"Let's go back to how we used to be? Hm?"
Mari's seductive gaze swept over my eyes and lips.
At the same time as her gaze, her soft, warm body, pressing against my upper half, disoriented my mind.
I had to say something.
I had to quickly say something to avoid this situation.
"..."
"Emil…"
Her hand glided… One by one… the buttons came undone…
As I racked my brain, Mari's hand had already unfastened most of my shirt buttons.
Slowly…
Then, her smooth stomach and adorable belly button were revealed under the moonlight.
Mari showed the skin revealed by her unbuttoned shirt and smiled alluringly.
But.
"...Mari."
I opened my mouth.
"You're… trying to torment me again."
"What, wha…?"
Mari's smile vanished, and her eyes began to tremble with unease.
'Right, no hesitation.'
If possible, I had no intention of hurting her any further.
My objective was complete, and with that, the grudge of my suicide in the first timeline was resolved.
But if she was going to be this forceful, I had no choice.
"In the end, you haven't changed at all."
I looked at Mari with infinitely cold eyes.
Her trembling was conveyed through my waist, which she was straddling.
"N-no…! Emil…! It's not like that…!"
Mari seemed to understand what I was saying and tried to explain something, but.
I didn't listen and continued speaking.
"You clearly recalled your memories. What kind of relationship we had, what you did… and what I did."
She gasped.
Upon hearing my continuing words, Mari's face turned ashen white, and her hands trembled.
"You're just like 'that girl' after all. Whether you left me or not."
"No… no, Emil…! I-I'm different…! I just genuinely love you…!"
"I said I don't want it."
"..."
"I told you to stop."
"..."
"And yet, you just do as you please. You just follow where your desires lead you."
"...Th-that's not what I was trying to…"
Soon, tears welled up in Mari's eyes as she began to sob.
Her deranged expression and seductive allure were nowhere to be found.
Mari just shook her head at me, denying my words, as if recalling 'that memory'.
"Just do as you please."
"...Huh?"
I turned my head to her and said quietly.
"Do whatever you want."
"Emil…"
"You're tied up anyway, so you can do whatever you want, right? Go on."
"..."
I closed my eyes as if resigned.
After that, I said nothing.
I didn't plead with Mari to stop, nor did I cry out for help.
I just let her do what she wanted.
'…But she won't be able to.'
Mari wouldn't do it.
I knew that.
After all, if she laid a hand on me here, she would be proving that she was exactly the same as her first timeline self.
"Oh, sob, why… It's not like that… I just… I truly like you…"
Drip, drip…
Feeling tears dripping onto my clothes, I slowly opened my eyes.
Gently, gently…
Mari leaned her upper body forward and gently touched my wrists.
She was probably untying the restraints.
And so, a moment later.
"Aren't you going to do anything?"
"..."
I gently rubbed my now freed wrists and asked Mari.
Mari didn't answer.
She just sat on my bed, sobbing and letting tears fall.
I watched her for a moment, then untied the restraints on my ankles.
Why did she only untie my wrists?
Was it a hint of lingering attachment?
"...Are you going to stay here?"
Having untied all restraints, I got up from the bed and spoke.
"Emil…"
Then Mari, who had been sobbing all this time, asked with a tearful voice.
"Do you hate me…?"
"..."
How should I answer?
If she asked if I hated her, I didn't particularly.
My grudge was resolved, and she hadn't done anything terribly wrong to me in this timeline.
But.
"Well…"
I deliberately gave an ambiguous answer.
Including a warning not to cross the line again.
"Sob, I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
Then Mari stumbled out of bed and approached me.
And she knelt on the floor, grabbing onto my clothes.
"Don't, don't dislike me… Sob, don't hate me… I'm sorry…"
"..."
With my limbs freed and my mind calmed, I calmly stared at the ceiling.
'I didn't expect this level of obsession…'
Even Mari in the first timeline, after her capture target was completed, didn't like me this much.
It was probably the effect of Easy Mode combined with the 'Tears of Charm' skill point.
"Mari, I told you before."
Still, leaving Mari like this would be troublesome.
To sever her feelings, I spoke as calmly and gently as possible.
"You just need to like someone else, not me."
"...Gasp."
"Mari is a charming person, so you'll definitely meet a good person."
"If I'm charming, then Emil should…"
"Mari."
"..."
When her words started to stray into messy territory, I called her name in a cold voice.
Mari flinched and trembled, then lowered her head.
"Don't make me hate you any further."
"..."
"Your answer?"
"...Yes."
"Then go back now. I need to sleep too."
"...…Yes."
A moment later, Mari hesitated and got up.
With a still sad face, shedding tears, she fumbled to gather her clothes.
"Button up your shirt."
"...Yes."
Unable to watch any longer, I said a word to her.
Because it seemed she would go outside with her shirt completely unbuttoned like this.
Mari, hearing my words, buttoned her shirt and put on her jacket, then left my room.
A creak… A thud.
"Haaah…" He sank down.
Only then could I finally relax, sitting on the edge of the bed.
'Should I add a lock to the door…'
To think Mari would barge in at such an unexpected moment.
And secretly at night, even restraining me.
'Just now… what would have happened if I hadn't spoken properly…'
I recalled that moment, restrained on the bed just a while ago.
Judging by Mari's deranged eyes at the time, she might have gone all the way.
