21 Route Immersion (1/2)
The days had gone slow for Arata, now that the classes had become static to answering questions. Normally, in a routed playthrough, this had been great opportunities to earn more stat points. It was already Saturday, and the last eventful school day was back in Monday. For some reasons, it worried him; he must have missed something through the run which made the scenarios static. Thinking about it made him pout away from the teacher's sight.
At the end of the first class. Arata leaned against his seat and sighed. He turned to Yukari's direction who was working on a homework for a later class. He then brought out his own notebook and text book to do it as well, going through the questions with breeze since his Intelligence was at a High level by then. While his pen breezed through the paper writing, he noticed someone standing in front of his desk. He looked up to see Attori smiling widely at him.
”Want to copy?” He returned her smile.
”I was wondering if you want to go with me again today. It's a Saturday so it might be busy since those who do not have work will flock again. It's the first weekend of the fest so...” She leaned closer towards him. ”Are we going?”
”Sure.” Arata nodded before Attori showed him her notebook with unanswered questions for the homework. Can you help me when you're done?”
”Get a seat. I'm in the last one.” Arata chuckled, and finished the homework as she dragged her own seat near him. He tutored her for the rest of the unplanned ten-minute break before the class rep called out to those who were not in their seats.
After so, the classes had become static again.
The classes were now over, and the king made sure his schedule for today was cleared out for Attori and her mother. Yukari did not protest since she had to go home early again. Having a sick little brother was making the sister uneasy. Tohru met them on their way out the lockers and walked with them till the first bus stop where her bus would be. They continued walking and spotted Cora waiting for a bus back to their neighborhood. Yukari went with her, and the couple was left to walk to the train station on their own.
They soon reached the Oktoberfest booth, and dove in while Kanaru was handling the orders poorly. She was really outnumbered by the customers she had, and it was time to play the Beer Dash again. However, it was only an option so Arata skipped on it. The player tried his best to reorganized the lines by placing labels where to order this beer and that one. Those who both more than one variant wasn't much of a chore since they can just ask the person in charge of that variant to get them a mug. Soon, the lines had calmed down, but they still kept the labels for organization.
”Why are there a lot of customers? And your company didn't send another person?” Arata sighed, seeing how exhausted Kanaru was. He only received a shrug and a smile from her. ”This is going to be a nightmare for you, Kanaru-san.”
”Nah, it shouldn't be. It's just that it's the first time those people had gone here, and that's why they wanted to taste everything.” Kanaru patted some of the beer barrels without force. ”I think it won't be like that next week. Be prepared tonight and tomorrow. I'm really sure the volume of people will grow again.”
”Sure. At least on Sunday, we will be here really early to help out.” Arata hummed and nodded to himself. The fest would only last for eleven days so it was alright to give two Sundays for it.
The mother then made a short gasp before walking over her bag to fish for her phone. ”Attori, Arata, our classic's almost gone. I only have one barrel remaining so I have to call for more. Be mindful when taking orders for it, okay?”
”Okay, Mom.” Attori made a salute. She then giggled. ”It's the best one after all.” She then turned to Arata. ”I'll go fetch lunch for us. You stay here and help Mom, okay?”
”Sure. Be careful on your way out.” The player waved at her and watched her take her apron off and went outside the booth. Even though he wanted to come, he just realized Kanaru needed a hand, and a group just went to see what they wanted to order.
Thirty minutes had passed, and Attori returned with a handful of plastic bags. Since there were no customers yet, the three personnel sat down and started their lunch. Attori handed out the boxes to them, careful of spilling the contents from the boxes which had sauces that leaked out of their not-so-container.
Only a few people come by the booths by then so Arata volunteered to serve them while the girls continued to eat. Attori closed the lid of the box to keep the dirt out of her boyfriend's food. She caught her mother staring at her, and so she gave her a smile.
”How long did you know Arata?” Kanaru hummed as she glanced at the hardworking man at the store front. Her voice was soft like a whisper, so that the customers would not hear. ”He looks so suspicious. Reliable, kind, sweet... is he for real?”
”I think about it a lot, too.” The blue-haired girl hummed as she continued eating. ”A lot of other girls would go after him. There's just this strong pull that attracts me to him. It's like a huge strong magnet to everyone he smiles at. I didn't really pay attention to him before, but he grew closer and closer to me.” She glanced at her boyfriend's back. ”Being chosen among of all of them was a dream come true... but... the difference was not really that big.”
Kanaru frowned and glanced at Arata again. ”Is that the reason why you don't want to go with me after this school year? You can't secure the girlfriend spot?”
Attori looked up at her mother and smiled with her eyes close and body swaying from side to side. ”Owning Arata hundred-percent is never something I could ask for, but as long as I have his heart, I don't think I'd think bad about it. Then again...” She glared at her almost finished food. ”I can't seem to trust the other women around him. My Arata's really kind and soft-hearted. I'm beginning to think that if I leave him alone, they'll kill him just because they can't claim him for themselves.”
The mother choked on her drink, earning even Arata's attention. She only waved at the man at the counter before cleaning after herself. Kanaru raised a brow at her daughter who continued to glare at the rice. ”Honey, if you don't want to trouble yourself too much, just leave him behind. He's a good person, but he doesn't seem to be worth the struggle.”