Katawa Shoujo Forums

well, since I've had a couple days to look over it i think the start of my birthday story is ready to go. a couple notes before you guys start reading:
one: some of this is pretty old compared to the Christmas fic, so if the writing seems different there is an explanation.
two: this first part is just Hisao, no other characters are present in this section.
three: every section after the first is on a different timeline depending on which girl hisao went to the festival with, however certain events will occur in multiple sections, so it will get kinda repetitive at times.
four: since there is no official date for hisao's birthday on the site, assume 3-4 weeks after the festival, in the awkward in-between time between when hisao and the chosen girl are attached to each other, but no formal action (dating, kissing, no confessions of love etc.) has been taken.
sorry that was so long, I should be able to get the next part up tomorrow since this one is kinda short and a little boring.

Pt1
Putting down the book I’ve been reading for the past few hours I glance over at the alarm clock to make sure I didn’t fall asleep.

Nope, it says 11:58, I’ve still got 2 minutes until the date rolls over.

My eyes now drift to the reason for this late night reading, a small wrapped package sitting on my desk. The colours of the paper have long since changed into the black shadow that my room is now painted with.

The clock says 11:59 now, just 60 seconds before I’m allowed to tear the paper apart. I begin to think it’s a shame that the wonderful job my mother did wrapping my present is going to be shredded apart within a few seconds. I could try to unwrap it slowly and preserve the paper, but I’m not sure I can hold back for that long.

Waiting for this clock to hit 12:00 is torture; maybe I should have gone to sleep and had the alarm wake me up to avoid this waiting.

(beep)

I’ll take that as the official commencement to my birthday and the signal to begin tearing apart the thin barrier separating me from whatever my parents have decided to give me.

The envelope containing the card is the first casualty of this day. I open the card to see what message my parents have left for me.

Happy birthday Hicchan, since I’m sure you’re opening this at the stroke of midnight I’ll keep this short. We will try to call you today on your new phone so make sure to charge it up during the morning.
Love Mom and Dad

Hi: “so mom thought I needed a new phone did she?”

I guess its natural, according to her last call they have been trying to reach me several times since I transferred here, but I’m usually out of my room when they call, and whenever I call them they are either working or asleep.

I tear apart the paper , leaving in a crumpled pile on the floor and then open the box to inspect my prize. The new phone is a pretty small thing, coloured a dark blue and black. I fumble around in the box, eventually finding the wall charger after a few minutes. Now where was that wall socket?
(time skip)

bonus points if you can figure any of the events that will be repeated later. i'll try to put these up so the similar ones aren't one after another (if the routes in-game are similar, expect their stories to share more common elements)
Pt 2

BEEEEP BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP

My short sleep is interrupted by the loud cry of my alarm clock. I pull myself out of bed and throw on my running clothes before heading down to the track to meet Emi.

Emi:“What took you so long?”

Hi:“I was up later than usual, didn’t think I would be this tired today.”

Emi: “Then you should start running. You’ll wake up faster.”

Hi: “Then why aren’t you running? Your eyes are half asleep.”

Emi: “I had to make sure my partner didn’t skip his exercise”

She drags me onto the track with a wide grin on her face.

Hi: “How many laps today?”

Emi: “Four for you, seven for me.”

I begin running at a fairly sluggish pace while Emi goes straight into a jog. By the time I finish my second lap, she passes me on her fifth. After crossing the line to finish my third I bend over gasping for air. Emi runs over from the side of the track.

Emi: “You okay?”

Hi: “Y-yeah, just really tired.”

She guides me over to the side of track and gives me a bottle of water.

Hi: “Thanks.”

Emi: “You sure you’re okay? I could take you to the nurse.”

Hi: “heh, he’ll kill us both if he thinks I’m overdoing it again.”

Emi: “Can you finish your last lap?”

Hi: “Doubt it, too tired.”

Emi: “I guess we can let you be a little lazy on your birthday”

Hi: “My birthday… who told you about it?”

She puts on her best cute and innocent face.

Emi: “Uh… no one did, is it your birthday today?”

Hi: “Emi”

Emi: “The nurse told me to go easy on you today. He mentioned it when I asked him why.”

Hi: “Isn’t that against the rules or something?”

Emi: “Maybe, but you would’ve told me anyways right?”

