Saturday, October 17, 2015

I Choose Your Adventure Chapter 4

Nagisa chooses to:

1. Leave school having completed her student council work, and act like nothing happened.
2. Run back to Ryuuto for help.
3. Follow Yuna secretly in an attempt to discover her aim.
4. Continue to investigate the "trap" that Yuna mentioned.

----- Nagisa realizes she made a blunder by speaking too much and getting emotional towards Yuna's questioning. However much regret she may be feeling however, she decided to return home. It'd become known anyway if I run for president. She can just hear the words of Ryuuto's logic resound in her head. Whatever will happen now, will happen; she'll cross that bridge when it arrives.

----- As Nagisa left the roof and proceeded to leave school, Ryuuto was still on the roof. As the crimson skies began to envelop the scenery, he releases a small sigh and turns his face towards his close friend Kyousuke. "So how much did you hear?"
----- "Just the important bits and pieces." Kyousuke lets loose a smile, with a mixture of emotions hiding behind them.
----- "So you know what we need to do now, right?" Ryuuto asks Kyousuke a simple question they both knew the answer to.
----- ""We crush the competition."" They both said in unison. After a moment of seriousness, they both burst out in a small fit of laughter.
----- "How long has it been, I wonder... since you had the resolve to do anything this serious."
----- "It's certainly been a while, indeed." Ryuuto pauses for a brief moment as he soaks in the horizon's scenery one last time. "Shall we head off, then?"


Ryuuto chooses to:
1) Head home for the day, planning steps on what do to with Kyousuke.
2) Head home for the day (alone), leaving anything to do for the next day.
3) Head home for the day, while having something to do on the way home.
4) Stick around the campus with business to do.

Having finished gazing at the horizon, Ryuuto began to think about how he was going to win the presidency. While Kyousuke and he had done some crazy things in middle school that normal people would rule out as impossible, Ryuuto knew it was unwise to underestimate how hard it was to win the presidency. After all, the high school he went to was not your average private school. The classes were not only harder, but the expectations and power were also higher as well. The Student Council wielded power that made normal students at normal high schools gape in shock and awe. While it would be exaggerated to compare their power to a small country, this school was large and vast. Its number of students nearly reached in the tens of thousands. Because of the school's open policy to encourage self-governance and management, the students in the student council and clubs that have partnered with the student council to run the school. The school itself had its own store, which was managed for students by the students. Teachers would oversee the work but most of the work was done by the students. The teachers main role was a “hands off” approach and would be mostly limited to teaching lessons and guidance to assist in managing the school.

Walking down the hallway with Kyousuke, they entered the classroom to get their book bags as they prepared to go home. While club time had already started, both Kyousuke and Ryuuto were in the “Go Home” club. As they left the classroom, they managed to bump in to the troublesome person, known as Akagami Ringo, a member of the Disciplinary Committee. “What are you two loitering in the hallway for? Don't you know its against school rules to loiter in the hallway?” Hearing this and seeing the angry expression on Ringo's face, Ryuuto let out a sigh. “Yes, yes, we will be on our way. We were just leaving.” At this, Ringo's face revealed a frown. “What club are you two going to? I will walk you there so you will not make trouble for others.” The school, as part of its open policy, required students to join a club. While just about any club would be approved, not every club would receive adequate funding, so quite a few clubs would contain mostly ghost members. Both Ryuuto and Kyousuke were ghost members of the Cooking club. Not wanting to have to deal with such a troublesome person, both Ryuuto and Kyousuke replied, ““The Cooking club.”” Ringo stopped for a moment and a look of suspicion floated on her face. “Isn't the Cooking club's clubroom the opposite direction?” As Ryuuto was about to respond, Kyousuke interrupted him, “We were thinking about the upcoming cooking competition in June, two months from now, and didn't realize we were wandering in the wrong direction. Thank you Akagami-san for directing us. Let's go Ryuuto-kyun!” Kyousuke grabbed Ryuuto's hand and ran in the opposite direction, escaping from her vision. “Hey! No running in the halls!” could be heard at a distance as Ringo attempted to chase after them.

