Guess who came up with this idea? None other than 0mn, of course! As proud and prestigious she is on the stage, Maya is a bit dense when it comes to real life relationships sometimes. Is she really the best one to throw into a scenario where romance will save the play...?
Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.
ReLive: Otome Game Challenge!
Maya and her friends spent their free time after school in a multitude of ways. More often than not, they were doing chores, extra practice, or completing assignments, as one might expect.
But every now and then, there came an afternoon where they would do more mindless things, like watching TV or playing video games.
This particular evening, Maya is enjoying her free time in the Starlight Hall lounge. Originally, she had been sitting on the couch by herself reading, until Futaba had timidly sauntered in and asked if it was okay for her to use the TV to play a video game. Maya had happily agreed, so Futaba had plopped herself cross-legged on the floor, plugged in her game controller, and put the volume down low.
Maya had been instantly captivated by the beautiful visuals of the game; it was set at a high school, and all of the characters' designs were quite gorgeous, with the majority of them being female. Maya had gradually put down her book in favor of asking Futaba questions about the game's mechanics and objectives, and Futaba had gladly gone off explaining everything to her.
From there, it hadn't been long before their partners had wandered in, looking the odd pair without them. Claudine and Kaoruko had joined Maya on the couch and gotten invested in the storyline, as well, as Futaba continued to explain.
"So I'm the MC, right? My goal right now is to pick a girl I like best and win her over!"
"Win her over…?" Maya tilts her head innocently. "As your friend, I presume?"
"Friend-" Futaba laughs. "Uhhhh, yeah, sure. A reeeeally good friend."
She doesn't realize her sarcasm is going completely over Maya's head.
"A girl, hm?" Kaoruko says with interest. "At least they let you play as one, too. I'm so tired of all the boring male protagonists. They're all the same."
"You can only choose one?" Claudine asks. "That's a shame."
"Oh?" Maya teases her. "Found a few that have struck your fancy, have you?"
"Shut up! I didn't say that! I mean, you'd think there'd be a challenge to win over multiple girls at a time, right?"
"Oh," Maya says. "That would be quite kind of them. After all, it would feel unfair if the protagonist only befriended one of her classmates. Why not all of them?"
"Uhh, it's not really just friendship-" Futaba is about to go into the explanation that this is, in fact, a romance game. But she decides not to and let Maya figure that out for herself eventually. "Never mind. But anyway, Kuro, there actually is a mode like that where you can get multiple girls at once! That's a different mode, though. Right now, I'm just doing the basic one. When I beat this one, I'll try the challenge route!"
All four of them get rather into the game as Futaba traverses through the in-game school, encountering all sorts of different character types in all different kinds of scenarios. There are girls who are kind, girls who are scary, girls who are shy, and so on.
Sometimes Futaba asks her friends' opinions and lets them choose her response to see a certain character's reactions. A lot of the scenarios and conversations are quite ridiculous and cheesy, but there are a few that are quite cute and genuine, as well. By dinnertime, Futaba has successfully gotten the heart meter of her target character up to 50%.
"I'll call it quits there for today," she declares. "Next time, I'll really make her swoon!"
"Hmph…" Kaoruko makes a notable pout as they're cleaning up the table. Futaba grins, leaning over to nudge her in the side.
"Awww, is someone jealous? C'mon, Kaoruko! It's just a game!"
"I'm not jealous!"
Maya and Claudine watch bemusedly from across the room as Futaba tries to soothe Kaoruko's wounded pride.
"I was never much for those sorts of games," Maya comments. "However, when the story is interesting enough and the characters are a vast range of choices, it seems quite entertaining."
"Really?" Claudine hums. "Maybe you should try it for yourself sometime, Tendo Maya."
Maya chuckles, not really having any actual intent to do such a thing anytime soon.
"I simply enjoy the prospect of a game centered around strengthening friendships between young women."
The other three all turn to her in shock, and make all sorts of chortling noises.
"Really…?" Claudine says. "You still haven't figured it out, huh?"
"Friendship, huh?" Futaba snickers. "Uhh, yeah, I'm sure that's all it is."
"Hush and let her believe," Kaoruko chuckles. "It's cute."
Maya isn't entirely certain what they mean about that, but she doesn't inquire.
Once everything is cleaned up, the girls head to the restrooms to brush their teeth, and then all say goodnight to each other in the hallways.
