Universal Gravitation: An Aoi Pseudo-Route [Updated 10/2/15]

[AntonSlavik020]

Nice to see this get an update. I've always enjoyed reading people in awkward situations so that was fun for me, as well as Hisao's brain basically shutting off at Aoi's hug.

[Mohn_Jadden]

Alright, I've reached Brady, Part 7 should be made official by the end of today.

Thank you all again for expressing your interest and support!

[Bradycardia]

Act 2 Part 7: Roche Limit

Tendrils of vapor streak across the sky, creating faint lines and patterns in the unanimously clear horizon above. The sun shone with force today, beating down onto a large group of excitedly chatting people, as they move across the courtyard. Even now, they begin to show signs of wear and tear underneath the sun, but not even solar radiation can claim their kindred spirit.

For today is a very important day indeed.

Well, at least for the runners and any of the fanatic school fans they may have. Me? I'd prefer to curl up in the shade, trying my best to regain my lost sleep. Even if I tried, there is no way I'd be able to get even a tiny amount of rest, thanks to the track meet happening in about an hour or so.

Even now, I can practically hear the buzz emitting from the track in the distance. Hiko, the bastard himself, probably making up most of it. Luckily for him the nurse cleared him for the track meet today. Then again, there is no physical boundary on earth that would prevent him from running.

I guess that would apply to me too. After all, a promise is a promise.

Shifting the blanket upward into the crook of my arm, I glance once more around the courtyard. Plenty of people. In fact, there's too many people.

Sighing, I look down at my feet. As with everyone else, I opted not to wear my coat today. Even so, I'm beginning to heat up more and more, and it isn't even midday yet.

"Now where’s the shade at..." I sigh out, half-mumbling under my breath.

I wonder where Aoi could-

"You and me both."

I jerk suddenly, surprised at the unexpected voice. I turn around, seeing the familiar silvery haired girl standing in front of me. She’s dressed in more casual clothes than our regular school uniforms, sporting a gray sweater vest and blue jeans. She is dressed surprisingly similar to myself, the only main differences being that she carries a wicker basket in her hands and has on a pair of extra dark sunglasses.

Honestly I should have thought to bring a pair of sunglasses too. Although it’s not too hot around the school, the sun is beating down brighter than ever without a single cloud in the sky to shade us.

She shifts the basket from her hand onto her arm. It’s no doubt containing whatever she packed for this little 'picnic' of ours.

I'm not sure if I’m more excited for whatever amazing dish she has packed in there or actually getting some alone time with Aoi. Probably both.

“Oh! Hey Aoi! How long have you been, erm, standing there?”

She gives me a sly look, tilting her head to one side and giggling.

“Long enough. Come on! Let’s get outta here, I have a spot picked out for us!" She grins, turning on her heel and walking off down the side of the track, the main crowd having convened on the bleachers by now.

We walk along the edge of the fence, Aoi leading the way. I can’t help but notice the sheer amount of people cramming into the bleachers. I can’t help but feel thankful that Aoi is saving me from that mess.

Though even from here I can make out a few familiar faces. Akio and Keiko sit at the front of the bleachers, right next to where the runners have stored their gear. Keiko sits and chats with a group of girls behind her, and of course Akio has his nose stuck on the inside of a book. For a moment I can almost see him peer over the edge of his novel at me, but I turn back towards Aoi before I could be sure.

"So, are you going to tell me what you've got in that basket of yo-"

"Nope!" She interrupts me gleefully, clearly taking pleasure at me being left in the dark. Whatever it may be, I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

I sigh as our feet begin to crunch the slightly unkempt grass below. We round the first corner, her eyes clearly set on the second one judging by the overhanging trees shading the fenced in intersection.

"Glad Hiko could make the race." I remark, looking over the track, seeing the throngs of people slowly but surely piling into the crowded stands. I hear the soft sound of Aoi shifting in front of me.

"Me too. Though, he still would have definitely been here whether the nurse gave him the 'okay' or not." She says, letting out a deep breath.

“He’s more dedicated to his team than the actual coach sometime.”

We round the last corner, getting closer and closer to the ever coveted shade.

"You think he'll win?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Hmm… well, I’m sure he’ll try!" She nods, reinforcing her opinion.

"That didn't answer my question." I reply, a smile beginning to form on my face.

