46 A Parade of Surprises (1/2)
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?”