Bab 42: Flowers for You
The 6 PM action time was still in session as Arata and Yukari walked to their way home. Ruby and Tohru just went to visit Imperial Kitchen earlier, taking advantage of Arata's standing as its owner. They got a pretty room in the skydome and had the time of their lives. They had both taken off their shoes and socks or stockings to feel homier. Yukari followed suit, and the man only laughed at the playful women. He did not want to get left behind so he did the same.
Even though he was able to get a substantial rise in the rates of the three women with him, it left him sock-less. Ruby and Tohru decided to steal a sock each out of Alex's mischief. Those socks were expensive and limited edition in-game. The player sobbed a little inside.
Yukari noticed his bitter expression as they walked along the dim streets of the 6 PM action time. She could only smile and sigh in his stead. "Don't worry, I'll try to get those socks back. I doubt Attei would dare take it from them by force."
"Hahah, you don't have to think about those." Arata scratched his head, chuckling in defeat. "I'll just buy a new pair to replace them." He looked down at his feet, feeling uncomfortable not having socks inside his thick-soled sneakers. "It just feels weird right now. I was so used to having socks in case some bully takes my shoes away again. Walking home barefoot would be-" Arata paused and turned to Yukari.
"Someone stole your shoes before!?" She yelled and squirmed in anger. "Who!?"
"N-No use now. They graduated." He only laughed out, slipping another other world memory.
Yukari only shook her head and sighed. She then straightened and hummed as they waited for the light to go red for the cars. "Say, Arata, what do you think is happening today?"
"Huh?"
"They were all acting pretty weird like something is happening under our noses." Yukari tilted her head and had a hand on her chin as if the thinker. "It wouldn't be weird if it was not Tohsaki-sempai, but of all people, she invited me to come with her. She was also actively talking to me earlier as well. Am I being tested or something?" She took Arata's hand and crossed with the rest of the pedestrians. "There were also males waiting for Hamada-sempai. They're part of the club, but they are normally benched or something. The way they looked at sempai seemed weird, too.
"Then we also have Attei who was on a hunt for something again." She sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if something shows up at school tomorrow." Yukari only hummed with a happy huff. "The girls didn't come to the club today. I wonder if Attei said something to them."
Arata pouted and spoke in a teasing tone. "Aren't you watching too much TV now? You think they're playing some kind of conspiracy?"
Yukari glared at him. "Well, yes, I do. Remember when I helped Attei track down those girls who locked you? I'll have you know that your girlfriend is a complete pyscho."
He could only scratch his head. "This has nothing to do with me so... I doubt they will be acting against any of them. Unless..." -he recalled what Ruby had said earlier- "she's helping out a girl."
"A girl, huh. I wonder..." she hummed as they continued to walk.
[An Affection Scene has started! Secret Admirer Yukari Ginmachi has the Affection Rate at 70%. Try to earn as much points as you can to raise Affection Rate with the date-able! Remember what they like to hear!]
"I'm not the best person to be talking about this, but you see... Attori was referring to a group known to her as... well, Arata girls..." The player sobbed with a nervous smile. He was sure Yukari knew about it, but he had to swing the conversation to that topic.
"I think I know about that... she mentioned about it towards Wakaba if I remember things, right." The admirer hummed louder, putting hand on her chin. "Simply put, they the not-girlfriends you have, right?"
"Y-Yeah, but not everyone that is very close to me is part of that group." He smiled at the girl with him. He held her hand tighter as they walked through the streets. "It only involves those who Attori considers to be worthy of my attention. Those she considers as real rivals despite being my true girlfriend."
Yukari shrunk her shoulders a little as a reaction to the hold. Her gaze went to their cupped hands before looking away. "I-I see. So... what of it? This 'Arata Girls' group?" Her grip grew tighter as a reflex of her suppressed trembling. "Do you think they're... onto something?"
Arata stared at her, occasionally glancing at where he's walking so he would not run into anything. "Ah, it seems like you don't know."
"Know what?"
"Being considered by Attori as someone worthy of my attention... also means being considered someone she should help in case of trouble." He scratched his head again with a nervous chuckle. "It sounds weird, but she thinks those girls are important enough for me to worry about so... she ends up doing whatever she can to make sure they'll be fine."
"Uh... so?"
"You're... part of it."
"What?"
"Those girls who had been harming you. Attori had no time handling them before because her Mama was in the country. Now that she had a lot of times in her hands, she would probably do something about them." Arata laughed out, recalling the other actions Attori did in the last patch... about those who were trying to bully him when his reputation was still small and budding. He then grinned at Yukari in a meaningful way. "That also means don't get involved for now. It's hard when things get traced back to you."
