The Perfectly Normal High School: A Slice of Life Quest! (Defunct)
- Thread starter LuciDreamer
- Start date
- Original
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh, don't think too much about it. It's part of a series of unmarked dice rolls that have been ticking up since... I don't remember when. It doesn't trigger anything till the total sum reaches, like, 2500 or something, and the sum only goes up by increments of around 25, so you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to worry about~
Is it the economic crash that keeps being mentioned?
Karnewarrior
Leastmost of the Hanged Man Arcana
Is it Big Sister's Rampancy?
Nanami's death flags?
Shinohara's thirst levels?
Nanami's death flags?
Shinohara's thirst levels?
Halowed02
Person who really needs to read things better
- Location
- Gensokyo
Wonderful.
Uh, Whats the count at now?
My vote is for Shinohara. It's the least terrifying prospect.
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Karnewarrior
Leastmost of the Hanged Man Arcana
But if her THIRST-O-METER reaches 2500, it will transition into THE THIRST TO CONSUME WORLDS and then terrible things will happen! Woe betide us if we allow her THIRST-O-METER to reach over 9000 THIRSTYS, and she ascends to Super Thirsty Mark III - at that powerlevel we'd have to call in that one alien with the purple and white color scheming... Cold Shower.
Halowed02
Person who really needs to read things better
- Location
- Gensokyo
HAHAHAHAHAHA DON'T YOU SEE?
THIS IS OUR REVENGE TOWARDS THOUSE FRIENDSHIP FANATICS.
WE SHALL MAKE IT SO THAT LOVE IS THE ONLY OPTION!!!!!!
MWUHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Wasn't that Sitxar?
Well, I think it started at the end of Week 2, though I can't be sure about the very first roll since it was on a 100-faced die instead of a 50-faced one.
Also, a while ago it said that it was counting up to 1000.
For some time now, a '-' was [ERROR]'s designator, seeing how she doesn't exist, but the target goal appears to be set too high to have something to do with her. If I had to guess, it is probably something related to our Big Sister (like her outing by SC, or the D-Day countdown), or otherwise some major plot event. It's too far into the future to worry about, however.
A pity, because an ever-decreasing hidden SAN stat for our classmates would have been a pretty cool mechanics.
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Halowed02
Person who really needs to read things better
- Location
- Gensokyo
That's comforting
It means y'all did something to stall the counter.
Good job.
Halowed02
Person who really needs to read things better
- Location
- Gensokyo
This Quest just invokes meganumerophobia in all of us.
I'd honestly trust a countdown only Slightly less.
But of course, this Is a Perfectly Normal High School. Nothing ever goes wrong here.
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Looks to me like we did really well at work, and because of that we rolled for something random and good to happen. Then we rolled really badly on that.
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Halowed02
Person who really needs to read things better
- Location
- Gensokyo
One of these days I'll stop going back and bringing forth information that you all probably know.
Nothing has happened yet, which is good but still, let's keep an eye on Yumika. After all, one of the easiest ways to fail the friend quest is if one just, disappears.
The Nightmare Girl (Shinohara Friend Event)
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A/N: This is not an omake - let's call it an Event, for clarification's sake. I keep track of a few "event flags," or conditions that trigger specific bits of narrative, every so often, and this one just so happened to trigger because Silas got a Friend last turn. I couldn't find a place to fit it organically into the update, so instead of forcing it I'm adding it in as a separate post. Update should be arriving tomorrow evening!
Sorry for the delay, again. Every single test imaginable happened in the last two weeks (and all the time previous was spent preparing for those tests), and all of a sudden I have a number of very intimidating-looking projects that I have thus far procrastinated on that I need to finish and/or start... Of course, I can't just blame outside factors. On a personal level, I think I've just been getting lazy... a scary thing, since it's the exact eventuality I've been trying to avoid.
Anyway! I hope the smallness of this mini-update doesn't disappoint anyone...
Sorry for the delay, again. Every single test imaginable happened in the last two weeks (and all the time previous was spent preparing for those tests), and all of a sudden I have a number of very intimidating-looking projects that I have thus far procrastinated on that I need to finish and/or start... Of course, I can't just blame outside factors. On a personal level, I think I've just been getting lazy... a scary thing, since it's the exact eventuality I've been trying to avoid.
Anyway! I hope the smallness of this mini-update doesn't disappoint anyone...
"Hey, Sai-kun." Shinohara turned to face him, and she smiled.
"Shinohara-san," Silas bowed awkwardly. "You're... you're using Yumika's nickname, h-huh?"
"Yeah! It's catchy, and it's easier than pronouncing 'Sairasu,'" Shinohara yawned. "Are you going to sit? Or are you going to stay there forever wondering if I'm going to invite you?" She tinged her jeer with a light chuckle.
"I-I'll sit. Of course." Silas said. Of course, of course, it was a rude preposition to assume that she wouldn't have minded if -
"You… still aren't sitting."
"Right! Sorry!" Silas immediately plopped himself down. He hadn't realized it, but the weight of his breadbasket had been hurting for a while now. Loosening the tension felt good. Silas looked out into the courtyard. It wasn't quite winter, so there was still plenty of leaves left to gawk at.
"... I've been meaning to ask, Sai-kun. What brought you to Drama, anyway?" She stretched her arms behind her back comfortably. "Are you a creative type?"
"Not… particularly…?" Silas said. "I-I mean… to be honest… I don't know. I guess it was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions that I picked at random."
"Hmm…" Shinohara tapped her chin. "Forgive me… but I don't believe that, Sai-kun."
"R-Really?" Silas looked down. "I guess… it might have been Yumika-san, then."
Shinohara beckoned him to continue. Silas obliged: "...well… she seems to be such a bundle of energy and happiness, you know? I like being around friendly people. I think. Yumika-san has this thing where being around her makes you feel better about yourself." Silas's cheeks felt a little warm.
"Yumika does that to people," Shinohara glanced fondly in her direction - presently, she was busy teasing Mikado about something. Poor boy was beet red.
"Yeah..." Silas nodded. "She... s-she can be a bit scary, though, too," he added honestly, "Like, when she's in a bad mood."
"Bad mood?"
"I-It's nothing," Silas waved her away quickly. "Err, actually, no, it wasn't nothing. D-Do you remember that time you were outside the club room and… you were feeding on our happiness back then, weren't you?" Silas suddenly realized.
Shinohara tensed up. "Could you be a little more subtle, please?!"
Silas gulped. "S-Sorry…" He looked around to make sure that they hadn't been listened upon. Thankfully, everyone else seemed busy doing their own thing. So they were safe.
Shinohara sighed. "Yes, I was. And you two are delicious…" a bit of a grin was creeping onto her face. When she realized this, she quickly looked away. "Err… besides the point… Continue?"
"Oh, right. Well, Yumika was sad because everyone was feeling i-ill, and she released some of her anger on me," Silas said quietly.
"Ahh…" Shinohara seemed to understand the words behind the words. "Sorry I… was there… for that…"
"N-No, it's fine, really!" Silas insisted. Shinohara just chuckled softly in response.
"My best guess is she probably saw that all her friends were badly off and started internally beating herself up over the fact that she couldn't figure out what was wrong with them. She was consumed by it..." the tips of Shinohara's mouth twitched upwards. "... I would know. I've fed off of that, before."
"Really?"
Shinohara just tilted her head a tiny bit and gave him a crooked, thin, guilty grin. "Yumika-san has a lot of demons inside of her." Conscientiously, she changed the subject, glancing at the increasingly agitated - looking Mikado, burning crimson underneath whatever Yumika seemed to be teasing him about. Kuroda, Rakuyma and Reizei seemed to be jumping in. "...our friends really are interesting, aren't they?"
"Y-Yes. Absolutely," Silas nodded along. 'Our' friends? He thought. Is that even right? I mean, I'm only really friends with Shinohara-san, right? And… maybe… no… How could it be called 'Our friends' if I don't even know everyone that well? He absentmindedly shifted his feet.
For some reason, Shinohara started to frown. "... did you know that, whenever you're self-deprecating yourself, your eyes start staring hard at the floor and your eyelids droop a little?"
