Asuka has been woken up by loud banging noise on the door.

Strangely instead of returning to the dark space where she gets to decide whether to start a new route or not, after every route, she directly woke up in her dormitory.

"Ariana! Open the door"

Startled by the familiar name, she quickly realized who was on the other side and rushed to open it.

The hidden character she has been searching for so long has shown up and even helped her to escape. She remembered him hugging her small figure tightly when they jumped off from the building. He was even ready to take the pain for her.

Additionally he knows her name, knows about the game and seems to be capable of keeping his memory whenever the route changes.

"Come in"

Maybe he's someone who has managed to escape the manipulation of the system. Then that means he's not a yandere and she can trust him.

As soon as he stepped through the door, he took off his mask and cap, revealing a very stunning face that looks like a living sculpture.

Blue eyes, pale skin and silver hair that strangely suits him very well. If she were to dye her hair like that she'll look like an old grandma. But then again she's in Asuka's body so it might actually suit her.

"What's your name?" She decided to strike a conversation first.

His eyes were calm and composed. He didn't look like someone who was in love with her, let alone develop an obsession towards her.

"I don't have a name. Just call me L"

"L?"

Okay, it truly sounds like a typical hidden character's name.

"Then L can I ask you a question?" She asked very carefully, still observing how he would react. His stoic expression didn't change as he opened his mouth to speak. "You can but not here. Let's go to my place"

Asuka gulped. That sounds really dangerous. What if he locks her up like the rest of the characters?

But he knows she's not Asuka and the fact that he's being manipulated by the system. Thus, she decided to trust him just this once.

There was no need to dress up. She woke up in a T-shirt and jeans shorts. It was currently summer so she guessed there'd be no school as during these times students would be on vacation.

It was great. She doesn't have to see any of the other capture target's face. Specially Sakura. She still feels uncomfortable thinking about her though she's most likely normal girl in this route.

Asuka and L reached a small shabby apartment and went to the underground floors. After walking through the hallways for long time and getting through five doors that require passwords on each, they finally reached L's room.

"Woah.."

The room looked really comfy. Actually it was size of a small apartment. Huge bed, many different computers and small kitchen along with a bathroom. You can literally live here without moving around much. Despite having all that, the room strangely didn't feel stuffy at all.

"Do you like it?"

"It's amazing"

Then she saw his stoic expression change into a cheerful face with a smile. He looked genuinely happy.

"I'm glad you liked it. Do you want something to eat?"

Only then did she realize how hungry she was.

"Yes, please"

While chewing on piece of pizza, Asuka finally gathered a courage to ask him couple of questions.

"How did you know my name?"

Suddenly he stopped eating and stared at her with serious expression.

"Do you know the identity of your friend who died?"

The friend who died.. He was obviously talking about John.

Thinking about her first best friend of this world brought tears to her eyes but she quickly wiped it even before it could fell.

John is alive. He's immortal. He's watching her from above. She just can't see him anymore.

"Yeah, I heard everything from him. About the gods, system and the dark angel"

L nodded as he continued to explain. "He's a follower of god who betrayed the heir to help you. But that doesn't mean he's the only follower that was sent here. There're many followers like him that was assigned around me to keep me from meeting you"

Asuka clenched her fist in anger, fully understanding what he meant. The heir, who made the mistake and released the goddamn dark angel in the first place shamelessly tried to make her lose the game and in process, kill her. He didn't even try to take responsibility for his actions.

'John is much more better than that bastard but why's he only a follower?!'

She felt angry but decided to keep her mouth shut and hear him finish first.

"At first I didn't understand what was going on. But my guards were acting very strange. They started telling me what I could do and I can't do until one day I suddenly woke up two years into the future. I thought it was amnesia at first but realized it wasn't the case. After investigating the guards for a bit, I found out about everything"

L was being very careful to not spill the entire truth but to not lie completely at the same time in order to make the story sound true.

Asuka also felt there were some missing pieces in his story like how he was able to keep his memory on each route or how he found out that his guard were in fact, followers.

But she didn't ask. It was like a test. If he tells her all this without hiding anything, she'll trust him. If he doesn't then she'll try to use him.

Putting all those thoughts aside, she asked again.

"Then are you able to use the system too?"

*Ding

Asuka was amazed by the unexpected message. To think it was possible to even communicate through this thing.. It'll really come in handy in the future.

"To be precise, I got this power from the Dark Angel's base when he was absent. Now that we've moved into my route and his plan to make you suffer didn't go well, he'll hunt you down. But I can reassure you that you're safe as long as you're with me because I managed to get few fragments of his power. If we go along with my plan then we can even defeat both him and the Heir"

(A/n: I'm gonna address the as simply Heir because it's too long. To your information, he's the guy that appeared on the 2nd route, 5th chapter)

Asuka stared into his blue eyes that was full of determination.

"Then what's the plan?"

At her question, L simply smiled and shrugged.

"I'll tell you after you take some rest. We need to prepare anyway so I'll explain everything tomorrow in full details"

He was right. She needs to rest first. Asuka was indeed quite exhausted mentally. It's only natural since she just witnessed her friend's death and jumped off a very tall building around 20 floors only few minutes ago. Between that time, her mind wasn't given a rest.

Then a realization struck her.. L and her fell at the same time so why was L already outside of her dormitory when she just woke up?

'Something about him just doesn't feel right. It's better to be cautious'

Despite her thoughts, she acted carefree on the outside and answered.

"You're right. Can I sleep on the bed?"

"Sure" he smiled again.

Asuka fell asleep as soon as she put her head on the soft comfortable pillow that has very nice scent.

After making sure she was asleep, L got up from his chair and reached to her side.

His smile was replaced by a frown as he stared at the message that appeared in front of Asuka. He quickly summoned his own system and with the help of his power, he successfully hacked into hers and changed it.

He neither wanted her to find out about his feelings or his real name.

"I'll get you out of this mess no matter what"

Confessing and all the other stuff can wait. He needs to handle those who're trying to harm her at first.