(Haruna POV)
***
"Because I have the feeling that he'd do the sa."
As Yui said those words, Haruna's overworked brain ca to a complete halt.
"He....."
'He would definitely do sothing if he thought we were in trouble, I know that better than anyone. But would he really do sothing that is so obviously dangerous, with high-risk and low-reward?'
Reiji was still an enigma in many ways in Haruna's eyes.
Although his actions seed rash, such as the ti he helped Greeny's family out and even unilaterally decided to tutor her for the midterms, each one of those had rit behind them.
They weren't half-baked in terms of what they could achieve, which, in her opinion, was exactly what Yui's idea felt like.
She took a deep breath after recollecting her thoughts.
"Senpai, I know Reiji-tan is the type to do anything he can to help if needed, but this isn't the sa thing. How do you know doing any of this won't just make things worse for him? What if his father ends up assigning him more tasks just out of spite?"
Yui tilted her head, like she was contemplating her argunt, so Haruna continued in hopes of steering her away from this.
"How about we try to think of sothing else? Maybe with more planning, we can co up with an idea that can actually help?"
".....Do you know what my problem is?" Yui replied after a pause.
"....What?"
"It's the fact that I don't like to think too much, an issue I'm more than aware of. But it's not like I decided to do this purely out of instinct or rash behavior. In simple terms, to solve a problem, you always address the root of it. If not now, at so point, his father will have to co into the picture because he's the one forcing this on him. You just said that Reiji has tried talking to him before, so what makes you think he'll eventually change his mind?" she stated calmly.
Haruna pursed her lips, actually finding so sense in her mindset.
Seeing her stay quiet, Yui added to her explanation.
"I realize that this may not make much sense, but what about the off chance that when he sees soone worried about his son, he'll see it from a different perspective and leave so room for negotiation. And since safety isn't an issue for , why not take that risk?"
"But...."
"And if that doesn't work, I'll bash his fucking head in, like I said," Yui smiled, cracking her knuckles.
"Pfft."
Haruna covered her mouth to hold back the escaping laughter, but her eyes softened right after.
'She's right. I don't know if it'll work, but maybe it's better than doing nothing and hoping that I'll eventually co up with sothing different.'
Yui turned around once again and started walking off, taking her phone out to look up sothing.
Haruna hesitated.
For two seconds.
"Wait, I'm coming with you!!"
"Hahhh? Don't be stupid, you can't even fight! You'll just get in the way if it sohow cos down to it," Yui snapped in bewildernt.
"Oh, please. With how worked up you are, I feel like you might just start throwing punches the mont you get there."
"I mostly kick, which gives better reach and power."
".....That's not the point! With there, maybe we can talk to him calmly and work out a common ground!" Haruna chuckled. "Plus, two people ans double the guilt-tripping, right? Though I don't know if a Yakuza Boss even feels guilt."
Yui slowed down, considering the option.
"....Fine, but what about school? I don't care about my attendance, but seeing how you were studying so hard, you must take that shit seriously, right?"
"I haven't missed a day so far, so it won't get into trouble. I'll just ask Hina-tan to tell the professor that I'm sick."
Just as she was saying that, she quickly sent a ssage to her friend with the sa request, and got a worried response imdiately.
It seed like Hina was hovering around her phone out of concern.
***
[~Hina-tan~]
SunnyStar: Hina-tan, I need to do sothing with Senpai
SunnyStar: please tell the teacher that I'm sick and won't be able to co.
CherryBlossom: What???? Are you okay???
SunnyStar: geez, I'm fine! I'll explain later. I just need to help her with sothing.
CherryBlossom: Are you sure....
SunnyStar: I promise, okay? I'll be back soon, dw.
CherryBlossom: Fine.....
***
"Problem solved. Let's go!" Haruna clapped her hands after pocketing her phone, her face filled with determination.
"I've booked a taxi. Reiji's dad should be at the Yagami Corporation building. If not, we'll see what we can do," Yui nodded as a car pulled up in front of them.
They both hopped in, and with battle-ready faces.....
Headed to the Yagami Syndicate's Headquarters.
***
"Whoa, this building is so cool! I would never have guessed what it actually was if I didn't know better!" Haruna gasped.
The size and quality of the skyscraper were nothing short of intimidating, especially since they both knew that their visit wasn't exactly conventional.
Yui, on the other hand, just glanced at it before walking sternly towards the entrance, which was guarded by two people in suits, one man and one woman.
The forr was bulky and muscular, while the other seed lithe and agile.
Haruna grew nervous as they approached, but thinking about what their intentions were, she tightened her resolve.
"Stop. What business do you have at the Yagami Corporation?" the woman asked, her hand raised to prevent them from entering.
