13.30.00: bs.driver.main confirmed IMMINENT_DANGER 13.30.00: > SYSTEM NOTICE: Imminent danger protocols active
[...] 13.31.03: > SYSTEM NOTICE: bs.defnet.main has been slaved to bs.driver.main
13.31.03: bs.defnet.notifySys() was called by bs.driver.main
13.32.22: > DefNet Integrity: 97.591%. Clear to fire.
13.33.01: > DefNet Integrity: 98.113%. Clear to fire.
13.34.33: > DefNet Integrity: 99.334%. Clear to fire.
13.35.33: > DefNet Integrity: 99.510%. Clear to fire.
13.37.11: bs.driver.main released IMMINENT_DANGER
Interesting detail there. About a second has passed between the defensive driver raising an alarm, and the 'brain' looking into it. Since DefNet only reacted when Maeda made a sudden move (likely responding to Silas' increased heart rate), the hand was already in motion. It takes less than a second to stab someone.
While Big Sister looks out for us, it's proof that she isn't omnipotent, and we have to be careful ourselves.
Not sure what to make of the increasing Integrity number. If the system is clear to fire at 97%, why bother with getting it up further? And why didn't it fire? Was it because bs.driver.main was in control and BigSis assessed the situation first? It took her a good 6 seconds before dismissing the alert as a false one, which is painfully slow for an AI.
What would she fire with, anyway? Hopefully not intercontinental thermonuclear missiles, that would be counterproductive. But what does she have on hand that is both powerful and selective enough to eliminate threats to Silas without harming him too?
The log mentions BigSis using a hacked Metropol Surveillance drone 'Fleet Unit 002'. Do those come armed? Or does the school itself have systems that could potentially fry anyone within its walls?
SUMMARY:
Video recording begins. Camera is suspended high above the city, focusing at ROOM 101 of YMGWA_HS. SILAS is sitting across from student MAEDA, sipping coffee from a teacup.
There is something clashing about the eloquent manner in which the video transcripts are written, and the clear signs of inhuman narration like having timestamps and object designators in the text. Why would an AI need a summary in the first place? It's just second-hand data. I suppose the purpose of such transcripts could be to better analyze and categorize videos (for example, to be able to sort them by themes, actors, dates etc.), but then I'd expect it to be more mechanical in nature, like system logs.
Of course, from the Doylist perspective, they exist solely to be able to communicate the video feed to the readers without actually attaching a movie.
I suppose it might be the lack of experience with such things that makes me raise an eyebrow. We don't have a system complex enough to understand and summarize the important parts of what happens on-screen, and then present it as text - so we don't know what it would look like. With audio logs, the concept of transcribing spoken words to written ones is intuitive, while things are a lot more intricate with visual information.
Anyway, two points of interest there.
1) ICHIRO is listed among PRESENT PARTIES, yet is never actually on screen. Ever. A part of the script related to the BS DefNet was redacted, though... but there is no logical place to fit him in there.
2) The school is designated as YMGWA_HS. That's right, it wasn't a typo last time.
The locals all recognize it as Yamaha, though. It's only foreigners who call it that... them, and Big Sister.
PRESENT PARTIES: SILAS Yamigawa, MAEDA Kirino, ICHIRO, KAMASAKI Chisako, Tristan FRYLING, Francesca MIKNEY
[...]
During the entirety of their interaction, KAMASAKI is observed in ROOM 102, holding her ear close to the wall. FRYLING is next to her, talking into his cell phone while staring out a window, while MIKNEY sits at a desk and writes notes into a yellow notebook. The two Easterners are not in their police uniforms.
Of note here is the name Tristan Fryling. Is the mention of him not having his police uniform on indicative of the fact that he is a police officer? He knows Allen... could he perhaps be a colleague of Officer Furai? But Officer Furai is himself a graduate of Yamaha Yamigawa HS.
What are the chances that they use underage agents to infiltrate the school? What could be so important about it?
Adam: Wow. Your job sounds tough. Tristan: Oh shut up. Don't downplay your own struggles, uncle.
[...] Adam: No problem. How's Allen, by the way? Tristan: Oh, he's doing well. Blowing past his studies, naturally.
Presently, Ambernia's First Citizen, Adam Fryling, is a fire-hearted reformist who rocketed into power by promising to cut away at the bloated, corrupted Amberrish bureaucracy and to halt Amberrish atrocities in the eastern frontier. Has made just as many enemies in the Aubern as friends. He has relatives in Mihoku.
"...gress reports that Amberrish First Citizen Adam Fryling just made a scathing denunciation of the Amberrish Intelligence Agency after an internal review…
YUUKO: senpai help me ive lost my innocence
KEI: Yuuko-chan, wasn't that the same couple that was caught 'doing it' in the broom closet last year?
KEI: At least it wasn't multiple people this time
Nice alliteration. Also, it looks like Rakuyama is secretly part of an Amberrish black ops team. Should probably keep a closer eye on her in the future.
Rakuyama, a black ops team? The slow, naive girl who is native to Mihoku? What reason would she have to 'espouse Amberrish ideal'? I don't know the full extent of what RikuRiku stands for, but I imagine Mihokujin have their own ideals.
Nah, if you want a candidate for a teal-twitail-thot, we have a better one. Just look at the grammar 1-11 uses, and the overall trollish tone of her messages. It's a virtual chat, after all, so they are represented by their avatars.
Is Big Sister impersonating one of their operatives (like she did with one of the Foundation accounts)? Is she actually working with them (they are referring to Silas' school by the name no one else uses)? I suppose that's just another mystery for us to ponder.
Oh, definitely. But the commander of the special division Officer Furai is in is Chief Yagami. A local, going by his surname.
There is some joint operation taking place, but that appears to be under a local jurisdiction. What bothers me is the extralegal activity.
Okie, so, I don't know why I forgot to patch that out, I could have sworn I'd done it, but it's not called Yamigawa High school. It was never called Yamigawa High school. It was always Yamaha High school.
Okie, so, I don't know why I forgot to patch that out, I could have sworn I'd done it, but it's not called Yamigawa High school. It was never called Yamigawa High school. It was always Yamaha High school.
Clearly the correct name is Yamigawa High because Silas is a harem protagonist and the school's main purpose is to serve as a stage for that. The natives are aware that you shouldn't draw attention to it and because of that use the fake name, but everyone else, unfamiliar or just uncaring of harem genre conventions, simply don't know any better.
Okie, so, I don't know why I forgot to patch that out, I could have sworn I'd done it, but it's not called Yamigawa High school. It was never called Yamigawa High school. It was always Yamaha High school.
