When Rhys finally calmed himself down, he packed up his bag and made his way downstairs, where everyone else had already been waiting for him.
"Sorry, were you guys waiting for me? Let's get going." Rhys said with a smile, making his way to the door.
As the boys followed behind, they shared simple conversation, and had a relatively peaceful ride, until they got their morning coffees.
As Rhys handed everyone their coffees, he let his hand purposefully linger and gently caress Seth's and Xavier's hands, this time managing to control his blush, so they wouldn't think he was doing it on purpose.
"You've got to be a little less subtle than that. You can't even use the same trick on Erin, he always takes it from beneath your hand." Kane said as the boys took their coffee.
"Do you think he'd be comfortable enough to hold my hand after I reached fifty affection points?" Rhys asked Kane in his head, continuing on their way to school.
"Why would I know that?" Kane scoffed. If Rhys wanted to know, then he would have to raise the affection points himself.
Rolling his eyes, Rhys continued to converse with the targets, and make their way to school, making plans for upcoming weeks.
"Since this weekend we're going to see Reece's parents, how about next weekend we head out again? Maybe visit an aquarium." Xavier suggested out of the blue.
Before Erin could protest, Rhys gave a smile and agreed. "That sounds like a wonderful idea! I haven't been to one in forever."
It was true, he hadn't been to one in years, but that was for a reason, simply because he didn't care about seeing sea animals.
"I hope I finish this world before next week comes." Rhys thought to himself, while Kane perked up and suggested murder once more.
"For the last time I'm not murdering her! What on earth is your fixation with murder?" Rhys hissed out.
"You might face a life and death situation in a future world, you know? Depending on the novel there's a high chance you'll be an assassin or killer or something, I'm just preparing you." Kane said, with a pout.
"It's not like I'll die even if I'm stabbed repeatedly, so can't I just wait for help?" Rhys asked, although he was a temperamental person, he still had his morals.
"You still feel pain, host." Kane said with his teeth gritted, just how many times had he explain this one thing by now.
"Yeah, right, there's probably a skill or attribute to change that." Rhys brushed it off, causing Kane to sigh.
Although Rhys was right about the skill part, just how did he even plan to obtain it? He really just had to get stuck with a terrible host.
Although there were hundreds of hosts with different personalities, he had never met someone so confusing.
"We're here." Rhys said as he parked his car, smiling at the targets. As they went their separate ways, Rhys made his rounds using his smiling skill at all the passerby's, and talking to his classmates.
It seemed like Rhys had gotten used to people crowding and conversing with him by now, to which both Rhys and Kane were thankful for.
Rhys simply because it didn't drain his energy as much to deal with them now that he expected it, and Kane since he didn't have to hear obscenities from Rhys' side.
The first class and second class went off without a hitch, until the third class came, and Ariana walked in, noticing Rhys.
Running over to him, she profusely apologised for what had happened before, once again.
"Don't worry about it, we've forgotten about it, we wouldn't let a stalker get to us." Rhys said with a smile, purposely calling Serenity a stalker while his classmates were around.
"Who knows, maybe they'd be able to stop her from coming near the targets if they see it happen." Rhys thought in his head, hoping the people around would do the hard work for him.
"You're really crafty, aren't you host?" Kane said, letting out a little yawn as he watched the people's reactions change to concern.
"I still can't believe Serenity would do that, she seemed so nice." Ariana said with a sad smile, probably still a little fond of the female lead.
Before Rhys could comfort her, he was bombarded by questions from his classmates about it, and he explained it without giving too much detail.
"A little thing happened during lunch, and it turned into a bit of a mess is all, I really hope no one else tries that hard to stalk us again, though." Rhys said, subtly throwing a hint for people to not get too close to him or the targets, or else they may come across as crazy.
This didn't seem to bother them as they nodded along, agreeing with Rhys as they continued to exchange conversation.
"It really was a good idea for you to invest in charisma." Kane said noticing the affect it had on the people around.
As class came and went, Rhys packed up and waved goodbye to everyone and made his way to the car, a groan escaping his lips.
"Well that was annoying, but I'm nearly done with the day." Rhys said to himself as motivation as he unlocked the car, Erin just arriving.
"Seems like you're here first today." He made small talk, seems like Rhys was at a high enough affection status to be acknowledged!
"I managed to get away quickly this time." Rhys said with a smile as he made his way over to Erin, no real strategy in mind.
