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"Hehehe. I wuv you~♡"
Cheerful, bubbly words echoed through the apartment. They were melodious and sweet to the ear, and possessed enough charm to stimulate the heartbeat of any healthy male.
Unfortunately for Amane, such exuberance was tempered by the flaxen-haired girl sitting on the couch next to him.
"I see...so you like this type of girl, Amane-kun?" Mahiru said, an ominous ambience leaking out of her smile.
Mom, dad, Amane inwardly complained to the responsible parties, how could you do this to me?
It all started when a box arrived out of the blue at Amane's apartment. It was a rest day, and he and Mahiru had just finished eating breakfast. They were about to sit on the couch as usual when the package had arrived. From the address on the box, it was clear that the senders were his parents. Opening it, Amane found a note inside.
"We were cleaning out the house when we found some old stuff of yours in the garage . We didn't know whether you wanted to throw them or not, so we'll leave it to you. Do with them as you please."
The note was short, simple and to the point. But at the same time, Amane feared what his parents might have sent him. He didn't think he owned anything particularly shameful, but there was a small chance they might have found something embarrassing that he wouldn't want Mahiru to see. However, as Amane already took most of his belongings with him when he moved to the apartment, the box itself was actually rather small, so he wasn't too worried that whatever was in it would be anything he wanted to hide.
"What's this?" Mahiru asked him.
Amane looked over to see her fish out a rectangular case from the box. Upon closer inspection, he could make out hearts scattered all over the packaging, as well as illustrations of a few girls on the cover. His eyes suddenly went wide.
Oh no! I totally forgot I had that! Amane thought, internally panicking upon seeing the item in her hands.
It was an old video game that Amane had been given by a former classmate of his from before he moved to his current apartment. There had once been a period in his life where his classmates in his previous school were swapping games between each other, and Amane had just so happened to receive this one. It was a dating sim game that he had briefly played before quickly growing bored of it. Being a young boy back then, he had no interest in romance and was more enraptured with games that contained action elements. At the time, he couldn't help but feel like he had been ripped off. As a healthy teenage boy, however, he could now somewhat understand the appeal that dating sims held. However, his heart had already been given to a certain special girl, and he had no intention of relinquishing it to anyone else, virtual or otherwise.
The real issue at the moment is how said girl would react to the dating sim.
"Amane-kun?" the girl in front of him snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Ah, that," Amane cleared his throat, "is a video game."
"Are you making fun of me? Even I can tell."
"Ah, no, I didn't mean to make fun of you. Hmmm...how do I say this? I don't really know how to explain it to you..." Amane trailed off, highly embarrassed to be caught having owned that stupid game.
"Is it that hard to explain?"
"Well, no, but I feel a bit embarrassed you found that thing. I totally forgot I even owned that."
"Is this one of those 'eroge' things I've heard about?"
Amane almost sputtered momentarily before he answered, "No, it's not. It's perfectly clean," proclaiming his innocence.
I'm pretty sure it is, anyways. In truth, Amane hadn't finished it, so he was unsure if there was any strange business that occurred later on in the game's storyline, but as far as he could remember, it didn't have anything he would consider obscene.
"I'm surprised you even know what an eroge is," Amane said. Mahiru certainly wasn't naive, but he was under the impression that she was still innocent in regards to some of the dirtier types of entertainment. To hear her casually say a word related to pervertedness shocked him greatly.
"Chitose mentioned them to me once," Mahiru admitted, "something about having caught Akazawa-san playing with one."
Itsuki, are you trying to get murdered by your girlfriend? Amane could only wonder in his head. He wasn't going to pursue this matter with Itsuki—what he did was his own business—but he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that Mahiru had been indirectly exposed to such knowledge because of him.
"So what is this anyway?" Mahiru asked him, turning the box over to look at the back of the cover.
"Well, it's a dating sim," Amane explained, "So basically, you play as a high school student and choose a girl to date in the game. As you play along, you collect flags—basically choose the correct dialogue options—and do a bunch of random tasks to try and raise their 'affection meter'. The goal is to basically fill the meter by the time the game ends."
"And who did you choose?" she asked, looking straight at him. Amane felt oddly intimated, despite there being no clear negative intent behind her question.
"I chose the blonde one." In the game's setting, the blonde-haired girl was the school's top honor student and was idolized by almost everyone in school. She had an ideal figure, a prideful yet cheerful demeanor, and was friendly to everyone. Upon hearing his explanation, however, Mahiru looked a little displeased as she looked back at the cover.
