Hino Kahoko: The Second Chance is a Game?
I do not own La Corda D'oro nor am I making any money from the writing of this.
General Notes: For the purposes of this fan fiction 1 yen is equal to a pound – sorry but I often get mixed up with the currency exchange, plus I know the prices of most things in pounds – so hopefully I will not make any mistakes!
Authors Note!
Thank you everyone who reviewed, this is just a clarifying note on pairings. Since I wish to be true to the Anime/Manga this will feature Kahoko being the romantic interest of at least a majority of the boys – like in the anime.
Also for those who of you who have read my video game fanfiction based on Sakura from Naruto, you will have been reading the editing work of my excellent beta MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan who has agreed to beta this story as well!
As usual, all reviews are appreciated!
Kahoko's Current Stats
SCHOOL STATISTICS
Art – 9
Beauty – 7
Athletics – 7
Intellect – 10
Social - 8
MUSIC STATISTICS
Expression – 17
Knowledge – 4
Teamwork – 3
Technique – 10
Understanding – 5
PERKS
Beginner Musician: Tier 1: Violin
RELATIONSHIPS
RELATIONSHIPS SCREEN: Hino Akiko (Mother): 500/1000: Friendly
Hino Takuya (Father): 500/1000: Friendly
Hino Hiroshi (Brother): 500/1000: Friendly
Lilli (Fata): 1000/1000: Best of the Best Friends
EXPERIENCE: 210/250
MONEY
Yen: 270
INVENTORY
T-Shirt X3
Jeans X3
Trainers
Medium Grade Violin
When Kahoko woke up the next morning she was rather puzzled. She knew that she wanted to gain experience and level up, but she had no idea about how to proceed. Lilli was equally puzzled about what to do, but he did try confirming her suspicion that there was none of the strange magic in the house that could signal a quest. However this idea, that Kahoko was rather proud of, did not work at all. This was because of the immense amount that surrounded her, to the point where Lilli could not detect anything else. The game was also being rather uncooperative, that is to say that it was doing nothing at all. You would have thought that having completely turned her life upside, the game would at least give her a hint, but no, it didn't.
Therefore Kahoko decided that to explore her surrounding was the most sensible thing to do. If there weren't any quests in the house that she and Lilli could find then there might be some outside. Even if there were no quests outside there was always the option of going shopping for music, or study guides, or any kind of clothing other than her default outfit of a T-shirt and jeans! Kahoko had never been dedicated to fashion, but wearing the same bland clothes all the time made her feel especially awkward. When she voiced this to Lilli he also suggested getting more clothes.
"Think about it this way, how many teenage girls do you know who only have one style of T-shirt and one style of jeans – and no other clothing at all? You should definitely get some more clothes."
Kahoko nodded agreeing that that would be noticed, especially if she was going to hang out with Mio and Nao after school. Directly after she had made up her mind a screen appeared, identical to the one that had given Kahoko her first quest.
NEW TUTORIAL QUEST: Buying Clothes: Accept
YES
NO
Now that was annoying! The game would only give her a quest when she had decided to do something. And this was supposed to be easy mode... Kahoko shuddered at the thought of going through the game with the difficulty on the maximum setting. Still, at least she actually had got confirmation that she was doing the right thing. With that in mind she accepted the quest, and quickly scanned the screen that promptly appeared.
QUEST ACCEPTED
Items Gained:
Basic Bag
Basic Purse
QUEST: Buy two new outfits for +10XP per outfit
ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES: Do not be a fashion disaster, +10XP and +5 Yen per successful outfit
BONUS OBJECTIVES: Spend under 100 Yen in total, gain a quest exclusive item
Well it seemed rather simple for a quest, certainly easier than the studying. All she had to do was purchase some clothes that went well together and she would just get the 40XP that she needed to level up. Still, what exactly was the quest exclusive item going to be? Kahoko was still musing as she went downstairs; she was putting on her trainers when Lilli appeared in front of her, causing her to temporarily lose her balance. After wobbling back and forth for a few seconds, and a quick gasp she finished tying her trainer's laces and looked up.
"What are you doing Lilli?"
"I am coming with you of course, to help!" Lilli replied with a bright smile and innocent eyes. Kahoko disagreed.
"Sorry Lilli, but that scene just now is the perfect example of why you may not. It's all very well to surprise me when I am alone, but if I reacted like that in a shop, and started talking to someone that nobody else could see people would think I was crazy!"
"But Kahoko..." Lilli trailed off.
Kahoko was muttering to herself now. "Must resist puppy dog eyes, must resist puppy dog eyes!"
