Tucker woke up the next morning as his alarm clock rang. He still felt a little groggy, believing he caught a bit of Rin's cold from when she kissed him. He didn't feel sick or anything so that was good, but he felt worn out despite sleeping for an uneven amount of time. He decided to get ready with the hope of seeing Rin that morning.
Tucker made his way to the art room where he was expected to be with the girl who seemed to kiss him. He waited around to see Shinichi walking up with the keys.
"Good morning Mr. Kagami." Shinichi greeted him. Tucker looked at him before he opened the door and Tucker walked inside. He was the second student inside as Rin had arrived a couple moments earlier.
"Good morning Mr. Nomiya." Tucker greeted him. Tucker walked over to the desk while Shinichi continued to speak.
"I sensed you feel a little groggy, do you need to go to the nurse?" Shinichi asked Tucker as if he was taking a look out for his students. Tucker looked back to Shinichi before speaking.
"I'm good. I just went to visit Rin yesterday to see how she was doing." Tucker replied. He walked off to put his belongings down. He takes a look at Rin while figuring out what he was going to do next. The codeine pills he took certainly helped him sleep but now it seemed that left him a little tired but he was going to wake up further down the line.
"That's good, I heard she got a cold and by the looks of things, I thought you were going to catch her cold and spread it to the rest of the class. Now that would be a calamity in a shell of a mollusk?" Shinichi asked while Tucker decided to take his seat.
"Yeah. I think we shouldn't be talking about seafood unless we had plans to paint a plate full of them." Tucker added on. Shinichi laughed.
"You're making an old man laugh. I'll let you settle down before class begins." Shinichi told Tucker. Tucker sat down next to Rin as he was going to prepare for class. Rin looked at Tucker and she began to speak to him.
"I sense you are feeling a little groggy." Rin began. Tucker turned to his right to see Rin beginning to speak to him.
"Yeah, I must have caught your cold from yesterday when I came to visit but I don't feel like I've come down with aches." Tucker added to what Rin had said. Rin looked at him before smiling again.
"At least the Codeine works, I feel as good as new now." Rin told Tucker that she had returned to her old self.
Katawa Shoujo- Wiosna
"I'm happy that you have gotten over your cold." Tucker added. Rin smiled a bit before looking at him.
"I am too. I'm still thankful for the visit you've paid me." Rin told Tucker. The rest of the class trickled in as Shinichi decided to list over what they planned on doing today. Tucker idly listens to Shinichi's lecture while he takes some notes about what they were going to do. He felt like he had a busy day ahead while listening to what Shinichi had to say. Afterward, they broke up into their groups and began doing their art work. Tucker remembered something that he wanted to talk to Rin about. Rin was busy helping out another painting as the students she was assigned to weren't entirely sure how to proceed with the painting.
"Hey, Rin?" Tucker asked. Rin turned her head to see what Tucker needed.
"Yes Tucky?" Rin asked. Tucker began to think about what he wanted to say before he began speaking.
"Hanako ran into me yesterday and she wanted to invite me over to Lilly's dorm for a birthday party for Hanako, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me?" Tucker offered Rin the invitation that he wanted to give regarding Hanako's party. Rin listened while seemed interested, she wasn't entirely sure about it.
"And she invited you over to her party for what reason?" Rin asked Tucker if there was any reason why he was being asked to come over. Tucker began to think about it before he decided to speak about it.
"My sister is attending the party as well. Eleanor says she misses me and wants to see me to check up how I am doing. I also got a text from the School Nurse asking for your visit so you can get your antibiotics." Eleanor explained to Tucker what exactly was going to happen. Tucker nodded a bit before looking away from Rin, did he really have to see the nurse again? He was clearly not looking forward to that.
"Do you and Hanako have classes together after this one you two could talk to each other about? I will come see Hanako tonight if that's the thing." Tucker asked Rin if there was a class that she and Hanako met up in so they could discuss the party. Tucker didn't know Rin's schedule that well and he needed some clarifications. Rin looked at him for a little bit before she began speaking again.
"I have her in third period. I might ask her if she was willing to come over as I don't want to leave you completely alone." Rin explained to Tucker about the fact that she and Hanako shared a class and they could possibly arrange something. Tucker nodded.