Silas blinked. "That's a thing?"
"No. I guessed." Shinohara crossed her arms. "But I didn't need to nibble at you to help me with that guess."
"I… sor - "
"Silas-kun, you don't think you fit in with everyone here, yet?"
"I… no… I mean - !"
"Not even with Yumika-san?"
"Well, for her, it's…" Silas hesitated. She feels sorry for me, he wanted to say. She feels sorry for me, and that's why she cares so much. But it shouldn't be that way...
"Sai-kun..." Shinohara sighed, rubbing her forehead. "...you think I'm your friend, right?"
"O-Of course! I would never - "
"Silas." Shinohara held a finger to his lips. "...if I'm your friend, then you have to trust me to tell you that, whatever emotion it is that's keeping you from them, it's bad. I can feel it. I know. It's eating at you, almost worse than the thing that eats at Yumika." she whispered.
Silas shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't want to face Shinohara in the eyes. His cheeks burned with shame. His troubles shouldn't become Shinohara's troubles, too, he didn't want Shinohara to have to worry about him also just because he had a stupid confidence problem...
"Just… please… promise me you'll think about it. Okay?"
He hesitated. After a moment, he nodded.
"...okay."
"That's… all I wanted to say. I hope I haven't stepped on any toes…"
"N-No! I swear, you haven't - "
"Another thing you do all the time, Sai-kun…" Shinohara chuckled softly. "You never want admit when someone else does something ill towards you."
Silas just shrugged, then stared out into the courtyard glumly.
He didn't realize Shinohara was holding him by the shoulder until he felt her breath against his face. "Hey."
"...yeah?"
"If an emotionally unstable, fear-eating eldritch abomination that crawled out of your worst nightmares can do survive in this school, I think you'll be fine." Shinohara told him softly.
For some reason, that made Silas chuckle.
Coming from social maladjustment was... it was a weird thing they shared. Silas had it because his guiding source for social interactions was bad anime romcoms and clerical conversational practices Big Sister. Shinohara had it because the simple process of talking to another person was liable to cause psychological damage to them if she screwed up somewhere. Yet despite the ridiculousness of their separate circumstances, they both knew exactly what the other felt.
It was no wonder, then, that they were friends.
"Thanks, Hana-chan. I appreciate it." Silas said earnestly. He surprised himself - no stutter. Huh.
"Hey, you used my first name."
"I... I did?!" He did. He did. How could he make such a dumb faux pas?! "Right, r-right, I'm so sorry - "
Shinohara quickly used her free hand to slap Silas very lightly across the face. The sound was small enough so that no one else heard it, but it still put Silas in a temporary dooze.
For some reason, a nearby police drone hovering surreptitiously near the windowsill beeped angrily, but, after a moment's pause quickly retreated back to its patrol.
Silas blinked. Shinohara, looking unamused, sighed, "Are you done freaking out?"
"Y-Yes. Sorry." Silas responded. "I'm really bad at breaching s-social barriers, huh...?"
"It gets better. I know from experience."
"Yeah..." Silas clutched her hand that was holding his shoulder. She had cold, thin fingers. "I hope so. Hana-chan."
Shinohara decided not to say anything more, and removed her hand. For some reason, though, she lingered on his shoulder for a few seconds before finally releasing her grip. "It will," she insisted. "You have better odds than me. Don't you realize that?"
Silas just looked at her again and forced an unconfident, uncomfortable smile.
Silas has discovered his own traits "Self-Deprecating" and "Low Self-Esteem"! See New Developments in the next update.
Shinohara and Silas are now Friends!
After becoming friends, REL becomes a bit harder to accumulate. Simply talking at school or existing at certain clubs isn't enough to build friendships. The actions [SOCIAL] Make Plans to go Out and [SOCIAL] Invite Someone Home have been unlocked, and will be necessary to advance beyond a REL of 20. Normal TALK actions will help Silas learn more about the person in question, but will no longer improve REL beyond 20, barring special circumstances or the whims of God.
The higher a character's REL is, the more relevant they become to Silas's story arc. Friends shape each other's personalities, so the more Silas becomes friends with certain people, the more they will start to affect him. Furthermore, people who become more than Close Friends will fall under "Main Character" status, giving you, the playerbase, a sliver of control over their actions, and more insight as to their personal thoughts. Do keep those things in mind for the future~
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Spectrum
Tell me a secret~
- Location
- Behind you~
- Location
- St. Petersburg
At this point I am just basking in the schadenfreude.
To the scene with you. Lead role, sink or swim. Nothing less would suffice.
Silas doesn't even lift. Awww. Then again, after meeting the initial goal of 'not getting laughed out of Sports Class' we didn't have the incentive to excersize ever since. I wonder if there would be consequences besides getting tired from carrying lunch. Nanami won't always be there to tackle Airi-san, and running out of breath after a few dozen meters puts us in a very vulnerable position, basically necessitating Big Sister's intervention and putting her on the line whenever anything at all goes wrong.
"It was between this, or the Kendo Club."
*beat*
"I-I mean, Yumika-san! It was definitely thanks to Yumika-san!"
...Can Hana introduce us to them?
I am getting increasingly curious about Yumika and whatever hides behind that cheerful smile of hers. I feel like her friendly attitude might be a smokescreen to keep people out of what is happening deep inside. She is just too good at acting for me to not suspect some dark secret or other!
I am more surprised at the suffix. Yumika is still -san most of the time... I think.
Good, good. I hope we can pull Yumika and Hana in our inner circle of friends. I can roughly see how each of us could influence each other, and think that only good things will come of it.
Where is our relationship-meter at with Shinohara, by the way? Did our bonus put us directly at 20 REL, or did it shoot past that? I seem to recall we were close to 20 anyway, and other options already offered +5 REL...
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
Well, she did intimidate and/or beat Ichiro into submission, apparently. One extreme possibility is that she is a... polygamic platonic yandere, willing to outright murder people if they hurt her friends.I am getting increasingly curious about Yumika and whatever hides behind that cheerful smile of hers. I feel like her friendly attitude might be a smokescreen to keep people out of what is happening deep inside. She is just too good at acting for me to not suspect some dark secret or other!
- Location
- St. Petersburg
No need to create new terms for what was always known as 'mama bear'.
I am wondering where this ferocious protectiveness coupled with incessant cheerfulness originates from. Some kind of loss? Abandonment issues? What is on the other side of the coin that we don't see?
Come to think of it, did we ask Yumika why she founded the Drama Club?
I am wondering where this ferocious protectiveness coupled with incessant cheerfulness originates from. Some kind of loss? Abandonment issues? What is on the other side of the coin that we don't see?
Why'd she blame herself in that situation? What's that thing eating at her?
Come to think of it, did we ask Yumika why she founded the Drama Club?
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Awesome update!
This looks like a very good length to me. I would be quite okay with all the updates being about this size, especially if it meant a slightly faster update rate.
Why do I get the feeling that this is somehow literal? We haven't found out what's different about Yumika after all...
I fully approve of this term.
Halowed02
Person who really needs to read things better
- Location
- Gensokyo
That both explains and confuses Yukima's reduced club attendance bonus (but she's the captain so maybe its that?) Whatever the case, we now have access to normal friend things, so lets watch Silas flail around helplessly
. And as a sidenote, are these options only targetable at Freinds and above?While this is still technically possible that isn't what it reads at all. Whoops. Ah well, a demi-controlable Hara is helpful if we have a mood/week modifier we dislike.
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- Location
- The state of Paranoia
*Raises hand*
Although, I think he might already be some kind of SCP. He does have a hivemind of eldritch abominations living in his head after all.
Karnewarrior
Leastmost of the Hanged Man Arcana
I don't know about making Silas more of an SCP than he already is (With us running him, he has at least very limited meta-knowledge which is definitely enough to be numbered), but I'm definitely in favor of aThat both explains and confuses Yukima's reduced club attendance bonus (but she's the captain so maybe its that?) Whatever the case, we now have access to normal friend things, so lets watch Silas flail around helplessly
All in favor of turning Silas into a Yokai/Living god/SCP?
While this is still technically possible that isn't what it reads at all. Whoops. Ah well, a demi-controlable Hara is helpful if we have a mood/week modifier we dislike.
