RomCom. First Ark

"She will be back soon," whispered Murakami.

I nodded, and we went back into the dorm.

Once we had stepped into the hallway, the girl said:

"So, what do you think she was doing…" she couldn't finish her words, because right at that moment Lu had walked into the hallway from the door on the other side. She looked at us, and, seeing how strangely quiet we were, the girl awkwardly coughed.

Suddenly, Murakami said:

"So… What do we have for breakfast today?"

"Same as yesterday… I mean, the same thing that you had on dinner," immediately answered Lu.

Murakami was about to say something else when suddenly, a sound of a song playing filled the room. It felt somewhat familiar to me. It was a song from some commercial. I gazed at the TV, but it had been turned off. Meanwhile, Lu shivered and took out her phone from the pocket of her skirt.

Red from embarrassment, Lu answered the call:

"I… I told you not to call me while I have classes… Ah…" she looked at us, switched to whisper, walked toward the kitchen, and then closed the door.

I shrugged.

Murakami was smiling.

"Cute song," she said.

"I guess."

"Dango-Dango~"

Stop it.

We sat down behind the table. Aoi came back after about five minutes. And right away Murakami frowned. I frowned too, seeing the look on the girl's face.

Lu was deathly pale. Her lips were slightly open, and she was holding the phone tightly in her hands, to the point that her knuckles became white. Lu looked at Murakami and me with hollow eyes and said:

"I… I need to go back home… I have something to do… Say to the teachers… That I will be absent today…"

And then she started walking toward the door. I had a feeling that she was about to go out just like that, without even putting on her shoes. Gladly, the girl did put the on with shivering hands and only then walked out.

We fell silent.

Many questions were flashing in my mind. Why was she looked so depressed? Why did she run away? Has something bad happened?

Oh well, no point in trying to figure it out.

"…Should we eat?" I proposed in an awkward voice.

"Sure," said Murakami, and we went to the kitchen. I took a plate of rice and walked back into the hall.

And suddenly, while I was having my breakfast, a thought occurred to me.

Wait.

Doesn't it looks like a beginning… Of some story ark?

Yes, it does. And once this thought flashed in my mind, I heard a very distinct voice sound in my head:

'Attention! Attention! A new potential Ark (rom-com genre) is discovered! What could be bothering the heroine? The MC is ought to figure it out!'

'Main mission of the ark: Discover what is bothering Aoi Lu: 5P

Solver her problem: 10P'

I froze.

Then, I sighed. I really don't like dealing with other people's stuff… However, no choice for me now, right. Every month I had to complete at least one Ark in every genre. For the SpoCon, I had the training Ark.

I still haven't got anything like that for the RomCom.

I was worried about that and was actually considering making an Ark myself: by inviting someone on a date, for example.

And now this chance has appeared.

Guess I should take it.

I thought for some more time and went to the kitchen.

There I saw Murakami standing with a spoon in her hand just before the stove.

"..Are you eating from the pan?"

"Am, nfon, I mhean yhes… But I will eat everything, so it's ok!" she gulped and said.

"…Okay."

I sighed.

"I have… A proposal."

"I… I don't think that our relationship is at that stage yet… I mean we are still in school!"

"…Not that kind of proposal."

I tried to make a worried voice:

"I kind of… Worried that Lu has run away just like that. So maybe we should go and see how she is? Maybe she needs our help."

Let's stalk her — I added in my head.

Why I was trying to take Murakami with me? Well, there's a simple reason for that. She is also a heroine, so the more time I spend with her doing various activities, the better. It will earn me points.

I was somewhat worried that the girl will refuse, but gladly, she just smiled and nodded:

"Okay, let's go!"

After that, she lowered her head, placed a hand on her chin, and started thinking:

"But how can we find her? Guess I can catch up to her on a bike but after that… Also, I don't think that she will like to see us following her… Ha-ha…"

Yeah, that's a good question. How exactly can we follow Aoi so that we will remain unseen by her? Should I try to use the Perfect Disguise item from the Store? But how, then, I will explain its functions to Murakami?

The best way will be for us to wait for some time and go straight to her home. To do that, however, we need to know where she lives…

"Bingo!" Suddenly said Murakami.

"Do you remember that box? The one that she took from the restaurant? It belongs to her family, and there should be an address written on it."

"Ha. That's true…"

Murakami and I immediately went through the trash bag. Sadly, we couldn't find the box inside.

That means that we only have one choice…

I walked into the hallway and approached room N3…