And likely because her thoughts are still in the mindset of thinking of the video game's style, Maya entertains herself by imagining a little pink heart meter above Claudine's head as she wishes her farewell for the night.
"Goodnight, Saijou-san. Please rest well. I wish you sweet dreams."
Claudine blushes very faintly, and Maya envisions the imaginary heart meter above her head filling up just a little bit.
"Why so excessive? I swear… Bonne nuit." Claudine turns and disappears behind her door.
Maya chuckles to herself, then retreats into her own room to go to sleep.
The next morning is bright and colorful. Maya wakes a little groggily, feeling as though she'd slept for many hours longer than she knows she had, or as though she'd had an exceedingly long dream.
As she goes about her morning routine, the haze in her mind remains. It's almost as though she can… see words in her field of vision. Words like "Get dressed" and "Brush hair," all things she'd typically do in her routine. Her assumption is that her mind is still fixated on the video game from last night, since she'd been seeing prompts and options like that pop up for several hours when watching Futaba play.
Once Maya has finished tying the ribbon in her hair, she picks up her school bag and heads to the door, where she can almost see the word "Leave" like the game would do. She advances out into the dormitory hallway.
And that's when she really starts to get concerned.
She could understand her mind playing tricks on her when she was within the comforts of her own room and still fuzzy from waking up. But once she starts seeing her classmates out and about around her, Maya's stomach begins to churn.
There are several girls out in the hallway, chatting and laughing and brushing their hair. And above each of their heads are two yellow stars.
Maya recalls last night when she had inquired about what that had meant. Futaba had explained that those stars appeared above NPCs - unimportant characters that were a more passive part of the game's story, whom the Main Character couldn't choose to win over.
They all started out with 2 friendship stars above their heads. As the MC progressed throughout the game, she would encounter the NPCs here or there for minor quests or activities, and depending on how the player performed and reacted to each one, their number of stars would increase or decrease.
As the game started, the MC had 2 stars on each NPC character. If she was kind to those characters, they would eventually gain a 3rd star, and if the MC was mean to or ignored them, they would drop down to 1.
Maya stands still, blinking several times before rubbing her eyes, but when she looks again the stars are still there, hovering above each one of her classmates.
That was how the NPC characters had appeared in the game. But the win-able ones…
"Oy, c'mon, Kaoruko! We gotta get to class!"
"But Futaba-haaaan…"
Maya stiffens at the sound of their voices. She draws in a deep breath, then slowly turns to look.
Futaba is doing her best to haul a sleepy, pouty Kaoruko out of their room, already weighed down by both of their bags as she struggles with her roommate. And surely enough, above each of their heads aren't stars, but colored meters - purple for Futaba and pink for Kaoruko - at the far right end of which is a matching-colored heart.
These, as Maya believes, are the characters' friendship meters.
In the game she'd seen Futaba play, characters' starting meters were filled to anywhere from 30% to 50% by default. It's a fair number from a gaming perspective, not too low that a few blunders would ruin your chances, but not so high as to make for an easy victory, either. Should the MC get on their bad sides or make them sad, it would drop down. But if she played her cards right and made the right choices, their heart meters would increase, as would friendship levels.
Maya's actual relationships must play into things here just a little, because she can see that Futaba's meter is at 40%, whereas Kaoruko's is at 45%. This makes sense since Maya was a bit closer with Kaoruko in real life.
Maya's heart starts to pound as she understands this isn't just some dream clinging to the remnants of last night's game after all.
As her two friends approach her, Maya sees a sort of screen appear in midair in front of her. A small flag icon pops up, meaning this is an event or encounter she must participate in. Options appear in front of her, for only her eyes to see:
-Interfere
-Ignore them
Surely, ignoring them would only deplete or stagnate Maya's progress with each of them. However, she'd also seen many instances in Futaba's game where the characters would react entirely differently than one would expect from their choice.
For example, if she chose to interfere, she might be given the option of a line that might soothe their argument and end things peacefully. Or they could react poorly to her interjection, with something like "Why don't you mind your own business?" and then their opinion of her would decrease.
If she'd learned anything from the game last night, it's that some choices would always be a gamble. Depending on how the MC played and interacted with certain characters and situations during specific game events, one character might always react negatively toward you no matter what you tried, or might suddenly have a complete change of heart due to the smallest detail.
It's all so much for her to try and fathom right now, but she needs to do something.