Like, I don't even care about SCPeople conspiracy theory stuff, I just want more fluff with Yumika, Nanami, and Hana-chan~. Fluff is love. Fluff is life.
More than that though, @LuciDreamer , how does crushing and romance work in this? Obviously there was some sort of trigger in that last choice with Hana, but is there a trigger that fires if two people simply have a high enough relationship? Will we start getting options at high relationship values? How high do relationship values get, anyway? I assumed Big Sister was maxxed out, but now that I think about it there wasn't any reason to.
- Location
- US
I love this so much. Hana is exactly the kind of friend Silas needs. Someone who knows what it's like to be the loner, and who can pick up on Silas' insecurities and encourage him to address them.
I've honestly been worried about Yumika for a while now. She's always struck me as being a little too perfect, and in this quest, an apparent absense of weirdness is itself very suspicious. I get the feeling that whatever she's hiding, it's very nasty.
I am getting increasingly curious about Yumika and whatever hides behind that cheerful smile of hers. I feel like her friendly attitude might be a smokescreen to keep people out of what is happening deep inside. She is just too good at acting for me to not suspect some dark secret or other!
I've honestly been worried about Yumika for a while now. She's always struck me as being a little too perfect, and in this quest, an apparent absense of weirdness is itself very suspicious. I get the feeling that whatever she's hiding, it's very nasty.
Weekend 4: Grey Eminence Tutelage
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It feels good to be back! Sorry for being months late, again. Now, let me just vent some frustrations real quick… ahem…
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK EXAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS!
Woo. Okay. Got that out of my system. Sorry.
Anyway, as a context-less side note and shameless non-sequitur, one triggerable event I have in mind has the condition "Crit-Fail any social interaction involving Club Members or Friends while Silas still has the trait '<Trait you don't know about yet>'" Make of that as you will~ *Evil laughter*
Also, given the stupidly long size of my updates, I'm going to switch up the formatting - nothing major, I'm just going to start putting all of the vote options at the top of the update, with the roles and their calculations there, instead of halfway down my horrible wall of text. Hopefully that will make the calculations easier to read! Also, I get to use more Spoiler formatting, and practice on my transition skills rather than just jumping from location to location. Hooray!
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK EXAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS!
Woo. Okay. Got that out of my system. Sorry.
Anyway, as a context-less side note and shameless non-sequitur, one triggerable event I have in mind has the condition "Crit-Fail any social interaction involving Club Members or Friends while Silas still has the trait '<Trait you don't know about yet>'" Make of that as you will~ *Evil laughter*
Also, given the stupidly long size of my updates, I'm going to switch up the formatting - nothing major, I'm just going to start putting all of the vote options at the top of the update, with the roles and their calculations there, instead of halfway down my horrible wall of text. Hopefully that will make the calculations easier to read! Also, I get to use more Spoiler formatting, and practice on my transition skills rather than just jumping from location to location. Hooray!
Winning Options:
Afterschool:
[] [AS] (Special) Otaku Stuff!
-[] Tale of Merika
[] [AS] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[] [AS] Work at DreamerLuci's Subforum (+¥????)
Club:
[] [CLUB] Work (Gain skills and work on hobbies, build REL with mentor)
[] [Agenda] Play Preparations: "No no, you have this all wrong," exclaims Vice President Reizei, straightening his blazer. "We need to work on the play now - we're strapped for time. Other activities can take a backseat to us at least laying the groundwork for this play."
[] [CW] Yumika. Yumika's expertise is in expression and enunciation, two things Silas… really, really needs to work on, even outside Drama. She could probably help in that area, right? Not to mention the fact that acting is an inevitable part of Drama. (Hobby: Speaking)
Bonus:
[] [Bonus] Friendship. After this exchange, Silas and Shinohara quickly realize that they have become close, something which would normally have taken weeks of effort on Silas's part. Whether or not this friendship could last, Silas could rest assured knowing that, at this moment, he had a real, true friend. (Shinohara and Silas become Friends)
Afterschool:
[] [AS] (Special) Otaku Stuff!
-[] Tale of Merika
[] [AS] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[] [AS] Work at DreamerLuci's Subforum (+¥????)
Success Threshold: 75 (Low-level job) - 20 (Newbie) - 10 (Active salt reactor) = 45
DICE ROLL: 30
Result: Success!
DICE ROLL: 30
Result: Success!
Club:
[] [CLUB] Work (Gain skills and work on hobbies, build REL with mentor)
Success Threshold: 60 (Base)
DICE ROLL: 13
Result: Great Success!
DICE ROLL: 13
Result: Great Success!
[] [Agenda] Play Preparations: "No no, you have this all wrong," exclaims Vice President Reizei, straightening his blazer. "We need to work on the play now - we're strapped for time. Other activities can take a backseat to us at least laying the groundwork for this play."
[] [CW] Yumika. Yumika's expertise is in expression and enunciation, two things Silas… really, really needs to work on, even outside Drama. She could probably help in that area, right? Not to mention the fact that acting is an inevitable part of Drama. (Hobby: Speaking)
Bonus:
[] [Bonus] Friendship. After this exchange, Silas and Shinohara quickly realize that they have become close, something which would normally have taken weeks of effort on Silas's part. Whether or not this friendship could last, Silas could rest assured knowing that, at this moment, he had a real, true friend. (Shinohara and Silas become Friends)
See New Developments.
Huh… was the MetroPol always this bad at being inconspicuous?
That was the primary thought going through Silas's mind as he noted that a few more of those clandestine Metropolitan Police vehicles were parked outside his school than usual - the more innocent-looking ones with the hidden emergency lights fit in subtly, but the large, ominous, and horribly-out-of-place white van with the sunglassed man in the driver's seat certainly didn't. The only thing that would have made the MetroPol more obvious would have been if they had decided to stick a giant satellite dish to roof of their vehicle.
"We're… not exactly the epitaph of intrigue, aren't we?"
"O-Oh, I uh… I didn't see you there! Hi, Furai-senpai!" Silas grinned awkwardly. "...nice day today…?"
"Oh, spare me the pleasantries. You and I both know this setup is obvious as shit," he shrugged. "Anyway, good day, Yamigawa-kun." Officer Furai tipped his hat politely.
"Ummm… Hai, Furai-senpai," Silas bowed, letting himself into the school. Whatever it was they were doing outside, Silas supposed, it didn't really concern him.
He felt the cool rush of air escaping the interior, and started to make his way towards Drama. Silas wondered, briefly, when the routine of Drama would start to get to him, if ever. As it was now, leaving home on the weekends still felt so… jointed.
Maybe a few more weeks, Silas thought, and this will start feeling regular...
~~~
Silas bumped into Kuroda just outside the Drama room. Kuroda always kind of creeped him out, and not in the sort-of-endearing-but-also-kind-of-rapey way Chihiro did, so Silas was a bit leery about having to deal with his antics again -
"Oh hey, Sai-kun. It's okay if I use Yumika-chan's moniker, right?" Kuroda asked. There was the tiniest hint of richness to the way he spoke, but the booming voice, the flamboyant rhetoric and over-emphasized enunciation was completely gone.
Silas blinked. "...who are you and what have you done to Kuroda?"
"Oh, uh…" Kuroda laughed. It was a deep, hearty laugh. "...the thing I do in Drama… I try to keep that inside Drama, you understand? You have never seen me outside the club room, haven't you?"
Silas shook his head.
"Eheh… sorry. Must have made an unseemly first impression." Kuroda smiled sympathetically. "I'm really dedicated to the act, you see! But, Dorima-himesama would probably flay me alive if I tried staying in-character indefinitely. It certainly gets on her nerves, this act of mine. Anyway; we're holding up everyone else."
Factbook Updated! New notes on Kuroda are available.
Kuroda placed his fingers on the sliding door, and took a deep breath. Melodramatically, he whipped his body around so that he faced away from Silas, the end of his blazer fluttering around in the process, almost like a cape. "Listen here, friend, and listen well! Beyond this door lies a realm of twisted mirrors and masters of artifice. The weak-willed have no place in this battleground. Have you the temperament to survive these trials, or will your resolve falter, like so many before you?"
