Capítulo 25: Along the Pollen Trail
It was the 6 PM action time, and the whole Lumen Park was only lit by the dim lights. The only thing that glowed in Arata's sight was Cora's light hair of pale blond, given to her by her German ancestry. He could not take Cora to anywhere loud and energetic because it was a complete clash to her interests and personality. Even eating out would be tasteless as Cora was restricted from drinking any kind of beverage recklessly. The only place suitable for her was the dating spot that she always loved throughout her route: the Lumen Park Flower Tunnel.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your destination choice gave a boost of 50 to Exchange Student Cora Handel's Date Meter! It is now at 50/100! Keep on going!]
The dim tunnel was made darker by the canopy of the trees sheltering the flower from too much heat from the sun. The sun was setting, and the flower tunnel was not a good place to see it. However, Cora enjoyed the place nonetheless. She liked the flowers more than the sights after all.
"I rarely see the flowers before they bloom. Look at all the buds on this plant, sempai!" Cora knelt before the bed railing next to the walkway. She caressed the plant that was working hard in making its flowers bloom. "Do your best, mother plant!"
"Don't get too close, Cora. You might inhale some pollen." Arata laughed as he bent down to see the plant Cora referred to, but did not go as close as she did. He looked over the overly excited girl, as her gaze only laid at the buds. The player then looked around some more, seeing a few blooming flowers further into the flower tunnel. He turned to her. "Cora, there's a lot more over here."
"Ah! Lemme see them!" The school siren jogged from one place to another, bending down to see the budding flowers and the newly bloomed ones. Her hair and skirt fluttered along her movements.
Arata felt so blessed being able to see this kind of scenes again; he did miss Cora's light-hearted route until the part where she was heavily discouraged to continue with her three-year program. Then again, her route was the least sexy among others; even her intro Encounter was toned down.
"Sempai! Look here-" She was cut off by loud coughing. It seemed that she just inhaled pollen and had to wheeze to get it out.
The male quickly searched his inventory, which was accessible during dates. It was in his backpack, but a lot of wild things came by as he kept a lot in his max capacity inventory. He pulled out a water bottle, twisted the cap open, and gave it to her. She drank a lot to clear her air path before chuckling. She wiped her eyes free from involuntary tears, before drinking more of the water again.
"Maybe I shouldn't get near the grass." Cora wiped the rim of the bottle's mouth before handing it back to Arata to be capped. "I'm sorry for worrying you, sempai."
"Take care of yourself some more. Geez." He reacted like imitating Yukari before laughing out as Cora got the joke. He then came to pick her up from the ground, helping her up to get to her feet. He then sat at the wide cement railing next to the flowers. "Did it take a lot of convincing from them to have you have the solo? It's going to be your first since you joined them."
"Ah, not really. I was just scared I might mess up the song when we're up on stage." Cora sat next to him, minding about their distance. Even though she was a certified Arata girl, she was still wary of getting rather close to the king out in the open. Their last intimate contact was in a closed part of the school. She then ignored her insecurities as she felt the need to reply some more. "Though there were some students who thought that I got the solo because I was related to the principal."
"I'm pretty sure you just proved them wrong with how well you did in the practice!" He laughed out, before digging into his bag.
"I think so, too. I saw them all smiling at me after the practice." Cora giggled before blushing faintly. "If you weren't there, I don't think I'll be able to feel confident. Thank you for seeing me."
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your pep talk gave a boost of 10 to Exchange Student Cora Handel's Date Meter! It is now at 60/100! Keep on going!]
Arata had to refresh his mind what kind of gifts would she like the most. He then took out a small instant camera with limited shots of ten. He remembered for it to be an event reward, and the films could be bought from the premium shops only at a limited sale, that randomly appeared every month. He just got ten from the last sale when he binge-shopped level 100 items. He aimed the view at Cora who instinctively smiled for the camera.
Click! The photo came out shortly, for him to collect from the camera's slit. Since it was not advised to shake it, he just placed it down on the flat seat next to him. The man then slid off his seat and decided to take pictures of the Cora as soon as the lights came on in the tunnel. It was already too dark to see most of the place after all.
"Did you know they were about to light the place?" Cora was in awe as the lights turn on. She then giggled as she watched him try to get a good angle like a professional photographer.
"What are you talking about? They turned it on because I'm taking photos of you." Arata almost murmured, letting his smugness slip out a little. He took three more and laid them next to each other, sitting on his earlier space beside Cora.
"That's impossible." The siren covered her face as she blushed wildly once again, hiding it along with her sweet smile.
"Eh, you're red like a tomato again!" The man laughed out as he went to his seat and put the instant camera back into his inventory.
Since the photos had less color due to the night shots, the photos had come out in less then ten minutes. He smiled at all of them before handing it to Cora. The girl received them in utmost pleasure, dreamy about the photos.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your gift: Instant camera photos, gave a boost of 20 to Exchange Student Cora Handel's Date Meter! It is now at 80/100! Keep on going!]
