RMSGE ` 07

Chapter – 07

In an Eroge World, Picking Up Girls is Par for the Course

– A few days later –

I’d finished eating out and was on my way home.

I live alone now, but even tracing back through Ou Gou Kaito’s memories, neither he nor my past self could cook at all. So my options are limited to eating out or buying something at the convenience store.

“Man, there’s a lot to deal with…”

The know-how for making money is perfectly implanted in my head, so even as a reincarnated person, I have no problems there. I also have more money than I could ever spend, so I’m not hurting for it, but I don’t really have anything to spend it on either. Well, that part’s fine, I guess… but the house is a bit big, so maintaining it is a hassle.

My past self had allergies, so after I started living alone, I cleaned about three times a week. But since I lived in an apartment back then, it wasn’t a big deal at all.

This house, however, is different.

It seems the previous Ou Gou Kaito hired a housekeeper, but I’m not really comfortable with that sort of thing—or rather, I feel a bit resistant to having strangers come and go from my home, so I decided not to hire one.

So, cleaning is a bit… no, it’s quite a pain.

For me, who became a neat freak because of my allergies, not cleaning isn’t even an option.

As I was mulling over such thoughts while walking, I noticed a familiar girl being surrounded by three people who looked like college students.

“Is that… Kaoru?”

Why is she out at this hour…? Oh, that’s right, she was going to cram school, wasn’t she?

Her grades are always top-notch, and she was working hard at her studies.

“Ah, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that.”

If it’s Kaoru, there’s even a chance she’d give in to the pressure and go along with them…

Having no choice but to intervene, I decided to call out to her.

—

◇

“Come on, let’s go! We’ll show you a good time.”

“Yeah, yeah, we might look like this, but we’re gentlemen, you know.”

“Let’s go.”

“N-no…”

As I got closer, I heard voices like that, so I approached and pulled Kaoru toward me.

“Kaoru? You need to properly turn these guys down, you know?”

“K-Kaito-kun?”

When I looked at Kaoru’s face, it was red and her eyes were glistening.

She was scared from being hit on, but she was afraid of what might happen if she refused, so she couldn’t say no… Probably something like that.

I turned my gaze to the men who were trying to pick her up, but they were strangers I didn’t recognize.

Most of the mob characters don’t even show their faces in the game, anyway.

Well, whether these guys were those mob characters or not doesn’t really matter.

Now that I’ve been reincarnated into an eroge world, this world is my reality. I have no intention of making choices I’ll regret.

Since I decided to make Kaoru fall for me, protecting her is only natural.

Besides, since I’m not functioning as a mob character myself, it’s obvious things won’t go according to the game script anyway.

…Well, this time I just happened to be passing by… but thank goodness for that.

“Are you this girl’s boyfriend or something?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Ou Gou Kaito’s body is quite strong, and I have memories of fighting, so I could probably take them on if it came down to it. But I don’t really like brawling, so I’d rather settle things peacefully if possible.

Of course, if it comes down to it, I won’t hesitate…

As I was thinking that, one of the guys in the back whispered something to the other two.

It was quiet, but I could catch a little bit of it. I think he mentioned my name.

“O-oh, I see… If she’s got a boyfriend, we should probably give up…”

“Y-yeah, you’re right.”

The guys who had been so aggressive just moments before left, looking strangely timid.

Well, I guess it’s because I—or rather, Ou Gou Kaito—am somewhat well-known around here, so maybe those guys had seen me before… Not that I really care either way.

“Kaito-kun…”

“You okay?”

“Yeah…”

Kaoru wasn’t crying now, but she seemed a bit down.

“Like I said earlier, you need to turn them down properly, alright? If I hadn’t shown up, you would’ve gone along with them, wouldn’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry… I was scared of what they might do if I refused…”

Yeah, I figured it was something like that… But if you’d gone along with them, things could’ve turned out even worse, you know.

“You do realize that if you’d gone with them, things could’ve ended up really bad, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

She looks really down about it, so maybe I shouldn’t press her too much…

“Well, let’s head home. I’ll walk you to your place.”

“Thank you…”

– After that, we walked together.

“So, this happened on your way back from cram school, huh?”

“Yeah… In my heart, I knew I had to refuse, but I just couldn’t muster up the courage…”

“Well, that’s not something you can fix overnight. In the end, you just have to work on it slowly… So I’d like to say you can take your time, but I am worried, you know?”

“Y-yeah, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize, so let’s stop with the apologies. But still, I really think you shouldn’t be walking around alone this late. At least until you can properly say no.”

“But I have cram school…”

“Hmm, can’t you have your parents come pick you up?”

I said that, but come to think of it, I never saw Kaoru’s family in the game.

Well, there were probably plenty of routes I didn’t go through, so I can’t say for sure.

“Dad and Mom both get home late from work, so that might be difficult… But you’re right. After what happened today, I’m scared, so I’ll ask them.”

“That’s a good idea. Oh, I know! Let’s exchange contact info. You can message me anytime if something happens.”

I said that, pulled out my phone, and opened LUNE.

Kaoru saw that, opened her own phone, and we exchanged contacts.

“Alright! That should do it. So, no matter what it is—if you’re in trouble or you need to talk about something—don’t hesitate to message me right away, okay?”

“O-okay! Thank you!”

“Yeah.”

“Kaito-kun! This is my house, so I’m fine from here.”

Kaoru said that and pointed to a single-family home.

“Got it. Well, see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah! See you tomorrow. Thank you for helping me.”

“Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters to me.”

“Uh… yeah…”

When I said that with a smile, Kaoru blushed and looked down a little.

Man, her embarrassed face is really cute too.

I thought about pushing a little further to see if I could make a move, but considering she’d just been harassed and was probably still scared, I figured it was better to let her rest early. So I just headed home.