Chapitre 4: No Escape, Huh?

"Hi! Are you in this class, too?" An excited, soft voice greeted me the second I stepped into the classroom. I barely managed to stop myself from flinching at the sudden greeting and nodded with a smile. "Then we're classmates! My name is Yuu Saito, but you can call me Yuu!" Yuu gave a sweet smile with his almond brown eyes glistening brightly.

Yuu was definitely the shortest out of all the capture targets, but he was still taller than me, though not by much. He had large doe eyes that gave off an innocent image. He also had soft, curly light brown hair to help solidify his soft boi facade more.

"Oh, I'm Haruka Suzuki. You can call me Haru." I smiled politely but was careful about making eye contact. "Nice to meet you, Yuu-kun."

...He stared at me with wide eyes and his smile faded. I bit my tongue and lowered my head to make sure my bangs covered half my face.

"...Nice to meet you, too, Haru-kun! I hope we can be good friends!" Yuu's smile returned like it never left in the first place. "Here, my mom baked these to hand out to my new classmates." He held out a cute pink bag filled with little cookies.

I smiled gratefully and held out my hands for him to drop the bag onto. Yuu instead placed one of his hands underneath my hands as he used the other to drop the bag on top, locking me into place. As he did this, he took a step closer and peered into my face. I immediately flinched back and retracted my hands with the sweets. I gave one last polite smile and bow and retreated to my desk.

It was only after I heard Yuu greet another student I could relax.

That was close. This was different from the game but definitely not in a good way. If anything, I just made things worse. He's clearly interested in me.

"Someone looks nervous." The teasing comment came from beside me. I snapped my head to the side to see my desk mate giving off a goofy smirk. "First day jitters?"

I recognized this person.

He wasn't a capture target but the NPC that was basically the game menu. He was the one who would ask what the player was doing for recess and where they were going after school, which would let the choice menu appear for the player. He was also how the player knew which character had the highest affection level and gave hints to help.

His appearance wasn't as outstanding as the capture targets, but he wasn't exactly average either. He had plain dark eyes that had a twinkle to them. His hair was a jet black and styled like most black haired protagonists in anime. Overall, he gave off an air of being average and friendly, which made him the perfect NPC.

"Y-Yeah." I replied with a sheepish smile. "Oh, uhm, I'm Haruka Suzuki, but you can call me Haru. It seems we'll be desk mates this year?"

"Nice to meet you, Haru-kun. I'm Akira Miyazaki. Call me Akira." He gave a friendly smile. "Since we're desk mates, we're destined to be best friends, right?" He wiggles an eyebrow as he leaned over.

"Haha, then treat me well, Akira-kun." I relaxed with his lighthearted atmosphere.

"But, of course! Nothing less for the best." Akira winked with a shit eating grin. I could only laugh back in response.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have to be careful around Akira, too. As a character with portrait art and a VA, he has a very high likelihood of being the hidden character. If he turns out to not be it, then the only other option is a completely new character, and that's very unlikely as "Deepest Desire" is a budget game. Adding a whole new character would cost a lot more than using one they already have.

But, who knows? Maybe they pulled it off somehow.

The bell rang for homeroom right after we finished speaking. All the students sat down and went silent as the teacher walked in.

I had to do a double take when I saw him.

Sensei was very much on the younger side. He had droopy brown eyes that reminded me of a dog with ashy brown hair that was slicked into a profession side part. He gave off an air of being a pushover and charming in a cute animal sort of way.

He couldn't be the hidden character, could he?

In the game, the teacher was never given any sort of attention. He had no character art or a voice. Yet, looking at him, he looked like a capture target. Also, a teacher in a yandere dating sim sounds like a really good idea. An adult could probably get away with a lot more than a teen and was more knowledgeable, making them more scary.

Maybe, the reason the player needed to beat all the other routes was to acquire knowledge about the them? I heard there would be a new dialogue option at some point that would start the hidden route. Maybe the teacher would call the MC out and knows of the boys' true natures and then asks her to—

"Suzuki-kun!"

"Yes?!" I shouted in response and looked up to see Sensei frowning at me. "Uh, uhm?"

