Chapter 12 - Player's Decision

Haruko thought she had accomplished a lot today, with the alliance stuff and her school work. So she assumed it was smooth sailing from then on…

But of course, life didn't want to make things easy for her. Even in the game.

She finds herself sitting around with her friends in a classroom full of… characters, is the nicer way to put it. Because these people were definitely interesting characters.

The group tried to keep to themselves, watching as the club talked about any anime they would like to check out and discuss in the later meetings. There was talk about some community activities outside of the campus but they paid no attention to that either.

Then it moved onto their main event for the day-

“Who's ready to cosplay?~” Kadori jumps around in excitement, looking around at the group. “This is perfect that these guys are here too~” she motions to them suddenly.

“Nope. Not doing it.” Reika deadpanned for the group as a whole. “We're not interested in this stuff, so look that way.” She waves her off to face the actual members of the club.

“Pleaaaaase, c'monnn~” Kadori whines. “Mina??”

“Sorry, Kadori. I wouldn't match anything here.” Minami shook her head nervously, not wanting to embarrass herself in front of Daisuke.

“Ughh~ Fine, fine.”

‘Minami don't you dare mention me…’ Haruko begs in her head, slowly trying to hide behind Daisuke who conveniently sat in front of her. ‘God, please….’

“Oh! But Haruko is interested in joining, isn't she?” Kou asks, as he had been looking through some outfits they had brought in before glancing to look at Haruko. “Does she want to try something?”

‘Are you kidding me….???’ Haruko whines, keeping her head low. She was still trying to hide, unaware that they had all glanced at her. Practically giving her location away as Kadori approaches excitedly while the rest chatter in the background.

Haruko felt a light tap on her shoulder, she looked up hesitantly to meet eyes with a smiling Kadori.

That is until Kadori's smile dropped and she was looking at her a little too seriously. “You…” she squinted, getting in her face.

Haruko leans back into the seat, baffled by their close proximity. ‘Why do they all do this…??!’ She grumbles.

“You're the girl that took my boba…!” Kadori gasps in awe, holding Haruko by the face. “I was wondering when I would bump into you~”

“I-I–” Haruko briefly remembers what happened, when she was helping Erina and Reika out. “O-Oh!”

“You still owe me my boba, you know~” Kadori giggles, squeezing her cheeks playfully.

“S-Sowwwy…” Haruko gets out, she moves back a bit to get out of her grasp. “Sorry… I-I'll buy you one, I swear.”

“Orrr…” Kadori hums, she taps a finger at Haruko's chest before walking them up slowly. “You could do something else for me~” she taps lightly at Haruko's lips before resting her hands on her shoulders and taking a seat on her lap.

“W-What…??” Haruko felt her face burning up, she kept her hands to the side and away from touching the other woman.

“Come~” Kadori gets up excitedly, she tugs on Haruko's arm, wanting her to follow.

The two head into a different room, the door shutting behind them.

“There she goes again.” Daisuke mused, the others hearing him.

“What do you mean by that?” Takashi asks curiously, “She's just dressing her up, right?”

“Nah man, Kadori likes to kiss attractive people.” Mitsue tells them. “It's her way of getting a taste – an experience, out of them.” He hummed, “I think it's hot, honestly.”

“I think not…!” “No she won't…!” Yukiko and Shizuka snapped in unison.

They were quick to get up, heading towards the door to try and open it. But it was locked. They give it a few knocks.

Nothing.

After a few minutes of knocking they head over to look for assistance in the crowd.

“Can you open this door???” Yukiko looks at the other woman in the cat beanie in the midst of all the chaos happening with the other members. “Your friend stole ours…” she stated flatly, unamused.

“Goodness that girl. Always finding ways to kiss people.” The woman laughs, she tugs a key out and goes to open the door for them. “Kadori, give their friend back.”

The two were surprised to see Kadori sitting at the edge of a desk. Haruko stood between her legs as they were in the middle of kissing, Kadori's hands undoing her belt and resting on the back of her neck.

“Get off of her, you harlot …!” Shizuka spat out with more venom than she had expected. Her blood was pumping just from seeing them in that position.

They approach the two, tugging Haruko away begrudgingly and glaring fully at the woman sitting on the desk.

“What do you think you're doing…” Yukiko deadpanned.

