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BWR
2016-01-13, 10:49 AM
Having fallen in love with Rainy Knight's High School Harem Comedy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?290243-High-School-Harem-Comedy-%28Game-System-PEACH%29) the moment I laid eyes on it, time has finally come to try my hand at running a game of this. I need a break from my Mystara campaign and a couple of my players have also expressed an interest in a break from anything D&D-ish.
My girlfriend is of the same opinion of the HHC as me but the rest of the players are total noobs. As in, have not seen any harem comedies at all (unless you count "'allo 'allo"). We aren't too worried. One of them (E) practically plays the right sort of character already, another (U) is game for just about everything (and has done something similar with other characters). The last (H) is the weird one. He's the one who is most interested in mechanics and crunchy games of all of us and has expressed some skepticism about the game. He is willing to give it a try however and if things don't work out we will just go with something else.

The first session is today and will be mostly a brief introduction to the genre and goals of the game. Mechanics, fortunately, will not be an issue. To make things easier for everyone the girl and I have just made a number of pregens for them to choose from rather than having them sit and read through everything and not understand the tropes and conventions of the genre. Two of the pregens were made specifically for E and U, but we will not tell them beforehand - we'll just wait and see if they choose the ones we thought they would.


I'll post the characters chosen, along with the other basic information after the first session.

BWR
2016-01-13, 06:32 PM
Normally I wouldn't have made a campaign journal but the girl wanted me to do this so here goes.

First, the title of the thread. All of us have played rather pervy characters at some point and webcomics like Ghastly's ghastly webcomic, Sexy Losers and Oglaf are favorites around the table. Sure, one of us is a girl but that doesn't make as good a title.

The first session was mostly good. U was sick and couldn't make it but E and H showed up full of vigor and excited to play something new. It turned out the H had read "Love Hina" some years ago and liked it so the last obstacle is just me coming up with good scenes and making things fun for people. The players looked through the pregens and made their choices. i introduced Protagonist-kun and the setting. You may notice some familiar names: I'm lazy and they won't know the origins. Since not everyone is familiar with the minutiae of the harem comedy genre or anime school life and 'Japanese' politeness and conventions, we are playing a bit loose with the conventions and tropes and won't worry if people do not make all the right exclamations, do the expected thing or use first names without suffixes. I will take some liberties in my reproduction of what was said to make things easier.

Protagonist-kun: Urashima Keitaro
In spite of his name he has more in common with Ichijo Raku. He's nice, fairly sporty and not the kind to accidentally walk in on (nearly) naked girls because he doesn't knock. At least he hasn't so far.



pervert idol. member of the musical club

Ayano has done what lots of girls can only dream of: get an idol career There are many long hours training, practising and promoting herself and doing various concerts and stuff and is hard to combine with school life. She is nowhere near the top yet but will work hard and do her best to get there. Ayano already gets lots of fanmail and is the school's most popular girl. Tons of boys want to be her boyfriend but no one has caught her attention until now. The calm, thoughtful Keitaro has captured her heart and mind. An idol shouldn't fall in love or have a boyfriend but her feelings cannot be ignored. Her teenage hormones are running wild and her normally excellent self-control slips a bit in Keitaro's presence when all her dirty thoughts demand to be acted upon. Even if it might hurt or end her idol career, Ayano has made up her mind to make Keitaro hers and do all the naughty things she dreams about. Her star quality should be enough to outshine the boring bimbos around her that are trying to steal Keitaro from her.

Player: E
This was one of the two characters we made with a player in mind, and lo and behold! we had guessed correctly. This is basically the sort of character he has played in other games and while a couple of the others seemed attractive, this was his first choice


tsundere otaku
Naru is the biggest geek in class (and the school). Comics, anime, movies, games, music; if it's weird and looked down on by the rest of society, Naru knows and loves it. She especially loves harem comedies. Naru has noticed how Keitaro has become the object of the school's hottest girls and has decided to join the harem fun, partially from genuine interest in Keitaro, partially from the desire to take part in a harem story. Naru has the advantage that she knows what boys want (she thinks) how harem situations occur and play out (she thinks). She would have preferred a reverse harem with her as the focus but she'll take what she can get. Naru knows that the tsundere is the strongest, most classic harem love interest archetype and she knows exactly how to play it to best effect. We can only hope Keitaro realizes this too.

Player: H
This was not what we had expected H to choose. He leaned rather heavily towards Akaza Ayano initially but let E choose first




- chuunibyou school journalist
Yoshiko has a lot in common with Naru in that they both love geeky things. Yoshiko is especially fond of stories about dragons and demons and lost love, and reincarnations of ancient heroes and villains. She is a bit too fond of these things and talks of them as though they real. A lot of people feel she has gone too far in her silly little pretend world and has come to actually believe this nonsense. Her delusions also come out in the school newspaper where at least half the articles she writes are about ghosts, aliens, the seven mysteries of the school, UFOs and more. Working in her favor is the fact that Yoshiko is the best source of gossip at the school. (which accounts for the other half of her articles). She knows or can find out all the dirty secrets of everyone and will use her considerable skill to sabotage her rivals. She has finally found her reincarnated true love! Though he goes by the dull name of Keitaro now, Yoshiko knows his true identity: Solomon Wiseman, Burning Star of the West. Fate has conspired to bring the two back together again and no veiled lustdemons will be allowed to seduce him.

Player: L
L wanted everyone else to choose first and then play one of the remainder. Even with U being sick we don't consider this to be a likely choice for him but we will see next week. She had a hard time choosing since all the pregens seemed fun but now she's stuck. and having fun, it seems.




Episode 1: The Springtime of My Love.
It is beginning of the school year at Ouran public high school. Our protagonists are starting their second year. Without even noticing it, Keitaro had become remarkably popular with the girls the previous year was but oblivious to any subtle hints they gave him. Though the summer vacation was long and hard, the girls have come back to school determined to make their interest known to him and win his heart. By some strange coincidence, everybody ended up in the same class again this year. Keitaro got the much coveted seat next to Ayano, earning him the envy of all the other guys and putting him in the window seat in the last row but one. Yoshiko ended up square in the middle of class making it hard for her to keep an eye on everyone. Naru, poor thing, ended up in the seat closest to the door so she can't even see her dearest Keitaro without craning her neck.
"It's so good to see you again, Keitaro," Ayano said, flashing a dazzling smile his way. "Please take care of me this year too."
Keitaro smiles back, not noticing the murmurs of envy from the guys and the two girls glaring daggers at Ayano.

"So Keitaro, are you planning on joining a club this year?" asks Shuu, Keitaro's best friend at the end of their first lesson.
"I don't know, really. I may just join the Going Home club again."
The girls' ears perk up at this news and plans are immediately laid.

During lunch break Naru 'accidentally' stumbles into Keitaro as he and Shuu make their way through the crowd outside where the clubs are desperately trying to get new members.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, Naru"
"It's OK. It was my fault. I was just too engrossed in this new game," Naru waves her PSPuny in Keitaro's face.
"It's Super Dragon Jade Mountain Warriors 3. It's really great. It's got all sorts of cool new features, a great combat system and fun characters. It's better than 2 but it remains to be seen if it's better than 1. They made a number of choices that..."
Naru babbles on while Keitaro quickly loses track of the monologue. He tries to think of a polite way of getting away from Naru and her geeky eruption. At this point a delicate click is heard and both turn to see Yoshiko snapping pictures.
"'Second grader runs down fellow student,'" she muses aloud. "Not the best start for the year, 'Keitaro'."
"It was an accident," Keitaro protests.
"Maybe. Maybe you can drop by the school newspaper room later and give me the true story. I'm sure my minions, er, fellow club members would be excited to have you join us."

Practically running away from the weird girl, Keitaro is almost immediately waylaid by Ayano and before he knows it he has filled out a form to join the Musical club, who are putting on a musical version of Romeo and Juliette set in the Edo period for the culture festival.
After school he shows up for the first gathering and is found to be a poor singer. Naru and Yoshiko are also there for 'reasons'. Ayano convinces Keitaro to take singing lessons. First lesson: swimming after school. The other two girls are shocked at this suggestion they just happened to overhear but plot to sabotage the assignation rather than show they were eavesdropping.

After the Swimming club has left, Keitaro and Ayano head towards the pool. Yoshiko managed to get the girls' locker room locked so Ayano will not be able to get to her swimsuit.
"It seems like I'm locked out. I'll change in the boys' room with you, Keitaro."
Keitaro begins to sputter and protest but is overridden. "Don't peak now, you naughty boy. This is for your training, nothing else."
Steadfastly staring at the door while he hears the seductive sound of cloth sliding over lush girl skin, Keitaro tries to keep things under control.
"Oops, I dropped my top" Keitaro gets a brief look as Ayano appears in his field of vision. It is enough and blood that would have come out his nose goes somewhere else, distracting him from wondering how Ayano managed to drop her top at his feet from all the way over where she was changing.
Charging out of the locker room trying to hide his inconvenience Keitaro sees Naru, who looks surprised, stumbles back and falls into the pool with a small scream. Without thinking Keitaro jumps in to help the flailing girl. After helping her up he cannot help but notice how the soaked school uniform looks very good on her, even more than the minimal pink floral bikini Ayano shows up in a few moments later. Swimming is forgotten as Keitaro offers to help Naru home, lending her his jacket to cover herself.
The paper's headlines the next day "Idol terrorizes innocent boys" with a picture of Ayano in the locker room looking at Keitaro's back. Keitaro hopes desperately that no one recognizes him. The evil mutterings of the other boys convinces him otherwise.

The next couple of weeks are mostly uneventful as Ayano tries to salvage her reputation. Volleyball is a strong comeback as she poses and jiggles alluringly, even outshining Yoshiko's flamboyant and obvious attempts. Naru plays up her tsuntsun and berates Keitaro when she stumbles and falls into him while diving for a ball. in cooking class some time later her nikujaga makes for a good apology, barely edging out Yoshiko's as the best. Ayano has spent too much time in idol training to learn how to cook properly and manages to burn hers, though Keitaro dutifully and manfully tastes it and compliments it.
While eating their stew, Yoshiko declares she wishes to inverview Keitaro about school life for her new column. Naru invites him over to her place to play games and try her curry while Ayano invites him along to a training session at her agency to see how idols work. Naru and Ayano get distracted making catty remarks at eachother and as things escalate Keitaro looks less and less comfortable until he excuses himself to do the dishes, promising to show up and do the interview after school.


Final thoughts:
It went better than I had hoped. Naru's player initially started to play her as a bit pervy and Ayano was not particularly pervy after the pool incident so I wondered if we had made a mistake and would have to replace some of their abilities to fit the personalities they were developing. Naru calmed down once H was reminded that this Naru is basically that Naru only premeditated. I expected some differences to show up and the pregens were really just there to give people some idea of what the game was about without having to spend hours in character creation (it sounds weird with how simple the system is but these guys would very easily manage it) and not intended to be a straightjacket.
In short, everyone immediately jumped into it and seemed to be having a great time. H, who was the one we were most 'worried' was doing just as well as E, who L and I felt would take to this game like a duck to water (and he did). L's only complaint was that the other pregens also seemed fun and it was hard to choose between them.
The biggest problem was resisting the urge to roll dice for everything. Coming from fairly dice-heavy systems some of us had to realize that the one roll was for the whole scene and you didn't need to make three or four different rolls at every juncture to see if you managed X or could do Y. I even had a small note on my other notes reading "ONLY 1 ROLL" to remind myself.
In short: everything was fun and easy (thanks, Rainy) and everyone expects U to fit right in next week.

Âmesang
2016-01-14, 01:58 AM
Please please please make this the game's official currency. =3
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/sasami.png
Heck, you've got me wanting to play any game as "Little" Washu…

Faily
2016-01-14, 11:58 AM
I'm sure we could make that into the currency. :smallbiggrin:

Overall very fun first session. It's a really easy system to learn and play with.

Douche
2016-01-14, 05:02 PM
Notice me senpai

Seto
2016-01-16, 06:05 PM
Out of curiosity, what were the other pregens ?

Lentrax
2016-01-16, 06:18 PM
Dojikko Meganekko maybe? Or an Ojou Class President?

Or a Cuckoolander anything.

BWR
2016-01-16, 07:45 PM
alrighty then




imouto ojou-sama

Snobby and cultured and rich as anything, Yuki is Keitaro's little sister by one year. Due to their parents' situation and economic troubles when the children were younger, Yuki was adopted by the well-to-do Sairenji family, friends of her father, and raised as their own. It has been ten years since the siblings last saw each other and Yuki has missed her big brother terribly. she has unrealistic memories of how cool he was and unreaslitic expectations about how he will treat her once they finally meet again. Against her adoptive parents' wishes she did not go to a private high school but entered Ouran in order to be reunited with her onii-chan. There is just one little thing getting in the way of this renunion: these shameless hussies that continually throw themselves at him. Yuki is determined to show Keitaro that they are not worthy of him and will stoop to any measure to show her superiority. Fortunately for her, Yuki has grown into an attractive young lady in the last ten years and is instantly noticed at school.
Now, if only onii-chan wil notice her.

