Bab 24: The Rise of the Autumn Flowers!
Hamasaki Arata stood in front of the school gates during lunch as he stared at the event banner hanging above the metal steel bars of their gates. Since it was already lunch, the entrance had been closed, and the only way to get in was through the guard house along where visitors pass through as they come. The colorful banner was an announcement of the Flower Festival for the autumn season. Last spring, they also had this kind of event... that could only be triggered during campaign.
Campaign events like these are one of Player-kun Complex's exclusive events. It was that kind of event that were not dictated by real time. It did not matter when one started to play the game, the campaign events would always be there. However, it was restricted to be played only once; running another playthrough would not give the player another shot at this event. This was a reason why some players would pick routed playthroughs as their first run despite the lack of available locations and features.
A lot of players loved the spring flower festival version, known as the Give Cherry Blossoms and Hearts event, when it first appeared on the April 8th game day, because it gave them free Affection points to the ones they like. However, since it was only once per player, some players admitted to reseting just to get a routed playthrough to maximize the event. It was only seven days after the start of the campaign so progress was not much of an issue. This time, it was on the September 16th game day, and a lot had already happened due to the Encounter and Challenge modes. Reseting would have a big setback, and this led to Arata appending the use of introducing these modes so early in the patch.
The autumn flower festival event named The Autumn Flowers have Risen would run from September 16 to 31, meaning it would coincide with the Hibiya Oktoberfest. It posed a threat to those who would only do this to max Attori, because the player would have no available time to date her during the first half of the event. The flower festival events asked the players to finish twelve dates within the event so they could earn a flower festival special scene from an unlocked date-able of their choosing. Since only one would be given per player, no one could brag about getting all of them. Moreover, it did not have any kind of Affection point reward, so Arata always planned to get Attori's special scene in every campaign event like it.
Each date completed would give a special item; autumn version's was the Cosmos Crown. Like the spring's Cherry Kiss, a Cosmos Crown would give 40 Affection points to the date-able. Completing twelve dates was a whopping collection of 480 Affection points, raking almost half of their total to be maxed. Then again, back in the spring version, Arata distributed these points equally among Attori, Cora, and Ruby. It was a non-routed playthrough, and his priority was to unlock every girl and every location in one go, and not max a single date-able.
Maxing Attori would require him to have Max Charms, but this would cause problems unlocking more date-ables who needed High Strength and High Intelligence. Charms played a role in giving extra Affection points, but it was the least required stat; a full unlock would require High Strength, High Intelligence, Low to Moderate Charms, and ample Stamina. It did not help that the player could only advance to level 70 after maxing three date-ables. The mechanics were never designed to complete the trophy date-able and unlock everything in a single playthrough. It seemed to be persistent in the first major update since the autumn flower festival hit the Hibiya Oktoberfest.
All of these rumbled in Arata's mind as he went through the guard check and excuses of coming in late. Getting nothing but first offense warning, he moved quickly to get to class. He did not know who would be waiting for him in there, but it would be nice if someone made him lunch. His frantic moves made him forget that it did not matter what time he left, the next action time after 8 AM would always be 12 PM.
The door of the classroom slid smoothly and slowly as Arata tried not to make his presence known. The girls and boys upfront were busy eating, and no one even looked to see who just came. A soft sigh left his lips before turning to his seat, seeing Yukari staring at his direction with a mischievous smile. Cora was on his seat, eating next to her.
"Sorry, I overslept." Arata chuckled as he took Attori's seat which was near his, seeing that she was not around anymore. He turned to Cora who fumbled in getting another box out of her lunch bag. "Hi, Cora. Did you wait long earlier?"
"Not really." The first year girl had a bashful smile as she gave the lunch box to Arata, who received it with both hands. "Yukari-sempai waited with me until it was only minutes before we ran late." She had her hands loosely laced in front of her. "Have you eaten, Arata-sempai?"
"No. Thanks for this, I'm actually starving!" The player started his lunch as fast as possible since the two girls were almost done with theirs.
Yukari then chuckled like a witch. "I wonder what kept you late. Attori said you checked out on your little job early last night." She reached out and pointed at his nose. "You're not meeting another girl, are you?" She recalled her hand. "Geez, you can't even fit all of them in your schedule."
"It was fairly important business!" Arata depended himself, taking one big chomp at a time. He then looked down at the lunch. "My, these are really good!"
"Uhm, Sempai," -Cora squeezed her voice out of her mouth in timidity- "can I bother you with a concert after class? We will be practicing in the auditorium later." Her shoulders shrunk as she tried to hide herself in embarrassment, obliging the sempai to come see her. "It's okay if you can't go."
"Are you kidding me? Of course I'm going!" Arata flashed an excited smile towards her, making her gasp in happiness. "I wouldn't pass on hearing you sing!"
"Thank you so much!" The timid girl laced her fingers tightly in joy. "I'll be expecting you then!"
Amidst Cora's gleeful chuckling, Yukari made a loud and long inhale and exhale noise. She managed to bag the attention of the two. She then sighed. "Man, if only I was also free, I want to come, too. My mom already got her leave since Yuuta got bedridden, but I still have to attend to Yuuki. I hope his illness won't escalate..."
