For the next three days, everything was quite unproductive. Rhys focus wasn't to raise his affection, just yet, and no system quests were forcing him to do anything at the moment.
Although he felt it to be a little sketchy, he took advantage of it to try and level up his skills, the best he could, thanks to Kane.
Waterworks was now level three, eavesdropper at level one, penmanship at level five, why me at level three, and dodged a billet at level four.
Although he was satisfied, Kane still complained. "You could of done so much better! You had three whole days where you spent hours alone, feigning being sick, and yet you couldn't evolve any skills?! You even refused to work on penmanship after level five."
The complaining was nonstop, it felt like, but Rhys continued to ignore it. Even if he didn't level his skills enough, it was a later him problem, he thought.
It was finally Friday, and the day to enact his plan to lure Serenity to the aquarium, still unaware of Kane's little secret. Finishing his shower he looked in the mirror and took a deep breath.
"I'm only participating in this dumb system to go back to my own body, to get my life back, I can't fail." He gave himself a small pep talk, back to his usual grouchy self.
As he made breakfast, he followed his routine, but it wasn't cutting it anymore. Everyone was used to this normal, it was no longer an offensive tactic, but an everyday occurrence.
Xavier knew Rhys would cuddle him awake, and gently play with his hair each morning, it was no longer worth raising affection.
Seth knew Rhys would give him small hugs or hold hands with him, it was no longer a noteworthy occurrence to make him blush.
Erin knew Rhys would whisper in his ear, or cling onto him lightly, it was expected, all the things Rhys once considered hard to do too, became normal.
It hadn't even been a full two weeks, but it felt weird to Rhys. He had experienced so much, and even did things so out of his comfort zone, and yet it all felt normal now. It nearly felt like his acting was natural.
"So you finally admit you're okay with touching men, then host?" Kane asked, snickering a little after reading his thoughts.
"No!" The one thing that hadn't changed was Rhys adamantly denying that he was used to it, it was merely an act because the system forced him to do it.
As they ate they conversed, and then washed their plates and get ready for school. A mundane routine they followed, it would of been nice if that was all there was to it, Rhys thought.
He had decided not to let himself get too attached awhile back, and stuck to his decision. No matter what he did, how intimate he would have to get, none of it matters as he would leave them one day, he swore. It was only for the system.
As the drove to school and split off, the day went as normal, Rhys smiled and greeted everyone, talked about their day, and finally, he got a system mission by his third class.
He never thought he'd be happy to see a system mission, but he genuinely was. His mundane life was truly peaceful, but it would drive him crazy sooner rather than later. It left him time to think, something he didn't actually want, it seems.
As the "OPTIONAL SYSTEM MISSION" rang, Kane could hear the excitement in Rhys' head. It was just so hard to pinpoint Rhys, he sighed.
"Seth Hyde and Erin Keller are both at thirty-nine, both targets selected. Give the targets with the lowest affection a present, that they would enjoy. Rewards upon completion, no punishment." The screen read.
"So this is really just a random mission then, right?" Rhys asked, noting how it read the lowest affection.
"Well you'll probably raise by their affection points, this way. But the main point is to find a way to get close enough to know what they want!" Kane explained.
Rhys nodded, but he quickly found a way to solve the system mission assigned to him, it wasn't a challenge.
"We're going to the aquarium, so aren't the matching items already gifts? I know that Erin likes sweets, and Seth prefers small knickknacks. Is it that difficult?" Rhys asked Kane, slightly skeptical.
It was Kane's turn to think, before replying. "I guess that works, but aren't you being lazy?" He asked.
"I'm not being lazy, I'm just combining my missions to save myself the trouble." The two bantered, something Rhys had secretly come to enjoy.
He hated Kane and the system, but he could lightly admit Kane makes it all more fun. It was much better than going through all of this alone, at least.