I homebrewed an imouto/onee-san archetype to use for this. This is one of the pregens specifically designed for one of the players, and the other players instantly thought of him when they read it




dojikko yandere

Sadako is an odd duck of a girl with few friends. She is attractive but strangely unpopular. She is decent enough to talk to as long as she is not particularly interested in in the goings-on, but has an unfortunate tendency to get a bit too attached to things she likes. Attached enough that she does not want to let them go but hold on to them for all eternity and she gets very upset with anyone who gets in her way. It's a miracle she hasn't been arrested yet. Luckily (for everyone else) she is absurdly clumsy and is her own worst enemy. Maybe it's this clumsy, vulnerable side of her that will win Keitaro's heart. That and the death (or at heavy bruising) least of everyone in her way.



bokukko osananajimi

Akira is Keitaro's neighbor and the first friend he made when they moved to town after giving up Yuki. Akira was always something of a tomboy and it took a while before Keitaro realized she was actually a girl, something he still seems to forget from time to time. Akira has been in love with him for years now and thinks it is high time he gets it through that thick head of his. She may not be the prettiest girl in school, or the brightest or the sportiest or richest but there is no one who knows Keitaro as well as she. If pressed, Akira might actually admit to feeling insecure compared to the other girls but she refuses to give up without a fight. She has an advantage in that she already has a foot inside the door, so to speak, being his best friend. If only she can get out of the friendzone...


meganekko iincho

Himewari is the class rep for 2E, a responsibility she takes very seriously. Strict, very proper and continually ensures that everyone follows the rules. While most people respect her academic achievements few actually like her. Keitaro, in spite of his occasionally lax attitude, has caught Himewari's eye with his warmth and helpfulness. He happily lends a hand with whatever task needs doing and never complains and will often defend Himewari's actions in class when people start grumbling that she is too strict and humorless. Himewari really wants a boyfriend but there is a little problem: the other girls. It's bad enough that she feels they are prettier than her but the worst thing is that they continually flout the rules. it's time to show everyone what a real woman looks like!




gaijin sportstar

Maria is a classic European beauty (blonde and blue eyes) that moved to Japan a few years ago. she has teh most adorable French accent and an knock-out figure on the field. she's still a bit uncertain about the finer details of Japanese language and customs but makes up for her weakness in Japanese by being unbeatable in sports. As the only foreigner in school and very beautiful on top of that she is is to notice and desired by most of the guys, while girls are often jealous of her. Keitaro has come to her attention after he helped out at a sports meet last year and being a nice guy without any ulterior motives, she fell for him instantly and Maria pursues her love interest with the same drive and enthusiasm she puts into her sports.


miko martial artist (

Kaori grew up in a strict, minimalist temple/dojo. The family has a long and honorable tradition of martial arts that stretches back centuries. Kaori is the heir to their secret technique, a most serious duty that requires immense skill and commitment. In addition to daily grueling training regimes and her education, Kaori has become a miko in the nearby temple to help purify her spirit. She takes her duties seriously and it's a daily grind to get through everything, but recently a bright spot has shown up: Keitaro.
He is so calm and relaxed and supportive that Kaori has fallen fhopelessly in love with him. Kaori looks upon the other girls as enemies in war and she will show everyone that she is the strongest and the only worth mate for Keitaro. Truth to tell, the other girls are only a distraction from the most diffiult task: convincing Daddy that Keitaro is a man worthy of her and the Ishikawa family.



genki sukeban

Chiyo is somewhat boyish and a bit rough around the edges and has more energy than a hummingbird on speed. Chiyo has a bad reputation in school since she hangs out with the delinquents, and people are intimidated by her exaggerated approach to life. It does not help that she has little patience for school work or fitting in in society. Chiyo is not actually mean-spirited, she just doesn't quite understand other people or that they are not quite as tough as she. she hasn't quite grown out of the 'she hits you because she likes you' stage from pre-school. this makes things a bit awkward for her, but she never gives up and never takes 'no' for an answer. Neither does she accept ' no, help! I don't wanna!' Keitaro is her most recent crush and Chiyo barely notices the other girls as she surges ahead to sweep Keitaro off his feet.


kuudere cuckoolander

Kasumi is pretty, quiet and calm and never shows emotions on her marble face. She has participated on the occasions people have tried to engage her in conversation or get her to join class activities but always makes weird comments like "wouldn't it be better if they were beetles" during the class's production of Hamelt, or the time she tried to walk on her hands an entire day (forgetting she wore a skirt until Furutani Himewari lectured her about her indecent behavior) In short, Kasumi is a strange sort. She has enough human emotions to realize that she and Keitaro would be a good couple. Her understanding of love and her approach to winning Keitaro's heart are rather untraditional but she is at the very least a memorable character. Perhaps Keitaro will appreciate a girl who isn't as exaggeratedly clingy or boring as the other girls.

Seto
2016-01-17, 03:54 AM
They're neat ! Had I been a player in that game, I would probably have gone with either Yuki or Akira. Keep us updated, it's a refreshing change from D&D readings !

BWR
2016-01-21, 08:57 AM
It's a new school day and after first period Keitaro sits talking to Shuu while the girls crowd around. A beautiful young girl sweeps majestically into class, goes straight over to Keitaro and gives him a big hug. The girls make shocked noises and all the guys hate Keitaro even more now that this new hottie takes a liking to him without even introducing herself.
"Wha... wha... wha...what?" Keitaro stammers looking bewildered.
"Do you not recognize me, onii-chan?" Yuki says, pouting.
"Onii-chan?" the other girls echo as one. "How come we didn't know of this?"
Keitaro haltingly lays out the sad family history.
"And I transferred here to see my onii-chan again!" Yuki says proudly.
"A little sister transfer student: will his luck never end?" come the disgusted mutterings of the other boys in class.
"Onii.chan, show me around school. I am new here and do not want to get lost." Yuki says, grabbing Keitaro's arm.
Instantly seizing the opportunity to score points with Keitaro, Yoshiko grabs his other arm and drags the two away.
Ayano and Naru tag along trying to making spiteful comments at each other on the way. Ayano is quickly waylaid by her fan club that want to introduce her to new members, get selfies with her, etc. She sees Keitaro disappear with the other girls but can only smile and pretend to not notice.
Yoshiko turns on the charm and tries to make friends with Yuki, who is not given an excuse to find fault with her.

During lunch Keitaro has the curry and after trying it Yuki decides that her big brother has poor taste, and is sorely disappointed by the quality and choice of cakes at the school cafeteria . Yoshiko decides to make lunch for him tomorrow. Shuu, Keitaro's BFF, comments that they need to form a study group since Keitaro sucks in English. The girls immediately latch on to the idea and decide that they will have a session at Keitaro's place after club activities that evening.
During musical club after school Ayano continues Keitaro's singing lessons.
"It's a bit embarrassing to stand on stage and sing as poorly as I do," he protests.
"Time for some more private lessons, then" she responds sweetly, ushering Keitaro out to an empty classroom.
Naru seethes but trusts to luck that something will get in the way of Ayano's plans (it doesn't) and Yoshiko tries unsuccessfully to get some measurements from Keitaro.
Yuki observes the machinations of the girls and decides to change the script for "Romeo and Juliette" to sabotage the girls' efforts, but is informed she must be a member of the club to effect changes in the script. She tsks but decides that the Chess Club is more her speed - she'll find some other way to sabotage Ayano's obvious and improper efforts.
Finally alone, Ayano instructs Keitaro in the basics of singing. "Singing is all about breathing properly, Keitaro-kun. Here, feel how my stomach and chest expand," she says, taking his hands and placing them on her. Keitaro blushes furiously and stammers something about how cannot possibly do this.
"Oh, nonsense! Here, put your arms around me and feel the whole thing." She turns and pulls his arms around here, placing his hands on a couple of soft mounds.
Keitaro flees the scene, after a few moments of shock.
"Oh, shoot." she pouts.

After club, Keitaro leads the group to his house and sets everyone in the living room, then goes to the kitchen to get something to drink (so he can run upstairs and quickly clean his room). While Keitaro is busy, Yoshiko sneaks up to his room and starts rumamging around. "Tch. What a boring and bland taste in porn he has," she thinks looking at his poorly hidden hoard. Self-consciously she compares her bust size to the girls in the magazines and takes a few pictures just in case she feels the need to embarrass him a bit some time in the future.
Yuki followed Keitaro to the kitchen to help him carry refreshments. She plans to trip and spill juice all over Ayano, hoping to drive her out. Naru somehow manages to get in the way (Splash Magnet ftw) and gets her bosom all sticky and wet and shows off her assets to great advantage. She borrows the bathroom to clean up and gets one of Keitaro's shirts to wear. Keitaro is rather distracted the rest of the evening by the sight of Naru in his shirt so he doesn't get much work done.
The next day at lunch Yoshiko presents her homemade bento with onigiri and Naru gives more cookies to thank Keitaro for the loan of his shirt. Yuki shows up with a fancy baguette and two slices of cake. The group talks about the upcoming class trip to Kyoto and the onsen they will be staying at. Yuki inwardly seethes at the situation but keeps her pleasant face on.

The trip to Kyoto is generally uneventful. The prized seat next to Keitaro is taken by Shuu but the girls bully their way into the seats before and behind. After getting settled in their rooms the gang decide to hit the hot springs before dinner.
"Why don't we try the mixed baths, Keitaro?" Yoshiko suggests.
"M..mm..mixed baths?"
"Of course. It's the old way of doing things and we're in Kyoto - when in Rome."
"It seems a bit weird."
"We'll be wearing bathing suits."
"I guess..."
Yoshiko and Naru are already in the spring when Shuu and Keitaro enter. There is an awkward silence as they hear the noise from the girls and boys in the other springs. Ayano comes in accidentally dropping her towel showing everything (she 'forgot' her swimsuit). Shuu quickly exits the spring leaving a pink spot in the pool and Keitaro crosses his legs and looks very determinedly up to the night sky.
"My, the star is beautiful tonight! Stars. Stars are beautiful."
The other girls make outraged exclamations while Ayano smugly puts her towel on again and gets into the water. It has an unfortunate tendency to come undone, much to everyone else's discomfort.
During dinner Naru manages to get a spot next to Keitaro and gets him talking about his favorite baseball team. While not particularly interested in sports, Naru is good at feigning interest. Ayano and Yoshiko look on enviously, trying to lean over their neighbors to gain Keitaro's attention.

The next day the class visits a temple. The girls notice a luck draw and try their luck. Ayano and Naru get "Average luck" but Yoshiko pulls "Great luck in love" - the red string of fate tying her and her ancient love together.
"What did you get, Keitaro?" Naru asks.
"Um, 'Mixed luck: great complications'"

The girls notice a miko holding a small bow and a padded arrow. "We're celebrating the 300th anniversary of a great love story here. If you hit your heart's desire with the arrow you will be guarenteed a happy marriage."
A brief moment of panicked scrambling for their wallets to pay the fee. Yoshiko grabs the bow first but Ayano and Naru get in the way and spoil her aim. Perhaps Yoshiko will have a long-lasting relationship with a bush. Ayano snatches the bow out of her hands and takes a new arrow and hits Keitaro in the back of his head.
"Ow!" Keitaro rubs his head and looks around. Ayano stands there beaming, bow in hand.
"What's going on?" Keitaro asks.
"Didn't you hear what the miko said? About eternal love?"
"So why did you hit me?"
Ayano stops, looking surprised, then stammers a bit about "If you'd like, I mean, it was sort of a thing that just happened..." she blushes and looks away, her eyes coincidentally falling on Shuu.
Misunderstanding the situation, Keitaro offers to help her get to know Shuu better.
"You idiot! You don't understand anything!" Ayano slaps Keitaro and storms off, leaving the bewildered Protagonist-kun wondering what he did wrong.



As we suspected, U immediately chose Sairenji Yuki, and he seemed a bit weirded out that we had made that character with him in mind. As we also suspected, he is playing the jealous little sister who wants attention after a long period of neglect, not anything more serious. In any case, he fit right in and played the character perfectly. Not being in the same class will limit his opportunities to be in certain scenes, like the school trip. He took the role of Shuu to have something to do, and one of his abilities, "Home turf advantage", was designed to take this into account (once per episode the sister may make an unopposed Allure or Skill roll to win a VP so long as she was not in a scene that granted VPs with the other girls).
This session saw a bit less roleplaying and a bit more "I try to do X", especially by H who is a bit too stuck in the mindset of trying to use his abilities and finding and excuse to use them rather than trying to do stuff and then seeing if his abilities can be used. He also seems to be forgetting the Tsundere and trying to make her into a pervert. He is aware of this and by his own admission is trying to move a bit beyond his usual natural inclination to play the perv. So no need to switch out an archetype, though I did bring the possibility up.
The roleplaying problems are at least as much my fault as everyone else's for not pushing things and leading with a good example - lack of provided detail and roleplay has always been one of my main faults as a GM. Luckily, L often steps in and and tries to help things along.
Still, everyone seemed to have fun and next week we can try to do better.

Faily
2016-01-22, 08:29 PM
Will certainly slap the other players a bit more next session in trying for more interesting scenes, rather than "what can I do to get the most bonuses". Already trying to lead by example by doing things I'm not very good at (making a lunch requires Skill, my weakness!).

BWR
2016-01-28, 07:51 AM
In the afternoon of the same day as they visited the temples, Ayano seeks out Keitaro and asks him out to dinner. "It's a team-building thing for the stars of the musical," she says, showing no regret for slapping him earlier.
"Oh. Uh, OK. sounds good." Keitaro is a bit nonplussed at her change of temperament but decides not to bring up the issue.
Ayano is waiting in the entry of the onsen in a cute dress when Keitaro and Shuu show up.
"Hi, where are the others?" Keitaro asks.
"Others?"
"Yeah. The musical club was going out for dinner, weren't we?"
Seeing her plans of getting Keitaro all to her self falling apart, Ayano rallies. "I'll go see what's keeping them." She stalks off, fuming at the denseness of her crush. She goes to the room she shares with the other girls, grabs Yoshiko and grits her teeth in what could not be called a smile. "Do you want to come out and eat with us? Keitaro and me and Shuu."
Maybe she can use Yoshiko to distract Shuu. "Naru seems to be coming down with a cold, so she's staying behind."

