4 The Notorious Date-able (1/2)

The stand-off in the garden was one of these weirdly tensed scenes that Arata avoid in school, back when he was still alive. However, he was in the middle of one, and hopefully, it would end soon. The player kept on looking at Keiko and the unknown woman, only to hear the bell ring. The 12 PM action time was going to close.

”Anyway, just see you around, Keiko.” The woman tossed the ball to her finger and spun it on the tip. She walked away, coming to the same direction she entered.

”Why do I even have to see her around?” Keiko bit her lower lip and closed Arata's jacket on her. She then brought her gaze at the king. ”I... Feel free to hate me now, Arata-kun. My feelings won't change.” She got up and gathered her things before running away.

Arata got up and watched his childhood friend run away. Feeling offended by how that rude girl made Keiko cry, the player got up and dusted himself, mumbling about who that girl was after all. ”She must be a new character for Keiko's route. Then again, why does she feel so strange?”

After the remaining of the afternoon action time, Arata had to say goodbye to Yukari since he was going to attend the Student Council meeting. He met Attori on his way and they managed to talk on the way since she was going to the dance club room. After walking her to her club, Arata managed to get to the Council room.

”Someone sure took their time!” One of the members called out as he walked in.

”Sorry for having a girlfriend to walk to her club room.” Arata shrugged him off, making some of them sob for being bachelors.

”Well, since Hamasaki is here, let's start finalizing the details and general activities for the cultural festival.” Ruby, who was the Student Council President, put on her brave face and tapped the board where she listed the submitted ideas for the fest.

It had been a good hour or two, and Arata was nothing close to exhausted. He enjoyed listening to Ruby agreeing and arguing with other members of the council. Most of them had gone home, but Arata volunteered to help Ruby sort the rejected submissions from the accepted ones. Each class submitted for an idea on the first day of classes after the break after all.

”It's been a while since we last talked to each other, Hamasaki.” Ruby startled Arata with her rather soft voice. She turned to him with a smile. ”Would you like to talk? Even just for a while?”

”Ah, I think-” Arata noticed Ruby sit on the table, her legs quite too open for a normal sitting position. He then smirked at her before going close to her. ”What do you want to talk about, Ruby-sempai?”

”Anything.” She reached out to stroke at his chin. ”I haven't seen you the entire break. I must have missed you a lot.” She brought her free hand to her thigh and picked up the hem of her skirt. ”Didn't you miss me, Arata?”

[An Encounter Mode has been triggered! School Queen Tohsaki Ruby has a total of 30 Excitement points right now. Obedience is at 70%, Excitement at 30%, and Affection at 100%.]

[Play the Encounter Mode? Yes / Pass]

Pass? Letting a scene pass would mean that there are other available scenes to play at that moment. Arata almost frowned as he thought of things, but for some reasons, he chose to pass.

He only leaned close to Ruby and pecked at her lips before pulling back again. ”I do, but I have a girlfriend now. I can't frolic with anyone else anymore.” He ran his fingers through her hair. ”I'm sorry, Ruby-sempai. I can't do anything further than this.”

”Hm, very well.” Ruby crossed her legs, and handed Arata a thick folder. ”Just call me when your girlfriend starts getting bored. Then again, I might be the one getting bored soon.” She shook the folder, which reminded Arata to take with both hands. ”I need to have the gym custodian to look over these requests for the fest. You should give the reviewed version to me on Friday.”

”Sure.” The king motioned to go, but he felt his tie getting pulled by the girl. He received another kiss from her which was longer than the first two they shared. He only smiled and gathered his things to leave the room.

On the hallway, Arata sighed and stared at the folder. Just today, he was able to trigger Keiko and Ruby's Encounter Mode, and it felt rather weird to be triggering them on the second day. He whispered to himself while walking, ”Botan used the term Intro Encounter. Does every date-able have an Intro Encounter? I haven't gotten Yukari to max, but she had one. Hm, I guess I had to ask around again later.”

The gym custodian's office was of course in the gym. Arata went inside and noticed that the basketball club were training as fiercely as usual, same routine for the boys and girls' teams. His school was last year's champion in boy's division so planning to get a back-to-back was in everyone's minds. It probably drove the girls to work harder, too. The king looked at his watch, seeing that it was still 4 PM meant the action time was still active. He did have another scene to play.

He met with the custodian and went over what the Council proposes to do for the upcoming fest. The custodian promised to review the requests and give alternatives about the ones she might reject. Arata nodded in gratitude and reminded her that he will be back around Thursday for it. The king bid goodbye to the custodian, and made his way through the court to get out of the gym.

”Look out!”

[Not enough Strength!]

Both voices startled Arata, that when he saw the ball was almost against his face, he jerked back and failed to balance himself. He had not measured the pain inflicted on him inside the game, but a ball hitting his face would surely hurt. He tried to dodge, only to slip. Then again, a hand suddenly slapped the ball away, and another arm caught him from falling. The ball bounced back to the others for them to collect.

”Geez, that's thrice in a row.” Hamada, the girl who Keiko loathed, saved the king. She helped the player to his feet before snuffing, a smirk on her face. ”Why do I end up always saving you? So uncool for a guy, don't you think?”

”Saving me, huh.” Arata raised a brow, not accepting that she saved him from Keiko. Then again, she did so for the ball and the fall, making the king drop the matter and smile. ”Anyway, thanks for slapping the ball away. That would have hurt.”

”Yeah, like the bump on your head when you hit the floor.” Hamada laughed out. ”Unless you don't want to count that since you're so used to being down there.”

A glare and a deep frown crumpled Arata's face. ”Why do you sound so obnoxious? What is your problem!?” He growled after, forgetting that there was no screen wall between them. Arata likes women, but it did not mean he tolerates those who ridicule others. However, he was silenced by Hamada... with her finger across the player's lips.

”Shh, don't cause trouble here, Mr. Student Council.” Hamada chuckled before taking her finger back. ”I was expecting a lot more modesty from a popular guy like you. Looks like you're not what I expected you to be.” She shrugged. ”Too bad.”