Re:Encounter

Reiji plopped his pizza back on his plate, reaching for a tissue to wipe his oily hands clean.

"You met him today? Where?"

"Met who?" Haruna asked curiously.

"That friend of yours, Kazama Riku. We met him a while ago at the mall and..... Well, it wasn't a pleasant meeting," Reiji sighed.

"Oh, please! don't sugarcoat it. He was a fucking creep, ogling me like that and also insulting you for no reason. He's lucky I didn't kick his face in," Yui snorted in response.

"Wait, huh?? Riku-tan did all that? Why didn't you tell me? I heard a little about this from Hina-tan, but it didn't sound this bad!"

"What was I supposed to say? You guys are friends, and it's not like my background is something to be proud of, so when he mocked that, I couldn't exactly defend myself to you. As for the ogling.... I didn't notice it myself, but if Yui said he did, I believe her."

Yui grinned when she heard that, but then turned to Haruna with a glare.

"You're seriously friends with that asshole? I knew something was off about you!"

"Oi, that's not exactly fair, is it? You don't see her judging me for being close to you," Reiji chuckled.

"....Did you just compare me to that?"

Yui leaned forward and twisted his ear, with just enough force to make him wince.

"I'm joking!"

"I don't know Riku-ta-.... I don't know Riku-san that well, but.... I've had a weird feeling about him, too," Haruna muttered, her small face scrunching up with contemplation.

'Holy shit, she revoked the 'tan' status?? That's a huge deal, should I maybe not have told her?'

Reiji bit the inside of his mouth as his brain started overloading with thoughts, wondering if he was messing with the main cast in places he wasn't supposed to.

'No.... Haruna is very cautious, especially with things like this. She wouldn't blindly believe us unless he's been acting odd around her, too. She even tried to confirm the fake rumors with me before believing them, despite my terrible reputation at the time. If that's the case, maybe I actually ended up doing her a favor.'

It wasn't set in stone that the protagonist would be a good person just because he was the lead.

Although it wasn't exactly possible to be as villainous as the Main Villain, which was ironically himself, there were plenty of playthroughs where Alex steered his character to make bad choices or insert himself into situations with negative influences for fun.

So he knew best just how shitty the main character could be.

That is, if he wanted to be.

And from what he'd gathered so far, this version of Riku wasn't one of the good ones.

'Though I still have that feeling like it's not that simple....'

"Whatever, I don't care," Yui shrugged at Haruna. "Anyway, I met that bastard on the way here. I can't get a taxi easily where I live, so I had to walk over to the closest main road, and he was there with some other guys," she continued, oblivious to his inner dilemma.

"So you talked to him? Or just saw him?" Reiji asked, refocusing on their conversation.

"Why the fuck would I want to talk to that little shit? He was the one who came up to me!"

"Oh... What did he say?"

***

(Yui POV)

(About Two Hours Ago)

Yui checked her clothes one more time as she waited for the taxi she had booked to arrive, making sure there were no wrinkles on them.

'Hehe, I can't wait!'

Her head was filled with only two things.

Reiji.

And macarons.

'Two sweets in one day, lucky me!'

As she was daydreaming, she heard a shout at the nearby intersection.

"HAHA! EAT THAT, YOU THUMBSUCKING MORON!"

'....That grating voice.'

She turned sharply, and the kindling fire in her eyes added to the brightness of the red irises.

Standing there within a group of people was the same creep that she and Reiji had encountered at the mall, ruining what should've been a beautiful memory.

'Tch, just my luck. Am I going to see him whenever I meet Reiji? Like a black cat crossing the road?'

He wasn't the first man to piss her off, but it had been a while since she had felt such an open and unclear disdain.

She decided to ignore him, looking away from the group that had their eyes glued to the portable gaming thingies they each held.

"Maaan, you just got lucky."

"No such thing as luck, my friend. I'm just..... the Gamer God!" the creep laughed in response.

'Luck exists. Like my terrible one this beautiful morning. And what's with that cringe name?'

She tried to block their chatter, but they were being obnoxiously loud.

"Let's go again! And this time, can you actually try to be goo-..... Woah, it's the sexy dominatrix!"

"Dominatrix? What're you talking about?"

"Uh... N-Nothing, you guys continue, I'll be back in a second."

Yui heard footsteps approaching, and a bad premonition washed over her.

"Hey, do you remember me?" the creep said, standing right in front of her.

"....Move."

A shudder seemed to course through him, and his weird smile deepened even further as he laughed.