"Okay." Tucker approved the plan for Rin to speak to Hanako about it.
"I'll try to tell you about it when I get the chance to see you." Rin explained to Tucker. Tucker nodded again.
"If it's fine, we can meet up at the nurse's office again before we can figure out what to do from there." Tucker decided to make plans with Rin while she continued to help someone else paint.
"Sounds fair." Rin's words were cut off by the ringing of the period bell signaled to them that they needed to get to their next classes. Tucker gathered his belongings while Rin went to wash her feet off.
Tucker made his way to the second period class as he seemed to always be the first student there. What was taking this teacher so long? He thought he might have a minute or two to himself to relax and hopefully catch up with himself. He was thinking about what Rin was saying and how she was going to approach the topic of coming for a visit with Hanako. Tucker continued to think about it before someone sat next to him and began speaking.
"Hello Feminist." The words began. Tucker turned to his left to see Kenji's smug face looking at him.
Katawa Shoujo- Out of the Loop
"What do you want Kenji?" Tucker growled at him. He didn't care what Kenji had to spit out of his mouth but he seemed to be more annoyed with him.
"Are you going to help me with something?" Kenji asked. Tucker was curious about it but he just wanted to shove Kenji out of his way.
"What is it then? Explain!" Tucker seemed to shout as he didn't want to associate himself with Kenji's ideas.
"I was wondering if you wanted to help me infiltrate the feminist club at the library, one of my books has gone missing due to those sneaky rats." Kenji offered to Tucker to help him sneak in and figure out where his book went. Tucker looked at him as he wasn't pleased.
"How many times do I have to tell you no." Tucker replied. Then the door opened up as Misha and Shizune came over to Tucker and Kenji. Shizune began to angrily sign to Kenji. Misha began to speak on Shizune's behalf.
"Shicchan is telling you to move Kenji, and stop arguing with Tucchan." Misha told Kenji to pick up his seat and go somewhere else. Kenji grumbled, obeying their commands. He walked off to sit somewhere else.
"Thanks for helping me out there." Tucker gave his thanks to Misha. Misha smiled before she began laughing.
"No problem Tucchan." Misha told Tucker. Shizune made a few quick hand gestures and Misha began speaking again. "Shicchan got the letter you sent to her and I wanted to tell you about it." Misha began with the conversation about what Tucker had written to her.
"Is it about forming a new club around Rin's hobbies?" Tucker asked Misha if that was the case. Misha smiled again before she began speaking again.
"Yep. Also we kind of talked about it when we first got the letter, after coming to a conclusion about it, we have decided that we should give the club the green light to see how well it will pan out. I think that I will be the one to advise the club to make sure everything runs smoothly." Misha told Tucker about the club that they had managed to give the go ahead. Tucker nodded with approval.
"Nice. So you figured out a day when we should get together?" Tucker asked. Misha's smile lessened a bit but she still remained happy.
"We haven't figured that out as of yet but we need to find all the files in Rin's computer of hers. We don't know how long it will take to copy them all and put them onto the computers so everyone who does sign up will have them but we made a list of who wants to sign up.
"Great, count me in then." Tucker told Misha that he was enthusiastic about joining. Misha smiled.
"Okay, I'll have to see your computer then." Misha told Tucker.
"Okay, I've been invited by Hanako to Lilly's dorm later so the room is all yours." Tucker told Misha. Shizune made a couple of quick hand gestures before she turned back to Tucker.
"Shicchan has copies of the keys to everyone's dorms so we should begin doing all the work, have fun with Hanako though." Misha told Tucker. Tucker nodded before the teacher walked in.
Classes seemed to proceed onward smoothly and when the end of the day came, Tucker knew he had received a text from the School Nurse saying he needed to see him. Tucker decided to make his way there before knocking on his door.
"Come in." The School Nurse told Tucker. Tucker walked in as it was just him and him alone. Was Rin supposed to meet up with him? He knew he was by himself for now so might as well take the medicine. The School Nurse began to unwrap the bandage as he saw that the shoulder to the elbow was still healthy.
Katawa Shoujo- Ah Eh I Oh You
"How is it, nurse?" Tucker asked. The School Nurse smiled before he opened one eye.
