I do not get why you people are all hung up on the 'blackmail' .....yes it was a cheesy move, but she Ayasa (spell?) has a lot going on and is desperate to find her sister and keep her real self away from the public eyes
Cheesy? Cheesy would be a poor one-liner that mc uses to pick up chicks, physically threatening someone's livelihood in order to maintain your own facade so nobody ever finds out about the real person beneath the proverbial mask is not cheesy, it's just disgusting and honestly, it lends itself well to explain how vile Ayase can be when she thinks her own 'image' is at stake, or at least that is how the game is showing that to an audience who pay attention.
and I can absolutely see her thinking the MC may have been part of the 'bad guys' when she first got there
How? Every attempt the mc made to explain to her that he was innocent was shot down instantly because she refused to listen or see reason, she was acting impulsively and lacking compassion (a thing most self-proclaimed heroes have in abundance)
she has redeemed herself as well, MC is a nice guy, not a simp ..... it is easy to fall in with the 'crowd' who look up to her, much easier than winning a 'top' girl over to his side .... his and even the other's concept of her is almost normal .... haven't y'all gone to high school with the 'pop kids' etc, at that age, we can fall easily in with the crowds, especially if we are not in the 'special group'
Redeemed herself? Not even close, she did the bare minimum to ease her conscience, if I was in the MC's shoes and someone attacked me unprovoked without even attempting to listen to what I had to say, who then tried to blackmail me with an image they took with a hidden camera
* and then proceeds to ask me where I live and invites themself into my home without asking me
**, I would be kicking that chump out the door and telling them that could kiss my derriere
*= The hidden camera footage she has can't be used as it was obtained illegally unless she intends only to distribute it among her friends in school, in which case the MC could sue her for defamation of character (not in the context of the game I know, but it's the principle of the thing)
**= Nobody whom I met mere hours prior would ever get my address and they most certainly would not be welcomed in my house regardless of how important they think they are, He has no idea whether she is a genuine 'hero' or a secret sociopathic killer masquerading as a hero, my point is he just welcomes what is essentially a random person into his home without even a shred of concern for his own safety
MC is a nice guy,
too nice, simp or not he's too easily led and that leads to disappointing scenarios within the story, here's a guy who has an inner power (one he nor us knows anything about) yet he is so easily manipulated/led by others to do what they want, he even goes so far as to tell his blackmailer about his power. He's too trusting it's going to be his downfall before long.
I will say that my opinion is my perception of the game and if the dev reads this, all I want is some option to have the MC bite back, at least give us the option to tell her to go to hell or something, it's not fun when you are forced to watch someone you want to envision yourself in the place of being treated like that when you know that if that was you (which most players will place themselves in the place of the protagonist) then you would not have stood for such unbecoming behaviour.