Yukari used her vacant hand to poke Arata's nose with force. "You and your girlfriend! Really!? Acting like yakuza?" She turned away from him, but her hand held him gentler. "...I see. Then again, we're nothing like that, right? You promised me we will be just friends..."
The male rubbed his nose and protested without a sound. A smile only broke out of his lips when she had her face away from him. He sighed and looked up ahead, seeing that they were almost home. "Yukari, do you love me?"
"What? I do, I mean- of course, as a friend..."
In contrast, she stopped walking and ended up tugging at Arata's hand. The guy turned to her direction and saw a rather dark face she wore with her head down towards the ground. Instead of speaking, the male only watched her reaction and gave her time to react at her own pace. Yukari lifted her head to look at him.
"You said that I was more special than the others. That I was your left hand... a part of you that you don't want to lose." She glared at him. "Why are you asking me this question? Are you making me feel bad about it?"
"No, I'm just checking." The guy laughed and pulled on her arm. He led her to the side which was near the edge of the park on their way home. He invited her to sit down which she did so. "I might have said those things to you, but Attori still regards you otherwise. As long as you have a part in my heart, she'll never think any less of you.
"I have a feeling they are all doing this for you." Arata turned away, stroking at his chin with a rather angered expression. "In fact, if I could help out, I will." He dropped the sour face and smiled towards Yukari. "So don't feel down and be all suspicious towards them, okay?" He caressed her face with his vacant hand, not letting go of the other since earlier.
Yukari could smile and nod in acknowledgement. "I see. Thank you..."
[The Affection Scene has ended! You have additional 75 points! Secret Admirer Yukari Ginmachi now has 78% Affection Rate! Congratulations!]
"Oh, yeah. Since you're already here..." Arata pulled his hands back from the girl and fished inside his wonder bag. He pulled out the cosmos crowns he had gathered. Before he could take it out, he was asked how many will be used. Answering six fused the crowns into one with six golden-hued bulbs on the crown. He himself found it really pretty and impressive.
"Wow, what's that?!" Yukari gasped at the pretty thing on his hand. She then received it from the speechless man. "Can I try it on?!"
"Sure." Arata fished for his instant camera as well. He aimed it at the girl who put on the crown. "Ah, so pretty!" He took a shot, capturing Yukari's pure expression she forgot to hide. He only looked at her as she almost quivered at the feeling.
The crown felt so warm and protective. Yukari would normally turn away at the moment of pure joy, but this time, she only stayed still. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, and so she brought it down. She stared at the crown and stared at the thin, now-metal band to hold the bulbs and leaves in place. Her reflection was caught by some of the thin weaves of the band.
She cared too little at the face she was wearing when she turned to Arata. "Can I keep this?"
"Of course, I got that for you."
"Wow, thank you..." She kept her gaze at the crown again. "Ah, I should wear this with a dress soon..." She continued to mumble, the tears flowing down her eyes. However, she did not look sad at all. She was too happy to keep herself from being composed anymore.
[The date-able had accepted your gift: Cosmos Crown x 6! You have triggered the special effect of the Cosmos Crowns!]
[There will be an additional 60 Affection points for every Cosmos Crown you gifted! Six Cosmos Crowns gave Secret Admirer Ginmachi Yukari a total of 240 Affection Points!]
[Congratulations! The Affection Rate of Secret Admirer Ginmachi Yukari is now MAXED! All Affection Scenes will now be attributed to her Encounter Rate! You have also earned her Affection Video which can be watched in your Albums!]
The barrage of notifications pleased Arata a lot, but he ended up closing them all as fast as they came. He did not want to waste a second not savoring the beautiful picture before him. He only ended up moving when he felt that the action time might expire soon.
"Let's go home now, Yukari." Arata got up and extended his hand towards her. "Tomorrow, we'd probably see what those gangsters were up to, hahah!"
"Calling your girls gangsters, huh." The newly-maxed date-able laughed out, but she did hold his hand. And it stayed that way until they have to part.
The man got home and felt the need to eat dinner in his house. He would think of exploring the forum or shopping for new socks, but the fear of getting another penalty was too real. He just went straight to bed and waited for the day to come.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
droopyghost
droopyghost Hi! It's been a really looooooooong while since I updated this one. I went to Webnovel FanMeeting Manila, and had to "sell" a book since they were like 'You're a writer, right?' I just thought I should update since there are a lot of people coming in again.
Thank you for those who kept on supporting me!
It's not much of a promise, but I might mass release the entire end of the Volume 2 so Volume 3 starts by December...