Maybe he wouldn't of minded if he were alone from the start, but now he couldn't imagine Kane not being by his side. He'd not only be lost and confused, but he'd probably still be unable to level up his skills, or bother to try any attribute other than handsomeness
With the two bickering, class soon ended and lunch began. He gave a goodbye smile to Ariana and his classmates, before heading out to the car. All he needed to do was get Xavier talking about the aquarium trip until class began, which wouldn't be an issue at all.
As soon as they all finished shopping and started eating in the car, Rhys casually brought it up. "I'm excited for tomorrow, just one more class before we're free." He smiled.
Seth chimed in, "I really want to watch one of those shows, too." Meanwhile Erin nodded along showing he listened.
Xavier now took full control of the conversation as Rhys had hoped, going on and on about the pretty animals and how much fun it would be, all the way back to school.
Even when they broke off, Xavier didn't even say bye but kept telling Rhys about the aquarium, along with how much he'd love it.
As they entered the classroom, eyes as always were on the two handsome guys, where Rhys purposely spoke up a bit, now that Serenity sat further behind them in class due to the incident.
"We should all get matching items, too! Aquariums have gift shops, right? It would be so cute to tell everyone that we're even closer than best friends." Rhys said, hinting slightly towards the end.
Xavier caught on easily, and spoke equally as loud. "Of course they do, and I want to show off to everyone that Reece's belongs to me, so I can't wait!" He cheered on and on.
Rhys normally would of blush, hearing Xavier say that last part, but he had gotten used to these comments, subtle flirting that couldn't exactly be called flirting. It was nothing compared to hand holding and kissing, at least.
Serenity heard this, but said nothing much to Rhys dismay, then again, it was an easy world, she'd be easy to separate from the targets, right? All he could do was hope she'd be there after hearing their laughter.
Fourth period went off without a hitch, when another "OPTIONAL SYSTEM MISSION" voice rang.
"Have a hangout session in the living room tonight with the targets, and fall asleep cuddling at least one of them. Rewards upon completion, no punishment." It read.
"I regret literally every single time I said I miss having a mission. I quit." Rhys hissed, not wanting to do it.
"I thought you were used to it, though?" Kane snickered, knowing Rhys. He'd be completely fine with it once he does some new bit of intimacy, but he couldn't handle it in the moment. All he did was talk big.
"It's different! How am I supposed to cuddle someone to sleep? That's multiple hours! More than a chaste kiss!" He cried out in his head.
Kane patted him on the head despite laughing hard enough to cry, this was how things should be.
"You got this, host!" Kane said, the two beginning to go back and forth about whether or not Rhys would actually do it, and of course, Rhys lost again.
During the drive home, Rhys took control of the conversation. "We should watch a movie tonight, or play some games. It's been awhile, right?"
"Oh? So you're a gaming nerd now?" Erin teased, snickering at him a little. Just a week ago, he was an idiot who didn't know about games, but now he was getting the hang of it.
"I'm always down for it!!" Xavier cheered, a bright smile on his face, excitedly asking what to play.
"I don't mind, but what kind of movie?" Seth said, a soft smile on his face as he tried to quiet Xavier down.
"I don't think Erin could handle horror, so why not something like a documentary?" Rhys asked, teasing Erin a little.
"Your taste is like an old man's." Erin and Xavier said at the same time, hearing the word documentary.
"I'm not sure, a nature documentary sounds kind of nice." Seth defended, not wanted to watch horror, either.
"Then let's settle it with Rock Paper Scissors! If we win we're going to watch an action movie, Rin will beat you!" Xavier huffed.
Seth apologised to Erin as he held his hand out, it was just a Xavier thing. Erin shook his head, he understood, Xavier was beyond hope at times, and wouldn't take no as an answer.
The two played, best out of five. First round Seth, the second to Erin, third to Erin, and fourth to Seth, it was neck in neck, not that Rhys could see, it was just Xavier's enthusiastic shouting.
