The Villainess (1)
Reiji collapsed onto his bed, mentally exhausted from everything that had happened in the past few days.
From the Ichihara Ramen Incident, Haruna's Granny, and the complete chaos of Club Day. So much had been thrown at him that he hadn't had a lot of time to think about things carefully.
"It's finally the weekend!"
Well, it wasn't going to happen today either.
'The day after Club Day, it's Yui's introductory event.... which means it would happen tomorrow. I actually have no idea what I should even do about it for fuck's sake.'
Tachibana Yui, a major character from the game.
Not a side character.
Not an extra.
Not a heroine.
The Villainess.
The Heiress of the Tachibana Clan.
That was why Reiji was a little conflicted on whether or not he should intervene. Tomorrow would be one of the 'Canon' Events, which were events that would always happen no matter the decisions the player would make.
An example would be the Lost Boy Event, where Noa's little brother would always end up in that situation no matter what was done before that point of the game.
On Saturday, Riku would hang out with Hina at a local shopping center. This was because their families, which had been close since their parents were in college, decided on spontaneous outing.
The two would separate from their families at one point and wander around on their own, coming across Yui who was also at the shopping center. A series of unfortunate events that would take place would end up infuriating the destined villainess, making her a character that would try to create a lot of friction for Riku and those close to him.
The problem was, Reiji didn't know how he should intervene.
Unlike OG Reiji, Yui wasn't inherently a bad person. In fact, there were multiple storylines in which the protagonist somewhat managed to iron out the issues between them and they became cordial to some extent, something that never happened with Yagami Reiji.
But this scenario was rare and extremely difficult to achieve because of her background, requiring very specific choices to unlock.
However, if Reiji managed to prevent her from clashing with Riku in the first place, it could even buy him some time to help her with her personal problems and steer her on the right path.
Yui was an unfortunate character. Well, in order for the dating sim's story style to work, most of the main cast aside from Riku had some sort of tragic backstory to facilitate a heartwarming turnaround for them.
But Yui's was particularly depressing, borderline cruel. When you know someone is suffering intensely and you know you might be able to help them, would you be able to stand aside and ignore it?
Reiji certainly couldn't, so he made up his mind to go to the shopping center tomorrow and steer Yui away from Riku and Hina, and hopefully this will cancel out the future grievances they would have.
"Hmmm, it's better to make contact with Yui first and somehow take her away from the mall. I'd rather not talk to Riku and Hina for now, that girl still seems terrified of me for whatever reason."
He rolled out of bed and stretched, entering a different room in the large apartment. This one was filled with various gym equipment, including a treadmill, a rack of dumbbells, squat machine, pullup bar, etc.
OG Reiji had a habit of working out at least once a day, his muscular body didn't materialize out of thin air after all. After transmigrating, Reiji kept up this practice consistently to maintain and improve this gift he had been given.
"I'm so tired thoughhhhhhh," he groaned.
But he couldn't afford to become complacent, he knew it could snowball into laziness and that was a risk he wasn't willing to take. It helped that exercising had become fun for some reason, maybe it was his predecessor's tastes assimilating with his own.
As he worked out, his mind drifted to the conversation he had with Noa earlier today.
'I feel a little bad for snapping at her like that, it's not like I can blame her for thinking I was messing around, my reputation is fucked after all.... But still, it didn't feel nice to be looked at like I was trash.'
After the visit to the student council, he had rejoined Airi and Greeny at the table tennis club. Since the day was winding down, there weren't many people there anymore so the seniors let them stay for a second session and they had a lot of fun playing a couple of matches.
Reiji once again showed off the remarkable athletic abilities of this body, dominating every game with ease because of his reflexes. The seniors went crazy, practically begging him to join the club after witnessing his potential firsthand.
It took quite a while to get them off his back, so much so that he had enough of all the sessions and went home after that.
'I handed in my choices at least, I should practice a dish for the Cooking Club's entrance test on Monday....'
With these wandering thoughts, Reiji completed his workout and drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow was extremely important after all.
***"Wow, look at that dude!"
"Holy shit, is he a model?"
"Should I ask for his number?"
Reiji walked into the large shopping mall in front of him, ignoring the strangely loud whispers around him.
'Maybe I should have worn something a lot more boring?'
Today was the first time Reiji had gone anywhere without wearing his school uniform, so he had decided to dress up a little to see how he would look. He hadn't shopped for so many clothes just to let them rot in his closet after all.
He didn't think he was wearing anything crazy, a simple pair of baggy ripped jeans, a loose fitting white t-shirt, a silver chain with a glass orb pendant, and a stylish jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up.
It was a fit that you might see a lot of people wearing, but it suited him particularly well because of his body shape and striking looks.
Reiji looked around the mall carefully, just in case he spotted any of the characters he knew. The event would take place at a fountain in the open space in the center of the building, but they probably weren't there yet.
The plan was to look around for Yui and strike up a conversation with her, hopefully keeping her occupied the entire time or maybe even manage to get her away from the mall.
The issue was, this also meant that he could cross paths with Riku or Hina. They would likely ignore him though, or even run away, so it wasn't a huge deal.
If he found neither of the parties before the time of the event, he would have no choice but to intervene directly at the fountain.
'...Let's look at France Fashion Finds first, they're pretty popular from what I've heard.'
He headed to one of the bigger stores in the mall, his eyes continuously scanning his surroundings for a hint of the prickly Villainess.
'It's not like I can miss her though.... She'd stand out anywhere.'
***
Meanwhile, in the same mall but quite far away, a decently good-looking but mostly unassuming boy walked alongside a brunette whose warm eyes and innocent look gave people a complete cuteness overload.
Her abundant curves were hidden beneath a comfortable hoodie, and she chattered happily as they passed by a game store.
"Hina, give me a minute. I want to see if this store has any new games I might like," Riku said.
"Ok, I'll come too. Maybe I'll find something fun!"
"Sure. I told you it was a great idea to wander off by ourselves! Our parents just want to look at boring old clothes the entire time haha," he laughed.
The time for the event was getting closer and closer.
***
Reiji had already checked a couple of different places by now, but he still hadn't found her. His patience was slowly starting to run out.
'Where is she, man??'
He grumbled internally at his lack of progress, but it didn't help. His mind continued to think of places she could be, trying to remember if there was something in his memories that would give him a hint.
"Wait... She liked sweets, maybe she's at that famous bakery on the second floor?"
He quickly jumped onto the nearby escalator and rushed to the bakery, praying internally the entire time. As he saw the shop in the corner, his quick feet faltered as he caught sight of a girl exiting with a box of macarons.
Hair fluffier than anything he had ever seen, curling slightly at the edges. The blood-red strands standing out brilliantly against her milky white face while her eyes shared the same shade of red. Her large chest and wide hips gave her a sensual look, but the fierce look that she constantly radiated kept all the interested men at bay.
She walked with complete authority, as if she owned the entire mall and everyone else were just ants crawling around her. But there was an undeniably dark look in her eyes that no one would notice unless they were expecting it to be there.
Reiji smiled sadly at the thorny rose blooming so brightly yet so gloomily in front of him.
'Tachibana Yui, the Villainess.'