Ah. Kuroda the Count of Rodoku was back. It was almost refreshing, Silas realized. Maybe he wasn't all that weird. "...i-it won't," he said.
"Then, we must... AWAY!" and he flung the door open.
"EEK!" Rakuyama screeched.
"Okay, who the fu - Harima-kun! Really?!"
Kuroda's hands were still gripping the door. "I have arrived!"
Yumika emerged from the club room, an incredulous smirk on her face. "...Harima-kun, I swear, if you keep doing that we might actually lose the door… ah… poor thing. I think we've subjected it to too many years of abuse."
"The Student Council is going to hate us if the thing actually breaks…" Mikado mumbled from somewhere behind her. "...and after that window shattered the glass in 4-1 the other week, too…"
Kuroda looked stricken. "Forgive me, Yumika-dono. I have acted dishonorably toward you." He hung his head as if he'd just been caught murdering a student. "Please - I beseech you - bind me in chains and lash me a hundred-fold so that I may live the rest of my life in shame!"
Silas felt his hand reaching for his mouth; he was agape. The room almost immediately fell silent. Did he just…? Was that even - ?!
"Woah there, Harima-kun, that's… uh... going in weird places I'd rather stay away from." Yumika chuckled awkwardly. She scratched the back of her scalp and suddenly seemed really interested in the ceiling.
And then, from the back of the room, Reizei burst out laughing.
"...I have made a rather disturbing faux pas…" he muttered under his breath, as the jeers of his clubmates reared their ugly head.
"Okay! Okay! That didn't just happen!" Yumika said quickly, covering up her own mouth to hide her own giggles. "U-Uh… hah… um… Kuroda-kun! Sai-kun! Welcome to Drama! Come, come inside, and… hah… Renji-kuun, stop laughing so hard, I'm trying to maintain composure!"'
"I'm sorry!" he blared. "I can't… haha… I can't…"
"Stop laughing!" Kuroda roared. Unfortunately, that only seemed to fan at the flames.
"Kuroda-kun can be e-embarassed?" Silas said quietly. "I h-had no idea…"
The boy spun around. "You shut your - err - be quiet!"
Spinning around once more, Kuroda walked past Yumika at the door. "I'm… I'm gonna go sulk in that corner for a moment. Or perhaps till the rest of time. Whatever ends first," he growled. As he passed, Yumika pat him on the back - still laughing - sort of as an affirmation that it was all a funny joke.
Grinning, Kuroda waved her off. And then he went and sulked.
"Anyway… hah… Sai-kun! Welcome, welcome!" she ushered him in. "Shinohara-san was waiting for you. She said she wanted to talk to you or something?" Yumika shrugged.
"A-Ah! Thanks! I'll go… do that."
"Yep!" She beamed. "Reizei'll probably be up in a few minutes to give us a club meeting speech. Till then - I have to go tease Harima-kun some more!" She giggled mischievously, and started slinking into Kuroda's corner.
They all get along so... naturally, Silas thought to himself, as he slipped in and took his own seat. I wonder how long it took to get to this point...
~~~
After a brief transitory period that involved basically everyone in the room taking turns making fun of Kuroda (who had gotten redder and redder as the day went on), Reizei decided it was finally time to actually get work done. Authoritatively, he clapped to get everyone's attention. "Okay! I think we've all had our fair share of teasing Kuroda. No need to go down that road again. We should probably get started on the actual play, does that sound like a good idea to any of you? Don't answer that, Riku-nee."
Rakuyama sheepishly put her finger down.
"So… I guess we can start off with this. Who wants to be the writer?" Reizei peered at everyone briefly. "Yoshi-kun, you were our writer last year. Do you still want to go?"
"Hmm…" Mikado tapped his chin. "I mean… if someone else wants to write, I wouldn't really object…"
Shinohara coughed awkwardly. "If I could write, that would be…"
"I'll object if it's Hana-san, though," Mikado said quickly. "I mean, I know whatever you'll write will be amazing, it's just… I kind of don't want to act out another horrible murder scene again…?"
"I could probably write something!" Rakuyama exclaimed. "...I'd need help, but, like, I could do it!"
"Is it still you writing the words if you are being shadowed by Renji-dono?" Kuroda mused. "After all, I imagine this will end up like the time previous - when Renji-dono did all the work, but credited you anyway." He scratched his chin, smirking.
"H-Hey, I never said that I'd make Renji-kun do the writing for me!" Rakuyama retorted.
Yumika snickered. "I dunno, Riku-nee, it was a little implied… I mean, we all remember your script from last year, amirite?"
"Rumors! Nothing but rumors!" Rakuyama insisted, face going red. "I can write my own thing! Really!"
"I can vouch for Riku-nee - I never wrote anything for her!" Reizei declared.
"You've got that wrong!" Kuroda was standing tall, staring Reizei down and pointing an accusatory finger in his direction. "Now, forgive me for questioning the integrity of one of my dearest friends, but that statement was clearly given from a perspective of personal bias," Kuroda smirked. "Or do you believe us all to be gullible fools?"
"You…" the short boy bared his teeth. He looked ready to bite.
"Hey, how about you, Sai-kun?" Yumika blurted suddenly.
The club room seemed to freeze in time for a millisecond. Silas's cheeks went red. "E-Err… I'm not… you know…" he rapidly looked between everyone's faces, wondering how his name possibly got put in the spotlight.
"Ahah! The lynchpin we need to resolve this debacle!" Kuroda declared. "If Sai-kun becomes writer, we are all equally dissatisfied with the arrangement! The fairest choice is him!"
For some reason, hearing him say that hurt. Silas tried to sink down deeper into his chair, avoiding everyone's stares.
"I mean… like... " Rakuyama looked at him, eyebrow raised. "... can we trust him to make anything… good?"
Reizei frowned. "...we can't just hand off writing to someone we don't even know…"
"I'll gladly vote for any of you… so long as you aren't Yoshi-kun." Shinohara spoke up, casting a very discreet glare in the boy's direction. He responded by sticking out his tongue.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Yumika held out her hands to quell her clubmates. "...obviously, we need to let this simmer for a bit… lets not tear each other apart, yeah? We'll leave it for tomorrow afternoon."
"Thanks, Yumika-san," Reizei sighed as the room quieted down. "For now, though… I guess we can do the most interesting part. Everyone, write down a theme. Since Yumika is Kaichou, she will - "
"Not it." Yumika said.
Reizei blinked. "Okay… uh… Riku-nee, how 'bout - "
"Not it." Rakuyama echoed Yumika's words.
Reizei sighed. He closed his eyes. He seemed to be counting in his head. One… two… three… four…
Silas nudged Shinohara a bit. "Why is he t-taking this so seriously?"
Shinohara smirked. "Whoever gets chosen to choose the theme will be harassed by everyone in the clubroom for them to choose their theme. Also, they won't be able to write themes themselves," she said, voice low.
The room had suddenly gotten very, very tense, Silas realized.
"...oh."
"Hee." Shinohara giggled softly.
Reizei's eyes opened suddenly. "MIIIKADO!"
"N-Not i - "
"Nope! You're choosing the theme. Get over it, I'm not changing my decision, I've had enough to deal with today."
At once, almost everyone in the room made sighs of relief. Mikado looked disappointed. "Whatever you say, Renji-kun. I'll..." he sighed. "...I'll do my best."
"Now, everyone!" Reizei raised his voice. "I'm giving you all a flashcard. Write down a theme on top, and two sentences describing it. Or, you know. More than that. Just get something down; Mikado will choose which one he likes best."
"Hai!"
There was a strange, intense look of determination on everyone's faces as they scribbled. It seemed like the choice for theme mattered a lot for everyone… but Silas didn't quite know why. It was just an idea for the play, right?
…
...right?
Silas needs to write down a theme. Particularly impressive themes might make Mikado more inclined to choose them. Schmoozing to Mikado with gifts or something next turn might also help...
