19 Is it Going to Rain? (1/2)
Like what Arata had foreseen, dark clouds had dimmed the sky. He brought his umbrella with him, even though he thinks he would not use it at all. Sharing an umbrella with Attori would be nice, but having the Oktoberfest meant she would have to help out her mom until the twenty-second. Maybe he could share with... Yukari? But they have practice today. Then again, he might just watch them and just work with Attori in the booth on weekends.
His planning continued until he reached the bus stop. He saw Cora again, and so he greeted her. ”Hey, Cora, we're riding the same bus to school again.”
”Ah, is it bad to say... I was waiting for you?” Cora smiled deeply, but she hid her face from him. Then again, her face and ears had reddened, making Arata to puff some hot air on her ear. She yelped a moan, with her hands shooting to cover her ear. She blushed tomato red as she stared at Arata, a smile curling her lips. ”Why do you keep on teasing me?”
”Because you're so cute.” The king hummed, moving his head around to see the face Cora tried to hide again. He then stopped and laughed out. ”Why not just drop by my house instead of waiting here alone?”
”But that's... wouldn't it be invasive?” Cora pursed her lips in worry.
”Not at all. Everyone else does it.” The king smiled at her before noticing the incoming bus. He reached out to beckon her to come closer as the bus started to slow down to a stop. ”Wait there tomorrow, okay?”
”I will!” The exchange student nodded with a bashful smile before getting on the bus first.
[The Affection Scene has ended. Exchange Student Cora Handel's Encounter Rate is now 67%. Congratulations!]
The morning rolled in with the king doing better in PE. He kept his stat-raised items, setting all his parameters to High. He knew this might have an adverse effect like date-able prerequisites; but he had yet to meet someone else who had the ellipsis hairpin which was a sign that the character was a date-able. And so he continued to keep his guard up in case a Challenge gets triggered.
Lunch came, and no one asked to eat with him. He ended up going to the cafeteria alone to buy bread. Same thing with the afternoon classes; nothing of significance had happened. However, he still enjoyed being in school.
Both Attori and Yukari decided to leave school after the classes were over. The best friend had to attend to her little brothers while the mad girl needed to help out in the beer booth. Not wanting to leave so early, Arata decided to come watch the basketball practice. Like always, Tohru was such a big shot, and the other newcomers hated her. She was gathering a lot of attention, making the men in the court look at her more.
Of course, Tohru could feel the seething stares of her co-members. She fully knew that some of them just joined the club to watch and be familiar with a bunch of famous boys in the men's basketball team. However, she was there to play and to win, and so she cared too little about their sentiments. She spotted Arata on the benches, making her volunteer to get everything back in place.
The club members started leaving, and Tohru beckoned Arata to come close. The king pouted at the incoming unnecessary labor, but he went to her anyway.
”Come on, it's just easy like one-two-three. Gather the balls and place them in the storage shed!” Tohru laughed out as she slapped the man's back. ”Counting on ya!” Unlike what she sounded like, she did collect a few balls as well.
”Is there something wrong with letting the other newbies to come help?” Arata hummed, even though he knew the answer. ”Do you really think they have the courage to go against you?” He placed the ball in a sack which will be taken to the shed later.
”There is strength in numbers, Acchan. You should probably know that.” Tohru hummed with a devious smile. ”With all the fangirls you've got, it would be easy to ruin someone's life?”
”You're looking at the wrong person.” He sighed, uninterested in making someone suffer, knowing how much that would hurt. He tossed another ball into the sack. ”I guess there are things that scare you as well.”
”You have no idea.” Tohru gave him a bitter grin before tying the sack close. She went to the door leading to the shed outside the gymnasium and looked at the dark sky. ”We should hurry. It's about to rain.”
The two walked out of the gymnasium and towards the shed. They went inside and closed the door before letting the sack's opening loose. A ball fell to the floor and made a loud thud... which was followed by a clink. Arata turned to the door and walked to it, trying to open it. However, they were locked in; some people locked them in, the king spotting figures running away through a very narrow crack the latch could give him.
He turned to Tohru who was placing the balls into the metal crib where they were displayed. ”Tohru, we got locked.” Arata was hesitant to kick the door down. He might just hurt himself if the game dictated for them to stay. ”The door won't budge.”
”Nah, it's fine.” The girl showed him the keys of the gymnasium and the shed in one key ring. ”The custodian expected me to return these. She'll look around if I didn't return it before she leaves.”
”Ah, then that's good!” The king nodded in relief. He then looked around the dim shed, which lights were busted; that was why they had to take an electric lamp with them. ”Something to do until then, huh.” He walked towards Tohru to collect the lamp so he could see more. ”Do you mind if I-?”
Crack-a-boom! Thunder roared through the sky, and shocked Arata. However, the reason for his heart going nuts could be because Tohru, the strangely strong she-jerk, just flew towards him and pulled him into a hug. The king was left stunned, up until Tohru started pulling back, watching Arata's reaction with her scared eyes.
Will he laugh? Will he ridicule her? She was too scared to face the truth, but she backed away nonetheless.
”A-Are you alright? That was... really scary.” The king murmured, knowing that she could still hear him.
”Oh, yeah, I am.” Tohru, for the first time, forgot to wear her smug face. She slowly slipped her arms off of Arata before trying to chuckle and laugh off the scare. ”Yeah, that was scary. Geez, I never liked-”
Another loud one came down from the heavens, and Tohru screamed again as she lunged towards Arata, covering her head with her hands. Arata caught her, but chose to sit her down on the floor. She gripped at the back of his shirt tightly.
”Loud sounds...” She continued before chuckling out her fear. ”Ugh, I knew it. Sorry for dragging you here.”
”You asked me to go with you so you won't be alone when it thunders?” The king hummed as he stroked at her head to calm her down. He watched her pull back and sat properly before him. He gave her smiles of amusement, wiping her tears with his jacket's sleeves. ”Aw, don't cry, big girl.”
”Shut up!” She took on deep breaths with a smile. She waited for him to stop before smiling at him again. ”Thanks for not laughing at me. I thought you would find it ridiculous because of the way I act. Well, I am trying to forget, but... guess it's not that easy.”
”Forget?”