Return of the Emperor

Before Arata knew, he fell asleep on his chair that night. The 6 AM chime came, and the player just knew the maintenance was finally over. He could check the forum but he might end up consuming an action time. He noticed a blanket was over him, and that Attori was already sleeping on his bed. He took the blanket off and woke his girlfriend up with kisses.

The usual morning in their school started with the girls ogling at Arata's way, as the king walked the hallways with his three guards: Attori to the right, Yukari to the left, and Cora walking behind them. The other two went to his house that morning for different reasons, but they went to school with him. The group was headed to Cora's classroom to drop her off since she was already eating breakfast in the king's home almost every morning.

Along their way, they passed by running students who were excited to see someone far off. It did not bother the rest, but Arata knew he heard Ruby and Tohru's names. He turned to Attori, but she seemed to feign her ignorance.

The events last night still bothered Arata as the two did not respond to his messages overnight. Just this morning, there was some sort of big news about them. However, his questions were answered when they reached their own classroom. The girls and boys were crowding near someone, and they could hear someone singing. The king knew it was Ruby's voice, but why would she be singing in such horrible manner?

"Hey, what's going on?" Arata went to them, and some of his classmates turned to him. He saw that the person they were crowding around was playing a video on his phone.

"Eh? You haven't heard? Hamada and Tohsaki went live last night. They were singing at a karaoke bar while drying themselves because of the rain." The girl who sat next to Arata giggled. "You should watch the whole two hours of their live to know more! Who would have thought they would go live and sing off-key!?"

"Listening to them right now sounds like asking for a headache." Yukari pouted as she continued to watch along with the others.

"So the perfect woman still has some flaws..." Attori hummed as she listened to the song the two were singing.

"Well," -Arata only laughed out- "at least their off-key singing is in sync with each other."

The crowd was later disbanded when the teacher came. Saturday classes proceeded without much activity but some questions during class time. The weekend break officially started, and so Arata and Attori prepared leaving for Hibiya again. However, they ran into Tohru who was walking alone.

"Yo, Acchan!" The she-jerk flashed a smile, but her face was flushed in embarrassment. She knew the king must have seen the live already, and it was quite petty for her to publicly display their bad singing skills. And even if he had not, the bags under her eyes was a proof of a night-long activity. "Are you headed home?"

[An Affection Scene has started! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru has the Affection Rate at 28%. Try to earn as much points as you can to raise Affection Rate with the date-able! Remember what they like to hear!]

Arata plastered a smile as the notifications had seemed to work properly now after the fix. It was reassuring now that he fails to keep track of his rates if he forgets to check the journal. Then again, he was happy to see that Sayaka had indeed gave them back.

"Want to walk to your stop? We're heading somewhere else." The player almost giggled in an instant as he saw her. "Good song choices, though."

"That was a terrible night. We couldn't get a good place because I was broke. Ru didn't have money on her, too." She laughed out. "We were forced to turn the late-night karaoke into an all-nighter!" She shook her head with a sigh. "Next time, immediately hand me money when you see me outside school."

"Sounds like I'm being held up." Arata frowned. He glanced at the smiling mad girl before chuckling towards Tohru. "So? What happened last night? Did you guys make it up with each other?"

"Make up? What are you talking about?" Tohru waved her hand as if brushing the thought. "There's no way I would be friends with her again. We just don't match anymore." She brought her hand down. "We were competing last night. Apparently, she still had a better voice than me."

"Ah, but you were singing duets during the live." Arata twitched.

"Yeah, but that was just for a few. Only when we want to sing the same song." She shrugged, but her smug smile was nothing smug today. She grinned at the man, reaching out her hand. "You liked the songs? Then I need to reimburse my expenses last night."

"What!?" The player jerked back before shaking his head. "Why are you always like this?"

The she-jerk turned to the side with a bitter grin. "I got used to doing things without paying for them. I just realized my lifestyle isn't completely suited to my budget." But she faced him again, moving her fingers towards her. "But you're here now so please? Ahahaha, do I have to go sugar baby on ya, Mr. Millionaire?"

"Eh, but Ruru-chan has loads of money, too, right? Why don't you go sugar baby on her instead?" Attori chuckled as she swayed on her place a bit behind Arata. "She's more used to your extortion, right?"

"Ugh," Tohru stammered as she stared at the blue-haired girl. "Ew. It's Ru. I don't want to feign intimacy with her."

"But you want to feign intimacy with Arata?"

"N-Not at all. I'm remotely intimate with him. He's just a regular friend to me." Tohru waved her hand. "Not like we're actually sweet and stuff."

The player scratched his head, but he still handed her 5, 000 JPY for the overnight stay. He sighed with a little smile. "This is the last time, Tohru. If you want more money, work part-time in Imperial Kitchen. I'd help you with that."