“What? I was changing her into a cosplay~” It was an excuse… Kadori grins playfully, motioning to the outfit beside her that was still untouched and in the plastic.

“She can do that on her own… without the kissing.” Shizuka was pissed. “Get out, we'll change her.”

“Darn~ And I thought I could get away with kissing the pretty new girl.” Kadori only shrugs, she hops off the desk and makes sure to give Haruko a quick peck on the lips before skipping out of the room.

“Get-!! Leave…!” Shizuka sent here a deadly glare.

“Because of that, the kisses replaced your damn boba… don't touch her ever again. And we're not cosplaying…!” Yukiko demanded, before slamming the door in her face.

“Damn, those two are scary.” Daisuke commented to Takashi and Minami, who was watching with a mix of worry and amusement.

“Can't be helped, they're protective of her.” Takashi admitted awkwardly, his eyes noticing Kou was on his phone for a bit. The boy put some clothes down before grabbing his things and making his way out of the classroom. ‘They're not hanging out with them…??’ He looks at his sisters and then at the door, Takashi stands up from his seat. “Oh shoot, maybe I should head out actually… I just remembered that I–”

“Where do you think you're going?” Reika looks up from her phone to stare at him, her brows furrowed a bit. “Mother texted us to watch over your dumbasses because you told her you're going to be with us. Even after I told you not to…”

“I just–”

“You want to hang out with us, fine. But we're treating you like the little kids you are…” Reika huffs in annoyance. “Sit down, dweeb before I make you.”

‘Fuck me… we made a mistake…’ Takashi thought. He glanced at Minami who had heard everything and gave an understanding nod.

“I'll be right back.” Minami tells the group, she got out of her seat. “Restroom.” She excused herself, hurrying out the door to see if she could follow Kou.

Meanwhile, Haruko was fixing her clothes. Her heart pounding loudly in her chest from what had happened. When she calmed down just a little bit, she realized that there was a scene similar to this in the game.

They were following the other gang around and ended up here. Takashi would find himself getting dressed up by some of the girls in the anime club, one of them specifically which she assumed was Kadori. And just like they've done for her, Shizuka and Yukiko stop her from doing anything else to Takashi.

“Goodness, Haruko. Can you lower the charm just a bit, we can't keep fighting women off of you.” Shizuka sighed heavily, rubbing the side of her temple.

“S-Sorry…” Haruko mumbled with a sheepish grin. “I wasn't expecting that…” She was stunned it had happened, did she like this kissing though? Yes. But she wasn't going to let them know that.

“Let's just get out of here.” Yukiko huffs. “Switch the drinks and let's go.” She suggested. She noticed that she was getting a message from Takashi. “Kou left the meeting…”

“Shoot…! What do we do?”

“Minami followed after him. She went to the robotics club to check if they were there but… nothing.” Yukiko informed them.

“Well this is a problem…” Shizuka frowns. “There isn't much we can do if we don't know where they're taking them… and we already lost track of their location.”

“What do you suggest we do…?”

“Unfortunately we're going to have to wait and see what happens… it's risky but there's a chance they're just going to get them hooked on that drug.”

“And if not that…?” Haruko was hesitant to ask, she felt like she already had an inclination to answer. She just didn't want to believe it.

“... I… I don't want to say…” Shizuka said quietly, guilt shown on her face. “We can only hope that they go with the lesser evil between the two options right now… let's just focus on the drug we have in possession. If we actually have a packet I can send it to someone my family knows that works in a forensic lab, to figure out the ingredients, effects, and perhaps a way to defend against it. So I'll take the two cans, alright? ”

“Yea. It would be nice to know how fatal this drug could be…” Haruko grumbled, she too was feeling a bit guilty for losing track of those boys. She rubs at her arm anxiously. “I… I feel bad…” she pouted, gaining empathetic looks from the two.

“Don't, there are some things we can't control. Even if Kou didn't leave, Noriko could have gone off campus a long time ago. We were hoping for the best even though deep down we knew it was too late…” Shizuka tried, rubbing her back in reassurance before coming close to hug her.

“We can't let them know we're aware of them either.” Yukiko added, she hugs her from the other side. “There was no reason for any of us to follow Noriko to robotics, even if we sent Takashi to follow his classmates…, and it's already suspicious enough that we bump into them coincidentally.”