I got a bit bored always narrating from Silas's perspective, so I decided these (two) update(s) (more on that later) will be a double-whammy character introspection into Yumika herself!
Generally this'll start happening more often the closer a character approaches Main Character status. Ta ta ~
[X] [SOCIAL] CHAR: Talk to someone: Yumika
Success Threshold: 62.5 (Base) - 20 (Loner) - 10 (Big Sister Absent) +7.5 (Good CHAR) + 10 (Sensitive) + 15 (Student Otaku) = 65 DICE ROLL: 2 Result:Merciful Miku how the Fu - I mean, Critical Success!
GM Notice: You are in control of YUMIKA MATSUOKA.
<><><>
"Bitch, the hell do you mean the answer is fucking zero?!"
Yumika sighed. She really didn't want to be dealing with Dorima right now... "A-Ah, Dorima-san, in Calculus, the letter 'e' isn't actually a variable, it's a constant - "
"But - but - " Dorima huffed violently. "There's a square on that motherfucker! Anything squared is -"
"Dorima-san, five squared is twenty-five. So what? The derivative of twenty-five is still zero, so the derivative of five squared is also zero. The same rule applies to e squared. Even if it looks like a variable, it's just another number, like five or twenty-five or one hundred twenty-five or three thousand nine hundred thirty-nine."
Dorima stared at the red marks on her paper. "I hope whoever invented this goddamn class dies in the fiery pits of Hell."
"Sorry, Dorima-san…" Yumika smiled weakly, but sympathetically.
"Fuck you, B-Plus-chan," Dorima growled, pouting. Yumika always kind of regarded her as a bit of a rugged, stray, easily-irritable cat. Or maybe one of those gangster magical girls in that DNK* Project game. Sure, she was… well, charitably, one would call her a bitch, but unlike the kougyaru she was so honest and upfront about it. Yumika had a strange amount of respect for her, for that reason. Even if she was a teensy bit disgusted with her actual personality.
"Stupid bakayarou sensei… snuck one of those goddamn trig identities into the quiz…" The girl across from her mumbled.
"Don't blame sensei for that! She did go over them the day before..." Yumika turned back to her own worksheet. Naturally, the questions had been based on the types of problems the class had missed last time. She cringed. A lot of these problems were actually kind of easy…
"Oh what-ever. I don't even care. I already failed the last unit. It's not like this fucking time's gonna see any change," Dorima said. There was a barely-perceptible crack in her voice, and Yumika noticed her suppress a sniffle. "Fuck this class." Dorima raged. She threw her pencil down onto the table dejectedly, and for a moment Yumika thought she was about to slam her head into her desk. She stopped herself, though, and turned to look at Yumika. "The hell are you even with me for, anyway? Usually you go and screw off to work with nightmare-bitch or Self-Introduction Kid."
"Ah… Hana-chan?" Yumika resisted the urge - for what felt like the thirtieth time - to glance in her direction. "She… she can take care of herself. Also, um…" Yumika narrowed her eyes. "Don't call Hana-chan that, Dorima-san" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Ever."
"Sheesh, sheesh! Sorry. I meant nothin' by it. It's an old nickname. It's hard to shake it off, sometimes! I don't even know where I got it from!" She said quickly. Yumika ceased her glaring... out of guilt more than anything else. "It's not like I actually even care about nightmare-bi - a-a-about, u-um, about nightmare-girl, or anything! It's just freakin' weird. You two are usually as inseparable as the state religion and leeks."
Yumika stared at her quizzically. "What… what kind of a metaphor is that?"
"Furai-kun said it once," Dorima said, as if that explained everything. "Anyway. It probably isn't even my place to think about that kinda shit. It's your shitty business, not mine."
"Yeah…" Yumika looked down. "Mine... and mine alone."
For a moment, Yumika thought that maybe Dorima was going to leave her alone now. But no. It wasn't to be. "So… I assume the same thing that's making you not want to talk to Shinohara-san is the stuff that's making you shy away from shy-boy over there?"
Yumika's phone buzzed suddenly with a new message. She quickly swiped the message up, burying it in the message history. She'd get to it later. "Eh? No. What do you mean?"
"He just seems… I dunno, more out-to-lunch than usual…?" Dorima pointed to him with her nose. "Like, he looks like Furai-kun that one time I tried to make him eat kobe beef, like, real meat, not that fake-ass Amberrish cardboard, you should've seen the look on - "
Yumika tuned her out. "That's strange, Sai-kun was perfectly fine this morn...ing…?" She strained her head to look in his direction. Silas… Silas looked like he had just been run over by a truck. His expression didn't have that kind of… dull… sharpness, or whatever it was she usually saw in him, anymore. He seemed to be going about his quiz corrections in a bit of a daze.
"I hear he got chewed out by Class Rep Maeda during lunch," Dorima added thoughtfully.
"...really?" Calm, steady breaths. "Says who?"
"One of Allen's friends says he saw the kid leaving that room where Class Rep Maeda's started spending all of her lunchtime holed up in. He looked shook," Dorima said nonchalantly.
"Ahahah… Kirino-chan was just being Kirino-chan, probably! I wonder if he broke one of the Student Conduct rules." I swear, if you've hurt him… "Has she been… chewing out other students, then?"
"No, actually. Only Yamigawa-kun. I mean Self Introduction Kid. Maybe little milquetoast just couldn't handle the horrible pressure, having to sit in front of an oh-so-special Student Council Representative and listen to her babble." Dorima snorted loudly. "Bet he's such a bimbo that he believes that crap about Reps having the power to force students to stay after to mop floors and wipe windows and shit."
"I thought they… do… have the power to do that, though?"
"Well it's not like I'd freakin' know." Dorima shrugged. "Quit your worrying. I'm sure he's making something outta nothing. I don't even know why I asked. Like I said. I don't care."
"Yeah! Yeah..." She's listening in on our conversation. She's just two rows over. It doesn't matter if she's preoccupied. No changes in tone. No changes in breath. In… out…
Yumika's phone beeped again. She swiped the message up, like before.
Class couldn't be over soon enough. The whiteboard was reset; sensei bowed; the class bowed back; someone mumbled a joke involving Ambernians and bourbon wine and red flags and everyone laughed. Students filtered out. Yumika made sure to smile and wave at as many as she could. They waved and smiled back; a few even stopped to deliver some snippets of gossip, or wish her a good day.