Running down a flight of stairs and hiding in an empty classroom, both Ryuuto and Kyousuke were panting heavily as Ringo's shouts could be heard in the distance, growing fainter. “Lost her!” Ryuuto managed to say while breathing heavily. “Let's hope we don't run into her tomorrow, or we will be screwed for sure!” Kyousuke added. The two walked together as they left the building and headed for one of the many entrance gates to the school. Since there were clubs meeting in the courtyard, the two did not stand out in the slightest. Having reached the bike parking, Ryuuto grabbed his bike and the two parted and headed in opposite directions. “See you tomorrow!” Kyousuke said as he left the gate. Ryuuto waved back as he got on his bike. As Ryuuto was biking down the street, he saw out of the corner of his eye a moped with a girl on the back, hair flowing in the wind. This scene brought him back to his current dilemma. How to become president! Nagisa said she had some dirt on Takezawa, but without knowing this information, I won't be able to make a clear battle strategy to defeat him. When Ryuuto became serious, he was the cold and calculating type. Unless cornered, Ryuuto was not willing to do anything too underhanded to achieve his goals. Ryuuto decided that to formulate his strategy, he would need Nagisa first. However, He still has not exchanged contact details with her yet, putting a hold on his plans. Noticing that the moped was stopped at a red light, Ryuuto decides to try and catch up. He was nearly there and the light was still red. “Nagisa!” he shouted, drawing the attention of those around him, but failing to grab her attention. Ignoring the stares and with some time still left, Ryuuto got closer and shouted again, "Nagisa," but still failed to bring any reaction from the passenger nor driver. Seeing the light turn green and feeling he had run out of time, he shouts again, “Nagi-chan!” This time both the rider and driver turn around at the same time, while being honked at by the cars behind them. The driver pulls over to the sidewalk a bit of distance away as Ryuuto biked over to where they parked.

Ryuuto chooses to:

1. Reintroduce himself to Nagisa's brother, and find a way to bring up contact information with Nagisa.
2. Directly ask for Nagisa's phone number, while giving a vague reason why.
3. Ask Nagisa's brother if he can talk to Nagisa in private after reintroducing himself.
4. Invite the Itou siblings to a nearby cafe to chat.

----- After finally catching up to the siblings, he climbs off his bike and faces the two of them. "Sorry about stopping the both of you like this," Ryuuto says as he bows his head, then raises his head once more. "I'm Takahashi Ryuuto."
----- "Wait, that Ryuuto?" Nagisa's brother asks. "It's been a while since we've talked, man. How've you been?"
----- "Indeed, it's been ages, Shunsuke-san." Ryuuto and Shunsuke greet each other with a firm handshake after a long absence of communication. "I've been good. I just saw the both of you while I was on my way home and just thought to call out to you."
----- "I see, I see. It's good to know you still live here, Ryuuto. After coming back to this town, it's changed quite a bit from what I remember."
----- "Shall we exchange contact info since we're all here?"
----- "Oh, sure, sure." Shunsuke takes out his phone as Ryuuto does, too. With the advent of technology, they share contacts with a simple measure and Ryuuto turns to Nagisa and asks,
----- "How about you, Nagisa? It's been a while." A remnant of a pout existed on Nagisa's face as she stared at Ryuuto this whole time, but as soon as Ryuuto turned to look at her, the pout suddenly vanished from her facial expressions.
----- "Yes, indeed. It's been about 10 minutes, I suppose?" She gives a small laugh as she exchanges contacts with Ryuuto. Mission accomplished, Ryuuto thought.
----- "So Ryuuto, you want to drop by a café so we can catch up a bit?" Shunsuke asks.

Ryuuto chooses to:
1) Take Shunsuke up on his offer, and chat with the Itou siblings.
2) Decline the offer, but promise another time.

Ryuuto looks back at Shunsuke and responds, “Yeah, a café would be nice. There's actually one that just happens to be a block up the road that I like to visit every now and then.” Shunsuke thought for a moment, then said, “You mean Café Rosa? That's the one where Nagisa begs me all the time to go to because she loves their special parfaits.” At that moment, Ryuuto's gaze floated to Nagisa's face as she blushed and said, “Who begged you? I just asked you about it the other day, that's all...” At Nagisa's response, Shunsuke laughed. Even Ryuuto's face broke out into a grin as they walked towards the café.

