"Do you want to be friends?"

And then there was silence.

Murakami was looking at me with an expressionless face.

Soon, it became awkward. Why is she so silent? Was my offer that strange? I mean, yeah, it was sudden and unnatural, but the girl seemed shocked for some reason. Once again I remembered her profile. Maybe that strange silence of her is related to us being childhood friends. Yes, maybe it is, but I am not sure… Meanwhile, the girl suddenly blushed.

"Okay!"

(20+6=26)

"Let's… Be friends!" She added and placed hands on her waist.

I nodded.

"Best friends!"

…I nodded.

"So… What do friends usually do?"

You are free to consult a dictionary…

…

…

…

It was stuffy in my room when I came back. I opened the window, looked at the trees, and took out the magazine.

Now I really did accomplish all my missions. That's good. Were I am a perfectionist, I would have been in great joy right now. My score reached 26 Points. I could have bought some stuff in the SHOP, but I decided to do it later when I will really need something.

As for today… That's it, I guess.

Murakami proposed to have dinner. She even managed to get her hands on two cups of ramen. I was still a bit hungry at that time and had no reason to refuse. After we had a meal, she started watching TV while I went back to my room.

There, I checked my relationship with the girl.

The number increased once again.

[Murakami Kotori: 85 (FRIENDSHIP)]

Now that's progress.

After that, just in case, I took a look at my own profile:

[Str: E

End: E-

Int: B+

Special Abilities: [Kendo - E]]

I wonder how much I will have to train to increase my attributes. And how exactly should I train, by the way? I guess I can improve my physical attributes by going to a gym... But what about my intellect, then? Should I buy a puzzle book?

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Doubt that it will work.

After that, I remembered about the annotation. It should be available now that I have done all my missions and finished the One-shot ark:

[Story: 1

Title: Locked. Opening cost – 1 Point

Genre: RomCom.

Genre Score: 19/19

Annotation:

[Just after transferring schools our main character suddenly meets a strange girl. She seems to know him, but he's sure that he has never seen her before. What exactly is her identity? There are secrets hidden in the past, and they are about to be unraveled… To be continued!]

Hm…

Well, that's a pretty typical setup for a RomCom story, however... The secrets hidden in the past? I winced. Have we really met each other before? But how? That's impossible. Like, actually impossible. I'm not even from this world… Oh well, no point in guessing.

I shook my head and started getting ready for sleep…

…

..Chirp.

Chirp-Chirp

Sparrows are chirping…

Chirp-Chirp… Chirp.

"Kya?!"

And some girl is screaming from the adjusted room...

When the peaceful sounds of the morning became too unbearable, I opened my eyes. It was bright inside of my room. The sun was shining through the crows of the trees. Shadows of leaves were shivering on the wall. It would have been a nice morning if not for the unknown voice shouting from nearby:

"Who are you!? What are you doing in my room?!"

At first, the voice was nervous and afraid. Soon, however, it started to sound overly severe:

"I… Guess I live here…" awkwardly answered Murakami.

"Who let you in? Are you a thief?!"

"No!"

"Lies!"

"Shall we compromise with half true?"

"Get out of my room!"

"As you wish!"

"Kya!! Why… Why are you naked?!"

"Well, you know, it's actually healthy to sleep without clothes… It helps to counter obesity…"

"Go away!"

"On my way!"

"Wear something first!"

…

I think there was a saying that if someone is having a bad time, then someone else at the same time enjoys a fortune. I felt sorry for Murakami who had happened to take that room. However, I also didn't want to waste my own luck. I was about to return to my peaceful sleep, when suddenly…

Knock-knock.

…Somebody knocked at my door.

I opened my eyes, cursed at the sparrows chirping outside, and went out. A girl was waiting for me in the hallway. I could barely see her face through the messy white hair.

"Hello," she said in a low voice.

"Hello."

"Good morning!"

I nodded.

"I was driven away."

"Yes, I heard."

"Ha-ha…"

Very funny, but what am I supposed to do? I looked at Murakami carefully and noticed that her jacket wasn't zipped well enough. Well, of course, it wasn't. She had to dress in a hurry. The problem is, below the zipper I could see the white of her clavicle… Wait… If she was dressing in a hurry, doesn't that mean that she only had time to wear the tracksuit? And nothing else under?

I shifted my gaze away…

Meanwhile, Murakami said:

"So… Maybe you could…"

"Want me to explain everything to that girl?"

"I don't think she will listen to me… She was about to throw her bag at me… Well, she actually did and now my back hurts, ouch…"

What a friendly new neighbor we have. I clicked my tongue and went into the hallway together with Murakami. We walked toward the door of (previously) her room. The girl hid behind my back. I knocked at the door. Angry and, at the same time, light footsteps resonated from behind it.

The door opened and I saw a pair of shining black eyes.

A girl was standing in front of me. She was quite short (much shorter than Murakami was) and had accurate short black hair. Her brows were thin and even. Her face seemed both childish and mature at the same time. Like the face of a very serious kid.

The girl looked at me carefully and asked in a loud voice:

"Who are…" suddenly, she started coughing.

"You… Cough…"

Her face became a little bit red.

I was about to introduce myself when suddenly, I heard a click of a clown's glove in my head:

'Attention, attention. A new heroine-type character is detected. Secondary type analysis… It's a tsundere! Attention, attention, a new mission is available. For every point of damage received from a tsundere, the main character will be granted 4 Points!'

…

…

…