She shifts from innocent to her puppy dog eyes. Any willpower not sapped by the run instantly leaves me.

Hi: “Of-of course, you just never asked about it.”

Emi: “Are you coming to the roof for lunch today?”

Hi: “I guess that depends on whether I have to make my lunch today.”

She opens her bag to show me three lunchboxes.

Emi: “Emi’s special birthday lunches, at your service.”

Hi: “Well then, I’d be happy to join you and Rin today”

Emi: “All right then, I’ll see you at noon”

She runs off toward the girl’s change rooms. I head back to the dorms to take a shower and change before class.

(time break)

The lunch bell rings, releasing the tired students from their morning classes. I shuffle through the lines of other students, slowly making my way to the stairs hat lead to the roof. Halfway up the stairs, I notice Rin leaning against the wall.

Hi: “Morning Rin.”

Rin:“Is it still morning?”

Hi: “the lunch bell rings at noon.”

Rin: “Then it’s not morning is it.”

Even if it is technically the afternoon, I’m still too tired to deal with Rin.

Hi: “so why are you waiting here?”

Rin: “Door’s closed.”

Rin: “Is it stuck?”

She shrugs.

Rin: “It might be, but I can’t use the handle to check.”

I resist the urge to hit myself for forgetting she can’t use the door.

Hi: “I’ll get it then.”

I open the door, letting Rin through first. As I step out into the bright summer sun, I can hear the sound of gravel being crushed, and it’s getting closer.

Emi: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY HISAO!”

I can feel the air being forced out of my lungs as arms wrap around me.

Hi: “E-Emi my chest…”

Emi: “Oops… eh, sorry.”

Emi releases me from her embrace, her face slightly redder, and rushes over to our usual bench to begin handing out the lunches. Rin swiftly opens her lunch and begins eating. Emi begins and finishes hers within a few minutes.

Emi: “So Hisao, do you have anything special planned today?”

Rin: “Hmm, is today special?”

Emi: “it’s his birthday”

Rin: “So it’s not special”

Emi: “It’s Hisao’s birthday, of course it’s special”

Rin: “Then is tomorrow special too?”

Hi: “Who’s birthday is tomorrow?”

Rin: “I’m not sure, there must be someone though. If there wasn’t then I guess it would be special.”

If I don’t stop this conversation now, then I’ll probably go insane before the break ends.

Hi: “So Emi, did you want to do something? As far as I know I’m totally free.”

Emi: “yeah, could you wait for me after class?”

Hi: “Sure, I can always do some work while I wait.”

The bell rings to call the students back to the monotony of the classroom. We pack up our lunches and head back down the stairs.

(time break)

Emi: “Hisao, are you still here?”

Emi’s head pokes in the door of the classroom.

Hi: “Over here, just let me pack up.”

I slide the math book into my bag and walk over to Emi.

Hi: “So what are we doing?”

Emi: “We’re going to my room.”

Various images begin flooding into my mind. Many of them are inspired by the manga I keep hidden in the top left drawer.

Hi: “Why?”

Emi: “Because I have a table in my room we can eat on.”

Hi:”Are you going to be making dinner?”

Emi: “I could, but I don’t think I have enough for two people.”

Hi: “Well then, how about take out on me? Do you know any good places?”

Emi: “Just the one. Should I be letting you pay on your birthday?”

Hi: “I don’t mind. I was already thinking about paying for takeout tonight.”

Emi guides me through the girl’s dorms up to her room. While she digs through the papers on her desk, I take a seat on the bed and examine Emi’s room. On the wall there are several fairly generic motivational posters. A calendar hangs on the back of the door with pictures on it. Closer inspection reveals the pictures to all be of puppies, each one giving the viewer those eyes.

Hi: “So that’s why you’re so good at that."

Emi: “What did you say?”

Hi: “Nothing, find the menu yet?”

Emi: “Yep.”

She holds up two folded sheets of paper.

Hi: “Two menus?”

Emi: “One’s a menu, the other is a list of stuff that you can and can’t have that the nurse gave me.”

Hi: “Ugh, well let’s see what I can eat first. Then we can order.”

She opens up the menu. I notice a good number of the items have red lines through them.

Hi: “What’s with the red lines?”

Emi: “Stuff that isn’t good for me. I can’t eat a lot of junk if I want to stay in shape for track now can I?”