"Is that so..."
Uhh...I don't like the sound of her voice just now! Amane nervously thought to himself. She was looking at the back cover, but it seemed as though her eyes were fixed on a particular point. Amane could only presume it was an illustration of the blonde-haired girl printed on it. From memory, Amane could recall the blonde-haired girl's appearance. Golden hair, slim waist, a large bust and eyes as gold and dazzling as the sun, she wore a casual dress that hugged her figure yet looked modest enough to pass off for fairly realistic everyday clothing—barring how the outfit hugged her upper chest.
The classmate who gave the game to Amane recommended him to start by dating the blonde-haired girl first, telling Amane how 'intense' the game gets by choosing her. He hadn't thought of it much at the time, and simply played through the game until he got bored and dropped it. Now, however, he was starting to regret having chosen the blonde-haired girl, let alone ever starting the game.
"Amane-kun, I have a few questions to ask you," she said.
"Y-yes?"
"The girl you chose is blonde, correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"My hair...isn't exactly blonde, but it's close, right?"
"Well, I suppose you're not wrong..."
"Do you have a preference for blonde-haired girls, Amane-kun?"
Amane shook his head. "No, I do not have a preference. I only chose her because the person who gave it to me recommended I pick her as my first girl to date."
"You were going to date the other girls as well?" Mahiru looked at him like he was the scum of the earth. Perhaps some other people might have enjoyed being looked down on like this, but for Amane, all he felt was an immense sense of dread.
"Well..." Amane trailed off. He couldn't deny that he had wanted to check out the other girls as well back when he started playing. With how anxious he was suddenly feeling however, he had the feeling that Mahiru would only see through him if he tried denying it.
"Can we play this?" Mahiru said, holding up the game in her hands.
"You want to play it?" Amane asked, feeling sweat drops from on his brow. Mahiru was definitely upset at him, he could tell that much from the way she was sulking with an iron expression.
"I'm just curious to see what the girl you picked is like, Amane-kun," she said somewhat listlessly, her eyes once more staring at the back of the cover.
Something's off about her today..., Amane couldn't help but think that.
Mahiru had always been a levelheaded person. Even though she got mad at him at times, or argued with him over small things, she would always keep a cool head and attempt to resolve situations peacefully and logically. Right now, however, she was uncharacteristically high-strung.
Beneath his nervousness, Amane couldn't help but wonder why. Perhaps seeing illustrations of beautiful women on the case riled up some sense of possessiveness in her. In any case, he seemed to have accidentally struck some kind of nerve with her. Unfortunately, as he didn't know what it was, the only course of action left to him now was to go along with her request and hope that any misunderstandings she may be harboring will be cleared by the time they were done playing.
And so, Amane loaded up the game and reloaded his old save file. The fact that there was a save file seemed to unnerve Mahiru, but what really set her off was when she found out that Amane had named the main character...Amane. While the voiced dialogue didn't actually call the main character by the name he put in, his name had been inserted into every text box that belonged to the main character, as well as written dialogue from other characters talking to the main character. Naturally, this meant that all love interests in the game called him Amane as well.
"Just to clarify, I had to put in a name at the start and I couldn't come up with anything else," Amane tried explaining to her.
"Mm-hmm," Mahiru replied petulantly, not sounding the least bit amused.
The save file picked up where Amane had last left off. Unfortunately for him, this meant starting his session with the main character and the blonde-haired girl in the middle of their first date. As the game operated from the perspective of the main character, the only image displayed on the screen was the blonde-haired girl laughing happily and playfully teasing the main character. Mahiru shot Amane a stern look, much to his distress.
After a few more dialogue of flirting and teasing, the background environment took on an orange hue.
< It's getting a bit late, we should start heading back. >
"Ah, my apologies. I must've gotten carried away," the blonde-haired girl giggled. "As an apology, how about I treat you to some dinner?"
< Wha-? Well I would love to eat with you, but my wallet's feeling a little light...sorry about that... >
"No, no, I can't have you spend more money on me." The blonde-haired girl placed her hands on her hips and flashed a smug grin. "I'll make dinner myself. I'm quite confident in my cooking, you know?" She cocked her head playfully.
< Wait, what? >
Wait, what?
The blonde-haired girl had just offered the main character her own home cooked meal. Naturally, this would mean that he would either enter her apartment and eat it with her, or he would just take some food from her and eat it back home. As this is a dating sim, the first option was far more likely. This would've been delightful on an ordinary occasion, but as Amane was currently trying to prevent the ticking time bomb next to him from going off, he couldn't help but shiver slightly.