"Well, I can't predict the future, Hisao-" She sticks her tongue out playfully, stopping as we arrive in the cooling shade, the supposed 'spot'. It certainly lives up to it's name. Flat grass, providing a nice spot for a blanket, and nearly unparalleled shade. Just entering the shadowy grounds makes me feel as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

“-but I sure hope he does. He’s been on a bit of a losing streak these last couple of meets.” She finishes as she sets her basket down on the ground.

“You can spread the blanket here if you want.” She motions to a spot on the ground as she bends down and begins sifting through the contents of the basket.

I spread the blanket out on the ground and sit down next to Aoi. It’s not the most comfortable blanket I've had, but it will do. We shouldn’t be here for long anyway.

I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone to check the time. The race was supposed to start around 3:00, and it’s a quarter ‘till. Even now, the runners jog in lines around the track, probably warming up for whatever physical torment they are about to put their bodies through.

God rest their collective souls.

“Do you always come to these meets?” I ask, hoping to break the silence. Aoi looks up from her basket, as if just remembering that she has someone else with her.

“Oh, no, not usually. They always seemed boring to me when I come.”

“Do you always sit alone? I mean I could see how that would get boring.”

Aoi lets out a slight giggle in response, reaching into the basket and pulling out a small tupperware container.

“Not usually. But Akio get’s nose deep in a book, and Keiko starts talking with everyone around her, so I usually just slip out unnoticed.” She says the last part with more than a little bit of pride in her voice.

“You’re a regular ninja.” I joke,

"Well, I'm a natural at sticking to the shadows." She chitters, resting another container in my open hand. I thank her and pop open the red lid to reveal a small sandwich, green leaves, and a few grapes.

“Oh wow, it looks really good! You said your dad taught you how to cook?”

“Mhmm.” She says, opting not to talk with a full mouth.

Say no more. I dive mouth first into the meal, making no second thoughts as to the feeble attempt at a conversation, or the runners posing for the first relay on the track.

●●●

I'm fairly sure you could raise the dead with this.

“Is it good?” She asks, watching me with full focus. I look over to her and nod, my mouth full of sandwich. I’m sure I look absolutely absurd, but at this point I couldn’t care less.

I try my best to wipe any stupid expression off my face before answering the question with real words instead of pure body language.

“It’s AMAZING. I wish I could cook like this. How do you stay in such great shape? I wouldn’t be able to contain myse-”

Oh no.

I look over, Aoi frozen mid-chew, her cheeks bright red. Any hopes I had of her missing the comment vanish in thin air.

Well, unfortunately there seems to be neither a great height, nor a sharp-object around here, so I'm not escaping this situation.

I blush as well, freezing up in embarrassment. I mean she does have a nice body and all, but it’s two totally different things to think something versus blurting it out at random.

“I mean, erm, you-”

Aoi stares back, her cheeks adopting a redder tint with each passing second.

Oh God.

“I just-”

She swallows her bite, pausing for a moment before slowly reaching up to her face and pulling her sunglasses onto the tip of her nose.

Is she-?

Her steel-blue eyes peer at me over the top of her sunglasses, and she looks as if she is nearly losing her composure. Her brows are cocked, as if she'd had enough of my bullshit, and I don't blame her.

“I-”

We both break. Before the first round of “haha’s” pass our lips we are already nearly in tears.

“Ha ha ha ha!”

“He he he he he!”

I lay my sandwich down, laughing out of pure embarrassment. It’s not even that funny, but at this point it’s contagious.

“You’re a... real ladies man, Hisao!” She says between fits of giggling.

“I blame my dad. He’s a hopeless romantic.” I say, holding back another round of chuckles.

We sit there and laugh like a bunch of lunatics in a wacky shack, not even registering the gunshot as the first race begins. Our laughing dies down, and we both calm ourselves down with a sigh. Aoi squints her light-blue eyes, trying to make out the line of runners heading away from us.

“Heh, nice work dummy.” She says, pushing her shades back up into her eyes.

“Thanks, you know I try my hardest.” I retort, once again picking up my sandwich and taking a bite. I look forward, seeing the first group of boy runners picking up speed along the track. Hiko looks to be standing out of this one, instead bending into weird, probably painful positions to stretch out his legs.

“What were we talking about?” Aoi asks, breaking my concentration on the meet. I swallow my bite, trying to think about what made us break into fits of laughter in the first place.