The group decides to go to a Korean barbecue. The girls have a brief shoving match to see who gets to sit opposite Keitaro (since that idiot ****-blocker Shuu sat down next to him), with Ayano winning. The group sits and eat and discuss plans for the future. Keitaro is boring and wants to become a civil servant, while Yoshiko dreams of becoming a photographer. Ayano is focusing on her idol career and Shuu was overlooked. The girls try discretely to play footsie with Keitaro, who is cool as a cucumber and not only does not show that something is happeneing but reciprocates. The reason for this becomes clear when Keitaro gets up to use the little boys' room and Shuu had to get up to let him out, and the girls could still feel the foot they were playing with.
Shocked, then dirty looks and blushes are exchanged. After Keitaro comes back from the restroom, Shuu steers the conversation towards Yoshiko's rather questionable newspaper articles.
"Oh ho? You don't believe in the supernatural, Shuu?"
"No."
"But you do, Keitaro?" she asks, turning to him with puppy-dog eyes.
"Er, not really?"
Yoshiko's face falls. He hurriedly adds "I mean, I suppose it would be weird if all those stories had no basis but I haven't seen any ghosts or aliens."
"You haven't seen the ghost in 2A? Right, ghost hunting trip when we get home!" Yoshiko unilaterally decides. The boys dare not say anything against her and Ayano is not going to let anyone spend time alone with Keitaro if she can help it so she tags along.

Back at the onsen Shuu suggests another trip to the hot springs. By some stroke of luck the shared spring is empty again - maybe it's just late in the evening and most people are getting ready for bed. Ayano is modestly dressed in a minimal bikini while Yoshiko just uses her school swimsuit.
Both guys sit with their legs crossed, trying hard not to stare. After some awkward small talk, Keitaro offers to get people something to drink.
"Oh, and Yoshiko? There are some great pictures of the city you can see from around the corner. Come and get a few shots for the paper."
"OK"
Inwardly Keitaro gives Shuu the thumbs up - his plan to help Shuu and Ayano get together is simple but hopefully successful. He can't shake the growing feelings he has for her but as a buddy he has to step back and not get in the way of what is obviously mutual attraction.
He and Yoshiko wander the onsen for some ten minutes or so before returning with drinks to see two very embarrassed people sitting silently in the water. The evening ends without any resolution either way.

The gang arrive home late in the afternoon the next day. With their parents out Yuki decides to take Keitaro out to eat. He is her precious onii-chan but he is hopelessly unclassy. A diamond in the rough, in need of polishing. It's about time he realizes he is better than just a civil servant wannabe and has more class than the hussies throwing themselves shamelessly and gracelessly at his feet. She has rented a proper suit for him and made reservations at La Petite Pêche, a fancy French restaurant in town. She instructs him in how to pronounce the French and the intricacies of the dishes (the menu has Japanese as well as French but precious little in the way of details). Keitaro is a bit uncomfortable in the fancy clothes and surroundings but mans up and tries to not make a fool of himself.
The food is excellent though unusual and conversation is surprisingly easy, focusing mostly Q & A about the intervening years.
"I'm glad you came back, Yuki. I really have missed you. It's so nice to know we still get along."
Yuki blushes and her poise cracks ever so slightly. "Of course you did. I am your precious little sister, after all."
The live music changes from background to a waltz and Keitaro suddenly understands why the restaurant had a big empty area in the middle of it.
"Brother, ask me to dance."
"But I don't know how to dance," Keitaro protests, starting to panic.
"Nonsense. A waltz is just a matter of being able to count." Yuki stands up and extends her hand. Honestly, she needs to do something about this shy and hesitant nature of his. Make him suave and confident and no woman will have a chance.
Reluctantly, Keitaro is led to the floor. Yuki places his arms properly then helps him lead. Fortunately, Keitaro seems made for this and Yuki is an excellent teacher and the two pull off a respectable dance.
"See, onii-chan? You are made for this. That was quite good, especially for a first time."
"It's just a bit embarrassing. People probably think we are together."
"We are," Yuki replies before realizing what he meant. Her face becomes bright pink and she quickly returns to the table. That was not what she had thought of when planning this night. It was meant to be dinner out with family, not a date!
"Get us dessert, onii-chan," she orders, regaining her cool.
Keitaro decides to get the créme brûlée, seeming to recall that Yuki liked pudding.
"Excellent choice," she says smiling.
Throughout the evening she has been nothing but a dignified, classy lady but her front slips a bit as she really enjoys her dessert, looking much more like the little sister he remembers.
Keitaro walks Yuki home, thanking her for a lovely time.
Yuki is left wondering about what he said about them being a couple. She firmly believes only a proper lady is worthy of her beloved brother but cannot actually think of anyone better suited than her. Feeling disturbed and confused she goes to bed.

It's a dark and stormy night when the group, minus Naru who is home with a cold, assemble for their ghost hunt. Yuki decides to be the scared little girl who needs her brother's protection. She immediately clings to his arm and prepares to fend off the other girls who might try the same. Yoshiko leads everyone to classroom 2A. They hear some weird noises within and everybody starts to get a bit nervous. Awkwardly holding his sister in one hand and the flashlight in the other, Keitaro opens the door and a shapeless mass falls on him. Everybody screams. Yuki clings tighter, Ayano tries take hold of Keitaro's other arm but is stymied both by Yuki and Shuu (who is suddenly there to catch her as Ayano bounces off Yuki).
"It's the ghost of 2A!" Yoshiko exclaims.
"I don't think so," Keitaro replies, looking at the twitching thing on the ground.
"Sure it is. It's her hair, come back to haunt us and strangle us."
"It's a wig," he says, picking it up. "with a little toy inside to make it move."
"Huh." Yoshiko looks unconvincingly astounded.
Ayano is disentangling herself from Shuu, and Yuki lets go of Keitaro. She had intended to play the scared girl but did not expect to be genuinely spooked and now, just like a cat after a spectacularly failed jump, tries to exude an air of "I meant to do that". The three scowl at Yoshiko.
"You did this!" Ayano says accusingly.
"I did not!" Yoshiko protests. Keitaro waves the wig and shines his flashlight in the room, highlighting the portable mp3 player and speakers that are playing spooky sounds.
"OK, maybe a little."
"So much for your ghost, Yoshiko," Shuu says.
"But it's there. Honestly!"
"Maybe we'll have better luck in the boiler room."
The group go down but don't find anything and end up talking about scary movies, getting more excited than scared. Finally, since it is very late, they decide to go home. Yoshiko's proof of the existence of the supernatural will have to wait.


A better session than last time in a number of ways. U was able to win a few VPs and show off what Yuki was all about, something he complained he wasn't able to do last session. There was more IC talk and the players took more initiative to create scenes and events, making things a lot easier for me. It was also a very short and lazy session. H was sick and U came late and we were all in a mood for just normal socializing so once the ghost hunt scene was played out we just hung around and talked about movies we liked. Like the best discussions, we can disagree about what movies are good or bad and why, and come away feeling that we are enriched by the disagreement rather than annoyed or upset or just unable to understand the other side.
One thing I really like about this game is how easy it is to prepare sessions. I can sit back and watch harem shows and call it prep work. No need to plan encounters, stat opponents or worry about deep plots and politics. Just make a few notes about what I want to happen, shamelessly steal scenarios and characters from any show I can, and I'm good to go.
Next episode: Summer is just around the corner, and we all know what happens in harem comedy summer episodes.

Quiver
2016-01-29, 05:53 AM
I don't really like harem, but I have to say; this journal -and the game system- seem pretty entertaining! Looking forward to Summer.

Faily
2016-02-03, 04:28 PM
Today was one of my favorite sessions, so do look forward to the episode-summary. :smallbiggrin:

How I wish this was a real anime, because it would've been so fun to watch.

BWR
2016-02-04, 08:04 AM
"I think we should check up on Naru," Keitaro comments to his friends one day during lunch. "She has been absent from school all week, after all. Also, the teacher asked that I bring some handouts to her."
"That shounds nice, Keitaro," Ayano says with a brilliant smile. "You're so nice to your friends."
"It's a date," Yoshiko says, hoping it will not be one for anyone else.
"Maybe we should bring flowers, to show our good wishes," Keitaro muses.
"Sure. Yellow roses would be appropriate," Yuki says. The moron might have given her red roses without thinking if left on his own. Honestly, he really needs to put some effort into thinking about these things.

When the doorbell rings, Naru is busy wrapped in her quilt and playing Super Ninja Dragon Warrior. Puffy face, red-eyed, rumpled PJs and disheveled hair she opens the door, sees Keitaro and slams the door in a panic. A couple of frantic seconds of trying to smooth her hair and freshen up pass and she reopens.
"Keitaro," she stammers.
"And friends," Yoshiko interjects, sticking her head over Keitaro's shoulder.
"Wha...what are you doing here?"
"Teacher wanted us to drop off some handouts. And we were a bit concerned. You've been sick since the onsen."
"Oh. Uh. Come in, I guess."
Naru's apartment is a modest little one room affair with a small bathroom and a kitchenette barely big enough for one person. The room is surprisingly empty and clean. No clothes in piles on the floor, a minimal amount of books and even the TV and consoles that dominate one wall are orderly instead of spread all over the place. Naru smiles inwardly. All is going according to plan. It just took Keitaro a bit longer to drop by than she had thought.
"So, you seem to be doing pretty well, Naru," Yuki comments.
"Yes, I should be well enough to come back to school on Monday."
"Have you been eating well?" Ayano asks, looking at the couple days worth of dishes on the kitchen counter. "It looks like you've been living on cup noodles and cookies."
Naru whistles innocently.
"Do you live here alone, Naru?" Keitaro asks.
"Yes. My parents are in Europe working for the company but I wanted to stay here."
"Isn't it lonely?"
"A bit, but you can come over and keep me company any time you want."
"Anyway, I had intended to make some rice gruel for you," Keitaro says, "but you seem a bit too healthy to need that."
"I can happily eat your rice gruel, Keitaro. No one has made it for me since I was little. But I haven't been out shopping for a while, so I'll need to go out and get some stuff."
Naru is pulling on her shoes before the others manage to convince her she should stay at home while they go out shopping.
"While you're out, could you pick up the new Amazing Awesome Adventures XVII Super Gold? It came out a few days ago and I haven't felt like going out. You guys can go shopping and I'll show Keitaro how my kitchen works."
"Sure," Ayano says. "Yoshiko, you pick that up and I'll go shopping for food with Keitaro and Yuki can help Naru clean up."
"No, Ayano, I think you would better suited to pick up the game. I'm liable to forget the right name while your amazing memory for useless...er...random trivia makes you uniquely suited to getting the right game. I can help Keitaro with the shopping."
"Onii-chan, come with me; we're going shopping" Yuki says. Yuki is used to command and almost without realizing it Keitaro follows her out the door."
At the store Yuki pick out fatty tuna, high-end vegetables and rice, with fruit for a caramalized fruit salad for dessert. Keitaro winces inwardly at the pain in his wallet but says nothing.
Back at the apartment Yoshiko and Naru have cleaned up the kitchen in silence, giving each other sullen glances that turn into mutual commiseration that neither manage to get their hooks into Keitaro. That annoying little sister is doing too good of a job of getting in everybody's way. At least they managed to prevent Ayano from getting hold of him today.
Keitaro and Yuki make dinner but the small kitchen means they get in each other's way, resulting in burned fish, dry rice and caramelized vegetables with a fruit-peel salad (Keitaro managed to throw out the bowl of fruit instead of the bowl of peelings).
"Wow, this is really amazing, Keitaro," Ayano says with a smile. She is a good enough actor that she sounds convincing but everyone knows she doesn't really think that.
"It's the thought that counts," is the best Naru can say. Though she is saddened by the loss of good ingredients she is still pleased by the fact that now Keitaro will feel almost obligated to her to make up for this fiasco.
Embarrassed beyond all measure, despite the girls' attempts at eating the disaster, he orders pizza for everyone. Maybe he'll have to find a part time job to make up for the dent in his wallet.
"How about we have an extra cooking class?" Naru asks. "I can teach people how to make curry."
"That sounds great, Naru," Keitaro answers. "I do like curry."