At the blonde-haired girl's apartment, it was immediately revealed that she lived alone, prompting a slew of dialogue between the main character and the blonde-haired girl making jokes about newlywed life. And just when Amane thought the dialogue couldn't pose any more danger to him, the blonde-haired girl posed in a somewhat seductive manner, pointed a finger to her lips and flashed a smile.
"Tell me then (Amane). Would you like to have dinner, a bath...or...me?" the blonde-haired girl offered in a rather sultry tone.
> DINNER <
> BATH <
> YOU <
Three choices immediately presented themselves. With almost lightning speed, Amane quickly chose the first option. He wasn't exactly sure what the 'bath' option would entail, but he was certain the final option would incur him the displeasure of his actual love interest. The decision may have cost him some potential affection points, but he considered this a necessary sacrifice.
"That was fast," Mahiru commented.
"Well what did you want me to choose?" Amane asked her.
"Are you sure you didn't want to pick her? You might've enjoyed that a lot more," Mahiru said, pouting.
"No, I think I'm happy with my choice," Amane said, doing everything in his power to prevent his eyebrows from twitching.
< Dinner, please. >
The blonde-haired girl smirked. "Are you sure you want that, (Amane)? You're in an apartment alone with a pretty girl. You're living the dream of every man right now you know?"
Mahiru narrowed her eyes and frowned, causing Amane to tremble.
< I thought the dream of every man was to become a robot pilot or an astronaut or something. >
"I said the dream of every man, not every boy," the blonde-haired girl pouted. "Though if you ever dream of becoming an astronaut, I'll be happy to lend you a supporting hand."
< And if my dream was to become a robot pilot...? >
"Don't be ridiculous, (Amane). Delusions aren't dreams," the blonde-haired girl frowned.
< Oh, come on. Where's your sense of imagination? >
"I like to think of myself as a realist," the blonde-haired girl smiled before clapping her hands. "Speaking of reality, the food will get cold if we don't eat."
The boy soon found himself led to the table, where a splendid assortment of dishes met his eye. It was a Japanese-style assortment of dishes, from miso soup to tamagoyaki. The main highlight, however, was the oyakodon. The chicken used was cooked to a perfect brown without a hint of pink, and the eggs practically bounced when prodded. A fragrant aroma filled the apartment, delivering a pleasant scent of onion and ginger. The boy's stomach rumbled in appreciation.
"So, what do you think?" the blonde-haired girl proudly exclaimed.
< It looks delicious! >
"Right? I'm quite proud of myself," the blonde-haired girl said. "Now let's eat before it gets cold."
The two sat down across each other and pressed their hands together.
< Thank you for the food. >
"Thank you for the food."
"Amane-kun, your eyes are sparkling," Mahiru said, lightly jabbing him in the side. The soft pain snapped Amane back to the real world, where he found his girlfriend staring at him from the corner of her eyes.
"I...I can't help it, it looked really delicious..." he feebly tried to defend himself. The lighting and the shading used on the illustration of the food, accompanied by some sparkling star effects, gave it some extra flair , making it pop all the more on screen. Amane felt his mouth slightly water at the sight of the oyakodon. Egg dishes had always been his weakness.
Mahiru turned back to the television screen. "I can't believe my boyfriend goes around drooling at food made by other girls..." she muttered under her breath. Her remark was probably not meant to be heard, but it sent a wave of anxiety through Amane.
At the same time however, he couldn't help but think that there was something strange about her facial expression. Taking a closer look, he saw an emotion reflecting faintly in her eyes, though he couldn't quite identify what it was. It looked a little bit like regret, though he didn't think that was it. Guilt, perhaps? Mahiru soon noticed his gaze and fidgeted a little.
"Wh-what?" she asked warily. Her voice had a somewhat forced roughness to it.
"...Nothing," Amane said, turning back to look at the television. He wanted to ask her why it seemed as if she was so high-strung that day, but he risked upsetting more than she already was. As unpleasant as it was, he decided to swallow his questions and focus on continuing the game.
Someone, please put me out of my misery...Amane could only utter a silent prayer in his heart.