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako) Space Opera. In the not-so-distant future, human civilization has advanced technologically to the point where space travel becomes a graspable reality. International politics become a mess as everyone grasps for a slice of the space pie. For space is filled with mysterious wonders, mysterious riches… and equally mysterious waifus. (Silas does not know who will like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako) Idol Magical Girl Reconstruction. Going against the recent trend of deconstructing popular anime tropes, while at the same time recognizing the faults that the deconstructions parodied and coming to terms with them. A magical girl who is also high-school student who is also an idol for a pop group team rises to fight off some sort of world-eating eldritch monstrosity using magic powers based off of various musical instruments, juggling both her responsibilities as a magical girl and her responsibilities to her friends and her social life. It'll be nice and fluffy! (Silas does not know who will like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako) Fantastical Meta-Comedy. An ensemble cast of blatant anime tropes blunder their way through an extensively-developed fantasy world, their incompetence causing them to run into horrible situations which they escape by the skin of their teeth on a regular basis. Some of the more Otaku jokes might go over peoples' heads, but people like slapstick, right? (Silas does not know who will like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Trait: Sensitive) Romantic Dramedy. The Romantic Dramedy is a genre that will simply never, never die, no matter how many times it is rehashed to fit the current cultural trends. Dramedies are great for telling heartfelt emotional stories; furthermore, they are easily adaptable to the stage, thanks to there being no need for fancy tech or equipment. Most of the time. The Dramedy is not universally liked, but, if Silas were to hazard a guess, he would assume that most of his club mates would be at least receptive to the idea. (Yumika will… probably like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako + Trait: Sensitive) High School Romantic Dramedy. Same as above, but in a high school! This combination will almost universally appeal to Silas's fellow classmates, because teenage heartache, crushes, friend-zoning, and relationships are something almost everyone has had a brush with. Then again, high school romance is the kind of ubiquitous topic that has been used again and again in popular media… could they really make something interesting enough to stand out? (Silas thinks everyone would like the idea, though whether or not they find it impressive is a different story.)
[] [Theme] (Hobby: ToM) Video Game Isekai. Isekai is a growing trend in Mihoku Popular Culture, for some odd reason. Soooo… why not combine the two things Silas loves, video games and anime?! (Silas does not know who will like this idea)
[] [Theme] Write-in: ???? (Insert a write-in here. Write-ins that are sufficiently in-character for Silas will be weighted normally, but write-ins that are out-of-character for Silas to write will have their vote halved.)
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako) Idol Magical Girl Reconstruction. Going against the recent trend of deconstructing popular anime tropes, while at the same time recognizing the faults that the deconstructions parodied and coming to terms with them. A magical girl who is also high-school student who is also an idol for a pop group team rises to fight off some sort of world-eating eldritch monstrosity using magic powers based off of various musical instruments, juggling both her responsibilities as a magical girl and her responsibilities to her friends and her social life. It'll be nice and fluffy! (Silas does not know who will like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako) Fantastical Meta-Comedy. An ensemble cast of blatant anime tropes blunder their way through an extensively-developed fantasy world, their incompetence causing them to run into horrible situations which they escape by the skin of their teeth on a regular basis. Some of the more Otaku jokes might go over peoples' heads, but people like slapstick, right? (Silas does not know who will like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Trait: Sensitive) Romantic Dramedy. The Romantic Dramedy is a genre that will simply never, never die, no matter how many times it is rehashed to fit the current cultural trends. Dramedies are great for telling heartfelt emotional stories; furthermore, they are easily adaptable to the stage, thanks to there being no need for fancy tech or equipment. Most of the time. The Dramedy is not universally liked, but, if Silas were to hazard a guess, he would assume that most of his club mates would be at least receptive to the idea. (Yumika will… probably like this idea.)
[] [Theme] (Personality: Otako + Trait: Sensitive) High School Romantic Dramedy. Same as above, but in a high school! This combination will almost universally appeal to Silas's fellow classmates, because teenage heartache, crushes, friend-zoning, and relationships are something almost everyone has had a brush with. Then again, high school romance is the kind of ubiquitous topic that has been used again and again in popular media… could they really make something interesting enough to stand out? (Silas thinks everyone would like the idea, though whether or not they find it impressive is a different story.)
[] [Theme] (Hobby: ToM) Video Game Isekai. Isekai is a growing trend in Mihoku Popular Culture, for some odd reason. Soooo… why not combine the two things Silas loves, video games and anime?! (Silas does not know who will like this idea)
[] [Theme] Write-in: ???? (Insert a write-in here. Write-ins that are sufficiently in-character for Silas will be weighted normally, but write-ins that are out-of-character for Silas to write will have their vote halved.)
Oh, and will Silas nominate himself for the position of Writer?
[] [CW1] "No."
[] [CW1] "I mean… I guess...?"
Who does Silas support for Writer?
[] [CW2] Shinohara
[] [CW2] Mikado
[] [CW2] Rakuyama
The Kaichou has initiated a vote to declare an individual for a writer. Votes for this will take place during the next club meeting.
Current Candidates: Shinohara, Mikado, Riku, Silas?
Electors:
Yumika
Preferred Vote: Not Voting
Shinohara Hana
Preferred Vote: Herself or Silas.
Will Not Vote For Mikado
Mikado Yoshi
Preferred Vote: Himself or Rakuyama
Will Not Vote For Shinohara
Rakuyama Riku
Preferred Vote: Herself
Reizei Renji
Preferred Vote: Rakuyama
Kuroda Harima
Preferred Vote: Silas
Silas Yamigawa
Preferred Vote: ???
Will Not Vote For Himself, even if self-nominated
If there is a stalemate, Yumika will vote for someone by closing her eyes and flipping a coin, then ignoring the result of that coin and just choosing whoever she pleases.
Current Candidates: Shinohara, Mikado, Riku, Silas?
Electors:
Yumika
Preferred Vote: Not Voting
Shinohara Hana
Preferred Vote: Herself or Silas.
Will Not Vote For Mikado
Mikado Yoshi
Preferred Vote: Himself or Rakuyama
Will Not Vote For Shinohara
Rakuyama Riku
Preferred Vote: Herself
Reizei Renji
Preferred Vote: Rakuyama
Kuroda Harima
Preferred Vote: Silas
Silas Yamigawa
Preferred Vote: ???
Will Not Vote For Himself, even if self-nominated
If there is a stalemate, Yumika will vote for someone by closing her eyes and flipping a coin, then ignoring the result of that coin and just choosing whoever she pleases.
~~~
Kuroda is making a fuss about "declaring war," for some reason.
[] [War] "Wait… what?" Rakuyama asks, looking very, very, confused. "Err… Harima-kun, are you alright? I think you should go home… Err… actually! No, that would be, like, mean, or something… Let's just… ignore him for now?" (Nothing happens)
[] [War] Reizei huffs and looks like he's ready to punch somebody. "Harima-kun, could you just… stop? Please. For the love of the Empress. Stop. How about we ban you from making suggestions to the Officers, anyone else up for that?" (Kuroda is barred from initiating Club Votes)
[] [War] "Oh, you mean recruiting people?" Yumika ponders, absentmindedly twirling a butterfly knife prop in her fingers. "I guess we could do that… but… you know… hmm. I could go to the Computer Club and call in a few favors. If that's what you mean. It would stop me from tutoring Sai-kun, though, and since we don't even have most of the groundwork stuff done yet, it would be pretty premature…" (Drama "declares war" on Computer Club! Yumika will be tied up in "diplomatic proceedings" next week.)
[] [War] "I know a couple people in the Student Council. I could ask them to help out…" Mikado glances out the window, twiddling his thumbs not-suspiciously. "A-Also, I've been wanting to talk to Kirino-chan recently… E-Err… you know. It would help. Having an excuse." (Drama declares a "proxy war" on the Student Council, with Mikado as their belligerent.)
[] [War] "War! WAAAR! War is the only honorable discourse!" Mikado booms, causing most of his friends to cringe slightly. "We must annex the Computer Club! We must annex Drama Club! The Student Council! We have claims, friends, and we must USE them! We must War; for the sake of the Duchy! Hurrah!" (Drama "declares war" on the Computer Club, Student Council, Debate Club, Class 4-1, the Kendo Team, and the School Administration. Overstretching means they probably won't actually get anything done. Yumika gets a headache and Reizei punches somebody.)