"No, even so, that can't be right…"
A forced sexual act.
The original game was still rated for all ages.
No matter how deranged she became, she surely wouldn't have gone that far.
'Still, it's a relief I talked to her properly…'
Of course, even if it wasn't a forced sexual act, if I had just stayed silent, there's no telling what might have happened.
"Haaah… let's sleep…"
I lay my tired body on the bed with a sigh of relief.
***
The next morning.
When I opened my eyes, the morning sunlight greeted me as if nothing had happened.
But traces of the night's events remained around the room.
Especially the ropes that had restrained my limbs.
'Is Mari okay, I wonder…'
I thought that while looking at the ropes.
Of course, I wasn't worried about Mari being sad or suffering.
'She won't come again, will she…'
My concern was solely her mental state.
Because she had experienced such a thing unexpectedly.
'Perhaps… Chris too…'
And having experienced this, I began to worry about the future of Chris, my next capture target.
What if Chris restrained me at night, just like Mari did in the early morning?
…Would I be able to resolve it just by talking then?
'And what about the other girls later…'
This was the difference between the previous timelines and this one.
In previous timelines, there was only one heroine to capture.
So there was no chance of friction with heroines from other timelines.
But this timeline was different.
Because this time, I had to capture all the heroines at once.
"Haaah…"
Worry created more worry.
As anxiety bred more anxiety, I let out a small sigh.
"Should I go out for now…"
But sighing wouldn't solve anything.
I changed into my training clothes for my morning workout and left the dormitory.
"Hi! You're a bit late today, aren't you?"
When I went to my usual spot, Sierra was there, warming up.
"Yeah… Where's Chris?"
"I don't know? She hasn't come out yet."
Chris late for training.
Including up to the fourth timeline, it was the first time this had happened.
"Should we start first?"
Sierra spoke to me first as I stood there blankly.
So, leaving Chris, who hadn't arrived, we began our run.
Chris didn't come even after the run ended and we began bodyweight exercises.
It seemed she was absent from training today.
'Is it because of yesterday's date…?'
I didn't know if there was a causal relationship, but that was the only reason I could think of.
In the end, I paid no mind to Chris and continued bodyweight exercises with Sierra.
"Emil, you seem a bit quiet today?"
"Oh? Am I…?"
"Yeah, is something wrong?"
During a short break after finishing push-ups.
Sierra, who was naturally sitting next to me, asked that.
'Something wrong… Well, there is…'
At Sierra's question, I recalled what had happened in the early morning.
"Hmm…"
But I couldn't tell Sierra about it.
Therefore.
"...You know."
"Hm?"
"Suppose… there's something you want to do, but it seems a bit risky. …What would you do?"
I rephrased the thought that currently dominated my mind and asked her.
"...Suddenly a consultation?"
"Wasn't that the vibe…?"
"Ahaha, just kidding. Of course it's fine!"
Sierra giggled and agreed to my consultation.
"So? Is it about a dream? Heh, Emil has things like that too. That's surprising?"
"Don't try to tease me, just tell me what you'd do."
I subtly glared at her, who was poking my arm and chuckling.
Then Sierra dropped her playful demeanor, rested her chin in her hand, and fell into thought for a moment.
"Hmm… So it's dangerous, you say…"
After pondering for a while.
"My head hurts, why are you even worrying about something like that?"
Sierra looked at me with her characteristic grumpy expression.
"...Are you really the second-ranked student in your year?"
"And are you, the top-ranked student, really asking about such worries?"
Sierra retorted to me, who was looking at her dumbfounded.
And she suddenly sprang up from her spot.
"In the end, to summarize, it's 'something that might happen,' right?"
"Oh, huh?"
She came and stood behind me.
Then, she firmly placed both hands on my shoulders.
What was she trying to do?
As I was thinking that.
A low grunt.
"A loud groan of pain!"
She naturally put her weight into her arms and pushed my back.
As a result, sitting with my legs spread, I naturally ended up in a forward bend stretch.
Moreover.
A soft sensation…
'Ugh!'
Because she put her weight into pushing my back.
Her upper body pressed against my back.
Thanks to that, a softness difficult for a man to endure was transmitted through my back.
"You worry about things like that *after* they happen. You idiot~."
"..."
"How about that? Isn't that a perfect answer?"
"...That's enough, get off me."
"Ahaha, why~, stretching is the best when your head's complicated."
As I glared at her, my face flushed, Sierra giggled and moved away from behind me.
"Alright, my turn next. Help me stretch."
"..."
And she naturally sat in front of me, showing her back, and said that.
'Did I ask for no reason?'
Why did I suddenly bring up such a consultation with Sierra?
I didn't understand my own actions from a moment ago.
A strained grunt.
"A strained groan…!!"
"You… aren't you too stiff for a girl?"
"Eek…! To a lady right now…!"
Still… my complicated thoughts did feel a bit clearer.
'Worry about it when it happens…'
I pushed Sierra's waist and looked up at the clear sky.
"..."
"Ughhh…!"
Yes, I can't give up walking just because I'm worried about a downpour.
If it starts raining, I'll just find shelter then.
'Because that event to complete Chris's capture is coming soon.'
I cast away my hesitation and worry.
'There, Chris's capture will be completely finished.'
If Chris were to lose her mind and do the same thing as Mari.
That would be something to worry about then.