Time passed as Amane played through the game. When not spending time with the blonde-haired girl, Amane had the main character study to raise his intelligence points and do part-time work to earn money for dates through minigames. He couldn't help but feel a little on edge, however, as Mahiru continued to sulk and shoot him some disparaging looks as he played the minigames. Both of them ended up skipping lunch, though he had the feeling that he wouldn't be able to properly digest anything even if he wanted to, considering the stress he was feeling under Mahiru's scrutiny.
The game played out like a typical romance dating simulator would, with the main character and the blonde-haired girl going on dates, hanging out, and busying themselves with the usual student antics. After the third date, however, a rather unsettling event happened.
In the current scene that was playing, the main character, despite the sound of heavy rain and thunder playing in the background, was currently on his way to return an item dropped by the blonde-haired girl. However, just as he had arrived, he spotted a mysterious figure in front of her apartment door. A quick eavesdropping behind a wall corner revealed that the mysterious figure—a woman from the sound of the dialogue—was a rather cold-sounding woman with a no-nonsense attitude. Some rather abusive words from her were heard through the speakers, sending a chill down Amane's spine. He felt a rather awful sense of deja-vu.
This sure does bring back some bad memories, he thought to himself.
After the woman had left, the blonde-haired girl fled into the rain, prompting the main character to chase after her. After catching up to her, the main character managed to somewhat ease her tension and convinced her to talk to him. After that, the two then made their way to a nearby park, sitting down on a bench beside a lamppost. Recalling how he once got sick from getting caught in a storm, Amane couldn't help but think that it was unwise to hold what looked to be an important conversation in the rain.
"It's not exactly a nice story," said the blonde-haired girl, "but do you still want to listen anyway?"
Two choices presented themselves.
> YES <
> NO <
What kind of question is this? Amane thought. He didn't feel comfortable leaving a girl crying by herself, especially when she was out in the rain. Naturally, he picked the first option.
He regretted it immediately.
"That woman just now was my mother," the blonde-haired girl explained. "She had always hated me, even when I was a kid."
Amane stiffened upon hearing this. He didn't like where this was going.
Unaware of the chills he felt, the blonde-haired girl continued telling her backstory. She explained how she was the result of a one-night stand, and how her mother had neglected her for almost her entire life. She didn't know who her father was, and all of her attempts to find out were met with brutal retaliation. As she grew up, the blonde-haired girl poured all of her efforts into studying to distract herself from the pain of her mother's abuse. She started wearing makeup to conceal her bruises, and learnt how to conduct herself to be liked by other people. Through this, she became the popular model student that she was now. Jealous of her daughter's growing beauty and popularity, her mother had forced her to live by herself in her current apartment under the pretense of 'gaining life experience', only sending her the minimum living expenses as dictated by the law. She had essentially been shooed away, and the blonde-haired girl lived like this until she met the main character.
It seemed that the classmate who gave him the dating sim was correct when he told Amane that the blonde-haired girl's story was intense. It was a pretty heavy backstory, and had Amane played through it as a child, he might have written it off as melodramatic angst material.
Now, however, he knew that reality could be far more cruel than fiction. Although she hadn't been physically abused, the flaxen-haired girl sitting beside him had lived through similar circumstances herself.
Amane could feel himself start to sweat as he felt Mahiru fidget beside him.
"And that's my story," the blonde-haired girl said as she smiled emptily. Her eyes were as clouded as the sky above, as if all life had been sucked out of her. It was a rather disconcerting change from her usual upbeat personality.
< ... >
"Please don't look at me like that," she flashed the boy another smile, this time one full of self-depreciation. "You shouldn't waste your pity on someone who lied to you."
< How have you lied to me? >
"Do you really have to ask when you already know? I gave you the illusion of a perfect girl when all this time you've been dating a husk of a woman."
< ... >
"Hey, (Amane), let's break up."
< ...What? >
Before the blonde-haired girl could continue any further, Amane quickly grabbed the remote and turned off the television. The abrupt action must've caught Mahiru off-guard as she whirled around to look at her boyfriend with widened eyes. Amane immediately bowed his head towards her.
"Let's just stop here," he said to her, "I swear I didn't know that was going to happen, and I really wish you didn't have to see that. I'm so sorry."
Mahiru flashed him a troubled smile and waved her hands. "It's fine, Amane-kun, I know you're not the type of person to pull off cruel pranks like this. Really, it's fine."
Amane raised his head. He sighed softly and overlapped both of his hands over Mahiru's, covering her soft delicate hands with his.
"Have I done something that might have upset you? You've been acting strange today."
"...No?"
"Then why aren't you looking at me?"
