Completed Katawa Shoujo: I love you just the way you are...

[Luzur]

depends on where "over here" is, in most western countries being a virgin at 28 is kinda...looked down upon, hence movies like "40 year old Virgin", jokes etc

I was talking about at 18, which is why I said "by age 18". I think most people in my circle lost their virginity by age 18, but if you were still a virgin at 18 it wasn't really worth special notice either. Into your 20s though...yeah.

i lost mine around 16 and a half or something, at my first illegal party with real booze at a older friend's place.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Seriously, though, wtf is this shit. The fag can't *walk* a *mile* without going into critical?

I'm no medical expert, but I'm pretty sure if he is in a state that bad now, he wouldn't get through all the last few years of regular school without outright DYING during fucking P.E. classes. But suddenly, his SUPAHSERIOUS MEDICAL DISABILITY has kicked in when a gurl talked to him. Really?

 

[Damned Registrations]

I think it was less the walk and more that he suddenly went off his meds. Dropping off meds suddenly tends to be worse than never having been on them at all.

 

[Monoclebear]

I think it was less the walk and more that he suddenly went off his meds. Dropping off meds suddenly tends to be worse than never having been on them at all.

Exactly, because your body gets used to the stuff.

 

[Brother None]

Yeah, coz he randomly forgot he's supposed to take his meds.

That's not a spurious set-up for unnecessary drama, at all!

All-pro writing, here. This is like reading Terry Goodkind all over again.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Well, when people forget to take their meds it IS usually because their routine is broken. It's not like he normally wakes up with a couple of girls talking right next to him, wanders into the kitchen to make something to eat and makes a girl cut herself. I'd say that qualifies as sufficient reason to forget about your meds you usually take after waking up alone in your dorm room with the pills next to the alarm clock.

If he'd done this back at school I'd be inclined to agree with you.

The trying to keep walking after you've already freaked them both out part however, was pure retard. At the very least he should have asked to take a breather.

 

[Monoclebear]

I never said that it wasn't understandeble that he forgot his meds, just that it can indeed be worse than having never taking them. And i think he actualy asked them if they could make a break.

 

[Brother None]

Well, when people forget to take their meds it IS usually because their routine is broken. It's not like he normally wakes up with a couple of girls talking right next to him, wanders into the kitchen to make something to eat and makes a girl cut herself.

I'd be inclined to agree with you if he was taking meds for a relatively harmless condition or for some mental issue. But y'know, he's taking meds for a life-threatening condition. He's not 12, he shouldn't be this dumb.

 

[Archaeon]

I've been on psych meds A LOT, and from a social standpoint I can say that Hicchan is lucky... If he forgets his meds he just faints and shit, but only ends up with some chicks caring about him more and coddling him...
While I, if I forgot my meds, would end up a social trainwreck, losing contact with reality, starting to act like a fucking insane asylum escapee... And would end up with maybe a relationship broken, a friendship ended or worst of all the laugh of the neighbourhood....

edit: so Brother None don't say shit abt. mental issues... This sort of stuff really makes forgetting to take 'em A BIG SHIT, and a REAL reminder to do so...

 

[Damned Registrations]

Well he did, but then he tried to keep walking while he was still in pain.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Well, when people forget to take their meds it IS usually because their routine is broken. It's not like he normally wakes up with a couple of girls talking right next to him, wanders into the kitchen to make something to eat and makes a girl cut herself.

I'd be inclined to agree with you if he was taking meds for a relatively harmless condition or for some mental issue. But y'know, he's taking meds for a life-threatening condition. He's not 12, he shouldn't be this dumb.

Just because it's important doesn't make it easier to remember. It's not like he's been taking them his whole life either, only since he got to school, and this is the first night he's spent away from there. People forget this shit all the time. Something as simple as getting woken up by a phone call can throw you off. People remember things by connecting them to other things they'd think about anyways before they need to remember the more obscure thing. If whatever you connect 'take your fucking pills' with isn't there to remind you, you're going to forget. If you take them after breakfast, you'll probably forget if you have to skip breakfast. If you take them when you turn off your alarm clock, you'll forget if it didn't wake you up. If you take them the first time you see the bottles during the day, you'll forget them if they're misplaced and you don't see them. At least he has a pretty reliable routine for taking them. It's not like he just randomly takes them throughout the day whenever he thinks of it, which is when people forget to take shit (or take shit twice) way too often.