A couple days later they all gather at Yuki's apartment. It's larger than Naru's, and fancier. It is reservedly decorated with taste and refinement. A few replicas of classical paintings on the wall (proper paintings, not posters), a bookshelf with classic and edifying works, a smallish TV and pleasant lighting. Yuki had the best ingredients delivered from her normal grocer and has stocked up on Mövenpick for dessert. The kitchen is just barely large enough to accommodate all but one of the gang and Naru instructs everyone, resulting in four very good curries.
"Wow, you really are an amazing cook, Naru. I think this is the best curry I've had." Keitaro exclaims after a few bites.
Naru blushes furiously. "I just did it because you came to visit me the other day, no other reason. It's not because I like you or anything. Anyway, you guys did all the work."
"But you directed us. Are you planning on becoming a chef?"
"I hadn't thought of it. I'm not that good, really."
"Oh but you are. I would probably eat at your restaurant every day if you opened one." Keitaro, oblivious as he is, has no idea how this sounds to the others.
The other girls shoot murderous glances at Naru but mutter similar sentiments.
"Oh, but that is too expensive, Keitaro - eating out every day. You would be better off finding a woman who is a good cook and marrying her."
"Haaaa, I guess. I hadn't thought of that."
"Anyway," Yoshiko interrupts before Naru can plant the idea any more firmly in Keitaro's thick skull, "Summer vacation is coming up. What sort of plans do people have? I'm going to get my summer homework out of the way ASAP so I have the rest of the vacation to spend however I want without guilt."
"Onii-chan, could you help me with mine?" Yuki asks. "After all, you've done this before, so you should know it already."
"it's settled then," Yoshiko says. "Study group at my place."

The summer homework group arrive at Yoshiko's house, a medium sized place where she lives with her parent and older sister. Her room, hastily cleaned up for guests, shows that a weird person lives here. Her bookshelf is full of books by people like Däniken, her walls covered in posters of annunaki and Illuminati, her videos consist of foreign stuff like X-files (along with a slightly disturbing book titled "Truth in Television: how the X-files got it right"
Yuki does an excellent job of keeping Keitaro's attention, leaving the rest to work on their own. Seeing their attempts at getting Keitaro to talk would be for naught, the girls decide to put insignificant effort and get everything done today.
Late in the evening, after the homework is done and they are trying to decide on what to do for dinner, they finally get their chance to talk.
"I have a charity concert coming up," Ayano remarks. "Would you like to come and watch me, Keitaro? And you other guys as well, of course," she adds after a significant pause.
"Sure, we'd love to."
"Great! I have some free tickets for you all."
"For Shuu as well?" Naru asks.
"......Yes, for Shuu as well. How could you think I would forget Shuu?" Ayano responds with a brittle smile.
"Excellent!"
"There will be a beach party for certain guests afterwards, so make sure to bring along something to swim in."

The concert is a success and Ayano spends a great deal of time signing autographs and having her picture taken with fans before the party. Shuu shows up with a bunch of red roses and a goofy, hopeful smile on his face. Ayano thanks him and puts the flowers on a table with all the others. The party is mostly older people in the idol and entertainment industry, the various up and coming idols and a few friends. The gang is mostly left to their own devices and Ayano is hustled around meeting with producers and executives and colleagues/rivals, doing brief photo sessions in her yellow polka dot bikini and generally has little time for clinging to Keitaro. Maybe inviting them along was a bad idea she thinks ruefully as she sees the other girls vie for Keitaro's attention. It doesn't help that Shuu always seems to pop up in front of her and wave or try to talk to her.
Shuu is not only supported in his efforts by Keitaro (who still believes that Ayano likes Shuu back) but also by Naru who sees Shuu as a useful tool to hinder her greatest rival. unfortunately for Naru, she is too concerned with sabotaging Ayano to notice Yoshiko slipping away with Keitaro down the beach. Yuki fell victim to the dessert table and turned her back on onii-chan for just a few minutes while getting some cake and turned back to find him gone.
"The sea is lovely at night, isn't it?"
"It sure is, Yoshiko."
"Does it bring back memories?"
"Er, not really."
"Are you sure? No memories of the two of us walking along the beach in moonlight?"
"I'm pretty sure this is the first time."
"In this life, yes, but in our previous life we did this."
"....Huh?"
Yoshiko turns to face him, looking deeply and seriously into his eyes.
"You and I were inseparable. The Black and Crimson Flames of the Galactic Sun Lords. Don't you remember?"
Keitaro briefly wonders if they were childhood friends and she's referring to some game they played that he has forgotten.
"Solomon..."
"Wha?"
"Solomon..."
"Solomon?"
"Solomon, are you sure you don't remember?" Her big eyes are getting bright and seem to be filling with tears.
"Uh, no. Maybe. I'm not sure," not sure how to respond. Despite the weird direction the conversation has taken there is something oddly enchanting about Yoshiko and the earnest way she talks about these strange things.
"I see. Your memories are still sealed. We will just have to be patient. Have you tried hypnosis?"
"Hypnosis?" Keitaro realizes he is doing little but repeating what Yoshiko says but is having a hard time following her train of thought.
"Yes, hypnosis. It can be used to help bring out repressed memories of past lives."
"No, I can't say I have."
Yoshiko straightens and squares her shoulders. "Right, I'll find you a good psychic hypnotist to help unlock your true self, Sol...Keitaro."
"I really don't know what to say."
"You can thank me later. For now we should get back to the party." She holds out her hand. "My night vision is terrible and I don't want to stumble and fall."
"Oh. OK." Keitaro slowly, hesitatingly takes Yoshiko's hand and leads her back to the light.
Her hand is so soft and warm he thinks and he is so engrossed with the sensation and the realization he is holding hands with a girl that he completely fails to recall that Yoshiko had no problem leading them out here in the first place.
The others notice the two coming back and everyone wonders if Yoshiko has taken the lead.
"So," Naru asks with forced enthusiasm, "what did you two talk about."
"Uh, stuff," Keitaro answers, blushing.
" 'stuff' "
"Yeah. Like, uh, what we are going to wear for the, uh, summer festival. Stuff." Keitaro says, thinking quickly.
"Indeed," Yoshiko says, smoothly accepting the cover story. "Keitaro has graciously offered to help me pick out a yukata."
"I have?"
"Yes, you have."
"What are you wearing, Keitaro?" Ayano asks, managing to disentangle herself from old people and Shuu long enough to get into the conversation.
"A yukata, obviously," Yuki answers. "Right, onii-chan?"
"I don't have one."
"We shall have to remedy that. Shopping trip next week."

The gang, Shuu included, gather at the city's biggest retailer of traditional Japanese clothing and accessories. Inside they are treated to a feast for the eyes with bright colors, beautiful patterns and amazing detail.
Yuki already has a beautiful Yukata and is picking out one for Keitaro. She stands guard outside his changing booth to make sure the other girls do not 'accidentally' enter. The fact she sticks her head inside to make check his progress now and then is entirely beside the point. Their plans in that regard foiled, Naru and Yoshiko try on a bewildering variety of yukata and continually ask for Keitaro's opinions.
"How about this one, Ayano?" Shuu asks holding up a gorgeous crimson yukata with gold and silver flowers on it.
"That is ... really, really beautiful, actually." Though she hates to admit it, Shuu has done an excellent job of finding a yukata and she accepts it. It looks even better on her than expected and her look of pleasure and gratitude bring much encouragement to Shuu. At this rate she will end up with Shuu! Ayano resolves to up her game.
Keitaro gets a blue and white yukata which will match well with Yuki's which is dark blue at the bottom fading to white as it goes up, covered with butterflies.
"Happy birthday, onii-chan." Yuki says as she pulls out her wallet.
"'Birthday'?" the other girls echo. "It's your birthday today?"
"Last week, actually."
"And you didn't say anything?"
"I just didn't want to make a big deal of it."
The girls ignore his protestations of how it isn't important and turn away before the words are out of his mouth. Yoshiko is already picking out a netsuke to go along with his new clothes and Naru is ordering a baseball signed by the current line-up of the Tokyo Giants. Ayano resolves to order something special for him, wondering briefly if some limited edition hentai would be in order, but settles for ordering tickets to a Giant's game.
"We need to celebrate this, Keitaro," Ayano says. "Let's go have cake."
The gang head to a cake buffet and Yoshiko and Ayano manage to grab the coveted seats next to Protagonist-kun.
"Ooh, this one looks good. Here, Keitaro - aaaaa-n," Ayano says practically shoving a bite of cake in his mouth.
Not to be outdone, Yoshiko spears a random piece and holds it up to Keitaro's mouth "How about this one, Keitaro?"
Keitaro's poor little mind starts to melt as he gets dozens of indirect kisses from the girls, with Naru and Yuki fuming from their spots where they cannot reach him without practically climbing over the table.
Naru and Yuki silently plan their revenge for the summer festival.


Last night was a great session, probably the best yet. H was back and had really taken to heart the comments about trying to play the character first and use mechanics almost as a last resort. We realized L and I had made a bit of a mistake with Naru's character, giving her a -1 Skill and +1 Luck while giving her abilities that allowed her to use Skill instead of Luck. this, coupled with the fact that she has excelled on all Skill rolls so far lead us to switch the bonuses, leading to a more content player and a character that made more sense. H really shined as Naru last night. E/Ayano has been well in the lead VP-wise but failed at just about every roll this time around while the others are closing in. She is still in the lead but if U/Yuki contines the way things have been going she might actually be the victor. Yuki used her Conflict-based abilities to great effect this time around, being a cockblocker par excellence.
Everyone, especially E, was great at taking the initiative to creating new scenes to work with and playing their characters, describing how they succeed and how they fail. I hardly have to do anything, I feel, and everybody seems to be having a great time, with constant laughs and giggles throughout the session, especially with Yoshiko showing her chuuni side.
I would never have tried running a game I didn't think would be appreciated but I didn't expect it to work this well.
Quite simply, while people seem to be enjoying my big Mystara game, this is the most fun we've had with a game in a while.

Seto
2016-02-04, 06:27 PM
This sounds like a cool session. I can imagine roleplaying the competition, or the dialogue on the beach (it must have been hilarious)

Faily
2016-02-04, 08:49 PM
Doing the beach-scene was fun. I knew I hadn't been so good at really getting the cray-cray of the chuunibyou character across, so I decided to really go for it this time around. :smallbiggrin:

BWR
2016-02-14, 04:31 AM
On a bright, warm summer day Naru and Keitaro go to a Tokyo Giants game. Naru is practically giddy that she has managed to get Keitaro all alone for an entire afternoon. The rest of the girls are displeased but Ayano, pulling strings and begging favors with her company, manages to get a gig with a little performance at the match and got hold of a couple extra tickets to help her rivals sabotage Naru's attempt at monopolizing Keitaro. Though the other girls did not manage to get tickets right next to Keitaro and Naru, a high school girl smiling and asking nicely can get things done and some nice guys switch places with Yuki and Yoshiko. Yuki would normally never be caught dead at a place as common and vulgar as a baseball game but she is giving it a chance since Keitaro is a fan (and she needs to make sure these hussies don't get too familiar with him).
Ayano, though she performs her number well, is sadly relegated to one of the VIP seats and unable to hold Keitaro's attention longer than her song lasted. Yuki tries to ask her brother about the rules of the game but is mostly ignored as he tries to pay attention to the game rather than her. Yoshiko, stuck on the opposite side of Yuki, gets little opportunity to do much of anything but her homemade bento are gratefully received and consumed between innings. After an exciting game which ended with the Giants winning, Naru presents the signed baseball she ordered last episode. Keitaro is moved and very grateful. In an attempt to rally, Yoshiko suggests they all go out to celebrate the Giants' victory at a karakoe place. Everyone thinks this sounds like a good idea.
"This is my first time in a place like this," Yuki comments, not terribly impressed by the place or selection of songs.
In her element, Ayano immediately pick out a love song duet and pulls Keitaro in to it. His lessons have paid off and he now can carry a tune and doesn't sound terrible. He needs a bit of work but is definitely improving. He may even be decent when it is time for the musical. Yoshiko and Naru tend towards various anime songs and sing these with gusto if not skill.
"No Mozart?" Yuki asks disapprovingly and settles for some golden oldies. She does manage to convince the other girls to do a quartet. Her plan is to get the others to reveal that they are terrible at working harmoniously in a group but the attempt fails as everyone works together surprisingly well.
Ayano, unsurprisingly, sings most songs, sings them best, and is most vividly showing off while singing. Keitaro, already beginning to get feelings for her, is unable to take his eyes off her.

The next day the gang meet up for a wrap-up and recap session of summer homework.
"So, we still have some summer vacation left. Is there anything we can do together?" Keitaro asks.
"I want to go to the beach," Yoshiko says wistfully, remembering her success a week ago.
"I want to go to an amusement park," Ayano counters, remembering her failure a week ago.
"Pools and the beach sound nice," Keitaro says.
"Nice, but crowded," Naru comments. And harder to get into amusing situations with other people around.
"The Sairenji family has a beach house and a private beach, I am sure we can use it for a few days."
"Awesome!"

The Sairenji chauffeur takes them in the family limo to the beach and will be back in two days to pick them up. The trip starts inauspiciously with rain, strong winds and low temperatures. Rather depressed the gang, who arrived in the early afternoon, take their bags inside and look around.
"Wow! This place is big," Shuu says looking around. "Your family sure is loaded."
"We are well off, certainly," Yuki answers. "First of all, rooms. You boys will take one, Naru and I across the hall, and Yoshiko and Ayano one door down."
"I was hoping to get in some beach time today," Ayano says, looking downcast.
"We have a hot tub and a sauna for just such days as these," Yuki informs them.