Mahiru looked a bit troubled at his words and, sheepishly, continued to avert her gaze.
"You know, come to think of it, you haven't been yourself since you found the game this morning." Amane began. "I can understand you being jealous, I mean, I might be a bit jealous too if you showed some interest in a male video game character. But you always tell me your feelings, try to understand my own position on the matter, and attempt to resolve anything troubling you there and then. You did none of that today, which I find a bit suspicious. With that in mind, I find it a bit hard to believe you'll immediately suspect me of liking another girl, let alone a video game character," Amane stared at her with a determined expression. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, you're not acting like yourself. So what's actually the matter, Mahiru?"
Mahiru sheepishly shifted her gaze back and forth between Amane and anywhere else. Letting out a small huff, Amane drew near her.
"Mahiru," he whispered into her ear, "if you won't talk, I'll make you." He kissed her forehead to put some weight behind his statement.
Mahiru gasped as she flinched, her face turning a shade of red. She looked at Amane with an expression that pleaded with him to have mercy. In response, Amane gave her a stare that showed his intent to make good on his words, causing Mahiru to shiver in embarrassment.
Defeated, she sighed, took a deep breath and locked her gaze to meet his once her face returned to a more normal color.
"When I saw the box," she admitted, "I thought I'd pretend to be jealous."
"Pretend?"
Mahiru nodded in affirmation. "If I pretended to be jealous and didn't tell you why, you'd try to find out what's going on, right? In hindsight, it was an awful thing to do, but at the time all I thought was how nice it would be if you gave me more attention. I'm the one who has to apologize, not you Amane-kun. I'm so sorry," she said, bowing her head towards him.
"I see," Amane said as he slowly heaved to release all the tension that had accumulated inside him all day. "Everything makes sense now."
"...Are you mad at me?"
"I think I'm more relieved than mad honestly. I've seen you jealous before but not to that extent. That was honestly terrifying, I thought my heart stopped..."
He sighed once more, feeling his muscles relax. It seemed that the stress he felt that day had worn on him physically. Mahiru looked at him and made a request in a soft voice.
"Will you forgive me?" she asked, her eyes reflecting some regret. The sight of it was enough to melt Amane's heart.
"I dunno, my heart has been tortured enough today, how do I know you aren't just saying that to toy with me again?" he said in an exaggerated, heartbroken tone. Perhaps he had been affected by the blonde-haired girl's playful demeanor as he couldn't help but tease Mahiru despite the sincerity she showed in her apology.
In response, Mahiru reached out and wrapped her trembling arms around him, bringing him close to her. The warmth of her body and the sweet smell of her hair made his heart skip a beat.
"You can't doubt my feelings if I do this, right?" Mahiru said, looking straight into his eyes.
Amane smiled and wrapped his own arms around her, bringing them even closer.
"I suppose I can't," he replied warmly, feeling his own lips widen into a smile. Mahiru reacted by burying her face into his chest. He felt her warm breath spread out through the thin fabric of his shirt, tickling him somewhat. As he hugged her, he could hear faint inhaling sounds coming from the girl buried in his arms. He was slightly tempted to tease her for taking in his scent at that moment, though after weighing the decision in his mind, he decided it wasn't worth risking her annoyance and having her break free from his embrace. Letting go of that cheeky thought, he settled for savoring the feeling of her soft body pressing against his.
After five minutes, Mahiru pulled away and looked bashfully at him.
"Can we continue the game?" she asked.
"You want to continue?" He must have been grimacing in discomfort as Mahiru gave him a reassuring smile.
"I'm a bit curious as to what will happen next. And besides," she smiled, "I enjoy watching you do something you like."
"Is it really that fun watching me?"
"It is for me at least," she giggled happily. The regret that tinged her face had disappeared.
Without another word, Amane picked up the remote and turned on the television, transporting the two back to the scene under the rain. The blonde-haired girl had been in the middle of initiating a breakup with the main character when they last left off. A rather lengthy spiel of self-deprecating remarks from her filled multiple text boxes as they flashed across the screen.
Foreseeing that this would take some time, Amane turned on the game's auto-forward feature, causing the dialogue to play automatically without him needing to press a button. He turned to Mahiru as the game continued.
"By the way, I'm having a hard time imagining you suddenly coming up with the idea of feigning jealousy. What made you do it?"
"...Chitose said that if I acted jealous you'd pay more attention to me, and that it was a good way to come closer to you," she admitted rather sheepishly. "I didn't expect you to pay enough attention to figure out I was faking it though."