Lilli pouted, looking absolutely adorable, but Kahoko somehow managed to remain firm. In the end though, they compromised and decided that Lilli would remain in the house and check it for any of the other magic in Kahoko's absence. So she picked up her bag, and checked in the purse, which held all of her money. To make sure that she did not spend too much Kahoko put 120 Yen on her desk, leaving 150 Yen in her purse. This gave her 100 Yen to spend on clothes, and the extra 50 was for an emergency situation – should one occur.
Walking to the shopping centre once more another dilemma presented itself. There were twelve different clothing shops in the centre and she did not know which one to go to. Most of the names were ones that she did not recognise as well, showing Kahoko just how much her world had changed due to the game. This made her task significantly harder than she had anticipated. In the end she walked over to the map at the entrance, and Kahoko started to scan the shop descriptions.
Two of the shops only sold men's clothes, so they were out of the running. One only sold sports gear, and another was the shop that sold school supplies and uniforms. Those would be useful, but at a later date she thought. A smile touched her lips at the nostalgic thought of being in the first year of high school once again.
After approximately ten minutes Kahoko had decided on a midsized boutique shop that was one of the few she recognised. She also remembered it as having reasonable prices for the quality its clothes. Walking into the shop she began to look around, and quickly noticed that a dress in one clothes rack was faintly glowing. It was only when she picked up the glowing dress that the game made itself known with yet more information.
UNLOCKED: Clothing Styles
There are different styles of clothing throughout the game and each one will appeal to different people. The majority of people you meet will have both a preferred and a disliked clothing style, and this will affect socialising with them. You will gain a social bonus when wearing a liked style, and a penalty if wearing a disliked one, though your beauty and social skills will also matter. With any type of outfit there will be different dialogue options when socialising. The clothing styles are as follows.
ELEGANT
CUTE
CASUAL
SPORTY
SEXY
REBEL
NEUTRAL – no-one likes
AWFUL – everyone dislikes
Be careful to avoid creating an awful outfit! Good luck!
Just great – there were even more choices. Kahoko decided to ignore the styles and focus on what she wanted to wear. No-one had seemed to dislike her previous style, and she would not change herself based on social opinion. Her friends would like her because of who she was, not because of how she dressed. Decision made, she began to browse the shop, until just under an hour later she was ready to make her purchases.
Items Gained:
Outfit 1: Casual: Style Rating A, +20XP +5 Yen
Outfit 2: Cute: Style Rating B, +20XP +5 Yen
1X Sandals - Casual
1X Ballet Pumps - Cute
Items Lost:
Yen: 130
BONUS OBJECTIVES COMPLETED: Spend under 100 Yen
Items Gained:
Compact of Style
Description:
The compact of style contains a small mirror. Simply look at yourself in it and it will not only tell you which style you are currently wearing, it will also show how much of each style you are currently wearing.
LEVEL UP
REWARD: +7 Stat points, +1 Perk point (SP and HP are only raised every other level)
SCHOOL STATISTICS
Art – 9
Beauty – 7
Athletics – 7
Intellect – 10
Social - 8
MUSIC STATISTICS
Expression – 17
Knowledge – 4
Teamwork – 3
Technique – 10
Understanding – 5
Stat Points to assign: 7
Kahoko's first action was to put 2 points into Social so that she would be eligible for the waitress job she wanted. Then after asking Lilli for his opinion she placed 1 point in Teamwork, and 1 point each in Athletics and Beauty. Since Teamwork was her lowest statistic by a large margin she should at least boost it a little, even if there was no use for it at the moment. Similarly Athletics and Beauty were her lowest school statistics, and might be useful in the future. Lastly she put 2 points in Understanding as Kahoko had realised that this was a major weakness of hers. Her main strength was Expression, but how could she express the piece if she did not understand it?
Moving on the next screen, as before contained various perks. However now there were several new ones to choose from.
PERKS
Available Perks:
Dressing with Flair
all clothes in every fashion store are 20% off – for ever
Angelic Appearance
+, 5, Beauty, +2 Social
From the Heart
+, 5 Expression, +2 Art
Beginner Musician: Tier 2 of 3
Violin upgraded to high quality
Guaranteed Grades
receive a minimum grade of B for midterms/ finals
The first five perks were the same, except that she was now on Tier 2 of Beginner Musician. But Kahoko was interested in the new perks right now. They were...
Composers Confidence
Social bonus when talking with composers, composing songs unlocked
While that did sound nice Kahoko knew that she was not at a level to play the most basic music for the violin, much less compose any piece for it! Still, she made a mental note to keep it in mind for later.
