"Ehem... Midori-chan, mind letting me borrow your seat for lunch?" Akari asked with a sweet yet oddly tense smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Ehhh... But I need to eat lunch too," Midori replied, not even bothering to look up at her.
"Maybe you could move to the empty seat next to you?" Akari suggested again, motioning to the vacant spot on Midori's right.
"But this is my seat, and are you seriously going to show up here every lunch break?" Midori continued, glancing up with a smug expression.
"At this rate, people are bound to get tired of having you around."
This time, Midori felt certain she had the upper hand, unlike before, when her complaints lacked a valid reason.
"Oh my, what a foul mouth you have," Akari retorted.
'Why, I ought to rip that smug look off your face.'
Akari thought, her fake smile completely dropping, leaving only a simmering irritation visible. The air around them grew tense, the unspoken rivalry intensifying.
Midori kept eating, completely ignoring Akari like she wasn't even there. Akari, on the other hand, just stood there, staring down at her with a blank look, though anyone could tell she was clearly annoyed.
The tension hung in the air, thick and heavy, as the two girls silently faced off, neither willing to back down.
"Akari, don't go bothering others. That's not a nice thing to do," Eric's voice cut through the tension, cold and clear, catching both girls off guard.
'This is one of the trickiest parts of handling a Yandere. You've got to keep them in check, even if they push back at first. If you stay consistent and reward them the right way, they'll eventually come around.
But if you don't, you're left with an untamed Yandere, and trust me, that's a mistake you really don't want to make,' Eric thought.
Hearing Eric's cold tone, Akari snapped out of her thoughts and quickly glanced at him, only to find him staring at her with an unreadable expression.
She lowered her gaze to the bento in her hands, gently swaying it back and forth in silence.
A quiet battle brewed within her—part of her didn't want to back down from the argument, but the fear of Eric being upset with her was something she couldn't bear.
Midori, now feeling a slight pang of guilt, glanced back at Eric, expecting some reaction. However, he remained completely unfazed by the entire scene, calmly going about his business as usual.
She hadn't done anything wrong to him, yet seeing his expressionless face made her feel an odd urge to apologize.
'Man, that was way too close,' Eric thought, still shaken.
'The way she was staring, I seriously thought she was going to snap—maybe even hit me or Midori.
I almost jumped when she put the bento down.' He let out a small sigh.
'Thank God nothing crazy happened... but now I can't even tell if she's mad or not.' He moved his books to the side, making space for the bento.
Eric opened the bento and started eating, unaware that Akari was still lurking by the door, sneaking peeks to see if he would actually eat it.
Once she saw him take a bite, a small wave of relief washed over her, and she finally left the scene, feeling just a little better knowing he still accepted her bento.
__________
"Class is pretty much the same, even with all the seat rearrangements. The MC, Souma, seems to be a really quiet guy—I haven't even heard him speak yet.
And Midori? She hasn't really struck up any conversations with him either. Are they not going to end up together after all? I have no clue what happened while the system took over, but they've been distant ever since.
The weird thing is, Midori talks to me more now, even though she doesn't look that happy... though her progress bar says otherwise.
Slowly but steadily, it just keeps increasing," Eric thought, glancing at Midori's progress bar.
'System, is there a way to stop a main quest from increasing?'
[Negative. Once a main quest is initiated, progress will continue to increase regardless of circumstances as long as the host remains in contact with the main quest. Actions performed by the host will only influence the speed at which the progress advances.]
'But what if I cut contact completely?'
[Completely severing all contact with native quests will drastically reduce the rate of progress, but it will still continue to increase, albeit at an almost imperceptible rate.
Note: In rare cases, cutting contact may trigger the progress to accelerate at an alarming rate.]
'Another dead end, huh,'
______________
School ended, and since Eric still hadn't joined any clubs, he got ready to head out right away.
Before he could go far, he noticed Akari sitting under the stairs.
With her backpack on and both hands gripping the straps, she leaned against the wall in the small compartment that could barely fit two people.
'Her danger level hasn't increased at all, so it should be fine,' Eric thought as he slowed his pace and turned to Akari, who was still sitting there.
"What are you doing there?" Eric asked.
"Are you mad?" Akari replied, still sitting on the ground, her gaze fixed on the floor.
"I'm not. First, get up from there; you're going to get dirty."
"Really?" Akari asked again, this time looking up at him for confirmation.
"*Sigh* Of course not," Eric said as he sat down beside her.
"With how obedient you are, how could I possibly stay mad?" He continued, brushing some dust off her clothes that had fallen from the stairs.
The onlookers passing by just glanced their way, unable to hear what they were saying, but the sight of Eric and Akari together drew their curiosity.
"Now get up. We were supposed to hang out after school, remember?"
Hearing his words, Akari sprang up, her earlier gloom forgotten, replaced by the brightest smile that lit up her face.
'Talk about a mood swing,' Eric thought, watching her enthusiasm shift so quickly.
"We're finally going on a date!" Akari exclaimed.
"No, it's more like two friends hanging out."
"It's a date,"
"What I mean is-,"
"IT'S A DATE,"
*Sigh* Eric gave up.