As I stand at the train station with Rogue, all I could do is wait for the train to arrive as he stays by my side.
'This guy is head over heels.' I think as I watch Rogue continue to blush shyly.
I reach out to my phone since I felt it vibrate on my hoodie's pocket.
It was Raven's message.
"Raven: Morning. I'm at the train station so I'll be taking the train now. Do you want me to drop off to your place again?"
"Estelle: It's okay, I'm at the train station to in my area. I'll ride the next train then."
I hit send and just as I was about to look at Rogue again, he was looking at my phone with intrigued as he is leaning close to my shoulder.
'DUDE!? PRIVACY?!' I look at him with a surprised expression as I felt my heart skip a beat from the sudden closeness.
It wasn't a good feeling, especially when this guy's nosy.
"Wow.. you really are friends with her." Rogue mumbles as he starts to smile, his shark-like teeth showing as if he is baring his fangs.
'How is this guy a love interest again? He looks so scary when face to face.' I think to myself I almost feel like I'm about to wet myself.
"Ah, by the way.. I'm Rogue! Rogue Fox. What about you?" Rogue says as he points at himself, he is smiling cheerfully as if he's making friends.
'Is it safe to even interact with this guy as Estelle? Well, whatever. I'm not his target anyway.' I look at him and gave a straight answer.
"I'm Estelle Zeller."
"Estelle.. huh? That's a pretty name." Rogue says as he mutters with a look of intrigued.
"Ahah..haha.. thanks.." I mutter and look away as I continue to wait on the train.
"You may be wondering why I'm not even wearing a uniform myself." Rogue starts as he crosses his arms.
'No one asked.' I argue in my head.
"You see, I'm a dropped out student. Heh, I pretty much got into a lot of trouble." Rogue continues to explain and I remain my gaze straight ahead.
'No ONE asked.' I repeat in my head.
"So then.. Raven doesn't seem to found of me lately .. she probably thinks I've become completely different. But .. I'm not different from the past at all. I .. still care about her." Rogue says, his voice being more gentle as he starts to feel gloomy.
"..." I try not to look at him or feel any sympathy for him.
"So.. I'm just.. wondering. Can you let her know that.. I'd like to talk to her again someday?" Rogue asks of me.
"That's up for Raven to decide." I replied bluntly.
His eyes widen, as he appears surprised by my bold response.
"If she doesn't wanna talk to you, stop forcing her or making her feel obliged to do so. In fact, don't even hope she will one day. If she's avoiding you this much.. don't you think she's uncomfortable?" I say with a firm expression as I look over to Rogue who is processing my words.
'Thinking back on it, the heroine's reaction to Rogue always seemed off, and it's just uncomfortable to even think of being in her position. Her monologue would be either anxious or confused and thanks to the option system, she's always forced to think over and spend a moment with him. Whether he's a target or not.' I think deeply as I keep my gaze on him.
At that moment I was more set into what I have decided.
'I decided that none of the love interests matter.'
'It would be different if it's still the game, I could always retry over and over and maybe there would be a good ending for Raven, but.. because of all the failures and informations I learned on all of these characters. They are all just a bunch of idiots that don't reciprocate the heroine's feelings properly.'
"... I see.." Rogue mutters as he looks down.
The train makes it's way, giving me a moment of relief before Rogue speaks again.
"Thank you for being honest with me, Estelle." He says with a soft gaze as he smiles at me.
"..." I look at him and felt a little guilty for being blunt.
"Hehe, you're not a bad person. So .. that's a relief at least." Rogue says with a cheeky smile.
"... Right." I mutter in response, wanting to escape the awkward situation I'm in.
As the train finally arrives, I make my way inside and never looked back as Rogue watches from afar.
It took a few seconds before the train starts to move again, and I walk around the train to look for Raven, and soon enough I see her on the other side.
After a few minutes later, me and Raven sit next to each other in the train as I stretched my arms.
"Did you not get enough sleep?" Raven asks me gently as she observes.
"Oh, I'm fine. I was just doing research this morning.. you know.. for Professor Andrew." I reply with a nervous chuckle.
"Ah.. right." Raven mumbles as she appears to remember about it.
"What about you? How's your work with that Eugene guy?" I ask her.
"... Well, there's progress.." Raven mutters.
Though, knowing she's doing it alone like in the original plot, I guess it wouldn't matter if I help.
"I can help you over it, you want." I suggested.
"... Thanks, but this is really something I have to do alone." She responds with a smile as she looks down.
'There she goes again.' I sigh internally. 'It wouldn't hurt to ask for help every now and then, jeez.'
But as we continue to let silence take over, I start to look back to where the train departed from.
To where Rogue was left alone in.
'I should probably tell her that I met him. ' I think over as I keep in mind about Rogue and Raven's relationship.
"Say Raven.. if you were to meet an old friend of yours, would you be willing to meet them?" I ask her, trying to sound as nonchalantly as possible.
"... Depends on the person." She replies as she keeps her gazeon the ground.
"Well, let's say they are.. someone who probably made you not wanna talk to them in the first place." I say in response as I scratch the back of my neck, anxious that she'll catch on.
