(Haruna POV)

***

"Because I have the feeling that he'd do the same."

As Yui said those words, Haruna's overworked brain came to a complete halt.

"He....."

'He would definitely do something if he thought we were in trouble, I know that better than anyone. But would he really do something 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 seemed rash, such as the time he helped Greeny's family out and even unilaterally decided to tutor her for the midterms, each one of those had merit 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 same 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 argument, so Haruna continued in hopes of steering her away from this.

"How about we try to think of something else? Maybe with more planning, we can come 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 some point, his father will have to come 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 some 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 someone worried about his son, he'll see it from a different perspective and leave some room for negotiation. And since safety isn't an issue for me, 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 come up with something different.'

Yui turned around once again and started walking off, taking her phone out to look up something.

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 somehow comes down to it," Yui snapped in bewilderment.

"Oh, please. With how worked up you are, I feel like you might just start throwing punches the moment you get there."

"I mostly kick, which gives me better reach and power."

".....That's not the point! With me there, maybe we can talk to him calmly and work out a common ground!" Haruna chuckled. "Plus, two people means 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 me 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 message to her friend with the same request, and got a worried response immediately.

It seemed like Hina was hovering around her phone out of concern.

***

[~Hina-tan~]

SunnyStar: Hina-tan, I need to do something with Senpai

SunnyStar: please tell the teacher that I'm sick and won't be able to come.

CherryBlossom: What???? Are you okay???

SunnyStar: geez, I'm fine! I'll explain later. I just need to help her with something.

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 former was bulky and muscular, while the other seemed 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 meet 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 name 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 appointment?" 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 meet the CEO without an appointment."

Yui stepped up and showed them something on her phone.

"I'm from the Tachibana family, and I need to talk to him about something," 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 appointment, no meeting," 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 same time, 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 something and didn't mean 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 seemed to calm down slightly.

But the woman still shook her head in denial.

"I'm sorry, but the CEO is busy with meetings today. I can inform him later on, and if you leave contact information, we can set up an appointment 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 came, 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 shame they couldn't get an audience, at least this showed that there was a chance that they could meet him without having to break a few legs.

Of course, Yui didn't like this development and stood to the side grumbling the entire time.

"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 facepalmed.

"What with your obsession with attacking heads?? Let's do this, if we don't get a response before tomorrow afternoon, we'll come back right after schoo-"

Haruna didn't get a chance to finish before a loud shout behind them interrupted her.

"Takeda-san! Raiden-san! Welcome back!"

The two guards stood at attention and bowed simultaneously to the two men who had approached the building.

"Yeah, good work today. We need to meet the Boss for something," one of them replied, his thick, bushy beard swaying with his words.

"Of course, go right ahead."

The two seemingly important men nodded and moved to enter the building, but as if noticing something, the bald one turned his head towards them.

Haruna blinked in puzzlement because it seemed like the man was looking right at her.

The bald guy faltered, and he quickly grabbed the other's shoulder and whispered something 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 men 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 meters 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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