Chapter 141 The Second Player
Although Saikai Haruto was 70% to 80% sure that "as long as I stayed with Hanayamain Haruna, I would be able to meet Fushiguro Shijiro one day", this day really came suddenly on this day - and especially this time, it was the first time that Fushiguro Shijiro and Hanayamain Haruna "reunited" or "met for the first time", Saikai Haruto was still quite surprised.
In fact, the "memory" given to him by this world consciousness is not only incomplete in Saikai Haruto's view, but also the perspective of that memory is from the perspective of "Hanayamain Haruna" in six or seven out of ten episodes.
When Haruto Nishimi looks at things from the perspective of "Haruna Hanayamain" in that memory, he actually has some limitations and is often influenced by Haruna Hanayamain's subjective emotions.
——That is to say, many things in that "memory" are somewhat different from what actually happened.
The longer Saikai Haruto, Hanayamain Haruna, Gojo Satoru, Kagome Ken, and Ieiri Shoko spend time together, the more they feel this way.
Today, at such a close distance, looking at it from the perspective of a third party, an outsider, this feeling becomes even more certain.
For example, in the "memories", when Hanayamain Haruna first met Fushiguro Shiori, there was no Fushiguro Megumi by his side, and Fushiguro Shiori had never mentioned the existence of Fushiguro Megumi to her - this is why Saikai Haruto knew Fushiguro Shiori's name, knew the name and existence of "Megumi", but never knew about the relationship between Fushiguro Megumi and Fushiguro Shiori - because Hanayamain Haruna herself never knew it from beginning to end.
Of course, the situation is different now that I meet Fushiguro Megumi for the first time when I also meet Fushiguro Masahiro.
For example, in Hanayamain Haruna's mind, Fushiguro Shiori's attitude towards her has always been very friendly. Because of their "past" interactions in the Zenin family, Fushiguro Shiori's attitude towards Hanayamain Haruna is completely different from his attitude towards other people in the Zenin family. The relationship between the two has always been very close. Hanayamain Haruna's use of the "redemption" script for Fushiguro Shiori.
Until one day, some "accidents" suddenly happened, and Fushiguro Shigeki seemed to have "turned evil" - in short, the relationship between the two people changed drastically afterwards.
But before those "changes" happened, in Hanayamain Haruna's impression, the relationship between the two had always been good.
But for Saikai Haruto who met Fushiguro Shinji today... although Fushiguro Shinji didn't seem to say anything bad directly on the surface, that was all - the sticky malice that man had towards Hanayamain Haruna was all revealed in his body language, every micro-expression of his, and even in the depth of his eyes and the meaning of his words. It was almost overflowing.
I don’t know how Hanayamain Haruna is so sure that Fushiguro Shigenori’s attitude towards her is completely “friendly”?
Nishimi Haruto has no doubt that in Hanayamain Haruna's mind, the title of "Miss" is probably a cute title, a proof of a close relationship, and is definitely not associated with any "sarcasm".
Xihai Qingdou thought.
Is it really because Hanayamain Haruna is a "fool"?
Or is she simply not good at reading other people's behavior and language?
That's not the case. Although Hanayamain Haruna is not particularly smart, she is not stupid either.
The reason couldn't be simpler.
Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru probably didn't notice it, but Saikai Haruto, from the perspective of an "outsider" who knows everything, rather than from the perspective of "Igarashi Yuuki", was already proficient enough to see it clearly.
——That’s of course because Hanayamain Haruna, or the player, has never regarded this world as a real world.
In a "holographic otome romance game", how could the various male characters in it have a completely "hateful" attitude towards the "female protagonist"? And how could they pose a real "danger" to the "protagonist"?
Even if it is "hate", it will eventually be conquered and turned into "love"; even if it is "danger", it will eventually be overcome, and it may even become a special event that enhances the relationship.
Not to mention, "Kanayamain Haruna" once "helped" Zenin Jiner at Zenin's home when she was a child. So whether it's "Zenin Jiner" or "Fushiguro Jiner", there's no reason to "dislike" her, right? "Liking" is the correct procedure, right?
Since it is a "maiden love game", everything in it, no matter what, will naturally not be separated from the word "love".
This is the arrogance unique to "players".
However, as a hardworking worker, Xi Haiqingdou hates the "arrogance" of players the most. It always adds countless troubles to his "work" without them realizing it.
Of course, he also knew that this could not be entirely blamed on the players... Who let the world consciousness itself intervene and not allow the players to know the truth of "travel"? However, since the world consciousness is also his "boss", Xi Haiqingdou chose to quietly curse it in his heart.
As for the players' "arrogance", Gojo Satoru is not clear, Geto Suguru is not clear, "Igarashi Yuuki" and Ieiri Shoko are not clear either, but Saikai Haruto is clear, and Fushiguro Shiori - thinking back to what he saw in Fushiguro Shiori's deep green eyes at the end, Saikai Haruto guessed that he was not clear either, but he probably had a vague feeling that something was wrong, right?
It's not that I feel something is wrong in my "subconscious", but that I myself have discovered it.
I could tell something was wrong so quickly just by meeting him for the first time...
What an overly sensitive guy.
It's obvious at first glance that he's going to be difficult to deal with.
Xi Hai Qing Dou thought to himself, as expected, compared to "smart people", the ones who are more "annoying" and "envious" are probably those who are not only smart, but also have overly sharp intuition and trust their intuition very much, right?