7 Secrets
discover the 7 Secrets of Seiso Academy for unique quests and bonuses
After a moment of indecision she chose the 7 Secrets perk. While it appeared at first to be more work, if it could help her unravel the mystery of this game that her life had become... Anyway Kahoko also had to admit that she was curious, incredibly curious about these secrets – as well as another more recent mystery.
At first the fact that she had achieved the bonus goal while spending over 100 confused Kahoko. It was quickly solved though when quick glance at the game's screen told her that the shoes she had bought were not included in the outfit. Since she had bought the shoes for 20 Yen each, that meant she had spent 90 Yen on the outfits – which was under the goal. While she was pleased about this, she wished that the bonus item was something more useful. A quick glance in the compact told her that the jeans, T-shirt and trainers that she was currently wearing were 100% neutral. She sighed, before seeing the time. It was almost 1 o'clock – the time her family ate at. Running back as fast as possible, Kahoko managed to make it home on time, but at the cost of a large amount of her stamina – already depleted from shopping. Walking upstairs after she had finished eating, Kahoko was greeted in her room by a very excitable Lilli.
"How was your trip Kahoko? It went well didn't it? I can tell you levelled up at any rate! Did you meet anyone you know?"
"Slow down Lilli." Kahoko laughed softly. "The trip was good, yes everything went well and I did level up, I did not meet anyone and I have a question for you."
"Oh?"
"Do you know anything about the seven secrets of Seiso Academy? It's just that the perk I chose unlocked them and well, you know the school just about better than anyone!"
"So that's what the change was!" Lilli seemed more excited than ever. This was however slightly confusing for Kahoko.
"What change?"
"Well about half an hour ago there was a change in the magic surrounding Seiso Academy; it was like something had been added to it to make it stronger" Lilli sounded happy, but Kahoko still voiced her concerns.
"Was this a bad change Lilli?"
"Exactly the opposite, it was a good change, I'm sure of it. It's just that since it is a new change I don't know anything about it. It'll be like a treasure hunt!" Lilli's enthusiasm was catching and soon Kahoko found herself grinning as well. If everything continued to go so well then she would be happy. She could play the violin and enjoy music to her heart's content.
TUTORIAL PART 1: COMPLETED +100XP
After a quick dinner, Kahoko felt rather bored. Just like in the morning she had got nothing to do, all of the shops were closed, it was getting dark and she was sitting on her bed trying to get a hyperactive Lilli off the ceiling. She should never have left that cup of coffee in her bedroom.
Eventually she decided to go to bed early, but she could not sleep. It might have been due to the creaking of her lampshade which was currently doubling as a fairy roundabout, or it might have been the small thuds when said fairy fell off his supposed roundabout and crashed into the wall. But those didn't matter to Kahoko; she lay in bed excited about the start of school and the chance to meet everyone again while learning how to play the violin properly. She would meet almost everyone again, but the question was should she try to befriend them earlier, or wait until the concours? Fuyuumi-chan and Shimizu-kun would still be in Junior High though, so she couldn't meet them this year, which was disappointing.
Both Fuyuumi and Shimizu were amazing musicians, as were all of the concours participants. But she would not lose, not this time. And it would not be cheating, because there would be no magic violin to help her. That was one of her goals. She would stand on the stage and she would play her best, and she would finally be on an equal footing to the other participants. It wouldn't be easy though.
So Kahoko also thought about the challenges that she would face. It would be very hard to learn the violin, much less if she only had a year to do it in, if she wanted to be able to play decently in the concours. That would be her schedule for tomorrow – to begin to look for a violin teacher. Oh, but first she would have to look for a part time job to pay for the lessons. She would check the cafes and such tomorrow as well then. It was a plan, a plan that she would inform Lilli about tomorrow. She sighed; it was like caffeine was alcohol to him! From now on she would only have decaffeinated coffee in her room...
Zzzzz...
"I have captured the evil magician's wand. He thought to hide it in the jewelled chest, but I, Lilli have prevailed. The secret weapon of MASCARA is now in my possession! Take that!"
Zzzzz...
The following morning Lilli, despite staying up most of the night, was only slightly tired. As he seemed to have recovered from his bout of hyperactivity she invited him to walk into town again with her, so that she could look for more quests. She then dressed in her casual outfit, much preferring it to her old jeans and t-shirt.
When they entered the town centre Lilli's eyes lit up, and he eagerly started to tell Kahoko what he had found.
"Nee, Kahoko did you know that the waitress job applies to all of the places that are hiring them. That means you could work at any restaurant or cafe you want!"