“I guess…” Haruko mumbled, the two leaning their heads against her shoulders to comfort her. She puts her arms around their waists instinctively and rests her head on Shizuka's thanks to their height difference.

“Are you guys done kissing in here? Your friends are about ready to leave without you..” Kadori asks teasingly, opening the door to see the three practically hugging. “Oop…”

The three separate quickly, “Get out!” Yukiko hissed, flustered that they were caught.

“Ugh…! Can we just leave already.” Shizuka whines, she crosses her arms around her own body looking away from the other two. Her face was burning red.

“Something we can agree on.” Yukiko motions for them to follow her out.

They exit.

*

They head over to exit the building together, Shizuka glancing at her cellphone. "Oh shoot, I need to get going." she tells them suddenly.

"What? Where are you going??" Yukiko huffs, wondering why she was in a rush now.

"I have a date obviously." Shizuka rolled her eyes, she hurries past the group once they make their way to the school gates. "I'll see you all tomorrow." she waves.

'She's probably meeting her boyfriend...' Haruko thought, she watches as Shizuka talks to a taller man that was waiting by the gate. The two sharing a kiss, Shizuka smiling up at him slightly. She looks to Takashi curiously to watch his expression.

He was looking at his phone, seemingly texting what she assumed to be his friends. He was definitely uninterested in Shizuka's dating life.

'Welp... maybe it's still too early to get them interested in one another...?' Haruko pouted, watching Shizuka leave with the taller man, clinging to his arm.

"Woah, its a guy from one of those private elite colleges." Akira commented, noticing the University logo on his bag. "He must be pretty smart, huh?"

"That's good for her... someone smart..." Haruko mumbles, 'I mean isn't Takashi smart too?? He could be...' She thought, the others noticing her bothered expression but they assumed it was for other reasons.

"You're plenty smart too, Haru." Minami reassures her, patting her shoulder lightly. "Architecture isn't an easy major."

"Agreed." Erina nodded, rubbing her back softly to comfort her. "I think you're great..."

"Shizu isn't much either. Why worry about her when you can have any other girl on your arm." Reika huffs, clinging to Haruko's arm and nuzzling her shoulder.

"Agreed!" Yukiko nods.

"Oh uhhh... thank you?" Haruko looks around in confusion, wondering why they were comforting her. "Are we still going to drink?" she asks awkwardly.

"Yea! Let's go drink it up, newbies!" Akira snickers, putting her arms around Yukiko and Takashi excitedly.

"I'll stay for the food, but I have to go home early." Minami admitted to them, making sure to stay far away from Daisuke.

"You'd better keep up with me, Haruko." Akira laughs, "I'm about to drink you to the ground"

"Don't listen to her, we'll keep you safe from her drinking antics." Akemi sighs, aware of how much Akira can drink.

Haruko was unsure how to feel about the whole drinking thing, she was probably just worried about her drinking tolerance.

"P-Please..."

But honestly, she should be worried about what happens after she's drunk though...

*

"Urrgg..." She was not feeling well the next morning, but thankfully it was a weekend. Haruko sat up, grumbling in pain. She massages the side of her temple to soothe the aching. 'Why do people drink... this sucks...' she slouches over, shutting her eyes.

"Mmnn... are you alright, Haruko?" A voice asks her from the side, she feels hands caress her back softly before slowly gliding her hands around her body into a full on hug.

"Yea... just a headache..." Haruko answers groggily. 

Pause.

A long pause.

A very long pause.

Then a very loud gasp.

Haruko gasps, she shot back up in shock, causing the person to let go of her and back up a bit. Her head whips to the side to reveal who was beside her.

'A-AKEMI...?!' Haruko's eyes widened, her jaw dropped and her body became rigid. It wasn't until she realized there was another person in the bed with them, that's when she hurried off of the bed. Practically falling out of it.

Haruko grunted when she hit the floor. She was breathless, gasping for air in shock.

She scrambles to her feet, her headache long gone from being stunned so much. There were other things to worry about aside from the headache.

There in her bed lay Akemi and Saeko– no, there basically NAKED in her bed, lay Akemi Minatozaki and Saeko Kawaguchi.

"A-Are you alright??" Saeko asks worriedly, sitting up as well.

Haruko was grateful they were wearing their undergarments.

Was she??