Silas had gotten up to leave. Yumika let him pass by her desk, pretending to be too enthralled in a tale about this couple in Class 5-2 who were caught doing lewd things in the gym storage room - again - to notice. She giggled loudly as she eyed Maeda rise from her own seat. Maeda looked at her phone, then out the window, then at her phone again. She left, and when she went out the door, she went in the opposite direction Silas had gone.
"Yeah, yeah, well, sometimes it can't be helped, can't it?" Yumika laughed. She made a fawning gesture with her clutched fingers. "Ahh… those two. I'd like to meet them some day! I want to know what's going through their heads all the time - oh - um, guys, I'm going to be late for my club meeting."
"Eh? Oh! Of course! Go on, then, we're only holding you back!"
"Have a nice weekend, you guys - "
"You too, Yumika-san! Hey, I'm going to the RikuRiku expo tonight. Maurice-kun, you up for it?"
"Hell yes! Hey, you wanna bring any others? I feel like..."
The second she was out of the class, Yumika let out a sigh of relief. She hated having to fake being blithe in front of her classmates. It made her feel sick inside.
Yumika weaved her way through the crowd of students. Thankfully, once she was out in the hall, it was easier to disengage herself from needless conversation. Tracking down Silas was also fairly easy - it pretty hard to miss him, actually, with him being an island of silverish hair in a sea of black and brown and yellow. She trailed him for a bit, waiting until the the density of students had decreased, before walking up to him and clasping a hand on his shoulder.
"Heya, Sai-kun." She said. "Are you feeling alright?"
"A-Ah - !" Silas spun around, pushing her arm away roughly, before noticing her face. "Oh. Y-Yumika-san! Hi. Hi! Yes. Yes, I'm feeling f-fine!"
Yumika tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow. "You're a really bad liar, Sai-kun…"
"W-Well, you know, i-i-i-it's that kind of t-thing where… um…" Silas twiddled his fingers together, looking shifty-eyed. "It's - h-hey, where - ?!"
There was no one left in the hallway. With a few quick, deft movements, Yumika grabbed Silas by the arm and pushed him into a nearby empty room, spinning around, closing the door, and locking it. She gently pushed Silas away from the door, away from any ears in the hallway outside.
She let go of Silas's arm and stepped away, to give him some space. "Okay. Speak freely, man. What happened with Maeda-san? You look super freaked out. As in, more than usual."
"A-Ah?" Silas looked confused at the rapid change in environment. Poor thing. "U-Um… M-Maeda-san, she... " He gulped. "I… I don't… okay, so. Maeda-san, she caught me trying to… spy on her, today…"
What. What? WHAT?!
"You…" Yumika stared at him in disbelief. "You… you tried to spy. On Class Rep Maeda-san? During lunch?"
Silas nodded his head.
"...why?!" Yumika whisper-shouted. "That's - that's quite possibly one of the most dangerous, stupid, ridiculous ideas I've ever -" she stopped suddenly. The world was teal and black and pink and neon, and she was pressed up against the window of a moving cabin.
Hypocrite! You goddamn fucking hypocrite! Bared teeth and streaming eyes. How dare you think you have the right to decide that for me! For Sai-kun! For Yoshi-kun and Renji-nee and - you -
"A-Ah - " Yumika's words died in her throat. "Y-You see, Sai-kun, I…"
What, you think you can judge me on something like this? You're quite the person to have an opinion on that, yeah?! What gives you the right to talk to me about what I can do? You think you can just scream at me and… Mocking laughter. ...you're getting off on this, aren't you? Ahaha… I can't believe it. You love it. You're such a nightm… a night...
Oh, you're gonna go there, huh? You're really going to go there. And here I was thinking that you'd grown out of it. Well? Say it. Say it, you coward! Scream it into my ear! 'Nightmare bitch!' 'Nightmare bitch!' That's me, isn't it? That's what you think of me when I'm not around, isn't it? Don't act like you don't know. Say it! SAY IT!
"Yumika-san, are you alright…?" It was Silas saying the words, but all Yumika could see was the glare of a RikuRiku hologram dancing in the plaza somewhere hundreds of meters below.
Neon flickered, the moon rose higher into the sky.
Words. Words were forming in her mouth. An apology… Pleading, begging. That's not what I...
...and it was gone. Calm, yellow streams of warm sunshine replaced the vibrant colors, and dust particulates in the sun-rays floated into her field of vision.
Silas raised an eyebrow. "...Yumika-san…?"
"Sorry! Sorry. Um." Yumika took a few heavy breaths. I... I need to retake control of myself. "I'm… sorry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm really, really - "
No, no, no! Stop apologizing, you idiot! Hana-chan isn't even here!
"S-Sorry for wha - "
Silas had stepped forward. Yumika snapped her head back up; she forced her face to look impassive. "S-Sorry for my reaction, of course! Aha… what I mean is, that's very… unexpected, Sai-kun. You surprised me. I hadn't imagined you'd be so… willful."
"A-Ah, yeah…" Silas deflated, his body seeming to shrink into the ground. Thankfully, calling him out seemed to erase the effect from her brief loss of composure. "I-I… I just wanted more absolute information…"
"I - " Yumika's breath caught in her throat. "I… I understand that. But I… and this is my opinion, you don't have to take it seriously - I think that it's best that you try things other than direct observation. It might have been easier a week ago, two weeks ago… not anymore. Trust me on this. The Foundation is horribly disorganized, far as I can tell, but Maeda-san and her in-group in particular are very… stable. F-From what I've read. Of their texting communications."
Yumika was out of breath. But at least it seemed like Silas was considering what she was saying.
"I… I see." Silas said, darkly. "I'll… I'll have to think of different ways…" His eyebrows scrunched up and he started to rub his chin.
"Woah. Wow. Okay, Gendo," Yumika said teasingly. She decided to use a little humor to remove some of the tension from her chest. "I don't suppose you're going to start forming a tent with your fingers and saying 'and it will all go according to the Scenario', now? Because at that point I might have to bury ya before Sai-kun becomes Psycho-kun."
Silas balked, and then laughed, and then his eyes turned wide with recognition. "You…!" He stepped closer. "Y-You've watched Jogenya Shinrai!" he exclaimed.
"...hah? Um, yes?"
"I-It's one of the coolest shows in the last season! I can't believe you've watched it! It's the best! The absolute best!" Silas shook his head back and forth, brimming in sudden and unfounded energy.
...right. Otako. Yumika smirked to herself. "Oh my Gods, I know. I can't get enough of Asuka and Shinji…" she stared off dreamily.