"It's still healthy and you haven't been getting any pain in your left arm right?" The School Nurse asked Tucker out of curiosity.
"No I haven't and that's good." Tucker sighed. "I knew I must've caught Rin's cold when I came to visit her but her medicine was plentiful so there was some need to share it." Tucker told the Nurse what was going on. The School Nurse smiled happily before he began speaking again.
"Even if you did, you still sound like your usual self as the cold had no effect on you." The School Nurse spoke as he got out the antibiotic needle he was going to inject. Tucker seemed to be getting over the fear of needles with these injections.
"I know, I ended up falling asleep on my bed for about a few hours and realized I was sleeping in my own clothes." Tucker answered to the Nurse. The School Nurse walked over as he gently held Tucker's arm.
"Now I just want you to be careful as the summer comes, you will still need your injections especially with the fact that we'll have three days off coming up." The School Nurse explained to Tucker that he should proceed on a little more cautiously. He headed over and began to inject the needle into Tucker's elbow where the two joints met. Tucker winced for a moment before it was over. The School Nurse proceeded to wrap his arm back up.
"Why is that?" Tucker asked as he seemed curious about taking it a little more cautiously.
"I don't want to see you get hurt. Try your best not to get into anything physical, not with that left arm of yours." The School Nurse explained to Tucker that in his condition, it was best not to be rough and tumble. Tucker nodded slowly.
"I'll try my best sir." Tucker replied. The door opened to reveal Rin walking in.
"Is he done yet?" Rin asked the School Nurse.
"Just about." The School Nurse replied. Rin sighed before she began speaking.
"Come with me Tucker, there is something I wish to show you about." Rin told Tucker. Tucker and Rin went off together before they ended up in the hallway.
"What is it Rin?" Tucker seemed to ask out of his own curiosity. Rin said nothing and continued to lead him away. She turned her head back before giving him a glance of a smile.
"It's a surprise, Tucky." Rin told Tucker. Tucker continued to follow Rin as his curiosity was going to bring him closer and closer to where he needed to go.
Tucker had followed Rin down into the room of the basement, this was some place few students end up going to. Tucker looked around to see the machine powering the generators as a hiss of white smoke came from one of the cylinders.
"Tucker, I was shown this place by a fellow friend of mine and she said that you would like this place." Rin began. Tucker seemed to be blown away by this. The machines were working in unison as it seemed to be some kind of turbine.
"It's a steam turbine isn't it?" Tucker asked out of curiosity. Rin looked at him before she nodded.
"Yes it is." Rin explained to Tucker. Tucker looked up as he was amazed. This was the turbine she mentioned talking to Rin about on the first day he transferred to Yamaku. "Someone had mentioned that this was a machine that was copied and modified by a certain Mr. Kagami. I… I instantly thought of you." Tucker was surprised. His dad's mark was in Yamaku Academy and Rin had shown him the turbine or at least a modified version of it.
"You thought of me when you found out about this?" Tucker asked Rin if this was going to be true." Rin nodded before she walked over and stood mere inches from his side.
"I did." Rin admitted. She looked at him and began speaking again. "I spoke to Hanako about the party and she was nervous as I wasn't a person she was all too familiar with but she told me I was allowed to come over."
"That's good. Hanako is opening up to more people." Tucker told Rin. Rin looked at him and she only nodded. Tucker seemed to think that Rin was getting more and more attached to him. "Also I spoke to Misha and she gave your idea the green light though she needs to head to your dorm for the files to your game." Tucker told Rin about the information regarding what Misha had told him when he first suggested the idea of the club in his letter.
"Misha should be welcome to come in as I am going to be spending the afternoon with you and Hanako. Don't know what kind of party we're going to be holding?"Rin asked as she felt a little excited about this but she didn't know what she was going to do or say about it. Tucker looked at the clock and decided to figure out if they should head for Lilly's dorm.
"Should we get going?" Tucker asked Rin if they should begin taking their time getting there. He didn't want to spend the rest of the afternoon in the basement. Rin nodded before she began walking away.
"I know where Lilly's dorm is. Follow me." Rin told Tucker. She turned and she began to slowly walk away with Tucker following her. Rin was going to take the long way around so Tucker had more time to talk to her.