"Suzuki-kun, we were in the middle of introductions. It's your turn." He simply gave me a smile even though I wasn't paying attention at all, making me feel embarrassed.

"Ah, sorry." I stood up and bowed. Before I straightened up, I could hear Akira failing miserably to suppress his giggles. I shot him a glare before plastering a smile on and giving an introduction.

After we went around the room, the teacher, who I found out was called Ando-sensei, went on with the welcoming and going over rules and what not. I kinda just zoned out.

As for the rest of the day, it'll be morning classes followed by lunch and recess. Then it's afternoon classes until school ends, where I'll either find a club to join or just go home. The only clubs I have to avoid is the home economics club (Yuu) and the student government (Tatsuya).

I snapped back to reality when I heard sensei asking for a volunteer to be the class representative.

It's time for the final intro!

"I would like to nominate myself, Ando-sensei." The deep, cold voice resounded in the quiet classroom.

As I looked at the owner of that pleasant voice, I decided to look around to see where else everyone was seated as well.

I was seated in the middle of the rows of desks against the windows with Akira next to me. Tatsuya was, of course, front and center. Yuu was seated on the opposite side of the classroom from me, and Ryuu was in the back corner by the windows, scarily close to me.

"Since no one else is volunteering, Tanaka-kun will be the class rep." Sensei clapped to signal the class to give congratulatory applause. "Tanaka-kun, please stand so that everyone knows who the class representative is."

Tatsuya stood up with posture as straight as a ruler. He turned around with an icy gaze before gracefully bowing. "I hope to be a reliable class representative with the support of my fellow classmates."

Tatsuya had jet black hair that contrasted strongly against his snow white skin. He had piercing blue eyes that made his cold stare icy and basic black glasses that somehow look more expensive than my house. He wasn't as bulky as Ryuu but just as tall with a lean build.

He was definitely my favorite appearance-wise.

After that, since Ando-sensei finished his babble early, he let the class chatter.

"Oi, Haru-kun, why were so spaced out before?" Akira gave an amused smirk. I glared at him.

"I, uh, was just thinking about what club to join." I shrugged. "Also, I have a lot on my mind."

"A lot on your mind? Like what?" Akira raised an eyebrow in question. I sighed.

How much was too much information?

"Well, I was recently studying abroad, so I've had to readjust to life back here in Japan." I smoothly lied.

I mean, was it really a lie?

Anyway, for some reason Akira seemed to want to burst out in laughter.

"What? Don't believe me?" I pursed my lips.

"Pft, sorry. You just didn't really seem like the worldly type, you know?" Akira cackled. "Okay, okay. Where'd you study at?"

"The US... in Texas." I just said a well known state.

I have been to Texas. That wasn't a lie at least.

"Oooo, can you speak English?" Akira's eyes were sparkling with glee. I nodded. "Hm, then teach me a pick up line!" My eyes widened.

"What?!" I was taken off guard and blushed slightly. Akira bursted out laughing again. I pouted.

"Haha, what's wrong with that?" Akira had tears in his eyes from how hard he was laughing. "Fine. At least teach me how to say, "You're cute." Since you've been abroad for so long, you might not know that girls here find guys that can speak English hot." I narrowed my eyes at him in disbelief. "Just say it once! How else am I suppose to believe you can speak English?"

"Uhm, ask me say something else that's normal?" I replied with a sarcastic tone. Akira merely rolled his eyes before continuing to peg me to tell him how to say someone's cute. "Ok! Listen closely." Akira perked up before leaning over. I smirked and lowly said, "You're a slut." (In English, of course.)

Akira shivered for some reason before quickly recovering.

"Uhhhh, is that really how you say it?" Akira leaned back and tilted his head. "I've heard that it's "You're cute," and I've never heard the word "slut" before?"

I almost let my laughter spew out. Almost.

"Oh, "slut" is American slang for cute. If you want to show you really know English, you should say "slut." I'm sure girls will be amazed." I intellectually said as if I was an English teacher.

In my mind, I was manically laughing.

"If you come across a cute American foreigner, you can totally say this to impress them."

Akira nodded in awe.