The date-ables then got off her seat and came to hold Arata's wrist as he was organizing the bag. He turned to her, and it seemed like she wanted to go somewhere else. The man hurriedly packed up properly and got led to a deeper part of the tunnel, where the canopy vanished, showing the dark sky and the fountain littered with the leaves falling off the trees around it. There were nets at a shallow shelf at the bottom of the fountain, which Cora took two from.
Cora gave one to Arata. "They said that if you manage to clean this fountain, the water gods will grant you a wish." She looked at her net and around the water basin. "It has a lot, but let's do this, sempai!" For some reasons, she looked determined.
The man could only snicker outside of her sight. He remembered going through a scene in the earlier patches where the main character of the game lied to Ruby about that certain tradition. Since she was credulous, and everyone else was just as credulous as her to her words, that false tradition had circulated in school. Today was another day that another date-able had fallen into the trap. Though, this was the first one he would see in person.
"Sure, I'll help!" Arata displayed the same enthusiasm. Nothing bad had happened to those who do it; nothing good had happened to them either. As long as Cora would like the result, he would be happy.
The nets were not lengthy enough to reach the farther leaves, and so the girl would end up stretching all the way to reach the distant ones. Arata would hold her in place so she would not fall into the water. There were passers-by who notice them, but seeing that they were high school students, they must have thought they were just helping in cleaning the fountain. Cora netted the leaves on her side, while Arata did the same on the other. Before they could finish, another surge of wind blew on the the trees, sending a handful of leaves into the basin.
Arata, who sometimes loses control over his cool, tried to stop most of the leaves from falling into the water, because they would drift far from reach. Then again, he forgot that the basin was made of stone. He slipped right into the basin, but he managed to net most of the new leaves while still airborne.
Cora heard the thud from her side and screamed as the man pulled himself out of the basin. There were lots in his net, and on his hair, clothes, and face. Instead of cleaning him up, she started laughing out, louder than she had ever had before. Arata then just started chuckling as he cleared the leaves from his face.
[You have fulfilled the secret request: fall into the fountain's water basin! Each request will give you a chance to get a second event scene! You have 10% of the required secret requests! Good luck!]
"Damn devs, though." Arata was happy about the second event scene, but for it to be secretly unlocked and unannounced was beneath them. Then again, it could have been announced outside of the campaign mode. He wrung his shirt as much as he could, trying to dry himself. He kept his smile on despite the dilemma how to deal with getting wet.
"Y-You should take it off, sempai. It's bad if it dries against your back." Cora covered half of her face with her eyes averted from view. Her cheeks were on fire like she was really embarrassed by the suggestion. Then again, what she did not know was that Arata was used to seeing through covered facial expressions with the kind of childhood he had.
He knew that underneath her slender fingers and precious eyes that looked away, was a smile of excitement.
It was not bad for him at all; in fact, it was his first idea. Then again, September nights started growing cooler and cooler every day. Exposing his bare upper body would get him sick. Even if it was a game, he had yet to test his susceptibility to diseases. His right hand suffered from an in-game attack, so he tend to be a bit more careful. Sayaka also warned him about the perils to come.
However, Arata was Arata, the god of the living with his name as a complex. In this world, he would like to do what he likes. Giving in to the request of the date-able, Arata unbuttoned his uniform and took it off, sliding the wet fabric off of his moist skin. He then shook it away from them with one hand.
"But you have to warm me. I'll get sick." He smiled, at the innocent girl who he knew was just trying to keep herself from misbehaving.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your gift: Sneak peek, gave a boost of 20 to Exchange Student Cora Handel's Date Meter! Congratulations! It is now at 100/100! Why don't you go for a Kiss?]
Cora brought her eyes to his bare chest and went closer to feel it with her palms; the High Strength and Over-maxed Charms paid off in sculpting his body some more. She then wrapped her arms around his waist, keeping her face and chest against him. "I will oblige." The siren then looked up at him, her lips reaching for his.
Arata took his free arm around her back and pulled her closer. He sealed their lips together, feeling another kind of achievement as he managed to pass the first date with flying colors. Moreover, he did enjoy another day with Cora Handel, one of his favorite date-ables. He pulled back after the kiss, only for her reached for his face and took a second one, this time, a lot deeper.
[You have successfully completed a Date with Exchange Student Cora Handel! Her Encounter Rate is now MAXED at 75%! Congratulations!]
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
droopyghost
droopyghost Sorry, today's chapter got delayed. I'm not ready for the sudden Trending Story reward, (last time, they sent an email a week early) but hey, thank YOU! If it wasn't for you guys, this novel wouldn't get this far! Thank you for all the support! Let me try and release double chapters today until Sept 9!