"Yagami Reiji, the Student Council President has summoned you to her office. Please follow me immediately."
Haruna looked bewildered at the seemingly random interruption, but the other three had knowing looks. Airi and Greeny glanced at Reiji with pity, shaking their heads in response.
"See? I knew this would happen Reiji-kun! You shouldn't have done that," Airi said wryly.
"What do you mean? What did he do?" Haruna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"D-Did you hear the announcement that called the President an i-ice block?" Greeny replied.
"That was Reiji-tan????"
"Yeah hehe, no way she was going to let that slide."
Reiji flicked Airi's forehead to shut her up and sighed, he knew this was coming at some point but it happening so soon was still unexpected.
"You guys go ahead and look at other clubs if you want. I don't know how long this will take," he finally said.
"Ok, if you get out early, give us a call and we'll tell you where we are." Airi gave him a thumbs-up in support.
"Sure, let's go Senpai."
He turned to the man who had been waiting patiently the whole time, who simply turned around and started walking off with his heels clacking again. Reiji followed, leaving behind the three giggling students who seemed happy at his misfortune.
When they finally got out of sight, Greeny switched the topic.
"So where s-should we go?"
"Ummmm, since we're in the sports building why not check out table tennis? Maybe they'll let us play a few games?" Airi suggested after pondering for a bit.
"Ok, Y-Yuzuki-san will you come with us?"
"You should come, let's have some fun!"
Both of them invited Haruna because it had been fun with her accompanying them so far, but she seemed a little hesitant.
"....It's not that I don't want to, but I wanted to check out the cooking club and you guys have already been there right?"
Greeny simply nodded understandably, but Airi had a sly grin when she heard this.
"Oho? You were at the reading club before, so you could have visited them before since the cooking club was close by. It's almost like you suddenly developed an interest for a very specific reason," Airi asked with an evil glint in her eyes, poking Haruna's shoulders teasingly.
This made Haruna's face turn a little red as she hurriedly shook her hands in denial.
"W-What are you talking about? I was planning on going after the reading club but then I saw Reiji-tan and wanted to ask him about the rumors," she stammered with a panicked expression.
"Sure, sure! I believe you! Well, it's a shame that we're not allowed to go for a club's session more than once since people could take advantage of that, or we would have loved to come with you to eat that burger again."
"W-Well, bye Yuzuki-san," Greeny waved.
He had been a little confused at the earlier conversation but decided not to overthink it.
"Let's talk again later, bye you guys!" Haruna ran off with her face still a little red, wanting to get away from Airi's devilish grin as fast as possible.
Greeny look at her back which was getting farther and farther away.
"She was nice," he said after a pause.
"Yeah, she was," Airi smiled.
***
Meanwhile, Reiji and the senior were still walking towards the student council office, which was in the main building.
'Hmmm... Tadano Itsuki. The Vice-President of the Student Council, a third-year student with a family background in politics and an extremely prideful man....'
Reiji's mind tried to recall everything he knew about the man in front of him, who was striding with his head facing directly forward and his arms behind his back. He looked almost robotic in the way that he moved.
'This man is a problem. He both hates and loves Noa, which made him a villain in her story in every single route...'
Tadano Itsuki had a strong drive for power, inherited from his family's upbringing.
So when a first-year student beat him, a second-year at the time, in the election race, he started to hold a grudge. But as he started working with her, this morphed into a sort of twisted and possessive love.
If the protagonist tried to conquer Noa, this man would intervene in many ways which led to significant issues and varying plotlines.
The problem is, Noa was never attracted to him, so even if the player didn't pursue her there was no ending in which she 'voluntarily' ended up with him.
Recalling some of the more depressing endings, Reiji's initially indifferent face turned into a slight frown and he clenched his fists.
While playing the game, it was simply distasteful and rage-inducing.
But this was now reality. Fujikawa Noa, that uptight but extremely kind Student Council President might be in big trouble if things proceed as it did in the game.
This version of Riku was not reliable in any shape or form, so he might not even end up pursuing Noa. That would give this weirdo free reign over his actions and maybe even lead to the bad endings he saw.
'What should I do about him..... At this point he likely hasn't fallen completely in love with her yet, but there's not much I can do to change that for now.'
"Do you think that your criminal background will protect you from any shenanigans you try to pull? Do you think you're untouchable?"
Tadano-Senpai's voice cut through his thoughts and shook him awake. Reiji turned to him and the vice-president's apathetic look made him narrow his eyes.
'This fucking psycho, those eyes are creepy as hell.'
"I don't think that Senpai, I've been trying to improve in my own ways. I mean, I haven't punched anyone in a week, illegally at least, so cut me some slack," Reiji joked, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.
But it didn't earn him even a slight change in expression.
"Remember, even if you have powerful backing, that doesn't make you the only one to have that advantage in this school," Tadano-Senpai warned, hinting at his own family's power.
"....Is that a threat?"
"A threat? Why would I waste my time threatening trash like you? It's simply a fact." The senior snorted with a hint of disgust.
Reiji simply smiled softly.
'This dude is seriously..... haha. It's not often that you see a minor villain threaten the fucking Final Boss.'
Yagami Reiji wasn't just a trouble-causing delinquent, he was the main villain who showed up in every single route, no matter who the protagonist pursued, no matter what choices were made.
The Heir to the Underworld could not be defeated until the end of the game unless extreme measures were taken, and here was a side character who only popped up in Noa's story trying to show off his ability.
'How cute.'
"So remember my words and stop causing trouble," Tadano-Senpai said one last time and turned back to the front, continuing on to the office.
"Sure.... I'll do my best."
***
Sakuraba Hina looked at Kazama Riku with disappointment.
"Are you seriously going to stay at the E-Sports club? Aren't we not allowed to stay for more than one session?" She asked in dismay at the boy in front of her.
"Yeah, but I know one of the seniors and he's letting me stay! I can pretty much use their high-end gaming setups for the entire day, isn't that awesome?"
Riku's shining eyes kept glancing back at the door behind him, as if he couldn't wait to end this conversation and go back into the room to keep playing.
"But.... You promised to go to some of the other sessions with me," Hina said slowly, her voice almost a whisper.
"I know but this is too good of a chance! Clubs don't start till next week, so I won't be able to use this setup until then! We can always hang out later?"
"Sigh...Ok, fine. Call me when you're done and we can go home together," Hina lowered her head dejectedly.
But Riku's reply almost caused tears to form in her eyes.
"Erm.... I kind of talked with the senior and he said I can stay back with them after school to play a few rounds of 'Ereskima: The Final Bullet'... That game hasn't even come out yet, but his dad is one of the developers so he managed to get early access for the club!"
Hina stared blankly at Riku who was practically giddy with excitement at being able to play the game this early.
"You... whatever, I don't care anymore!"
She stormed off in anger and sadness, rubbing her eyes slightly. If this was the first time something like this happened, she would understand and let him play.
But it was happening more and more often, with Riku always coming up with new excuses to postpone their hangouts or even completely forget about them.
As she slowed down to try and regain her composure, she heard a voice.
"Hina-tan? What happened?"
She looked up to see Haruna running up, wiping Hina's face worriedly.
"Why are you crying?" She asked anxiously.
"N-Nothing, I just twisted my ankle a little. Where were you?" Hina changed the subject quickly.
"Hmmm..... I'm going to the cooking club's session. Want to come with me? I heard they were giving out delicious burgers."
Haruna knew she was lying, but wisely decided not to press her for the truth. Anyway, she had an inkling at what had happened.
"O-Ok, let's go," Hina accepted, sniffling slightly.
'Tch, that dense idiot...' Haruna muttered internally.