"Dirty?"
Why would she suddenly think about being dirty? A school day's sweat shouldn't have bothered her a lot. Dirty? What kind of dirty was she talking about? Dirty… bed dirty? Soon, Arata's eyes slowly flickered as he somewhat understood what Ruby meant.
Among all the girls of the game, only Momoka was obviously not a virgin. She was a mother of a little cute girl and a lady of the night. Thinking about the circumstances regarding Ruby's past, she could also be classified as a 'used good'.
'Maybe this was why Sayaka hinted me to choose Tohru's introduction over Ruby's Intro Encounter. I wouldn't understand until I trigger that scene.' Arata subconsciously frowned, thinking about ways to actually flick Sayaka's forehead. Maybe he should go meet Usagi and request for Sayaka to possess the poor fairy so he could deliver the hit.
He then closed his eyes before tilting his head and kissing the school queen while she wasn't looking. However, it wasn't unwelcomed—if anything, it was a desired response. With all the quasi-affection she had for Arata and his somewhat mutual regard for her, it was not enough to just press their lips together. It didn't take him long to invade her mouth with his tongue.
Another notification 'dinged' which Arata ignored. He only pulled back when they grew breathless. His eyes curled in delight upon seeing a rather flushed Ruby underneath him, panting for her breath. Her lipstick might have smudged a little, but it didn't make her faint ecstatic smile less intoxicating.
The player made his hand crawl up her side and fondle one of her breasts in a rather gentle touch. "Ruby-sempai, I wouldn't say I don't care because I do. You must feel so soiled every time you think of someone touching your body. How many nights did you even have nightmares?"
"I… I don't want you to… I'm not fit to serve you like this…" Ruby kept her faint smile as she cradled his face with her delicate hands. "This body… is dirty…"
"Yes, it is…"—Arata dipped his head, sliding it off of her hands and whispering to her ears—"but you see… I'm a god. I will cleanse you with my lips, and I will erase every bit of despair he had given you."
Her eyes widened as her mouth gaped for a second. She then chuckled and hummed as she closed her eyes. Her eyes that were awkwardly suspended from the table then climbed to his waist before her hands moved to his shoulders. She muttered words that remained indistinct to Arata's ears. If those were things the player was supposed to 'hear', he should be able to understand. The smile on Ruby's face solidified into one with a genuine satisfaction.
"A god, was it…?" She then muttered again.
"Oh, right, he kept on calling himself the god of the living."
Tohru's voice was soft, but it thundered across the hearts of the two inside the room. Arata lifted his head to see Tohru and another male student next to her… standing by the open door. The other male student was covering his… smile… with his hand in shock and disbelief. However, he didn't seem to be the scandalous type. Standing next to Tohru meant that they must have come there together. The man seemed to be too skinny to be part of the males' basketball team.
Ruby frowned in dissatisfaction as she gave up in the idea of scramming and making herself decent. She only glared at Alex by the door. "How long have you been watching?"
"We just opened the door and saw you making out. How long were you two on it though?" The she-jerk only laughed, sauntering inside the room like none of her friends were trying to go down right there and then. She even pulled a chair and twisted it to sit improperly with her legs straddling the back support. "I'll wait till you're done with your business."
"Did we arrange something for today?" Ruby grumbled in a way a classy woman would. She then moved her head to stare at the man by the door. "Faust? Why are you here again?"
"The suspended students from the basketball club…" he started giggling, ditching his supposed lines. "I have no idea you're not as flawless as you project to be." He took a glance at Arata. "You're even fooling around with the mad bitch's boyfriend."
"…Eh? Is that even a problem?" Tohru hummed in dismissal of Faust's provocation. She even waved a hand. "If you're not going to talk about what you said you have to talk with Ruru, you should be going."
Faust's eyes stilled for a minute before looking at the man above Ruby who looked like he was lamenting about something. In his mind, it was as if Arata was regretting the fact that he was caught red-handed by two people. Cheating on the mad bitch was terrifying to imagine after all—to think that she seemed to be the type that would castrate men in her free time.
The newcomer coughed before stepping in the room and closing the door behind him. Conversation started flowing, and even though it was weird, Arata ignored the words flowing into his ears. He was more horrified by the failure penalties. The Encounter ended when Tohru showed up, and so he still managed to get 75 points. It didn't matter though since it was unaccounted for after the rerun.
