6. Stage 1 - 1
Before the bell had finished ringing, Ako was out of her chair and running off towards the dorms. She couldn't help but think that it was usually Hasegawa who left for home in a hurry. Hasegawa, who was... Ako shook her head and barely avoided crashing into an upperclassman. But she couldn't stop herself from remembering that morning.
Hasegawa, Chisame, had been absent. It wasn't like her, who, despite being asocial, did not tend to miss classes like Evangeline did. But it was the first day and nobody had seen her since the festival, not really surprising, so Takahata-sensei had asked Ako to go check on her. She was the Nurse's Assistant after all. She had knocked on her door but nobody had answered. Just when Ako had been ready to give up and report that Hasegawa was probably playing hooky, she'd laid her hand on the doorknob and... it had been unlocked. And Ako had entered.
She'd never been inside Hasegawa's room. She doubted anybody but the girl herself had.
The smell had hit her first. Burnt plastic and metal. She'd thought of an overloaded socket and she'd been right, in a way. But it was so much worse than that. Hasegawa had a computer, big, probably expensive and powerful. It was gutted. The two monitors were cracked, the box with all the electronics had fallen over, half melted and broken. Not even the keyboards were intact. There were smoke marks all over the ceiling, burns marred the floor and walls.
Chisame had been strewn across the floor, next to an overturned chair.
And Ako had frozen. All she had managed, nearly hyperventilating, was to look. And that was when she noticed the blood. Just a trickle, long dried under Chisame's nose. Ako hated blood. She wanted to be a nurse when she grew up, but she was terrified of the sight and scent of blood. She'd nearly fainted. Her classmate's slumped form, the faint smell of smoke and the blood... it brought back too many bad memories, too many fears. But it had also been what had snapped her out of it. The thought 'did I look like Chisame does now?' had reminded her that Hasegawa was injured, that she was the one who needed help and that Ako was the one who was ok. It was up to her.
She'd fallen into training with trembling hands. Checking the airways, breathing, pulse. They had been fine, but what did Ako know? She had barely been able to focus on hearing Chisame breathe while knowing there was blood just inches away. Ever so carefully, she'd tried to rouse her and, for a moment, she'd thought she had done it, that everything would be fine. Chisame's eyes had opened… but they'd been glazed and looking far away. She'd mumbled gibberish, english had thought Ako, fast and slurring. And then unconsciousness had taken her again.
Ako hadn't called the emergency services. Her shaking fingers had dialed the Class Rep's number all by themselves. Yukihiro Ayaka would know what to do. Everything after that frantic conversation was more or less a blur. They'd come, taken Chisame away, and after some questions Ako had been returned to class. The lessons passed so quickly that they barely registered, she responded only half-heartedly to her classmates' questions and worried gossip.. What she remembered clearly was going to see Hasegawa during lunch hours, the Class Rep and Makie with her.
Would she still be the same way, sleeping, too still?
She slowed down to a stop in front of the dorm's entrance. The run caught up to her, making her double over and pant. Ako thought she was in better shape from her admittedly meager soccer practice, but running full out all the way from school was still too much. She started catching her breath as she walked towards the infirmary. It wouldn't do to disturb Hasegawa after all. She opened the door carefully and quietly entered the division. Checking the desk before anything else, she found a note from Shizuna-sensei saying that she was going to be absent for a little bit. Ako nodded; that happened sometimes, since Shizuna-sensei also ran errands for the Headmaster.
She laid down her backpack and moved around the curtain of the only occupied bed. Hasegawa was still laying there. Ako's mind wandered back to her awful morning. She didn't even notice that Chisame's eyes were open or the way she turned her head to look at her. "Are you going to get better, Chisame-san?"
"Hm, Izumi." Greeted Hasegawa Chisame from the bed, raising one hand in greeting. "Actually I was…"
Ako fainted.
"Izumi!?" Chisame cried out, bolting up and barely managing to catch the blue-haired girl by the shoulders before she fell. Just when Chisame had been about to fall asleep from counting ceiling tiles, the girl had entered and then… 'Oy!? What the heck was with that reaction!?'
Well damn, now what did she do?
[Quest System]
Quests are the lifeblood of the game. They give Chisame objectives, tasks and make her move out of her comfortable life and into the action! They also use the carrot and the stick, with rewards and failure penalties to encourage her to do her very best on them. Quests can be just about anything. From self-improvement like getting new skills or items, to social activities like playing errand girl and attend events, and more adventurous things like investigating the suspicious person or defeating enemies.
Quests appear at given times. It's up to you to decide which quest or quests appear to Chisame, or even if they appear at all.Designing a Quest is all about wording the body and objectives of it. The Game will take care of assigning proper rewards to it. The best quests can be integrated into Questlines with better rewards and life-changing event! So do your best and aim for interesting quests!
Of course, Chisame still has the option to refuse any non-essential quests and having too many incomplete quests is really bothersome... so don't make her lose Trust Value by going overboard with things~
Quest? Select and design one quest for Chisame to do! One Hint allowed for Quest!
[x] Take care of Ako (+1XP, +Ako's trust)
-[x] Hint? (status effects? the legendary wake-up kiss method? Analyze?)
[x] Go look for help (+1XP, +Teacher's trust)
-[x] Hint? (leave the infirmary, good or bad idea?)