A draw, a second draw, and finally a pair of scissors, and paper. Seth had won, and let out a sigh of relief as Xavier cried out a loud no!
"It's fair and square, stop crying already." Erin huffed, annoyed by Xavier and slightly peeved at himself.
Seth and Rhys laughed, Rhys congratulating Seth on winning, and soon enough, they pulled up to the house.
The boys agreed to watch the movie at set up at five, eat at six, and hang out together after they finished. For now, they'll just work on their homework and take showers.
"I'll just make fish." Rhys thought as he went upstairs to take a quick shower, practicing his waterworks skill.
"You really just love fish, don't you? Eating it the day before going to an aquarium." Kane said, handing him the soap.
"Food is food, it's been over a week since we've eaten fish, it's for the omegas. Although I can't die, it'd be better for them to not get a heart disease." Rhys began his lecture, causing Kane to roll his eyes.
"This is the one thing you're actually serious about." Kane sighed to himself and floated away, deciding to go sleep on Rhys' bed while he finishes and does his homework.
Time soon came to five, and and Rhys wiped his tears away, packing his notes, and made his way downstairs, rubbing his hand gently.
"This skill is practically tell me to publish a book with the sheer amount of pages it wants me to write." Rhys said to Kane, while he worked on hot fingers.
He understood penmanship asking for a hundred pages, maybe a hundred and fifty to max it out, but hot fingers to get to level two wants him to write two hundred and fifty pages, with slopping writing? It's crazy!
As he complained to Kane, he put on a smile and made his way to the kitchen, greeting the targets who were setting up the living room. Poor Erin, ever since Rhys started touching him slightly Xavier kept trying to jump on him. It would be more likely that Xavier cuddled him while he slept, rather than it being vice versa.
Putting the fish in the oven, he washed his hands and helped them set up as well, they were just nearly done. "Do you want me to close the curtains?" He asked.
Seth said a small please, as Rhys made his way around the room, closing each curtain and turn off the lights, the only source of light coming from the kitchen and dining room.
As he walked to the large mess of blankets and pillows, he watched Erin stumble and nearly trip, trying to catch him, he too tripped.
"Ow." Rhys hissed as he landed on top of Erin, crushing him. It probably wasn't the best idea to close the curtains with a safety hazard in the living room.
"Dog pile!" Xavier said, jumping on top of the two, dragging Seth with him by the hand. Rhys could feel his body being crushed, as Seth's muscular one completed the stack.
"I thought strength would let me catch Erin, and make his heart race. I didn't want to make his heart race due to the fear of being crushed to death." Rhys thought to Kane, who only laughed at him.
"Good going, host. Let's just hope he's alive." Kane said as he watched Seth apologised to both Erin and Rhys, as the two boys looked as if someone punched the lights out of them.
"What does happen if the targets die, actually?" Rhys asked, causing Kane to go into his rants again.
"They could die, really, but you'd lose a memory. You should only try to kill the corrupted female lead or a background character, it's really encourage if it's the corrupted female lead, but don't hurt the innocent handsome men!" Kane began, going on and on and on.
"Okay please stop I regret asking." Rhys said in his head, wiping the dirt off his clothes and apologising to Erin.
"Sorry, I thought I could catch you, that's my bad." Rhys gave a smile using his skill, hoping it would charm him.
Luckily, it did as Erin grumbled a be careful, his affection raising by a singular one point, putting him at forty.
"Huh?" Rhys questioned, as Kane also shrugged. What a weird way to gain affection, it's the thought that counts anyways, right? Kane tried to explain.
"Right." Rhys retorted in his head, rolling his eyes when he turned around to go to the kitchen, waiting for the oven to beep before plating the food.
"Just a few hours and I'll be cuddling someone to sleep, I seriously hate this system." Rhys muttered to himself, carrying the plates to the table, hoping dinner would never end. He regretted ever saying he was used to his peaceful life, because it was anything but peaceful.