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, 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 got 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 was 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 would 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. 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? Does 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 MAKE 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 was 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? Does 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 hands 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 reached our building. I was surprised that she didn't let go of my hand as we entered the building, even though she knew 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.