"...!" She seemed to react in a certain way before gripping onto her schoolbag tightly.
"... Did he told you to have me meet him?" Her tone changed to something quite serious and almost threatening.
"... Uh.. he did, but-" Before I could finish what I have to say, Raven looks at me with forced smile.
"I guess I really have no choice but to, huh?" She says softly as she goes on to look away from me again.
"... Eh? Raven..?" I try to reach out to hold onto her shoulder but she speaks up again.
"Don't ask me in a roundabout way next time. After all, this is something I have to face eventually myself." She mumbles rather coldly.
I look at her with a frown, feeling like I made her upset I closed off and turn my gaze away from her.
'This feeling..' I hold onto my chest as I feel my heart ache.
'It's exactly the same when me and my ex would have something similar occur.' I think about my life back at home when me and my ex would not look at each other when she would misunderstood me.
I clench my fist as I felt helpless.
Time flew by just like that and before we knew it, we are already on our way to school on foot.
The morning air is crisp and a gentle breeze blows through as Raven and I walk to our school.
Raven seems to be lost in thought, her eyes distant and her expression solemn. I try to strike up a conversation.
"Hey, Raven, you feeling okay?" I ask, gently looking at her.
She turns her attention to me before we could enter the classroom.
"Why wouldn't I be?" She says with the same gentle smile.
But, somehow.
To my perspective it felt forced.
I watch her go to her seat and though I know she's just a game character, I still feel guilty.
I go on my seat and sigh to myself before a paper is handed to me, a compilation of a research paper with Nero, who is standing next to where I'm sitting.
I take the research paper from Nero with a grateful smile and put it on my desk.
"Woah, even got it in a folder.. Thanks, Nero. I really appreciate your cooperation." I say as I start flipping through the pages.
Nero nods and goes to his seat without saying a word.
'Truly a quiet NPC. ' I describe him in my head as he remains stoic.
Professor Andrew comes in after a few minutes and though the love interest Eugene didn't appear in today's class like in the game, everything went the same in the morning.
Raven reporting her own homework alone.
Other students following along, until it's eventually me and Nero's turn.
'Nero, would most likely not talk.. but, oh boy. I'm getting anxious.' I hold onto my skirt tightly as I try to keep my gaze straight ahead as Nero looks at our work then to me.
Before I could try to speak up, Nero comes up front and starts himself.
"I will be the one presenting our research."
To my surprise, Nero is actually speaking up in front of the class. I blink a few times, stunned, as he begins presenting our work.
His voice is soft and measured, but there's an underlying intensity in his tone.
As I listen to him, I take the chance to glance over at Raven, but her gaze is fixed firmly on the desk in front of her. She doesn't seem to be listening to Nero at all.
"That is all. "
Nero finishes as he ends our presentation in a short and concise manner.
Professor Andrew, who's been listening intently, nods his head and starts to speak.
"Well done. I'm impressed with your research and presentation." He praises and looks over at me and Nero with a smile.
Nero and I look at each other, satisfied with the result as we acknowledge each other's hardwork silently.
"Alright, you two can go back to your seat. Let's see.. the next one is.." Professor Andrew mutters as he looks over the attendance book he's holding while he remains seated on his desk.
As Nero returns to his seat, he glances at me and, perhaps for a brief moment, I catch a gentle smile on his face.
I can't help but smile back warmly, feeling a sense of accomplishment in our presentation.
Professor Andrew continues to praise our work before he moves on to the next group's presentation.
Moments pass by, and before I knew it, it's already lunch break.
I glance back at Raven who appears to be on her desk, silently glancing at the window before looking at me.
"...?" She appears curious to why I'm looking at her.
I quickly turn away, feeling a bit embarrassed that she caught me looking at her.
"Oh, uh.. sorry, I was just..." I stutter out an apology but it's hard to explain why I was staring at her.
"Is it okay for you to not be attending club activities? You are in the Art Club, right?" Raven asks me as I remain on the seat next to her.
'Art Club? Oh. Ohhh, right. Estelle Zeller IS in the Art Club. Huh.. now that I think about it, maybe going yesterday was supposedly how we should've met one of the male leads.' I think to myself and then look at Raven as I reply.
"Yeah, I am in the art club. But.. what about you? Have you decided on the club you'll join?" I ask, thinking to her position as a heroine who doesn't even have a club in her record.
"... Actually.." Raven looks down, as if she's pondering how to word her next few sentences, until a few girls started to scream at the hallway, as if someone is about to make their way to our classroom.
'Huh?' All of us turned out attention to the screaming and the attention getting closer.
Then, suddenly a dark green haired guy with emerald-like eyes leans to the door using his arm and smiling as all the other girls in the classroom squeal and blush.
"Is Estelle Zeller here?" He speaks up with a charming smile.
'What's that casanova looking for me for???' I ask internally as I frown slightly.
"Oh my gosh.. is that Axel Slyvius?" A few murmurs nearby can be heard.
'Yup, Axel Slyvius. The worst one yet.' I think as the male leads are all finally introduced.
TO BE CONTINUED