She looked down to see that she was in her underwear as well, but it wasn't sexy like theirs. No, Haruko seemingly opted to wear black bras and boxers on the casual.

It was nothing like theirs.

She couldn't stop her eyes from wandering the porcelain skin that radiated perfection, the skin that was barely covered by lace. Her mouth dries. Her heart was pumping loudly, she could feel it in her throat. Sweat was beading down her face.

She takes a step back nervously, lightly kicking a pillow that was on the ground. Another step back and her foot gets caught in a blanket on the floor.

“Be careful, Haru–” Akemi started, wincing when Haruko fell backwards from slipping over the blanket.

The sound of her falling is masked by the sound of her bathroom door opening, to reveal Akira coming out. The woman was even more nude than the rest, her underwear being the only thing on her body. “Good morning!!” Akira cheered, bouncing excitedly. “What're we having for breakfast??”

Haruko's eyes shot up unconsciously, meeting her bouncing pair…

Pair of…

“AGDJSBA….”It was a distorted scream that came out of her as she quickly covered herself with the blanket on the floor. “I-I-I'm sorry…!” Cried out Haruko, she scrambles to her feet once more and tries to exit the room.

BAM

She runs right into the door, falling backwards again. The blanket slipping off of her.

Before she could get up and hurt herself anymore though, Akira weighs her down quickly. Sitting on top of her lap, her thighs trapping her in place. “Chill, Haruko!” She tried with a confused tilt of her head.

“Your nose is bleeding!” Akemi pointed out worriedly, she hovers above her from the bedside with Saeko glancing down as well.

“What happened, Haruko??” Saeko asks, reaching down to caress her red forehead.

Haruko was trying to listen to them, but all she could see right now was their…

She dare not tell you!

Her eyes shut tightly, “I-I don't mean to look, i-i'm sorry!!” She tells them in a panicked state.

“Why?? You didn't have a problem with it last night?” Akira's voice called out, mentioning that teasingly.

“Akira stop that.” Akemi scolded, she could hear rustling and felt someone cleaning the blood from her nose. “Stay still, Haruko.” Said Akemi.

Haruko was having a full-blown meltdown trying to think about what had happened last night. She could only let out a whimper. ‘This game is trying to kill me with all this fan service...'

“Hey, Haru? Are you okay here? We heard a lot of loud noise–” Haruko heard the soft voice of Minami and the creak of the door slowly opening. “W…Woah…” gasped Minami.

Haruko opened her eyes again to see Minami standing at the door with Shizuka beside her.

The two find her in an incriminating position with the other three women around her.

“U-Uhhh…” Minami only smiles, clearly very flustered. “S-Sorry, we let ourselves in and– uhhh we'll be downstairs…!” She shuts the door again.

“Oh my gosh! Haruko!!” It was the last thing she heard before everything went dark. At that point Haruko couldn't take it anymore, she was overwhelmed to the max. Her head fell back down and she was out.

*

The next time she woke up she was in bed again. Still surrounded by the three upperclassmen, but they had at least put on shirts.

God, were those her shirts…??

“Haruko! Are you alright???” Akemi asks worriedly, sitting at her bedside.

“Urggh…. My head hurts…” Haruko admitted to them.

“I mean, you did hit it like three times while getting up.” Akira laughs in amusement. “I've never seen someone panic so bad, that was the funniest– URK!”

Saeko had elbowed her in the gut. “We didn't mean to surprise you so badly.” She tells her, caressing her head.

“I-I'm fine…” Haruko sat up again slowly. “W-What… umm…” she was hesitant to even ask, scared to ask actually.

“What happened here?” Asked Shizuka, who had walked back in with Minami.

“What do you mean?? Good morning to you as well, Shizu and Minami.” Akira chuckles.

“Sorry, we're a little baffled right now… what happened after last night?? Didn't you guys go drinking??” Shizuka asks again, crossing her arms with a pout on her face.

“That's just it, we went drinking.” Saeko nods.

“So why were you all naked in here…?”

“Well, we didn't really have any clothes. Haruko tossed everything into the wash last night, but I guess she doesn't remember that.” Akemi chuckles.

“She passed out right after in bed but we didn't want to snoop around and steal any of her clothes soooo…” Akira trailed off, she lifted the oversized shirt a bit to show her underwear in confidence. “Panties galore~~” she did a little twirl in place.

