Yandere Dating System

--Charisma increased by .5--

"Fuck!" Aiden swore as he was caught by surprise by yet another notification. He’d only washed up and shaved all the disgustingly thick arm, armpit, and leg hair from the guy’s body like he’d done with his neckbeard earlier, but he didn’t think that’d do anything. He accidentally made a knick in his armpit due to that. 

It hurt, but only enough to be annoying and just that was enough to set him off right now.

He did wonder about all the scars he saw on the boy’s back, though. He’d discovered them after glimpsing one from a mirror. He didn’t dare to wonder how he’d gotten them. But they weren’t very pretty.. A whip, maybe….some burn marks.

He moved his thoughts away from that. In the end they didn’t matter. He had scars in his last life too. Women loved them.

"Again with this fucking shit. Seriously where's the Silent button? Insufferable System.” Aiden cursed the intangible, indifferent existence known only as “the System”.

Each notification was accompanied by the loudest, most annoying bing he'd ever heard. He really wanted to fix that if he could. Aiden idly looked at the stat window.

Charisma: 6.5 --Below Average--Congratulations. You can now be considered a human being, if barely.

It looks like the standards for the stats are really different. He thought anything above a five would be above average. Guess not. 

 

At one point the Nonexistent became Abysmal. It was only after the stat became a 6 that it turned into Below Average, if he remembers correctly. The .5 addition just now did nothing to change the description. 

 

 At the time he didn’t think about it much but he wondered how many points it’d be before he’s Average? And how he’d be rated after he sheds all the fat. The kid did have good bone structure under it all, he’d felt. 

 

 That aside...Christ, but these descriptions are just ridiculous.

 

 What sort of bitchy system did that Cade asshole give him? Not that Aiden felt personally offended by it since it wasn’t really his body, but constantly being reminded about how shit his luck was to find himself stuck in this one was really getting on his nerves. How can people let themselves go so far?

 

He resolved to fixed this fatty bastard’s god-awful appearance and weight problem as soon as possible. He didn’t have anything against heavy-set people, but hell. This? This just isn’t healthy. And Aiden liked being healthy. You could run faster, longer. Could fuck faster, longer. 

 

Not to mention it helped a lot in a fight, being fit. Especially after your lover’s husband gets home earlier than expected. 

 

Hm, He considered, looking into the mirror, With a face as layered as this that situation won’t happen anytime soon, though. Damn shame, that. 

 

Aiden wouldn’t say he was a sex addict, but he wouldn’t say it wasn’t his favorite pass time either.  Or was, once. Like he said, he’d started keeping women to a minimum recently. 

 

But with all this bullshit going on?...He needed something to get his mind off things, and alcohol and women seemed a damn good distraction. He knew it was him falling back into bad habits. Honestly though? He’s not sure he cared anymore. He hardly has a reason to stop now. 

 

Sighing to himself, he shook off the negative thoughts and applied a piece of paper to the cut. 

 

He looked at the face in the mirror once more. Deeper this time. Harder

 

A stranger. A boy. 

 

He wanted to laugh. He wasn’t even a man anymore, but a kid. What’s more, a kid he knew nothing about. Did he have any family? Someone who cared about him? Why was he here by himself, who was looking after him, if anyone at all? Did he go to school? Did he have friends?

 

He didn’t even know if the kid had a criminal record. There are just so many things that could get in the way of Aiden’s new life here. And that’s another thing: Where is here? What’s the culture like? The people? Is the job market good, or is it going to be impossible to find employment? What kind of qualifications did this kid even have? He’s so young maybe he didn’t have any at all.

 

So many questions, and no answers in sight. Fucking hell, this is frustrating.

 

Aiden was actually a bit worried about how he’d make it here if the boy had any unexpected complications. Cade could’ve at least told him a few things before he left. Maybe give him a few tips, a bit of guidance. This was his side’s negligence, their fuckup, so they had a responsibility to help set it right! Jesus. 

 

Well, as long as the boy didn’t have any serious health problems or criminal records he didn’t know about, Aiden would be fine. He wasn’t going be stupid about this though. There was no way he could pretend to be this Yuuji guy. So he won’t. He’ll just pretend he lost his memories. Simple, right? People probably won’t question any inconsistencies then. He even had a decent plan for it.

 

He noticed that girl was still outside too and getting impatient. She didn’t seem like she’d leave anytime soon. It was a good chance, so he finished his shower and waited. And waited. Then waited some more. 

 

***

 

Rumi tapped her foot impatiently while browsing the web, glancing back a few times to glare at the closed door behind her as she leaned against the rail. 