We go through the menu with a blue marker and check all of the items against the nurse’s list. Luckily it doesn’t reduce the menu too much; most of the food that is on the nurse’s list was already crossed out in red. While we wait for the food to be delivered, Emi has me slide a table out from under her bed, even after extending the legs it’s not even as tall as my knee.

Hi: “Why’s this table so short?”

Emi: “Rin comes over sometimes to eat dinner. If it was too tall she wouldn’t be able to eat.”

Hi: “Should we go down and wait for the delivery guy?”

Emi: “You wait here; it’ll be faster if I go.”

She speeds out the door before I have a chance to respond.

Brrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg Brrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg Brrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg

Hi: “Mom?”

Mom:“Hello Hicchan, having a good birthday?”

Hi: “Not bad, having dinner with my nurse.”

Mom: “Your … nurse?”

Hi: “Don’t worry, it’s just a girl in my year who takes care of me. Makes sure I exercise, eat right, don’t overdo it. Stuff like that.”

Mom: “Oh, so she’s not your nurse, she’s your girlfriend.”

Hi: “Uh … girlfriend? That would mean we were dating and I don’t remember either of us agreeing to do that kind of thing.”

Mom: “you’re having dinner with her right, is there anyone else there?”

Hi: “No, but we’re eating in her room so I don’t think that’s too odd.”

There’s some kind of noise on the other end.

Mom: “It’s a date honey, just don’t be nervous and you’ll be fine.”

Hi: “I was fine until you said it was a date!”

I can hear my mother giggling on the other side of the phone.

Mom: “S-sorry honey. At least you know now right?”

Hi: “Goodbye Mom”

Mom: “B-bye Hicchan.”

I close the phone as Emi walks in holding a fairly large bag. As we begin eating an awkward silence fills the room. It’s left unbroken until Emi finishes her meal.

Emi: “your mom called you?”

Hi: “Uh yeah … sorry if It was getting loud.”

Emi: “Don’t worry, no one in this hall besides me is ever in their rooms before curfew”

Hi: “Even Rin?”

Emi: “remember how she was before the festival? Sometimes she doesn’t come back to her room at all.”

I finish my last few mouthfuls as she finishes her thought.

Emi: “Oh you’re done? You’re not full are you?”

Hi: “Almost.”

Emi: “good, you still have a cake to eat after all.”

Hi: “Heh, more health food?”

Emi: “Nope, I had to check with the nurse though, but he said it should be okay as long as I was careful what I put in.”

She goes into another bag and pulls out a plastic container. She sets the container in the middle of the table and lifts the lid off, revealing a cake with dark brown icing.

Hi: “Is that … chocolate?”

Emi: “mmmhmmmm . The nurse said it wouldn’t be bad for you as long as you only had one piece a day.”

Hi: “one piece a day? So I have to come over here every day until this cake is finished?”

Emi: “Yep.”

She’s grinning from ear to ear like a very happy fox as I begin eating the cake.

Emi: “So , how is it?”

Hi: “It’s good, though that might just be because I haven’t had anything non-healthy for weeks.”

She begins cutting herself a slice and tearing into it with her usual zeal.

Hi: “Hey Emi, can I ask you something?”

Emi: “Sure, what is it?”

Hi: “Are we on a date right now?”

Emi: “Wha-what would make you think that?”

Her entire face has turned bright red and her eyes have abruptly started racing around, attempting to find something to fixate on that isn’t me.

Hi: “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Emi: “W-well… do you think it’s a date?”

Hi: “I have it on good authority that we are, so I guess I do.”

I glance at my watch as the awkward silence fills the room again.

Hi: “Oh crap, I have to get back to my room soon. Curfew’s in a few minutes.”

As I turn to leave the room, I feel Emi grab my wrist.

Emi: “You just said that it felt like we were on a date right?”

Hi: “Yeah, I guess I did.”

I turn to face Emi just in time to see her pull me down to her eye level.

Emi: “Then this should be okay with you right?”

Hi: “Wha-“

She pulls herself in and locks her lips onto mine. I can feel her tongue nervously dart across my lips and into my mouth several times. I slowly give in to my instincts and place my arms around her, pulling her body against mine. After what seems like half an hour we finally release each other.

Emi: “C-couldn’t let you leave without a present.”

There’s a nervous quality to her smile now as if she’s unsure what will happen now.