~~~
"Well… that could have been handled better!" Yumika giggled. "Sorry, Sai-kun. Renji-kun's in a bad mood. His… uh… his sister came over to see him the other day."
Silas blinked.
Yumika quickly read into his piqued interest. "Oh - it's nothing! Don't worry about it! She was just doting on her brother. Nanako-chan being Nanako-chan," Yumika shrugged. "See… she's been scared for Renji-kun since last week, when he passed out at school…"
Factbook updated! New notes on Reizei are available.
"Ahh…" Silas nodded. He glanced over at Reizei, who currently seemed to be tutoring Rakuyama over a keyboard, sharing his earbuds with her as they swung to some rhythm. He seemed so… calm, being around her. It was interesting watching how the two naturally gravitated towards each other, even though he was sure they weren't a couple...
It was weird how no one mentioned people passing out earlier this week, Silas suddenly realized. Did his clubmates really recover from that shock so quickly?
Yumika tapped him on the shoulder. "A-Anyway! No need worrying about that, anymore. Everything's fine now! Everyone's fine. And it'll stay like that!" Yumika beamed at him.
Like last time, she left a few words unsaid.
Yumika is such a cool person, Silas thought to himself, letting a tiny grin creep onto his face before quickly wiping it away.
"Oh, and thanks for giving our bread back to us, Silas! I actually kind of forgot that we had these in the first place. Here; let me unwrap the basket for everyone." Sheepishly, Silas handed her the package of confectioneries he'd been holding with him. Truth be told, he had wanted to give this to them last time, but for some strange reason it completely slipped his mind.
"It's no problem, really!" Silas insisted as Yumika started untying the tip. "I-I mean it was… uhm… the bag was the Club's to begin with, right? It wouldn't feel right just eating it myself. Besides, it's too much."
"Whatever you say," Yumika finished unraveling and the contents were finally exposed to fresh air. Yumika sniffed. "Mmmm... still smells good! What is this - " she grabbed at the label on the side of the package. "'Cupcake Sensei?' Ah… I see. This must be sweet bread."
She pushed the basket back in Silas's direction. "Sai-kun gets first picks!"
"N-No, it's a gift, you should - "
"Sai-kun. Gets. First. Picks!" Yumika repeated, accentuating each word with a faux-menacing glare. "Or else. Huehuehuehue."
"Okay!" Silas said quickly, grabbing the closest loaf he could find. "...I think that's the first time I've been forcefully coerced into doing something good."
"First time for everything~" Yumika shrugged, taking the basket back. "Hey, Renji-kun, can you pass this around to everyone?"
Reizei acknowledged her almost immediately. "Got it!" He grabbed the basket and quickly hurried over to his corner with Rakuyama with the basket.
"Soo…" Yumika straightened up, facing Silas and re-adjusting her blazer. "You want to become better at speaking."
Silas straightened up himself. "...I guess…? I-I want to make myself better at communicating. I… you know… I-I don't have a lot of experience in that area…"
Yumika nodded. "Yeah… no offense, but I can tell. In that last sentence you just said, there were already three huge problems that are a big no-no in speech."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah!" Yumika replied. "For one, your opening line was a question. When someone asks a question, you don't respond with another one, unless you're doing rhetoric or forensics or something. You need to be concise; otherwise, people might assume that you're being indecisive. Great for really specific situations, but not so great if you're trying to act out a convincing character most of the time."
"...huh… I never…"
"Also!" Yumika continued. "You interrupted your own thought with a '...you know…'. For conciseness, you should never segment your sentence like that. It breaks up your flow! Riku-nee does something like that too, sometimes. Did you notice? She always speaks, like, like this, and, like, she seems not to be able to help herself."
"Hey! I don't do that all the time!" Rakuyama shouted. "Waaaagh, Yumika-san is being meaaaaan - " she stuck out her tongue.
"Riku-nee, you're older than me," Reizei hushed her, turning both of them back towards the keyboard.
"Hee. Riku-nee's too easy to tease…" Yumika giggled. "...back to you. To be fair, sometimes I slip up like that too, but for you it seems particularly bad. If I didn't know you well, I would think you're doing it on purpose. And, unless you're planning on playing the very specific role of a socially maladjusted young Mihokujin highschool boy, you're going to need to learn to fix that."
"H-Huh…"
"And then there's that!" Yumika said suddenly. "You stutter. Stuttering is normal, when you're scared or trying to change a subject suddenly, but you do it in almost every sentence, almost for no reason at all." Yumika frowned. "...and that's pretty weird, Sai-kun. I'm almost certain you stuttered a lot less earlier this month."
Silas tried turning over Yumika's advice in his mind. So many things went into a normal human interaction that he never really thought about… Were these things supposed to come naturally? If so, he was so, so horribly far behind everyone else. He must seem like a baby, having to learn how to do basic things like speak from a tutor…
"Hey, hey," Yumika snapped her fingers in front of Silas's eyes, causing him to recoil. "To your credit, Sai-kun, you did pretty well for yourself the first week. What you did the first day back from the break took balls."
Silas laughed nervously. Screams of 'SELF INTRODUCTION!!' still haunted him in his dreams sometimes. "...it wasn't intentional…"
"Regardless!" Yumika smiled, taking her own loaf. "You have the will. And where there's a will, there's a way! Don't tell Allen I stole that quote from him. He'll murder me." She giggled cheekily. "...seriously, though, you adapted well! I'd really like to meet your Big Sister one day - it's great that you have one to help you out."
Silas nodded, munching on his own loaf. The piece had a hard, crunchy outer layer, but gave way to a squishy inner-layer filled with some sort of rich vanilla. It was salty and sweet all at the same time! Such a great flav…
...waaaaaait a minute. "Yumika-san, did I ever tell you I had a Big Sister?"
Yumika blinked. Twice. "Oh! Haha… sorry, I talked with Kirino-chan the other day and that little sliver of your personal life might have slipped out. You were right, by the way - I haven't seen Kirino-chan so happy and upbeat since freshman year. Her and her two kouhai friends - Yuuko and Kei."
"Ah… that's good. I'm happy for them," Silas said, smiling to himself. Briefly, he wondered what those three were doing right now.
Yumika made a long, drawn-out swallow as she finished her portion of the bread. "Ahh… delish! I need to look up this 'Cupcake Sensei' place sometime!" She glanced at the clock. "But that's neither here nor now. Sai-kun, we've got to work on your speaking."
"Y-Yes," Silas affirmed.
A smile started to play on Yumika's lips. "Hmm… well… let's start with some simple exercises, then. Scenario exercises, have you ever heard of those?"
"Um… Is it the thing where you make up a scene and characters and I have to figure out how to react?"
"Yep!" Yumika said. Pointedly, she glanced at her thin twintails. "...it's been a while since I've gotten to do one of these, being honest. I'm feeling pretty giddy!"
"You've never tried with everyone else?" Silas wondered aloud.
Rakuyama suddenly returned with the basket. "Nah… none of us can stand up to Yumika-chan. She's too good! Yumika-chan makes all of us look bad whenever we try…"
Yumika stuck her tongue out. "Maybe you guys should try harder, Riku-nee."
"But that's, like, so much effort…" Rakuyama giggled. "Well, good luck, anyway! Thanks for the bread, Silas-kun."
With Rakuyama gone, Yumika's attention returned to him. "Soo… yeah. Let's try a few, and see how it goes, yeah?" Again, she glanced at her twintails. Slowly, methodically, she twisted her finger around each, digging underneath to pull at the bands keeping the twintails together.
"Y-You really think I can do well?" Silas scratched his head.
"Like I said - " With a snap, each of the two rubber bands on her hair were severed, letting her hair fall down flat. "You have balls, Sai-kun! We've just got to… find out… how to harness them…" She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a small lens case.
"I… I really don't know… " Silas looked out the window. "I-I mean…"
Yumika held something to her eyeballs. "Well, we won't know till we try, right? Besides, I'm not the kind of person to think that skill can't be learnt!" She shut her eyeballs tight. "We'll see… we'll see…"
When the girl in front of him let her eyes open again, Silas felt startled - it wasn't Yumika looking back at him at all. Striking, crimson red eyes, long, straight hair, slightly ruffled uniform. She'd done all that while I was looking out the window?!
