Based on the name itself, a Reversal Affection Scene might decrease the affection rate of a date-able. Since Arata had heard of the rerun penalties, he was not that surprised to hear that some options to decrease even a MAX rate exist in this patch. He had no idea how many things were added during the last maintenance. He wasn't able to hear this mode from other players either.
For now, he could only try to squeeze out of this mess. Then again, he was unsure if Attori's presence would affect or be affected by the Reversal scene.
"Keiko, please don't call Attori an abomination…" Arata cleared his throat. "Wasn't she always accompanying you whenever you go to see your brother? Besides"—he took a deep breath in a discreet manner—"You knew what that thing is, right? What it did to your brother?"
"I, uhh…" Keiko threw a glance at Attori who seemed to be shocked for some reasons as well. Her eyes grew rounder, giving off the gaze of a confused yet infuriated person. "Yes, but… that doesn't…"
"I was caught by that thing wandering on my own. I have to play my cards right to get away." Arata made some bull excuse. If it was still the game or at least Keiko's route, that kind of bull excuse would work. The player dialogue in that route would sometimes be filled with stupid excuses, which Keiko would believe. However, Attori was the queen of perception; Arata just hoped he wouldn't be sold out.
The system, fortunately, did not disappoint.
Keiko only lowered her head and hummed as if accepting his excuse. However, Attori was left staring at Arata. It was as if she was troubled by something that came up from their conversation. However, she found no reason to ask him about it right away.
"I… see…" Keiko nodded to herself before nodding at Arata. "But you have to promise me you'll never meet with that thing ever again! That's a promise, Arata!"
"Okay." Arata only nodded, but he knew that was a lie. He had always been breaking promises with Keiko, and it was too easy to get away with it. Perhaps, it should be addressed in Keiko's route. Then again, with her brother in the hospital, what else did she have in her route? Tohru? The player himself? Homicide?
[The Reversal Affection Scene has ended! Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Affection Rate remained to be MAXED. To avoid further decrease, make sure to tend to your date-ables regularly.]
"We better head home now." Attori only smiled at the two. "I don't like staying out here this late."
Just like what the system had told him, he was indeed sent home without any power to act on his own. He was able to answer questions, but his feet were uncontrollable. The night ended shortly after heading home, having Attori and Keiko in tow.
The 6 AM action time woke Arata up, and he knew it was time to head to school again. Nothing really happened last night after getting home, but he still felt good seeing that Attori was not trying to murder Keiko anymore. The god raised his upper torso slowly and looked at the girls sharing the bed with him. Attori's hair was splayed all over like usual while Keiko's hair was too short to be a bother. Then again, their arms were on him. He felt ticklish upon feeling Keiko's fingertips on his abdomen while his morning wood was cupped nicely in Attori's hand.
It was nothing but a normal, uneventful morning. Keiko and Attori didn't reveal anything to Cora, but the freshie was surprised to see Keiko with them. She heard about the terrible parting between Keiko and Arata; finding her near him made her a bit confused. Yukari soon joined the crowd, and she couldn't help but squint at Arata the entire time. Was he rekindling his thing with Keiko? Wasn't he almost dead because of her brother?
Who would knew that Yukari would end up seeing that man again? She was furious about that incident, and now she had to go see him in the hospital. Attori had another closed-door practice, and the mad girl 'asked' her to come see Keita. It was a good thing she told Arata about it, and so the man tagged along.
Room 306 was just like a regular ward room, which Keita had to share with three more patients. Fortunately, those three beds were vacant so it did feel like a private room. Keiko's family was well-off enough to get a private room, but their parents refused to gift Keita with such. They heard about what happened in Keiko's school, and they were infuriated by Keita's actions. Right now, Yukari and Arata felt like it was hard to enter this space. They didn't know if it was proper to visit Keita now that Keiko wasn't around as well.
"Ah, you guys are here?"
"Whoa! It's you!" Yukari sounded confused upon seeing a familiar person. That man was indeed a college student, but for the world to be so small? She then gave him a slight grin. "Did you really come here to visit Wakaba Keita?"
"Ah, yeah. Keita's a friend of ours…"
Arata squinted at the emergence of the supposed recurring NPC, Ritsu Yoshitaka. He was Momoka's little brother and someone interested in his Attori. Now, he got reintroduced as someone friends with Keita as well. Was he supposed to go head-on against a rival in Attori's route? Was Attori even free enough to wiggle and have a room for negotiation?
Oblivious to Arata's sentiments, Yukari squinted her eyes and loomed her face towards the other guy's. "That's really suspicious. How would I know if you're not faking it, huh? Like just coming here in hopes to see Attei Attori?"