"We're here to et Yagami Daichi," Yui responded indifferently.
They'd looked up this information beforehand, trying to understand more about Reiji's father on the way to the headquarters.
There wasn't much available publicly, aside from his na and the connection to the legitimate businesses they operate.
In fact, there were little to no details about the syndicate itself, which confused both of them.
Their existence wasn't exactly a secret, so this was quite out of the ordinary.
".....Do you have an appointnt?" the lady asked after brief eye contact with the other security guard.
"No, but we're friends of his son, Yagami Reiji," Haruna interjected.
A flash of surprise flickered past both their faces, but they composed themselves just as quickly.
"I'm sorry, but no matter who you are, you can't et the CEO without an appointnt."
Yui stepped up and showed them sothing on her phone.
"I'm from the Tachibana family, and I need to talk to him about sothing," she said.
Haruna tried to lean forward to see what she showed, but Yui switched her phone off, probably intentionally.
The two guards straightened up even further, but still shook their heads after a few seconds.
"No appointnt, no eting," the lady replied without budging.
"Can't you even let him know that we're here and let him decide for himself? Is he a baby who can't form his own thoughts?" Yui snapped in frustration.
The expressions on the guards fell at the sa ti, and Haruna even saw one of them reach behind their back, presumably for a weapon.
"Watch your mouth, little girl," the man hissed dangerously.
Before Yui could retort with more insults, Haruna clamped her mouth shut.
"I apologize, she's a little worked up over sothing and didn't an to say that. But can you please at least inform him that we're here?" she asked sweetly, her tone pitching slightly higher than usual to appeal to their senses.
And like she hoped, they seed to calm down slightly.
But the woman still shook her head in denial.
"I'm sorry, but the CEO is busy with etings today. I can inform him later on, and if you leave contact information, we can set up an appointnt if he agrees."
"Absolutely not, this is an urgent matter, so you either tell him or I'll ki- mmph!"
Haruna covered Yui's mouth again and didn't let go despite the aggressive protests from the fiery redhead.
'...Thank god I ca, otherwise she'd for sure have started kicking by now.'
She bowed to the two guards and wrote down her information on a card she was handed.
"Sorry for the trouble, please do let him know that we were here and we'd like to talk to him as soon as we can," Haruna sighed.
Although it was a sha they couldn't get an audience, at least this showed that there was a chance that they could et him without having to break a few legs.
Of course, Yui didn't like this developnt and stood to the side grumbling the entire ti.
"Alright. If he accepts, we'll contact you."
'Hmm, they're much more polite than I was expecting. I thought they'd kick us out right away.'
Haruna pulled Yui away and stopped just to the side of the building entrance after seeing the fierce glare she was getting.
"....Did you really want to fight your way through? What if they have crossbows or throwing knives? No matter how good you are at close-combat, that won't stop an arrow from sticking through your gut," Haruna snorted, not happy with Yui's out-the-gate anger that could've possibly screwed them.
"Tch, fine. But you do know that leaving the contact information is the nice way of saying 'get lost'? They're never gonna call us back. I thought what I showed them would work, but....."
"....Really?"
Haruna hadn't considered that.
"Of course, they're just blowing us off! That's why I should go back and give them a good kick in the head!" Yui facepald.
"What with your obsession with attacking heads?? Let's do this, if we don't get a response before tomorrow afternoon, we'll co back right after schoo-"
Haruna didn't get a chance to finish before a loud shout behind them interrupted her.
"Takeda-san! Raiden-san! Welco back!"
The two guards stood at attention and bowed simultaneously to the two n who had approached the building.
"Yeah, good work today. We need to et the Boss for sothing," one of them replied, his thick, bushy beard swaying with his words.
"Of course, go right ahead."
The two seemingly important n nodded and moved to enter the building, but as if noticing sothing, the bald one turned his head towards them.
Haruna blinked in puzzlent because it seed like the man was looking right at her.
The bald guy faltered, and he quickly grabbed the other's shoulder and whispered sothing in his ear.
Now both of them were staring at her with wide eyes, and with their mountain-like stature and the large scar on the bald man's cheek, Haruna felt her heart start pounding with nervousness.
'Why are they loo-.... Wait, why are they coming here???"
The terrifying n approached the two of them, with large strides and stern looks, and Yui stepped in front of her with a similar frown as she nudged Haruna back.
She flexed her knees in preparation as they got closer, and Haruna herself clenched the pen in her pocket.
It was better than nothing.
But they suddenly stopped a few ters away and grinned in a creepy way.
"You.....You're the Boss's gir-....the person the Boss is 'tutoring', right?"
'.....What?'
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