The hot tub is a bit of a tight squeeze for all six, but they manage. Ayano, predictably, has yet another minimal bikini but the one who steals the show is Shuu in his very minimal Speedo. Ayano manages to stumble onto Keitaro while getting in, giving him a good feel of her bosom on his arm.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Keitaro. Are you OK?"
"f-f-fine. Just fine. And so are you. Uh, I mean, are you OK?" He hopes the bubbles hide his discomfort.
"I'm fine. I'm just worried about this top. I haven't worn it before and I think it might be slightly transparent when wet. Can you see anything?" She jiggles her breasts with her hands. The guys are unable to look away until the outraged chorus from the other girls breaks the spell.
One cramped and pleasant/uncomfortable hot tub session later, the gang make dinner. Naru does her best and puts on a lovely spread and Yuki made sure to bring plenty of dessert.
"So what do we do in the evenings here? Are there games or something?" Shuu asks.
"Normally we listen to the classical music programs on the radio and read classics," she answers, waving a hand at the impressive bookshelves around the place.
"That's...edifying."
"I brought a Ouija board!" Yoshiko interjects.
"Shouldn't we do Kokkuri-san instead?"
"No. The Ouija is older and more powerful. And cooler."
Turning off the lights and lighting a few candles to set the mood, the gang gather around. Yuki decides to give this a miss commenting on the ridiculous nature of the game.
"So if this thing is in English, does that mean we have to ask the questions in English?" Keitaro wonders.
"No, the spirits speak Japanese," Yoshiko says.
"Do they answer in English?"
"Japanese."
"Wouldn't we be better off with..."
"Shut up and get with the game!"
The gang put their fingers on the planchette and start asking questions.
"Um, hello?" Ayano says apprehensively.
"Don't say 'Hello'. You're supposed to ask 'Is there anyone there?'" Yoshiko chides her.
"Is there anyone there?"
The planchette trembles a bit before slowly making its way towards 'Yes'. Ayano lets out a little yelp and tries to move closer to Keitaro.
"Will the weather be good tomorrow?" Yoshiko asks.
The planchette moves back to Yes.
"Oh how nice."
"Is there such a thing as reincarnation?" Yoshiko continues.
Yes.
"Huh," Keitaro says. "Imagine that."
"I told you. Anyway, next question: Is there a girl Keitaro likes?"
The girls seem a bit reluctant to find out in case the answer is No or worse, someone else than them. Hesitantly the planchette moves towards Yes. The mood around the table gets tenser. Keitaro looks a bit surprised and flushes.
"Who is she?"
The planchette seems to be undecided as if it is being pulled and pushed in different directions. The girls faces are fierce with concentration and their fingers seem liable to tear the planchette apart with the force of their fingers.
Deciding to ruin the mood, Yuki turns on the light and states: "It's late and I'm going to bed. The weather forecast says we will have good weather tomorrow, so I'm planning on getting up early to make the most of the day."
The interruption ruins everyone's concentration and the game ends. Everyone else follows Yuki's lead and decide to go to bed. Nothing much happens except Ayano who manages to walk into the boys' room. Keitaro is in the middle of stripping and hastily covers himself. He can't help but notice Ayano's PJ top is barely buttoned and made of very thin material.
"Oops. Sorry, boys," she says, giving them a good look (and getting a good one in return) before closing the door.
Shuu and Keitaro don't say much and lie awake a long time before finally drifting into sleep.

The next day is a perfect sunny summer day. Nary a cloud in sight, the temperature is hot but not oppressively so, the private beach is empty, and the water is warm. After a great breakfast by Naru, they head off to the beach. Ayano, as expected, has a tiny bikini (the better to have wardrobe malfunctions with), Yoshiko has on a sports bikini, Yuki has a tasteful one piece and Naru just wears her school swimsuit. To the girls, the sight Keitaro's toned body is a welcome relief from Shuu's Speedo, which leaves little to the imagination in the bright light.
With an entire day on the beach several activities take place. Yuki announces she will head to the neighboring summer home and see if the Yoshikawa boys are home and want to come over. Ayano has yet to learn how to tie bikini tops and promptly loses it in the water. Almost covering her breasts, she exits the water, goes to her bag (where she has spares) and changes with a towel wrapped around her waist that falls off just as she pulls it all the way up.
"Beach volleyball time," Yoshiko announces. Ayano, obviously concerned with preventing a repeat of the earlier incident, continually checks her top, twisting and adjusting it in suggestive ways, distracting the boys.
"Catch!" Naru yells, sending a powerful serve with the volleyball at Keitaro's head. It connects and sends him sprawling.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Keitaro. I thought you were paying attention to the game."
"I'm fine. I just saw...got the sun in my eyes."
The watermelon smashing allows the girls to show off. Ayano can't hit it but makes a big spectacle of herself by moving, swinging and falling in suggestive ways. Naru smashes her melon with elegant skill.
"Ha ha ha. Foolish youths! I am the reincarnation of the Blademaster of Galactic Sun Lords and such a task is ridiculously beneath me," Yoshiko declaims while flailing about with the stick in a manner the others assume is meant to be skillful. It is amusing to watch jumping and crouching and waving her sword about, even if it doesn't connect with anything but air and sand.
In the late afternoon the guys head off to the store to pick up makings for dinner. The girls stay behind to prepare for dinner. Conversation is subdued and superficial until the rest of the girls let out their frustration with Ayano's shameless behavior. Ayano pretends she doesn't understand what the others are talking about and things heat up, but fortunately the boys return before anything really bad happens or is said. The beach barbecue is excellent, again thanks to Naru's skills.


So I'm a bit late with the update. Sorry. A slight continuity error in the opening scene. H was convinced he/Naru had ordered baseball game tickets in addition to the signed baseball, while everyone else thought it was E/Ayano who had gotten the tickets. H was insistent and we went along with it and had gotten as far as Ayano getting a gig before we thought to check game journal. E just decided to go with what we had done so far. Ayano again has a comfortable lead in the VP department. Apparently we did something wrong when making the girls and gave him some powerful combos. This, coupled with me being a bit too free with the scenes has given him a powerful character. I tend to let the players describe their goals for the scene and how they intend to accomplish this. Not surprisingly, this makes certain abilities and approaches rather easy to apply in many situations - Allure and something sexy in Ayano's case. In all fairness, he has generally rolled rather well too (unlike his D&D characters). In any case, Ayano will be hard to catch up to, especially for U/Yuki, whose Conflict-based character doesn't fit with the personality and scenes given. The problem of pregens, I guess. I don't like to artificially set up situations to hinder soem characters and help others just to make things even but I may have to do something of the sort to make things more interesting for the other players. Even if everyone is having fun with the scenes, no one likes always being obviously inferior. So more scenes where I determine the CLAS in question and situations where being a pervert isn't really an option for easy bonuses to rolls.
While everyone seems to be having fun, I notice that this isn't the sort of game that lends itself to a long arc. At least not the way we play it. I had intended this only to go about 4-5 sessions - one fore each season plus maybe an extra one for odds and ends - but we aren't even done with summer now. It was only intended to be a palate cleanser before getting back to the Immortality quests in Mystara. I won't try to force things along because as long as my players are having fun setting up scenes and playing them out, I'm not going to rock the boat, but I will speed things along from my end.

Next episode: summer festival time.

Faily
2016-02-14, 10:14 PM
Not mentioned:

Yoshiko did score a cute little scene with Protagonist-kun when she showed him her kitty-kigurumi (http://www.kigurumi-store.com/shop/images/products_animal_AW/2638_AW.jpg) PJs. Turned out he likes cats, and he agreed that it was a very cute outfit. :smallbiggrin:

Seto
2016-02-15, 04:27 AM
So, Keitaro has quit trying to get Shuu and Ayano together ? :smallbiggrin:

BWR
2016-02-15, 06:17 AM
So, Keitaro has quit trying to get Shuu and Ayano together ? :smallbiggrin:

Sort of. He's not quite as dense as some MCs in various harems and thinks he may actually have a shot at her. But until Ayano unequivocally tells him she wants him and not Shuu he will still support Shuu, because he cares about his friend. Since the game isn't over yet I don't want to make too much in the way of overt advances or acceptance from his side. So yeah, he has definitely noticed Ayano but isn't going to do anything about it yet. Especially since the other girls are not entirely out of the race yet.

BWR
2016-02-19, 07:32 AM
The Endless Eight


After an enjoyable couple of days at the beach house, the gang returns home. Yuki, to avoid a power struggle of who gets to sit next to Keitaro on the way home, gets two cars - one for the two of them, one for the rest of the gang.
With only a week left before the summer festival and desiring to make as many memories as possible, the gang decide to go to an amusement park. Amusement parks are not something Yuki has had much experience with, since the Sairenji family felt they were a bit common. Once inside the gate she immediately grabs Keitaro and drags him to the bumper cars and into one of the cars. Naru and Yoshiko quickly snag another car leaving Ayano and Shuu to share one. The idol and the best friend get continually rammed by the others, knocking the two into each other. Between, Yoshiko's continual snapping of pictures, Yuki's haugty laugh, Naru's giggling and Shuu's overly accommodating reactions to Ayano being knocked into him, it is all that she can do to keep her face straight and not scream in frustration.
After the bumper cars Naru suggests taking the Log Ride. The Log Ride is mostly wasted as an attempt to get attention from Keitaro . Even Naru's white shirt getting a big splash of water strategically placed on her bosom is ignored since she is sitting behind Keitaro and covers up before he can see anything. Yuki spends most of the ride glaring at the other girls and interrupting any time someone tries to make conversation.
While Naru keeps her arms crossed hoping for her shirt to dry soon, the gang debates their next move
"I know, let's go to the Haunted House!" Yoshiko says. "It is recently refurbished and I have made an exhaustive study of all the details online so we can maximize the experience." She pulls out a sheaf of notes.
"Doesn't knowing everything in advance kind of defeat the purpose of an attraction built primarily on jump scares?" Keitaro asks.
"No."
"...how?"
"Stop asking silly questions."
Yuki, predictably, tries to ruin the experience by pointing out how silly and fake everything is. Ayano, never good with scares or startling experiences, squeaks, yelps and screams her way through, somehow always managing to find Shuu when she leaps towards Keitaro. Our dense protagonist is fascinated by Yoshiko's combination of enjoying stuff she already appears to know a lot about and her running commentary about the type of monster, their history and various snippets of folk lore (half of which she makes up on the spot) regarding them. Never particularly inclined towards the supernatural, Keitaro realizes this is the best way to enjoy a haunted house.
"I guess you were right, Yoshiko, that really was the best way to enjoy the haunted house."
"Of course I'm right. No one knows you better than me."
"....right."

Keitaro suggests the recently openeing Dragon's Tail roller coaster as their next stop. "It's the biggest one in Japan." It truly is an intimidating construction of loops, hills, curves and spirals, designed to upset even the most steady of stomachs.
"It has a long line," Ayano comments, looking at the hundreds of people waiting for it and silently praying Keitaro will reconsider. Unfortunately for her, everyone else wants to ride it. After waiting in like for more than an hour, taking the opportunity for an early lunch break, the gang get to the front of the line. In the heat, the crowd and the boring tedium of basically standing still for a long while everybody is looking a bit worse for wear and feeling a bit green around the gills. Some of this has to do with Yuki's long running commentary about the exact physiological details of the body under the sort of stresses produced by a roller coaster, the origins and experience of motion sickness and the rather graphic descriptions of unfortunate incidents involving such things on a roller coaster.
"Oh, and I brought some sick bags. Just in case," she finishes, smiling sweetly.
Naru and Yuki manage to get Keitaro between them, with Ayano again being stuck with Shuu. Yoshiko and Naru scream with unbridled delight throughout the experience, with Yuki enjoying it more for the novelty than any great love for roller coasters in themselves. The ride is thrill packed with g-forces and the very violence of it ensures Ayano is unable to throw up until they have finished. With her disheveled clothing, mussed up hair and haggard face, Ayano looks very little like the popular idol she is. Yoshiko snaps a few pictures for the paper, and Ayano is so poorly she does not even notice. The next issue of the school paper is set to be very interesting.

