บท 46: A Parade of Surprises
Streetlights flickered as a couple walked down the empty streets. There were a few cars passing by, and few more bustled in the distance. Arata was carrying both of their bags while Attori was quietly walking beside him. With their fingers interlaced with each other's, the silence was nothing difficult or deafening. If anything, it was soothing even for a warm September night. It was already the 9 PM action time, and he should hurry home to not exhaust himself.
The cold wind began to blow, and circle around them for a moment. Arata felt like it was trying to whisper into their ears, but its voice was too weak to even make him feel anything. He had no idea if Attori would react to it either. The man soon brought his gaze to the woman's face; her expression worried him.
Her mellow eyes had formed sharp lines and triangles. She shifted her gaze all around them as if looking for something. Her fingers were still loose against his grip, but her body had tensed up. Attori felt the weight of her boyfriend's gaze, and she only smiled at him as if nothing was happening.
"Is something wrong, Arata?" She flashed a wider grin as she spoke.
"Is something wrong?" He only echoed her question as if returning it for her to answer.
She only shook her head as an answer. She brought her gaze to the scene before them. "I really like it when we walk in the dark. It makes me more comfortable that you're here with me." She giggled and started prancing without changing her pace of walking. It appeared like she was just hopping in her place as they continued through the dark walkway. "We should do it often!"
"Attori..." The man took a deep breath. He had something sitting inside his mind for a while now. He knew Attori could have forgotten about it, and that would be a little dangerous to forget. "Is Keiko still bothering you?"
"Not at all." She answered as fast as he ended his question. "I see her spying around, but she seemed to be focusing on something else other than me. Probably to make her stand more stable." The girl dropped her head to the side as she hummed. She stepped away from her boyfriend, but their fingers were still laced. With his extended arm supporting her balance, she almost dipped her body to the side. "Do you still think about her?"
"I can't help but to be worried. She's still a friend of mine..."
"You were never friends in her head." The blue-haired girl tugged on her boyfriend's sturdy hold. She then spun back to him like they were dancing. It was a good thing that his sense of balance was great, or else he would have been pulled away by the girl. She used her vacant hand to feel the arm around her by then. "Aren't you curious why she held on to such vague promise? 'Let's get married when we're older' doesn't seem to be believable when the boy did not even put so much effort keeping her close..."
'I could ask Mumumu about Keiko's route, but I don't want to get spoiled...' Arata only nodded as he sobbed inwardly. He then looked up at the dark, starless sky to think.
However, as soon as he gazed at the lone moon, there was a weird dot in front of it. Then the view zoomed in as if a player's view of the screen. A shadow figure was hovering at that altitude, with wings that resembled a bat around the waist. Arata froze as he saw what seemed to be an ominous figure. Before he could guess what it was, the figure dropped out of the moonlight and dove into the darkness of the sky. He began moving his head as if looking for it.
"Did you see something?" Attori's voice seemed calm and cautious, without a trace of curiosity.
"Did you see it, too?" The player turned to his girlfriend who was also gazing at the moon above them.
"Barely. It looks like a FLY from this distance..." The mad girl put a strange emphasis at the word 'fly' as if it was an insult. She kept her gaze on the moon while Arata stared at her face that was strangely... murderous in nature. Banishing her scary expression, she flashed a sweet smile at him again. "Anyway, let's just go home, okay?"
The man nodded and led the way while keeping her under his arm like earlier. Even after they passed by, the lights continued to flicker.
The next morning was a normal scenario. Yukari was in his home, making breakfast for him. As soon as they were about to eat, Cora would arrive and join them for breakfast. They would walk to the bus stop and take minutes to get to their school. They walked Cora to her class, and the duo would make their way to their class. The player greeted his girlfriend and soon following it with a wordless communication with the childhood friend. Such a normal start indeed.
However, the feel of the ominous figure from last night bothered Arata. His girlfriend's murderous gaze and uncalled insult somewhat added to his worries. The way the 'screen' shifted was a way to make sure that the player would know there was something strange up there. The silhouette was revealed so it would not be a 'fly' to the players either. The god of the living huffed through his teeth as his mind tried to speculate as much ideas as he could. Then again, considering the game mechanics, it should be within his control whether to establish contact with it or not.
Poke! Arata felt something poke his face. The sting of the small pain dragged him back to Earth. He remembered he was in the middle of a lunch date with Tohru. The athlete looked pissed, and he knew it could go wrong no matter how much he tried to save it at this rate. It was a learning experience that the date-ables do not wait for the player to answer; they wait like real human beings.
"What's with the weird face!?" She huffed. "Should I just leave you alone the next time you space out?" The she-jerk grinned at the man as to prove that she got irritated by his distractions. "This is the third time I had to wake you up." She leaned back against the wall of the roof access door. Her tone shifted to one with traces of vexation. "Did she do something to you? Attei?"
The player soon got his gaze back at her eyes. "Hm? Are you worried about me?"
"I never had a favorite person for a long while. Let me worry about you from time to time, Acchan~"
"Sounds like Ruby said things about Attori to make you worry..."