Hi:“E-Emi…”

She forces the nervous quality out of her smile, whether it’s for my benefit or hers I’m not sure.

Emi: “You’ll have to run to make it back to your room before curfew now.”

Hi: “I’d better get going then.”

I jog down the stairs and across to the boys dorms, entering just before the curfew bell begins to ring. While searching around my pockets for my room key, my thoughts begin drifting back to Emi. I become so engrossed in my memory that I almost miss Kenji trying to talk to me.

Ke:“Hey man, why are you back so late?”

Hi: “I was uh…”

It’s probably better if I don’t tell Kenji what happened. Knowing him he’d go nuts at the fact that I ate dinner with Emi, never mind kissing her.

Hi: “I was eating out tonight, didn’t see how late it was.”

He leans in closer, probably trying to check if I’m lying.

Ke:“Oh no, you didn’t … you were seduced by a woman weren’t you?!”

The words flow out of my mouth before I can think about what I’m saying.

Hi: “Emi was the one who kissed me, I didn’t-”

Ke:“YOU KISSED THAT SHE-WITCH?!”

I use all of my reflexes to open the door, slip inside, and shut the door before he can notice I’m gone. Walking over to my bed, I can hear Kenji’s muffled ranting to empty air through the door. I get under the covers without bothering to change out of my school clothes. As sleep begins to overtake me my mind keeps repeating the kiss over and over.

Who's next?

The top left drawer returns, I see.

As does Mrs Nakai. Ain't she a hoot?

Hopefully Hanako will be the next one, awhile back I scrapped all the stuff I had done for both her's and Lilly's so i'm rewriting it now. Shizune's and Rin's just need to be proofread, but i'd rather not have two of the similar ones one after another. The current order that i'm planning is: Hanako,Shizune, Rin, Lilly. that way there's a bit of a barrier between the similar ones.

If it takes more time to write Hanko's than I anticipated, i'll post an argument between Emi and Rin I cut from Emi's scene. mostly because I was trying to cut down on the length. As for his mother... I'm pretty much writing her as a grown-up version of Emi/Haruhi so interesting is kinda par for the course.

Here you go, Hanako's scene all typed up and internetized for your reading pleasure. Author's notes are at the bottom this time since I didn't want to spoil something on accident.

Prt 3

Beep beep beep

I force myself awake in order to shut off the blaring alarm clock. After silencing it I notice another sound that was being drowned out, a very soft knocking at the door.

Hi:”who’s there?”

??:”Hisao… are you awake?”

I can barely hear the voice through the door, but given the soft quality of the voice I can guess who it is.

Hi:”Give me a moment Hanako, I just got up.”

I quickly change and swallow my morning pills before opening the door to find Hanako, looking slightly embarrassed, standing outside my door.

Hi:”Good morning Hanako.”

Ha:”G-good morning Hisao. D-did you sleep well?”

Hi:”Pretty well so… why are you outside my room, don’t you usually walk to school with Lilly?”

Ha:”Y-yes but I uh, we wanted to ask you something.”

Hi:”Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about lunch with you two after school today.”

Ha:”N-no that’s not it…”

Hi:”Then what do you want to ask me?”

She fidgets uncomfortably, like she’s fighting an impulse to run away as fast as she can. I put my hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down; it only causes her to look down and away from me.

Ha:”w-we were wondering if… if you would…”

Her voice trails off before she finishes her thought, if she said the rest of it; I doubt any normal person could hear it.

Hi:”Hanako come on, just spit it out. It can’t be any worse than just standing here going crazy over it.”

She abruptly shifts her gaze straight into my eyes before I can feel the nervous tremors return.

Ha:”I’msosorryfordisturbingyou.”

She takes off at a speed that makes me glad I didn’t have a firmer grip on her shoulders. I grab my bag and start walking to the school, hoping that I might meet Lilly on the way and get some kind of explanation.

(Time skip)

The school day proves to be uninteresting compared to the events of the morning. Since Hanako never came to class, I couldn’t get an explanation for her being outside my room. Lilly didn’t come to our class to pick her up or to ask if something was wrong, which probably means she has already talked to her. At least I have an invitation to the tea room this afternoon, and I can assume that they are both there.

I open the door to the tea room to find it extremely dark, despite it only being afternoon.

Hi:“Anyone here?”