“Uhhh...body shape, I think?”

“Oh right-” Aoi giggles despite her best effort to remain composed.

“You run with Emi, don’t you?” She asks, looking at me through her sunglasses.

“Yeah, when I can. Why?”

“Just wondering. That must be a handful, given she has a reputation to be a bit of an energizer bunny around here.”

“I can’t imagine why.” I respond, adding in just a dab of extra sarcasm in my voice.

It’s not that I don’t like running with Emi or anything. In fact I have begun to enjoy it, if it’s even possible. It’s just the fact that running with a time bomb in your chest tends to make me a bit...nervous. For obvious reasons. Still, it's a decent feeling, and I can begin feeling myself live longer.

Aoi giggles to herself, probably hearing nothing surprising at all. Emi does seem like the type of girl to garner herself a reputation anyway. I’m sure Aoi knows all about her at this point.

“Hey Hisao? Mind if I ask you a question?”

The sudden change in topic catches me off guard. What could she possibly want to know?

“Uhh, yeah sure, ask away.” I say, shifting toward her, curiousity evident on my face. She lays the empty container on the ground and sits up, brushing any crumbs off her jeans. Honestly, I don’t have much to hide really. I mean unless she wants to ask me about my-

“Why did you come here?”

-heart.

She shakes her head a bit, seemingly backtracking.

“I-I mean to Yamaku. Not here, to the picnic, but to the school.” she stutters out, trying her best to correct herself.

How am I supposed to answer this so suddenly? I mean I don’t really feel ashamed of my...condition, but-
I don't want to make her worry, or anything. Not now.

I wasn’t prepared for this one. Why does she want to know? I thought people here were more hush-hush about these sorts of things.

Then again, I might be wrong. Sometimes you have to know what's… wrong with another, to understand them.

“Well...I…” I begin, soon dropping off as I realize that approaching the subject is something I

A short silence cuts between us, again turning the situation awkward.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- I mean you look normal and-” Aoi blushes again, as if swallowing her words she begins to backtrack for the second time in a row.

“I mean I’m not trying to say that no one looks normal but some people it’s obvious and-”

Oh boy she’s ranting. It's… cute, but it's probably not good for the conversation at hand.

“-other’s like me it’s REALLY obvious and-”

“Aoi…” I try to cut in, but she almost seems to lose herself in her thoughts.

“-I don’t know I was just curious and I didn’t really want to ask but sometimes I can’t really-”

“Aoi!” I raise my voice, snapping her out of her daze. I can’t help but hope that it didn’t make me sound angry, but who knows how long this one would have lasted if I didn’t. It’s almost funny in a way, and I can’t help but smile a bit at her distress.

She comes to full focus and realizes her unintentional rant. Again, she blushes harder than ever, only causing me to smile harder.

“I’m sorry! I just kinda-”

“It’s fine it’s fine!” I cut her off, trying to prevent another rant.

“I mean I’ve been wanting to ask tons of people why they’re here ever since...well, ever since I got here too. I guess it’s just natural to wonder.”

She nods at my response, brushing a lock of hair out of the way of her sunglasses.

“So…”

I nod back, sitting up and juggling the words I had picked out around in my head a bit.

“I uhh...I have a weird heart I guess. I was born with it, but the problem didn’t really surface until about six or seven months ago I think.”

She stares back at me hard, and I can’t help but feel like I’m being put under a microscope.

“Your... heart?”

I nod, taking in a deep breath and pulling together my explanation a little more in my head.

“Yeah, I have a condition called Arrhythmia. My heart just beats in a weird order, I guess. I’ve never really had to explain it before, heh.”

Aoi sits back onto her legs again and puts her hands in her lap. It almost looks like she is meditating on what I’ve told her.

“But wait, if your heart is bad then how do you-”

“Run with Emi?” I finish the sentence for her, unintentionally cutting her off.

“Y-yeah. That seems like it’d suck. I mean at least a little.”

I ponder her statement for a second. I mean it does suck, she’s definitely right about that.

“I think running with Emi would suck regardless if I had a working heart or not.” I say, chuckling to myself. Aoi lets out a small giggle in agreement.