"What on earth is she teaching you...?" Amane sighed, reminding himself to talk to Chitose the next time he sees her. This wouldn't be the first time his friend had fed Mahiru some strange ideas, and while he had the feeling that it wouldn't be the last, he still wanted to chew her out a little. "Anyway, you don't have to apologize. If anything, I'm just glad you're trying to get closer to me."
"I don't know what to think when I hear you say that...but that was still rather shameful of me," Mahiru said, head hung down and sounding rather forlorn.
Amane reached out and softly stroked her head, his fingers running through her flaxen hair. Mahiru visibly relaxed and buried her face in his arm to hide from his gaze. Her ears turned slightly red, much to his amusement.
"Don't worry too much, Mahiru," Amane smiled, slowly firming his grip on her hand. "You're the only one I'll have my eyes on, okay? If you're really sorry though, then please don't do that again. I don't think my heart can take it the next time."
Mahiru stared into his eyes before letting out a sigh of concession. Her lips parted into a soft smile.
"Okay, I promise," she said, looking up at him with upturned eyes.
"Thank you Mahiru," he said, a smile stretching on his face.
Mahiru leaned against his shoulder as she fixed her eyes on the screen. A nice smell came into his nose as he felt his heart rate slowly speed up in response to the comfortable weight pressed against his arm.
< You're not alone anymore. I'm here with you, and so are our friends at school. >
"But there's nothing likable about me," the blonde-haired girl replied between sniffles. "Deep down I'm selfish, and everything I've done was a result of me trying to grab people's attention. I don't have a single good trait about me." She hugged herself and bent her head down in anguish.
< That's not true. >
"It is." The blonde-haired girl's face took a pained expression as her tears started to flow down her cheeks once more. "No one will care about me if I show my true self."
"Is there a way to skip this?" Mahiru said, looking a bit embarrassed. "It feels like I'm looking at my past self and I don't like that."
"Sorry but there isn't," Amane said, "you'll just have to bear with it for now."
Mahiru grumbled a little under her breath and buried her face in Amane's arm to avoid looking at the screen. He patted her head in consolation.
< How can you say that, when no one else has seen your true self? >
"That's—"
< I'm seeing your true self right now, aren't I? And I'm still in love with you as I've always been. >
The blonde-haired girl looked at him in surprise.
< At least hear me out. If you still want to dump me afterwards, then fine. But I have something I want to, no, need to say to you first. So indulge my selfish request for a short while. >
The blonde-haired girl couldn't help but reluctantly nod in the face of his steadfastness.
< I can't say that I know how deeply you've been hurt in the past. I can imagine it, but it would never come close to what you really felt. But you know, there are many kind and wonderful people out there who are more than willing to hold your hand. I won't deny how terrifying the world can be, and I certainly won't deny that there will be people who'll look down on you and think ill of you. But at the same time, I can't help but think how sad life will be if you're not willing to find and accept those who actually like you. >
The blonde-haired girl looked at the boy, stunned.
< Do you remember the day we first started talking to each other? >
"Yes, I do," the blond-haired girl answered as she sniffled. "You were about to throw yourself off the school rooftop."
"What did she just say?"
Mahiru quickly turned to Amane, her face betraying her shock. She clearly had not anticipated this detail of the main character's life, let alone having it revealed in a casual manner.
Amane could only cough awkwardly in response. It had been so long since he last played this game that he had completely forgotten about it. The game started with the main character, in a state of extreme depression, about to drop himself off the rooftop of his school, only to be saved by the blonde-haired girl at the last second. From there, he met a wide range of people through a series of strange events, including the game's other potential love interests. It was a rather dramatic start in hindsight compared to the rest of the game's more down-to-earth tone.
< That's right. On that day, we met each other and you saved my life. And there wasn't anyone else on the roof that day, was there? You could've let me fall, but you didn't, even when there wasn't anyone around to praise you. So I don't think you're as bad as you claim you are. >
The blonde-haired girl's eyes widened in surprise.
< You're kind, courteous, upbeat, and energetic. I can list a lot more if you want, but my point is, you don't have to be 'perfect'. You just have to be you. >
"...(Amane)..."
The boy wrapped his arms around the blonde-haired girl. Even in the rain he could smell a sweet fragrance from her. She was cold to the touch, yet at that moment the love in his heart felt warmer than the sun.
< I'll never let you go. >
The girl's eyes widened at the boy's pledge.