“Ack!!” Haruko gasps, immediately becoming flustered and hiding her face with her blanket.

“G-Goodness… So that's what happened.” Minami sighed in heavy relief.

“Judging from her reaction this morning though, we decided to just take some shirts from her drawer.” Saeko said, smiling slightly as she petted Haruko's head. “So she doesn't faint again…”

“She's very… shy, yes.” Minami confirmed. “I'm glad you guys are okay though, no one was responding to our messages for a while so we came over to check on you, Haru. Because you live alone. Yukiko and Takashi are at home with the after effects of drinking too much.”

“M…Mina…” Haruko called out from under the blanket.

“Yes, Haru…?”

“C…Clothes please…” Haruko said quietly.

“I’m on it, bestie.”

“C'mon Haruko, work what you got. That bod is hot.” Akira complimented, caressing taut muscles over the blanket. “These two were all over it last night.”

“A-Akira…!” Saeko huffs, smacking her thigh lightly.

“What? It wasn't like she wasn't all over us either??” Akira giggles.

Minami comes over with a black shirt and grey joggers, handing them under the blanket to Haruko. “I think that's enough drinking for now.” she chuckles nervously, she was grateful she left before the whole mess started but weary for Haruko's wellbeing.

“Should've seen her, Minami.” Akira continues, “She was like a different person.” She admitted, getting Haruko's attention.

Haruko has changed under the blanket, she sits up and looks at her curiously while pulling her shirt on. “I…I was??”

“Yea~ You were hitting on everyone with so much confidence.” Akira hums. “Not the guys though, so we know where your interests lie.” She pats Haruko's head in amusement.

‘I… did the actual Haruko come out…?? Is that why I don't remember anything??’ Haruko frowned slightly. “D-Did I do anything else?”

“Did you do anything else? Didn't you!” Akira guffaws at the question, she lifts the shirt again to show her thighs and the little love marks left on them. “You, Missy, really like to leave your mark, huh?”

Haruko's breath hitches, she glances at the other two wearily wondering about them. Saeko lifts her hair up timidly to show the back of her neck and shoulders while Akemi was marked on her chest.

‘Haruko… you perv…. I'm so screwed….’ Haruko groaned, cupping her face with her hands. ‘What if I kill myself… then kill myself in the early morning. Would I be able to go back to last night…stop myself from drinking at all???’

‘Okay, too grotesque, I know…’ She doesn't even know if that's how that'll work out. If anything she'll just be repeating this morning's shit show over and over again.

And she would rather not.

She looks up briefly, noticing Shizuka was glaring at her directly. 'Urrghh... Please i'm sorry...' Haruko looked away right away. 

"U-Um well..." Minami clears her throat, feeling the tension rising in the room from Shizuka. "S-Should we go have breakfast somewhere??" she suggested suddenly, holding her phone up. "The Hasegawa siblings are asking if we want to meet up and stuff!" 

"Oh! So t-true...!" Haruko was quick to agree with her, she slips out of bed to stand by Minami. "L-Let me go get your clothes!" she lets the girls know, exiting the room and leaving them alone. 

"So shy." Akira snickers. 

*

At the Hasegawa household, Takashi and Yukiko were sitting in the living room already dressed up and ready to head out. They had messaged Minami to meet up for breakfast. They were currently leaning back in the couch, their head aching in pain. 

"Fuck me... I'm never drinking with Akira again..." Takashi groaned loudly, slouching so that his head was resting in the armrest. 

"Stop screaming..." Yukiko whined, massaging her head in pain. "You're so loud..." she hissed, slapping his leg. 

"Don't move me..." 

"HEY!" Reika screamed, standing behind them. The two jump in surprise, instantly regretting the sudden movement. The twins practically mirroring one another as they slumped over clutching their heads. "Hmph..." Reika snickered, walking around the couch with Erina beside her.

"Take this..." Erina offered to them with a weary gaze, she gives the two some warm water and pain medicines. "I warned you two about drinking with her..." she sighs. 

"She was challenging me...!" Takashi hissed, motioning to Reika. 

"And you proves us right, you're a weak drinker." Reika rolled her eyes, "I got a call from one of the members..." she said seriously, dropping her teasing facade. "A student was found dead..." 

"D-Dead...?" Yukiko swallowed hard, she was in the midst of drinking her water and almost choked on it from hearing her revelation. "W-What??" 

