As you can read in my signature, it says that two characters in Katawa Shoujo "correspond" with the two love lives I've had in my life so far. These two characters being Lilly and Hanako.
When I say "correspond", I don't only mean personality-wise but also storyline-wise. I was interested to see if any of you have also had anything like this happen to them, because I think the reason why Katawa Shoujo hit me so hard is because Hisao goes through the same things that I have experienced IRL.
I'll start off with my two stories, the first being my "Hanako".
WARNING, THERE MAY BE SPOILERS FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE HANAKO OR LILLY PATH! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU IF YOU DECIDE TO READ IT ANYWAYS!
Anyways, the reason why Hanako's path was so full of feels for me was, that I have had a "Hanako" in my life. Hanako is the first girl I went for in this VN because she looks similar to the first girl I fell in love with :
Long and flowing dark hair, her bangs covering one side of her face and that long slender body.
Back in 2nd grade a girl transferred into my school from Romania for reasons unknown. The 2nd grade was split into 2 classes, 2a and 2b, both of us were in opposite classes until 5th grade.
She was a very timid and silent girl, one of the reasons probably being the language barrier. When our classes merged in the 5th grade, I took notice of this timid girl and decided to become friends with her, again for reasons unknown.
Slowly but surely I began to bring this girl out of her shell and became very good friends with her. I found out that we both had similar interests and to top it all off the same taste in music.
I fell in love with this girl without realizing and for some stupid reason decided to tell my friends during a lunch break at school (this now being the 7th grade). The instant I was done talking, one of my friends gets up and walks up to her table, where she sits with her friends (now that she has slightly come out of her shell) and loudly shouts "ANON, HAS A CRUSH ON YOU!". He walks back to my table with the biggest smirk on his face while I try to hide mine from "Hanako" who is now staring at me.
The next day, she comes up to me during the pause between classes and asks if this is true or not. I, not wanting to lie to her, told the truth. She replied with : "I'm sorry, but I'm not looking for anything like that right now..." and left me to sulk.
The following month goes by without us talking once, while I suffer a mini-depression. On the first day of the next month, she comes up to me, again during a pause, and says : "I'm sorry about before, I don't know what I was doing, I do have feelings for you. I guess I was just debating with myself whether I wanted to tell you or not. But after seeing you depressed for a month I had to do something."
I was ecstatic. Having the person that you love return your feelings is the best feeling in the world.
The next year passes uneventfully. I never went on a date with her because my parents wouldn't let me, I was "too young to be dating".
8th grade, there's a new guy in my class, tall and handsome. I become friends with him and all is well. Until six months later, I have a talk with "Hanako".
"I'm not feeling it anymore Anon, I can't stand it." - "Just give it a year or two, I'll be able to bring you on dates then..." - "No Anon, I don't have feelings for you anymore... I'm sorry, but I think I like "New Guy"."
Well fuck. The rest of 8th grade passes with me getting terrible grades and barely passing the grade because of another bout of depression. Everyday was awkward as fuck because I had to deliberately ignore the girl that I was still in love with. She would sometimes catch me staring and I would have to quickly look the other way. But sometimes I would catch her doing the same thing, which led me to believe that there was still hope.
9th grade, the beginning of my "Lilly" path. There's a new girl in my class that looks very similar to Lilly, complete with curly blond hair(except shorter) and blue eyes, similar to the 4th picture in this :
Within two days of school starting, I say something (I don't even remember what) that remotely sounded like "I like the new girl "Lilly"." The same friend that told "Hanako" that I had a crush on her yelled out :
"ANON HAS A CRUSH ON "LILLY"!"
Again, there was a stupid smirk on his face as I facepalmed and muttered "goddammit" under my breath.
This eventually leads to me getting to know her and becoming friends with her. She skyped me regularly for homework and studying for tests because I was known as the over-achiever after I had brought my grades up. One day, after we finished discussing homework and I'm about the end the call she asks me if I like any girls in our class. I reply with a sigh and "I used to...". And before I realize it, I'm spilling my heart out to this girl that I still barely know.
"I used to be together with "Hanako" but it didn't work out..." - "Oh, that explains what I overheard the other day. I heard her say something along the lines of "that's another reason why I should hate him, but I just can't bring myself to." - "So you're telling me I still have a chance?" - "Exactly!"
And just like that "Lilly" encouraged me to talk to "Hanako" again. Before I went to sleep that night, I rehearsed what I would say to "Hanako" the next day to get her back.
When the break between classes comes, I ask "Hanako" if we can talk. She agrees with no hesitation and I forget everything I rehearsed. I ended up saying something that I instantly regretted :
"I think you're lying to yourself about liking "New Guy"..." - "You of all people should know that I think about my feelings very thoroughly." - "Forget it, you can leave now..."
A couple of days later, I have a very vivid dream that I still remember to this day, where I'm standing alone in a black room and "Hanako" hugs me from behind and says that she loves me and I told her that she's lying and that she would only abandon me again. I took that dream as a sign that I was over "Hanako".
Near the end of the year, I move close enough to the school to bike there and "Lilly", with whom I have come very close now, offers to pick me up in the mornings. At this point in time, I've already fallen in love with Lilly but don't know it yet. I don't want to confess because I know that she is leaving at the end of year to go back to where she came from, and I don't want anymore heartbreak.
Two weeks until the school year is over, and "Lilly" asks me on a date. I can't say no, even though I told myself I wouldn't get together with her. Again there's an issue with my parents : "You're too young to be dating"(I'm 15 years old at this point), I'll speak to your father about it."
Eventually, I'm allowed to go out with her and what's completely unexpected is that we end up making out (my first kiss). Not one week later, I invite her over to my place. I had planned a surprise good-bye party for her and invited all of the people that she was friends with (basically my entire class, because she was just like Lilly, the shepherd of grade 9). One thing led to another and we ended up having virgin sex in my room.
The rest of the week passes, school ends and we get our report cards back. I got a 90% average and I wasn't even happy, because the love of my life would be leaving in a couple of days. I go to the airport and give her a heart-shaped necklace for her to remember me. I'll never forget that last scene. We finished hugging and we kissed one last time. She walked forwards, then turned around once more and mouthed the words
"I love you."
I burst into tears and couldn't remember one bit of the summer vacation that followed.
When the airport scene came up during Lilly's path, I couldn't stop crying for hours. In fact I'm crying right now as I write this.
Now that I'm done with my stories, please tell me what you think and don't be afraid to post your own experiences. This is my first post on this forum (on any forum in fact) and I hope it is well received.
Thank you to anyone who actually took the time to read through it all, as I know that it was long and probably boring at times (I'm not a writer
).