Saikai Haruto silently raised Fushiguro Jyouji's danger level to the highest level.
Encountering such an extremely dangerous guy, Hanayamain Haruna herself didn't realize anything was wrong...
Saikai Haruto still had the "Igarashi signature" "silly and sweet" smile on his face, and silently mourned for Hanayamain Haruna in his heart.
Fortunately, he is now "Igarashi Yuuki", an ordinary person who cannot be simpler. He no longer needs to engage in any pulling or various roundabout "conversations between smart people" with such people. He only needs to play the sincerity card - and sincerity is always the ultimate killer move!
I hope Haruna can be a little smarter. Otherwise, given the malice that guy has towards Haruna Hanayamain, it’s unclear what else Fushiguro will do to her.
——But, anyway, it would never be the good thing that Hanayamain Haruna had in mind.
...However, this time, having seen "Foshiguro Megumi" with her own eyes and knowing the father-son relationship between the two, Hanayamain Haruna should not be so "excited and full of confidence" as she was in the previous round and run off to prepare to "capture" Fushiguro Shigeru so quickly, right?
Ah, I have no idea how bold the "players" are in their wild ideas. It's really frustrating.
"Come to think of it, Haruna-san and Fushiguro-kun are very connected to each other, as we meet again today."
Saikai Haruto smiled and brought the topic back to the topic: "Haruna-san, should we go find Wu and Jie to meet up now?"
"Oh, okay, let's go!"
Hanayamain Haruna stopped thinking about it, came back to her senses, pulled Nishimi Haruto's arm, approached him quietly, and whispered, "By the way, Yuuki, can you keep it a secret from Wu and Jie about what happened to us just now?"
"Huh? Why?" Xihai Qingdou pretended to be curious, but his heart was actually skipped a beat.
It can't be what he thinks...
"Well... since Shinji-kun has left the Zenin family, he probably doesn't intend to consider himself a member of the Zenin family anymore, and has also left the world of spellcasting, right?"
Hanayamain Haruna nodded to herself with a lovely and genuine smile, like a "good sister" who wholeheartedly cares about Fushiguro Shinjiro, and she looked no different.
She said, "In that case, let's just forget about our meeting just now, right? Shinji had finally left the Zenin family and didn't want to go back. I don't want the Zenin family to suddenly remember him because of me. But if Wu knew about it, he would definitely cause trouble for Shinji since he is the future head of the Gojo family! If Jie knew about it - if both of you knew about it, and Wu was the only one who didn't know, he would definitely notice something was wrong."
"Can you promise me that you'll keep it a secret, Yuuki? Please, please!" Hanayamain Haruna approached him, looked up into his eyes, and begged in a coquettish manner.
"Ah, so that's what you're worried about, Haruna-san."
Xi Haiqing Dou also smiled, his smile was bright and sunny, full of vitality, without any haze: "I know, I won't mention it to Jie and Wu, classmate Haruna, don't worry, this is our secret, I won't tell anyone else, after all, you and I are good friends!"
——He looked completely ignorant of romance.
"…Thank you so much, Yuuki."
Hanayamain Haruna said woodenly.
——Sometimes she couldn't tell whether she felt more fortunate or helpless about "Igarashi Yuuki"'s ignorance.
"——What secret?"
"How did you and Haruna get together, Yuuki? You two actually have a secret?"
The voices of Gojo Satoru and Geto Kagome rang out. The white-haired DK and the black-haired DK appeared out of nowhere and put one hand on Saikai Haruto's shoulder. Gojo Satoru quickly pushed aside Hanayamain Haruna, and said with suspicion and anger: "You two are actually secretly dating with Geto behind my back! Yuuki, you are going too far!!"
How to put it... With this expression, Xi Haiqing Dou suddenly had a vision of the boyfriends in all the soap operas who were caught cheating on their lovers in the act.
...Wait, then what roles do he and Hanayamain Haruna play? !
Xi Haiqing Dou's eyes flickered for a moment.
"That's right, I was wondering why you've become so slow, Yuuki, and you haven't been seen for a long time..."
Xia Yujie said in a gloomy tone, and rebuked him with his eyes: "So you are here on a date with Haruna? Oh, I didn't expect you to be this kind of person, Yuuki."
"Wow, wait a minute! Where on earth did you come from, Gojo Satoru?!"
Hanayamain Haruna, who was caught off guard and staggered, screamed: "Are you trying to scare Yuuki and me to death on purpose?!"
- Wait, this guy couldn't have heard their entire conversation?!
Gojo Satoru ignored Hanayamain Haruna.
"Hurry up and explain to me and Jie! We've been waiting for you two for a long time, but you treated us like this, Yuki... Wait, you look at me like that, are you feeling guilty?"
Accurately capturing the drift of Saikai Haruto's eyes, Gojo Satoru's eyes became extremely sharp.
"Haruna and I just found a three or four-year-old kid and sent him back to his parents, so we were delayed..."
Xi Haiqingdou's mouth twitched, and he said sincerely: "I say, Wu, why don't you try to be a private detective? I think you are fully capable of doing the job of a private detective."
"As for the secret, I promised Haruna to keep it a secret, so of course I can't tell you - otherwise what kind of secret is it?" Saikai Haruto said righteously.