Calling into the room returns only silence, upon entering the room I can hear the door being closed behind me.

Li:”Could you please sit down Hisao?”

Hearing Lilly’s voice from behind me nearly scares me into having a heart attack, but knowing that she is somewhere in the room is slightly comforting. I feel around for the table and follow its edge, trying to place myself within my mental image of the tea room. When I’m near my usual seat I feel for the two arms and sit down in between them. It feels… squishier than usual.

Ha:”Hi-Hisao…”

I immediately bolt upright and begin feeling to the front and right for another chair. When I find it, I reach out and make sure it is indeed vacant before sitting down. Out of the corner of my eye I can see a warm, flickering light come into existence, slightly illuminating the room. The light moves up, then toward the table before stopping a short distance after starting. It repeats the stuttering movement until it is just above the table, where Lilly sets it down, roughly in the middle.

Li:”Happy Birthday Hisao.”

Ha:”Ha-happy Birthday.”

Hi:”Thank you.”

I turn my attention back to the light, a small electric candle set on top of a small white cake with ‘Happy Birthday Hisao’ written on it in dark blue icing.

Li:“I hope you don’t mind not being able to blow out the candle, but having an actual flame might be… problematic.”

I glance over to Hanako then back at Lilly, thinking of just how many ways a burning candle could cause problems.

Hi:”Might be better this way, no superstitions about how many candles you blow out.”

I pick the candle off the cake and use its light to find the switch for the room’s lights.

Hi:”Watch your eyes.”

I turn on the lights without heeding my own warning; my eyes begin to burn from the searing white light from the standard school fixture. After I’ve adjusted, I head back to my chair and sit down.

Ha:”Here…”

Hanako carefully slides a piece of cake in front of me before proceeding to cut another piece for Lilly and them another for herself. The cake’s innards are fairly typical, three layers of white cake separated by one layer of what tastes like strawberry jam and an inner layer of icing.

Hi:“Thank you.”

The cake is eaten in near silence, the only noises coming from our forks hitting the plates. Lilly finally decides to break the silence.

Li:”Hisao, has Hanako spoken to you about dinner tonight?”

Hi:”I believe she tried to this morning but she ran off before she finished.”

Li:”Then I suppose I’ll ask you now; Hisao, would you like to join Hanako, myself and my sister for dinner tonight?”

Hi:”Sounds good, wasn’t sure what I was going to do tonight anyways.”

They both let out a sigh of relief.

Li:”Good, now we can stop worrying about it. Hisao, would you prefer to open your presents now, or at dinner?”

Hi:”Now preferably, the employees tend to eh… act like idiots if they find out.”

I can hear a sharp intake of air beside me. When I turn to look, Hanako has started fidgeting the same way as she did this morning.

Ha:”Ex-excuse me for a moment.”

She very walks straight out the door before either of us could hope to stop her.

Li:”I was afraid this might happen.”

HI:”What’s wrong?”

Li:”It seemed to be… difficult for Hanako to choose a gift. I suspect she may not have found one that was to her standards.”

Hi:”Her standards? I’m not the hardest person to buy gifts for; several people have thanked me for it actually.”

Li:”I doubt they thought quite as highly of you as she does. She had the same problem the year we met, It might actually be worse this time.”

Hi:”Worse? I doubt that she thinks I’m as good as you Lilly.”

She bites her lip, as though she’s fighting with her own self restraint in order to say something. She eventually decides to jump off the subject entirely.

Li:”I believe that you should be the one to talk her down this time, I don’t think I would be of much help this time.”

Hi:”Any Idea where she is?”

LI:”I suggest you check the library first, if she’s not there then she might be in her room.”

Hi:”What about you?”

Li:”I have some Homework and paperwork to finish. You can bring her back here after she’s calmed down and we can continue.”

Hi:”I’ll be back with Hanako as soon as I can.”

She nods as I walk out the door and begin heading to the library. Yuuko notices me walk in and silently points to Hanako’s usual corner in the back. I try to be as silent as I work my way through the aisles, trying not to scare her off before I can try to calm her down. As I get closer, I can hear crying and a few garbled words both muted in order to hide them from most bystanders.

Hi:“Hanako?”

I pass the last bookcase and find Hanako curled up into a little ball with her face buried in the chair.