"How about the Tunnel of Love?" Yoshiko suggests. Partly out of sympathy for Ayano who looks like she could use something slow, the rest agree. Ayano, still feeling bad from the roller coaster sits down in a swan boat as soon as one pulls up and reaches out a hand to grab Keitaro, only to find Shuu sitting down next to her. She looks around desperately as the boat departs seeing Keitaro get in the next boat. Yuki decides that for all her attempts to keep the other girls away, it would be weird to be on a love boat trip with her brother and turns to ask Naru (who seems to be the least objectionable of the hussies) if she would like to have this trip. Yoshiko seeing the two other rivals distracted, takes the opportunity to slip in next to Keitaro.
The Tunnel of Love is a slow-moving thing with pleasant music and cutesy sights with plenty of curves and bends to hide the boats from each other, perfect for relaxing with someone you love. It is exactly what Ayano needed, with the glaring exception that she was once again paired with Shuu. He seems to take her complete lack of interest in him as playing hard to get and tries to be a bit more aggressive in his suit. A few loud slaps are heard by Keitaro and Yoshiko as their boat meanders down the 'river'.
Keitaro, if were to be honest when asked, would have to admit to some jealousy of Shuu getting to spend most time with Ayano. She is very attractive and he has a hard time not thinking about her, especially while . To make things worse (or better, depending on how you look at it) he is slowly beginning to suspect her closeness to him and the way she tries to spend time with him and her constantly showing off is indicative of more intimate feelings than pure friendship. Still, she is not rebuffing Shuu's advances and fearing he may be reading too much into her actions, Keitaro will not pursue her. After all, if she really does like Shuu and is just flirty, it would make everything awkward if Keitaro were to confess to her.
"This is so nice and peaceful, Keitaro," Yoshiko says with contented sigh. "Just the thing after the roller coaster."
"It seemed like you enjoyed it."
"Oh I did. It was almost like riding a real dragon again, but this is nice too. A true Galactic Sun Lord knows how to enjoy all aspects of life and appreciate peace and quiet and romance whenever the opportunity presents itself. I'm sure you remember."
"I see..." Keitaro says, not seeing at all.
"This reminds of our last time before the culmination of the Dark War of Fury. Just the two of us, resting and knowing that we would not survive saving the world."
"Haaaa?"
"You were so romantic."
"I was?"
Thoughts of Ayano are blown away as Yoshiko's weird thoughts bombard him. It's always this way around her, he realizes. On the surface she seems mostly normal but when she goes off on these weird rantings she becomes intense and captivating. He cannot help but sit there fascinated and feel an odd urge to hear more.
"Yes." The two sit in silence for a while. Near the end of the ride Yoshiko leans over and gives him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for being you," she mumbles, blushing furiously.
Keitaro is left speechless and quite pink himself. On the platform at the end of the ride Shuu is also somewhat red, though only on one cheek, and is standing there looking rather downcast with a sullen Ayano waiting impatiently for the others to arrive. Looking at the two pink-faced people getting out of the boat, obviously embarrassed by each other's presence. Ayano flushes with anger.
"What have you two been doing?" she demands.
"Nothing!" Keitaro says loudly. "Just, in the boat, you know. It....it's kind strange to be in the boat with her. Not that there's anything wrong with Yoshiko. She's nice. Great. A friend. That's all."
Ayano looks unconvinced and Naru and Yuki get out of their boat as it docks, looking at the suspicious scene unfolding.
"Anything wrong?" Naru asks giving Keitaro a stern look.
"No. Why would you ask that?" Keitaro is visibly flustered and the others begin to suspect the worst.
"Pardon me," the attendant at the exit interrupts as they make their way out, Yoshiko and Keitaro being interrogated by the other girls, "would you like prints of these pictures?"
Naru and Yuki give shocked gasps, and in dawning horror Keitaro slowly turns to see a close up of Yoshiko kissing him.
"I'll have a full set," the offending girl says unashamedly.
"AhahahahahahowabouttheMirrorHouseIhearthat'sfunlet 'sgo!" Keitaro quickly flees the scene with everyone else following with howls of protests (and a thumbs-up from Shuu).

After the Haunted House Yuki steps up her game and keeps a running monologue that prevents the other girls from butting in and taking his attention away from her. They end up, near closing time, at the various stands with shooting games.
"Onii-chan, win that teddy bear for me," Yuki demands, pointing at the biggest, fluffiest bear there.
"And one for me," Ayano chimes in.
"Um, OK." Keitaro takes the air gun, lines up the shot and fires.
"OW!" The attendant rubs his smarting thigh.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Keitaro bows and apologizes to such a degree everybody finds it embarrassing. Mortified, he refuses to make another attempt.
"My turn!" the ever cheerful Yoshiko says, grabbing the gun.
"OW!" The attendant rubs his other thigh.
"Oopsie. I'm more used to swords than guns."
"Let me show you how it's done," Naru says, grabbing the gun. She expertly bull's eyes the smallest target and wins the teddy for Yuki.
"Thank you," Yuki says. She had hoped that her brother could do it but she cannot very well seem ungrateful now.
"Thank you, Naru. You really are good at all sorts of things, aren't you?" Keitaro says admiringly.
Naru blushes and says "I didn't do it for you." while inwardly jumping with joy at the praise.
"Allow me, ladies," Shuu says, grabbing the gun and getting a teddy bear for Ayano. Like Yuki, she cannot very well refuse the gift and smiles, thanking Shuu prettily. While Naru, Yoshiko and Yuki are well pleased with how the attempt to use Shuu to block Ayano's advances is working, Ayano, Naru and Yuki are getting worried about Yoshiko's sudden advances that day. The rest of the girls are annoyed at how well Yuki managed to stymie them that day. Sending dirty looks at each other, they head out towards the exit.
Sensing something off but unsure exactly what, Keitaro keeps his voice and countenance bright. "See you all at the summer festival day after tomorrow. I can't wait."

The summer festival occurs on a lovely warm, cloudless evening. The boys are immensely grateful for the existence of Japanese clothing when they see all the girls in their yukata but manage to restrain their enthusiasm to a simple "Wow, you girls look great."
They all blush prettily, making them look even cuter.
"Let's get started! I want to try the goldfish scoop!" As usual, Yoshiko takes the lead.
"I was never very good at this," Keitaro says, eyeing the tub of fish swimming about. He proceeds to break his poi. Yuki and Ayano each get a couple of fish while Naru and Shuu manage to snag five.
"I used to catch mako with my hands - this is nothing," Yoshiko proclaims proudly.
By this point the gang is getting used to her oddities and ignore her extraordinary claims not out of politeness or bafflement but habit.
"Does that mean I can catch mako with my bare hands?" Shuu asks.
"I wish you'd try," Ayano mutters.
Shuu just laughs, taking it as another sign that she is playing hard to get.
After the scooping, Yuki buys a mask and takoyaki. Though she is looking most forward to the cotton candy and shaved ice, one must eat dinner before dessert and she is determined to try all the food here. Up next, fried noodles. How she manages to keep her figure with the amount of food and sweets she consumes is a mystery.

The next event is a sack race. Yuki, never one for exaggerated physical activity, decides to try to sabotage the other girls. At the start of the race Naru rushes ahead, with Ayano in hot pursuit. Yuki 'stumbles' into Yoshiko, sending her crashing on top of Keitaro.
"Keitaro, you saved me again, just like in the Battle of the Thunder Plains!"
"Are you all right?"
"Of course."
"Good."
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"Um, Yoshiko?"
"Yes?"
"Could you get off me?"
*sigh* "Yes."
Ayano, try though she might, could not arrange her yukata to have a precise suggestive yet tasteful wardrobe semi-malfunction on command and so opts to avoid any overtly perverted behavior in such a public place. Naru wins the race handily and her enthusiasm and pleasure at winning is infectious.
"Well done, Naru," Keitaro says, beaming.
"Thank you. I would have thought you'd have done a lot better.
"I got held up."
"Oh well, we shall have to have a rematch soon."
Keitaro is briefly distracted with visions of Naru - the most well-endowed of the girls - bouncing along in a thin T-shirt.
"Yes, please."
Yuki buys a couple of lollipops and enjoys them greatly as she watches everyone take part in the next event: dunk the mayor. Yoshiko winds up, takes aim, and faceplants in the dirt as she forgets she's wearing a yukata and tries to take big step in her throw.
Keitaro is not much better and hits a bystander ("I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!")
Ayano almost manages to do it while Naru dunks him handily.
After this they get shaved ice and get ready to go see the fireworks. In the dark and the conversation, Yoshiko expertly spirits Keitaro away from under the noses of everyone else and, most impresively, without Keitaro quite realizing what she was doing until they were alone. Naru and Yuki rush off to find them. Considering what they have been up to alone recently, there is no telling what might happen now. Shuu, predictably, teams up with Ayano and tries to keep her from rushing off, reading the opposite into Yuki's statement that she was going to find her brother.
Keitaro realizes they are alone just as the fireworks start and despite the agreement that everyone would watch them together, finds himself reluctant to rejoin the group right now.
Yoshiko, unlike her normal chatty self, is content to watch the display in silence. Her hand finds Keitaro's and they stand in silence the entire duration.
Keitaro, dense though he is, finally starts realizing something: he really likes the girls. He thinks it is more than just appreciation of beauty and liking them as friends. This leads to him wondering how to choose.

School starts again in the fall and soon it is time for the cultural festival. Keitaro's class discuss what they want to do in the weeks leading up to it. The old favorites of maid cafes, haunted houses, food stalls and more are suggested.
"A supernatural maid café?" Keitaro suggests.
This wins overwhelmingly as all the boys vote for it. When the cultural festival rolls around, the gang works for their class in the morning before rushing over to the musical in the afternoon.
Yoshiko's catgirl maid is popular, as is Naru's succubus maid, but nothing beats Ayano's sexy angel maid. Boys from all over the school line up to be served. Keitaro is exiled from the kitchenette after burning the water and must wash the dishes. He keeps looking over his shoulders to catch glimpses of the girls. Who would have thought that the normally vivacious Ayano could pull off demure-yet-overtly-sexy to such a tantalizing degree?
He soon remembers that he promised to drop by his sister's class to see what they were doing, excuses himself and rushes over.
It turns out to be a geisha house, and is rather popular. Yuki shows off her entertaining skills by giving a little one on one time for her brother. If this does not convince him of the appeal of a proper yamato nadeshiko, nothing will! Keitaro is duly impressed once he can get over the weird experience of his bossy little sister suddenly being practically submissive.
Sadly, there is no time to linger and enjoy the attention since the musical is coming up. Regretfully excusing himself after a too short time, Keitaro heads towards the stage.


A much better session than last time. I decided to have several more rolls than I usually do and kind of pick up the tempo, which worked very well. U/Yuki caught up with the other girls with some impressive rolls (focusing on ruining things for everyone) and E had a bad session, rolling mostly 1s and unable to rely on the Allure+sexy that has netted most of Ayano's points. H and L each scored a couple of points. Despite how things may seem based on my inexpert and brief summaries, Ayano still has a solid lead, especially since she managed to win a couple of rolls and the other girls are now tied. If the remaining sessions are like this one U/Yuki will win and Ayano will come in last. I think another couple of sessions should see the end of this game though knowing my group it could easily be twice that.

Seto
2016-02-19, 09:49 AM
This must have been kind of frustrating for Ayano.
Also, gosh, Protagonist-kun is starting to think for himself? What has the world come to?

Faily
2016-02-19, 09:15 PM
Also, gosh, Protagonist-kun is starting to think for himself? What has the world come to?

I know, right? Usually Protagonist-kun is dense until the last episode. :smallbiggrin:

In all fairness though, Ayano's player is an excellent sport even when the dice goes against him. Should see how he usually rolls in Pathfinder.

And this session did let the other characters shine. :smallwink:

BWR
2016-02-28, 04:46 AM
The musical is one of the last things to happen at the school on the day of the culture festival. The Music Club and friends they have roped in to help them show up a good hour before the curtain is raised and make sure everything is in order. Naru, sadly, is stuck with helping out with the class's efforts and showcasing the game club's efforts.
Ayano is too busy too busy with make-up and dressing to say much to Keitaro before the show. Yuki takes him aside and gives him some help calming his nerves before going on stage.
"Here, brother, I brought you some pills to help loosen your vocal cords," Yuki says, handing Keitaro a bottle.
"'Garlic pills'?"
"Yes, they are great for your throat."
"Um, OK."
"Make sure to take lots. They are perfectly harmless and more effective in mega doses."
Yuki wanders off, smiling contentedly. That should put a damper on Ayano's enjoyment of the production.
After gulping down a bunch of pills Keitaro turns to find Yoshiko coming up.
"There is no shame in backing down and letting your understudy do the show, Keitaro," she says.
"Quit? Why should I quit?"
"You can't fool me: I know you're nervous about this whole thing. If you really feel that you will ruin the show, maybe it would be best to just pull out now." And ruin their kissing scene.
"I can't deny feeling uncertain but I really have done my best working for this role and it would be a shame to let it all go to waste."

The curtain ascends and the trimmed down, pop musical version of "Romeo and Juliet" set in the Edo period begins. Ayano, predictably, steals the show from the start with her superior talent. Keitaro has improved measurably from the beginning of the year. He will probably never have a career in music but he manages to carry a tune passably and not make a fool of himself.
Ayano's performance stalls when she gets a whiff of Keitaro's garlic-laden breath, but she grits her teeth and pulls off the first act quite well.
In the short break between the first and second act Yoshiko comes up to Keitaro
"Here, Keitaro," she says while handing him a bottle of water. "You must be thirsty after all that singing."
"Thanks." Keitaro takes a swig.
"It tastes funny," he says looking at it.
"Just your imagination," Yoshiko says waving it off.
Shuu comes up and grabs the bottle and empties it.
"Wait!" Yoshiko yells but is too late.
"Sorry, I really needed that."
Keitaro shrugs. "No worries, Shuu. I'm fine."
A shrill exclamation is heard from the ladies' costume area:
"Um, Ayano," the make-up artists said a few seconds before the shout. "I think there's been a **** up."
Ayano looks in the mirror at the pasty bluish tinge her cheeks now have and shrieks. "Who the hell put this stuff here instead of the rouge?"
"There's nothing else to do but apply it equally and hope no one notices," Yuki says, without a hint of a smile at her little prank.
The second act starts with the audience noticing something off about Ayano. She looks pale and wan but it isn't until the balcony scene with ersatz moonlight that makes her look truly corpse-like. Between Keitaro's garlic breath and her unappealing appearance the kiss is merely a stage kiss on the cheek, finished quickly. Yoshiko and Yuki sigh in relief at succssfully protecting Keitaro's first kiss a while longer.

