185. Tournament (1)

".....What?" Reiji asked, thinking the phone may have cut out, and he'd heard it incorrectly.

"How many times are you gonna say 'what'? Do you really need a hearing aid? I'll edit her videos from now on, so send them to me if you have any in the backlog!" Arata replied, his tone getting more excited as he continued.

"Do you even know how to edit? Aren't you a hacker?"

"If the job needs a computer, I can do it. Although my editing isn't top-tier, it won't take me long to master it if I put my mind to it."

"Wait, then aren't you just the same as me?" Reiji scoffed.

"The difference is that I learn super-fast and I'm in it for the love of the game. If you don't believe me, send me the unedited version of one of the videos you already posted, and I'll practice throughout the night. By tomorrow, I'll have made a file that is significantly better than yours!"

".....Why are you even doing this? Plus, your fees are too high, we won't be able to afford it in the long-term until we start making money from the videos."

"I told you, I shall not allow you to waste away the Goddess's time and efforts! It's been a long time since I've been moved by something that isn't mechanical, and I don't want her to become obscure for reasons out of her control. As for the fees, don't worry about it. I'll do it for free," Arata chuckled, making Reiji speechless.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temple, considering this proposal that had come out of nowhere.

But he didn't really have a reason to refuse.

As annoying as Arata was, he could put his money where his mouth was, and if he said that he'd be able to do a better job, then he believed him.

And that would only benefit Haruna while saving himself a lot of time.

"Fine. No need to work on the previous videos, I'll send you the drafts of the ones that haven't been uploaded, and you can work on them as you see fit. I need one to be ready to upload tomorrow. Is that going to work for you?" he finally muttered.

"YESSS!!!" Arata yelled, the sudden screech ringing in Reiji's ear as he winced. "Don't worry, you know you can trust me with this!"

"....I trust your skills, not you. But let me make one thing clear. Don't try to pry into who HiddenMelody is, and don't pester me to meet her. She wants her privacy."

"Deal, deal, a 100% deal! I don't want to know who she is either, unless she eventually tells the world herself! The mystery is part of the fun!"

Reiji hung up the phone after discussing a few more details, and a small smile hung on his lips as he stared at the account page on his screen.

'This has the chance to blow up even more than in the game.....'

And that was a praise higher than one would expect.

However, he didn't have much time to think about that as he entered the gym in his house, closing the door shut as he started to warm up.

He stared at the workout plan written on the board hanging on the wall, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

Tomorrow was the first day of the City Tournament, and he had no intention of losing, even with the injury.

'Let's get started.'

***

"HUSTLE, YOU WEAK-KNEED SISSIES!"

Nishimura Sensei glared at the yawning students in front of him, who seemed to be completely listless as they rubbed their sleepy eyes.

They all had to get to school 45 minutes before regular classes started because they had to travel by bus to the city center, where the tournament would be held at a public gymnasium.

So everyone got a little less sleep than they were used to, especially when you factor in the nerves that had kept some of them awake at night.

Reiji looked around to see where Yui was, and saw that the Taekwondo was gathering at the opposite end of the parking lot.

He didn't see the redhead, which meant she was probably going to be a little late.

"Yagami! Get in, what are you waiting for?"

".....Coming."

He climbed into the school bus and saw Fujita Senpai patting the seat next to him with hopeful eyes, and he didn't have the heart to refuse him even if he just wanted to sit at the back and catch up on some sleep.

He sat down next to the overly excited senior and greeted him.

"Morning, Senpai. Feeling good about your chances?"

"The best of mornings to you, Junior! I have no idea about my chances, because we always lose to Oshima High in the end, but I'll certainly do my best!"

"Anyone in particular you're worried about?"

"Well, two people from Oshima are the favorites to win the men's individual section. Yoshida Shou and Yagami Yuusuke. Actually, when I first heard your surname, I thought you were related to that psychopath from Oshima, but you don't look or act anything like him, so I knew that couldn't be the case," Fujita Senpai laughed.

Reiji's mouth twitched as he turned to give him a deadpan stare.

"He's my brother."

"....Huh?"

"Yep."

"....Huh?"

"Repeating the same thing won't change the outcome. He's my brother," Reiji smiled.

