The night air was cool, the streets empty except for the faint hum of cicadas and the distant sound of television sets leaking out from neighborhood windows.
The five of them walked shoulder to shoulder, laughing and talking loudly, still riding the high of the brawl that had ended in their complete victory.
Renji was the loudest, waving his hands as he described in exaggerated detail how the Yurei punks tripped over themselves when he gave them a single glare.
"You should've seen their faces! Like scared puppies, man. All that big talk earlier, then poof! Gone the second I raised my fist."
Sakai smirked, cigarette in his mouth, and slapped Renji on the back hard enough to make him stumble. "Stop acting like you did much. Boss did all the heavy lifting. You were just the background noise."
"Background noise?!" Renji barked, pointing at him. "I softened them up, idiot. If I wasn't there, they would've regrouped and tried something."
"Yeah, yeah," Sakai drawled, blowing smoke into the night sky, "you're the hero of the story. Congratulations."
Even Shou, lazy as always with his hands tucked inside his pockets, let out a soft chuckle. "Renji, you're always the first to talk and the last to shut up. No wonder no girl takes you seriously."
Renji whipped around. "Oi, don't get cocky just because you managed to sneak in and get some action. You looked like a cat who just found cream in the kitchen."
Sakai and Suzune both laughed at that. Suzune, holding her bag close, glanced at Shou with her teasing smile. "It's true though, Shou. You disappeared inside the building so quickly, even faster than Renji. Didn't know you had the energy."
Shou yawned lazily, but the corner of his lips curved. "Sometimes it's better not to waste words. Actions are louder."
Renji groaned loudly. "You smug bastard."
Seijirou just walked silently at the center, hands in his pockets, a small smirk tugging his lips as he listened to their banter.
To him, this loud chatter was better than any silence. They were his brothers, his people.
When they reached a narrow street corner, Shou stopped in front of an old wooden gate, his house small and worn down, but neat.
He stretched, yawning again. "This is my stop. Don't get killed tomorrow."
Renji snorted. "Worry about yourself, lazy ass."
"Night," Shou muttered, waving without turning back as he slipped inside.
The four continued, and a few minutes later they reached a modest two-story home with a garage.
Renji stopped, spinning around dramatically. "Alright, I'm off. Don't miss me too much."
"No one would miss you." Spat Suzune.
Renji laughed, "Come on Suzune, I thought we had something special?"
Suzune rolled her eyes, "Just you? No way. My standards ain't that low."
"Ouch. That hurts." Renji grabbed his heart dramatically.
Sakai kicked at his shin lightly. "Shut up and get inside."
"Oi! You'll regret that one day!" Renji barked, but his grin betrayed his mood.
He waved and disappeared through the gate, leaving only the sound of his boisterous laughter echoing behind.
Not long after, Sakai reached his own place, a single-story house with an old scooter parked outside.
He exhaled smoke one last time before flicking the cigarette onto the road. "Guess this is where I leave. Don't do anything stupid, Boss. And Suzune, take care."
Seijirou shrugged. "I'm not you."
"Say hi to your mom for me. Tell her the cake last time was delicious." Said Suzune.
"Got it. I'll tell her that." Sakai chuckled, giving a nod before heading inside.
Now, only Seijirou and Suzune walked together, the streets quieter now without the other three.
The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable, though. It was calmer, almost domestic.
Suzune hugged her bag closer and glanced at him. "So, Seiji, do you think the student council would trouble us? You did beat up their president."
Seijirou smirked faintly. "Heh. They don't dare. The principal would expel them if they dare try."
"Really?" she said, her tone half teasing, half curious. "Your family got more hold in the school than I thought."
"My family got the entire city on the chokehold."
She giggled softly, covering her mouth. "Well, I can't deny that. There is no one in the city who didn't know about your parents."
They walked a little longer, passing under a lamppost where their shadows stretched long.
Suzune suddenly sighed, her tone shifting as she spoke. "I nearly failed that math quiz yesterday, you know. Barely scraped by. If I fail again, my mom will kill me."