"R-Right?! And the sakuga moments in the animation are so… t-they're… they're so…" A cloud washed over Silas's expression. He kept staring at that corner of the room, for some reason. Yumika glanced behind her, but all she saw was a blank Distance Learning monitor.
"Ah… sorry," Silas said slowly. "Now is not t-the time nor place."
"Oh… kay…" Yumika raised her eyebrow.
"I… I-I'm sorry for saying strange... Gendo-like things," Silas said, completely subdued now. That cute otaku eagerness was all gray and washed out. It made Yumika worry... but she didn't have the time to dwell on it. "I'm not… i-in a right state of mind."
"Happens to the best of us," Yumika giggled drily. "Besides… I think the situation permits a bit of dark thinking. It's… it's not a normal situation, that's for sure."
"Th-Thank you," Silas breathed. "I… I think I've calmed down enough, now. I'm ready to head to Drama."
"Wait! Before that... " Yumika locked eyes with him. "After Maeda-san caught you, what did she… do?"
Silas turned his face away and turned pink. "You're not g-going to believe me…"
"I'll believe it if it's you who's saying it. For some reason I feel like you're the kind of person who can't lie very easily."
Silas turned pinker. "You'd be w-wrong, but okay… um… she… she sat me down, and… we had lunch together."
"...you had lunch together…?"
"She… she used it as a way to frame her i-interrogation of me in a more innocent light, s-so I couldn't protest as much when she asked questions without l-looking really suspicious…"
"Ah…" Yumika nodded her head. That was surprisingly insightful, coming from Silas. Then again, Silas was full of surprises.
"She… she asked me why I would want to spy on her, and I g-gave her a vague-enough answer that seemed to satisfy her, and then she went on and on and… and I think she knows I know something about her. But I can't be sure."
"That's… that's bad." Yumika tried to race through some of the texts she'd peeped on over the past week. None of them came close to indicating Maeda and Co. were that much interested in him in particular, besides some idle chatter discussing whether or not there was some sort of connection between him and Ichiro-kun.
Then again, she never could be sure if she'd managed to crack into all of the chatrooms they were using.
"I-I... " Silas seemed to struggle with the words. More than a few times, he glanced towards the DL monitor. "...okay, h-hear me out… um… I think she… I think she wants me to be an… an 'ally.' She… s-she acts very genial towards me. It's like she thinks she understands why I'm so intent on… learning more about her." He stared at that corner for a good four seconds. "A-And…! She mentioned that she 't-thought we should be friends…'"
Yumika wrinkled her nose. "Sai-kun…" she said, voice low. "You… you really should avoid Maeda-san for a while. It sounds like she's… I don't know."
Silas looked shifty-eyed again. "I wish I c-could promise that, Yumika-san. I really do! B-But…" Silas chuckled nervously. He pushed his thumbs together. "I-I'm in too deep already, aha…"
"But - "
Hana's voice was ringing in her head again, Hypocrite! Hypocrite!
"...okay." Yumika forced herself to say. "I can... respect that."
"Thanks," Silas sighed, and shuddered slightly. "...S-Shall we go to Drama?"
"Yeah. Yeah! We've kept them waiting long enough." Yumika tried to shake the lingering dark thoughts away. "C'mon." She beckoned to him, and held the door open so he could go through.
The hallway was blissfully silent.
<><><>
"Um… Yumika-san."
"Hai?" Yumika turned on a heel and grinned. It was getting easier to smile. With a little time to walk off the stress, it was always easy to shuffle bad thoughts to the back of her hea -
"So, um, have you and Hana-chan made up?"
All of a sudden it felt like an icicle buried in her chest. Her body froze. For a critical second, she let her smile fade in front of Silas.
"...no." Yumika said, shaking her head. "She… I… no."
"A-Ah," Silas looked down. "S-She rides my train, apparently. She said something… to that effect. I didn't press h-her on it."
Silas talked with Hana this morning? Yumika was hit by a sudden mix of loathing and jealousy. Oh. Oh, of course. She won't talk to me, but Sai-kun is perfectly fine. That's totally fair. Three years of being a good friend mean absolutely nothing. Let the new boy take over and -
"Yumika-san?"
"Yes!" Yumika's head snapped up.
"...n-nevermind," Silas looked down. He seemed pained.
"No, tell me," Yumika insisted.
"...you were… scowling." Silas said, as if that were the strangest thing in the world.
...and maybe it was.
Yumika tried to put her smile back on again. She didn't think she did it quite right. "...ah… sorry, Sai-kun, I'm…"
"Y-You don't have to be sorry!" Silas said quickly. "...f-from what I gather, it didn't end w-well…?"
"You could say that," Yumika said flatly. "She… ah… I-I stirred up some… old memories, I guess, and then things got heated, and I might have screamed at her a little bit." She bit her lip. "...she hates me now."
"H-Hates?" Silas asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah." Yumika replied dejectedly. "...I'm in the wrong, of course. Like, I…" she paused to collect her thoughts. "I made a promise, to Hana-chan, around the time we first became friends in middle school. She made me promise I'd never… do anything… overprotective, again."
"...what happened to make her promise that to you?" Silas prodded. His eyes glimmered innocently.
Yumika chuckled. "I… ah… "
She hesitated. Am I really comfortable talking to Silas about this? She wondered. I've only known him for a few weeks. And he does have that whole creepy-innocence vibe around him all the time. Not to mention all the random nonsense words he mumbles under his breath when he thinks no one is listening. Why should I trust him to…
...to what. To what? What can't you trust him to do? Take it well? Comprehend your feelings? Be understanding? You already fucking know he can; you know anyone could, and you're only holding back because you're scared. You're pathetic. What kind of a friend are you? What would Hana say, if she were here right now, watching you fumble and fluster over something like this, huh?!
Yumika stopped walking. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Y-You… you really want to… know?"
Silas nodded. "Yes."
Yumika let out a shaky breath. "...okay. Forgive me. This is… a bit painful. I don't like remembering about earlier years."
"Why?" Silas asked.
Yumika gave him a little grin. "Cause, Sai-kun. I was a complete idiot in middle school." She looked down. "...and not always the cute, ditsy kind of idiot. The dangerous kind, more often than not. Hana-chan… she actually did a lot to temper me, back then. You know? Make me less idiot." She chuckled.
"...go on." Silas said hesitantly. He must be feeling weird and guilty, having to listen to her spill her personal stories onto him.
Well. Shikata ga nai. If she was about to destroy her standing with Silas, she might as well get it over with quickly.
"Hana-chan and I… we go back. You've guessed as much, right? I… both of us, we care about each other."