So after drawing in a deep breath, Maya steps forward and selects the first option to interfere. Once she's done that, she is given free reign to speak as she pleases.
"Good morning, Isurugi-san, Hanayagi-san."
The other two look up.
"Oh! 'Sup, Tendo?"
"Tendo-haaaan, Futaba-han is being so cruel to me!"
Now, Maya is not allowed to say what she wants. She is prompted by another screen of dialogue options to choose from:
-"Oh, my. Would you like to walk to school with me instead?"
-"Surely, it can't be that bad. You seem to be overreacting."
-"Now, now. She only has your best interest in mind."
Maya mulls her options over. This seemed to be a generic starter interaction with obvious answers. The first option would increase her friendship with Kaoruko, and either decrease or stagnate Futaba's. The second option would do the opposite and increase Futaba's meter. The third would likely increase them both or keep them both neutral. So Maya chooses the 3rd option.
"Now, now. Isurugi-san surely only has your best interest in mind."
"Yeah," Futaba agrees. "Even if you're tired, you can't just lie in bed all day. You've gotta eat and get some sunlight in ya!"
Kaoruko sighs. "I suppose you're right…"
"You don't feel sick or anything, do you?"
"N-No…"
"Great! Then let's go!"
"Agh! Futaba-han, wait!"
As the two of them hurry on their way, Maya can see each of their meters toward her increase, just a tiny bit. Futaba's moves to 42%, while Kaoruko's moves to 48%.
Which means this really isn't a dream…
Just as this thought crosses her mind, the lights in the building suddenly dim, and all activity freezes around her. Maya jolts, whipping around in confusion. But then, it's all suddenly made very clear.
"And cut!"
A deep, familiar voice speaks out just as Maya finds herself looking up at the giraffe. The ceiling here is a bit too low for him, so he needs to bend his long neck forward at an odd angle, which makes for a ridiculous and somewhat comical image.
"Well done, Tendo Maya-san. You have successfully completed your first interaction within this ReLive. I understand."
Luckily, the 'game' seems to have been paused for the moment, because Maya finds she can speak freely.
"So it is a ReLive, after all…"
"Indeed," he says. "You see, there is a certain genre of literature known as light novels. There was a particular series that ended up being quite famous in its category, enough so to have had multiple game adaptations created in recent years. This "otome" game style is one of the most popular. I understand."
"So this game originally started out as a light novel series?" Maya clarifies.
He nods. "A light novel series that was also adapted into a stage play due to its popularity. Due to this, the Korosu have made their way onto that stage and are attempting to destroy that play and consume the literature forever. Hence, why you were arbitrarily selected as the star of this performance to save it."
Maya lets the information sink in.
"So I will be acting as the Main Character here?"
"Precisely. Your objective is to win over one of the game's "capturable targets" and increase their "favorability rating" to 90% or higher. You have a certain selection to choose from, but it is up to you who you would like to end up with in this emotional story game. Should you fail to complete this objective, you shall remain on this stage, unable to return to your previous life."
Maya takes a moment to mull the rules over. She really is trapped inside an "otome" game. But unlike the other ReLives she has experienced, there isn't a set script she must follow to complete the performance. Rather than the typical role of acting out a certain character properly until the play is complete and the stage is satisfied… In this scenario, she has a bit more free will.
Of course, it seems she will be limited on her dialogue options at times, but other than that, she was free to do as she pleased, in a sense, and choose the outcome she wanted.
It shouldn't be too difficult
After all, this is a game about friendship, right?
"Very well," she says. "I will certainly complete this ReLive."
The giraffe nods.
"It is not too dire a situation," he says. "Simply win over any target character and you win the game. The ReLive will end and you will all be returned to your normal lives. However… I cannot say for sure whether certain emotions, good or bad, that are explored within this ReLive may or may not carry over… I understand." He dips his already-bent neck in farewell.
The next thing Maya knows, he has vanished, the lights have come back, and the game reality has resumed.
Now, she mulls over her new task in her current situation.
Increase the levels of my friendship with each of them until one of them surpasses the 90% mark... I presume that will be what determines who my 'best friend' would be…?
Logically, the best way for her to end this ReLive as quickly as possible would be for her to increase the friendship level with a person who was already a very close friend of hers. Since she realistically was close to Kaoruko, and since she had just increased her meter with her to nearly 50% in their first interaction, it might make the most sense for Maya to keep her in mind as a potential target.