 

[Brother None]

Haha. Oh, you guys.

I didn't say it is unlikely, I said its spurious. Contrived. Here's what you guys keep doing wrong: throughout this thread, people keep arguing about behaviour in the sense of how likely or realistic it is in real life. But we're not retelling something that happened in real life, this is an original story, so you have to look at this stuff from how it works in a literary sense more than if it's realistic.
For an original story, this situation feels contrived. Just like the pacing feels shoddy and slow even though if you realize how little time has passed from Hisao's perspective. Just like the time jumps are jarring because they're not properly framed. This is shoddily written. Not badly, just very inexpertly.

Archaeon: you're a weirdo.

 

[Archaeon]

Don't hate the playa hate the game bro! Those effects were themselves caused by other psych meds, or maybe drugs...

 

[Monoclebear]

Oh, that answer could actualy work as a counterarguement.

 

[RK47]

Haha. Oh, you guys.

I didn't say it is unlikely, I said its spurious. Contrived. Here's what you guys keep doing wrong: throughout this thread, people keep arguing about behaviour in the sense of how likely or realistic it is in real life. But we're not retelling something that happened in real life, this is an original story, so you have to look at this stuff from how it works in a literary sense more than if it's realistic.
For an original story, this situation feels contrived. Just like the pacing feels shoddy and slow even though if you realize how little time has passed from Hisao's perspective. Just like the time jumps are jarring because they're not properly framed. This is shoddily written. Not badly, just very inexpertly.

I kinda agree with BN here. Throughout the whole time skips and such, I cannot get a gauge on how far has this whole 'social link' progression goes between Hisao and Lilly. At all. It was more about Hisao going 'Fuck me, stop reminding me I have a heart problem' or 'Wow, I didn't realize I could get used to studying with disabled people' or 'Do I really like her? How should I tell her?' It was like right after she flew off THEN he start to realize 'Oh man, maybe I really liked her.' That's a little late, and the whole event with Lil' Bacon's breakdown? Wow. I feel like I accomplished nothing much out of that scenario except buying tampons for a girl on period.

The biggest problem is that I really can't say I feel connected to the protagonist at all. I start referring to him as a third person, because he's really weird and hard to sympathize with.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Yeah the overall writing is definitely clunky if you compare it to a proper book or movie or something. It's still a million times better than most visual novels though, where you fuck your boss 2 days after being hired because she spilt something on her shirt and had to strip naked in front of you.

The thing with Hanako's breakdown is sort of leftover from her route. It'd be stupid if it didn't happen in Lily's route too since they're so close, but nothing really gets accomplished there since you're after Lily (except Hisao realizing calling Lily only to ask abaout Hanako was a dick move). Now that I think about it Lily's act 2 was especially weak compared to most of the game. Most of it just just Hisao transitioning from freaking out every time he says something rude by accident to being comfortable around her. He goes through something similar with Hanako but the other girls are a lot more straightforward about their condition so he gets over it faster and actually starts getting to know them a lot sooner.

His personality is a little different in each route, but overall he's still massively insecure and uncomfortable. I can't really blame him given the backstory. Girl he always wanted to go out with but was too shy to ask asks him out, and he collapses, she dumps him in the hospital while he's recovering, and he gets shipped off to cripple school so normal people don't have to be around him any more while his life hangs by a thread. I doubt I'd be chasing skirts 2 months later. But yeah, justified or not, his character is rather alien and hard to identify with. Hard to put yourself in the shoes of someone that fucked up.

 

[RK47]

ED: I wish it could've ended here, y'know. I wouldn't feel so sad about it...

Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.

ED: Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.

As it does, I become acutely aware of the sweat by now pouring off my face and the two scared girls around me.

I'm fine, Lilly. I'm ... fine.

ED: Die with a smile.

I screw up my brow in an effort to lever myself up, Hanako's arms quickly moving to catch me if I fall as I stumble a bit before regaining my balance.
I look to Lilly and Hanako, worry written on both their faces. I feel awful. Utterly awful.

