Reiji felt like kicking rocks.
His plan was perfect, he would be able to help Greeny's family and make a mess out of the assigned task at the same time! But it would only be perfect if that idiotic OG Reiji's memories were more accurate.
In the game, the Yagami Syndicate were villains, constantly finding trouble with the protagonist due to OG Reiji. But Reiji realized through this incident that neither the game's perspective nor OG Reiji's memories could be fully trusted because there was a lot of bias clouding the truth.
Reiji knew that the syndicate wasn't so bad when he first transmigrated and absorbed the memories, but OG Reiji's warped personality misjudging the organization's morals and the fact that he would use henchmen to bother Riku steered him to believe they weren't good either, and since the game didn't delve much into the syndicate's activities except for when it interfered with the plot, Reiji was somewhat in the dark about a lot of things.
After all, this was supposed to be a dating sim. Why would such trivialities become a story arc if it didn't concern the heroines in any way.
This protection assignment was a big eye-opener for Reiji, who now understood that he had become a little complacent and overconfident because he knew the game's events and had these memories.
This wasn't a game anymore, it was a living, breathing world with its own entities that have lives, thoughts, and personalities. It was good that he caught on this early, preventing him from making a major mistake down the road if a dangerous situation pops up, like thinking he could always solve events by following the game's routines.
'Haahhhhh, I'm tired. But I have no time to rest, tomorrow is Haruna's event...'
Reiji shifted gears and started to plan for tomorrow's event that he had decided to supervise in case he needed to intervene.
Haruna's family history was a bit.....sad. Her father incurred a lot of debt through gambling and overspending money, deciding to run away when she was just 7 years old. This placed the burden of the debt on her mother, who overworked herself trying to pay it off which led to a car accident that took her life just 2 years later because of a lack of sleep.
These life-changing events, as cliche as they seemed, were now a reality and Reiji's heart ached a little when imagining that bright and bubbly girl going through something this harrowing at a young age.
Fortunately, her maternal grandmother adopted her and raised her with a lot of love and care to ensure that she never openly felt the loss of her parents. She was even told that there was a way to handle to debt and not to worry, allowing her to focus on her childhood.
But Haruna was a smart girl, she knew that the debt hadn't magically gone away and that her grandmother had to start working again, well past her retirement age.
There were a lot of events centered around Haruna and her circumstances, and tomorrow's event was a pretty major one that kickstarted a snowball effect of stress and misery for the poor girl.
'What should I do.....'
Reiji sighed and curled up in his bed, his mind racing through various options and possibilities.
'Forget it, I'll think of something tomorrow.'
***
"Reiji-kun who were those guys yesterday? Were they gangsters?"
Reiji stared blankly at Airi and ignored her by turning to look out of the window.
"Don't ignore me! Tell me, do they have guns? Can I play with one?" she continued to whisper excitedly even though class was going on.
"Have you gone insane, what is wrong with you?" he replied with exasperation. She had gotten a lot more open after their chat on the roof, and Reiji couldn't help but rub the middle of his eyebrows in confusion.
"Hmph, isn't it normal to want to hold a gun? And now I'm friends with a Yakuza, this is my chance!"
"Your chance my ass, and I'm not a Yakuza for god's sake! Don't lump me with that lot!"
"Ehhh? But from what I know your dad is the leader of a Yakuza syndicate though?"
"We-well, he is.... But that doesn't mean that I'll become one myself automatically. If your dad is an accountant, would you be an accountant as well?" Reiji stammered.
"My dad is an accountant though....And I want to be one as well," Airi replied, her eyes squinting.
".....Really?"
"Pffft, no I'm just messing with you," she laughed.
"HEY! QUIET BACK THERE OR I'LL KICK YOU OUT OF CLASS!"
The professor at the front of the class yelled, slamming his book onto the desk. Both of them snapped their mouths shut and looked straight ahead, but Airi's quivering lips could not be hidden.'
'By the way, why has Greeny kept looking over here? Did he want to chat too?' Reiji thought as he saw Greeny glancing at him for what felt like the tenth time in this class.
He saw Haruna (alongside the rest of the class) looking back at them as well, which brought Reiji back to reality.
'Let's see... In the game, Riku saw 'her' on the way back from school. None of the given options could prevent 'that' from happening, but it allowed him to take steps to fix it if he chose to do so.'
His thoughts shifted to his plans, rocking his chair with his hands behind his head. Suddenly his eyes widened like he thought of something.
'Wait a sec... This isn't a game, I don't necessarily have to think with a boxed mindset. I have the freedom to move around freely, unlike the protagonist, which means I have the ability to prevent it from happening in the first place!'
This realization was key. Although it was a fairly obvious one, it's hard to get rid of the thought of following it from the game's options simply because he had played through this event so many times that these pathways were ingrained in his brain.
'This means I'll have to skip the last lesson. Fuck, that's gonna get me in trouble later with the Prez again but there's nothing I can do.'
Reiji decided to leave school early-on and intercept the event so that the depressing scenario wouldn't occur in the first place.
He turned his head to look at Haruna and smiled to himself.
'Man, she cried so many times in the game. Maybe I can stop that from happening.'
***
"You're taking your bag? Are you gonna go commit some crimes Reiji-kun?" Airi asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.
Reiji simply gave her a head chop and walked out, earning him a glare from the purple-haired girl.
As he stepped out of the school, a security guard saw him and walked towards him angrily. But as he got closer, he stiffened and a nervous look took over.
"Oh look, a butterfly!" he exclaimed as he walked back to his station, ignoring Reiji's existence.
Reiji couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
'Sometimes this identity can be a little useful.'
He left without anyone stopping him and headed towards a street market that was about 10 minutes away.
'She must be working there right now, and in this heat it's obvious why she collapsed.'
He started walking a little quicker and soon arrived at the outskirts of the market. Looking around, he saw multiple tents and stalls set up in a long line on either side of the road, each of them occupied by a hawker with a variety of goods ranging from clothes and trinkets, to even food and drinks.
It was bustling even though it was the middle of the weekday, with streams of people walking around looking for good deals. This was the attraction of these street markets, where decent quality goods were sold at lower prices since the sellers were either desperate or could save money on store rent and utilities.
Reiji strode in, looking for a particular stall. He was actually not sure what the person who he was looking for looked like, because he had only seen her in the game's animated design. All he knew was that she was selling clothes and other outerwear such as hats, gloves, and scarves but since there were so many similar stalls around, it wasn't easy.
"Hey handsome young man, come look at these shirts! They'll look amazing on you!"
"Ignore her, come see these stylish coats! Even though it's hot, you'll look even hotter in these!"
"You look hungry, have some of my famous teriyaki skewers! Guaranteed to satisfy!"
Reiji ignored these people and walked off quickly, wanting to get this over with. He found large and loud crowds extremely uncomfortable, so he felt out of place.
"Hey you shitty old bat, are you trying to scam me??? What the fuck is that price? For these horrible clothes, are you crazy?"
Reiji turned to the sound and saw a group of three men in front of a stall yelling while holding onto some shirts.
"FUCK OFF YOU LITTLE SHITS! IF YOU'RE GONNA BUY, THEN BUY IT! IF NOT, TAKE YOUR BROKE ASSES OUT OF HERE, YOU'RE BLOCKING MY BUSINESS!"
Reiji smiled wryly at the hunched old woman, who despite her age and tiny stature, had a fierce look in her sunken eyes.
'Found her.'