"Oh, no, is Yuuta your younger brother? What happened to him?" Cora made a worried face, ignoring Arata's curious gaze at the two. "Was he the one with the cap?"
"That's Yuuki. Yuuta haven't gone to school for almost a week now." The best friend almost sobbed as she rubbed her face on her table after getting the lunch cleared. "This is so stressful. I don't want to blame them, but I'm missing a lot. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the basketball club."
"No! That is not how you should think!" Cora raised her voice, making Yukari turn to her as she puffed with both arms contained to the side of her chest. "Never let your troubles deprive you of your dreams! A certain wise man once said, if you stop at this, then how do you plan on getting there!"
Arata clearly remembered that as one of the choice dialogues for Cora's route, when she was trying to revitalize the school's choir club. Her alienation had stopped her from going to people and presenting her songs to them. It was a little cute for the king to hear the date-able's looking back at his choices even though it was decided by codes.
Yukari only stared at her and laughed out at her attempt. She would not stop even if Cora looked so lost and confused, wondering if she said anything wrong. The best friend stifled more laughter before humming. She reached out to pat Cora's head. "My, my, so cute! I want a little sister, too!" She then pulled back and snuffed with a defeated smile. "Okay, okay. I'll just see it through. I just wish the team still had hopes for me. I want to believe in this wise man." She glanced at Arata, knowing it was him.
However, hands dove down Yukari's chest and grabbed her bosom. "I can be your little sister!" Attori squealed as she managed to get behind the best friend. She held her down with her rather powerful back, keeping Yukari from escaping her 'hug.' "Big sister! I want you!"
"Arata, get her off of me!" Yukari started screaming, flustered by the groping. Then again, she directed her rage towards Arata who was amused by their actions. "Why are you still there smiling!? Get her off!" She used her leg to kick Arata's knee.
"No! Big sister!"
The loud lunch soon died down as the bell rang. The students squabbled to get the seats back into place, and Cora had to leave for her own classroom. Arata was able to finish his lunch on time, so it was okay for Cora to leave by then. The rest of the students who just came in shuffled violently across the seats before the teacher made it inside the room. The classes started again, and it seemed no one bothered with Arata just sprouting out of nowhere.
Cora took multiple deep breaths as she waited outside the auditorium. She wanted to greet Arata before he sits down and listen to their practice. It was for an interschool competition so she wanted to hear his honest review. She rehearsed her words in her head, only for it to whittle down as the man arrived with Attori. For a moment, her heart died a little.
"You're Cora, right!?" Attori was the first one to greet her. She then took her hand and smiled. "I'm Attori! I heard you'd be representing the school for the Senior Music Fest! Good luck on you practice!" She let go of her hand and patted both of Arata's shoulders from behind. "Watch this guy for me, okay? He gets emotional a lot so don't make him cry. Also," -her eyes sharpened, enough to incite Cora's fright- "if you see a long-haired brunet getting near him, kick her."
"No need to be violent." Arata laughed out at the alert for Keiko. He waved at his girlfriend as she hopped away; it was as if she just walked him to the auditorium before leaving for Hibiya. He then smiled at Cora. "Have you been waiting long?"
"I thought she'll be watching..."
"She's really busy at the moment. Shall we?" The man ushered the delighted girl inside the auditorium.
The king went for a good seat in the auditorium, joining other students who wanted to watch. The adviser of the club was also there, along with the vice principal. Soon, the choir filled up the makeshift pedestal for them, with Cora in the middle. Applause were given, and so they started.
Unlike the dance class club, the choir club was a lot organized and disciplined. Everyone did their part well even though there were lapses in the timing of others. The pianist was also still learning the piece, constantly looking at her music sheets. However, it was good, and the areas of improvement were defined. The arrangement could not be called superb, but it was amazing to the few students who just wanted to hear the choir sing. Cora solo came, and everyone was enticed by her voice. If Arata would rewrite her title, it would be changed to School Siren or Human Nightingale.
The practice ended after three rounds of group practice and a dozen for each voice type. The audience was so satisfied with the results, and the supporters of the club would even make a banner for them in the competition. Arata picked up the siren after the practice, walking her to the lockers as they chatted with the king giving his praises to the timid girl.
"Yeah, Cora, do you want to hang out right now? I won't keep you that long." Arata smiled. "Just a congratulations for a job well done today."
"Uhm, sure, sempai. I don't mind going home late today." Cora had a faint blush drawn across her face. It had been a while since the last time they were together after all.
[You have triggered a date with Exchange Student Cora Handel! Initiating a Kiss will give you 1 Cosmos Crown during the event! You have 0 in your inventory, with 12 remaining to be obtained. Are you ready to impress the date-able? Yes / No]
Arata only smiled as he walked with Cora with their hands intertwined with each other. It was time for his first glimpse of the Autumn Flowers.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
droopyghost
droopyghost Hi! Welcome to the second volume of My Arata Complex! Thank you so much for the support! Each power stone is highly appreciated! :D Comments and reviews as well!