Bab 13: First to Fall
Without Arata noticing, the day entered the 6 PM action time as Keiko accepted his offer. They threaded the way opposite of the direction back to her house, and found themselves loitering around the other end of the city. There were busy shops and loud family restaurants, serving one dish after another. Keiko was silent, but she kept her warm smile as the king kept his fingers laced with hers. They walked through the hustle and bustle of the weekend.
The girl pulled Arata to one of the joint hotel-restaurant in the place and asked for a room with food service in the reception. The king looked around the lobby of the two-star hotel, probably one for families and middle-class customers. There were at the other side of the working district after all. Keiko got a room and turned to Arata discuss her plan.
"I hope you don't mind if I rented a room so we can talk." The girl managed to keep her smile, secretly hoping for more since they would be in a private place. Then again, she just received a nod from the king. "O-Okay, let's head up there now and order for dinner from the restaurant."
"Do you want me to pay for the food?" Arata asked politely, holding her hand again as she led him to the staircase since the room was only on the second floor.
"N-No need. I took you here without asking first. I'll pay for the expenses." She declined.
The childhood friend acted a little different from the last time he saw her. Perhaps it was because she regretted her bold actions. Or that something else went wrong. Keiko, after being maxed, liked going home and being around her house a lot. Renting a room to spend overnight was the same as screaming 'I got kicked out' or that 'my brother is going to kill me when I get home' to the king. Either way, he chose not to ask for now. He had a feeling they would get there.
Pink and purple slapped Arata as they opened their room. It was elegant and classy in design, but the color scheme whispered fantasy and lust to his ears. Arata closed the door behind him and watched Keiko grab the menu from the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. The man joined her, and she shared her ideas which one to pick. Settling with a rather cheap dinner, the two stayed quiet, Keiko bathing in their cozy silence as they sat next to each other.
Then again, Arata could not help but to get worried. He soon brought his hand to her hair and started combing it to the end. "Keiko, aren't we supposed to be talking?"
"I'm sorry, I thought you'd like to take a rest from the loud streets." She just chuckled as she scooted a bit away from him so she had room to move her knees closer to him, letting her face the king. She watched Arata do the same. "About that, I... I'm sorry. I can't help but to think that... I should be bolder if I want to win over Attori." Her eyes slid to the side as if avoiding him. "She's... the worse, and I know you know that. She does what she likes and drags people around. She might be sweet right now, but she's really manipulative."
"You're right, I know that." The king encouraged her to speak more with an answer. He could barely recognized a maxed Attori from the beginning Attori since she was a whole lot different towards the people she cared about aside from herself. He could recall Yukari saying the same, generally just closing in when Attori was not in her mad mode. "Is that why you wanted me to leave her?"
"Of course!" Keiko raised her voice, only to twitch and turn away in embarrassment. "I can't imagine that woman loving you wholly. She always looked like she was just using you."
Arata could not help but to sob inwardly. It sounds like she's talking about Tohru instead.
"She's a snake. Just like that girl."
Whoops. Her thoughts of Tohru did bleed unto Attori.
"Easy there, Keiko. Do you think Attori and Tohru are the same?" The king waved his hand before her as if distracting the girl from her glare towards her knees. "I can guarantee you. Attori isn't doing what Tohru did to your brother. I'm talking to her as well, and getting more and more insights about it. Give yourself some rest."
"But you don't really know what's in a girl's mind!" Keiko ended up yelling at him again, taking Arata aback at her sudden agitation. "You might be very good at handling women, but that's because they want you to do just that! You're not even sure if everyone really loves you or just wants to ride you! How can you even promise me Attori won't run off as soon as you-!?" She gasped as she realized what she was doing. She turned away. "I had known you since we were kids, Arata. I even stayed with you when you were new here...
"I was too kind to you; look at where I am now." She sniffed and started crying with her head hung low as if hiding her face. "When we were kids, you promised me you would marry me. Now that you have grown and became popular, you decided to make other women your priority." Keiko glared at him and yelled again, this time, fully aware of it. "How dare you make me feel so loved without feeling anything in return!?" She turned away, mellowing down her voice. "But I still love you nonetheless. So please, listen to me. Leave Attori. Leave Yukari..."
"And be yours?" Arata whispered in curiosity. He made her straighten her back and stare at him, tears dripping from the corner of her eyes. Instead of finding fault in her reasoning, Arata decided to pat her head and spoke after wearing a small bitter smile, "I wish I could just do that, Keiko. But I love Attori, and I have no reason to disregard everything that we had been through."
The girl shifted her body away from him. "Then I guess you're leaving me no choice."
"Wait, I can... give you a choice." The king stroked at her head. "You don't have to feel so bad with Attori being my girlfriend. I... can still love you a little... more than this." He made the girl look at him with a curious look on her face. The hand stroking her head moved to her shoulders, pulling her closer and locking their lips together.
[You are initiating an Encounter! Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko has a total of 50 Excitement points right now. Obedience is at 90%, Excitement at 50%, and Affection at 100%. Would you like to insist? Yes / No]
[An item had been previously activated: Matte Skin Moisturizer! Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko now has a total of 70 Excitement points.]
Even though they were supposed to be waiting for food, the king decided to lay her down gently after undoing the lip lock. He smiled kindly at her as he climbed on top and dipped down again to continue kissing her. Keiko had her hands grasping the back part of Arata's shirt, making muffled moaning under the kiss.