“I mean she’s nice and all, but she can be really pushy when it comes to...well, being pushy I guess. Either way, the nurse is pretty much forcing me to get regular exercise, so I guess she really is just trying to be helpful.” I finish, hoping to clear up my relationship with Emi as best I can. It’s not that I don’t like Emi. I consider her my running buddy, and maybe even a friend too. However, I’ve never been one to push myself too hard, especially now that my limits have been drastically reduced.

I look out towards the track, where the last round of boys line up to race.

“Oh!” Aoi exclaims-

“I think I see Hiko out there!”

I focus more on the racers, and sure enough, the brown haired boy looks poised to run. His eyes lay focused ahead of him, glaring at the track as if he’s about to bend down and tear it apart with his bear hands.

“Oh man, he looks pissed.” I say, not even thinking about my choice of words.

“Yeah he always looks like that before he runs. Looks like he’s about to slap the runner next to him, heh.” we both giggle at the thought of Hiko just turning around and unloading on the poor, innocent runner behind him.

Before we can say another word, the gunshot rings through the air and the boys launch out of their runner’s positions faster than a speeding bullet. Red and white blurs shoot along the length of the track, their feet pounding against the rubber pavement.

“He’s taking second!”

“He’s in first!”

“He won!”

Everything happened so fast it hardly registered in my dumbstruck eyes. Seemingly at the blink of an eye, Hiko stole first and ran chest first into the red ribbon at the opposite end of the track. And just like that, the race was over.

Aoi laughs to herself in amazement, clapping her hands together and letting out her breath. If she is anything like me, she probably held her breath the entire time. My eyes widen for a moment as I realize I actually did forget to breath. I quickly catch my breath, nearly choking on the stale air.

“That was amazing! I knew he could do it!”

I don't bother hiding the smirk plastered on my face. A few sparks of pain emanate from my cheeks, and it's only then I realize this is probably the widest I've smiled in a few months.

"Wow… it was hard to keep track of him. He’s so fast!"

She turns, her steely hair tracking her head, before she quickly brushes it past her ear, silver eyes lit up in amusement, a slight titter on her lips.

“Yeah, he really is great! He has always been one of the fastest runners on the whole team. I guess that’s why they made him team captain!”

Team captain? I guess I could have put two-and-two together. I wouldn’t say it was obvious, but the way that his teammates looked up to him before a race…

“He’s the team captain? Really? I never knew.”

I mean if I had a dollar for every time I went cluelessly into a conversation about something I know nothing about in this school I would be rich.

“Yep! He doesn’t really like to tell people he’s the team captain though. He thinks it makes him seem like a ‘better’ to all of his teammates, when really he would rather be considered their equal. I guess that’s really why he is their captain. He’s the perfect man for the job!”

She giggles to herself, her eyes drifting off somewhere out of view as her thoughts seemingly race away from the topic.

“You seem to know Hiko and everyone really well. How long have you been friends with all of them?”

She pauses, leaning back and tilts her head to the side, looking up into the trees above us.

“Ohhh, I don’t know. About two years, I suppose. Why do you ask?”

I honestly don’t think I have the right answer to that question. I haven’t really had any friends in so long, I forgot what it’s like to really know anyone so close like she does.

Even when I did have friends, it seemed like they were less than that. Not friends in the sense that they would back me up if I needed them. They never really stood by my side at all, now that I think of it. It felt like I had friends based solely on the fact that I had to have friends. Even when I was in the hospital, they barely visited.

No, not friends...acquaintances.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I look over to Aoi, just now realizing that she had been staring at me the entire time. I look back at her, our eyes meeting and gluing to each other like a toddlers arts and crafts project. I hadn’t even realized that I had been silent the entire time during my inner monologue.

I look away, blushing and laughed softly to myself. Aoi does the same, looking down and brushing her hair out of her face. It seems like the awkward moments between us have been happening more lately, but I can’t be for sure. We both seem like pretty awkward people.

“Just wondering, I suppose.” I say, in between my nervous tittering. Again, the silence between us grows, and my mind races to think of anything at all I could say to break it. I look back at the track where a crowd has began to gather around the remaining runners. Even from here, I can see Keiko practically jumping into Hiko’s arms in the distance.

"Well, I suppose we should go congratulate him, hmm?" Aoi cocks her head slightly. Focusing back on her, I nod, eyebrows raised.

"Of course, maybe they'll want to head into town?"