Hi:”Uh, Hanako? It’s Hisao,”

Touching her on the shoulder only makes her curl up tighter.

Hi:”Alright then, I’ll just wait here until you want to talk.”

I pull the nearest beanbag to within an arm’s reach of Hanako and make myself comfortable. I fight the urge to start reading so that I don’t miss Hanako trying to talk to me. I don’t have to wait long before I can feel her grab my sleeve.

Ha:”You… wh-where’s lilly?”

Hi:”She thought that it would be better if I came instead of her.”

Ha:”Th-then you know I didn’t get you a-anything.”

I can see she’s starting to tear up again.

Hi:”Uh please Hanako, don’t start crying again, I’m okay with it, really. Please just don’t start crying.”

She starts anyways, but at least she’s crying into my chest this time instead of running off. Then again, this is making me feel really bad.

Hi:”Hanako, if you keep crying, I’m going to start too. You wouldn’t want to make a guy cry on his birthday right?”

Ha:”N-no…”

Hi:”Okay then. When you feel like you aren’t going to cry again, then we’ll talk.”

I can feel her head move up and down on my chest. After a few minutes, her breathing becomes shallower. I turn her around so that I can see her face and makes sure she isn’t having some kind of lung problem. Lucky for me, she’s only sleeping. I move her so that she’s sitting against my chest, and the back of her head is on my shoulder. Just as I can feel sleep starting to drag me away-

Brrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg Brrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg Brrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg

What god awful timing.

Ha:”Hi…hisao….”

I take out my phone and answer it before it can start ringing again.

Hi:”Mom?”

Mom:”Happy birthday Hicchan.”

Hi:”Uh thanks mom.”

Ha:”Hisao… ”

Mom:”Hmmm is someone else there?”

Hi:”Uh one of my friends, I think the phone woke her…”

I knew saying that last part was wrong as soon as it started coming out of my mouth.

Mom:”W-woke her… my little Hicchan has a girlfriend?”

Hi:”She’s just a friend, she took a little nap and I was sitting near her at the time that’s all”

Mom:”Whatever you say Hicchan, I won’t try to interfere in your love life for now.”

Hi:”Er… thank you?”

Mom:”We’ll try to call back later since you’re occupied at the moment.”

Hi:”Goodbye mom”

Mom:”Bye Hicchan.”

I close the phone and turn my attention to the now fully awake Hanako.

Ha:”Your mother?”

Hi:”Yeah, did you have a good nap?”

Ha:”I…I guess so… my head felt like it was on… a…”

Apparently she hadn’t fully realized where her head was until this very second.

Ha:”I’m sorry.”

She tries to bolt up but I manage to wrap my arms around her before she can get too far. Unfortunately, this also meant that I also ended up pulling her straight into my chest.

Hi:”OWWW… geez.”

Ha:”Are… are you alright?”

Hi:”I think so, just a second.”

I put one hand on my chest… my heart seems fine, apart from the bruise I’ll get tomorrow, I should be okay.

Hi:”No imminent heart attack, probably just a bruise.”

Ha:”G-good.”

Hi:”Now, can we talk like regular people for a few minutes?”

Ha:”A-alright…”

Hi:”Now, the reason you ran was because…?”

Ha:”Be-because I c-couldn’t find a present for you.”

Hi:”Alright then. Why was getting a good present for me so important to you?”

Ha:”You…you’ve been kind to me since we met. n-no other boy has been like that.”

Hi:”And this is also the reason you ran off this morning?”

She nods.

Ha:”It… I thought it might sound like I was a-asking you o-on a d-d-ate.”

A… date? Well it’s not like she isn’t attract- no stay on topic Hisao, now is not the time to drift off into fantasyland.

Hi:”Well if you want, I can think of something you can give me right now as a present.”

Ha:”Wh-what is it?”

Hi:”Make me a promise.”

Ha:”A-a-a promise?”

Hi:”A promise that you won’t run again. This school’s already enough of a deathtrap with Emi running around everywhere as it is.”

She seems… relieved, I guess she thought I was going to try and ask her out or something.

Ha:”I…I think I can do that.”

The smile on her face almost makes me forget that Lilly is waiting for… oh shoot.

Hi:”We had better get back to the tea room, I hope Lilly is still there.”

We walk back to the tea room as fast as we can without breaking into a jog. Lilly is still there, papers in front of her as if nothing had happened.

