章 30: Promise Made to be Broken
It was once again the 6 AM action time, and Arata was already striking poses in front of his bathroom mirror. His Stats were back to normal after letting the Stamina penalty pass without a fight. Even though he missed a day to collect a Cosmos Crown, he had fun being accompanied by two of his favorite date-ables.
He mused over the fact that soon enough, even Yukari would be around him as well. Then again, not all maxed date-able stood next to him. Cora did not come around regularly, and Momoka did not show until lately. It could be because it was a non-routed playthrough. Since he was only discussing with himself, he just shrugged and dropped the topic. He took his beloved shower, and changed for school. He went downstairs to eat the frozen croquettes Ruby made yesterday; he left them in the oven to be baked.
A door bell came to Arata's door, and he answered it with a croquette at hand. He greeted Cora and invited her to breakfast like always. They both ate the croquettes, Cora's eyes gleaming in joy for tasting them and envy for knowing someone could make this kind of food for him. They soon left for school, walking together to the bus stop and meeting their other schoolmates aside from Keiko and Tohru.
Needless to say, Arata received a verbal warning and interrogation from his teachers during the morning classes. The worse he got was a schoolwork he had to complete after class in the faculty office. After so, the morning classes proceeded smoothly, with Arata's High Intelligence impressing the students, the teacher, and even himself. He was not academically smart in his previous world.
Lunch time came, and the player had the initiative to address a problem. He was not able to do anything about it for two days, and so he would like to be the one to step forward and solve it. He came to Keiko and asked if they could have lunch together. It was good that Keiko's Obedience was 90%; this way, she did not even think of refusing him.
[You have triggered a date with Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko! Initiating a Kiss will give you 1 Cosmos Crown during the event! You have 2 in your inventory, with 10 remaining to be obtained. Are you ready to impress the date-able? Yes / No]
The garden was only free place to take her. It might have given her bad memories, but the kind look of Arata's face made her agree to it as well. They settled for a different spot, which was less observable from the classrooms. They sat on the grassy floor, and she set their lunches over the cloth wrap that served as mats.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your destination choice gave a boost of 35 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! It is now at 35/100! Keep on going!]
Keiko hooked a hair behind her ear. "Are you here because of what happened last week? I've been behaving well." She took a bite from her food. "I was hoping to have a different topic from you."
"I'm sorry, you're in the same mood you were before you attacked her." Arata whimpered as he ate as well. He could remember the words he heard her say to Tohru. "Keiko, you knew what happened the last time. Attori's not a girl you could just go and hurt. If I wouldn't be able to stop the two of you, you're going to get hurt. I don't want to see you hurt."
"You don't want to see me hurt," she murmured darkly, "and yet you kept on going with the other girls...?" Keiko chuckled out of bitterness and the tears forming at the side of her eyes. "That's funny of you, Arata. But it's not a good joke." She eyed at him with a glint of anger. "Why do you always pretend that everything you do is right? Can't you see that you made a big mistake!?"
"What mistake?" The player asked as if it was a simple math problem.
"You already promised yourself to me!" She almost yelled. She brought down her lunch box and shifted her sitting position to face him. "Do you know how much this hurts me? I endured helping you through everything even until that time that you left with your parents!" She started crying. "And then when you came back, I was... so happy... but you started changing this school year. I don't recognize you anymore.
"So when Mama asked me to go back home, I did." She lowered her head, sniffing lightly. "I still love you so much, but I can't see you like this." She lifted her face, red from crying. "You belong to me. No sharing, no conditions. Just mine!"
Arata reached out to pet the girl's head, earning a devastated hum from her. Truth be told, her route was the last one he finished because it baffled him a lot. Keiko's route was about her blind love towards the game MC just because of a promise they made when they were kids.
In all honesty, little background was given to the players about the game MC himself. They knew almost nothing about him aside from being a loser. It was so they could be themselves when they play and not be restrained by the game MC's personality. Of course, they would be two different persons.
The fact that Keiko was pushing an alien personality against the MC- made Arata not want her route until there was nothing else to complete. However, Keiko was one of the main players of the non-routed playthrough like Yukari, and so it should not hurt to figure this one out while he was at it.
Right now, Arata only knew her desperation was triggered by her brother's break up with Tohru. How that relates to Arata's relationship with Attori still confused him, but at least he could pinpoint that much. Before that, she was just a girl who kept on saying they love a guy they could barely recognize. For some reasons, he needed more from her to solve it.
Seeing the devastated look on her face only made Arata bitterly smile at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was affecting you like that." He then shook his head. "I can't promise you another one that I would end up breaking, Keiko. In fact, I don't really remember the promise I made you back then. A lot of things made me grow up and see the world from a different perspective." Arata took a deep breath. "It must be one of my irresponsible actions. I'm sorry, but please let it go."
"...Let it go?" Keiko started crying ugly in front of him, crying so loud that it would prick someone's heart. "How dare you... how dare you!"
Arata wanted to console her, but he felt like it would hurt her some more. So even though he could throw his arms around her, he refrained from doing so. He did not reach for his bag as well; giving her a gift for the Date points would be pointless and insensitive. All he could do was to watch her cry until she grew quiet, face down to her arms against the grassy floor.
