Haruka blinked.
The very first thing he thought to do was to sniff his arm.
...Alright, he was in the clear.
He calmly looked around the new space he was in.
The walls had a bright blue hue, directly contrasting the lemon yellow ceiling and the floor of pure white tiles. The space was very large, and it reminded Haruka of a child's room, except the bed he was currently sitting in was big enough for about ten children lined up.
There was a large window behind a desk, the white linen curtains the kind of white to be absolutely devoid of any dust. When looking out of the window, the large expanse of fields and gates could be seen, with what looked like soldiers standing stiff guarding them.
Warm, yellow light from the morning sun directly illuminated the large room, making for an atmosphere of peace.
However, this atmosphere was immediately destroyed because for one, Haruka knew that he was in no way meant to be here, and that there was a glaringly obvious portrait of some strange man staring right back at him from his bed.
...Now that he could properly look around the strange room, portraits of the same man seemed to be hanging on the bright blue walls that when looked at long enough caused pain to the eyes.
...
Was the owner of this room a psychopath? A stalker? What the fuck?
Haruka's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Sir- S-Sir V-Valentine, i-it's time to wake up." a timid voice sounded from the other side of the door.
Sir Valentine?
Was that meant to be him?
Leige stared at the door and thought for a moment before slowly bringing is hands up to his face.
The small cuts, scars and scabs from working that usually littered on his hands were gone, and in their stead were two, perfectly smooth and soft hands, delicate and thin.
He was most likely Sir Valentine.
Well, at least he wasn't dead.
He shrugged to himself, his thinking being along the lines of, 'I just go with the flow '.
In order to confirm his thoughts and to give him a little time to adjust to whatever this was, he walked to a room he perceived to be the bathroom, since the door had already been left ajar.
Luckily, a large mirror was stuck to the wall of what correctly appeared to be the bathroom, and Haruka let out a noticeable exhale.
Yeah, this wasn't him in the slightest.
Tousled by laying in bed, the pale pink hair looked as though it was defying gravity. Loose curls made the hair look like a bird's nest, and the first thing Haruka did was to smooth it down with his hands.
His new hands.
Studying the rest of his appearance in the mirror, he sighed.
He had only seen someone of this quality in video games or on posters on the train to work.
A slim face, slender nose, wide eyes that could hold traces of innocence in them if Haruka wasn't feeling like a dead fish, this face was ultimately the prime of beauty in Haruka's world, Earth.
He knew he had been reincarnated. And he also knew what kind of plot this was, or he could at least guess.
he didn't have a lazy assistant for nothing, in fact, most of his knowledge of the outside world was through the talkative little girl who had an internship at his work, and she had been most passionate about a branch of games called 'otome games'.
These 'otome games' were harem games essentially, with multiple people in love with the main character.
He couldn't tell anyone how many times his assistant had been slacking off playing these 'otome games' or reading transmigration stories.
While they had been eating lunch, she had been talking to him about particular transmigration stories where the main character got reincarnated as the villain, or hero or some cannon fodder, and they would somehow become the one everyone loved.
Previously, he had not believed in such transmigration or reincarnation stories his assistant constantly spewed on about, but he was having second thoughts.
No matter how you looked at it, it was blaringly obvious that the person Haruka was in was some character in a game.
The extravagant but also very uncomfortable bedroom, the endless fields and soldiers outside the window, the perfect facial proportions..
He seemed to have become a character in a game.
The problem was, as a person who had no time to play games, he had no idea who this was.
"S-Sir V-V-Valentine?" the voice sounded again, and this time Haruka went to open it.
The girl immediately shrieked as she saw him.
"S-S-Sir V-Valentine, I did not m-mean to interrupt you b-b-but it is time for s-school!" scanning her appearance, Haruka found that she was in a maid outfit.
...
"It's fine." Haruka was generally a very placid person, and this seemed apparent even with this new voice.
The maid stood, frozen with what seemed to be fear or shock as she continued to stare at him, so he made the first move by walking out of his room, although he had no idea where he was going.
Luckily, the maid quickly adapted to follow him, although he immediately slowed his footsteps so he would be the one following her.
With this sudden change in power dynamic as she was now leading, the maid squeaked and she did not dare to take a look back at him.
As they were walking, Haruka could not help but feel like he was forgetting something.
What had his assistant been talking about to him minutes before he died?
I've been playing this new game, called xxxxxxxxxx! It's actually got a bl game option, and how could I resist?! It's the option to play as the villain, Leige Valentine! But the main plot is the generic stuff...
...For some reason, he couldn't remember the name.
...Doki Doki... Heartbeat? Doki? Heartbeat? Molar fun? Roller fun? Star fun? Rollercoaster?