< I love you too much. >
"(Amane)...I-I love you too!" the blonde-haired girl cried as tears trailed down her cheeks. Loud sobs echoed through the sky as she accepted the boy's feelings and let them thaw out her frozen heart.
Tears fell down the boy's cheeks as well. All he felt at that moment was relief. Relief that his feelings had reached her, and relief that the girl had realized that she was no longer alone in the world.
"That ended well," Amane mused to himself.
"That was certainly...interesting," Mahiru commented.
"I apologize again for making you watch that..."
"I told you it's fine," Mahiru said, playfully nudging him in the arm. "It just feels a bit strange to see this because we went through almost the same thing, you know? Some of the details are a bit different admittedly, but we went through something similar didn't we?"
"Can't deny that," Amane agreed. "Then there was the part where the girl is not only the top student, but she's great at almost everything, has a nice personality, and against all odds decided to date the school loser. Really, it's uncanny how similar the game's characters are to us."
Mahiru pouted and nudged his arm again, this time with a little more force in it. "How many times do I have to tell you not to look down on yourself? Don't tell me you were going to throw yourself off the school rooftop as well."
"No, I wasn't!" he exclaimed. "But still, you can't deny it, right? I was a total loser back then."
Mahiru swung her arm back.
"Ah, wait! I said back then! I have a better opinion of myself now, so please spare me!" Amane quickly added, eager to escape another blow to his arm. Much to his relief, Mahiru retracted her arm.
"I'm glad you understand," she said, a satisfied half-smile on her face.
"But you know, you've changed as well, Mahiru."
"I have?"
"You said that looking at the blonde-haired girl reminds you of your past self. That means that, somewhere inside, you know how different you are now."
"Have I really changed that much?" Mahiru tilted her head in puzzlement.
"You have. You're more expressive and lively now. You're no longer shutting yourself off from others, and you're willing to joke around now instead of merely reacting to other people's jokes. Case in point, you were willing to pretend to act jealous, right? The old you would have never done that."
"Um...I wouldn't call that last part an improvement..." Mahiru cringed. "I'll have to make it up to you somehow..."
"You don't need to," Amane said, trying to reassure her.
"No, I have to," Mahiru replied with a determined expression on her face. "Otherwise I'll never live this down."
"Is that how this works?"
Mahiru nodded her head. Amane began thinking of a potential solution. He didn't want Mahiru to do anything too grand, but at the same time he felt as if she would end up doing something crazy if he didn't provide a way for her to regain her sense of dignity.
"Well then, in that case" he began, swallowing the small bud of nervousness budding in the back of his throat, "...how about a kiss?"
Mahiru blinked in surprise before she giggled. A shy yet impish smirk widened on her face. "You're being surprisingly bold today, Amane-kun."
"I may have gotten carried along with the game's atmosphere," he admitted, feeling his face flush. "Well, if you don't want to, then that's fine."
"...I didn't say that," Mahiru said. She closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards, ready to accept her boyfriend's request. Quickly licking his lips to ensure they weren't dry, Amane leaned in, closed his eyes and positioned himself to brush his lips against hers—
—when suddenly the image on the television changed. On it was a special illustration of the main character and the blonde-haired girl kissing rather intensely. The sound of lips smacking filled the air, accompanied by soft piano music, creating a romantic yet somewhat sensual atmosphere.
The couple on the couch snapped their eyes open and quickly looked at the television.
What the heck happened when we weren't looking?! Amane screamed to himself. Although he was about to kiss Mahiru himself, he had only intended to softly peck her in tender, gentle affection. In the game, however, the characters were engaging in some rather passionate acts of lip-locking, complete with a brief glimpse of their tongues. It was such a dramatic departure from the earlier melancholic scene in the rain that he wondered if they were still playing the same game.
I can't believe these two decided to lock lips right after that heavy backstory. Aren't they moving a bit too fast? When did they return to her apartment?
Mahiru, meanwhile, had stiffened and blushed profusely upon witnessing the scene in front of her, yet her eyes remained glued to the television. The romantic mood that had built up between them had disappeared.
Amane grabbed the controller to pause the game when the autoplay feature suddenly presented a picture of the game characters engaging in rather racy actions. Clothes flew and limbs intertwined as mosaics filled the screen. Some rather lascivious sounds flooded out of his speakers.