"Shanghai, right?"

"Well… I mean, it'd be his choice, wouldn't it?"

Aoi pauses, having been in the middle of reaching for the picnic basket, before she bursts out in a hearty laugh, nearly doubling over, before turning back towards me.

"Trust me… he'll want to go to the Shanghai. He's been raising hell over it ever since Keiko and I snuck out on him."

I let loose a light chuckle, my cheeks crinkling as my grin somehow widens even further.

"Well, he sure isn't paying…"

Her mirthful gaze continues for a brief moment, before switching to one of concern.

"Oh… Keiko and I have already used up our combined allowance… and Aiko never pays…"

Don't question it you dumbass, this has been the first non-awkward conversation in days for you.

"Right… well, I suppose it'll be my treat then, won't it?”

“Ohhhh, I don’t know.” Aoi spins her head, looking at me over the rims of her glasses.

“If you insist.”

●●●

I look down at my watch just as the minute hand moves to It’s-too-late-to-have-a-restful-night's-sleep:O’clock. Akio, Hiko, and Keiko slide their empty plates to the end of the table, all of them having finished their food in record time. In a flash of red hair and pink fabric, Yuuko swings by and snatches up the empty plate, speeding her way from table to table and practically taking a headlong dive over the counter into the back room.

I don’t know what surprises me more, the fact that I’m not surprised at all, or the fact that I'm relatively unfazed at the fact that this is becoming a weekly thing for me.

I no longer have a routine. Why am I not afraid of that?

Keiko sighs, leaning back in her chair, closing her eyes and resting her head on Akio’s shoulder contently. Akio doesn’t even budge, but from across the table I can see a slight smile spread across his lips. He may not have the most outstanding personality I have ever encountered, but the more I get to know him, the more I realize that he shows his emotion in his own ways. Subtly, for sure, but it’s there.

Or I'm just fooling myself and he's actually a robot. Not keeping my eye off him just yet.

On a side note, this is probably the calmest I have ever seen Keiko-

“Welp-”

I spoke too soon. Keiko’s eyes shoot open, her mouth molding into a devilish grin as, I can only assume, she devises a master plan. She quickly leans up, garnering an odd look from Akio, who seemed to be enjoying the closeness, even a little.

“-time for us to go!”

Aoi looks up from her plate, giving Keiko a questioning gaze.

“Right now?” We all say in unison. The sudden change in energy seems to have taken us all by surprise.

“Yep! It’s late, and we have homework to do and stuff, and Hiko is tired-”

“I’m not ti-ooff!”

With a flash of her arm, Keiko jabs Hiko in the ribs with her elbow, causing him to jump back to protect his tender wound.

“Ouch! What was that for?”

“Well, if you’re not tired, I’m tired, and so is Akio. Right, Akio?”

She turns her gaze to Akio, who looks just as confused as the rest of us.

“I-”

“Right. Akio? You’re tired, right?”

The heat of Keiko’s glare could probably be felt from the I.S.S., which could easily have been mistaken as a solar flare or a nearby supernova. Akio looks back at Keiko, scooting slightly away from her. I can almost see sweat beginning to running down his face at this point. I look over at Aoi, who seems almost annoyed by Keiko’s antics.

“Keiko, what are you-”

“I’m exhausted.” Akio sighs in defeat, giving into the strange sort of peer-pressure she's exhibiting on him. Keiko’s face lights up, and for the moment it seems her pseudo-anger has been subsided.

“Great! That means we should get going! Com'on guys! We got a long walk ahead of us!”

I look down at my note-even-half finished sandwich, lips pursing at the money wasted. Maybe I could get a box? I look over again, noticing Aoi doing the same. She sighs, picking up her purse and scooting over towards the end of the booth.

“No! Not you! You two haven’t finished your meals yet! You have to stay!” Keiko yells, practically shoving Aoi back into her seat.

If I wasn’t so tired, I wouldn’t be doubting myself, but I swear I saw her wink at her as she blocked her exit. Aoi's brow furrows in response, but otherwise she maintains no other reaction.

“Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow Aoi! Nighty night!”

“Good ni-?” Aoi begins, again being cut off by Keiko’s incessant yelling.