The time would wind down as Tucker decided to take Rin back to his dorm first to drop his belongings off and clean himself up a bit. Then they went to Rin's dorm for the same thing and they got there before Misha came along as it was clear she must've been taking her time. They decided after cleaning themselves up, they were going to visit Lilly. Lilly's dorm was on the fifth floor as these dormitory buildings were like towering skyscrapers, each to fit fifty students on each floor. Eleanor was on the lower floor and so was Tucker so no climb up the stairs.
"I didn't know Lilly was this high." Tucker began. Rin looked at him as she didn't know how she should react to this.
"Yeah I know It's always a climb up to get to Lilly. That's how it was designed when they made the dorms with ten floors. They might be building more to house the students that are coming into Yamaku." Rin explained. They then arrived at Lilly's dorm as Tucker gave three sharp knocks to figure out who was inside.
"Who's there?" A voice called out with a hush. It sounded like Hanako.
"It's me, Tucker and I brought Rin with me." Tucker told Hanako that it was him and Rin, no need to have harm. The door slowly creaked open a bit as Hanako's face peeked out to see who it was. Tucker sensed that Hanako was nervous.
"Tucker?" Hanako asked. Hanako's face disappeared from the door as the door closed slowly with a creak in its structure. Tucker and Rin were standing outside of the door, waiting for Hanako to get back to them and see if they were going to be let in. The seconds ticked by as the seconds would turn into a full minute. Tucker was still holding as Rin looked like she was ready to walk away. Finally, the door opened as Lilly opened it enough for them to come in.
"I apologize for the wait, Hanako hasn't had many people come over." Lilly apologized to them as Tucker and Rin walked into the dorm. Lilly was down in her night clothes and Hanako in her nightgown.
"The wait is accepted." Tucker awkwardly told Lilly. Rin sat down with Tucker while Lilly walked over and grabbed some tea for them. She got out some tea cups and placed them down while pouring them their tea.
"I should have had more tea cups on hand as Akira is going to show up any moment now." Lilly told Tucker that they needed to have more cups for the tea. Another knock was heard at the door. Tucker watched as Lilly stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. Inside came Hisao and Eleanor as they had a couple bags with them. It was clear they were bringing presents. "Welcome you two, I think you have the belongings that we will need." Lilly asked. Tucker looked at Hisao.
"Believe so. I think this day will be special for us all. Eleanor wanted to see her brother as she felt like he and Hanako could go well together." Hisao spoke to Lilly that the two Kagami siblings shouldn't be separated for too long. Lilly nodded a bit before she began speaking again.
"Well we have to settle down for now, Akira says she's running a little late." Lilly told the group. She began to think about what to say next but if it was something about the presents, she knew she needed to make Hanako's day. "So Hanako, want to open your presents now?" Lilly asked.
"Y… yes." Hanako nervously stuttered, she could barely contain her excitement. Lilly went first before handing her a present for Hanako. Hanako happily unwrapped it, inside was a fluffy light brown stuffed bear. Hanako squeezed it with delight. Hisao handed his present to Hanako next. Hanako began to unwrap it as inside was a wooden doll with a Victorian era dress on it. Hanako was amazed as she kept smiling.
"I got you two presents as I didn't know what to get you. Happy birthday Hanako." Eleanor told Hanako before handing her the first one in a bag and the second one in a traditional present with wrapping paper. Hanako took out the first present from the bag as it was another wooden doll, similar to the one that Hisao had ended up giving her. She now had two similar dolls compared to one. Hanako then began to unwrap the second present to find out what it was inside was a box and Hanako began to read it, it was a reproduction of an old style chess set with the pieces made from real coral. Hanako turned to Lilly before she began speaking.
Katawa Shoujo- Lullaby of Open Eyes
"Th… Thank you… Lil… Lilly, Hi.. Hisao… and El… Eleanor." Hanako stuttered as she wanted to cry with happiness over the presents she had received. She turned to Lilly as she then wrapped her arms around her friend. Lilly responded to this by hugging Hanako back, the two girls smiled as they embraced their friendship with each other. Tucker felt bad that he didn't get anything for Hanako. He felt like he was left out of all of this. Hanako hugged her gifts with happiness as she felt like she had been truly happy for the first time in a very long time. She looked to see that Tucker had been left out in all of this. She decided to set her presents down before going over to Tucker who was sitting back a bit. "Is something bothering you?" Hanako asked. Tucker looked at Hanako to see that she had decided to come to him.