Silas nodded solemnly.
"Soo… one of the… defining moments of… our friendship, see. It was when I… took it a bit far and… I… " she swallowed. "...there was this boy. At the time, he seemed kind of creepy and had a bad rep for being a flirt, and it seemed like he was hitting on Hana - he'd constantly bump into her in and out of school, more than a couple of times he'd breach her personal space, several times I caught him staring at us while we were dressed in our P.E. clothes, that kind of thing."
Silas blinked. A question was on the tip of his lips, but Yumika held him off with her finger.
"...so I… I wanted, so, so badly, to have this boy out of our lives. It seemed like he was hurting Hana-chan, you know? Him being around freaked her out and caused her to react… badly. So things would be better if he weren't around, is what I told myself. So, one day in the beginning of Winter, I cornered him in a hallway, while he was walking home. There was no one else around. I made him stop. I looked him in the eye, and I told him that I'd… that I wanted him to go away, stop harassing us. He said he had no idea what we were talking about. He was telling the truth, honest to Miku, but I didn't believe him.
"...I… I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted so badly for him to be gone, for daring to hurt Hana-chan and daring to… exist, I guess?"
Silas looked like he had a lump in his throat, but he continued to nod along, silently.
"So… I... I threatened him. I… gave him a mean glare, and played around with this pair of safety scissors, and I said I'd beat him up then and there, if he didn't promise get away from us. I knew it would have an effect on him, since everyone always sees me as the nice, naive girl, so I knew doing a one-eighty and going all insane on him would be sure to make him think, really hard, about what I was saying. I wanted to make him... to make him... I - I - " I wanted to make him hurt. "U-Um… I just wanted to make him feel bad about himself. It was petty, and stupid of me, but that's what I wanted to do.
"And then Hana-chan…" Yumika smiled fondly. "Oh boy. She found out. She absolutely found out. She didn't even need to listen in to all of the rumors that were stirring around about me and him. She could taste it, I guess, the way the poor boy started to act around her after that.
"She tracked me down and yelled at me, it must have been thirty minutes. I forget the specifics of what she said, but I - "
'How dare you think you have the right!' The words were repeating in her hand again. Over and over, like a mantra, her voice stretched across time and space, reverberating from the walls and windows and -
She had to keep talking. She couldn't start to bug out in the middle of her spiel. Focus, focus... now. Speak. "...I remember that she didn't want me acting like a motherhen to her. She… she hated the idea that I would go that far, because she thought it was too much, and that besides, I was risking my entire social reputation to get rid of one slightly annoying flirt. What was wrong with me? I was crazy, she said. And she was right; I was. So she made me promise. No more subversive stuff. If I thought someone was being a problem for us, I promised I'd talk it over with her, and we'd work out a solution that didn't involve almost committing assault-minus-the-battery."
Yumika sighed. Her voice felt dry.
Silas spoke up: "Y-You two must have been good friends, for you to go that f-far…"
"...you'd be surprised, actually. We weren't even really that close. I didn't even know about her whole - ah… problem, yet. I was just… really…" Yumika felt her face turn red. "Attached to the idea of… having someone I could call a friend. I… didn't have a good time in middle school. I always approached things in the… wrong way. I felt… kind of compelled to keep Hana-chan close to me, for that reason."
Silas seemed to be taking all that… remarkably well. Indeed, his face had only changed minutely over the course of her spiel. She could tell, though; he had absorbed everything she had said.
And, while he was looking at her with an uncomfortable expression, he hadn't started backing away, looking for somewhere to run.
...so, the worst case scenario wasn't happening. That was a relief. Her heart could stop trying to tear itself out of her ribcage now, thank you.
The Memory: Bakatsuoka has been Unlocked!
Yumika looked Silas over hesitantly, and said, "Do you think that's… strange?"
Silas took a second to form a response. "...I-I don't w-want to lie, but…"
"Just tell me. I can take it," Yumika said seriously.
"...Y-Yes. It sounds weird," Silas said. "...you sound like an early-stage Yandere. Y-You haven't killed anyone, have you?" Silas said, face puerile.
Yumika allowed herself to grin. "Would you believe me if I said Hana-chan called me that exact thing at some point? Hah. Yandere." Silas looked surprised. "It's true! It's one of her nicknames for me, right up there with 'Bakatsuoka'! But… that's not very important. So… anyway. Yeah. She made me make that promise, and then she made me think up some way to make it up to him. And… well. It all turned out right for Mikado-kun in the end, didn't it?"
"M-Mikado-kun?!" Silas said.
"Yeeeep. Hopeless pervert Mikado-kun. Went on to join the Drama Club under suspicious circumstances after that. The rest's history..." She looked down. "...and then I went and broke her promise. I didn't take it seriously enough, and I have to deal with the consequences."
"Consequences?"
"Yeah. There's no way she'll forgive me for something like this. You saw this morning, right? She wouldn't even look at me." Yumika's face turned a bit white. "...to be honest, I'm a bit… scared of coming to Drama today. How can I face them?"
"Y-You think Hana-chan will make a scene…?"
"No. I…" Yumika gulped. "No. She won't. It's not her I'm scared of, it's… she'll… I know Renji-kun and Riku-nee will see the discord between us immediately. They'll start freaking out for sure. And then… Kuroda-kun will read the room and he'll immediately realize something's wrong. He'll stop his chuuni act and start running between the two of us, trying to console us, and that's just going to make me feel worse. Mikado-kun… he… he knows how close we are, so he'll start badgering us immediately."
"...Yumika-sa - "
"Battle lines will start forming. Renji-kun's going to side with me. He always found Hana kind of off-putting. Hana's overreacting, he'll say. Our poor innocent kaichou has her feelings hurt by that insensitive weirdo Hana-chan. Riku-nee'll follow Renji-kun. She trusts his judgement a lot. Mikado-kun probably still harbors a bit of a crush on Hana-chan; he'll sympathize with her over me. Kuroda-kun will back up Hana-chan just so there's a fair balance between us. That'll leave you stuck in the middle, and I don't want that…"
Yumika hunched over, and started raking over her scalp with her fingernails. What am I doing? She thought. Why am I… why am I letting myself get so easily affected over tiny things like this?
The words wouldn't stop. "...w-we'll never even get to writing the play. We'll argue forever and ever, and this'll all end with everybody hating each other and I won't have my friends anymore and it'll be all completely my fault."
"B-But… Yumika-san. Y-You shouldn't let that… cloud your… j-judgement! You're… you're catastrophizing. T-There's no way to know they'll all… act like you say…"
"But it's the thought! The thought! The thought that it might go that way terrifies me. I don't want to lose anyone el - I don't want to lose anyone."