I think we should go back.

I...

ED: Please die.

Realizing the futility of protesting, I look away in frustration.

Fine.

Later...

I open my eyes groggily, completely bereft of energy.

For a while, I simple lie down lifelessly, staring at the ceiling as I review the events of the morning in an attempt to organize my thoughts.
We went to walk to town. My heart nearly gave way. We came back. I took my pills. I slept.
I can only remember each period of time as a snapshot, but the timeline is clear enough. The memory of the girls' face as I struggled to stand is an unpleasant one, stinging my feelings harshly.
If I look at the ceiling hard enough, I can imagine the tile edges and small dimples of the ceiling in the hospital. The fact alone is enough to make me sit up and try to pull myself together.
I scratch the back of my dishevelled hair, glancing around the room. Lilly and Hanako are nowhere to be seen, and the TV's turned off.
The clock above says it's pretty late in the afternoon. The noticeably reddened sky outside the windows confirms it further.
I turn and pick myself off the futon, swaying slightly as I put my arms out for balance. I suppose I'd better go look for the girls to see if they're... all right...

As I look out the window, I faintly see something in the distance.
Straining my eyes, I can just make out the shape of a person's figure. Her long blonde hair, swaying in the faint breeze, makes her almost seem to melt into the bright yellow of the wheat field.

Without a second thought, I leave the room to follow that lone apparition.

*Skrunch, skrunch*

The brightness of the setting sun assaults my freshly woken eyes, forcing me to avert them until they adjust.
The long, yellow strands of wheat brush against my legs as I wade through them, the densely-grown field making it hard to advance.

Regardless, my eyes stay fixed ahead, true to that solitary figure. Within minutes I reach her, meters behind her turned back.

Lilly?

Where's Hanako?

She's in bed. She went to sleep after I calmed her down.

She says it matter-of-factly and with as few words as possible, as if saying any more was strictly forbidden.
There's something different about her. Her normally confident figure seems oddly fragile, her body offering resistance to the breeze blowing her skirt.
The strands of wheat sway from side to side while a deafening pause passes, the only sound being their rustling.
As we stand on the field alone, I know what I have to ask.

What's wrong, Lilly? You're not acting like you usually do.

Remember when I talked of my family, Hisao?

Your family...

I look downwards in thought, sifting through my scattered memories. The event seems to leap ready to hand when I search for it, rising to the surface as soon as it was recalled.

After Hanako's birthday party?

She gives a single, simple nod.

It was nice... back then. You and I, trolling the Codex with Hanako. Simply sharing presents, talking, having fun together without having sex. It was almost as if we were a family. One small, misshapen family.

I thought that could just go on forever. Just the three of us, happily together.

She takes a long breath, a slightly shakiness to it just barely audible through the moving air.

Even if my family was so far away... as long as we were together, that was all I needed. I don't want to lose you, Hisao.

I didn't even realize how afraid I was of losing someone until today. Until...

I'm sorry, Lilly. I know my body's weak, but even then I make the most stupid of mistakes.

Don't apologize...please don't apologize...

Music: Suicide

Lilly?

She turns to face me, her pale cheeks stained with tears.
One misguided step after another she stumbles towards me, her arms held out in search of so much as a faint brush against me.

My heart doesn't race nor pound as I step towards Lilly, gently taking and steadying her in my arms as she quickly clutches to me, sobbing.

With her face trembling against my shoulder, the next words from her mouth are the last I expected.

ED: I HATE YOU, HISAO. I HATE YOU, HISAO. I HATE YOU, HISAO. I HATE YOU, HISAO. I HATE YOU, HISAO. I HATE YOU, HISAO.

Don't go a way, I beg of you. Never, ever go away. I love you, so please...!

So... that's why she's been acting like this. That tender voice when I called her, her thoughtless concern at the slightest pain I might feel...

ED: Arghsjfhjsfjdshkshgksgsjjdgdsgdgsgsshdsh

After having been left in Japan without her family, and with only Akira, Hanako and I around, she was afraid of losing yet another person who was close to her. She was genuinely worried for me.
It's a strange feeling. A mix of surprise and sorrow, yet also one of the deepest gratitude I think I've ever felt. The only reaction I can muster along my conflicting emotions is a calm sigh.

