Route Immersion

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."

"Is that why you left Dad?" Attori asked so casually, as if it was nothing disrespectful at all. Getting nothing but silence from her mother, she continued. "I like the way you used to treat Dad, but you grew colder and colder to him because he kept on holding you back. Arata doesn't keep me that way, so I guess I'll hold on."

"...It's not him that I'm worried about. It's the other girls you mentioned." Kanaru sighed and closed her box since she finished her food. "I don't want you to be involved in anything reckless just for the sake of that man. I am impressed with him and all, but if there are more to him than meets the eye, then I would have to make sure you're safe."

"It's not me that gets in danger, Mom." Attori smiled deviously at her food. "I have ways to keep them at bay, but I can't guarantee their safety when they start attacking me." Her smile and spirits then fell as she turned to see how Arata was doing. "I caused that stab in his hand. He caught it for this girl that wouldn't discipline herself. I hope she knows I was pissed."

Kanaru stared at her daughter longer. She never felt so wrong in thinking that Attori was doing better now that she has Arata. For some aspects, it had made her worse. Her daughter's phantom fears had been given a form, and her violent nature would channel through her flexible hands. Then again, she did not want to force Attori away from the source of trouble.

"Attori," -Kanaru called out to her daughter, earning her attention- "I have no right to lecture you since I know I did not raise you well, but... you have to promise me you won't regret anything that you'd do related to this man and your so-called love for him, okay?"

"Where did that suddenly come from?" The mad girl only chuckled in response.

The two females did not know that Arata could hear them well. He was just not reacting to anything they had said. Then again, he knew what Attori meant by the dangers, and more about what Kanaru pointed out as regrets. Mr. Softboy chose to concentrate on the orders and service before going back to his food. Kanaru got up and took his place while he ate next to his girlfriend.

The day had turned into night, and the fest had turned lively. The booths were crowded, and the three workers in Kanaru's booth had endured the pressure. It was already past two in the morning when the people started dissipating. Kanaru thanked both students and offered to put them up for the night in her shabby place for the duration of the fest. They did not reject the offer.

Arata chose to sleep in the couch. He was only staring at the ceiling while having his arms under his head. He had initially heard the time action penalty notification back in the 6 PM action time. He might wake up around 8 AM which was the next one after the original wake up. Then again, due to the game mechanics, he was never let to think before sleeping. He fell asleep right away. For some reasons, this certain action time gave him the chance to savor the stillness of the night.

However, he heard footsteps coming from the hallway, and he raised his head to find Attori walking towards him. Arata smiled at her, and let her lie down on top of him in the couch. "Can't sleep?"

"Not really. I just don't want you to feel alone." She chuckled as she managed to lay Arata's blanket over the two of them. "You might have another weird dream again."

"Thank you, Attori." He stroked at her head as if lulling her to sleep.

"Arata, can I ask you something?" She hummed as she shifted herself to find a comfortable position.

"Sure, what is it?"

"If I choose to leave, are you going to make me stay?"

Arata's heart almost stopped at the sudden question. He had no idea what kind of leaving does she plan to do, or what she even meant by leaving? Earlier, she was discussing with her mom, and the fact that her mother just called him a 'too-good-to-be-true' kind of person frustrated him.

"Why? Can't I go with you?" The man only chuckled in nervousness. He did not want to hear any frustrating choices tonight. He just want to savor his calm and quiet night, but here came a question that racked his nerves and his heart.

"Well, it's more like... you can't continue seeing those women. Not because I ban you, but we could be so far away from them all." Attori gripped at the shirt on Arata's chest. "We will go so far away; they might not be able to find us."

"Do we really have to leave? Can't we just... do it here?" The man answered, stroking at her hair again. However, a notification thundered across his mind.

[You are not qualified to access this scene! Please switch to a routed playthrough for more scenes about Mad Bitch Attei Attori's route.]

"What?" He mouthed before he heard nothing after that. He only continued staring at her head until he was forced to sleep. He managed to wrap his arms around her, holding her against his body tighter.