After they arrived, Ryuuto chose a table and they sat down. Shunsuke ordered his favorite herbal tea, while Nagisa didn't hesitate to order a special parfait called, “the Royal Flower,” and Ryuuto decided to have a café latte. As the drinks and the parfait came out, Ryuuto was mildly shocked when he saw the massive parfait topped with various fruits and sweets which made it look like a flower worthy of being given to royalty. Nagisa happily dug into the parfait while Shunsuke struck up a conversation with Ryuuto. “Ryuuto, how is that café latte?” Ryuuto took a sip then responds, “Ah, its good. Ever since you got me into drinking coffee, I have been trying various types.” As he drank his café latte, Ryuuto began to reminiscence his childhood with Shuunsuke. To him, Shunsuke was like his older brother, where he had none. Ryuuto was an only child, so naturally he treated Shunsuke and Nagisa as close siblings. He had been hurt deeply when they left without much of an explanation. Only after Nagisa's explanation on the rooftop was he able to grasp and understand their reasoning. “So, earlier, Nagisa explained why you two left so suddenly those 3 years ago. I never would have placed that frightening incident in connection with you two.” A look of sadness and regret floated on Shunsuke's eyes. Like Ryuuto, Shunsuke also saw Ryuuto as family, not just as close friends. After all, when they were much younger, they spent their days playing in the park, capturing bugs, playing games and getting into trouble, things young boys would do at that age. “Then I also want to apologize to Ryuuto for leaving you in the dark all this time,” bowing his head as he said this. Seeing the older brother bow his head to Ryuuto made him a bit uncomfortable, “Its okay now Shunsuke,” he said returning an awkward smile. “Now that that is over with, there is something that concerns me Ryuuto.” Seeing the atmosphere change quickly brought Ryuuto out of his reminiscing. “Our chance meeting seems a bit too coincidental to be merely coincidence. For you to chase after us in that situation makes me a bit curious. Did something happen?” Shunsuke asks. Hesitating for a moment, Ryuuto responds, “You could say that.” Hearing the conversation head in that direction, Nagisa stops eating her beautiful partfait and looks at Ryuuto's eyes.

Ryuuto chooses to:

1. Explain to Shunsuke what transpired on the rooftop earlier.
2. Explain to Shunsuke what transpired on the rooftop, but leave out the details of him deciding to run for president.
3. Try to pass it off as something not worth mentioning.

----- After briefly explaining about what occurred on the rooftop with Nagisa, Ryuuto felt this is where it gets important. "... and so, I've decided to run for president in Nagisa's stead."
----- "Wha-?!" In response to Ryuuto's final line, Shunsuke could do nothing but exclaim in surprise. But before he could say any more, Ryuuto put his hand up to stop Shunsuke from saying anything more.
----- "I get what you want to say, but this is something I've decided to do for the benefit of the both of you. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but if Nagisa becomes the student figurehead of the school, she'd stand out and it'd be easier to target her; and if the moped becomes approved as a viable transportation method for the school, it'll help you easier than having to sneak around all the time when coming and going to school." Shunsuke stares at Ryuuto in silence for a while, and before long gives a sigh of resignation.
----- "So you've gotten it all thought out, huh..." Shunsuke leans back in his seat, and gives Ryuuto a serious look of approval. "I'll leave it to you then, Ryuuto."
----- As time passed, they talked about a couple more things and before long, they all decided it was time to leave. Shunsuke grabbed the bill and paid for them all, they then met outside. As Nagisa was getting ready for the ride home, Shunsuke pulled Ryuuto off to the side real quick, "I know you have this all thought out, and anything I say to you would be fruitless, but regardless I need to give you some advice as a senpai." Shunsuke lowered his voice almost to a whisper, but just enough to where Nagisa couldn't hear them. "That school's politics are dangerous. Make sure you're prepared before you step into that muddy world."

Ryuuto replies with:
1) "Leave it to me, Shunsuke. I can handle it."
2) "I'll be fine. I can handle a bit of mud."
3) "I should be alright, since I have an information beast at my heels."
4) "If I ever require help, I've got a dependable senpai, Senpai."

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