Chapitre 19: Is it Going to Rain?
Like what Arata had foreseen, dark clouds had dimmed the sky. He brought his umbrella with him, even though he thinks he would not use it at all. Sharing an umbrella with Attori would be nice, but having the Oktoberfest meant she would have to help out her mom until the twenty-second. Maybe he could share with... Yukari? But they have practice today. Then again, he might just watch them and just work with Attori in the booth on weekends.
His planning continued until he reached the bus stop. He saw Cora again, and so he greeted her. "Hey, Cora, we're riding the same bus to school again."
"Ah, is it bad to say... I was waiting for you?" Cora smiled deeply, but she hid her face from him. Then again, her face and ears had reddened, making Arata to puff some hot air on her ear. She yelped a moan, with her hands shooting to cover her ear. She blushed tomato red as she stared at Arata, a smile curling her lips. "Why do you keep on teasing me?"
"Because you're so cute." The king hummed, moving his head around to see the face Cora tried to hide again. He then stopped and laughed out. "Why not just drop by my house instead of waiting here alone?"
"But that's... wouldn't it be invasive?" Cora pursed her lips in worry.
"Not at all. Everyone else does it." The king smiled at her before noticing the incoming bus. He reached out to beckon her to come closer as the bus started to slow down to a stop. "Wait there tomorrow, okay?"
"I will!" The exchange student nodded with a bashful smile before getting on the bus first.
[The Affection Scene has ended. Exchange Student Cora Handel's Encounter Rate is now 67%. Congratulations!]
The morning rolled in with the king doing better in PE. He kept his stat-raised items, setting all his parameters to High. He knew this might have an adverse effect like date-able prerequisites; but he had yet to meet someone else who had the ellipsis hairpin which was a sign that the character was a date-able. And so he continued to keep his guard up in case a Challenge gets triggered.
Lunch came, and no one asked to eat with him. He ended up going to the cafeteria alone to buy bread. Same thing with the afternoon classes; nothing of significance had happened. However, he still enjoyed being in school.
Both Attori and Yukari decided to leave school after the classes were over. The best friend had to attend to her little brothers while the mad girl needed to help out in the beer booth. Not wanting to leave so early, Arata decided to come watch the basketball practice. Like always, Tohru was such a big shot, and the other newcomers hated her. She was gathering a lot of attention, making the men in the court look at her more.
Of course, Tohru could feel the seething stares of her co-members. She fully knew that some of them just joined the club to watch and be familiar with a bunch of famous boys in the men's basketball team. However, she was there to play and to win, and so she cared too little about their sentiments. She spotted Arata on the benches, making her volunteer to get everything back in place.
The club members started leaving, and Tohru beckoned Arata to come close. The king pouted at the incoming unnecessary labor, but he went to her anyway.
"Come on, it's just easy like one-two-three. Gather the balls and place them in the storage shed!" Tohru laughed out as she slapped the man's back. "Counting on ya!" Unlike what she sounded like, she did collect a few balls as well.
"Is there something wrong with letting the other newbies to come help?" Arata hummed, even though he knew the answer. "Do you really think they have the courage to go against you?" He placed the ball in a sack which will be taken to the shed later.
"There is strength in numbers, Acchan. You should probably know that." Tohru hummed with a devious smile. "With all the fangirls you've got, it would be easy to ruin someone's life?"
"You're looking at the wrong person." He sighed, uninterested in making someone suffer, knowing how much that would hurt. He tossed another ball into the sack. "I guess there are things that scare you as well."
"You have no idea." Tohru gave him a bitter grin before tying the sack close. She went to the door leading to the shed outside the gymnasium and looked at the dark sky. "We should hurry. It's about to rain."
The two walked out of the gymnasium and towards the shed. They went inside and closed the door before letting the sack's opening loose. A ball fell to the floor and made a loud thud... which was followed by a clink. Arata turned to the door and walked to it, trying to open it. However, they were locked in; some people locked them in, the king spotting figures running away through a very narrow crack the latch could give him.
He turned to Tohru who was placing the balls into the metal crib where they were displayed. "Tohru, we got locked." Arata was hesitant to kick the door down. He might just hurt himself if the game dictated for them to stay. "The door won't budge."
