30 Promise Made to be Broken (1/2)

It was once again the 6 AM action time, and Arata was already striking poses in front of his bathroom mirror. His Stats were back to normal after letting the Stamina penalty pass without a fight. Even though he missed a day to collect a Cosmos Crown, he had fun being accompanied by two of his favorite date-ables.

He mused over the fact that soon enough, even Yukari would be around him as well. Then again, not all maxed date-able stood next to him. Cora did not come around regularly, and Momoka did not show until lately. It could be because it was a non-routed playthrough. Since he was only discussing with himself, he just shrugged and dropped the topic. He took his beloved shower, and changed for school. He went downstairs to eat the frozen croquettes Ruby made yesterday; he left them in the oven to be baked.

A door bell came to Arata's door, and he answered it with a croquette at hand. He greeted Cora and invited her to breakfast like always. They both ate the croquettes, Cora's eyes gleaming in joy for tasting them and envy for knowing someone could make this kind of food for him. They soon left for school, walking together to the bus stop and meeting their other schoolmates aside from Keiko and Tohru.

Needless to say, Arata received a verbal warning and interrogation from his teachers during the morning classes. The worse he got was a schoolwork he had to complete after class in the faculty office. After so, the morning classes proceeded smoothly, with Arata's High Intelligence impressing the students, the teacher, and even himself. He was not academically smart in his previous world.

Lunch time came, and the player had the initiative to address a problem. He was not able to do anything about it for two days, and so he would like to be the one to step forward and solve it. He came to Keiko and asked if they could have lunch together. It was good that Keiko's Obedience was 90%; this way, she did not even think of refusing him.

[You have triggered a date with Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko! Initiating a Kiss will give you 1 Cosmos Crown during the event! You have 2 in your inventory, with 10 remaining to be obtained. Are you ready to impress the date-able? Yes / No]

The garden was only free place to take her. It might have given her bad memories, but the kind look of Arata's face made her agree to it as well. They settled for a different spot, which was less observable from the classrooms. They sat on the grassy floor, and she set their lunches over the cloth wrap that served as mats.

[You just pulled off a stunt! Your destination choice gave a boost of 35 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! It is now at 35/100! Keep on going!]

Keiko hooked a hair behind her ear. ”Are you here because of what happened last week? I've been behaving well.” She took a bite from her food. ”I was hoping to have a different topic from you.”

”I'm sorry, you're in the same mood you were before you attacked her.” Arata whimpered as he ate as well. He could remember the words he heard her say to Tohru. ”Keiko, you knew what happened the last time. Attori's not a girl you could just go and hurt. If I wouldn't be able to stop the two of you, you're going to get hurt. I don't want to see you hurt.”

”You don't want to see me hurt,” she murmured darkly, ”and yet you kept on going with the other girls...?” Keiko chuckled out of bitterness and the tears forming at the side of her eyes. ”That's funny of you, Arata. But it's not a good joke.” She eyed at him with a glint of anger. ”Why do you always pretend that everything you do is right? Can't you see that you made a big mistake!?”

”What mistake?” The player asked as if it was a simple math problem.

”You already promised yourself to me!” She almost yelled. She brought down her lunch box and shifted her sitting position to face him. ”Do you know how much this hurts me? I endured helping you through everything even until that time that you left with your parents!” She started crying. ”And then when you came back, I was... so happy... but you started changing this school year. I don't recognize you anymore.

”So when Mama asked me to go back home, I did.” She lowered her head, sniffing lightly. ”I still love you so much, but I can't see you like this.” She lifted her face, red from crying. ”You belong to me. No sharing, no conditions. Just mine!”

Arata reached out to pet the girl's head, earning a devastated hum from her. Truth be told, her route was the last one he finished because it baffled him a lot. Keiko's route was about her blind love towards the game MC just because of a promise they made when they were kids.

In all honesty, little background was given to the players about the game MC himself. They knew almost nothing about him aside from being a loser. It was so they could be themselves when they play and not be restrained by the game MC's personality. Of course, they would be two different persons.

The fact that Keiko was pushing an alien personality against the MC- made Arata not want her route until there was nothing else to complete. However, Keiko was one of the main players of the non-routed playthrough like Yukari, and so it should not hurt to figure this one out while he was at it.

Right now, Arata only knew her desperation was triggered by her brother's break up with Tohru. How that relates to Arata's relationship with Attori still confused him, but at least he could pinpoint that much. Before that, she was just a girl who kept on saying they love a guy they could barely recognize. For some reasons, he needed more from her to solve it.

Seeing the devastated look on her face only made Arata bitterly smile at her. ”I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was affecting you like that.” He then shook his head. ”I can't promise you another one that I would end up breaking, Keiko. In fact, I don't really remember the promise I made you back then. A lot of things made me grow up and see the world from a different perspective.” Arata took a deep breath. ”It must be one of my irresponsible actions. I'm sorry, but please let it go.”

”...Let it go?” Keiko started crying ugly in front of him, crying so loud that it would prick someone's heart. ”How dare you... how dare you!”

Arata wanted to console her, but he felt like it would hurt her some more. So even though he could throw his arms around her, he refrained from doing so. He did not reach for his bag as well; giving her a gift for the Date points would be pointless and insensitive. All he could do was to watch her cry until she grew quiet, face down to her arms against the grassy floor.

She moved to sit up, wiping her face clean from impurities. Her make-up had ran off, but she cared too little about it since her tears erased most of it. Keiko, who was utterly defeated, lifted her face to look at the man who was only watching her with worried eyes. ”Why won't you say something? Why won't you hug me?”

”I will hurt you more if I do that. I don't want you to feel so desperate protecting something that isn't yours anymore.” Arata petted her head, managing a bitter smile towards her. ”You're still a friend of mine, Keiko. And I still love you like I always had, but it never went to a point that I would choose you over everyone else.”

Keiko brought her gaze to the ground again.

[You just pulled off a stunt! Your pep talk gave a boost of 20 to Childhood Sweetie Wakaba Keiko's Date Meter! It is now at 55/100! Keep on going!]