"Yeah, I didn't get anything for your birthday. You seem happy with your gifts but I wish I could have gotten you something to make you smile." Tucker explained to Hanako that he had no presents to give to her. Hanako looked at him though she didn't know how to react. She felt like she wanted to pity Tucker but at the same time she didn't want to pity him. She instead leaned over and hugged Tucker.
"Being here is the only present you need to bring." Hanako told Tucker. Tucker turned around to see Hanako smiling again and she had her arms around him. Tucker hugged her back as if he was included as one of the crowd. The door knocked as Lilly got up and went to answer it. She opened the door to reveal a blonde lady with brown eyes enter, she was carrying two black bags.
"Sorry for running late, I got held up in traffic and had difficulty parking. Happy Birthday Hanako." The lady told them. Lilly walked over and grabbed the bags.
"You may settle down, Akira." Lilly politely told her sister. She walked over before sitting down, she spotted the two students that she wasn't familiar with.
"Who are they?" Akira asked Lilly if she had any ideas as to who these two were. "I know one of them is Eleanor but who's the boy next to her?" Akira asked.
"That's my older brother Tucker. He's the one with the arm bandage." Eleanor introduced him to Akira. Hanako released her grip on him as she went over to introduce herself to him.
"I'm Akira Satou, the older sister of Lilly, nice to meet you." Akira introduced herself to Tucker. Tucker nodded before he shook her hand. Akira got out the bottles and began pouring them down as Lilly got the cake. After the cake was out. Akira placed the candles in and lit them up. Afterward, they shut the lights off before letting Hanako blow out the candles, they didn't want to keep them lit for too long. Once Hanako blew out the candles, they began slicing up the cake for everyone to enjoy.
"This is good." Rin began. She seemed to not be a fan of sweets but the cake was the one thing she was going to have. Tucker was busy eating a slice while they each drank the bottles of alcohol they were handed. To Tucker, alcohol was weird, it seemed to be very runny to him while trying to figure out what exactly to make of it. Eleanor on the other hand seemed to be enjoying herself while the girls were chatting away and expressing their day to each other. Rin began speaking.
"It seems that you aren't a fan of drinking." Rin began. Tucker looked at Rin as it was clear this wasn't something he was into.
"Yeah I'm not a drinker at this point." Tucker sighed. Rin looked at him as she seemed to have some level of apathy for him.
"I'd figure. Drinking isn't something I am into either." Rin told Tucker. Hanako seemed to be the one to truly enjoy herself that night as she was asking for more drinks. Eleanor and Hanako were getting along surprisingly well, better than Tucker had anticipated.
"So what do you want to do afterward?" Tucker asked Rin if she had any ideas. Rin looked at him as she knew that it'd be too late to do anything.
"Probably head back to my dorm and call it a night. We have no classes tomorrow so I'd suspect we should use the time to get our homework done and out of the way. Misha told me the club will hold the first meeting Sunday afternoon as it's clear a lot of people have signed up and the game is activated on the computers of the people who decided to sign up." Rin explained to Tucker that the day after this one will be the first meeting of the club. "We should be able to play the installed game any time we want."
"Oh good." Tucker added. Hanako, Hisao and Eleanor seemed to enjoy the company of themselves rather well.
The party concluded a couple hours later before they decided to pack their things up and call it a night. Hanako came over to Tucker as she was still smiling although a little drunk from the experience. She hugged him before she began speaking.
"Thank you for coming over. I wouldn't have enjoyed it without you." Hanako told Tucker. Tucker nodded as he patted Hanako on the back.
"Hope to see you tomorrow." Tucker told Hanako before he waved her, Lilly and Akira goodbye for now. Hanako waved back as she watched him and Rin walk away. Tucker took Rin to his dorm before Rin lazily gave Tucker her keys which he unlocked the dorm room for her and opened the door.
"Well, I will see you in the morning." Rin told Tucker before she walked into her dorm and Tucker closed it behind her. She thought the man was becoming such a gentleman. Tucker decided to head off back to his dorm to rest up and get the weekend to himself. Tucker spotted Hisao outside of the Girls Dorm and decided to walk back with him.