"Nah, it's fine." The girl showed him the keys of the gymnasium and the shed in one key ring. "The custodian expected me to return these. She'll look around if I didn't return it before she leaves."
"Ah, then that's good!" The king nodded in relief. He then looked around the dim shed, which lights were busted; that was why they had to take an electric lamp with them. "Something to do until then, huh." He walked towards Tohru to collect the lamp so he could see more. "Do you mind if I-?"
Crack-a-boom! Thunder roared through the sky, and shocked Arata. However, the reason for his heart going nuts could be because Tohru, the strangely strong she-jerk, just flew towards him and pulled him into a hug. The king was left stunned, up until Tohru started pulling back, watching Arata's reaction with her scared eyes.
Will he laugh? Will he ridicule her? She was too scared to face the truth, but she backed away nonetheless.
"A-Are you alright? That was... really scary." The king murmured, knowing that she could still hear him.
"Oh, yeah, I am." Tohru, for the first time, forgot to wear her smug face. She slowly slipped her arms off of Arata before trying to chuckle and laugh off the scare. "Yeah, that was scary. Geez, I never liked-"
Another loud one came down from the heavens, and Tohru screamed again as she lunged towards Arata, covering her head with her hands. Arata caught her, but chose to sit her down on the floor. She gripped at the back of his shirt tightly.
"Loud sounds..." She continued before chuckling out her fear. "Ugh, I knew it. Sorry for dragging you here."
"You asked me to go with you so you won't be alone when it thunders?" The king hummed as he stroked at her head to calm her down. He watched her pull back and sat properly before him. He gave her smiles of amusement, wiping her tears with his jacket's sleeves. "Aw, don't cry, big girl."
"Shut up!" She took on deep breaths with a smile. She waited for him to stop before smiling at him again. "Thanks for not laughing at me. I thought you would find it ridiculous because of the way I act. Well, I am trying to forget, but... guess it's not that easy."
"Forget?"
"Gunshots." Tohru shrugged as if it was a light word. "I left my dad standing at a side because I wanted to buy ice cream on my own one night. I was six, so it was a big thing for me." She began hanging her head. "I didn't understand that my dad was being mugged. I just saw him fighting with two men. And then it happened. Thrice. Each time, it was so loud."
The king pulled back and brushed Tohru's fringe to the side, hooking some of her hair behind her ear. "Tohru..."
"Just a little sob story..." She sighed before looking away. "I guess the only avenue I have to forget it... is to constantly envelop myself with loud sounds. Cheering in a basketball court was really fun. It's loud, but... it doesn't make me feel nervous. It doesn't make me freeze." She chuckled as she turned to Arata. "Don't tell-"
Kiss. Probably the first time he did not ask for permission to kiss someone. Arata caught her face when she turned and sealed their lips the next moment. Tohru's eyes widened in surprise, thinking of pulling away and slapping the man across his face. However, another thunder roared, louder than the first two, and yet... she was calm. Her eyes mellowed and closed, kissing him back a little. They pulled back at the same time, the girl furiously blushing with a rather controlling curl on her lips.
"You opportunist." The she-jerk growled, but her eyes screamed otherwise.
[An Encounter Mode has started! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru has a total of 15 Excitement points right now. Obedience is at 50%, Excitement at 15%, and Affection at 5%. Try touching the date-able.]
[An item had been previously activated: Sleek Black Boxers! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru now has a total of 25 Excitement points.]
The king's eyes had lit up, knowing that it was the Intro Encounter for Tohru. Arata then took the lamp from them and rolled it towards the door, so it would cast a light outside. They should at least have enough time before the custodian finishes her work day. He held the girl by the shoulder and started kissing her again, their soft moaning getting drowned by the downpour that just happened outside. Tohru shifted her sitting position, letting her legs straddle Arata. Her hands found their way to his shirt's buttons and started undoing them. His other hand did the same for hers, even tracing the deep cleavage she had.
[You just gained 15 Excitement points! Keep on going!]