No, something wasn't right there.
Well anyway, what was important was the last bit of information she had given him. Leige Valentine, the villain.
"Say my full name." he suddenly spoke, causing the maid to once again freeze up.
"S-S-S-Sorry?"
"Say my full name please." he repeated patiently.
"S-Sir L-Leige Valentine?" ...yeah this was a game, he didn't even have a middle name. Maybe the developers couldn't be bothered.
Well, at least he knew his identity now.
A villain. In a game.
...What had his life come to?
After months of endless teaching from his assistant, he was well aware what an 'otome game' meant.
And that included knowing what the 'generic stuff' was.
Most likely, there was a heroine, who was dirt poor but had some sort of rare power, most likely to do with light, who fell in love with the male lead, either her classmate, her senior, her teacher, or something like a prince. After she fell in love, the villain, who was most likely infatuated with the prince and had no powers, would do everything in their power to stop her, eventually ending up dead or tortured in a basement.
"Ah, Leige!" he had been walking for long enough with the maid that he had reached the dining room, or hall.
Two grand doors had been opened to reveal two people sitting at the large table, big enough for at least twenty.
The man who had called out to him was Leige's father, because he looked old. The man sitting next to Leige's father did not even look up when Leige's name was called, instead preferring to stare into the distance.
This man was probably only a few years older than Leige, and was therefore most likely to be his brother.
"Good morning." Haruka was often described by his colleagues at work as water, simply adapting everywhere and going wherever the river of live took him.
Ultimately, although Haruka was very serious when it came to work, he was lazy at all other aspects of life, which was why he always chose to adapt than fight changes.
This was why he decided to adapt to the role of being Leige, instead of killing himself there and then, although he had been considering it.
As he greeted his father and sat down, Leige actively attempted to recall what his assistant had told him about the game.
Basically, I had had had to play the villain option, because the generic route was so boring! I could tell what the characters where going to say before they even said their lines!! Playing as Leige was really fun though, it made everything worth it! You know, I almost wanted to date his brother George because he's so sweet, but that's incest. Actually, I felt the most sorry for George if anything, his brother was doted on and spoiled after their mom died and George was left to grow up while his father doted on his brother, who was literally useless in everything! And the his brother always treated him really badly, but all George wanted was an apology! Do you know how much I cried over that!!!!!
He remembered this moment vividly, although he wasn't sure why he could recall what his assistant had told him in a random moment where he had only been passively listening.
He narrowed his eyes, coincidentally looking up to see George glaring at him.
He immediately settled down to finish his food.
As someone who liked to eat, Leige contently filled up his belly as he temporarily removed himself from his problems.
"Thank you for the food." he put down his chopsticks when he was finished, only to find his brother and his father looking at him, clearly astonished.
"L-Leige, are you feeling a bit ill today? Do you want to go rest in your room?" his father queried, hesitantly reaching out to feel his son's forehead.
Unexpectedly, Leige didn't bat away, only staying calmly in his seat. One could even say he slightly leaned into the touch.
His father shot his hand away like lightning, immediately turning to George, something he did when he had no idea what was going on.
However, George was also clueless, wondering why his usually snotty, feisty brother was so placid. Not to mention he hadn't gelled his hair or talked about Prince Victor at all.
Wait, he hadn't even talked except for the 'Good morning' and the 'Thank you for the food'!
As Leige watched the two men grow increasingly astonished, Leige shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
He was bad at acting, finding it troublesome and tiring, and there was a reason why he had chosen to go into the scientific field, so he had been hoping they would adjust to his new temperament as soon as possible.
Of course, this reaction had to be expected.
He was wondering what to do to make it look like he hadn't become a whole new person when Leige's father suddenly adopted an understanding smile.
"It's ok that you did not get... ahem, favourable results on the report card that came in yesterday, but we can always improve on that! It's nothing to be upset over!" Leige's father smiled dotingly.
Ah, a perfect excuse.
Leige simply nodded, leaving his father to sigh in relief.
His little Leige was not sick, he was just upset... Although admittedly, usually when he was upset it had nothing to do about reports cards, and instead of becoming more placid, he usually became more fiery.
...Well, small details, his father thought.
"Well then, George drive your brother to school. Leige, don't be too upset!" now that the matter was sorted, his father smiled at Leige, as George simply stood up with no intention to talk.
Leige just nodded again.
...Wait a minute.
He had to go to school?!
Again?!
He felt like punching something.
...Well, the feeling was fleeting as he knew himself how weak he was, and that he would most likely just injure his own wrist considering this weak, twiggy figure was much like himself in his life.
But school?!
He didn't sign up for this!!