 

Truth be told, she had a secret. For the last several months it was actually supposed to be her job to clean up the yard and do the chores around the apartments. And she’d done that for a long time. But once Yuuji showed up, that changed. Basically because she made him do her work instead. Not that he knew it. 

 

Originally he was to stay here rent-free and be provided with enough money a week for ingredients to cook with. 

 

Rumi, upon seeing his slovenly appearance, couldn’t stand that. Who was this guy? Why did mother want to give him such a good deal? She was curious. Really curious. 

 

It drove her crazy. She’d once been told, “You don’t have anything else to do, why not keep him company?” As if the guy wasn’t sketchy as hell and she wanted them to make friends. Like, what? Why? It was too suspicious and so Rumi even thought that maybe this person was...possibly...a long lost brother…

 

Maybe her mother had an affair once, a bit before she had Rumi. Her parents were engaged by Rumi’s grandparents when they were still in high school and married right after they entered college. They didn’t always get along back then either, so maybe…

 

Ugh, just the thought made her lip curl in disgust. No, no, she refused to entertain such a ludicrous idea any long.  In any case, she didn’t like this Yuuji slob.

"Those who don’t work don’t eat!” She barked the day they met.  And told him her mother wanted him to be their groundskeeper. 

In return, she secretly gave him a full month’s worth of food supply money instead of delivering it weekly as her mother ordered her and called it his payment. It was around 1ooo dollars each month and he must’ve spent it all on food because he was fat when they first met, and gloomy, but not quite so obese and creepy. 

 

Well, whatever. As long as he did his share of the work she didn’t care how big he got. 

 

Barring that previous and distasteful idea, Rumi didn’t understand why this fatso was getting such a good deal. But then again her mother always used to bring home stray animals and she supposed the fatty was her next charity case. Rumi didn’t want to seriously consider that other possibility.

 

Rumi would have been gone by now but he was acting a bit off lately. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it though. She just wanted to make sure he got out there and did as he was told, otherwise she’d be in trouble with her mom.

 

But finally, after twenty minutes passed in the hot sun, she couldn’t take it anymore.

 

“Are you done yet?! Hurry up!” She shouted, kicking the door several times. 

 

“S-Sorry, I’ll be right th--!” It happened just then. She heard it. A loud crash and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. 

 

Rumi froze. “...Fatty?” She called. Once. Twice. Three times. “Hey, are you alright?” She might not like him, but she wasn’t heartless. Worry grew. “I’m coming in...this better not be some kind of trick! I know Kung-Fu!” She lied bravely and fumbled for the master keycard. A click and she was in. The door opened to a short bright hallway that led towards the kitchen, bathroom and living room, the light entering in from a glass sliding door at the other end. 

 

And there, right in the middle of the hallway, was a large, prone figure. Silent and dead still.

 

She screamed.

 

***

 

What was one thing that you could say separated Aiden from most other people? His winning smile? His charming personality? No. It was his willingness to dive headfirst into a wall hard enough to make him pass out just to make a faked accident look more realistic. Aiden was a man who when he truly decided to do something, did it thoroughly. 

 

That’s why for the second time in the week, he woke up with one massive headache feeling like someone who just had his dome kicked in. He was blinded by an intense white light that gradually faded. 

 

An I.V. was attached to his arm. Having had a lot of experience in hospitals for exactly these kinds of injuries--from various bar fights to unlucky sports accidents and other more unsavory encounters--he knew better than to try and sit up. He simply collected himself and scanned the room. 

 

The first thing to jump up at him was the form of a strange woman dozing off on a chair just a few feet away. 

 

He didn’t know what alerted the woman, but whatever it was caused her to wake up. To describe her? ...Her hair was dark. A deep, glossy auburn not unlike that of a pomegranate’s seeds. A rich, regal, shade of red. 

 

And her eyes! She had such splendid light in them. A complex and vibrant kind of light. Like a verdant forest set ablaze by the sun and shining a most beautiful green. All set in a fair face like an oval. Like a teardrop. Enhanced by a small black dot under her eye that served merely to add to her beauty, not at all detracting from it. 

 

She rubbed at her eyes and yawned, covering her mouth with the back of a hand. A small hand, a graceful hand. And then, once she realized he was awake, she smiled.

 

It was perhaps the most stunning he’d ever seen. 

 

He was a little shocked. This woman was a beauty the likes of which he’d rarely seen. And she looked very faintly familiar. He recalled that Rumi girl from earlier and felt that they had similar colorings. But this woman was like a more potent form of Rumi. A more mature, ripe, and sexier version. 

 

He was instantly attracted to her. What man wouldn’t be?

 

If she looks like Rumi, and she’s here...she probably knows me? Well, Yuuji. Maybe the girl’s mother. Hell, sister. 

