Mai’s Love Meter.
Yuuki had showered and prepared for school. It was the first time he seemed so eager to go to school in months.
Which made sense considering all that Erosa explained to him...
Today, he was wearing the short-sleeved version of his school uniform's shirt matched with the usual plain black pants. He had his black leather briefcase slung over his shoulder and a surprisingly calm look on his face as he climbed down the stairs.
I just knew women would be the bane of my existence...
He sighed when he reached the living room.
The television was on, and it was showing the early morning yoga exercise called "Yoga with Housewives" which Akihiko proudly used as his own fitness routine every morning. But, considering his robust size, it was obvious his workout... wasn't working out.
"SON! Come help your sweet ol' Dad!"
Hearing his father's voice, Yuuki said, "Hm?" he walked a little past the three-seater sofa and saw Akihiko wrapped up in yoga bands like a stuffed turkey. His face was looked swollen and was tomato-red; he'd obviously been trying to break free for as long as he'd been stuck, but the more he tried to untangle himself, the more tangled he got.
"How did you even end up like this?" a confused Yuuki asked.
Breathing heavily, Akihiko replied, "Compex yoga position. Come on, get me out of this..."
Yuuki quietly took a slice of bread and walked out of the house.
"SON!"
"SON!"
"SOOOOOON!!"
Akihiko cried out his name, each time feeling a pain in his gut.
"At least eat three slices with some vegetables, it's healthier that way!"
But of course, his son couldn't hear him—he was already out of the house.
...
Several hours forward, and it was already 12:00 p.m.
The class was half empty.
While some chose to stay in class and have their home-made meals, other students went to the cafeteria.
Yuuki was seated behind his desk yawning tiredly as he looked around. His eyes went back and he saw Tomoe wasn't around today. "Hmm..."
If anything, I'd expect her to be one of the highest people on the list who'd become one of my first 10 love interests. However, Erosa said women over the ages of 20 won't be affected by the system... that I'll have unlock that feature, or whatever.
He sighed.
Immediately after, Ryota Nakiri and Takeuchi Atsushi brought their chairs to come sit with Yuuki.
"Yuuki, yo!" greeted the hyperactive Ryota. He flashed out two sandwiches neatly packaged in plastic bags and grinned widely. "So, you want the one with mayo or meat sauce and butter?"
"The second one, obviously. You kn—"
"Yes, I know you hate mayo." Ryota passed the sandwich Yuuki had selected to him and then peeled his plastic bag open so he could get down to eating.
Collecting the sandwich, Yuuki then said, "You can't blame me, dude. It's an odd tasting, weird smelling, blob of who knows what?" As he talked, he undid the zip of the plastic bag and stripped the sandwich naked. Holding it with both hands, he was about to take a huge bite, but he paused when he noticed Yasuda.
The silent young lady sat in the middle of the class.
She had her earphones on and stared with a dull focus at the empty class board.
With the way she carried herself she looked completely unapproachable.
"She's not sitting with us today?"
Ryota shook his head, "I asked, she said no." He then pointed at Takeuchi and said, "That's why I brought him."
"Tanaka, you must share the secret on how you were able to charm the Class Sweetheart, Takahashi..." Takeuchi adjusted his spectacles as he spoke with a slight lisp in his voice due to his braces.
Yuuki didn't reply, he just simply stared at Takeuchi.
He has the average appearance of any nerd - big, round spectacles perched on his nose, heavy braces lining his teeth and a serious case of acne.
"Tanaka?" Takeuchi called.
Rather than respond, Yuuki's focus shifted to Mai and Mihara who were on the other side of the class.
Mai quietly nibbled on her rice balls.
Just by looking at her, anyone could tell she wasn't happy.
It even bothered Mihara. Since today, Mai hadn't said a single word to her.
"Are you still down about the whole Tanaka turning you down thing?"
Hearing Mihara's question, Mai lifted her head, "What? No. Well, I'm still sad about it, but something strange happened this morning..."