During the intermission before the final act Keitaro, impressed with the job the garlic pills did, has handed them out to the rest of the cast, singing their praises. Everyone gobbles a few. Shuu abstains and starts acting a bit funny.
"Are you all right, Shuu?" Keitaro asks, concerned at the way he is holding his stomach.
"I think so. Maybe I'm just getting butterflies in my stomach as a delayed nervous reation."
"Anyway, we're almost done. Just a little and we will have pulled this off."
"I'll be alright," the brave Mercutio responds, giving a ghastly smile and a thumbs up.
Ayano's crew has gotten hold of some proper rouge this time and remove the corpse pallor just in time for the time she is supposed to portray a corpse.
In the third and final act the stage reeks of garlic, giving Ayano a hard time keeping her face straight and breathing properly. Shuu's performance throughout the act is strained and hurried, getting worse until Mercutio flees from Tybalt before the latter has a chance to strike him down. Shuu's pained face and the way he holds his trousers indicate that the laxatives Yoshiko put in the water are doing their job. Silently, Yoshiko curses that she wasn't able to sabotage the final kiss in this way.
The songs go well and right at the final scene when Romeo is about to plunge the knife in his breast, Yoshiko, who is watching from the wings, notices a knife lying on a table. Idly, she picks it up and fiddles with it, discovering it is the fake one intended to be used for this scene. Which means that Solomon is holding a real knife!
Without hesitation she rushes on stage just as Keitaro is about to stab himself. "Solomon! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" She comes horizontally through the air from off stage towards the star couple and prevents the real knife from entering Keitaro's chest but takes a nasty cut on her hand in the process.
A loud gasp is heard from everyone. Thinking quickly, she hides her hand and ad libs.
"Romeo, stay your hand! 'Tis but a sleeping draught, and your fair wife is alive and whole! Dids't not receive the message we sent on the matter? My lady has done this so you two might slip away under cover of night and live in bliss far from this fair city."
"Uh....Really! That is very nice." Keitaro is as surprised as everyone else at the turn of affairs but rallies. His acting skills, never the best, are not up to the task of delivering convincing ad lib'ed lines, even if he manages to stay in character.
"I guess I will, uh..... just take my fair maiden and be on my way then, shall I? OK, thanks, bye."
Lifting Ayano in his arms he exits. A few deathly quiet seconds pass while everyone is frozen in uncertainty. The sound master fortunately has enough presence of mind to play a rather upbeat song from earlier performance which the cast then rushes onto stage to perform. instead of the tragic final one they had originally planned.
Keitaro, after he has recovered from the shock, immediately escorts Yoshiko to the nurse's office to get her bandaged up. One of their fellow cast members prostrates himself in horror and repentance for having managed to switch the collapsible knife with the real one he had brought from home. Keitaro, being the generally decent guy he is, soon forgives the guy. Yoshiko, seizing the opportunity to monopolize Keitaro's attention, is instrumental in this decision.
"All's well that ends well, Keitaro. It is obvious he truly regrets his carelessness and he has learned his lesson with only a few drops of blood spilled. Let us just focus on the fact that it was not worse. It could have been like the Ravening of the Winter Woods, but it wasn't."
With the musical over, the gang, minus Yoshiko, clean up. Late that evening the entire cast and crew head out to a local barbecue restaurant to celebrate.
Ayano manages to snag the coveted seat next to Keitaro and spends most of the evening feeding and getting fed by him among many blushes. Yuki and Yoshiko sit opposite. Yoshiko had hoped to sit next to him and use her hand as an excuse to be fed but has to settle for Yuki. Yuki, being the good little girl she is, elegantly and with a minimum of fuss aides the handicapped Yoshiko. Both the Y's sit and glare daggers at the lovey-dovery not-quite-a-couple on the other side of the table. Shuu, poor guy, sits with his back to them and hears heartbreaking and tantalizing sounds from the girl he likes.
In true comic relief sidekick character fashion he refuses to take a hint and merely resolves to work even harder to win her affection. Tests are coming up soon but he plans to make a formal confession around Christmas. He sits and plans his moves, trying to ignore the stuff going on behind his back.

In the weeks before exams nothing much happens. Yuki manages to monopolize much of Keitaro's time and lets him work on his weak subjects while Ayano is busy with her idol job and getting in the odd study hour whenever she can. Naru is busy with studying and an unscheduled trip home and has no chance to hang out with the gang. The results of the tests are decent enough. Keitaro does reasonably well while Naru and Yoshiko do very well. Ayano's idol career has taken its toll on her grades and while she does not have to take any make up tests she does not do very well.
"Keitaro. My dad gave me two tickets to the new superhero blockbuster as a reward for doing so well on the tests. Want to come along and see it with me?"
"Cool. Thanks." Yoshiko's joy at the thought of getting Keitaro alone for a date is immediately ruined as he wanders off to find the others and see if they want to come along.
At the movie theater, though Keitaro and Yoshiko get to sit apart from the others, the others are close enough to be able to keep an eye on them in case something naughty happens. Yoshiko tries to get in something as minor as hand holding in but Keitaro, suddenly very aware of the eyes of the others in the back of his head, manages to avoid this. The rest of the date is as spoiled as one might imagine. The girls spend their time focused on preventing each other from doing anything remotely suggestive and even Keitaro picks up on the tension.

"Keitaro, how would you like to go on a date with me next weekend?" Ayano asks in a brief moment where the two are alone at school.
"I....a date...wh..wh..wh..how?.."
"Say 'yes'."
"Yes. I...I'd love to."
"Great! Find out where we are going and get back to me." Ayano flashes her dazzling smile and bounces off.
Keitaro is stunned by conflicting feelings. At this point he is feeling quite sure that Ayano is not interested in Shuu but unsure how to handle it. He doesn't want to ruin his friendship with his best bud over a girl and making a choice would likely turn Naru and Yoshiko away. He really does want things to stay more or less the way they are now, with his bunch of good friends going out and doing things and making good memories of their youth, but it is not fair to them to leave them hanging. And he has to admit that Ayano really is attractive - not just her flawless face and figure but her energy, her bright and cheery attitude (and the way she seems to be so careless about showing skin is hard to forget). The day is coming when he must make a choice. Perhaps it will be this date...
Shaking himself out of his reverie, Keitaro starts planning. Where to go? Well, he enjoyed La Petite Peche so maybe he should try that. Then a simple walk around town window shopping. But if they are going there she will probably want to dance and Keitaro needs to work on that. He is so absorbed with what is going on in his mind that he does not notice Yoshiko slipping away from the shadows.

"Yuki, could you teach me how to dance Western dances?"
Yuki looks up from her second slice of cake. "Of course, brother. Come by my place this evening and we shall work at it."
She delicately forks another piece into her mouth and Keitaro is momentarily captivated by the way her face lights up in enjoyment. That's a girl who likes her cake.
"Any particular reason for this sudden interest?"
"Just thought it might be nice to know."
"Could it have something to do with the date Yoshiko told me about?"
"Eeehh? You know about that?"
"You shouldn't try to hide things from me, brother."
That evening Keitaro arrives at his sister's apartment.
"Really, if you wanted to learn how to dance you should have started years ago." She sizes him up. "I do seem to recall you have some natural talent for it, however. Let's get started."
Keitaro's first dance with Yuki all those months ago had him nervous about doing it right and not messing up front of strangers. It is almost worse now because Keitaro is suddenly intensely aware of Yuki. Her feminine presence, specifically. Holding her, moving with her, just the two of them. This is just weird, he tells himself. She's my sister! It's just hormones reacting strangely!
Stumbling through the moves and getting scolded by Yuki do not help his peace of mind. Every evening until the day of his date, Keitaro and Yuki train and Keitaro's feelings settle down once he works things through. Mostly, his feelings have been gratitude for having his sister back and guilt for not showing her enough attention.
"Yuki, I'm glad you're back. I've said it before but I don't think I said it properly. I really did miss while we were parted and I'm just not quite sure how to act around you these days. There's so much going on I have a hard time knowing how to focus on things so I guess I haven't told you. Losing you was the worst. I'm glad Mom and Dad found a good family to take care of you but I hated them for the longest time for giving you away. Now you're back and all grown up and it has taken me a while to really understand this."
He moves to give the stunned Yuki a big hug. "You always were the clingy little brat who was afraid of being left out, of being left behind. Don't worry. Your big brother is not going to leave you. No matter who my friends are, not when I get a girlfriend, when I marry, when you marry: I will always be here with you."
Yuki is red as a beat, stiff as board and unable to say much for quite some time. "Well, so long as you understand," she mumbles eventually.
It's good that he finally showed her some appreciation but did he have to make it quite so dramatic? She barely notices when he excuses himself and heads home.
"Don't think that this means I approve of that showgirl, Keitaro," she says after he left. However, she will not try to ruin this particular date. She must be getting soft.

Ayano is wearing a beautiful backless evening gown for their date and Keitaro is very appreciative of it. They get a table but he is distracted, looking nervously towards the door.
"Is there something wrong, Keitaro?" Ayano asks.
"No, nothing. Sorry."
Events quickly prove themselves wrong as Yoshiko and Shuu come through the door and make a bee-line for their table.
"Hiya! How about a double-date?" Yoshiko says.
Yoshiko is dressed in a nice but far more conservative dress than Ayano. Shuu, however, barely got through the door with his garish, almost comically colored suit.
Ayano stifles a scream of frustration at the interruption. While Yoshiko is bright and chipper and talks up a storm, everyone else is quiet. Keitaro was actually really excited about a proper date. while he expected Yuki to insert herself and ruin the evening, he did not see Yoshiko coming. Shuu is resentful of Keitaro going behind his back and the two have not spoke about this issue. Finally, unable to bear the awkwardness any more, Ayano grabs Keitaro and drags him to the dance floor. His lessons are mostly forgotten in the stress but Ayano is an excellent dancer and makes a good showing. Yoshiko grabs hold of Keitaro as he and Ayano return to the table and drags him back to the dance floor. She is not nearly as good a dancer and her limbs are all over the place. Shuu, meanwhile, tries unsuccessfully to get Ayano on to the floor.
"I'm used to the more stately dances like the Swallow Step and the Sliding of the Silk from days of yore," she says apologetically.
"I'm sure you are."
They return to the table. Despite Yoshiko's efforts, the mood cannot be fixed.
The evening is ended quickly and everyone heads home feeling rather depressed and anxious. This does not bode well for any Christmas get-together.


So H was gone this session, leaving Naru in the cold and high-lighting a major issue with the game - no player means no VP. Normally in other games we merely have another player play an extra character and everything goes smoothly, but for some incomprehensible reason we did not do that this time around. I cannot imagine why. This puts Naru so far behind that she is pretty much out of the race. It's one thing to fail rolls honestly but to fail because you aren't given a chance is not fun at all so I may end up giving Naru some extra scenes or bonuses on the next rolls to compensate. I'll talk it over with the other players first. This would also mean, to be fair, that I should give U/Yuki the same treatment for being gone the first session, which may actually be enough to let him tie with Ayano if the next session goes in his favor.
Keitaro and Shuu are heading for a break up, it seems, even though Protagonist-kun has been trying to avoid it. His feelings are clear and unless the other girls really pull off something amazing, Ayano will be the clear winner. Ah, why must he be a teenager in love?

I'm planning on wrapping things up next session. We've been having fun but I think most of us are starting to feel that we want a proper resolution to this soon.

Faily
2016-03-02, 04:40 PM
Today was the final episode of the Harem Season, so everyone can look forward to a synopsis in the coming days from BWR. :smallbiggrin:

Seto
2016-03-04, 03:59 AM
Oooh, the suspense is palpable :smallbiggrin:

BWR
2016-03-04, 01:02 PM
In the weeks after the musical the girls notice that Shuu and Keitaro have grown somewhat cold towards each other. They barely say 'good morning' at school, do not spend time together in recess and always find some excuse to not invite the other to events. Naru eventually has had enough and decides to do something about this. She invites the two out for coffee without telling them that the other is invited. Keitaro shows up first.
"Keitaro, what is going on with you and Shuu?"
"Um, nothing," he says, looking away.
"Don't be silly. Everyone has seen how you two avoid each other and we know why - we aren't stupid."
"OK, I feel guilty. I know Shuu likes her and I've been growing more attracted to her. I could live with that, I guess, but with her seeming to ignore him and going after me I just feel like I'm betraying him if I reciprocate."
"So rather than make a proper decision you just waffle about?"
Keitaro looks down and says nothing.
"Look, I know it's hard but nothing is going to get better if you two just refuse to talk. Decide what you think is most important and act, don't just drag things out and hope it gets better."
At this point Shuu comes in, sees, Keitaro and nearly turns on his heel. Naru grabs hold of him and sets him down.
"You two aren't leaving until you've settled this properly. I'll sit here and make decisions for you if you can't come to them on your own."
The boys mumble something unintelligible and look away.
"Don't make me angry," Naru says menacingly.
A good hour later the boys have more or less come to an agreement - Keitaro will back off until Shuu has made his move and there will be no hard feelings whoever comes out on top.
"Enough sappy stuff! I bet I'll both of you at any game you care to mention. Prepare to be crushed!"
Several intense hours of gaming at the arcade the two seem more or less back to normal.