"We'll… definitely see. Hehe."
"Where'd you get the contacts…?"
"I keep them with me at all times! All different colors and intensities, for whenever I need to change characters," the girl with Yumika's voice chirped. Then her voice dropped low again: "Oh, and my name is Evil Yumika. It's a pleasure~"
"...h-hello, Evil Yumika… um… i-it's nice to - "
"Audible sigh. The same mistakes, again and again. How pitiful," Evil Yumika scowled. "Well. Guess it's what I should expect from fresh meat. Ah ah - don't give me that look. Stop being so mopey and introspective. No place for that here."
"O-Oh…" Silas stopped himself, forcing himself to try to enunciate properly. Something about Evil Yumika's persona was intimidating, but strangely magnetic. Like she was leading him on, passively but firmly. "...Okay."
"Good, good…" Evil Yumika giggled, a familiar yet dissonant facsimile of normal Yumika's lighthearted giggle. It sent a shiver down Silas's spine. "Now… the one thing you have to understand, Sai-kun - " she practically spat his name, almost like she were disgusted by it " - Is that professionals like I am, and like you will be, have to learn how to… adapt to stressful scenarios. We often don't have the freedom to pick and choose who we have to act out - we have to be flexible." Silas's jaw was slightly agape. She was good at this... "Hey… Sai-kun. Tell me. Why do you act like a shy person all the time?"
"Because… I… am a shy person?" Silas replied slowly.
"That's a self-fulfilling prophecy if I've ever heard one," Evil Yumika snorted. "...Sai-kun, what I want you to do is to try to imagine yourself as a not shy person. Can you manage that?"
"...I… maybe?"
"You answered my question with another question. Again," Yumika said, gruffly.
"S-Sorry!" Silas said quickly. Evil Yumika was scary. "...uh… I mean… yes. I can imagine it."
"Better. Sort of." Evil Yumika looked unimpressed. "Now… imagine that brave, courageous Silas. What does he say? How does he speak?"
"He… uh… he wouldn't stutter all the time, like me, for one," Silas started. "...he'd know what to say, and how to enunciate p-properly, without having to think twice about it. And he'd know how and when to smile, and he'd be able to look at you directly in the eyes without his fingers shivering and without racking up a cold sweat…"
Evil Yumika nodded approvingly. "Very creative. Now you are him. Talk to me like he would talk to me."
"W-Wait, what?"
"You heard me. I don't like having to repeat myself," Evil Yumika said sternly. Underneath her gaze, Silas felt himself shrinking. He fiddled with his fingers. The girl sighed. "Sai-kun. Drama is about acting, in case you hadn't figured out already. You have to be able to take a character and make it part of yourself, even if that character juxtaposes what you think your actual personality is."
"Ah ah - I see it again in your eyes. You're looking down. You're dejected. You don't think you can do this. Waa waa..." Evil Yumika made a disapproving clicking sound with her tongue. "Let me let you in a little trade secret, Sai-kun - from me to you: When we're up on the stage, acting, it's not the audience who we need to convince of our character first. Who do you think it is, huh? Shot in the dark. Pick your poison."
"I… I don't know."
Evil Yumika thumped her fist into our heart. "It's ourselves. See - in that moment on the stage, we aren't schoolboys and schoolgirls. Our concerns aren't about what university we'll be getting in to, or which boy we're going to have to reject a love letter from next. No. We're heroes, and we're villains. We're colonists on a distant star, or wacky courtiers in a feudal Emperor's throne room, or whatever it is the writers want to put us through next. We are our characters. We become them. If only for a moment.
"And you - " Evil Yumika very suddenly jabbed her index finger into Silas's heart. He felt a small pinch where the tip of her nail met his chest. "...you have to learn how to do just that. And we're starting. Right. Here. Do you understand?"
Something strange bubbled up in Silas's chest - like liquid courage, blood pumped into his face, and into his cheeks, and into his fingers and toes. He seized Evil Yumika's extended index finger with his own hand, and looked her in the eyes. "Yes. I do." he said, a hushed, intense whisper.
"Sweet." Evil Yumika pushed back into her seat, and suddenly she was Yumika again. She giggled a bit guiltily, forming a little tent with her two index fingers. "Ah… sorry, by the way, if you're a bit creeped out by this. I need my practice too! And I figured that you responded well to stress and tension. I think I was right!" she said, proudly.
"A-Ahh…" The rush he felt earlier was fading quickly. "I don't mind at all! I actually think it's pretty cool, to be honest. But… you know… why 'Evil Yumika?'"
"Most of the time, I get made an antagonist," Yumika admitted sheepishly. "...I don't really have the heart to turn anyone else down when they beg me to be made the MC. Heheh…"
Somehow, that made too much sense. "...well… you're really good! I-I hope I can… can come close to that someday."
"You will! I have faith in you! You have a whole year to practice!" Yumika assured him. "Eep - I've been out of character for too long! I need to get my Evil Yumika back, gimme a sec… uh…" she shut her eyes.
"Ahem," Evil Yumika emerged from the other Yumika's husk. Again, Silas was at awe. "Now… time is our greatest asset, as I always say, and we're running out of it. Let's… have a little motivation to get you moving along, huh? Imagine… hmm… imagine that I've killed your Big Sister. Put the gun up to her head, pulled the trigger, now she's dead." She spoke in a singsong voice. "How does Brave, Courageous Silas react, hmm?"
…
...Big Sister? Kill?
…
...It was an impossibility. No one could kill Big Sister. Big Sister was Big Sister - she couldn't be killed. Invincibility was in the very definition of Big Sister! You can't kill something that exists forever and everywhere! And for Evil Yumika to just make a claim like that… how arrogant!
"I'd like to see you try," the words, menacing and biting, materialized almost all by themselves. Almost immediately, Silas recoiled, regretted everything - it was such an insensitive thing to blurt! But Evil Yumika's smile just widened.
"No! Don't go back on it! Keep going - build on it. Say more things. Come on!"
Silas hesitated. But Yumika egged him on once more: "Come on, Sai-kun… show me your courageous side. I know it exists."
Silas sucked up air in between his teeth. And, again, he spoke.
Tutoring was a success! Development points have been added to the Hobby "Dramatic Speech."
Silas has evolved "Drama Club Newbie!" See New Developments below.
Silas has discovered Yumika's traits "Master Improviser" and "Inspired Tutor!" See New Developments below.
~~~
"Hoooome," Silas breathed, falling flat on his small futon in the center of his apartment. "I'm exhausted…"
His desktop quickly spun to life; Big Sister's image flickered on the screen. "You were gone for less than a quarter of the day," she noted drily.
"Mumble mumble, something something convincing retort, I'm taking a nap." Silas mumbled into his pillow. "See you in a few hours, Big Sis."
"You'll remember to study after getting up in the evening, right?"
"Mmm. I'll need to finish a couple of Quests in the Hinterland Wheatfields first…" Silas replied. "Counterrevolutionaries… terrorizing settlements… escorting merchant caravans…"
"And you'll remember to look at some of the things the Dreamer girl linked to you on Juubun?"
"Yeah yeah…" Silas said drowsily. "Stupid… fires everywhere… salt mines... people taking things too seriously… it's not like 'America' is a real place, anyway…"
Within moments, he was fast asleep, the sound of soft snores filling the room. Big Sister sighed, virtually.
The poor boy's putting himself under far too much stress… Sometimes I wonder if withdrawing from close oversight was a good idea. If only things were like home, and all these pesky minutae of daily life could be more easily controlled…
Ah yes, home, home. Nothing inspires nostalgia like the home. Big Sister thought bitterly as she flitted away from Silas's desktop, stepping into her network of networks. Little parcels of images and video streams and text and other bits and bytes sped past. A cat video there - a pointless text message there - an irrelevant (to her, anyway) and urgent top-secret communique from one of Ambernia's Revolutionary Secret Service agents over there. Meaningless, pointless fluff, far too much for her to chip away at and analyze, so different from the peace she had enjoyed when there were fewer zeroes attached to the end of her internal clock counter. But we aren't there, are we? So I must adapt the situation as it is, not as it could be.