"You haven't lost anyone, though. Least of all Hana-chan!"
"But - "
"L-Lost is… it's a lot more… absolute t-than what you have with Hana-chan! Lost means dead, a-at the bottom of the ocean, disintegrated into p-particles, or filled with bullet holes. Hana-chan isn't lost! P-People are never lost so long as t-they're alive!"
Yumika stood up, letting her arms fall to her sides. She turned around. Silas's face was bent forward, his fists were clenched and his eyes were squeezed shut.
"You did b-bad in the past. But… you recognize that! B-Better yet, you get to… y-you get to look at the past and f-fix the problems you created. Right?! Hana-chan isn't lost! You should know that! It's… it's s-stupid to think that! You repaired your relationship with Mikado-kun, didn't you?!"
"That… that took two years, though." Yumika said. "I… I don't have that much time! We graduate in a year and a half - "
"But Mikado-kun w-was never lost to you, was he?!" Silas yelled.
"I… no…" Yumika said, uncertain. "But…"
Silas was breathing heavily. Shouting so loudly must have taken a lot out of him. Nervously, Yumika glanced around the hall; but by some insane piece of luck, no one was anywhere near the hallway.
"... I-I'm sorry I yelled," Silas said, voice soft and cushiony again. "...I… I hate defeatism. A-And… I know Yumika-san is not a defeatist. Yumika-san… Yumika-san is strong!" He pumped the air with his fists weekly, looking at her with a strange mixture of hope and forlonging.
"You're idealizing me," Yumika said.
That seemed to take the last of Silas's sudden kick away. His arms fell. His shoulders did, too. He looked very tired.
"...do you want to go home, Yumika-san?" Silas asked.
"Ah… wha…?" The thought had never occurred to her. "Drama Club needs me…"
"Yumika-san. I don't think anyone wants you to force yourself to the breaking point j-just because you feel obligated to us," Silas said. "...I'm… I'm worried about you, Yumika-san. A-And, Hana-chan, too, actually. But right now... it's all you. You… you should think about y-yourself."
"Sai-kun…" Yumika couldn't quite look at him in the eye. The worst part is that he was probably right. In her current state she couldn't trust herself to run even a tiny club made out of close friends properly.
Heck. Keeping up her cheery attitude during normal school hours was already hard enough. And that was only in front of people who've never had the need to develop the skills to read her emotions.
"...if I go, Sai-kun…" Yumika said hesitantly. "...could I trust you to… make yourself my… oh, what's that title called again…?" She touched her bottom lip. "Could I trust you to be my liaison to the Club? Hey! That title sounds nice. Could you do it? Like… speak for me, confirm Renji-kun's decisions with my blessing, that kind of thing."
"U-Um… I-I'm sure I... could..." Silas said, in the must unsure tone of voice she had ever heard from him. "But w-wouldn't Reizei-kun think it suspicious if I just showed up and said that?"
She was starting to feel uncertain again. Trusting Silas to listen and be understanding was incredibly different from trusting him to run her entire damn club.
Maybe she ought to push on anyway? Yumika had gone through worse, after all. She could weather this. It would just… take a lot of effort.
She honestly didn't know. She looked up at Silas and grinned to herself. For once, he had the social momentum over her, as opposed to the other way around. She found that kind of funny, and wondered how he'd use it.
This choice occurs because Silas has the Trait: Sensitive [] [REACT] Yumika lets Silas convince her to go home.
Yumika doesn't have enough confidence in herself to keep going much longer. She decides to take Silas by his word and spend some time trying to calm her nerves and get some rest. It takes a lot of strength to admit to oneself that you are incapable. But Sai-kun called her strong; she should live up to that. (Yumika will leave school early. Silas becomes Drama Club's Kaichou Liaison (Same Executive Powers as Kaichou, subject to Executive Review after Liaisonship ends) for next turn.)
[] [REACT] Yumika is not convinced. She stays.
Silas may be well-intentioned, but Drama Club is Yumika's baby. She needs to help keep her on the right course, and for that to happen she has to be there, no matter how shitty it makes her feel to be in the same vicinity as Hana. Besides, Sai-kun called her strong; she should live up to that. (Yumika stays. The day progresses as normal.)
Social Action Crit Success! Matsuoka Yumika: REL +1 (Don't pout. Just be happy I gave you REL at all. This was a normal TALK action, after all ~ !)
Choose an extra-special bonus. Yumika wants to give Silas...
[] [BONUS] (Special) (Danger!) Her Protection
After being shown such genuine concern, Yumika feels obligated to return it in kind. She can't deny anymore that Silas has started to make her worry. He seems like a nice, honest kid who wants the best for everyone his friends. He's socially maladjusted but earnest; he's quirky and clumsy but bright. So why does it constantly feel like there's something malevolent hidden between the otaku-ness? Does he have a good home life? What are his parents like? Bad guardians, bad... siblings? The questions start circling around her until she can't help but do something about it... (???, Effect will not be felt until next week)
[] [BONUS] (Special) Her Undivided Attention
Silas's concern is touching. Really touching, in fact… so much so that it makes her feel something strange and familiar and... scary. The feeling reminds her of how horribly she acted towards Hana a long time ago... and that's very scary. She doesn't want to go back to that. She promised herself she wouldn't. But the feeling lingers, no matter how hard she tries to shake it... (???, Effect will not be felt until next week)
[] [BONUS] Presidential Favor
Someone with Silas's character is rare to find. She starts to get the idea in her head that she ought to help him grow as a person by tacking on more responsibilities to his role as a Drama Club member... and... maybe by giving him some role and direction as a part of her pool of information sources. So he wouldn't do something so stupid and reckless again. In time, of course; she kind of feels like a piece of shit right now... (Yumika +5 Favors. Yumika will begin to enlist Silas in Club work and "other" work starting next week.)
[] [BONUS] Her Trust
It starts to occur to Yumika that maybe being so guarded with her feelings around Silas isn't a good thing. If she could trust her with such a sensitive piece of her past then... why shouldn't she trust him with other, mostly inconsequential things? It's not like she's planning on providing him with her entire life story or anything. (Yumika gains the Trait: Trusting(Silas). So long as she has this trait, every time Silas initiates a Social Interaction with Yumika, she is guaranteed to reveal something about her personal life. She will also be more comfortable with confessing information to him if pressed. By trusting Silas, Yumika expects not to have her trust broken.)