Ruby's Affection rate was safe and remained at 100%, but all the other rates suffered. Her starting Excitement was reduced to 20% from 30% while her Encounter rate was chopped back down to 50%, which was a 12.5% reduction. Her obedience of 70% also suffered to 40%, which caused him to panic a little. Lower obedience meant a lower chance of a fast subdue during a Challenge.
With his internal tears well-hidden under a sigh, he removed himself from Ruby slowly. He gave Ruby enough space to move as they both made themselves decent. He didn't give this Faust guy any chance of spying what Ruby would look like if she laid on the desk on her own. This Faust guy would soon be Vice President and was a character introduced in Ruby's route. As for their relationship, Arata could only assume things; their first-name basis seemed to denote that they were close. The fact that he could also talk to Tohru meant he knew her as well. Ruby and Tohru didn't share the same class so he couldn't be a classmate. The best bet would be middle school friend, but didn't Ruby say everyone turned on her because of that Morikawa guy?
"Ah, that's kinda scary…" Faust chuckled bitterly as he was getting glared at by the school king. Arata had no idea he was doing this already, really. "Ahem, Hamasaki-san, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to threaten me? Like you know, that mad bitch is surely as sharp as those green jelly knives she got, right? Hahah, with her skills, she could bury anyone without even trying so hard…"
"What are you talking about?" Arata glared at him for real.
The man froze in his spot before turning away from the king and muttering with a thinking pose. He then laughed out and looked at Arata's direction. "The boyfriend seemed to be very oblivious! Do you even know what kind of woman that mad bitch is?"
Tohru and Ruby seemed to know what the man meant. Then again, it wasn't like Arata was oblivious; he just didn't know what this guy knew about Attori's activities. The king knew how lethal the blue-haired goddess was as he saw how she even dared to stab Keiko in cold blood. The king then sighed and muttered in a voice loud enough for them to hear. "You keep on talking about how dreadful Attori is. Don't you think that she could planning your death while you're standing in front of me and invoking my wrath…?"
Silence ensued.
Tohru then snorted with a mocking tone. "I don't know about that 'wrath' of yours, but I surely think Attei could be watching you really close right now. You should run, Carlson."
"Hahah, the mad bitch is in the hospital right now. She can't be here unless she's multidimensional like a real demoness." Faust laughed out again, feeling free to mock the women and the king in the room. "Relying on a woman to save you isn't really manly, don't you think, Hamasaki-san?"
"I'm not really into fist fights." Arata gritted his teeth; this bastard kept on addressing Attori—his wife and girlfriend, his goddess in both realms—like she's nothing but a brainless maniac. He moved away from the seat next to Ruby and walked towards the other man. "Then again… since you're provoking me, don't you think I'll give you what you want?"
"Ah, wow, really scary!" Faust laughed out again, but he took a step back as he began feeling different.
Arata remembered at this moment that he had MAX Strength and bonuses. It wasn't otherworldly, but it should be enough to make overturning a table with a single, effortless flick of a hand look easy. Momoka's route asked him to be a brute, and this brute was rising at the moment. A loud clang of the table against the floor shattered Faust's composure, and he didn't waste another second before taking off like a bull was on his ass.
After the soundless retreat Faust made, Arata couldn't help but laugh out. He had to bend down and stop tears from dripping from his eyes. He felt so great! For someone who used to be bullied, it felt so good scaring away some bastard who was onto him. To be honest, even Tohru and Ruby joined him in celebrating.
He wheezed to get words out. "Who was that guy anyway? He's scared shitless…"
"Welp, just some pest you can't kill with a slipper!" Tohru laughed out, slapping the back support in front of her. Ruby only shook her head and sighed to stop her laughing fit. "What a poor man. He's so bad at choosing enemies."
"Heh, but he's right though." Tohru hummed and placed her arms on the back support before putting her chin on top. "The more Attei acts, the more she's leaving breadcrumbs."
"Mhmm, guess I should lend her a hand since she lends me a man." Ruby got off of the table and fetched her bag. She then walked past Arata and stopped at the door. "I'll be expecting a lot from you, god of the living. Take care of me some other time."
Seeing that Ruby was leaving, Tohru also got up from her seat and walked to Arata to nudge at his shoulder. "I would invite you, but it's a girl's night out. See ya tomorrow, Arata!" Alex chased Thais to the hallway and walked next to her. The two started chatting with their voices out of earshot.
Arata gave them a wave before they left earlier, and his smile had fallen into a straight line. Last month only seemed to be a tutorial phase. With the NPCs starting to flock around him and the girls, the real story was starting to play. He looked at his watch and stared at the 4 PM action time.
"I have to see Sayaka tonight."