Akira?

"So, are you going to tell me about it now?" Akira asked me with a mischievous grin after we walked for a while.

"Well, could we just walk for some time?" I scratched my cheek with my hand, looking embarrassed. "I need to... think of how to put it into words."

"Sure. Take all the time you need." Akira nodded a bit disappointed, but still respectful.

I smiled as thanks as we continued to walk towards my house.

'Do you really need to think? I thought you would just-'

SYSTEM!

'Jesus! Why are you calling it?!'

System! Get out now!

'... I'll just be quiet...'

Hey, system! I'm free now! Get out!

I continued to call for the system with no response. It doesn't appear no matter what I said.

Huh, my guess was corrected.

'What guess?'

Guessing that the system was afraid of someone.

'What?! Who is it?!'

...

'Why are you staying- Oh, it's Akira.'

So you're not as dumb as I thought.

'Shut up. Just explain everything already.'

Beg me.

'...'

It's not like I have to say anything to you. You won't be doing crap anyway.

'... Please.'

Call me daddy!

'...'

Otherwise, I'm not telling you.

'What's wrong with you? Also, for the nth time, you're a girl!'

Who said that girls can't be called daddy huh!?

'... Can you just tell me?'

Fine, fine. So here's the gist of things.

I guessed that the system was scared of something the moment the system went missing during class. It was too unusual for it to just leave all of a sudden.

'Didn't it say it went on maintenance?'

And you trusted it?

'...'

It's way too suspicious. It came after I said 'I love you' to Ryuu after we got together successfully. If it was earlier, I would have believed it more. It felt like it was just waiting for someone to get close enough to a capture target, which was already skeptical on its own.

'Ok, I get it. But why did you think it was afraid of Akira?'

Oh, that was mainly a guess. Half of it was because Akira was the 'system' in the game. The other half was because of the fact that he knows about the game. The system being missing right now already proves most of it.

Also, we were going to be alone anyway so might as well test it. Thankfully I was right, though nothing would have happened if I was wrong.

'Isn't Akira too obvious as a choice?'

Well, the fact that he was the 'system' and that he could be the hidden capture target already puts him on heavy suspicion. Plus, the System must be scared of something that could harm it. So Akira as the original 'system' definitely can do it.

Which brings me to another point. Since we already proved that the System is hiding from Akira, he should be or at least similar to a system.

He's trying to be close to me, so he should be a maintenance type system. He wants or has to watch over me since we're not from this world after all.

'Wouldn't watching from the side be better?'

Both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages. Although, I would say being a best friend would be better since they would have a reason to.

'Say... Can there be another system? There's two already.'

There shouldn't be. Everyone's been acting normal.

'How do you know?'

Because I've been paying attention to people. Unlike you.

'Nonsense! I also pay attention!'

Really? Do you know any of the names of our classmates?

'Yes, I do!'

Not including the capture targets and Akira.

'...'

What about their faces?

'...'

Did you even know that both Fujou and Amai are in our class?

'... It's not my fault, ok?!' QAQ

Uh-huh. Is that enough explanation for you? I wanna talk to Akira now. Without his confirmation, it's still a guess. The System could be scared because of another reason.

'Ok... Go talk...'

The conversation lasted around a minute, though it felt longer. I turned to Akira and took a deep breath.

Although I know that Akira has zero bad intentions towards me, it's still unnerving that my best friend isn't who I know they are.

"You ready?" Akira noticed what I was doing.

"Yeah." I nodded. "So, what should I talk about first?"

"How you and Ryuu got together obviously~" Akira had a shit-eating grin on his face. Seeing him looking like that most of my nervousness faded away.

Right. He's still my bestie no matter what. There's nothing that could break the trust I have for him.

'What about that time he looked interested in Ryuu?'

I only said I trusted him. I never said I wouldn't kill him. Besides, breaking our trust and breaking his life are two different things. ^_^

'...'

"Well... He actually confessed to me yesterday." I focused back to Akira with a smile. A glint of menace quickly flashed through my eyes. I carefully scrutinize every micro-expression of Akira.

'... I feel bad now.'

:P

"And you only answered him today?" Akira raised his eyebrow curiously, appearing to not be aware of the danger he's in.

"W-Well yeah. It was my first time getting confessed to, you know." I turned away and my face flushed red. It turned a bit more red as I whispered the next few words. "Especially by such a hot cutie."

"What was that?" Akira leaned closer to me.

"Nothing!" I walked ahead a few steps.

"Sure~" Akira smirked. He caught up with me before asking again. "So, what happened next? You accepted it, right?"

"I did." I continued walking, not looking back at him.

"Anything else~" Akira pursued with his questioning.

"What do you mean?" I looked back confused.

"Did you, you know~" Akira dragged it out, looking way too happy with this. "Kiss yet?"

"I-I-I- What?!" I stopped moving instantly in shock. This time I blushed for real.

"Kissing~ On the lips~" Akira lifted his right hand to his lips. He kissed it while making it extra loud.

My eyes widen quite a bit at his blatant teasing.

"Did the smoochy moochy~" He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"..." I kept my mouth shut. How come I never knew he was like this?!

"Well~" Akira didn't even hesitate to push forward when he saw me stay silent.

"I did." I calmly said it, before walking away.

"Oh my~ How was it?" Akira caught up with me and asked.