"Hey there Tuck, I sensed you had a good evening." Hisao began. He and Tucker were walking in the dark night of the school grounds. Street lights were lit to help the students find the path around the school. And with the air being pleasant during the night, it was an excellent time to walk around in.
Katawa Shoujo- Letting My Heart Speak
"I did. Hanako hugged me a lot, I kind of regret not getting a present for her birthday." Tucker admitted to Hisao that he still felt down about not getting anything for Hanako. Hisao looked at him and he began speaking.
"I feel the same way. Being with someone that she truly enjoys means a lot for her." Hisao began. Tucker looked at him before he began speaking next.
"I understand. She was so happy around me, I wasn't expecting to get hugged by her." Tucker admitted as he began blushing.
"I'd figure that. Lilly kissed me on the cheek I will admit." Hisao added to what he learned about from Lilly. Tucker looked away as something was on his mind. "Is something bothering you?" Hisao asked Tucker.
"Kind of." Tucker began. "It's about Rin. When she got sick with a cold, I came to visit her to see how she was doing and she ended up kissing me. I didn't know if this was an accident or not, I don't know how to approach it." Tucker admitted to the events that happened yesterday afternoon. Hisao began to think of ways on how to approach this subject before he came to a conclusion.
"I think you and Rin need to talk it out to find out if she was honest about it and if it was intentional. If it was intentional, Rin probably wants to be your girlfriend Tucker." Hisao did his best to explain it. Tucker looked at his friend, a girlfriend seemed to be like an extra treat to him. Possibly someone else to help care for him. He knew he needed to approach this with Rin when they were alone.
"I want to talk about it with Rin and then tell you about it. Is there anywhere that we can enjoy ourselves while at the same time not getting interrupted by Shizune, Kenji or Misha?" Tucker asked as he wanted to figure out if there was a spot that they could go to without being noticed by any of the three of them. Hisao began to think about it as he was curious to see where the best spot to find was.
"There is a spot in the park that is on top of the hill, it's full of yellow flowers that Rin likes, if I bump into her, I can ask her to take you there and you two could figure out what exactly had happened that day. Ernest is holding a card game at William's dorm tomorrow night and I'm attending it. You can tell me what happened then." Hisao explained that there was a spot that they could go and visit to figure out if the kiss was intentional or not. It couldn't be visited by anyone else though so it was free to themselves. Tucker nodded a bit as he now had some confidence in him.
"I will take your word for it." Tucker told Hisao about it. Hisao nodded as they both arrived at the entrance to the boy's dorm. Tucker nodded before he began speaking.
"I guess this is goodbye for now." Tucker began. Hisao nodded before he opened the door and he began to climb the stairs.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Hisao told Tucker. Tucker watched Hisao disappear as he decided to head to his floor. After finding his way back to his dorm. He decided to get himself washed up for the night as he managed to have a good time with Hanako and her friends. Tucker changed as he decided to look around to see what was going on. He found an envelope at his desk and wondered who it was from. He opened it up and began to read it.
Dear Tucker Kagami
It has been a week since me and your mother had sent you to Yamaku Academy. How are you doing? I'm doing great myself. Did you make any friends? If you did, who are they and let me know if you managed to meet someone special. I met your mother in a school similar to the one that you and Eleanor are in. What do you want to major in when you get into University? I hope you can go for engineering like myself. I hope you found your creative side as we intentionally enrolled you in the art class. Well, time for your old man to hit the hay. Keep in touch.
Sincerely, Your Dad.
Tucker placed the letter down as his father had written to him. He got onto his phone and texted him about the fact that he received the letter and will write back to him when he got the chance. Afterward, he decided to continue reading his book for a few pages and decided to call it a night and flicked the light switch off.
[A/N]: A pretty long chapter with Hanako's party taking up probably half of this chapter which I am pretty proud of. I definitely love the fact that Tucker is making friends and the relationship he has with Rin is blooming. He just needs to figure out if the kiss was intentional or accidental. That will be the topic of the next chapter, a good way to wrap up the second act.
Let's see if we can get 200 views for this story. I am going to make a bet on that one. Goodbye for now.