“Good night Hisao! I’ll see ya when I see ya!” she chirps, dragging Akio by his hand. The door's hearty *whump* blocking off anything else she says. Hiko gives us one last look as he attempts to soothe his sore ribs. It almost looks like he was begging, but I couldn’t be entirely sure. All I know is that it was definitely a look of pure pain as he exited the restaurant.

This is the company I keep…

●●●

I have made at least three hundred and forty seven major mistakes in my life, and I don't know whether to consider this one.

Financially wise, I'm a wreck. I'll probably be splitting instant ramen cups into two servings to make it through this week.

Socially-wise… I don't know. I've never been the person to field that question, and if you asked me, I'd probably just stare blankly, trying to think of an answer, hoping the question would leave me instead of having to confront it.

That's my way of saying it went really well, besides the empty wallet.

Aoi stretches out next to me, eyes closed, the two of us having made the long trek up back towards the school, notably with a bit less difficulty this time.

"Helluva day, huh?" I idly mention, my mouth stretching as I realize that was supposed to be a thought.

"Definitely. Thanks for footing the bill, again."

That's probably the 6th time, but I appreciate the acknowledgement.

"Yeah…" I trail off, mind-blanking on just how I'm supposed to end this. Just stall until she gives me an opening? I mean I guess it's worked so far...

She opens her eyes, making sure to keep her gaze cast away from the bright lights of the street poles. Even with her admittedly sick aviators on, looking directly into the lights would be sure to hurt. She relaxes her shoulders, her hands clasping together forming a 'V' shape with her arms.

"And…heh...thanks for being with me...today. It’s been fun...being with you."

Her words hit me like a brick, and my stomach begins to turn in knots. I look down at her, noticing possibly the hardest blush I have ever seen on a girl before. I probably look quite the same way.

The sun begins to set behind a distant mountain, and the brightest stars begin popping in one by one, turning the sky into a mural of bright white dots, twinkling softly. Our gaze naturally travels upward, marvelling at the sky above, carrying on a tradition established since the beginning of humanity.

Her lips part to speak, but she finds no words come to it, leaving them open as a gentle sigh emerges between them.

"...They seem… brighter, tonight."

"Yeah, n-" I pause mid-sentence, Aoi's arms suddenly wrapping around me, pulling me into a hug before I even have time to register the action. My mind blanks, my expression more than likely not very attractive as I attempt to figure out the events that just transpired.

Hug her back you son’ova’bitch.

Carefully, and with a bit more trepidation than I'd like to admit, I replicate the gesture, my arms fitting neatly around her shoulders, heart pumping in my chest. It brings with it a slight t’wang of pain, but I ignore it. This is no time to be worried about my heart.

I'd ignore just about anything else right now.

For a few moments, we stand there in a silent embrace. Both of us just… expressing something, though perhaps I'm too afraid to give it a name yet. Maybe words weren't even necessary.

Aoi rests her head on my chest, making her blatantly aware of my heart beating a million times a second.

Thump-thump
Thump-thump

She tilts her head, resting her ear right on my heart. My cheeks burning hotter than ever.

"Your face is really red Hisao. Are you feeling alright~?" Aoi teases, looking back at me with a devilish grin spreading across her lips.

"I-I, u-uh… yeah, I'm f-fine." I reach up and rub at my cheek, a desperate ploy to drive the damnable redness away. Obviously, it's a stark failure.

She giggles again, pulling me back into the moment.

"Back to what you said… about how the stars seemed brighter?"

"...Y-yeah?"

Aoi sighs, looking back out at the stars.

"...Actually, nevermind. Would kill the mood." She giggles nervously, her mouth creasing on one side before raising her head back off of my chest, looking back up to meet my gaze. Aoi's eyes roll to one side, before that familiar look crosses her face again.

"Well... I'll see you tomorrow!" She happily chirps, pressing a rather heavy kiss on my cheek. Suddenly, with no prior warning, she unlatches from me, leaving me in the proverbial dust as she turns on a heel, heading across the courtyard and disappearing through a set of double doors.

I sit there, staring ahead blankly for a few moments, wrapping my head around whatever the hell just happened.

What the fuck?

[Bradycardia]

I quit.

[Mohn_Jadden]

I quit.

No. Not until they do the horizontal snuggles.

[Bradycardia]

Nice to see this get an update. I've always enjoyed reading people in awkward situations so that was fun for me, as well as Hisao's brain basically shutting off at Aoi's hug.