 

“You--” The woman stopped. Her lips pursed. “Yuuji.” She finished. Even her voice was pretty. Smooth and clear like a skylark’s cry...or maybe like a siren’s song. “My goodness! Look at you.” She stood. 

 

He felt a hand on his cheek. ”Even healthier than the last time I saw you.” She laughed. Was she trying to be funny? It didn’t feel like a joke. The lady may have a weird definition of the word “healthy”, Aiden felt.

 

A moment later and her face fell.

 

“....You’re all beaten up again. Do you even know how worried I was? You have to be more careful. I knew I should have made you stay with me!. That stubborn old man.” A sigh. He had no idea what old man she was talking about. “Well. Thank heavens I at least let Rumi look after you every now and then.” She gripped his hand, patting it a few times before letting her own rest on top. “ You rest up, I’ll let the doctor know that you’re awake and then we can see about getting you out of this pla--”

 

“Um…” Aiden shied away from her touch. “Excuse me, Miss, but...do I...know you?”

 

Time to cast Yuuji away. 

 

***

 

“What do you mean, he has amnesia?” 

 

“I don’t know!”  Hasegawa Naoko’s voice trembled. “The doctors don’t either! He doesn’t remember anything! Not his name, not his family, not even me! ” By the end she was struggling to breathe. 

 

“Hm. Nothing….you say.” On the other end of the line Senior Tang, Tang Tianhen, was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “No, but is that such a bad thing?” He wondered aloud.

 

“What are you talking about? Of course, it’s bad!” Naoko moaned. “He’s already lost so much, but now he doesn’t even remember who he is? How sad is that? How heartbreaking? After everything he’s gone through, now something like this happens. It’s just...too much.” 

 

Senior Tang shook his head, then realized no one was there to see it and felt a touch foolish. “That may be for the best. It’ll be easier for him to adapt to his new identity if he doesn’t remember who he is.  And like you said, he’s gone through a lot. After what those people did to him...hmph!” Just thinking about it made his blood boil. His tone turned cold. “It’s best if such horrible memories are forgotten, isn’t it? I should hope he never remembers!“ He spat out.

 

No one should have to go through what he did, especially not at the age he was or by the people who were supposed to keep him safe.

 

Naoko turned silent for a moment. “Maybe.” She sounded unsure and vulnerable.

 

Senior Tang did feel sorry for the woman. They had a peculiar relationship formed through great pain and subsequent care. Given how she’d found him back then and everything she’d done to help him recover after, well, it’s no surprise that the boy came to grow as fond of her as he did. But she became surprisingly attached too. 

 

They have a strange bond. She would spoil him rotten and he’d become as dependent on her as a hurt puppy. To have him forget about her like this would indeed be hard to bear.

 

Senior Tang had to nearly tear them away from each other, they were so close. He’d only sent him to her because he needed to go out and experience the world and he had little other options at the time. She may have insisted the boy live with her personally, even, if it weren’t for the fact that Senior Tang said living on his own was a part of his road to recovering from his traumas and becoming self-sufficient. 

 

This was the way of the Tachibanas of old. Through adversity and suffering, what didn’t kill them forged men and women of powerful resolve. They weren’t like normal people. Only by slowly recovering on their own would they eventually bloom. No amount of therapy or care would fix a Tachibana. They had to do it themselves. 

 

He made sure Naoko understood that. 

 

But this was unexpected….he lost his memories? 

 

This could greatly improve his rate of recovery, He thought.

 

The drugs had stilted his growth, but it was the trauma that continued to weigh him down. Once he stabilized, even if his memories came back he’d be able to endure. It was a bit of a cheat, but whatever worked in his favor was by no means a bad thing. He’d been too young and his parents had left the world too early to teach him. Even for a Tachibana, if their mind wasn’t solid enough they’d never be able to break their limits and walk past the fires. It was Senior Tang’s greatest worry, that the psychological damage had happened at such a young age that he wouldn’t have the strength to move on no matter how much time he was given. 

 

But it was truly the only way he could proceed. 

 

“...They’re were asking about the scars. The doctors.” 

 

Senior Tang barely heard her, he was so deep in thought. He replied absently. “They won’t prod you too much. You’re his legal guardian. Not his parents. Just give them a sad look and they’ll take the hint. What hospital are you in?”

 

“Mavis General.”

 

“Alright. I’ll make sure his information doesn’t leak. Go ahead and take him home.” He then added. “Remind him who he is….understand?”

“Yes, Senior.”  A pregnant pause. “Senior…”

 

“What?”

“Um, no. Nothing.” She responded quickly.

But inwardly she hid a sly smile.

 

He said to take him home but he didn’t exactly specify whose, now did he?

 

 She won’t let her Yuuji go a second time. Never again.