"W-What? N-Not really. I regularly visit Keita ever since he got hurt. Seeing her is just a big bonus—!" Yoshitaka blushed a little before glancing at Arata. He then cleared his throat. "Anyway, I don't think Wa—Keita had high school friends. Are you going to wait for Keiko-chan here?"
"Nah, Wakaba isn't coming today. So is Attei. That's why we're asked to come. In case something happened while they were out." Yukari snickered as she noticed the fallen smile on Yoshitaka's face. She didn't need to remind him of Arata and Attori's relationship since he seemed to remember. She then stepped back and made way for Yoshitaka. "It feels weird to come in without a mutual acquaintance. Not to mention"—Yukari's tone changed—"Wakaba Keita had some grievances to settle with Arata. I bet you haven't heard about that fight he started."
"Ah, I had, actually. This, uhh, very beautiful lady with dark red hair told us about Keita's assault on your school." Yoshitaka started to feel down after sighing. "Trust me, he isn't like that before. I think something made him snap. It's probably his hot ex-girlfriend…"
The player couldn't help but to snort as he tried stifling his laughter. Why did this guy sound like one of those playing the game? Was he there to mock the players as how they sounded when talking about the date-ables? He had to be honest; not all players memorized the names of the girls. He did see some stick to labels like 'psycho bitch', 'president big tits', and even 'angry loli'—not to be confused with 'mama loli'. To think about it, Arata hadn't met 'angry loli' in this playthrough yet.
Then again, that was just an inside joke. The two others had no idea why he reacted that way. However, Yoshitaka only scratched his head, knowing that that guy must have known those two beauties just as much as he knew Yukari and Attori. Keiko as well.
"We should head inside. It'd be weird to stay chatting here." Yoshitaka invited them in, and they all sat down on the sofa provided to visitors. They were away from Keita, but they could see his monitor just fine. The college guy started talking again. "Uhh, Hamasaki, right?"
"Yes?"
"Like I said earlier, we heard what happened in your school. You… got in trouble with Keita, right?" He hummed, eyes fixed at the man on the bed far away. "Why did you have to stab him so much his arm could have fallen off? Though Attori-san said that someone else stabbed him, I still couldn't think of someone else who could have done that to him."
"Stab, huh? Can someone fall into coma after getting stabbed?" Yukari answered in Arata's stead. "It if was stabbing, it could have been Attei, you know. She would only look sweet, but she's a really cold-blooded killer when she had to. You don't know how scary it is to watch her torture people."
"That's impossible!" Yoshitaka shifted his position, turning towards them. "There's no way she could have—Morikawa…" The man shifted back to his former position before sinking into the sofa. "…she really stabbed Morikawa?"
"Morikawa? Who's that?" Yukari hummed as she heard a different name from his mouth. Then again, before she could continue, the door loudly slid open. A dashing man walked in, but his asshole aura resonated and made him less attractive to Yukari than Yoshitaka would ever be. Without words or even an exchange, Yukari frowned at the man who stopped before her.
"Hmm, what's this? Why is a very cute girl calling out my name?" The man chuckled, bending down as if intimidating the woman on the seat. Then again, unlike Attori's composure, Yukari had this blatant disgusted look on her face. Morikawa then made an annoyed face before straightening his back. His eyes then landed on Arata. "You, move away. That's my spot."
His spot? The only reason it was his spot was because it was the other seat next to Yukari. Whether Morikawa liked it or not, it was so obvious that he was the type to force himself on women. Well, he was more than a looker, but that shouldn't give him a ticket to a girl's pants.
Arata frowned at him before sinking into the sofa and getting more comfortable. "I was here first. Get your own seat."
"Hahaha, why don't you just sit on him if you want that seat badly?" Another voice came into the room, and it was the rest of their friends. The same person who talked propped his arm on Morikawa's shoulder and grinned at Yukari. "Hello, miss. Are you friends with that league of beauties always visiting Keita?"
"Ah, man! I wished I could be like that, too!" Another male sat on the armchair and leaned on Yoshitaka. He acted like he was getting overly dramatic. "Surrounded by full-package ladies when I lie on my bed, lonely and hurt!"
"Hahah, get into an accident first then!"
"Would you guys please be quiet?"
"Speaking about those girls. Oi, Morikawa, how's your belly? You got gutted by that cute blue-haired girl, right?"
"Fuck you."
That was the only time Arata brought his attention back to that guy named Morikawa. He was previously occupied by the rowdy behavior of those college students. To think about it, Tohru mentioned about a man getting stabbed by Attori. Someone she hated; someone Ruby loathed with her all. 'Morikawa… wait, is he… the same person?' Arata's eyes glittered in fury. 'The same man who cracked Tohru and Ruby's friendship?!'
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