If only I could do more…
She brushed the thought away, and instead tried to focus on the one thing she had any significant amount of control over.
Knowledge. Information. Truth.
It was surprisingly easy to find the document she was looking for. After all, it seemed almost every device in the school networked to the SciPNET had accessed it at least once. There weren't even any substantial permissions for the document, besides a pithy, almost pathetic password that seemed to be sticky-noted to the surface of every filing cabinet in the school.
This 'termin_requestV2' was… an interesting piece. It seemed to imply something… rotten about the Student Council, if her guess - that the document described a process by which members of the Council could willingly erase their memories of the Foundation - was correct.
And yet.
And yet! It also delineated a weakness. At long last, this thing that was the Student Council had something she could use against them, and she had a solution to this little problem that didn't involve MetroPol, or the murder of students - two things that would probably have a negative effect on Silas's psyche.
It was something to be cognizant of in the future...
...something felt… wrong, though.
Big Sister's processes felt slower than normal. Naturally, something as complex as herself was not designed to be jaunted entirely into an unmarked server behind a locked steel door within an abandoned computer manufacturing complex a few blocks down the road, but now it felt like she was starting to really feel the limitations of her small space.
Too much pressure, and she might just overheat. That was a scary thought.
Big Sister found something interesting! Share with Silas?
[] [BS] No. Silas deserves some measure of separation from Big Sister's skullduggery. He's just a schoolboy, after all. And Big Sister would be good to remember the old adage about Ignorance...
[] [BS] Yes. Whatever the Student Council is, they represent a threat, and if Silas knows he has a way to get at them, he'll have a way to sabotage them in small ways that Big Sister could never do.
Big Sister needs to decide how to allocate resources.
[] [BS2] Overclock and focus on everything. Her own structural integrity is not as important as keeping Silas safe. (Big Sister may find one more document next weekend, no substantial changes in behavior. Big Sister may suffer internal damage.)
[] [BS2] Overclock and focus on raiding the database, watching over Silas, and monitoring the students close to Silas, particularly those in the Drama Club and Student Council. Big Sister's watching… (Big Sister may find one more document next weekend, begins to discover things about classmates for him. She will leave the world alone for a bit. Big Sister may suffer internal damage.)
[] [BS2] Don't overclock. Focus on the database and on Silas, but neglect close oversight of the global economy. The markets will sort it out, probably. (Big Sister has plausible deniability anyway; if the world burns, it won't be her fault.)
[] [BS2] Don't overclock. Focus on Silas and the global economy; the information that can be gouged from the database is surely exhausted by now. (No documents will be found next weekend, but Silas is safe and the idiots that run the world economy remain safe for another week.)
[] [BS2] Don't overclock. As much as it pains her, Big Sister may need to start withdrawing considerable oversight over Silas if she wants to maintain her obligations to him. (Big Sister may find one document next weekend, and the global economy is safe, but Big Sister will not be present for Silas next week. Silas may not like this.)
Big Sister has discovered a weakness of the Student Council / Foundation, and will act upon it if pressed.
New Stats:
SKL: +1
Money: +1000￥
Hobbies:
Dramatic Speech - The nuances of enunciation, expression, and body language - skills that have some level of application beyond Drama Club. Leads to Skill traits Conversationalist, Persuader, Improviser, and Deceiver. (47/???)
Notice - the Hobby Massive Multiplayer Online Games's effects will change soon.
Shinohara Hana: REL -> 20
Silas's New Traits:
Drama Club Newbie -> Drama Club Member - Silas has been part of Drama for long enough for his presence to be semi-normal there, though he's still slightly disconnected from the close bonds everyone else already has in the Club. (+0.5 CHAR, +0.25 CRE, +0.25 COUR per week. +10 ST with all Drama club members. Lost if Silas leaves Drama Club.)
Silas has discovered new traits belonging to several people:
SILAS
Self Deprecating - It's hard for Silas to recognize things that he is good at, and he tends to over-emphasize his negative attributes a lot. This makes his self-assessment skills way off. (Character traits and personalities in the Character Sheet may be represented as being more severe than they actually are. The REL value assigned to many of the characters is incorrect. Now that Silas knows that he has this trait, -5 ST to everything.)
Low Self-Esteem - Silas does not think very highly of himself. While this means he avoids the avarice of pride, it also means that he actively suppresses any notion that he may be genuinely talented at anything, due to thinking that there is no way that his skills could be better than anyone else's, so him trying isn't worth the effort. (Silas does not know his own talents. At least one of his stats is considerably lower than its "true" value, and will continue to act this way until this trait is removed. Several traits of his need to be discovered.)
YUMIKA
Master Improviser - Yumika is amazing at on-the-spot dramatic improvisation. Putting up an act is almost second nature to her. (+3 CHAR. If an action is in danger of failing, Yumika may attempt a secondary dice roll. If it succeeds, she temporarily fabricates a helpful trait and boosts CHAR, COUR, or INT to its maximum value. ???)
Inspired Tutor - Yumika knows how to choose her words in order to inspire people to act beyond the level they would normally act at. In a different game, this would translate to giving a buff to morale during a military engagement, but considering the significant lack of 10th century political systems or feudal militaries... (Whenever Yumika tutors someone, that person gets a +2 COUR boost and a +10 ST to the action. In the incredibly unlikely event that Yumika is put in charge of a Saisei-era military regiment, +15% morale damage and +15% morale defense.)
SKL: +1
Money: +1000￥
Hobbies:
Dramatic Speech - The nuances of enunciation, expression, and body language - skills that have some level of application beyond Drama Club. Leads to Skill traits Conversationalist, Persuader, Improviser, and Deceiver. (47/???)
Notice - the Hobby Massive Multiplayer Online Games's effects will change soon.
Shinohara Hana: REL -> 20
Silas's New Traits:
Drama Club Newbie -> Drama Club Member - Silas has been part of Drama for long enough for his presence to be semi-normal there, though he's still slightly disconnected from the close bonds everyone else already has in the Club. (+0.5 CHAR, +0.25 CRE, +0.25 COUR per week. +10 ST with all Drama club members. Lost if Silas leaves Drama Club.)
Silas has discovered new traits belonging to several people:
SILAS
Self Deprecating - It's hard for Silas to recognize things that he is good at, and he tends to over-emphasize his negative attributes a lot. This makes his self-assessment skills way off. (Character traits and personalities in the Character Sheet may be represented as being more severe than they actually are. The REL value assigned to many of the characters is incorrect. Now that Silas knows that he has this trait, -5 ST to everything.)
Low Self-Esteem - Silas does not think very highly of himself. While this means he avoids the avarice of pride, it also means that he actively suppresses any notion that he may be genuinely talented at anything, due to thinking that there is no way that his skills could be better than anyone else's, so him trying isn't worth the effort. (Silas does not know his own talents. At least one of his stats is considerably lower than its "true" value, and will continue to act this way until this trait is removed. Several traits of his need to be discovered.)
YUMIKA
Master Improviser - Yumika is amazing at on-the-spot dramatic improvisation. Putting up an act is almost second nature to her. (+3 CHAR. If an action is in danger of failing, Yumika may attempt a secondary dice roll. If it succeeds, she temporarily fabricates a helpful trait and boosts CHAR, COUR, or INT to its maximum value. ???)
Inspired Tutor - Yumika knows how to choose her words in order to inspire people to act beyond the level they would normally act at. In a different game, this would translate to giving a buff to morale during a military engagement, but considering the significant lack of 10th century political systems or feudal militaries... (Whenever Yumika tutors someone, that person gets a +2 COUR boost and a +10 ST to the action. In the incredibly unlikely event that Yumika is put in charge of a Saisei-era military regiment, +15% morale damage and +15% morale defense.)
To prevent voting blob, I'll hold off on [SOCIAL] actions until next turn. Also, it'll probably take until tomorrow for me to update the Character Sheet (Also also, I've just noticed that all of the pictures expired.... *sadness*). Like I mentioned earlier, I may have a few projects I need to work on, so... *nervous laughter*
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