"Hm?" Mihara used her chopsticks to pick off a little piece of fish to chew. "What happened?"
"I..." Mai wanted to talk, but remembering what she did made her cheeks turn red and her head fall low. Clearly, she was too embarrassed to say it. "Well, I..." her cheeks burned even hotter.
It got Mihara curious. "Come on, you can tell me."
Lifting her pinkish-purple eyes, she stared shyly at Mihara. In a gentle manner that could only be called lady-like, she mumbled, "Promise you won't tease me about it?"
"If it's serious, of course not."
"And... you won't tell anyone either?"
Mihara looked a little displeased. She folded her arms dramatically and said, "I'm disappointed you'd even think I'd do such a thing. I'm your best friend, why would I tell anyone about our private matters?"
"Hah..." Mai chuckled nervously as she sat upright again. "I guess you're right, my bad."
"Now... what's the problem?" Mihara asked like nothing happened a moment ago.
As if she was about to pass some sort of illegal trade secret, Mai's eyes went side-to-side to see if anyone was close enough to hear them. She then stood up a bit and leaned over the table—her skirt was short, but not so much that it would flash her pristine white panties.
Watching her act strangely, Yuuki tilted his head, "Hm?"
Word by word, Mai whispered everything she supposedly did this morning to Mihara, and the more she heard, the wider her eyes became.
Thereafter, Mai sat on her chair again and Mihara on the other hand was just stunned.
"Uh, wow..."
She didn't know what else to say.
Just simply seeing the way Mihara looked at her made Mai become more embarrassed.
To clarify, Mihara whispered, "So, you really think you touched yourself this morning?"
Mai nodded with an embarrassed, pink face.
"And you're sure you were thinking about him?"
Mai nodded again.
To try and remove some of her shock, Mihara cleared her throat and said, "Well, um, that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"It is!" Mai raised her voice a bit. She tried to calm herself with a forced exhale and then she added, "I've never touched myself there for pleasure before... so it's kind of a bad thing. Just thinking of him since last night has really made me sexually active."
Yuuki took a bite out of his sandwich, not able to hear a single word they said.
His thoughts were full.
According to Erosa, Takahashi's Love Meter is at 99, and that's a bad thing because if I don't give her enough attention, her "Dere Type" will permanently change to a Yandere which might be too much for me to handle.
Apparently, if I reject a girl, the system will give me a bonus of 10 more, and they become a sort of mission for me... if a girl's Love Meter stays at 0 for too long, the system takes it as an automatic rejection and then comes 10 more girls. So, at some point, I need to give affection to every woman who has become my love interest, sigh~ or they'll keep multiplying...
But first, more than anything, I need to sleep with Takahashi.
If he didn't sleep with her to balance her Love Meter, her yandere state would become permanent. The masturbating Mai he spoke to as of morning, was her yandere side momentarily manifesting. That was its transformative state - she would keep experiencing these blackouts until her inner yandere could truly take full control.
[ Mission: Deposit your juice inside Mai Takahashi before the end of the week. ]
At this point, even rejecting her again wouldn't work.
And no, this wasn't because he'd already rejected her before.
Any girl whose love meter was above 70, couldn't be rejected by Yuuki Tanaka.
Before she was rejected, Mai's love meter was 85; way higher than 70.
I'll just keep an eye on her for a while... then, I'll know what the next step is.
Ryota slapped a deep-in-thought Yuuki on the shoulder, "You're losing focus, buddy!"
"Uh," Yuuki forced a smile. "Sorry, I was thinking about something."
"Heheh... Takahashi, perhaps?"
Yuuki shrugged. "Who knows."
Meanwhile, watching Yuuki occasionally with side eyes was Yasuda. While her face didn't show much expression, her voice did carry some disgust when she said, "In the end men will be men..." she then looked at Mai Takahashi and then did her best to focus on simply enjoying her music.