It might have felt so good if he threw away his conscience. He was guilty of romancing other women which breached the open relationship banner Attori had waved over her head, giving Arata the freedom to engage in activities with other women. Then again, it had always crossed the romantic line aside from Yukari who he knew would not probably, hopefully, engage in a Challenge Mode.
He was thinking of many things as his tongue continued to feel every crook and nook inside Keiko's mouth, the girl starting to squirm under him. He then pulled back and stroked at her face, giving a smile in return of the sweetie's submissive gaze. One of his palms waved and brushed down her body from collarbone to navel, cupping her chest momentarily before slipping the fingers underneath her shirt. Soon, he slid his hand up, raising both her shirt and bra and letting them roll just below her neck.
"Arata..." Keiko began to sing his name at almost every touch.
[You just gained 15 Excitement points! Keep on going!]
The same hand then moved down and fondled a breast, tickling the squirming girl. Keiko's arms then went to the side and grasped the sheets on each side of her head. He recalled his hand and leaned on his elbows against the bed, reaching her body easier and bringing his tongue against her bosom.
After some seconds of sucking, he pulled back and flashed a grin towards the giggling woman. He made use of his forearms again to carry his weight as he shifted one of his knees to drive between her legs, touching a rather warm, soft spot and inching the skirt higher. Bring his weight back to both legs, he rose and pulled his shirt off by tugging on the back collar and pulling it overhead. Even though he showered before meeting Tohru, their training had caused him to sweat, making his body shine before Keiko's eyes.
[You just gained 15 Excitement points! Congratulations! Her Excitement is now 100%. Take her down, god of the living!]
The 9 PM action time soon came, and Arata was stroking at Keiko's head as he lied on his side next to her. They were still both awake, minutes after eating the very late food they ordered. Then again, it would have been awkward if it came during their Encounter. Their clothes had been tossed to the couch nearby as to not collect dust from the floor. Keiko was then staring blankly at his chest, which she soon touched with her fingertips and trailed them to a spread.
"This is what Attori feels every night, huh..."
"You don't have to be so jealous." The king continued to stroke on her head. "I have a little deal with her about things like this. Even though it sounds like I'm so much of a cheater." He chuckled, soon ruffling the girl's hair under his hand. "You should go to sleep. Let's catch a good night's rest." He crawled deeper into the bed, lying on his back with his arms outside the blanket and on top of his abdomen. "Grab some free breakfast in the morning. I wish the buffet would be real good." He closed his eyes.
"I don't plan on being jealous." She hummed with a rather devious smile. "Tell it to her."
Instead of him waking up to the chime of the action time, Arata woke up to the sound of his ringing phone. His eyes tore wide open as it was Attori's caller ring tune. He frantically got up and searched the room for his phone, which was in one of his pant's pockets. He smiled at the screen seeing she had not dropped it yet, as well as wondering why she would so early in the morning.
"Attori!" He greeted her with an enthusiastic voice.
"Where are you?" Her voice was nothing enthusiastic or happy at all. It was devious and grudging, just like how she sounded whenever she was trying to scare him.
Arata pulled back to stare at the phone screen, checking if it was her. He made no mistake and so he brought the phone to his ear again. "In some kind of hotel. I'm coming home later in the morning." His gaze traveled to the clock and saw the 6 AM face. "Around... 10?"
"Who were you with?" There went the chill down his spine. He failed to stutter his sharp breath, feeling terror building inside of him. It was no secret that he gets scared by her, but that was because he was easily scared since he was born.
"K-Keiko..." he whispered her name, only to realized the girl was not in the room anymore. Even her clothes were not on the couch as well. He then walked to the nightstand where a note was left on the memo pad. "Where'd she go?"
"Is she coming to school tomorrow?" Another block of terror punched the king's chest.
"Yeah..." he murmured, staring at the note that read 'see you in school tomorrow xoxo.' "What's wrong?"
That bone-chilling laughter he knew she had, and what drove him to choose Attori among all, came from the other end of the line. Attori then hummed with a deeply curled smile like he could see her through her voice. "Nothing really. It just sounds like she wants to have some fun with me tomorrow. Can you take Yukari to the arcade after class tomorrow, Arata? I'll reimburse the expenses."
"What is happening?"
"And oh, you better put a lock on your phone. Some vermin fiddled with it." Hung up.
Arata pulled his phone back and saw that the call had already ended. After some seconds, the screen changed and displayed a hundred messages from Attori along with forty-seven missed calls. His eyes widened as he gasped at the number. He then checked the calls to clear the notification before checking the messages to see what went down when he was asleep.
Tears welled at the corner of his eyes as he saw messages sent to Attori that he did not typed. Last night, it looked like he was trying to break up with the mad bitch through text. The messages were also crafted like the real respondent knew how he talked, making it easier to fool the girl. However, she seemed to have raised suspicions and had been calling ever since. The player sniffed and cleared his face. He pressed the lock button on his phone and put it down before clothing his skin. He did not even bother to shower or eat before checking out of the hotel.
He ran back home, only to redirect his path towards the Wakaba residence. He rang the doorbell and waited for Keiko to greet him. However, only the brother showed himself from the living room's window to check who it was. Seeing the king made him crumple his face in contempt and left him alone, not even asking what he wanted. Arata rang the doorbell again, and found no response from them. He scratched his head and walked home instead.
"I need to ask around how they succeed in Challenge Mode." The king sighed, with his upper body dropping the posture. "Man, I just can't live without the forum, can I?"
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
droopyghost
droopyghost Thank you so much for voting, commenting, and reviewing! :D My mom's getting a little better as well.