"That does make sense, and I should be careful in choosing since I will meet different people at random depending on the place." Kahoko replied to Lilli with a thoughtful look on her face. After glancing around her she noticed that there were numerous question marks around her, and looking at the map there was one a few metre's to her right...
There, barely visible through the crowd was a little boy looking on the verge of tears. A small noise alerted her that a quest had been triggered.
NEW QUEST: Missing Mother: Accept?
YES
NO
Quest: Help the boy find his mother
Reward: +50XP, Karma Unlocked!
Pressing yes without a second though Kahoko walked towards the young boy. She would have helped him even without an experience reward. Crouching down she looked into his eyes.
"Hello, I'm Hino Kahoko, are you lost?"
The little boy took one glance at the smiling girl and burst into tears.
"Mummy went away, and I don't know what to do and I can't find her and I'm scared and I just want my mummy back!"
Kahoko offered a handkerchief and wiped the boy's tears away. The child clutched onto her hand as if he was scared of her leaving, which he probably was. Since she was not sure how to pose the next question she decided to ask a simpler one first.
"There there, everything will be alright... Can you tell me what your name is?"
The crying subsided into muffled sniffles as the boy replied.
"My names Ayato..."
Okay, he had calmed down somewhat.
"Nice to meet you Ayato, now could you tell me where you last were with your mummy so that we can go and look for her?"
A small, but determined nod was her response.
"We were by the crate stand..."
Now Kahoko might not be familiar with the town centre but she was pretty sure there was no crate stand. Unless... the child was referring to a stand with a lot of crates stacked around it... but there were none like that that she could see. Then it hit her...
"Do you mean the crepe stand by any chance?"
The nod was more enthusiastic this time.
"Yes, mummy said she would get me a crate, but then she didn't. So I went to get one and got lost."
Lilli chipped in.
"Look Kahoko, there's an exclamation mark over that crepe shop by the fountain! It feels different to the question mark, but also similar. And it wasn't there a moment ago either... Do you think it could be his mother?"
Mouthing thanks to Lilli, because she couldn't start what others would see as a conversation with herself in public, Kahoko led Ayato to the exclamation mark, which close up she could see was moving. This was because it was hovering over the head of a frantic looking woman, who was hurrying around the immediate location. As soon as Ayato saw the woman he gave a yell of joy and with a sudden burst of energy dragged Kahoko along as he ran towards her.
Quest Complete: Missing Mother
Rewards: +50XP, +5 Karma!
Karma Unlocked: You gain karma for doing positive acts, and lose it for negative ones. Your Karma level will unlock new scenarios and options depending on its level!
After receiving the woman's thanks Kahoko set to work on the myriad of other quests that were present in the town square,
Quest Complete: Help a Grandmother cross the road
Rewards: +60XP, +5 karma
...
Quest Complete: Stop Thief!
Rewards: +125XP, +10, Karma, 10% Discount at Yamazuki Sports
...
Quest Complete: Cat + Tree = Stuck
Rewards: +15XP, +1, Athletics
...
Quest Complete: Falling Flowerpot
Rewards: +40XP
LEVEL UP! You are now Level 3!
REWARD: +5 Stat Points, +1 Perk Point, +10 Max HP, +10 Max SP
She had done it! Kahoko quickly turned red as people stared at her high-fiving Lilli. She was grateful, then, that the stat screen popped up, distracting her, and putting the world on pause for a while. Those quests had really taken a lot of energy out of her, the only reason she was not gasping was the automatic refill of her stamina and health bars upon levelling up.
SCHOOL STATISTICS
Art – 9
Beauty – 8
Athletics – 8
Intellect – 10
Social - 10
MUSIC STATISTICS
Expression – 17
Knowledge – 4
Teamwork – 4
Technique – 10
Understanding – 7
Stat Points to Assign: 5
How should she distribute this levels worth of points? Maybe her teamwork... but technique would be good to, and she wanted to retain her high level of expression...
"Kahoko..."
She turned around to see Lilli giving her his best attempt at a threatening glare. Frankly, it made him look adorable.
"What have I told you about before? You cannot focus solely on music! You are starting school in a few days and if you neglect the non-musical statistics it will show... I don't want you to have music be your whole world Kahoko..." He looked a bit sad before continuing. "We all do need support from other areas," Here he brightened up slightly. "And, besides music is from the heart, and it is our interactions and lives that make up our hearts!"
He looked pleadingly into Kahoko's eyes...
"Lilli, I can always count on you to give me a reality check. Thank you Lilli, for everything, you always have my best interests at heart and I am so grateful for that."