It was Amane's turn to freeze as he stared slack-jawed at the scene in front of him. While he wasn't ignorant of acts between lovers, what he saw on the screen could only be described as unnecessarily hardcore. His parents would've grounded him for a month if they had caught him playing this back then.
Amane picked up the game's box from the table. Upon closer inspection, Amane noticed a small but faint bumpy patch on one of the corners that had slightly faded over the years. Rubbing a finger over it, he felt a slightly rough sensation. It was slightly sticky, yet not enough to stick to his fingers as he traced over it. Though he had no proof, he presumed that there had once been an 18+ sticker there. At the very least, he couldn't see this game being sold to minors, so all logic pointed to an age restriction label. Whatever was on there, Amane pieced together that whoever gave the game to him must've scratched it off beforehand.
Is that even legal? Amane asked himself before grabbing the remote to shut off the television. He sighed in exasperation before turning to Mahiru. However, it was clear that she had taken some extreme damage, with her eyes swirling around in a daze. Her face took on an ever deeper shade of red, practically bordering on crimson.
"Ha-haaa-hwaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...hawhawhahwhahwhwawaaaaa..."
Incoherent babblings leaked out of Mahiru's mouth, prompting Amane to wonder if he had discovered some kind of bizarre alien lifeform. While Mahiru wasn't ignorant either about the actions between two members of the opposite sex, it seems this was something that was too much for her to handle.
Letting out another sigh, Amane could only feel deep disappointment at how the nice mood they had going had been utterly ruined.
Amane stood up and stretched his arms, feeling the blood flow through his body as the stiffness that had accumulated through his gaming period dissipated. Mahiru stood up to do the same, giving a small yawn in the process. It was incredibly cute, and Amane couldn't help but momentarily fix his gaze at her as she did so.
After that rather intense scene, Amane and Mahiru decided to plow through the rest of the blonde-haired girl's story. Because Amane had decided to talk to her in the rain, he gained a lot of affection points, maxing out her affection meter and allowing Amane and Mahiru to experience her good ending.
The epilogue was rather touching, consisting of a brief glimpse of the main character and the blonde girl preparing to be wed. The abrupt timeskip made for a rather drastic tonal shift from the high school student melodrama that made up a good chunk of the story up to that point, though Amane had no complaints after seeing how happy Mahiru had looked after seeing it. He thought how great it would be if they could achieve their own good ending, and quietly resolved to work hard to make it a reality.
After stretching, he grabbed his phone to check the time. To his shock, it was already time for dinner. Winding back to the time he had loaded the game, he and Mahiru had spent almost ten hours staring at the television. His eyes started to hurt after realizing this fact, prompting him to close them and softly rub over his eyelids.
Both of them had school the next day, so staring at the screen was most definitely not the best idea. It was fortunate that they finished the game a few hours before their self-enforced curfews, otherwise they would've messed up their sleeping schedules and possibly spend the next day fatigued. The last thing he wanted was for his friends to fuss over his health again. It seems that he would have to sort out the rest of what his parents had sent him some other time.
As he was about to make his way to the kitchen, he felt a slight tug. Looking back, he saw Mahiru grasping the back of his shirt.
"Um, so about that kiss..." Mahiru said, flushing red.
"Oh, don't worry about that," he replied. It would be a lie to say that he didn't want to kiss her, but after what he just saw on the television, he didn't think he would stop at a kiss if he started now. The last thing he wanted was to end up doing untoward things to Mahiru in the heat of the moment.
"But I still haven't made it up to you..."
"Again, you don't have to worry about that," Amane said as he ruffled her hair. "Besides, I got to see a new and rather cute side to you today, so let's just call it water under the bridge, okay?"
"...I'm so sorry again..." Mahiru said dejectedly.
"What? No, not that. I was thinking more along the lines of you freaking out and turning red. I'll cherish that memory for the rest of my life..." Amane trailed off upon seeing Mahiru's blush return to her face.
"P-please forget about that!" Mahiru exclaimed, pounding her fists on his chest. She was usually a quiet person, so she must have been more embarrassed than he thought if she was being this vocal about it.
"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry! Please spare me!" Amane pleaded as he was subjected to a barrage of her fists.
"Do you promise to forget about it?"
"That's...kind of impossible..." he smiled awkwardly, averting his gaze.
Small tears started to form in the corners of Mahiru's eyes.
"You're such a dummy, Amane-kun!"
After pounding his chest a few more times, Mahiru ended up curling into a ball on the sofa out of shame, prompting Amane to cook dinner that night as a peace offering.