I walked faster.

"Hey~ You shy?" Akira asked again.

I started sprint walking.

"Running away, are we~" There was an obvious gloating tone.

At last, I couldn't take it anymore. So I stopped and turned towards the smug voice, and glared. Akira also stopped walking since he knew I was actually pissed this time.

"Fine! Since you like asking so much, how about I ask you one then!?" I continued without giving him a chance to respond. "Do you know about 'Deepest Desires'?!"

"'Deepest Desires?" Akira repeated, clearly caught off guard. I stiffened as I realized what I blurted out.

Ah, fuck.

'Why did you say that?!?'

I don't know! I was mad okay! Plus we needed to talk about this anyway!

'Yes we do, but not like this!'

Well too late for regrets! Now be quiet so I can focus.

'This is all your fault.'

Silence!

I looked at Akira who was hesitating. He gave me a once over, as if he's seeing someone new. When his eyes met mine, I stared back anxiously.

'All your fault~'

Shut up!

"How do you know that title?" Akira asked cautiously.

"First, tell me what it's the title of." I asked just to further confirm everything.

"... A game." Akira answered slowly. He relaxed as he leaned against the wall while keeping an eye on me. "My turn. What kind of game is it?"

"A dating sim." I answered back. Akira nodded in acknowledgment. "Do you know what trope the game focused on?"

Akira frowned.

"Yandere."

...

Silence enveloped the alleyway as we processed.

'Though you already told me, it's still a bit stimulating.'

'It's still a bit stimulating.' Said the one that's hiding like a pussy.

'...'

"How did you know?" Akira beat me to the punch. I cleared my throat before answering, trying my best to calm my mood down.

"A week before school started, I woke up in this body. I don't know if my other body is dead or in a coma or whatever. I just remember going to sleep after conquering all the endings to unlock the secret route." I explained everything that 'she' did. "What about you?"

"Oh, I can't remember." Akira shrugged nonchalantly.

'Wut.'

It's the classic amnesia play. That's how people bullshit things through.

'That's bull.'

It's really convenient though.

"You... can't remember how you got here?" I asked with furrowed brows, getting back to the previous feelings. Akira nodded with a lopsided grin.

"Like you, it happened a week before school started. However, I woke up with knowledge of the game. I don't remember anything else about my past self." Akira was oddly tranquil as he explained his lack of memories. "I also don't have the real Akira's memories. I was a clean slate, but since I knew his personality and didn't remember mine, I just fell into playing the part."

"That's... so weird." I rubbed my face, looking all exhausted and confused. "Why can I remember and not you?"

"That's what I'd like to know, too." Akira smiled ruefully. "Seems a little unfair, right? Also, why am I an NPC while you're the heroine? Isn't that a little too unbalanced? Shouldn't I at least be one of the target characters?"

Akira, believe it or not, looked really disappointed. It doesn't look like he was disappointed in his role though, but rather something else.

'He shouldn't be disappointed because of... No way. Hahahaha...'

Hahahaha. ^_^

'...'

"Wait, when you woke up, you only knew about the game, right?" Akira nodded, not knowing of the bad things I'm thinking about right now. "Then, doesn't that mean you don't know for sure if you even had a past life?"

Akira's body stiffened.

"...I never thought of that." Akira looked troubled. "But, I felt like I don't belong here. I still feel that way, and if I did just lose my memories for whatever reason, wouldn't I have remembered something by now?"

He scratched the back of his head as he thought hard.

"Maybe." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

We both stayed silent for a while.

I waited a bit longer before I finally decided to do it.

'Do what?'

I ignored her and put my right arm down. I then started to rub up and down nervously with my left hand. My eyes started to turn red.

Akira noticed it and spoke.

"What... is it?"

"I..." I started to tear up. "I'm just really happy you know."

I sniffed and choked up slightly.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked as he took a step closer to me.

"I-I always thought I was alone." A few drops of tears began to fall down my cheeks. "Now, I know that someone's here with me. It's really comforting."

"It's ok now. Don't cry." Akira ran up and hugged me. "You're not alone now."

Tears fell down as the dam broke. Akira patted me on the back of my head, gently comforting me. He whispered more reassurance into my ears, which made the tears fall faster.

'... How the fuck are you crying? I don't remember you being able to cry on cue.'

My arm hurts.

'Huh?'

I pinched it too hard.

'Oh, so that's why.'

It hurts so much. TWT

'Pinching it was stupid to begin with.'

QWQ

We hugged for a while longer, even after I stopped crying. I held Akira's shoulders with my hands and pushed a little. We're still semi hugging, but we have a small space between us now.

"Thanks..." My voice still sounded a little hoarse from the crying.

"You're welcome." Akira smiled.

"I... have one more question to ask you." I hesitated a bit before saying it in the end.

"Sure, ask away." Akira nodded.

"So..." I looked up right into his eyes. "Who are you?"

"What?" Akira couldn't understand what I was asking about.

"Who are you?" I moved my right hand towards his nape as I asked again.

"Where's Akira?"

###Omake/Extra###

'Wait what? The fuck are you asking about?!'

Hm? I didn't tell you?

'No, you didn't!'

Oh.

'...'

...

'Aren't you going to explain now?'

Oh.

'... I really hate you.'

Oh.

'...'