AFFECTION SYSTEM: CONQUER THE HEROINES

"Moh... Stop it. --"

"ASAGI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

As Asagi-san continued to deny that she liked me by waving her right hand, someone shouted her name. When we both turned our heads in the direction of the voice to see who it was, I saw a girl standing. She has an annoyed expression on her face, along with a slight tint. Her one eyebrow is raised, and she is pouting as well.

Well, well, don't tell me she is my new heroine. Hmm? Well, if she is, then I will keep my mouth shut this time so that she doesn't get unlocked, as for now, I don't want to add new heroines. Firstly, I need to study everything about the system by conquering a heroine by making her reach 100 affection for me.

So, yeah. I need to keep my mouth shut here.

"Oh... What are you doing here? Hmm? Don't tell me; you are here to meet hi --"

"NO! I am not. And let's go. Why are you even here, hmm?"

"Well, I am --"

.

As I stood at my spot silently, watching them talk with each other. Asagi-san as usual has a small grin on her face as she continues to talk with the other girl. While the other girl is trying to say things in a low voice while in between taking a glance at me.

I don't know what I did to her, but she is radiating a threatening aura toward me.  Well, well.

So, I waited there for about one minute, and then I decided to leave the place without saying anything to the girls who were bust in their 'girl' talk... Good Grief.

.

I didn't get the chance to ask Asagi-san the reason, why she came to meet me yesterday morning or this time also. Well, I could have asked but I can't because of the arrival of another girl. 

But there is a possibility here that maybe there is no reason behind her coming and meeting me, maybe she just wants to meet me as a friend... Hmm... Well, I will get to ask her when the time comes.

..

When I successfully reached the apartment building, I saw a girl standing in front of my apartment. How could I forget about her, huh?

It is none other than the girl, who is supposed to teach me how to cook, Mahiru Shiina. She has a bland expression on her face, but she seems a little irritated, is it because of me? Or is there any other reason behind this?

So, I walked towards her as her gaze seemed to be fixated on me when I came in her vision.

When I finally stood in front of her, she sighed a little and turned her gaze away from me to the door of my apartment.

Let's not waste more time for her, so I quickly unlocked the door. I gestured to her to go inside first, to which she nodded a little and entered first. Following her, I also set foot inside my apartment.

..

When we reached the kitchen, I told her I wanted to change my clothes first, so I excused myself from her while she nodded slightly again and sat on the couch in the drawing room.

After around 5 minutes, I came back to find out that Shiina-san is standing in the kitchen, and she is looking inside the refrigerator while humming a little.

I don't know what she is looking for because I have nothing inside that 'thing' except for the bread, milk, and I don't know maybe some chocolates...

"Um, Shiina-san"

I called out to her as I slowly approached her. She closed the refrigerator and then turned her whole body in my direction. She stared at me for a few seconds and again sighed a bit. Why is she 'sighing' so much?

Is she not feeling good? If that's the case, then she should take a rest. Or there is also a case about why she is sighing this much, maybe because of me as I have nothing in the fridge nor I -- Well, whatever.

...

In the White Room, every child present is 'subject' to becoming a 'perfect' human. I was one of them.

But one day, I escaped from that 'place' even though it took me about one year to plan all this, by injuring myself badly. I wanted to save one more person in there, Ayankouji Kiyotaka, but that was not that easy because that time, he was being controlled or manipulated by his father. If his father says to kill anyone, he will do anything just to carry out his plan to kill that person.

I was also like that because his father was manipulating me, just like his son, saying a single line every time -- 

"I have done so much for you, and you can't even do this 'single' thing for me... I am disappointed in you, Ren." 

And just by hearing that, I find myself guilty that what he is saying is correct. He did everything for me, like teaching, providing me with food, giving me a space to live, and much more. So, I carried out multiple tasks for him, and whenever he praises me, it gives me happiness to the core of my heart.

Good Grief.

At that place, we also have cooking sessions. But I only got to attend two or three sessions, yes, only two or three. Why? It's because I am the only one there capable of assassinating. I know that if training anyone there for one or two weeks on how to assassinate, they will become better than me, but 'that' man wanted them to become extremely capable so that they can do anything, capable of becoming anyone like, he wants his son to become 'President' of Japan or something like that.

.

*sigh*

"Why are you sighing so much? Do you not like the Omurice?"