"You don't have to entertain them you know, you could just tell them to get lost." Although he one hundred percent agreed with what Erin had said, he at least had to act nice.
"They're only being friendly, imagine if I suddenly told you to get lost when you wanted to speak to me." Rhys said, it's exactly what he wanted to do if it weren't for the fact Erin was a target.
Although it was brief, Erin did stiffen a little bit before relaxing. "Do you think I'd care about you? Dream on." Erin said, a cocky smile on his face.
Remember what had happened last night, Rhys figured if he phrased it right, it would be a chance to raise his affection.
"Is that why you didn't care about me crying? Or why you decided to keep it a secret? Because you don't care about me." Rhys used his skill crocodile tears while pouting at Erin, faking a few sniffles.
"Seriously stop doing this without warning me." Kane said slightly freaked from the change in personality Rhys just pulled.
"Oh shut up!" Rhys hissed back in his head as Erin looked at him slightly panicked, reaching for a pack of tissues in his pocket.
"Just use these, you dumbass. I don't care about the damn dog but you crying is ruining my ears, it's annoying." Erin sighed pushing up his glasses, looking to the side.
As Rhys wiped his tears, he internally congratulated himself as Erin's affection points went up by two, putting him at a twenty.
"I seriously can't tell if you're against this system or all for it, are you actually bipolar?" Kane asked as Rhys rolled his eyes, yelling back at him.
Just as Rhys finished drying his face, Xavier and Seth came to the car, ready to go. Although Rhys would of liked more alone time with Erin, this was good enough.
The four boys spent their lunch break leisurely pacing through the convenience store for different sandwiches and drinks they'd like, before eventually eating.
"I don't wanna go to next class. I'd rather just stay here and play games." Xavier whined, pulling out his switch from his bag.
"What the hell is the point of attending college if you don't want to attend the classes?" Erin retorted, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Although Erin is right, I think he means you should focus on your studies." Seth said to Xavier, wiping his hands on a napkin.
"Is no one going to question why he has his switch with him in his bag?" Rhys asked Kane, who only sighed.
"I'm pretty sure everyone has snuck a game to school before, maybe you're just weird." Kane said.
As Rhys was about to argue back, Xavier let out another groan. "Uggggh only Reece's understands me he's not mad! Friendship ended with all of you! Now Reece's is my best friend." Xavier said.
"Stop quoting memes." Seth let out a small sigh at his friend's behaviour. Ignoring him, Xavier clung to Rhys' arm, causing him to nearly drop his sandwich and spill it all over the car.
"Whoopsies." Xavier said as he stuck his tongue out at Rhys as an apology, who only smiled it off on the outside and cried on the inside.
As he took another bite, he zoned out of the conversation before asking Kane. "What's a meme, by the way?"
Kane cried as he hid himself in the cupholder, telling Rhys it was nothing he needed to know. "Good lord, you're a sad person, huh?" Kane muttered to himself.
After some time, they finished up and threw their trash away while they were parked by the convenience store, in order to help the car stay clean.
Saying goodbyes, they went their separate ways to their own classes. "I actually managed to finish my assignment, just barely!" Xavier said to Rhys while holding his hand.
"Really? That's a relief! Sorry I couldn't help you last night." He smiled, as they took their seats. As much as people wanted to talk to them, especially noticing how close they were, they felt as though they couldn't interrupt.
"They were all gone yesterday too, do you think somethings going on?" Hushed whispers filled the classroom, but the boys ignored them or played oblivious.
"I was hoping the rumours would of blown out of proportion by now." Rhys sighed in his head, things not going exactly as planned.
"Then do something about it yourself, host. Try tucking his hair behind his ear or something." Kane replied, sitting on Rhys' head.
"Since the professor still isn't here, want to go over our answers? Well it's not like it matters since it's already late anyways." Rhys asked, but Xavier happily obliged, taking out his paper.
Leaning over, Rhys' face was right against Xavier's shoulder and he had a small blush due to proximity. "It seems like we have a different set of answers for number three."
This seemed to set people off who watched, the way they were so close, and even the small blush on Rhys' face, perhaps they really were dating.
Adding fuel to the fire, Xavier looked up into Rhys' eyes and told him he'd fix it really quickly, giving a cheeky smile.