Lilli responded to her smile with a grin, wiped his ever so slightly moist eyes and perched on her shoulder, as Kahoko thought about her choices.
"Then I'll go with bringing up art, beauty and athletics to 10, its best to be balanced right?"
After putting the points into the specified areas it was time for Kahoko to choose her perk.
PERKS
Available Perks:
Dressing with Flair
all clothes in every fashion store are 20% off – for ever
Angelic Appearance
+, 5, Beauty, +2 Social
From the Heart
+, 5 Expression, +2 Art
Beginner Musician: Tier 2 of 3
Violin upgraded to high quality
Guaranteed Grades
receive a minimum grade of B for midterms/ finals
Composers Confidence
Social bonus when talking with composers, composing songs unlocked
Sirens Voice
Your singing voice will match your musical skills for good or bad, +3, Beauty, +3, Expression
Well, the only new perk was Sirens Voice, which would allow her to raise her Expression. Kahoko knew her singing voice was, well lacking would put it kindly, so choosing this would only improve it! Also the stat bonus was only 1 below the total bonus she would get from another perk, and if she became able to sing then she would consider that a bonus!
As she chose Sirens Voice her throat started to feel... almost like honey was dripping down it? The sensation lasted about a minute, and when it finally stopped, the level up screen had gone away, and it was getting late. She hadn't even found a part time job – she had been too busy doing the quests! Running home, she collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly. The day had been tiring, even if she still had stamina points to spare.
The next morning...
"Kahoko, wake up..." her mother called from downstairs..."It's time for breakfast!"
Yawning and stretching Kahoko replied.
"I'm coming! Just give me a minute please!"
After getting dressed and walking downstairs she greeted her parents, only to stop. It was only subtle... but her voice definitely sounded more... melodic? Luckily her parents didn't seem to notice anything, but still, she made a mental note to ask Lilli later on.
Her mother handed her some money, it was her monthly allowance, which reminded Kahoko in turn that she really needed to get a part time job, without being distracted by quests! But it wasn't her fault!
What else was she supposed to do when a message asking if she wanted to help someone having difficulty came up? She couldn't say no! That would just be mean... which was probably why she got positive karma for completing them come to think of it.
Money Gained: +50 Yen
With her allowance now gained Kahoko was still going to go looking for a part time job. Her current allowance wouldn't cover violin lessons after all. But before that she made a quick list of some things that she would need. This was primarily some books to read for fun, some study books and some music scores.
It seemed like she would be making a trip to the book store, the music store and then the cafe's and family restaurants – she had decided she would prefer to work at somewhere friendly, the kind of place that she would go to with Mio and Nao. Kahoko brushed aside the small pang of loneliness she felt; she would be seeing them again soon after all!
With Lilli perched on her shoulder, and her "cute" style outfit on she walked out of the house, and once again headed for the town centre. Bobbing about to avoid any potential quests, this task was made decidedly easier as there were less than yesterday. As such, she managed to make it to the bookstore with time to spare. Once inside, and having picked up a book her eyes widened and she looked to Lilli, who was equally shocked... Then they simultaneously smiled and said in unison...
"There's a players guide to this game!"
Thank you everyone, you can still review, or PM, and say what pairing you want to see, as a general reminder the pairings are...
Tsukimori Len
Tsuchira Ryotaro
Shimizu Keiichi
Hihara Kazuki
Yunoki Azuma
Kaji Aoi
I also had a really random idea that I would like feedback on. What would you think about a "harem end" where Kahoko ends up in a committed relationship with 2 or more of the boys? The rating will remain a T, and there will be no slash or yaoi.
STATS
HP: 120/120
SP: 120/120
SCHOOL STATISTICS
Art – 10
Beauty – 13
Athletics – 10
Intellect – 10
Social - 10
MUSIC STATISTICS
Expression – 20
Knowledge – 4
Teamwork – 4
Technique – 10
Understanding – 7
PERKS
Beginner Musician: Tier 1: Violin
7 Secrets
Sirens Voice
RELATIONSHIPS
RELATIONSHIPS SCREEN: Hino Akiko (Mother): 500/1000: Friendly
Hino Takuya (Father): 500/1000: Friendly
Hino Hiroshi (Brother): 500/1000: Friendly
Lilli (Fata): 1000/1000: Best of the Best Friends
EXPERIENCE: 100/400
MONEY
Yen: 200
INVENTORY
Simple Bag, Simple Purse
T-Shirt X3, Jeans X3, Trainers
Sandals, Ballet Pumps
Causal Outfit, Grade A
Cute Outfit, Grade B
Medium Grade Violin
Compact of Style
