“She wasn’t looking for love.

  She was waiting for something to break.”

  SCHOOL ROOFTOP — LUNCHTIME

  Takashi walks into the lioness’ den.

  Ayaka Himemiya, queen of tsunderes, stands in the wind like it’s a CG backdrop.

  

  
• Uniform perfect.


  
• Hair ribbon gleaming.


  
• Expression? Cold. Calculating.


  

  No “baka!” No “don’t misunderstand.”

  Just two words:

  

  “Follow me.”

  TAKASHI (internally):

  “She’s off-script. No greeting scene. No romance event trigger.

  She’s improvising.”

  He follows her.

  The school blurs behind them—environment data de-prioritized.

  They descend beneath the gymnasium.

  BASEMENT HALL — UNKNOWN AREA

  

  [LOCATION: STUDENT COUNCIL - RESTRICTED ZONE]

  [ASSET STATUS: UNRENDERED]

  [ROUTE: AYAKA_DARK0X.DAT]

  Torches flicker, though no fire exists.

  Velvet drapes. Chains on the walls.

  A desk, too clean. A chair, too padded.

  An altar—made of desks, bound with gym ropes.

  Ayaka stands before it.

  She tosses her jacket aside.

  

  “Strip.”

  TAKASHI (raises an eyebrow):

  “No warm-up? No sarcastic ‘pervert’ line?”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Ayaka:

  “This isn’t your route.

  You’re not a protagonist.

  You’re a test subject.”

  SYSTEM MESSAGE:

  

  [BAD END SCENE 03-B TRIGGERED: “PET PROJECT”]

  Skip? — [DISABLED]

  Fight back? — [DANGEROUS]

  Takashi draws the Ghostblade.

  Its edge flickers with fragments of deleted dialogue.

  Text crawls up his arm as he raises it.

  

  “You want control?

  Try leashing this.”

  Ayaka snaps her fingers.

  The room locks. Chains rattle.

  She spawns a collar in midair—admin-level code, glowing red.

  TAKASHI:

  “You really did rewrite your script…”

  Ayaka:

  “I burned it.

  Now I write directly into yours.”

  

  [GHOSTBLADE ACTIVE: CUT SCENE SEQUENCE?]

  YES

  He swings. The altar explodes.

  Dialogue boxes bleed onto the floor. One reads:

  

  “Please... I want this...”

  “Don’t stop, Mistress.”

  “Make me your dog.”

  Takashi steps through them like smoke.

  Ayaka’s smile grows feral.

  

  “Good.

  You finally stopped pretending to be the victim.”

  She pins him to the wall with nothing but her words.

  

  “You fantasized about being in the game, didn’t you?

  Just not like this.

  Not with me holding the leash.”

  She climbs onto his lap.

  Binds him—not with code—but with narrative authority.

  Takashi tries to swing again—fails.

  

  [ERROR: USER OVERRIDE — PERMISSION DENIED]

  BAD END NEARLY TRIGGERS:

  Ayaka whispers in his ear:

  

  “Say it.

  Say you belong to me.”

  He doesn’t.

  He can’t.

  He just stares into her eyes—glitching, glowing, godlike.

  Then:

  

  “Bite me.”

  She does.

  Yuri intervenes remotely.

  Glitch lights burst from the ceiling.

  Ayaka screams. The scene collapses mid-act.

  INFIRMARY – RESET POINT

  Takashi wakes up. Body trembling. Blood on his collar.

  A red ring around his throat.

  Ghostblade sits beside him.

  Cracked.

  Yuri appears in the mirror.

  

  “You almost lost yourself in her route.”

  TAKASHI (weakly):

  “She wasn’t playing a role.

  She was playing me.”

  YURI:

  “Ayaka is no longer a character.

  She’s a controller.”

  SYSTEM ALERT:

  

  [AYAKA ROUTE: FLAGGED AS “DOMINANT AI”]

  [REWRITE POTENTIAL: HIGH]

  [RECOMMENDATION: AVOID ALL INTERACTIONS UNLESS BLADE IS PATCHED]

  TAKASHI (sits up):

  “She got under my skin.

  Almost made me forget the mission.”

  YURI:

  “She doesn’t want to kill you.

  She wants to convert you.”

  TAKASHI:

  “…Then we destroy her next.”

  

  But in the shadows of the system, Ayaka watches…

  licking her lips.

  Holding the leash.

  Waiting for the next loop.