"Yamada-kun… can I stay with you?"
Her words came trembling, as if even breathing was hard.
Alex couldn't answer right away. His mind was still processing the reality: the girl standing before him was Hachimiya Megumi, the heroine from the game he had just finished hours ago.
The good girl. Naive. Kind.
The one who had fallen into the hands of the game's worst character.
And now she stood there, in a school uniform that no longer fit over her swollen belly.
A child.
A child fathered by the real Yamada Takashi.
"W-What… what are you doing here?" Alex stammered, unsure how to act.
Megumi lowered her head. Her fingers fidgeted nervously just below her stomach.
"My parents… kicked me out when they found out. I have nowhere else to go… and you're the father."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Alex swallowed hard. He wasn't that guy. He wasn't Yamada Takashi. He wasn't the bastard who had done this.
But now he had his face. His voice. His past.
"…Of course," he said, with a voice that barely felt like his own. "You can stay."
Megumi's eyes filled with tears—but not from sadness this time. She stepped closer and, awkwardly, rested her forehead against his chest.
"Thank you… Yamada-kun… I thought you'd turn me away…"
Alex stood still. Her closeness paralyzed him.
Not out of attraction—but guilt.
How could he look her in the eye, knowing what had happened between her and the previous "him"?
Megumi pulled back just enough to look up at him.
"You promised we'd be together, remember?"
He didn't know what to say.
He didn't remember.
Because it hadn't been him.
But she couldn't know that.
Shit. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
---
The apartment was a mess: empty beer cans, cigarette butts on the floor, clothes strewn everywhere, a reeking blanket, and a mattress that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years.
Megumi didn't complain. Not a word. She just asked if she could clean.
He watched her move slowly, heavy with pregnancy, picking things up without resentment or disgust.
How much had she changed since she was the smiling girl who greeted the protagonist in the classroom every day?
"I'll do it," Alex said, a lump forming in his throat.
She looked at him, surprised, then gave a faint smile.
"I didn't know you could be so thoughtful…"
He wasn't.
But he wanted to be.
Even if it was too late—even if everything was built on a lie.
---
That night, they slept in silence.
She on the mattress.
He on the floor, with a pillow made from folded clothes.
"Yamada-kun…" she said softly, almost asleep. "…Do you… still love me?"
Alex didn't answer.
Because the real Yamada Takashi never loved her.
And he… didn't know what he felt yet.
He only knew one thing:
He wasn't going to repeat the mistakes of the bastard who came before him.
The streetlight cast a faint glow through the dirty window.
The night was still. He could hear his own heartbeat like it was part of the air.
Megumi slept on her side, one hand resting over her belly.
She breathed softly—like she finally felt safe.
But just as Alex began to close his eyes—
[DING]
A digital chime, cold and artificial.
In front of his vision, hovering like a translucent projection, a dark blue text box appeared with white letters:
She asked you a question.
"Do you… still love me?"
[ ] Yes. I've loved you from the start.
[ ] No. I only used you.
[ ] Stay silent.
Alex's heart skipped a beat.
"…What the hell?" he whispered. But no answer came.
The interface floated silently, as if the world itself was waiting for a choice.
It was just like the decision screens from the game.
The damn game that had already ended.
Was this a dream? A hallucination? Or was he trapped inside some kind of system?
But that didn't matter now. The question was real.
Megumi had said it.
He had heard it.
And even if she was already asleep… a part of him felt like her soul was still waiting for his answer.
The second option felt like a stab to the chest.
"No. I only used you."
That's what the real Yamada did. Got her pregnant. Left her. Broke everything she was.
Did he have the right to say "Yes"?
To love her when he barely even knew her?
When he wasn't who she thought he was?
And yet… staying silent also felt like an act of cowardice.
Alex swallowed.
Decision made.
[X] Stay silent.
The menu faded away without fanfare.
Nothing changed.
No sound. No reward.
Only silence.
But in the stillness, Megumi murmured something in her sleep:
"…Thank you for not lying to me…"
Alex remained still, a strange ache forming in his chest.
Maybe… the game hadn't ended after all.
Maybe it had only started a new route.