"That's horrible..." Erina frowns, shaking her head. "You two stay with each other at all times, until they catch whoever did that."

"This is most likely a different syndicate." Reika grumbles with a thoughtful glance, "I've heard rumors of the Uehara Family using that method, but those are just rumors. They're not the type to use barbaric methods such as that..." 

The twins share a knowing glance, thinking about the Ishikawa-kai.

"Well let's go eat breakfast with the others." Erina suggests. "When we get home afterwards, do your homework and don't go outside by yourselves. Especially you, Takashi... I know you go on runs every now and then."

"Yes ma'am."

*

They all meet up at the restaurant, sitting around the table quietly. Either because of the hangovers, or because of some awkward tension. The older girls were talking casually though, talking about last night with Mitsue and Daisuke.

"Damn Haruko, you were a different person last night." Reika admitted with an amused grin, she leans in to drink some of her coffee.

Haruko tenses when she hears that, "S...So I've heard." she coughs, clearing her throat.

“I would drink with you more if that's what you're like...” Reika purred, reaching over to touch her hand.

Haruko flinches when Shizuka pinches her side, making the woman grab it in pain. Avoiding Reika's touch. “O-Ow…???” She looked at her in confusion.

Shizuka huffs, “Hmph…” she rolls her eyes, looking away.

“What's her problem…?” Takashi asks Minami quietly.

“Uhh… just some girl things, I assume.” Minami chuckles, “We'll talk about it later…”

“Girl things, huh…? How was your stupid date…” Yukiko asks suddenly as she sends her a death glare, indifferent on the subject but wanting to remind Shizuka of her boyfriend.

“It was great… Better than being around your weak tolerance.” Shizuka sneered, glaring back.

“Ugh! Who told her!??”

“It's all over your face.” Shizuka deadpanned.

“Oh I'm sure your night went well then since you're glowing. Was the sex good?” Yukiko snapped back.

Shizuka tensed when she asked, glancing at Haruko worriedly. Haruko looked at her nervously, awkward from the tension. Shizuka shot Yukiko a harsh look. “I don't think that's any of your business, is it…”

“Then my drinking tolerance is none of your business…”

“It wasn't… your face just made it obvious you'd be weak.”

“And your face is an absolute bitc–!!”

“Alriiight!” Takashi cut in, the two were getting looks from everyone else around the table. “Haha… really good friends now, just calling each other names and stuff…!” He laughed. “Right??”

“Yeaaa, Haruko and I do that all the time.” Minami admitted to them.

Haruko stopped drinking from her soda, her jaw dropping. “I would never– tsk!” She grunted when Yukiko elbowed her side. “Would never… not… call Mina a bitch… hahah..”

“O…kay…??” Akira looked at them weirdly. “Ah, the waitress is coming to take our orders.” She points out.

“Great!” Haruko hums, excited to move on from all the arguing.

“Ah, Haruko!” Was it always too early to speak?? Maybe she shouldn't speak at all. Haruko looks up instantly from her name being called to see Chizuru there. “Welcome back.” She smiles sweetly.

“H…Hey.” Haruko smiles up at her.

“Are we still going on a date tomorrow?”

“Y-Y-Yea.”

She could feel the intense glares from the two sitting beside her, but there was also the curious gazes from the other women.

“I'm glad!” Chizuru giggles, “Can I take your orders?” She asks, looking around. Her eyes fell on Shizuka. “Ah, Shizu–!?”

“Yes, Chizuru Naba?” Shizuka cut her off right away.

“You're–”

“Talking to you at a later time.” Shizuka deadpanned, she was on a rampage, giving almost everyone that cold attitude. “Do your job.”

“Ugh…!” 

She took their order with no further argument, but she was aware of Shizuka there and you could tell she was distracted by that. When Chizuru left, Shizuka looked at Haruko. 

"You're going on a date, with her??" Shizuka frowned. "When did you get a date..??"

"I--"

"I don't think you should be caring about what she does, huh?" Yukiko smacks at the table before Haruko could even get a word in. 

"She like asked her out during Yukiko's date." Takashi admitted suddenly, he flinches when Yukiko kicked his leg. "OW! What?? It's true...!!"

"Can you children calm down??" Even Reika was weirded out at that point, and she would usually be making fun of the whole situation but the two fighting was so intense it was making it weird. "What is going on??"