You idiot.

ED: Hnnnnnghhhhh.

Hisao?

For a fleeting moment, I feel her body become still. The only movement to be felt is a calm afternoon breeze.

I said it before, didn't I? It's only natural to feel concerned about those around you.

I'm still here, and I'll always be here, because I want to see you more each day. To share in your happiness, to support you in your sadness...

But most of all, I'll still be here because I want to see your smile. Your true smile.

A single gust of wind rustles the long strands of wheat, a second's silence passes.

Smile when you want to smile. Cry when you want to cry. I love you, Lilly, so you don't have to hold back any more.

With that, her arms clutch my back as tightly as she can, her face buried beside mine.
Her tears fall down my back as she cries unrestrainedly as the last of her resistance melts away.

Hisao...

I close my eyes and bring my head down to her shoulder, holding her shaking frame tightly/

It's okay, Lilly. I'll never go away.

I promise.

Later...

We slowly walk back to the house, holding each other tightly as we take a seat inside. Lilly leans her head onto my shoulder as I put my arm around her waist.
Neither of us has any want to break the silence.
With her eyes shut it's hard to work out whether she's fallen asleep. Not that I mind: the warmth of her body leaning against me, the softness of her hand delicately held in mine....
For a long, long time we sit leaning against one another, sharing our warmth and feelings as night eventually begins to settle in.
Lilly's gentle soft voice ends the silence.

Thank you?

For returning my feelings.

Did you think I wouldn't?

There was the possibility.

I take a deep breath in thought. That much was only my fault.

It's funny, actually. I was thinking of telling you about my own feelings sometime soon.

I guess, in that way, you saved me the effort.

She raises her head a little and gives a tiny, amused giggle. I smile at how earnest it is, so girlish in its lightness. She collects herself soon afterward, her hair resting against my shoulder.

Feeling a bit better?

She gives a small nod.

You are thoughtful, Hisao. That's why I like you.

ED: No.

I'm sorry I'm like this. As much as I didn't want to make you concerned for me, I couldn't' do anything to prevent it.

Don't apologize for it. Please don't.

Lilly?

Have I ever apologized for my blindness, even once? You can't help the way you were born, Hisao. There's no point in apologizing for who you are.

ED: We never asked for this.

She says this with surprising conviction. In the end, it was perhaps this mentality which spurred her to befriend me in such a short time, in addition to her motherly instincts.
She did seem to become trusting very quickly, but I'd never questioned why. Now it seems obvious that she did so to help me as I went through one of the lowest points of my life.
I move to respond, but cut myself off as I feel her fingers run gently through my hair. I feel their soft and delicate touch moving downwards to trace the countours of my face, her palm finally settling on my cheek.

You are a beautiful person, Hisao. Please, don't ever apologize for that.

ED: NO.

For a moment, I am utterly speechless. I slowly bend my head down, placing a tender kiss on her light voluminous hair.

We're a couple of right old fools, aren't we?

... We are.

After a long calm, she speaks again.

Hisao?

Yes?

I...

I wouldn't mind if you...

ED: NO!

I feel her hand teasing under mine, trembling slightly. My mouth opens, but try as I might I can't formulate a response to her proposition.

Lilly...

Before I can say another word, she slips her hand from under mine and tenderly holds the side of my face once more.

Please.

ED:

I give a peaceful smile, holding her hand against my cheek as I nod a single time.

Okay.

 

[Archaeon]

THIS IS SO SWEET. :D

 

[Luzur]

i dont get it, isnt this the whole point of this plot? sweet kisses and love eternal with a blind victorian aryan amazon? whats with the NO NO NOOOO?

 

[RK47]

You will regret this hisao.....

 

[Hirato]

incoming heart attack

 

[Damned Registrations]

In b4 troll abandoning.

 

[Johannes]

It was nice... back then. You and I, trolling the Codex with Hanako. Simply sharing presents, talking, having fun together without having sex. It was almost as if we were a family. One small, misshapen family.

 

[RK47]

 

[corvus]

So 47, any chance of pursuing another girl after you bag Miss Amazon?