"Then study harder," Seijirou said simply.
"I do study!" she protested. "I'm just not good at numbers. Unlike you, who acts like you don't care, then gets the top spot without even trying."
Seijirou looked at her, amused. "Life's unfair. My talent is just beyond your comprehension."
She puffed her cheeks but smiled anyway.
They continued like that until they stopped in front of a large, well-kept house with polished gates and trimmed hedges.
Compared to the others, it stood out.
"Well, this is my stop," Suzune said, shifting her bag and looking up at him. "See you tomorrow, Seiji. Don't let Renji drag you into something stupid again."
"Depends if I find it interesting." Seijirou said with the same calm tone.
She laughed lightly, waved, and disappeared into the gate, leaving Seijirou alone under the streetlight.
He stood there for a moment, watching her door close, then turned back to the road and began walking on his own, hands still tucked in his pockets, his face unreadable but his thoughts restless.
Seijirou walked alone, the quiet of the night pressing in on him, his thoughts spinning in circles.
No matter how many times he replayed it in his head, he still found it hard to swallow the truth of his situation. Reincarnated.
Dropped into a game he had once played, not as the protagonist, not even as a nameless extra, but as him—the villain, the notorious bastard who cornered heroines, who crushed the protagonist's spirit through humiliation and betrayal, the one who embodied the word NTR.
Every memory of the gameplay told him what kind of monster he was supposed to become.
He exhaled slowly, shaking his head, not because he had accepted it but because denial wouldn't change anything.
The weight of inevitability hung on his shoulders, yet some part of him refused to believe that his path had already been carved out.
The dim glow of fluorescent lights caught his eye up ahead. A convenience store, still open despite the late hour.
His throat was dry, and the thought of a cold drink felt like a small comfort after the long, exhausting day.
He stepped inside, the bell above the door chiming with a soft, familiar ring.
The store was quiet, with shelves lined neatly, faint pop music humming from a radio in the background.
He moved without thought, straight to the fridge at the back, sliding the glass door open and pulling out a chilled bottle of iced tea.
The condensation immediately clung to his fingers, cold and grounding. He shut the fridge door and made his way to the counter.
But the moment he lifted his gaze to the cashier, he froze.
Behind the register stood Tachibana Rei.
Her short pink hair was tied into a bun, some strands framing her delicate face.
Her large, earnest eyes widened in recognition the instant they met his, only for the light in them to dim into something smaller, tighter—fear.
She stiffened, clutching the hem of her uniform apron, her lips parting as if to speak, then closing just as quickly.
Seijirou blinked once, his steps slowing as he processed what he was seeing.
Tachibana Rei.
The childhood friend heroine. The very same girl who, in the original game, was the protagonist's emotional anchor, his most important bond, the one who stood by him through every hardship.
She was supposed to represent purity and kindness, the ideal of stability. Yet here she was, working a part-time job at night, something their school had forbidden.
Just then, the memory hit him like a blade.
In one of the game's routes, the villain—him—had stumbled upon this exact scene. Rei, desperate to support her struggling family, had taken up a job in secret.
The villain had used it against her, threatening to expose her to the school unless she obeyed. That was the moment she broke, the moment her innocence was twisted into humiliation.
Her small hands trembled slightly as she rang up his drink, avoiding his gaze as though his very presence was a threat.
Seijirou stood still, the bottle of iced tea resting on the counter between them, the cold condensation dripping onto the glass surface.
His mind flashed with the memory of the route, how things would spiral from here if he played the role fate had given him.
His jaw tightened.
He muttered under his breath, almost to himself, "Damn, what a cliché NTR plot."
Rei looked up sharply, eyes wide, fear deepening in her expression as if she expected him to lean over the counter and whisper something cruel, something binding.
Instead, he stayed quiet, his thoughts whirling as he studied her face.
She didn't look like a heroine in this moment. She looked like a girl trapped by circumstance, cornered by rules and pressure she couldn't escape.
And he was the one meant to chain her further.