"If you manage to drag Ru, why not? That place is sweet!" Tohru laughed out before humming, changing her facial expression as she pocketed the money. "Yeah, thanks for coming to see Ru yesterday. I can't apologize for rejecting her in front of her friends, but I don't really want to envy her celebration. I probably won't get that kind of birthday..."

"Uh, don't worry! I'll host a party for your birthday!" Arata suddenly blurted, recalling how Ruby lamented over the rejection. "I'm pretty sure I can handle that! When is it?"

"Well, the problem is... we have the same birthday, really. Well, not the same, but we're just two days apart so..." -the she-jerk continued to hum lowly- "we used to celebrate on the same day, on mine. I think got used to it, and invited her friends on a separate party on that date till now." She just shook her head and shrugged. "Look, you don't have to force it, Acchan. It's okay."

"But this party could be for you." The player hummed with a loud noise, before waving his hands to dismiss the thought. "We should be going now! Let's go, Attori!" He took her by the waist and got her past Tohru. He did not look back at the girl who was rather shocked.

[The Affection Scene has ended! You have additional 25 points! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru now has 30% Affection Rate! Congratulations!]

The couple reached the locker and changed into their outside shoes quickly. They walked to the gates, only for Arata to spot Ruby staying in the shed as if waiting for her ride home. He tapped on his girlfriend's shoulder before they walked to the maroon-haired lady. Before Arata could speak, Attori ran to her and sent her a running hug. Ruby was clearly startled, and the king could only laugh at them.

"What is happening!? Why are you embracing me!?" Ruby tried to get Attori off of her. She glared at her also glaring blue eyes along with a meaningful grin. Because of their height differences, she did not have to raise her head a lot to look down on the blue-haired girl. "Get off of me."

"Eh, why is Ruru-chan getting mad?" The mad girl rested her head on her arm that was raised since she had her arms around Ruby's neck. "It's not like I can sing way better than you..."

"What!?" The school queen twitched before taking a deep breath. "Please get off of me, Attei. You are heavy."

"Oh, your chest puffing is the best thing ever!"

[You can now initiate an Affection Scene with a maxed date-able! This will heighten their Encounter Rate! Would you like to initiate a conversation with School Queen Tohsaki Ruby? Yes / No]

Arata reached out to tap his girlfriend's shoulders so she would stop. He could not produce words as he was holding back his laughter. Attori got off of the school queen and started swaying on her place. Her smile was still there as if mocking the president. The player was able to gather his self-control.

"Hi, Ruby. We saw the live. You looked like you were having fun." He chuckled, remembering the Ruby who was singing with all her heart. The player kept his excited smile on, hoping to hear something good from her.

"Hmph. Who would enjoy being forced to sing the whole night? That rascal never learns every time she didn't carry enough cash on her." The school queen twitched and looked at the player. She made a worried face. "Did she ask for something from you? I had a feeling she would reimburse her expenses from you."

"Would you like it better if you managed to rent a room instead?" Arata asked the first question that popped in his mind. He had been thinking about that question ever since he heard they only sang because Tohru was broke. However, he was not ready for Ruby's reaction.

The school president flushed redder than her hair at the question. She averted her gaze from the two, tilting her head to the side. Her arm crossed before her chest as if trying to squeeze herself. "That's a rather dangerous situation. I would pick sleeping in the streets than that."

"Eh, why? Does Hamada swing both ways?" Attori interfered with the conversation, which surprised Arata.

"What? No." Ruby glared at the other date-able near her. She then flipped her hair off of her shoulder, tilting her head to the other side and looking down at Attori again. It seemed that her fragile reaction was only for that answer. "How dare you even say that?"

"Well, what if, though?" The mad girl flashed a grin. "She must have liked seeing you so wet under the rain."

"Unfortunately, you can't force that on her." Ruby shook her head. She then smiled at Arata as they all heard a honk from the black luxury car that stopped behind them. "I guess I'll just see you soon, Arata. Keep on telling Tohru to stop asking for money from you."

"About that," -the player stopped her from leaving with his words- "I told her to work at a place I know, but she only would do that if you go with her."

Ruby only looked at him with a curious look. She then smiled and moved her head to sway her hair as she opened the door of the car. "Being a council president is hard. I'll find the time to work in this place you say then." She saw Arata approaching the car to close the door for her. "Don't be so irresponsible in saying things like that."

"No worries. I'll telling the truth." He smiled as he closed the door.

[The Affection Scene has ended. School Queen Tohsaki Ruby's Encounter Rate is now 43%. Congratulations!]

Attori went to Arata's side when the car had gone away. She flashed a big grin at him, and he only answered with a curious gesture. The mad girl snuggled one of his arms and spoke with a wide beam on her face, "Ne, Arata, do you think we can hook Hamada with Ruru-chan?"

"...You... don't really like Ruby around me, do you?" The player reached out to pet his girlfriend. "Let's just go to Hibiya now. Kanaru-san is waiting for us."