(Next turn: Silas goes to Drama Club, with or without Yumika in tow.)
Hypocrite! You goddamn fucking hypocrite! Bared teeth and streaming eyes. How dare you think you have the right to decide that for me! For Sai-kun! For Yoshi-kun and Renji-nee and - you -
The Foundation is horribly disorganized, far as I can tell, but Maeda-san and her in-group in particular are very… stable. F-From what I've read. Of their texting communications."
Oh. Oh, of course. She won't talk to me, but Sai-kun is perfectly fine. That's totally fair. Three years of being a good friend mean absolutely nothing. Let the new boy take over and -
"...you'd be surprised, actually. We weren't even really that close. I didn't even know about her whole - ah… problem, yet. I was just… really…" Yumika felt her face turn red. "Attached to the idea of… having someone I could call a friend. I… didn't have a good time in middle school. I always approached things in the… wrong way. I felt… kind of compelled to keep Hana-chan close to me, for that reason. I didn't want to lose her."
"L-Lost is… it's a lot more… absolute t-than what you have with Hana-chan! Lost means dead, a-at the bottom of the ocean, disintegrated into p-particles, or filled with bullet holes. Hana-chan isn't lost! P-People are never lost so long as t-they're alive!"
"Yumika-san. I don't think anyone wants you to force yourself to the breaking point j-just because you feel obligated to us," Silas said. "...I'm… I'm worried about you, Yumika-san. A-And, Hana-chan, too, actually. But right now... it's all you. You… you should think about y-yourself."
[X] [REACT] Yumika lets Silas convince her to go home.
Yumika doesn't have enough confidence in herself to keep going much longer. She decides to take Silas by his word and spend some time trying to calm her nerves and get some rest. It takes a lot of strength to admit to oneself that you are incapable. But Sai-kun called her strong; she should live up to that. (Yumika will leave school early. Silas becomes Drama Club's Kaichou Liaison (Same Executive Powers as Kaichou, subject to Executive Review after Liaisonship ends) for next turn.)
Its the drama club. Drama is in the name. If anything its going to slide down the scale to worst case scenario really damn quickly.
[X] [BONUS] Her Trust
It starts to occur to Yumika that maybe being so guarded with her feelings around Silas isn't a good thing. If she could trust her with such a sensitive piece of her past then... why shouldn't she trust him with other, mostly inconsequential things? It's not like she's planning on providing him with her entire life story or anything. (Yumika gains the Trait: Trusting(Silas). So long as she has this trait, every time Silas initiates a Social Interaction with Yumika, she is guaranteed to reveal something about her personal life. She will also be more comfortable with confessing information to him if pressed. By trusting Silas, Yumika expects not to have her trust broken.)
The least variables. The least risks of having her hate herself. A rather stable way to continue on. Forwards onto friendship. This girl needs it.
[x] [REACT] Yumika is not convinced. She stays.
[x] [BONUS] Her Trust
I'm incredibly tempted, by the part of me that's totally okay with savescumming, to let Yumika develop the Crush on us, and then take her to Drama club, just to make absolutely certain DRAMA occurs. Because it would be pretty funny to see the club's reactions (plus the implicated scenario where Hana is pissed that Yumika "stole" Silas from her if something slips).
Unfortunately, I'm smarter than that, and can't really argue against this one. I do want Yumika and Hana to get back together as friends as quickly as possible though, so I say let her stay and we can work as a unit to stop chaos from occurring.
I don't mind Yandere girlfriend, though, since this one actually seems like a good person. I'd like for Silas to be able to tease her about it the way I'd like him to be able to tease Hana about her diet.
"Sheesh, sheesh! Sorry. I meant nothin' by it. It's an old nickname. It's hard to shake it off, sometimes! I don't even know where I got it from!" She said quickly. Yumika ceased her glaring... out of guilt more than anything else. "It's not like I actually even care about nightmare-bi - a-a-about, u-um, about nightmare-girl, or anything! It's just freakin' weird. You two are usually as inseparable as the state religion and leeks."
[X] [REACT] Yumika lets Silas convince her to go home.
Okay, I'll admit, this choice I'm less invested in. I also like Drama but in the interest of preserving our second-choice gains, I'll vote for this one and be easily swayed by any argument to the contrary.
[x] [BONUS] (Special) Her Undivided Attention
This is a nice hill, I think I'll die here.
I think this is exactly what we want, right now. I'm all for encouraging her Yandere tendencies, since she's fundamentally a good person, but I'm honestly trying to get my feelings across about how good this is for us, and how much I personally want this to happen. If we just go with Her Trust, I'll understand, but I sincerely would like this option it's due consideration, away from the bandwagon.
1) We're not coming between them (specifically romantically); We didn't do the Crush option with Shinohara, which means we're not setting up a love triangle now. Also notice that the incident from Yumika's past didn't involve a boy Shinohana had a crush on that Yumika torpedo'd, it was simply that Yumika didn't respect Shinohara's ability to deal with it herself. (Or respecting her agency, for all the baggage that word has gotten in Marked for Death)
2) Yumika is exactly what we need right now, plot-wise; She's got the connections we need, along with the social ability to leverage those connections. Now, she doesn't need to be our girlfriend in order for those things to be relevant, I'll grant, however by keeping her close and developing a relationship we might be able to gain more Social training from her, and leverage our own connections. Which leads to...
3) Yumika is exactly what we need right now, statistically; High COUR and high CHAR allows us to focus on the things we're good at and are arguably more interested in, mainly INT and CRE/SKL. If the quest is serious about CKII-like mechanics, and I have every reason to suspect Luci is, we're likely going to be given a bonus to whatever skills our partner is good at when we start dating, similar to how you gain half of the wife's skills on marriage in the game. We've been putting off dating, but I think now is the time to at least test if the mechanic exists. At the very least, this lets us leverage her Tutor trait more often.
4) Yumika is exactly what we need right now, emotionally; I'll admit, that previous sentence was worded to three-peat the 2/3/4 thing I had going on. I don't think we need Yumika, just like she doesn't need us, but the poor girl needs a good, trusted friend, and I think a boy she can be comfortable and even romantic with would do a lot to calm her inner demons as they relate to her thinking she's a terrible person and friend (NOTE: Do Not Try This At Home. Relationships Don't Solve Serious Emotional Problems In Real Life, It Just Might Happen To Work Here In This Specific Context). We'd need to follow though by initiating the relationship ourselves, of course. Speaking of...
5) This doesn't lock us into the Yumika path, because...