With her shirt out of the way, he just worked his fingers to pull up her brassiere, setting her chest free from hold. He pulled back to take a look, noticing how bigger they were without it. However, Tohru hooked his chin with finger, refusing to let him ogle. He only laughed out and fondled the one closest to his pinky. He leaned down again and started giving wet kisses along Tohru's neck, making her giggle. There went another thunder, which was only noticed but not reacted upon by the girl.
[You just gained 10 Excitement points! Keep on going!]
Tohru wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled on him as she lied down the floor. The man grinned in excitement as he got on his arms and knees, the elbow connected to her shoulder taking on his weight as he adjusted his position. The hand that once squeezed her breast flew to his zipper, undoing his pants so it would slide down, enough for him to show off that tent. He then dove down to kiss her, slipping his arm under her waist, soon pulling her closer and letting his thing rub against her.
[You just gained 15 Excitement points! Keep on going!]
Arata pulled back and leaned down again, using his tongue to lick her lips and gain entrance. Tohru had been all in in this game of his, letting him have his way with her since the beginning, aside from his eyes wandering around. She held on his shoulders, slipping her fingers under his shirt and clawing his skin. It was a good thing her nails were short because she was a ball game athlete, or else she would have wounded him. With their tongues wrapping around each other's, the moaning and racking grew harder.
[You just gained 20 Excitement points! Keep on going!]
They pulled back, and the girl licked her lips clean from the traces and threads of drool coming from her mouth. "You're kinda better at this, aren't you?" Tohru giggled as she cradled his head with the both of her hands. "Is this a perk of being an Arata girl, as what your girlfriend once said?"
"I guess." The king made quite a smug face, getting proud of knowing his way into someone's pants. He watched Tohru make a devious smirk, detaching one of her hands from his face.
He felt her legs move up with bended knees. There was a hand that fiddled under him, soon slipping inside his boxers, pulling out what wanted to get out from its fabric cage. The king felt Tohru's fingers directing his thing against something moist.
"Hey, big boy, you ready to take me on?" The she-jerk licked her lips once more.
[You just gained 15 Excitement points! Congratulations! Her Excitement is now 100%. Take her down, god of the living!]
[You have completed an Encounter! Congratulations! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru's Affection Rate is now 15%!]
Hours had passed, and it seemed that the custodian never came to fetch them from this heavy rain. The electric lamp was running low, and the two barely had the energy to go around and scream. Tohru could only laugh out as Arata tried to find signal from the shed. His phone was also dying, and for some reasons, they might end up staying the night in the shed. Then again, the next use might be around afternoon when the basketball club had its last session for the week.
"I can't believe my luck ran out that fast..." Arata grumbled as his phone made its final call at 5% battery. He then sat down next to Tohru who was rather ecstatic on her seat. He turned to her, noticing how her cute face blush from the memories. He then stroked at her hair. "I'll get us out of here tonight, don't worry."
"Oh, I'm not worried." The she-jerk giggled.
Arata only pouted and stared at the door with a sigh. He glared at the closed door, and prayed hard enough that something happens to it so they could get out. Then again, he noticed that the light from the crack got blocked by something. He then got on his feet, only earning Tohru's hum. Whack! A fierce strike made the door shake. Tohru got up as well, but she did not hide behind the man. After so, they heard metal getting detached and dropped on the stony entrance of the shed. Soon, the door opened, revealing Attori in a raincoat.
Yukari, who was wearing her own raincoat, was still wearing her freaked-out face when she called out. "Arata!? Hamada-sempai!?"
Attori dropped the crowbar and lunged at her boyfriend. "Arata! I was so worried about you when Yukari said you weren't home yet!" She then turned to Tohru. "Did you take care of him? He gets really scared sometimes."
"I would say I was the one who was left in good hands." The athlete shrugged with a smile.
"How did you even find me?" Arata held his girlfriend as well, only to get a glimpse of three other figures in the dark.
The king focused his gaze on them, recognizing them as the newbies who were glaring at both Yukari and Tohru. Then again, they were only in their sleepwear under the fierce rain that night, freezing to death, but they remained standing there. He then looked down at the mad bitch in his arms.
"I just asked for a little help!" She flashed a big grin. "That's all!"
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
droopyghost
droopyghost Thank you for the support! Please feed the king more stones- lmao. I updated the bonus chapter incentives. Thank you!