"Ah. No, it's delicious, Shiina-san..."

"I-I see..."

[MAHIRU SHIINA: +1 AFFECTION POINTS]

...

In the end, I didn't even make a fuc*ing single Omurice. Oh, how embarrassing.

But thanks to my teacher, I still got to eat something, and it was very delicious to the point that I wanted to compliment her more, but I controlled myself because there would be many chances shortly where she wants to hear these compliments from me.

When I was trying to make Omurice, I messed up a lot. When the time came to stir the things, I used a little too much force than needed, and well, the batter became extra brown, so we had to dispose of it. She said she could make it from this batter, but I denied her idea because I wanted to make it perfect.

[A/N: I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE THIS EITHER...]

But I still can't make the final product, even though I have been trying about three times. Tch. H-how can this be possible? I am one of the perfect humans, so why? WHY?

..

"You are doing great, Kaneki-san. I am sure you will surely make Omurice next week. Just continue your practice."

"Yes, yes. Well, see you tomorrow, Shiina-san."

"Hmm"

She nodded her head. Then she left my apartment while I stood at the door watching her go. When she successfully entered her apartment, I sighed again and closed the door behind me as I also returned inside to my apartment.

.

In school today, nothing special happened except that Shikimori-san was absent. Her friends were looking worried about her and I think they were that worried to the point that one of them didn't even hear her name when she was called out by one of the teachers.

Well, I think I also m-missed her a bit...

[~_~]

And my system also...

[NO]

Well, A.S. is just a tsundere. And I have a feeling that she would be cute enough that she is blushing right now when she heard me talking about her.

[W-WHA...]

Well, well.

..

As I was preparing to clean the kitchen, my phone rang again. Tch. Who is it now, huh?

Luckily it's not from the apartment telephone, so there is a very slight possibility of 'them' calling me, but still, they might be behind this call.

And, *sigh* here it is, an Unknown number. Tch.

*ahem*

"Hello. Who is it?"

"Um, err, it's Kaneki Ren's number, isn't it?"

"Horikita Suzune?"

"Yes? You know m-me, who are y-you?"

"*ahem* Sorry, it's me, Horikita-san."

"Kaneki-kun?"

"Yes. Sorry, I was trying to act cool, haha."

"What? Are you laughing or what?"

"..."

"Well, come to the park. I want to discuss something with you. Also, it's your own choice, so if you don't want then --"

"Okay. Just wait two minutes, and I will be there with you, okay?"

"Hmph"

[SUZUNE HORIKITA: +3 AFFECTION POINTS]

...

When I reached the park, I saw the black-haired girl sitting on the bench at the center of the park, looking somewhat frustrated, sad, and angry. Hmm? Does she have a fight with her 'Onii-san' or something? It's the same face she was making while waiting for her big brother on that day, right here in this park. Wait. The bench on which she is sitting right now is also the same, huh--

"Horikita-san..."

"Kaneki-kun, you came --"

"Well, yes. Why not I? It's my friend who is calling me out, so --"

"Are we friends, Kaneki-kun?"

"Um, yeah, I think we are..."

As I said this, I slowly approached her and sat on the bench, not that close to her, nor that far, but at a 'friendly' distance.

"..."

She didn't reply to me but continued to stare at me.

.

Then after a few seconds, when she realized about she was doing, she turned her face away from my face and started looking away, started staring at the ground. Good Grief.

"Do you not want to be my friend, Horikita-san?"

"Um, it's not like that. It's just --"

"That you never made any friends before, in the past, right?"

"H-how did you know?"

"Well, it was easy to find out. And your big brother also said, 'As usual, you've mistaken isolation for independence...' or something like that. So, it just justifies my theory that 'Horikita Suzune has or had no friends whatsoever."

"Ugh"

"Well, don't worry. I didn't tell anyone about this. So, rest assured."

"I see. But, I don't care whether they knew this or not."

"Hmm, I see. So, what about this? Hmm? Do you want to become my friend, Horikita Suzune?"

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"Nothing. I am just repeating the question for you. So?"

"Well, o-okay."

"Good. Now we are friends. You can tell me anything. And if you are in a tough situation or want help with anything, just think of your friend, okay? I will sure to come and save you, Horikita-san."

[SUZUNE HORIKITA: +10 AFFECTION POINTS]

[HER IMAGE OF YOU CHANGED FROM [FRIENDS??] TO [FIRST FRIEND!!]]