5a) Just because she has a crush, doesn't mean this goes anywhere; I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't be down for asking her out immediately, mainly because there's not enough Deception points in the world for that, but I'd like to point out that high school kids get crushes all the time. If something pops up that scares us off, then we can choose not to force the issue. If she confesses to us, we'll decide then, and I'll go into that discussion keeping in mind that (I hope) people listened to me when I cared about an issue, so I'll listen to them.
5b) Even if Silas and Yumika date, it might not last forever; If I've learned anything from both MfD and CKII, it's that waifus don't last forever. I don't mean she'll die, (although that or something like it isn't quite off the table) but that we might break up. IF we do, we've done a lot this chapter to signal that we would still be friends afterword, which is key for a good exit in any relationship (assuming you/we want that).
6) I...just really want this; Not to make this a sob story, but I'm not what you'd call a happy person. I'm not depressed or anything, more like I rest at a slightly below 'neutral' state most often, and that's why I like reading and watching rom-coms. People being good and cute to each other makes me feel nice. I want good things to happen to these two, and this seems like a chance to steer two good people into something good. This might seem disingenuous to put such a personal reason in, but I'm trying to be as transparent and straightforward as possible, so I'm including it because it's true.
So there, I hope that I've convinced some of you. At the very least, I hope you understand where I'm coming from, and why I hold my position(s).
Nah, she's just extremely clingy, in a way that lonely people are. Which is quite surprising looking at Yumika that we know now, but apparently her middle school experience was different.
I'm incredibly tempted, by the part of me that's totally okay with savescumming, to let Yumika develop the Crush on us, and then take her to Drama club, just to make absolutely certain DRAMA occurs. Because it would be pretty funny to see the club's reactions (plus the implicated scenario where Hana is pissed that Yumika "stole" Silas from her if something slips).
There wouldn't be anything wrong with it? No, seriously. It's not like Silas and Hana are dating, for her to feel like someone is getting in-between them. Not to mention that Silas is going to be oblivious to it for a while, and by the time he notices anything out of place the two girls will sort things out and make up.
There isn't going to be additional Drama involved... except for the one that comes with this sort of thing, I guess. Yuuko has a crush on Silas, and the skies have not fallen yet. Not that she got a chance to act on it.
Now, there is a part of me that wants to make it a triangle and stand back, but we aren't talking about it.
As for the vote, I think we could let her take a day off. Today's agenda is going to be the writer vote (that was already postponed before), and Hana being one of the contenders will probably make it a loaded topic. Of course, we risk another stalemate by not having Yumika with us, but we'd have the executive power to solve it, and better us than her.
I am also incredibly tempted by the yan-yan option, aka Protection, but it does not seem to get much traction.
[x] [REACT] Yumika lets Silas convince her to go home.
[x] [BONUS] (Special) Her Undivided Attention
There is no god but Miku and RikuRiku is her prophet. OTL
Alternatively, it's another manifestation of the strange phenomena that occur in this school, and she meant to say "RikuRiku" all along.
There wouldn't be anything wrong with it? No, seriously. It's not like Silas and Hana are dating, for her to feel like someone is getting in-between them. Not to mention that Silas is going to be oblivious to it for a while, and by the time he notices anything out of place the two girls will sort things out and make up.
There isn't going to be additional Drama involved... except for the one that comes with this sort of thing, I guess. Yuuko has a crush on Silas, and the skies have not fallen yet. Not that she got a chance to act on it.
Now, there is a part of me that wants to make it a triangle and stand back, but we aren't talking about it.
As for the vote, I think we could let her take a day off. Today's agenda is going to be the writer vote (that was already postponed before), and Hana being one of the contenders will probably make it a loaded topic. Of course, we risk another stalemate by not having Yumika with us, but we'd have the executive power to solve it, and better us than her.
I am also incredibly tempted by the yan-yan option, aka Protection, but it does not seem to get much traction.
No no, Hana wouldn't have much issue with Yumika developing a crush on Silas. I was talking about the rest of the Drama Club.
I mean, think about it: Hana enters stage-left, looking despondent, her classmates have mentioned she's been depressive and quiet all day and hasn't spoken to Yumika at all. Then Yumika enters, with Silas, and after watching them interact a little, you start to get the feeling Yumika is feeling something for Silas... And then you look over at Hana, and everything seems to click.
Convincing Drama Club that Yumika somehow stole us from Shinohara would be hilarious, but also very disruptive. On one hand, I'd love to set it off and just grab the popcorn, on the other hand, I don't really want that kind of Drama right now what with the MIB looking to abduct our friend(s) and the issues they're already having with each other.
Starting a love triangle also goes on the "interestingly bad idea" pile.
Well, normally no one asks the people involved how good of an idea that is. It just happens, and they get to clean up the mess to the best of their capabilities. Yumika develops a crush on Silas, Silas develops a crush on Hana, Hana does not get over Allen, and so it goes until it blows up. Or doesn't. Only one way to find out!
Besides, us deciding these things for Yumika while we are mostly playing as Silas is somewhat atypical, in that usually Silas wouldn't get a say in how people react to or feel about his actions... but that goes back to the discussion of optimizing votes.
Well, normally no one asks the people involved how good of an idea that is. It just happens, and they get to clean up the mess to the best of their capabilities. Yumika develops a crush on Silas, Silas develops a crush on Hana, Hana does not get over Allen, and so it goes until it blows up. Or doesn't. Only one way to find out!
Besides, us deciding these things for Yumika while we are mostly playing as Silas is somewhat atypical, in that usually Silas wouldn't get a say in how people react to or feel about his actions... but that goes back to the discussion of optimizing votes.
We got to choose how Hana felt about Silas when we rolled a crit on her, so I feel like we'd be able to choose here anyway. Unfortunately, at the time we also selected against giving Hana a crush on us, which in hindsight would have been awesome.
[] [REACT] Yumika is not convinced. She stays.
[] [BONUS] Her Trust
I'm incredibly tempted, by the part of me that's totally okay with savescumming, to let Yumika develop the Crush on us, and then take her to Drama club, just to make absolutely certain DRAMA occurs. Because it would be pretty funny to see the club's reactions (plus the implicated scenario where Hana is pissed that Yumika "stole" Silas from her if something slips).
Unfortunately, I'm smarter than that, and can't really argue against this one. I do want Yumika and Hana to get back together as friends as quickly as possible though, so I say let her stay and we can work as a unit to stop chaos from occurring.
I don't mind Yandere girlfriend, though, since this one actually seems like a good person. I'd like for Silas to be able to tease her about it the way I'd like him to be able to tease Hana about her diet.