(I went in and changed everything up, adding a metric fuck ton more. It's an official update now.)

[Bradycardia]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Houston, WE ARE GO FOR LAUNCH! It felt appropriate to make statement involving space-y things, 'kay?

(Get back in here, we aren't done with you. YET. We added tons more to it, making it an official update now.)

[Bradycardia]

Oh, this one had completely dropped off my radar ^^°
Nice to see it continue. Looking at the OP you have quite a lot still planned for this.

(We have just added a ton more to Part 7, finishing it up and making it an official update. I would suggest re-reading it to make sure you don't miss anything. Also, snuggle hugs are pretty great, imo.)

[Bradycardia]

Probably my first post in the whole KS forums, or my brain can't process anything beyond a nice story 2 in the morning.

I have been reading this whole story thus far in an almost religious fashion. I have to say I am loving it. Like the other Pseudo routes, I have great interest in seeing stories involving Aoi and Keiko, especially if one of them has a pseudo route of their own.

I just want to say that, please do keep it up. Real life will always take priority and I do happen to have a whole life ahead of me to see this story completed, provided there are no unexpected events.

Consider myself as one of your die-hard fans, awaiting updates on a weekly, if not daily basis.

First off, I would like to say I am beyond flattered. This has got to be the kindest thing that has been said about our writing. I thank you from the absolute bottom of my malfunctioning heart (;

Second, I would just like to inform you that I have added my touch to the rest of Part 7, and it is definitely worth a re-read if you would like to keep caught up with the story and all the happenings-and-what-not's.

Lastly, I would like to say that there are only three things keeping me writing.

1. The thought that someday, in the future, MAYBE I will get to write a very raunchy sex scene between our fine characters is just TOO MUCH to give up.

2. The fun I have writing with Mohn is not worth losing.

3. And people like you are really wanting to see more of Aoi.

One day, we will finish this route. It may not be soon, but it will happen. I look forward to that day, and I hope we can keep pleasing people up until that point. Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with us after nearly a year of absence!

[brythain]

Good. Back in play.

[Mirage_GSM]

Oh, this one had completely dropped off my radar ^^°
Nice to see it continue. Looking at the OP you have quite a lot still planned for this.

(We have just added a ton more to Part 7, finishing it up and making it an official update. I would suggest re-reading it to make sure you don't miss anything. Also, snuggle hugs are pretty great, imo.)

Basically it's the scene at the Shanghai and a bit of the final scene, right? Just skipped over the rest but didn't notice any changes.

[Alpacalypse]

Get back in here, we aren't done with you. YET.

S-sorry, o Brady, I have returned by your bidding.
*Reads chapter*
Mhmm, yes, very nice and shiny and polished and - wait a second!
*Reads again*

She’s dressed in more casual clothes than our regular school uniforms, sporting a gray sweater vest and blue jeans.

She’s dressed in a gray sweater vest.

sweater SWAGGER VEST

Ladies and gentlemen, we have found Hisao's one true partner. The swagger vest cannot be stopped. This is the one true route of Katawa Shoujo, one that the developers were not enlightened to. The good end of this route will produce happiness the likes of which the world has never known and God in Heaven will envy. The bad end will produce pain and regret that the ninth circle of Hell shall never rival. All hail the one true garment! ALL HAIL BRADY AND MOHN!

(-_-)7 (-_-)7 (-_-)7 \[T]/ (-_-)7 \ / (-_-)7


I've gone way, way too far with this, haven't I? Sorry.

[Mohn_Jadden]

I've gone way, way too far with this, haven't I? Sorry.

Nah fam, it's cool. I believe she did wear the swagger vest when Keiko, Hisao, and her went to the Shanghai before, when Aoi finished it off by talking about stars and stuff.

I'm more proud of the aviators though.

Basically it's the scene at the Shanghai and a bit of the final scene, right? Just skipped over the rest but didn't notice any changes.

Brady and I went through and added some miniscule things, changed up some details, nothing that would really change the plot past the latter half of this part.

[FelOnyx]

OH YEAH! IT'S BACK, BABY!

You guys are awesome, keep it up!

[Mohn_Jadden]

OH YEAH! IT'S BACK, BABY!

You guys are awesome, keep it up!

It's only been... 10 months?

Anyway, thanks for the support! Really helps motivate us to keep this going.