"Haha, so cold. I don't mind that. I'm Kazama Riku. I don't think I managed to get your name last time," he replied.

"And you'll never get it. I'll say it one more time. Move," Yui hissed quietly, not wanting to make a scene and ruin the wonderful day ahead of her.

The guy's smile finally wavered as he frowned with annoyance.

"....Do you really have to be so harsh? What did I even do, except for trying to warn you about that gangster you were with!"

"I'm warning you. If you don't leave right now, I don't mind breaking a leg so that you won't be able to, even if you try."

"....Tch, fine. Didn't expect you to be so violent. You two are a pretty good match now that I think about it, just don't regret it, even though that's a guarantee."

Yui clenched the strap of the purse she was wearing so hard that the latch broke off, causing it to dangle awkwardly over her shoulder while the main body fell to the ground.

"Hey, let me ask you something," she called out, stopping him in his tracks before he could leave.

He turned back slowly, a smirk glued to his snarky face.

"Yes, milady?"

"What was your intent in approaching me?" Yui asked, returning the smile.

"Huh? Um... I guess to be friends?" he chuckled, rubbing his hair timidly like he wasn't expecting such a blunt question.

"Wow.... You have zero self-awareness, huh? Take a good look at yourself in the mirror, and you'll find a ratty little brat that pisses people off even if they just look at you. It's like you started puberty, but it took one look at you and noped out, leaving this weird, half-baked creature that just gives off a vague, creepy vibe. That's actually pretty accurate, though, because it reflects your disgusting personality, something a mirror unfortunately can't do. If it could, you'd see a pathetic, entitled little worm who's too delusional to grasp his own staggering irrelevance, constantly daydreaming about being someone who people wouldn't instinctively cross the street to avoid. Let me take a wild stab in the dark here: you're the kind of underachiever who fails at everything with such stunning consistency that you have to cling to your little games for a crumb of validation, for that brief moment of feeling like you did something, that small acknowledgement that makes you think you matter. But we both know you don't."

Yui closed her mouth, ending the rant with her smile still blooming on her face, contrasted to the blushing fury that had now possessed the little boy before her.

The shaking fists, the trembling eyes, the quaking mouth.

He looked like a vibrator that couldn't be turned off, especially after he turned redder than Yui's hair.

A black sedan drove by and slowed to a halt next to the pair, and Yui picked up her purse, which had nothing in it, and threw it into a nearby trash can before opening the door.

The purse was brown, and so were this man's hair and eyes.

'Disgusting...'

Before she stepped into her taxi, she glanced back at the man who was still twitching.

"It was horrible seeing you. I hope it never happens again."

***

(Back to Present Time)

Reiji tried his best to shut his jaw, which had dropped as far as it possibly could without falling off, but he failed.

"....Tell me you're exaggerating," he muttered.

"Senpai.... Remind me to never be your enemy," Haruna joined in.

"Hmph. Too late, you already kind of are," she huffed.

"Ehhhh? What did I do?"

"You were born."

".....I thought only Granny and Reiji-tan had bad tongues, but you're far beyond them!"

"Oh, thank you. At this rate, maybe I won't have to use it much against you," Yui smirked.

"That wasn't a compliment!"

Reiji fiddled with his glass of water grimly, not in the mood to join in with their banter.

'That's.... way worse than any of the second meetings in the game.'

Of all the possible routes, this was easily the most troubling one, and since the options had gone off the rails, he was left in the dark on what to do.

Riku didn't seem as threatening as some of the versions in the game, and yet that might just invite Yui to try even harder at messing with him later on.

And just because he seemed incompetent, it doesn't mean he wasn't still the protagonist who seemed to have the world revolve around him.

Those warning bells he occasionally heard were now the loudest they had ever been.

He had tried to prevent them from meeting.

He had failed.

He had tried to prevent them from meeting again.

He had failed.

Again.

He hadn't thought of Riku somehow meeting her so early on in the day, because most events took place well after that point, because the protagonist usually liked to sleep in.

Combined with everything else, in which the plot of the game seemed to be rewiring itself to accommodate Reiji's interventions, he was getting a little worried.

His biggest asset was his knowledge.

At least until now, where he had the feeling it didn't make much of a difference.

If the second meeting between Yui and Riku happened to be the worst of the 'known' options, they never had the choice to reconcile.

It would be off the table, permanently.

But now, reconciliation might be the least of his worries.

'....Have they already gone down the 'enemies for life' route?'