As I got to see the screen in front of me, floating, I also get to see her reaction which I find is cute. She is blushing hard, but one of her eyebrows is raised which makes her look angry as well, well she is tsundere. So, it's normal, I guess. 

Then suddenly, she averted her gaze, folded her hands, and started looking away from me.

..

After that, we sat there in complete silence. Until, Horikita-san opened her mouth to tell her first friend, which is me, about why she called me here.

Now that I think about it, she was called out by Chhabashira sensei today in the staff room. Is it related to that, by any chance? Well, let's see what this is all about. I am sure there will be something important in this talk for Horikita-san's 'path'.

.

..

...

"... I see"

I muttered under my breath while nodding my head lightly. The girl sitting beside me has done telling me her story or the main reason why she called me her.

The thing is simple, she wants my help in getting our class to reach the top spot. She said that her family doesn't want her to change schools, as the school she is studying in is already good enough for her future.

So, she will now focus on her study and try to give her best in school. Well, the family thing is one thing, as the main 'person' that changed her mindset from 'getting admitted to ANHS to showing her older brother how good she has become' to 'give her best in this school' is none other than her older brother himself, Horikita Manabu.

*sigh* I guess it will be a good experience for me and maybe unlock more heroines on the way to reaching the top. There is another good reason for me to help her. It's for the sake of Chhabashira Sae sensei, who wants the same thing. So, It will be like killing two birds with one stone. I mean, increasing affection for both of them.

But the main obstacle in achieving this top spot is the so-called term known as 'teamwork'. Yes, we need to work in groups which seems impossible, at this moment, for us.

Why, huh? Because in my class, half of the population loves to work by themselves; some people don't like to talk, as they are introverts or something like that; some think of themselves as they are nobles or something; some only care about their friends while not giving a shit about others; some like me who don't want to show their true colors or power to others and many more. Tch.

And if I, or we, successfully united our class, that would be another picture that seems impossible because of many factors, but if we would it will surely make the efficiency increase to 60 in taking the top spot. Making the class 'unite' might be difficult, but it's not impossible if we overcome the factors.

Okay, that's enough. Let's think about it later in the apartment.

..

The other reason, well I did have a hunch of this, is her talk with Chhabashira sensei. I was somewhat surprised at her sudden change of behavior. As she told me these things, but then again, I thought that this might be the system's working, or maybe it was all mine. Well, whatever.

She told me that she wanted to talk with the sensei from the moment she got to know that there would be a Rank System in the school. But she didn't get the chance to meet with the sensei. And today, the teacher, by herself, called her out to meet in the staff room. So, she went there.

Horikita-san, without wasting a second there, started asking the questions she had in her mind. Sensei also answered her questions with no difficulty whatsoever.

After some minutes, sensei asked her something to do. She asked Horikita-san for help to do the same, just what she wanted from me. 

I guess there is something more to it, the system our school follows.

..

Why, Horikita-san is here in this park, huh? Well, it's because of her family, to be more precise, because of the former reason she told me that her family doesn't want to pursue her dream of getting enrollment in ANHS; she was angry. Presently she is not, but she was annoyed when I came here. 

"Do you want another one, Horikita-san?"

"No, I don't."

Currently, we are standing near the stall of Parfait, eating the parfait of our choice. I have a chocolate one while Horikita-san also chose chocolate-flavored parfait. I thought that she was copying me by choosing the same as me, but she denied this by saying 'Huh, what are you saying?' 

"Shall we go back?"

"Hmm"

...

After I paid for both of us because Horikita-san forgot to bring the wallet with her, we decided to return to our respective apartments.

There is not a great distance from the park to the apartment, but it seemed farther away than it looks usually. Why? Well, because there is complete silence on the route we are walking, there is not a single person wandering around here.

Only me and Horikita-san are here, walking side by side. There is no sound, as I can easily hear Horikita-san's breathing. 

What is with this development?

On the other hand, Horikita-san's face is utterly red. She is looking down all this time; she sometimes takes a peek at my hand. Oh? I know what she is thinking, she also wants that, huh, because she was also there on the bus. Tch, tch, tch...

At that moment, once again, one of my abilities got triggered. Yeah, yeah, the [CHANGE THE REALITY]. Our surroundings came to rest, as well as the girl standing behind me. The ability stopped her when her gaze was fixated on my hand while one of her hands was coming towards my hand to get a hold of it.