Christmas comes and the gang has decided to have a party at the arcade. Laser tag was suggested by Yoshiko and quickly adopted by everyone except Yuki, who cannot really see the appeal of such low-brow entertainment. To prevent the hussies from getting close to Keitaro, she decides, as usual, to tag along and try to sabotage things. First the game does a everyone vs. everyone run which Keitaro and Yuki tie for the lead. Shuu impresses everyone by running around screaming and firing from the hip like some bad action star, which understandably leads to him have the worst score. Then a team game, Yuki, Keitaro and Yoshiko against Shuu, Ayano and Naru. The siblings' team wins easily. "Just like the the two of us against the Crimson Camaraderie, Solomon!" Yoshiko exclaims with a big grin on her face. "You and me against a vastly inferior foe - I've had harder resistance from jam jars."
At this point another group has shown up and the two groups decide to face off against each other.
Seeing the opportunity to raise some flags with Keitaro, any semblance of teamwork vanishes as dew before the sun. Ayano clings to Keitaro trying to get him to show her how to use the gun properly, but gets quickly abandoned when the game starts. Yuki tries to organize and lead everyone but no one bothers to listen to her. Yoshiko .
The match is a resounding loss for our protagonists. The only one to any significant damage to the enemy is Shuu, whose unorthodox tactics causes the enemy to laugh so hard they cannot aim properly.
After the match the gang heads to a pizza parlor and eat. Here Naru snags the coveted seat next to Keitaro, and Yuki wins the other side.
"Time for presents," Yoshiko says. "Has everyone brought something?"
Everybody puts their offerings in a big bag, they are shaken up a bit and people pick a random one. Ayano pick first and gets two tickets to a noh production the next week (she immediately asks if Keitaro wants to join her, and he says yes). Naru gets a leather-wrapped book called Unausprechligen Kulten (which bears as much resemblance to its origin as any given copy of the Necronomicon you might find), Yoshiko gets a small cell-phone strap (Keitaro is visibly embarrassed that his gift is so minimal and plain compared to what has been given so far), Yuki gets a signed poster and CD of Ayano's latest release, Shuu gets a bag of cookies and Keitaro gets a stuffed panda about 5cm tall.
The rest of the evening is pretty relaxed and informal but after they decide to call it a night, Shuu asks to speak to Ayano alone. Visibly nervous, his normally exuberant personality is subdued and serious.
"Ayano, I have something to ask you."
Ayano has been dreading this conversation for some time and immediately gets cold and distant. "Yes?"
"I....like you,"
"Like me? Like me how?"
"You know, I 'like' you."
"Be more specific."
"I really like you."
"That still isn't specific enough. Spell it out."
"I really like you. A lot. You know."
"Like me as a friend or.."
"I want you to be my girlfriend!"
Ayano is silent a while.
"I like you but I am undecided. I need time to think about it."
Shuu, though he was expecting this, is devastated.
"I see. I'm not surprised but ..." He breaks off, mumbles something resembling a goodbye and flees the scene.

The gang, minus Shuu, meet to visit the temples on New Year's. They stand in line, ring the bell, clap their hands, throw money away as tradition dictates and head off to get their fortunes. Ayano gets average luck, Yuki gets good luck and Yoshiko gets great luck. Could this be prophetic? Naru's luck is forgotten as she 'trips' and falls into the pond, getting instantly soaked and chilled to the bone. Keitaro immediately rushes in to help her up and move her inside. The shrine maidens luckily have spare suit of clothing for her to borrow, and Keitaro, once again, lends Naru his jacket. Fussing over her, he decides to take her to the nearest cafe for something warm to drink.

The next day is the day of the play. Yuki, being the scheming little vixen she is, had an extra ticket to the play so she could tag along and cockblock should she disapprove of whoever got the tickets, and the shameless slut Ayano is by far the least suitable girl in onii-chan's unfortunate circle of friends. Yoshiko and Naru also secure tickets, unwliing to let their rival get even the slightest advantage. Keitaro, though he accepted the ticket, is phenomenally uninterested in noh theater. He finds it boring, slow and mostly incomprehensible. Yuki, by virtue of her upbringing, is appreciative of it, probably because it is high culture rather than any actual enjoyment of the art form. She does her best to explain the details of story and production and the myriad of cliches and traditions in the genre to Keitaro but gets a little too preachy to kindle enthusiasm. Yoshiko, on the other hand, is full of unbridled enthusiasm for not only the art of noh but also the story and production. Her enjoyment is infectious and unlike Yuki she manages to get Keitaro to understand and appreciate it. He will probably never be a true lover, or even a true liker, of noh, but he at least can understand why some people do like it.

After weeks of school work, Valentine's Day is fast approching. Naru invites the girls over for a chocolate-making session. While her superior cooking skills might have given her an edge over the others, Naru has at this point given up the fight for Keitaro's love. Though she really does care for Keitaro she realizes she will not be the one he confesses to (if he ever gets it into his thick head the girls like him and finds the courage to do anything about it). While Naru's motivation was partly honest affection for Keitaro, it was also partly an interest in a harem situation. Naru genuinely does like all the other girls, even Ayano, and wants to help them do their best for Valentine's Day. under Naru's tutelage, the girls do their best. Naru's chocolates are amazing, succulent and smooth. Yuki makes some chocolate and some of the cookies she remembers Keitaro liking way back before they were parted. Yoshiko's chocolate is a flop and hard and waxy. She ends up throwing it away and heading out to buy some. Ayano's are a disaster. She tried to thin it by putting water in, and by some strange miracle managed to put egg shells in it. The poor girl is so distraught by the result she flees the scene with her monstrosity of a hard, formless lump in tears.

On the fourteenth of February Yuki meets up with her big brother before the bell rings.
"Here, big brother. Too many years have passed since I last could give you chocolates so I threw in some cookies as well. I am very happy to be reunited with you." She blushes delicately as she hands over the loot.
"Awesome, I remember these cookies!" Keitaro recognizes them immediately and bites into one. "And they're even better than I remember. Thanks, Yuki."
"Now for some serious business, Keitaro. I know this day is special and you will be getting stuff from the other girls, but I want you to think very carefully about who they are and what they mean to you. However coarse the Westerners do have a point when they say 'bros before hos'. You already have damaged your relationship with him; are you prepared to lose his friendship altogether should you accept Ayano's advances?"
Keitaro is a bit stunned at Yuki's forthright objections. "But we talked about this..."
"Both of you may have said things that might not be quite true and made promises that turn out to be impossible to keep."
"But I..."
"And Yoshiko," Yuki interrupts, "is nice but these delusions of hers are not healthy. She refuses to give them up, and this sort of thing is not only not good for her but not for you. She doesn't see you as Keitaro, she sees you as some imaginary hero. She's in love with that person, not you."
Mercifully, the bell rings and Keitaro rushes off, confused and hurt at his little sister's harsh words against the girls he likes. The sad thing is, he cannot say she is wrong.
After the first class Naru presents her chocolate to Keitaro and Shuu, to the much ignored chorus of envious mutterings from the other boys in class. Shuu's chocolate, unlike Keitaro's is in the form of a heart. Naru has decided that a second place couple is acceptable. While Shuu and Naru will become close over the next school year, he does not really consider her anything more than a friend.
During lunch break Yoshiko waits in the hall to snag Keitaro as he passes.

"Keitaro," she waves him over. A bunch of fellow students rush by just then, on their way to get hold of a limited edition luxury yakisoba bread at quarter price. In the bustle the two of them are accidentally knocked into a broom cupboard, which closes behind them.
"Yoshiko! Are you alright?" Keitaro sounds concerned.
"I'm fine, Solomon."
For a while now Keitaro has grown used to her calling him that but Yuki's words strike a chord.
"Good."
For a brief moment he is lost in thought, then a sensation in his hands starts demanding his attention.
"Um, Solomon?"
"Yes?" he says distantly.
"You're touching me."
"We're pressed in here, so..."
"You're touching me...." she trails off
"So soft" he murmurs.
"...there."
"I'msorryi'msorryI'msorry!" He moves his hands down to his sides.
"it's OK."
They stand there a moment.
"I wonder how we managed to get pushed in here." Keitaro says, trying desperately to think of something slightly less embarrassing.
"The door latch gave way, I guess." Yoshiko shrugs, making Keitaro's chest send messages of 'so soft' to his brain.
"But the door opens outwards..."
"Don't think too much about it."
"Why won't it open?" he asks, trying to push it open.
On the outside Naru is propping her foot against the door to give the two some private time, trying to fend off Ayano's almost desperate attempts to get the two out of there. A few minutes later she lets them out and the two come out looking rather red-faced.
Ayano immediately shoves her beautifully wrapped chocolate lump in Keitaro's face.
"I'm sorry, it turned out horribly but I wanted to give you something I made myself but it was a disaster so you can hate it if you want.."
Ayano's tears are partially genuine.
"I'm sure it's great." Ketiaro takes the chocolate, smiles, opens it up and unhesitatingly takes a huge bite.
*crunch! nibble crunch crunch ow crunch, gnaw eggshells? crunch garlic? swallow pasty grin*
"Great!"

At the end of the school day Keitaro finds a letter in his locker.
"I want to speak to you on the roof after school's out. - Yoshiko"
The quality of paper is excellent and the handwriting cutesy and warm.
"What's that, onii-chan?" Yuki asks, coming up beside him.
"Um, nothing important." He tries to hide the letter, but Yuki looks unconvinced.
"Uh huh. Remember what we talked about. Make sure you know what you are getting into. err on the side of caution. I don't want my beloved big brother hurt, after all." She puts on her shoes and leaves.
On his way to the roof he is waylaid by Ayano, dressed in a bathrobe, who drags him to an empty classroom. Keitaro wonders if she is on her way to swimming club or a photoshoot or something.
"Keitaro," she says without preamble, "I love you. I've loved you for a long time now. If you will be mine, I will be yours. All this will be yours."
She opens her robe giving him a good eyeful of the goods she has previously pretended to be shy about. Keitaro's earlier misgivings and doubts are blown away by his libido and the scene fades to black.

On top of the school roof Yoshiko waits a long time, longer than she should reasonably have to. Keitaro eventually shows up and his ruffled clothes and apologetic face tell her all she needs to know.
"I see. It should have..." she breaks off and runs.
Ketiaro is left feeling like the world's biggest heel but sure he made the right choice. Ayano is a fascinating person. She works hard and is unashamed of her goals and desires. Her lust for life and talent is intoxicating and Keitaro feels that she is the right one. Things might be difficult now but refusing to pick one of the girls would be worse. His little circle of friends might be broken now but he is optimistic and believes the bonds can be reforged.
As the sun goes down Keitaro looks towards the horizon and resolves to give people time to gather their thoughts before reaching out to them again. They will be third years soon and the future awaits. Keitaro knows he will be able to face whatever comes with his little star shining brightly beside him.



So that was that. I actually managed to get people to finish that day, only one hour over time. Though Ayano had a solid lead by 6 points over the runner up at the beginning of the session, when we were done with what I had anticipated would be the last point-winning scene before the confession, Yuki, Ayano and Yoshiko were tied. Naru, as predicted, was so far behind she couldn't win even if H won all the rolls that session. Something we will have to think about how to handle if we ever run another game. I hadn't thought about what to do in the event of a tie, nor how the girls would handle being so close. We discussed it in the group. I brought up the Tenchi solution but no one wanted that, in either the choose them all or refuse to choose because he doesn't want to ruin their friendship. solution but U felt that was basically what Yuki wanted so would be a default win for her, which was unfair. Everyone else also wanted a clear winner so we had another scene where the girls confess their love (or give their opinion on the unsuitability of the hussies). E has almost always played rather sexually promiscuous characters when he plays females (which is fairly often), or at least rather teasing ones. I know the HHC as presented by RainyKnight was intended to stay away from anything more than some light skin teases or gentle groping but there are harem comedies where significantly more than that goes on, and this group being what it is was fine with what happened. I would have preferred a slightly less in-your-face slutty attempt to win Keitaro but I couldn't exactly dictate what Ayano should do, and E did win that roll fairly. Guess hormones count for something.

The finale was something of a downer, actually. Thinking about the characters and everything it really seemed like the group would fall apart. We haven't actually made any epilogue or anything but the mood around the table was rather serious and almost depressed at the end, which was not a good way to end a fun and funny game.
E is not what I would call a problem player but he does have his quirks. H had decided Naru would go after Shuu, and E suddenly declared Ayano was somewhat receptive towards him. E, despite being one of the most knowledgeble, intelligent and sweetest guys I've ever been privileged to know, does have some odd ideas about what is appropriate and sensible behavior in game. The scene where Ayano shoots down Shuu is presented rather nicer here than what happened around the table. E felt/intended that he was portraying someone who was undecided and tried to put Shuu on hold while giving him hope, but everone else felt Shuu was not only shot down hard but kicked in the balls as well.
Which brings us to another issue: everyone felt Shuu was far more interesting than Keitaro. He was originally there as a comic relief character but in true romcom fashion his vividness and portrayal made him more interesting than boring, average Protagonist-kun. Something to remember next time we do this. While it started off as a joke and was fun throughout, in retrospect having Shuu also go for one of the girls was probably a bad idea. it resulted in Keitaro and Shuu 'breaking up', which contributed to making the session less fun than it could have been.

Anyway, on the whole, we all had a great time. The players, once they figured out how the characters were supposed to work and what their personality was like, had a blast (the problem of pregens), game prep was minimal to non-existent, the players felt as though they could easily dictate situations and solutions without having to worry much about rules or mechanics. There were some rules discussions, like exactly what situations a certain ability should count in, and which CLAS should be chosen for what roll - Skill vs. Conflict or Conflict vs. Allure were especially problematic - but I feel better equipped to handle this game if we ever do play it again. The players seemed to welcome the idea.
However, like Toon or Paranoia, the HHC is best in small amounts between other games, and we have a bunch of character who want to become Immortals to get back to.

Thanks for reading

Seto
2016-03-04, 05:52 PM
Well, kudos to Ayano ! (and her player). And to all the others (Yoshiko sounds really fun to hang out with, Yuki is classy, and personally I think Naru's very cool). Thanks to you too, BWR, for taking the time to write this journal.

This kind of game sounds like fun. I should try making one, I'll keep that idea in the back of my mind.