She had quieted up again, only this time the silence was maddeningly uncomfortable. Silas started nervously tapping his foot against the ground. He hoped Hana didn't notice. Yumika, Hana, Yumika, Hana, it felt like mentioning one in the presence of the other was comparable to testing for landmines by jumping on a plot of suspicious brown dirt.
...well, he supposed that made him a minesweeper. His breath hiked.
"So, Sai-kun. I kind of wanted to talk abou-"
Silas blurted out suddenly: "H-Hey, let's talk about Yumika-san!"
Please don't go anywhere close to actual mines, Silas. Why did you feel the need to mention it, anyway? And more importantly, how come it did actually work?
I suppose I can venture a guess.
SHINOHARA HANA
Likes incredibly COURAGEOUS people, but sympathizes with those with less COURAGE than her, as well.
Hana has some interesting ideas about what constitutes courage or honesty, it seems.
It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that privacy in the modern world is an illusion. A lot of major countries have passed bills that more or less authorize the surveillance of their citizens, and that is not to count information that people willingly volunteer to social networks and services. The apps on your smartphone know where you live, what hours you work, whom you talk to and what about, and sometimes they know you more intimately than your own family. We all are aware that Google reads our correspondence in order to better aim their targeted ads, and as time goes by, it becomes harder to worry about such things.
What people care about is not keeping their secrets, it's that the secrets, once uncovered, never find their way back to them. It's fine that a bot, a telemetry tool, or a security agent read my letters, as long as the natural flow of life isn't disturbed. The bots don't judge, or sneer, or whisper behind your back. You don't ever talk to them. As long as nothing comes out of it, you can pretend that your confidential data is safe, and the illusion of privacy is preserved.
It's why Big Sister having access to Silas' browsing history bothered me so much. She is treated as a person, and he interacts with her on a regular basis. People are not meant to go digging that far in each other's personal affairs; only impartial automations and entities so far removed from you they may as well be ones can get away with it without causing one mental discomfort.
It's like an old joke. "What's the difference between a gentleman and a true gentleman? A gentleman, should he walk upon a lady in a shower, shouts "I am terribly sorry, Miss!" and slams the door shut. A true gentleman, on the other hand, gets an eyeful, calmly says "My apologies, Sir," and slowly closes the door."
This ability to ignore the problem and act as if nothing happened is one of the greatest adaptability mechanisms known to man. Honesty is not always the best policy, and letting someone know you've come into possession of a secret you weren't supposed to know places the person in a position where now they have to do something about it.
Hana is an empath who is very hard to lie to, and thus prefers things to be laid out in the open, but I can't help but think she underestimates the importance and value of pretending. Which is doubly weird for a member of the Drama Club, and for one who prefers to keep her own identity hidden. It may also be something that hurts her social standing more than her nature.
"You're lying," Silas smirked.
"I am." She giggled. "But excuse me for wanting to make you feel better about yourself."
She is getting better at it, though.
"Eh? No ego? Aww… You seem like the kind of person I'd love breaking with words…"
"H-Hana-chan, you're starting to actually scare me."
Hana opened her mouth to give him a snappy retort - she looked like she was enjoying herself - but something made her pause. "...sorry. You're… you remind me of… of Yumika-san. The way you talk. The way you approach things - you even taste similar. I might have been, ah… trying to remind myself of her. By… um…"
...By talking dirty, it seems. Hey, when you said they think you were a bit of a sadist, did you mean
that kind of sadist?
It's always the quiet ones, eh?
"...I didn't think I would like it there, honestly. But… there was hardly anyone around. It was just me, Yumika-san, our families..."
Footnote: Matsuoka and Shinohara families know each other well enough to go on an overseas vacation together; a non-trivial feat that involves being able to coordinate their work schedules. I suppose Yumika's father could have been working overseas and it was only Shinoharas who came over to join him, but that still requires the two families to be rather close.
Hana was frowning. "I am… going to choose to believe that you are stuttering because you're losing your train of thought, and not because your mind is wandering to certain places." Her teeth were slightly clenched. "I am correct in this assumption. Right?"
Hana, you are not supposed to say that out loud. Not unless you want to watch them blush and squirm. Which would make your complaints about being gawked at rather hypocritical, wouldn't you agree? Turnabout is fair play.
Look, the very fact that you have to mention you don't like to be ogled at is proof that there is something to ogle. I'd take it as a compliment.
I definitely wouldn't think people saying they "can't imagine you wearing anything other than baggy long sleeves" a better outcome. I kinda winced at that one,
ouch. Even though I never had her wear anything else in any of the drawings... huh.
Personal Quest added: draw Shinohara in a bikini and make it canon by Week 12.
What's that you say, it's the middle of December? Damn it, we need a hot springs episode!
"No. They all just think I'm… well… a tiiiny bit of a sadist. It's a good enough… ah, excuse, anyway. Heh. Besides you, only Yumika-san knows about that part of me." She lapsed into a short silence before continuing. "...it took Yumika-san a lot more time than you. And… it went pretty… it went a lot worse, with Yumika-san, in the beginning."
