In Which I Attempt to Write More Kenji

[Ismuth]

This is meant as a hypothetical BAD END triggered by successfully missing all the paths.
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I wake up from what had been an interesting dream involving one of Muto-sensei's and a heroic adventure through the briny depths.
I hesitantly open my eyes once I identify my alarm as what had awoken me. Realizing that I'm awake, I roll over and groan.

"It's Sunday."

Wait. There was something important about Sunday.

"The... festival?"

I helped the preparations for it a little here and there, but I never really committed to any one group's project.
It wasn't that I was unwilling to help anybody. It was because I was still unfamiliar with this new school.
Regardless, I may as well go to the festival. It doesn't seem like I will get much of anything else done today because of it.

"I guess that settles that."

With that, I toss my covers aside and jump out of bed, as if to show my determination to get up and get out.
I get dressed, and walk out of my room to join in the festivities, I run into somebody with a thump and a clatter.

"Ow! Dammit, man! Watch where you're going! To think I came here, out of the goodness of my poor old heart to give you a bit of a friendly advice, and then you go and bowl me over..."

It's Kenji. Now on his fours, feeling around for his glasses. I seem to have become a target of a long, meaningless rant about how nice a guy he is and how I, the devil himself, go charging into people for my own fun and profit.

"There they are. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted... the festival is just a very large trap. Both for schoolwork, as I've told you before, and to capture you in a club for forced labor. The student council's the worst, but the others aren't much better."

Is he just paranoid, or...

"I'll tell you what. I'll teach you how I've managed to avoid the traps of the festival, because you've only been here for less than a week."

A truly gracious offer. I'm inclined to turn him down, but I don't have any other plans for today, nor am I particularly attached to the idea of going to the festival.
Besides, what if all the clubs really were as bad as he was making them sound?

"It's better than what I was going to do, why not?"

He looks surprised for a second, then bursts into a huge grin.

"Excellent, Hisao my boy, I'll teach you all there is to know about avoiding the vile grasp of the Yamaku organizations!"

It's evening. Kenji and I spent the day in hiding, venturing out only for food, and him mentioning some silly trick that somehow helps make somebody completely inconspicuous in either a crowd or even by yourself in a middle of a flat plain with no cover. Having ended up sticking with this bespectacled paranoid all day during what was supposed to be a festival hyped by the whole school, I can't say I wasn't at least a little depressed at the results. As we both are walking back to the dorms, he stops and turns to me.

"Hisao, you had one hell of an oppurtunity."

"What are you talking about?"

"You could have gotten together with one of the six finest female specimens that I know of at this school. You had every oppurtunity. Likening them to targets, you were in a cube with a mission to hit one of the sides."

He's completely lost me with his analogy.

"Yet, somehow...you've managed to shoot yourself, against all odds.

"You say that as if I have no other chances."

"Never another chance quite like this one. They say that a single man who avoids the festival is doomed to die single."

"..."

"But, what's done is done. Not like you're able to turn back time."

At least the situation isn't completely hopeless... I think.

Kenji begins his walk to the dorms again, delivering his parting shots.

"Anyhow, at least now I'm not the only one on this campus who knows how to avoid the evil grasp of the clubs. I hope you put these new tricks to good use. At any rate, this festival was better than most years for me. Goodnight, Hisao."

"Goodnight."

I walk into the dorms behind him. After the festival, life at Yamaku became almost the same as my old high school, spending my days in the same routine. My years there came to an end without me ever joining any clubs, partially thanks to the tricks taught by Kenji.

With that, my story comes to a close as I leave for university, my life neither for the better or for the worse for it.

[Losstarot]

Damn, Kenji is an asshole.

I like it though; it's nice to see Kenji around some more.

[TcDohl]

You know, instead of making a "bad end", it really ended up becoming a "meh end". Hisao doesn't die or anything. He *gasp* lives!

If I remember correctly, when we were planning this, I was thinking that Kenji and Hisao would get wasted/high on the school roof and fell off and died.

[Ismuth]

Yeah. I was trying to not do that, nor the deadly punch, for the lulz. I'll probably do another one, in which Hisao dies, perhaps a bad end for missing Lilly and/or Hanako's path?

[TcDohl]

Yeah. I was trying to not do that, nor the deadly punch, for the lulz. I'll probably do another one, in which Hisao dies, perhaps a bad end for missing Lilly and/or Hanako's path?

The deadly punch is for another one, the actual gigolo end. This is more for the fail end at the end of Act 1.

[Siphonata]

This is nice, and it's clear that you have some understanding of Kenji's character. My favourite part of this short story is the part where Kenji calls Hisao out of him missing the opportunity to hook up with one of the girls despite having the chance to do so.