot bath today.
The curling dragon tattoo on his left chest and upper left arm rippled with his stretching, and he frowned as he looked at it.
'I don't know how they train in the MMA Club, but what if they ask me to take off my shirt? How will they react to this ridiculous thing?'
Although not illegal, having such a prominent tattoo while still in school was heavily looked down upon. It might even perpetuate the rumors about him, and that would annoy him a little bit.
'Meh, it looks pretty cool though. If they have a problem with it, screw them.'
Reiji got into his bath and leaned back with satisfaction. The hot water relieved his exhaustion, both mentally and physically, and he hummed an upbeat tune happily.
"HmmHmm HaHmmm HmHehuhummm"
It was time to leave the stress behind and have some fun for a week. The cooking test was coming up, and he was determined to make a statement!