She moved to sit up, wiping her face clean from impurities. Her make-up had ran off, but she cared too little about it since her tears erased most of it. Keiko, who was utterly defeated, lifted her face to look at the man who was only watching her with worried eyes. "Why won't you say something? Why won't you hug me?"
"I will hurt you more if I do that. I don't want you to feel so desperate protecting something that isn't yours anymore." Arata petted her head, managing a bitter smile towards her. "You're still a friend of mine, Keiko. And I still love you like I always had, but it never went to a point that I would choose you over everyone else."
Keiko brought her gaze to the ground again.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your pep talk gave a boost of 20 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! It is now at 55/100! Keep on going!]
Arata hid his shock when he heard the notification. He was pretty sure the Date was failing; why the system still registered 'happiness' from Keiko made it confusing for him. He slid his hand to caress her cheek as if consoling her in the least and best way he could.
Keiko took a hold of his hand before rubbing her face against it. "I... I don't want to let you go, Arata. I want you... I want you..."
"Then stop hurting yourself." The words he just wanted to murmur to himself slipped out loud. Then again, reacting on it would make it bad, and so Arata just let her deal with those thoughts. He also added to it. "Don't hurt anyone. You're making it hard for me to continue loving you."
"I will..." She continued to hide her face, keeping her head down. "I will..."
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your pep talk gave a boost of 20 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! It is now at 75/100! Keep on going!]
Arata frowned at the girl's direction. He could not decide if the Date system was bugged or something else was happening. He could take Attori mad bitch tendencies since she was showing a better side of her; but for some reasons, Keiko's potential path was scaring him. He could not tell if it was because two psychopaths would result in blood bath. He was not a fan of actual bloody violence; seeing the possible bad ends of a Challenge made him not like it some more.
The man only resorted to digging for two gifts from his bag. In every date, the player was allotted seven stunts to pull in order to impress the date-able. These are the destination, and three pep talks and gifts each. Each effect, aside from the destination, had the maximum give of 20 and minimum of 5. The latter had the range of 15 to 50.
The player pulled out an expensive level 100 gift and started to comb her hair to the side. He took his hand away from her hold as he smiled at her. He combed back some of her fringe and fixed the hairpin on her hair. "I saw that from the mall, and thought you'd like it."
Keiko patted the hairpin and tried to make the form out with her fingertips. She smiled at him and rose from her seat to hug him. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Arata."
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your gift: Jade heart hairpin, gave a boost of 20 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! It is now at 95/100! Keep on going!]
Arata would look for another, but he had to console Keiko as she continued to hold him. He waited for her to detach herself from him. He smiled as he looked down on his bag and looked for another gift before seeing her hand holding the bag's opening closed.
"...Can we just talk? I have a feeling you're just giving me gift to shut me up right now." Keiko's grip on his bad tightened. "I am planning to see a flower viewing event on Sunday, Arata. Would you like to go with me?"
"Uhh, I kinda got sick out of overworking so I thought I'm staying in on Sunday." Arata had to make up a lie. He knew saying he was going to help Attori would produce a less desirable result.
"Oh. Okay," Keiko spoke softly as she accepted the excuse without putting up a fight. She then smiled warmly at him.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your pep talk gave a boost of 20 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! Congratulations! It is now at 100/100! Why don't you go for a Kiss?]
Instead of him moving, it was Keiko who moved closer to start kissing him. It was not like he was going to refuse after all. She held on his shoulders, trying to invade his mouth as much as she could with her tongue. It was a good thing they were not eating a lot, or else it would have been awkward.
[You have initiated a Kiss! Congratulations! You have earned 1 Cosmos Kiss as a reward from the event The Autumn Flowers have Risen! You can give it to any date-able of your liking. Please be reminded that all Cosmos Crowns are only usable during the event.]
[You have failed to unlock the secret request. Keep on asking for dates and find an opportunity to a more creative way to impress the date-able!]
After the lunch action time, the next event occurred during the after class session. He had to answer a test questionnaire in English. It was about the paragraph cohesiveness so he was choosing sentences that go together. However, instead of a regular test questionnaire, it was about the date-ables. Some paragraphs would tackle about their favorite foods and most feared creatures. He had fun answering the questions while refreshing his mind about what he knew from them.
For a while, he was able to clear his head after the test. Arata walked the hallways and looked out at the thin clouds that cluttered the sky. It was going to rain again later or tonight, but he still wanted to have a date with someone to fill yesterday's offset.
"Should I ask Tohru out today?" Arata whispered as he stared at the clouds, leaning at the side of the hallway.
"Who said I'll go?" Tohru's familiar voice entered his earshot, and she leaned against his back, squashing him between her weight and the wall before him. The jerk hummed and rested the back of her head on his shoulder. "So beat. Let's hit the arcade, Acchan."
"You said you don't want to go..." Arata endured the position, not that it actually hurt him.
"It's because we're not going to arcade." She chuckled. "I really want to punch something so hard right now."
"Okay. Let's go to the arcade then."
クリエイターの想い 
droopyghost
droopyghost Hi! Thanks for all the votes! :D If ever we hit 200 or less in ranking this week, I'll release double chapter only on weekends next week. (I'm in the same UTC as WN so it would be server time, haha.) I hope everyone's days have gone good today!