The two boys knew what they were doing, but both parties didn't think the other was doing it on purpose, it was just how they always acted. As for the rest of the class, they saw it as playful flirting.
With Xavier's affection raising by one, he was now at twenty-eight, which was good enough for Rhys to pull away. Hopefully now, there will be a few rumours that he could take advantage of.
"What if the other targets get angry at the rumours?" Kane asked, unsure if the plan would work or not.
"Why would they get mad? Erin calls us gay lovers each morning and Seth was the one who signed me up to kiss him each morning." Rhys replied, Kane nodding.
As class was underway, nothing exciting really happened until an obligatory system mission popped up, causing Rhys to cry in his head.
"Every single day with this system!" He yelled out in his head, tired of being forced to do what this system wants.
"Get used to it, you're a host." Kane replied lecturing Rhys a little bit before telling him to read the mission.
OBLIGATORY SYSTEM MISSION
"Pick up Seth Hyls from the gym after class, and get hit in the face by a basketball in his place. You will be rewarded upon completion, failure to complete the mission will result in one memory loss."
"What the hell is this?!" Rhys practically shrieked in his head, this time the system was flat out saying get hurt or loss your memory!
"It will hurt a lot less if you get hit in the face with a basketball." Kane replied to Rhys's question, deciding to go to sleep to ignore all his complaining.
"I really despise this system with every fibre of my being." Rhys said in his head just waiting for class to end. Does this mean he has to look out for stray basketballs and push Seth out of the way? What's with that!
As class ended, Rhys cried in his head as he told Xavier they should surprise Seth and pick him up at the gym.
Loving the idea, he took Rhys' hand and rushed out of class running, already knowing the direction to the gym due to attending orientation with Seth.
It took two minutes to finally get there, but when they entered, Xavier called out to Seth as Rhys caught his breath.
"Note to host, handsomeness does not mean you're physically fit." Kane said as Rhys seemed to be slightly dying there, wishing he had a cold glass of water.
"Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to running." Rhys cried in his head, before putting on a smile and turning to Seth.
"How are you? We wanted to surprise you a bit by picking you up! I bet you've worked hard today." Rhys said, straightening out his shirt.
As Seth's attention was on Rhys, a basketball strayed and went towards Seth's head. "Wait isn't this too obvious? This is defying physics!" Rhys said in his head, quickly grabbing Seth and switching positions with him.
Closing his eyes, he waited for the hit, the basketball hitting his side profile, his nose slightly smushed, as he fell off.
The man who through the basketball quickly raced over as Seth and Xavier panicked, blood dripping from his nose.
"I'm fine!" Rhys quickly said as he put a hand to his nose, Xavier quickly yelling that he's going to find and tell Erin, while Seth and the man were left to help him.
"I'll go get some tissues." The man said and ran off, as the world froze, a mission success, at least.
"This stings like hell." Rhys hissed out, as the voice spoke, "MISSION SUCCESS". Normally he'd be happy to complete a mission, but not at the cost of his face.
"There better not be a mark for Sunday." Rhys said, looking at the rewards on screen as Kane patted him on the back.
"Rewards upon completing taking a hit mission, two skills, two attribute points." The screen read, making Rhys a little happy.
Turning to the attribute screen, he decided to up his charisma, once more, for his personality. Considering Sunday was coming up and he'd probably have to socialise, he might be able to tell people to shut up politely with this.
"It's hard to believe I'm actually getting this attribute when I feel nothing different." Rhys muttered as he checked out his new skill.
"Skill unlocked, why me? level 0. This skill causes things thrown to hit the host's direction, even if they were going in the opposite direction. Using this skill repeatedly allows the host to level it up."
"Isn't this skill just telling me to get hit by stuff repeatedly to be able to get hit even better?!" Rhys hissed out annoyed again.
"Hey! It could be useful. Imagine someone was trying to kill a target, but you took the hit instead. You're immortal, after all." Kane said.
"Whatever." Rhys sighed, looking a the next skill hoping it was a better one, at least, to make up for the pain he went through.
"Skill unlocked, dodged a bullet level 0. This skill lets the host narrowly dodge something thrown at the host. Has a chance to still partially hit the host when used. Using this skill repeatedly allows the host to level it up."
"Aren't these a matching pair of skills then?" Rhys thought, as Kane nodded and told him to just level them up tonight, causing him to groan. He really didn't want his safe space to end, how annoying.