Li:”Hisao, Hanako, is that you?”

Hi:”Yeah it’s us, did you get your paperwork done?”

Li:”My… yes I did, I just finished it when you came in.”

I could swear that there’s just as much writing on the paper as when I left, and lilly’s hair looks slightly… out of place.

Li:”Did you manage to talk things out?”

Hi:”I uh… guess so.”

Li:”Good, now before I forget...”

She places a neatly wrapped box into my hands.

Li:”you did want to open it before we left for dinner correct? We have to leave soon If we are going to meet Akira.”

Hi:”I guess I did say that didn’t I?”

Due to the time restraint, I forego my usual careful unwrapping and proceed to shred the beautiful blue paper to pieces. Inside is a collection of books, and I recognize several of them as ones I’ve seen Hanako reading in the library.

Hi:”Thank you Lilly, I believe I’ll start on these tonight.”

Li:”Now, shall we get going? My sister will get worried if we’re late.”

The walk to the restaurant is quiet apart for a few scraps of conversation between Hanako and Lilly. When we arrive at the restaurant Lilly’s sister is already waiting for us. Hanako’s description of ‘Lilly in a suit’ doesn’t quite seem to fit her. Compared to Lilly, Akira was far more informal, a passerby would probably have mistaken her for another high school student if it wasn’t for the suit. The Satou sisters seemed quite content to leave Hanako and I to our own devices for most of the night, only stopping their personal conversations when they needed an outside opinion or one of Lilly’s stories needed input from one of us.

After an hour or maybe two, Akira paid for the meal in full despite my protests and we parted ways, Akira heading off to her home in the city while we headed back to the dorms. The trip back proved to be even quieter, the most conversation we had being our farewells at the dorm entrances. The silence surrounding me continued until I arrived back at my door.

Ke: Hey man, what’s up?

Hi:”Nothing much, just came back from dinner with some friends.”

Ke:”And you didn’t invite me? that’s cold man, aren’t we brother in arms?”

Hi:”They… uh, weren’t your kind of people.”

Ke:”What, You working with some kind of criminal group; Yakuza? Italian mob? American mafia?”

Just where does he get the ideas for this kind of crap?

Hi:”No criminals, just some…er, uh girls.”

Ke:”You did check your food to make sure it wasn’t poisoned right?”

Hi:”Don’t worry, I could see into the kitchen. It was an all male staff, no chance of poison.”

It’s a horrible lie, we were about as far away from the kitchen as you could get.

Ke:”Gotta be vigilant man, they might’ve slipped something in when you weren’t looking.”

Hi:”I feel fine and I want to go to sleep okay? If I die in my sleep, you’ll be the first to know.”

Weary of the conversation, I half heartedly open the door and fall down onto the bed without changing. As I fall asleep, I recall the feeling of Hanako’s head on my shoulder and the weight of her sleeping body against mine…

A couple of the scenes from this section were... heavily changed from the initial version, but I ended up changing one thing, and it snowballed a bit. a couple scenes and conversations were cut entirely either to fit within my own continuity or because they got crushed by the snowball.before someone asks: the dinner part is a wall of text because it isn't that important to this story.

That was pretty good, keep it up!

How does Lilly do written paperwork by herself?

in context: she's lying anyways to get hisao to leave. what she actually did: pulled out some random papers, after he left... she took a nap

out of context: uh, written in braille I guess? I actually didn't think this through as much as I normally do

chaix wrote:in context: she's lying anyways to get hisao to leave. what she actually did: pulled out some random papers, after he left... she took a nap

out of context: uh, written in braille I guess? I actually didn't think this through as much as I normally do

I doesn't seem like it'd be easier to write in braille than normal writing. The main problems I would see would be an inability to read what you wrote, so no checking what you put down, and keeping your writing within the margins and on the lines.

chaix wrote:in context: she's lying anyways to get hisao to leave. what she actually did: pulled out some random papers, after he left... she took a nap

Damn and I thought she had sex with herself after she cloned herself. The truth does shatter dreams T-T.

Juno wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille#Writing_Braille

But so long as she's writing with a pen on paper, it's going to be roughly the same level, so she can't read it with her hands, so how would it help?

I can't find her specifically writing with a pen anywhere in the story, so I imagined she would use a proper form of writing for the blind.