Good Grief.

A) *holds hands with her* Let's hold hands, Horikita-san.

B) *start to tease her* Oh. What's this? Is my friend want to hold hands? Really? Hmm?

C) *just completely ignore her and start moving faster* Oh, look at the time, Horikita-san. We should hurry up.

Oh. It's something new this time, hmm.

I see. The choices are not that bad but --

[CHOOSE CAREFULLY. IF YOU PICK THE WRONG CHOICE, IT WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE.]

Good Greif. This time 'trust' will be on the line, huh? Here, I thought that today, finally, I gained some trust from one of my heroines as she told me some things about her personal life, but now. Tch.

Let's see.

Option A is the option, Horikita-san wants. And I should choose this option. But there is a hunch that this option is no good. I don't know, but I have this feeling. Why though?

Option B is also not that bad. If I didn't get option A as one of the possibilities, then I should have chosen this option.

Option C is out of the box. I will never choose this option, even if there is a warning or not a warning. I mean, who would leave a young lady out here in this desolate street? Moreover, she is one of my heroines. So --

[HMM]

.

..

Hm. This time the choices are good. It took me about whole one minute to decide.

I will go with Option B.

When the surroundings came back to normal, my body turned in the direction of the girl, who is walking beside me. When she noticed my gaze on her, she finally raised her head, and then we started to stare at each other.

A few seconds later, I begin to speak, or to say start to tease her.

"Oh, what's this? Is my friend want to hold hands?"

She looked surprised at my behavior. Why? Because I never acted like this in front of anyone. There is a grin appeared on my face, and one of my eyebrows raised. Why am I behaving like this? Because of this system.

Just stop it already. I am trying my best, to stop my grin, but I have no control over it. Tch.

"W-what a-are y-you s-saying, K-K-Kaneki-kun?"

"Really? Hmm?"

"Wha --?"

She yelled in surprise as I slowly started to lessen our distance. As soon as I got control over my body, when I stood in front of her, I opened my mouth to calm her down.

"Just kidding, Horikita-san"

"You..."

She folded her hand and started to stare at me again. Well, she is angry as well as annoyed, so I think it is inevitable to stare at me this intensely.

I slowly raised my hand and put them on her shoulders gently.

Her face again started to heat up and became full red, but her intense glare didn't go down a bit. Good Grief.

"Sorry, okay."

"Hmph"

"But I noticed you were looking at my hand all the time we have walked until now. What I am saying is true, right?"

"..."

She didn't reply to me, but turned her head away and started to stare away, in another direction. Hmm?

"Well, I think you are forgetting about something Horikita-san."

"what thing?"

She asked in a low voice, but well, I heard what she said. So, I continued.

"That if you need anything or want anything, just tell your friend, okay?... And since you wanted to hold hands with me, let's do it."

As I said this, I grabbed her hand gently. She didn't resist at all. Well, her hands did shiver a bit.

That's normal, I think. I mean this will be the normal reaction anyone would show if anyone would suddenly grab their hand.

"..."

"..."

.

We didn't say anything. We just walked and walked until we reach our building. I was surprised that she didn't let go of my hand as we entered the building, even though she knows that our classmates might live there.

Well, if she doesn't mind then why should I? It's not like there will be any heroine, who will be outside their rooms at this time. RIGHT?

Well, if 'that' girl would be outside and see us in this state. Then that would be good for me.

"Here we are... Well then, see you tomorrow, Horikita-san."

"Hmm"

As we reached her apartment, which is just beside my apartment, I said this. She just nodded her head, but still, she didn't let go of my hand. Good Grief. We stood there for about one minute. None of us said a single thing.

*sigh*

"Horikita-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Raise your head. See here, directly into my eyes."

I used my other hand to show her the gesture, telling her to stare directly into my eyes as she continued staring at the ground. She did raise her head, but I could see some tears in her eyes.

Is it that frightful for her not to get admission to ANHS? Huh? Well, that may be the case, but I guess the thing with her family hurt her, hmm? And as she is going to enter her apartment, she again remembers her family, huh?

Good Grief.

.

When we were standing outside in the hallway, I heard the opening of the apartment door of somebody. And that somebody was none other than one of my heroines, Mahiru Shiina. So I quickly tightened my grip on her hand and ran inside my apartment.