"Y-You're joking, right? That's like the devil and the angel being related! But then again....Both of you are unbelievably strong and talented."

"Well, we're not blood-related, thankfully. He's only my stepbrother, but I guess that still counts."

"I see....That makes me feel a bit better. I thought I had insulted your family right to your face...." Senpai replied wryly.

"Nah, if anything, you understated it. He's a bit of a maniac."

"Oh, believe me, I know. Last year, he ignored the referee's warning and broke someone's arm! Later, he claimed it was an accident, but anyone with a brain knew he was lying through his teeth. It almost got him disqualified, but Oshima High managed to convince them not to do so by bringing up some stupid bylaw in the rulebook."

Reiji raised an eyebrow because he didn't know about this incident, both in his memories and through the game.

In the first place, Yuusuke only showed up in two circumstances.

If the player chose a martial arts club for his extracurriculars, or if they chose to take down Yagami Reiji by getting help from his enemies.

So this character was still somewhat of an enigma to Reiji, who had only come across Yuusuke in 4 of the 100 playthroughs.

In fact, his memories gave him more information about his personality than the game did.

'Come to think of it, this'll be the first time I meet him since I came to this world.....'

"Alright, everyone's on board. We're heading out now!" Nishimura Sensei announced as he closed the bus doors.

Reiji looked out the window and, unsurprisingly, saw a disheveled Yui racing towards one of the other buses, her gym bag flapping through the air because she was only holding onto one of the handles.

He could see the Taekwondo coach urging her to hurry up with a furious expression, making him chuckle at the sight.

Once the buses pulled away from the parking lot and entered the road, he took out his phone and sent her a message, getting a reply within a minute.

***

~Yui~

Chefalicious: sleepyhead, why were you late?

ChocoLover: my cat pressed snooze on my alarm!!

Chefalicious: ...

Chefalicious: You expect me to believe that?

ChocoLover: It's true!! ಠ╭╮ಠ

ChocoLover: My cat loves his beauty sleep.

Chefalicious: I believe you 100000% b(￣▽￣)d

Chefalicious: Anyway, r u ready?

ChocoLover: For what?

Chefalicious: the tourney, duh?

ChocoLover: what do i need to be ready for?

ChocoLover: which of those children can beat a black belt like me?

ChocoLover: ( •̀ ω •́ )y

Chefalicious: ...touché

***

They chatted for a while longer, but Reiji noticed Fujita Senpai peering over his shoulder and reading his messages.

"...Senpai, that's a little rude."

"Ah? Oh, sorry, I just got bored...." he mumbled, rubbing his head sheepishly. "But, Junior, were you talking to Tachibana-san from the Taekwondo Club?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason, I just know that you guys hang out a lot, so I thought that maybe you two had something cooking in the pan."

"....Oh, look, we're here!" Reiji brightened up, pointing out the window.

Fujita Senpai turned to see the bus enter the parking lot outside of a large building with various banners hanging on the tall walls.

Each banner had the logo of a certain High School in the city, while the main one in the middle introduced the City Tournament.

Fujita Senpai pressed his face against the window, making the distraction an ultimate success.

"Junior, look! That's our school's logo!"

He gestured to the banner next to the main one, which contained the logo of Souhei High, along with the text of the school's name below it.

But Reiji was more interested in the parking lot itself, because he could see a lot of buses that had already arrived.

The crowd in front of the building was already quite large, filled with their competitors.

As the bus steered into a space reserved for them, he saw a group of students in red and white tracksuits sparring lightly under the shade of a few trees, practicing their kicks while the others around them gave feedback.

Beyond them, there were a bunch of lively girls wearing various uniforms, taking selfies in front of their school's banner and posing for various pictures with fighting stances.

Most interestingly, Reiji saw some adults discussing something while holding large cameras.

They also held notepads and had lanyards around their neck with ID badges, so Reiji could tell they were from the media.

Seeing this diverse and energetic crowd, he started to get a little worked up, his body itching to run out and start fighting amidst this contagiously lively and vibrant environment.

At the front of the bus, Nishimura Sensei stood up and surveyed the seated students with a stern face.

"Let's get out there and break a few bones."