"Sorry, sorry. They're just protective." Minami explains, getting their attention off of the two. "...Protective, over Haruko..." she tried, holding a smile. "Probably just really tense because of hunger, you know people get sometimes when they're hungry..."

"I see..." Erina nodded, she was watching the two arguing wearily, not wanting them to break any friendships over anything silly. "Well hopefully we'll get our food quickly then."

"Who would've thought you'd be going on another date, Haruko." Reika announced, to move on from the weird fighting. Unaware that she might cause another one. "I thought you would ask me next~"

“Ahhh… it just kind of happened, I suppose.” Haruko mumbled, “S-She paid for my meal so I wanted to pay her back…”

“Don't mark her~” Akira teases. “Then again, you should be taking us out too then, huh? Since you skipped a few steps last night.”

“Huhhh???” Takashi looked up in confusion.

“N-Nothing…” Akemi shook her head, “Don't listen to her. Akira likes to tease…”

“A…Anyways…” Minami coughs to get everyone's attention. “Anything else happened last night after I left?”

“Aside from Haruko turning into a different person?” Takashi hums, thinking back to last night.

“We get it, I'm a different person when I'm drunk.” Haruko whines, hiding her face.

“Sorry, it was just a little baffling.” Takashi laughed. “You're usually so respectful and chivalrous. Once Minami was gone and Akira got more alcohol in your system, your hands were on everyone. Aside from men, of course.”

“Of course you were still very chivalrous and respectful, your flirting just went into overdrive.” Reika chuckles.

‘That's really concerning if that's what happens if I'm unconscious… is it the same when I'm sleeping…?’ Haruko frowns slightly at the thought of that being possible. ‘I've only ever slept with these three recently… but even so, they said I was knocked out…’ she glanced at Saeko, Akemi and Akira.

“That's enough drinking for you…” Shizuka mumbled, referring to Haruko. “If you want to drink, Minami and I will have to be around for that.”

“Booo….!” Akira whined in a childish manner, but they knew she was just playing around.

“Y-Yes ma'am…” Thankfully she hadn't planned on drinking for a while. It's not crossed out for good though, she needs to experiment with that issue… possibly with a camera.

Oh. A camera…?

“Did any of you record last night?” Haruko asks around curiously.

“I did but you're pretty brave for wanting to see what happened in your room–” Akira tried, about to whip her phone out.

“D-Drinking! When we were drinking!”

“Oh! I did.” Takashi admitted with a wide grin. “I was taking videos of Yuki cuz she looked like she was going to throw up.”

“Hey!!” Yukiko snapped at him angrily.

“Can I see?” Haruko asks.

“Sure. Any reason?” Takashi hands her his phone hesitantly, wondering if there was something important he missed.

“No reason. I'm just curious what I'm like while drunk…” Haruko takes the phone to look at the video he pulled up, Shizuka peeking as well.

The video was mostly on Yukiko, who truly looked like she was going to throw up. But Takashi did pan around to show the others that were there at the time.

Erina was there trying to calm Reika, who was in a heated argument with Mitsue about something. Daisuke beside them, drinking quietly, he was amused by the whole conversation while texting on the side.

Takashi zoomed the video in on Haruko and Akira, who were in the middle of taking more shots. The Haruko on the video slammed the empty shot cup onto the table with an excited grin before putting her arms around Akemi and Saeko's shoulders.

‘Ugh… okay, that's not me…’ Haruko thought nervously. She was going to stop the video until she noticed a visual indicator of different actions popping up right in front of her. She couldn't really read the options on the visual indicator, she couldn't really believe it either.

Haruko rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was just seeing things again. But not, the box was still there and an option was in the midst of being selected. She glances at Shizuka, wondering if she can see anything. “Um… do you see anything, Shizu?”

“I see you shoving your tongue down Kawaguchi's mouth, is that what you wanted me to say?” Shizuka said coldly, causing her to wince at the harsh tone.

“Uhhh… s-sorry…” Haruko looked back at the video, and she was indeed doing that. ‘There's no way… is someone playing my character when I'm unconscious in the body???’ She gasps, giving Takashi his phone back. ‘That's not… shouldn't they be playing as Takashi…? There wouldn't be a lot of options if they're following me in this story, I'm always conscious.’

