My Eros System Grants Me Infinite Romance Routes
Chapter 12: +20 Affinity to Rina
CHAPTER 12: +20 AFFINITY TO RINA
"I don’t know yet. But we should—"
Just then, the sliding doo r slid open to show Rina in an oversized T- shirt. Her face was blotchy and tear-streaked with mascara running down her cheeks. She looked between them wi th wild eyes.
"What the fuck were you two doing?" she asked in a cracked voice.
Akira straightened in the water, meeting her gaze. "Rina... why aren’t you asleep?"
"Why aren ’t I asleep?" She chuckled. "The lights in my room were blinking like crazy, and I felt... something. Like a headache or a migraine, like my skull was going to s plit open. And now I find you two out here together, pract ically naked in the middle of the night?"
Akira climbed out of the tub, water streaming off his bare chest and soaking into his shorts. He grabbe d a towel from the rack. "Rina, it’s not what you think..."
"Not what I think?" Her voice rose to a near-shout. "You’re half- naked in a hot tub with the weird tr ansfer stud ent at midn ight! Don’t insult my intelligence, A kira! I may be going t hrough hell right no w, but I’m n ot stupid!"
"She was only teach ing me something," Akira said calmly, wrapping the tow el aro und his waist.
"Teaching you what? How to..." Rina stopped herself, shaking her head violently. "You know what? Never mind. Why do I eve n care? I just came here to clear my head, to get away from everything for five fucking minutes , and instead I walk into... this."
Ayaka rose fr om the water like some mythical creature coming out of a lake. Her wet silk robe was gluing to her every curve.
She walked to Rina slowly with a teasi ng smile on he r lips. "You shoul d be careful with that tone, Rina-chan. I don’t take orders from anyon e, especially from cheerleaders with a broken heart. And I certainly don’t appreciate be ing accus ed of things by someone who does n’t understa nd what they’re looking at."
Rina’s eyes widened and she took an involuntary step back. "What the hell does that even mean?"
"But then again," Ayaka continued, stepping past h er toward the door, "I suppose I ’m done with what I wanted for the night anyway."
She glanc ed back at Akira, looking satisfied. "See you tomorrow, Akira -ku n. We have much more to do together."
She disappeared inside, leaving Akira and Rina alone on the balcony. The steam from the hot tub swirled around them in the cool night air.
Rina stood frozen for a moment, then her shoulders sagged. She wrapped her a rms around herself, suddenly looking vulnerable rather than suspicious.
The anger drained f rom her f ac e was gone, replaced by exhaustion.
Ai’s voice whispered urgently in Akira’s mind: "Care ful here, darling. Rina’s affinity is at critical instability. A wrong move triggers permanent hostility. Right move? She could become an asset."
Akira approached slowl y as if approaching a wounded pet. "Are you okay? You don’t seem like yourself."
"Why do you care?" Rina shot back, but there was no heat in it. Just defeat. "All guys are the same a nyway. You’re all just..." She trailed off, her voi ce brea king.
"All guys are the same, what?"
"Sel fish. Controlling. Only caring about what you want." Sh e wiped at her eyes rou ghly. "You act all sweet and concerned, but in the end, you just want to add to your body count, ju st like Kenji. Just like all of them."
Akira frowned, sensing something deeper. "Wha t happened with Kenji?"
Rina l aughed bitterly. "What happened? He broke up with me. That’s what happened. Af ter two y ears together, he just... ended it tonight, over text. Can you believe that? O ver a fucking text message, even though we just had sex not long ago."
"I’m s orry..."
"Don’t. " She held up a hand. "Don’t give me the pity routine . I don’t need it. "
" What did he say?" Akira asked carefully.
Rin a’s face crumpled. " He said I was being difficult. That I neve r li stened to him. That I was ’too vanilla.’ and wouldn’t do what he wanted... he wanted me to do some freak stuff with his friends, and I said no. And that was it. Game over. Relationship done."
"What did he want you to do?"
"It doesn’t matt er." She turned away, staring out at the city lights.
The system flashed before Akira’s eyes:
[EMOTIONAL VULNERABILITY DETECTED]
[CHOICE TRIGGER ACTIVATE D]
[A: CONSOLE HER - Provide genuine emotional support (+20 AFFINITY, TRUST BUILD)]
[B: TAKE ADV ANTAGE - Exploit her vulnerab le state (+30 PERV-POINTS, AFFINITY UNSTABLE)]
Akira didn’t hesitate. He ch o se A.
He moved to stand beside her but didn’t touch her, just clo se enough that she could feel his presence. "Kenji’s an idiot. You know that, r i ght?"
"Easy for you to say."
"I’m se rious. A guy who lets someone lik e you, who lov es him, go... is an id io t."
Rina turned to look at him with a suspicious look i n her eye s. "A nd yo u’re different?"
Akira shrugged. "Co me sit." He gestured to the tub edge.
Rina hesitated, then turned to look at him fully with her red an d puffy eyes. "Why are you bein g so nice to me? I’ve been nothing bu t a bi tch to you since you got here. Everyone calls you Creep King, including me."
"Because I know what it’s like to be dumped on."
She wiped her eyes. "Sakura, right? The whole school saw."
"Yeah. Hurt like hell."
"Kenji laughed about it. Said you were pathetic."
Akira sat beside her. "See? H e’s tra sh."
Rina leaned a bit. "Maybe. Still sucks."
"You de serve someone who sees how awesome you are."
She glanced a t him. "You th ink I’m awesome?"
"Cheer captain, smart, hot... yeah. "
Rina blushed. "Stop."
"Not stopping. It’s the truth."
She nudged his shoulder. "Weirdo."
"Bett er than creep."
Rina was quiet for a long moment, staring out at the lights. When she finally spoke, he r voice was small. "I thought he loved me. Two years, and I really thought ... God, I’m so stupid."
"You’re not stupid. You trusted someon e. That’s not s tupid; it’s human."
"Then why does it hurt so much?"
" Bec ause you ac tua lly cared. That ’s the price of caring about people... it hurts when they let you down. And maybe because everyon e deserves a second c hance to not be a bitch."
Despite everything, Rina let out a watery laugh. "Was that supposed to be comfortin g?"
"Was it?"
"Kind of." She wiped her eyes again. "Look, I appreciate... whateve r this is. Bu t I need to be alone right now. I need to think."
"Okay." Akira stepped back, giving her space.
"Hey... Thanks. I guess."
"Rina?"
"W hat?"
"For what it’s worth, I think Kenji just made the biggest mista ke of his life."
She didn’t respond, but he saw her shoulders shake slightly, a nd he couldn’t tell if it w as from crying or something else.
Akira stepped away from her on the balcony and went back inside, still feeling the rush from the ritual with Ayaka. The apartment was sil ent now; the other girls were likely already sleeping.
He walked down the hallway to his room, his mind going through everything that had happened. The allian ce with Ayaka, the new powers , Rina’s breakdown... A i wa sn’t joking whe n it sa id things were go ing to move fas t.
[REWARD GRANTED: +20 AFFINITY TO RINA]
As he reached his door and pushed it open, Ai’s voice suddenly filled his head: "You are not alone."
Akira’s hand went for the light switch on the wall beside the door, flooding the room with brig htness.
His breath caught.
Mia was sprawled across his bed l ike something ou t of a fashion magazine ad, propped up on one elbow with her body arranged in a deliberately provoca tive and seductive pose.
She wore a tight crop top that b arely held her boobs in place, showing off her toned stomach, while her bum shorts left very little to the imagination. Her hair was tousled, and her lips curved in a knowing smile.
"I was wonderin g when you w ould show up," she purred.