Wait, a scary thought just struck me... was that where Yumika learned about Hana's 'problem'?
"So. She's, err. She feels like she is in a special position to do that. She tries harder than most students ought to. She… she doesn't think much about... " she lowered her voice. "...she isn't above causing harm to others, if she thinks it'll protect those she cares about. She's done it to me before."
I thought those were separate episodes, and she chewed Hana out for something she did to someone else. I still hope so, because if she didn't... well, that would have made it one very bad day for our friendly neighbourhood Dream Eater.
I was so sure it was Yumika who was infatuated with Hana (she
does have a fascination with the weird/exotic - Reina comes to mind, and Silas is not far behind) that the possibility of the relationship being reversed never really crossed my mind. Shows me what I know.
Can't say I am thrilled by the deniable shipping suddenly getting a lot more deniable, but there is only one thing that truly upsets me - no, plain gnaws at me, - and that's not pushing harder to choose
"Something Nice" back at the friendship event. After all, despite us discovering the characters' personalities and traits from the ground up, the characters themselves have existed long before Silas came to school, and the Hana/Yumika arc has been in the works for a year at least. Then, if this wasn't a choice to develop a crush as we had initially thought,
what was it?
This is going to bother me greatly, I just know it.
The Story Team and the Music Team are at odds. Neither of them want to give up their creative work. The next CLUB turn will be spent trying to reconcile these uncompromisable positions with each other. Boy are you sure glad you won't be in charge at that point?
That... hardly seems like a problem. Any editor worth their salt faces it every day.
There is a simple solution to it. Cut and reuse. The music doesn't have an 'opening' written all over it, the text does. But Renji and Riku are experts in their chosen field, and it stands to reason that something they got so attached to must be truly exceptional - it'd be a total waste to ditch it. The natural outcome would be Hana writing a suitably epic scene to fit that piece specifically.
"Well…" He shifted his feet. "Riku-nee and I imagined the play would begin with something… you know… spectacular. Something that captures the spectacle of the Mihoku spirit, you know? And then the tragedy would come later. But… in your opening scene, the scene where Satoko - "
"Hayaishi-sama, Reizei-dono! It is important to keep our honorifics in check!"
"...right. Hayaishi-sama, the scene where she's in her drawing room, having a nightmare about her family dying in Ambernia, well… that's completely the opposite of wonder and spectacle."
What writer would turn down an offer to write a scene that the audience would deem wonderful and spectacular? Hana has the most important part - crafting the mood - done for her already.
It's only the failure of Silas that they bicker about it instead of building up on each other's work. Yumika should get them on track in no time.
"I… I had to. Because there's no way senpai would talk to me normally, right? And, I thought, running into you, it would be a nice and subtle way to ingratiate myself to you without the whole ordeal being awkward! It was perfectly choreographed! I just didn't expect senpai to jump… out of the… way."
Yuuko just grinned. "...let's change the subject, yeah? I apologize for my rude greetings, senpai. I really do. Buuuut… now that I'm here, and there's no going back… aha… um… " for some reason, her forehead was getting progressively redder. She drew in a sharp breath: "soIwantedtoinvitesenpaiovertomyhousethisweekendifitisalrightwithyouanywaypleasesayyes."
And I have a new favorite. Yuuko is just too precious. The only thing that would make this better is if she were faking being a hopeless klutz who can't help blabbing out their carefully laid out plans, and this was the manipulation all along to get Silas to relax and let his guard down around her.
...she isn't that devious, right? Right? I'd be more suspicious if we didn't have an OOC perspective on how her mind works.
"You're being very… honest, about this…" Silas replied.
"Oh, yes! The original plan was far more… indirect, a-and… would have involved..." Yuuko's cheeks redenned even more. Abruptly, she slapped her cheeks with her palms. "U-Um…! You don't need to know our o-original plan for getting you to come over! But, since Maeda-senpai thinks you might be a friend, I want to trust you as a… friend. And not play around by being indirect. Okay, well, you know, I'm being a little indirect, b-but a little opsec is kind of a given, don't you think, ahahahaa..."
She is so earnest it hurts.
I kinda like the lower SC ranks. I want to get closer to them.
Edit:
[x] [RESPOND] (x2) Accept.
- [x] Make notes beforehand to either leave at home or hand to someone you trust,
just in case the meeting goes sour.
-- [x] Before and after the meeting, check for
both kinds of bugs. Don't want to carry creepy-crawlies over and risk getting a freak out in dangerous territory, and don't want to carry anything out that could be used as spy gear.
I mean, I didn't even give you all a choice for one of them! *nervous laughter*
[x] [AS] (Event) Silas decides to spontaneously become a dick and not go to the event he planned with Hana. (If you are insane enough to choose this option, please vote for an alternative [AS] action below.)
[x] [AS] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[x] Play eroge and cheap romance VNs
[x] [AS] Work at DreamerLuci's Subforum (+¥????)
-[x] Seek relationship advice from the all-knowing Internet
In Memoriam Navis.