The food came just as she was in the middle of not having a full-blown panic attack in the restaurant.

Haruko stares at Takashi as Chizuru places their food down in front of each of them. She ponders.

“Haruko~ For you.” Chizuru swoons, placing her plate down.

“T-Thank you, Chizuru.” Haruko smiles up at her briefly, looking away from the boy. “Wow they made it so cute and stuff with the hearts.” She was in awe at her plate.

“I made them~”

“O-Oh! T-Thank y-you…” Haruko gasps, “Let me take a picture, it's so cute.” She hums bringing her phone out to take a picture of the plate.

But of course, it was in selfie mode. Haruko jumped, it was still surprising seeing her ‘own’ face. She was quick to turn the camera, accidentally facing it towards Minami. “Oop, sorry Mina, I almost took a picture.” She chuckled out loud.

“I mean, I won't decline one.” Minami laughed, throwing up a peace sign.

Haruko hums at the girl's easy going personality and holds the camera up at her again. She was startled when she sees a green bar over Minami's head with what she assumed was the friendship visual indicator. 

The bar was pretty full, she wasn't surprised, Haruko and Minami are pretty close. She can feel it even if she didn't really know the Minami character too well. 

"Did you take the picture?" Minami asks.

"Y-Yea..." Haruko nodded, "Yukiko, you too." she turns the camera towards Yukiko curiously. 

"E-Eh?? F-Fine..." Yukiko became flustered by the sudden attention, she was pouting but still looking pretty decent for her picture. Haruko pretends to take a picture, glancing at the bar hovering Yukiko. 

There were two this time, the green bar - which was more than half of the bar, and a reddish pink bar with a heart icon in the front that teetered the middle. Mostly going past the half way point. 

Haruko took the picture anyways, just in case she asks to see it. 

"How do I look?" Yukiko asks curiously, considering Haruko took so long to take it.

"Super cute." Haruko admits to her, smiling slightly she was still holding her phone up to Yukiko. Yukiko became even more flustered by her compliment, the jittering pink bar coming to a stop more than half way in. "I don't have pictures of any of you, I just realized. Let me take some for memories." she tried, looking around.

"Oh! Sure." Erina chuckles. "That's so random of you Haruko, but I'm not surprised. That's so cute, how sentimental you are." she hums when Haruko was about to take her picture. 

"Erina is very cute too... " Haruko tells her. She looks at the reddish pink bar above Erina, it didn't move at all from her compliment but it was close to the middle. 

"Haruko..." It didn't show in the bar but it definitely showed on her face. Erina was blushing a bit, shy for her picture. 

'Interesting... Yukiko's bar moves a bit from compliments. Erina's bar didn't move at all... just like any other dating sim, the girls have different likes and dislikes that guide a player's choices...' 

Haruko takes pictures of the rest of the girls. She wasn't surprised that most of them had the Love indicator bar and the Friendship Bar. Akira had the least in the Love Bar at the moment, that is until she looked at Shizuka. 

She was startled Shizuka even had a Love Bar to begin with, it was barely there but it was there. Even the friendship bar was a bit low, it was just close to the halfway point but that was to be expected.

"Maybe I should take some pictures too." Takashi tried.

"Ugh... why would we want you to take pictures of us??" Reika huffs, rolling her eyes. 

"C'monnn, it is a nice restaurant too, the backgrounds all nice." Takashi was trying to convince them. 

Haruko glances at him with her phone discreetly, there it was, the Friendship Bar. But aside from that, there it was again the visual indicator for decision making, 'It appeared again...?? Is someone playing as him right now??' 

She cringes when the bar lands on the action to [Persuade Akemi]. "Akemi, can I take a picture of you?" Takashi asks with a wide playful grin. 

"Eh? Me?" Akemi looks up from her food, "Just me??" she was confused why he would ask for that but was oblivious to any other reason so she just agrees. "I suppose you can."

"You can take one of us!" Akira hums, putting her arm around Akemi's shoulders. She throws up a peace sign just as Takashi takes a picture. 

"Enough pictures." Reika motions for him to put his phone down. "Let's eat." 

"Yes ma'am." 

Haruko puts her phone down as well, she felt weird. She felt aware... someone is playing their game right now, how long had they been playing Takashi...?? What choices did they make for him up until now??

'This is a predicament...'