"I don't need Ru's words, only her confirmation." She shrugged her shoulders and continued to gather her rice, but she did not took it to her mouth. "One look is all you need to know that girl had some loose screws. Then again, she's careful enough not to hurt anyone unnecessarily."
Arata twitched and hummed. "Now that you mentioned, she did threaten you back when we saw you with Keiko and her brother..."
The girl nodded before humming before bringing down her lunch box. "And yeah, Acchan, you don't loiter around at night, right?"
"What's with this all of a sudden?"
"I don't know much, but last night, they said someone got attacked by a 'ghost,' they said." Tohru hummed as she tilted her head to the side and looked at the sky as if thinking. "The man was... scared to death, apparently." She turned to him. "Like he was sucked dry and left to die from dehydration."
"Why is this surfacing right now in the middle of a date...?" Arata couldn't help but to grumble. He noticed that Tohru reacted to him, meaning that he had said those words aloud. He then cleared his throat. "Sorry, that was what is bothering me actually. The strangest things..."
"Oh yeah, what happened?"
"We saw something strange last night. Like something is flying on top of us..."
"'We?' Like 'Attei and I' we?" Tohru then chuckled in amusement. "Then don't worry! I'm pretty sure she'll kill everything dangerous that gets near you!"
Arata shook his head and continued to eat his almost untouched lunch. "That's the problem. I don't want Attori to get hurt or in trouble because of me. I am fine with her dealing with this she had dealt before, but things like this that could certainly hurt—" He twitched and shook his head again. He chuckled at the girl he was with. "Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to talk about another girl in front of you!"
He opened his eyes and returned the stare Tohru gave him. As soon as she realized he was also staring back at her, she only chuckled bitterly. Without the Heads Up Display or HUD in his screen, he could not see the state of the current date. He could only recall the points he gathered— the ones he ignored apparently.
"Wow, I wonder how much a person should do to make you love them that much..." She kept her eyes on her food by then. "Do we have to be as crazy as the mad bitch? Or something near as crazy as that failure of a promised wife?"
"What?"
"Nevermind. I don't want to talk to you anymore. Unless you're willing to give me something cute." Tohru laughed out and extended her hand. She seemed to have activated the not-so-blunt notification that Arata had used up his Talk Stunt. "Come on, big boy. Hand something over!"
As if it was allowed, he pulled out a 10,000 JPY bill and placed it on her palm. He did so with a bored expression as well.
"...Is this for real?" Tohru chuckled as she clipped the bill to her palm with a thumb. "Are you really giving me money? Is this serious?"
"I only have limited cash. Don't expect me to give you five more of that..." Arata sighed, sobbing inwardly while ridiculing himself. Then again, he should not be able to pull out a bill if that was not allowed at all.
"How about another one?!" Tohru laughed out and waved her hand. "I'm doing you a good service, goshujinsama*!~"
"Don't talk like I'm paying you for THAT." Arata chuckled louder as he did place another bill on her hand. He noticed that the glint in her eyes were different from a real extortionist. He spied on her actions as she pulled out her wallet and slipped the bills inside. There was a thick wad of smaller bills. He only smiled at a thought.
[You just pulled off a stunt! Your gift: Cold, Hard Cash, gave a boost of 20 to Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru's Date Meter! Congratulations! It is now at 100/100! Why don't you go for a Kiss?]
'I forgot even a glimpse of my body gets counted as a Gift Stunt.' Arata sighed as he went with the closing actions of the date. However, he was shocked when the action time did not end right after he got his tenth Cosmos Crown.
"Ah, yeah, Acchan, I have something for you." Tohru fished something from her skirt's pocket.
[You have unlocked Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru's secret mode: King of Trades! Once Tohru reaches the Affection Rate of 50%, she will take random Special Items from your equipment and trade it with a Mystic Item! Previous equipments given to Tohru will be counted.]
[Mystic Items are Items that have similar but bigger effects compared to Special Items. These items also raise your Stamina!]
'She also has a secret mode?!' The player almost choked.
"Remember your socks? I don't want to return that... so I just thought you'd like these instead." She chuckled as she grew excited in presenting her gift. Her eyes glinted differently as she reached out to him, giving him a paper bag with a small ribbon stapled as a décor. "You don't have to wear it right away, too. But show me when you do." She grinned like a cat at him, hoping to see his legs again when he presents the worn socks.
"Ah, sure..." Arata was next to speechless. He opened the package and saw black socks with white line art of wings around the ankles.
[You have received 'Winged Socks of Efficiency' from Tohru! Type: Mystic Equipment. Raises movement speed by 30%! Adds 20 points to your Maximum Stamina.]
"Thank you so much." The player smiled at the girl who was also smiling at him as if proud of her find. He then reached out and petted her head, the girl leaning towards his hand. "I don't mind receiving more gifts from you in the future, Tohru."
"Hahah, leave it to me." She only gave a thumbs-up before humming. Her gaze never left his face as he inspected the socks again. "I'm so happy you liked it..."
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
droopyghost
droopyghost Goshujinsama means 'master' in Japanese cafe maid terms. It's quite unrelated to Arata's answer.
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