Part of her wants to do just that. Stick with Kaoruko and speed through this until she'd become her best friend at 90% or higher.
However… what would be the fun in rushing through it? This was a game, after all. And as the giraffe had mentioned, it wasn't a very dire situation. What harm would there be in exploring a little and playing around…?
Maya decides to find her other friends and see what kind of scenarios and dialogues she is prompted with for each of them.
Slowly, still cautious of this new world and its many sensitive prompts, Maya follows after Futaba and Kaoruko toward the main lounge where their friends typically gather. The two of them are off to one side of the room, with Kaoruko trying to go back to sleep on the couch and Futaba trying to keep her awake.
In the kitchen area are Junna and Nana, who are just finishing making some fresh toast to share with their friends. As Maya had expected, they also have heart meters above their heads - teal and yellow, respectively - meaning they are people she can increase her friendship levels with.
Nana's meter towards Maya is already at a solid 45%, whereas Junna's is also at 40% like Futaba's had been to start.
Maya has the option to interact with either pair, but she chooses Nana and Junna. When Maya walks in, they both turn to greet her.
"Good morning, Maya-chan!"
"'Morning, Tendo-san."
Nana scampers over to her and holds out a fresh warm piece of toast.
"Want some breakfast?"
"I made some, too!" Junna moves up next to Nana to hold out her toast.
An event flag appears in the corner of Maya's vision as two options are presented to her:
-Accept Daiba-san's toast
-Accept Hoshimi-san's toast
She almost chuckles at how amusing the options sound. Of course such a game would make an event out of something as trivial as this. With Nana's level already so high, Maya sees no harm in trying to increase Junna's a bit, so she accepts hers.
"Thank you, Hoshimi-san."
Maya takes a bite of the toast as the cozy flavors wake up her taste buds.
"Awww…" Nana's shoulders slump. "Maya-chan liked yours better."
"Hah. All that practice paid off!" Junna smiles triumphantly.
Consequently, Junna's meter rises to 45%, whereas Nana's falls to 41%. It's Maya's first confirmation that there are indeed options that will lessen one or the other. And like she had increased both Futaba's and Kaoruko's earlier, there would likely also be scenarios where it was possible to lose points with multiple characters at once.
I will need to be careful… Even if it is just a game, the giraffe had warned that feelings at the conclusion of this might linger in the real world. I don't want anyone's points to drop below 10%.
A moment later, Mahiru stumbles in, with a half-asleep Karen draped over her side.
"S-Sorry, everyone! Karen-chan and Hikari-chan slept in again!"
"Mmmn, 5 more minutes~" Karen mumbles.
Mahiru and Karen's green and red heart meters toward Maya are both at 40% as well. And right behind them are the final two.
"Thanks for taking her, Kuro-chan!"
"Oui, don't mention it."
Claudine enters a second later, supporting a sleepy Hikari in the same manner. Hikari's blue meter is at the lowest starting point Maya has seen so far at 35%, which made sense since they didn't really interact very much.
But to her surprise, Claudine's heart meter is almost nearly full. The bar is filled orange from left to right all the way up to 80%.
Maya blinks, her eyes wide in shock.
My friendship with Saijou-san is already so high…? Perhaps it is because we spend so much time together in dance lessons and practicing after school. Her heart is already so used to me. Perhaps she will be the clearest ticket out of this…
Now, a new event flag appears in front of Maya:
-Help Tsuyuzaki-san with Aijou-san
-Help Saijou-san with Kagura-san
-Stay where you are
Similarly to the prompt with Junna and Nana, Maya could now make a choice to increase her friendship levels with Mahiru or with Claudine, or she had the option to abstain. If she chose not to interact with either of them, it could portray her as standoffish, and both their meters might drop. She would rather take the risk of increasing her friendship with one, and lessening with the other, than losing both.
Working off of instinct alone, Maya naturally gravitates toward Claudine.
"Saijou-san, please go eat something. I will watch over Kagura-san."
"Merci."
Maya smiles, content with herself and waiting for Claudine's meter to go up.
But as Claudine is trying to transfer her sleepy classmate over, something strange happens. Maya had been fully prepared to take Hikari from her, but somehow, as soon as they make contact, Hikari's weight slumps right through her arms. Everyone gasps in horror as Hikari falls flat onto the floor.
"Hikari-chan!"
"Oh, no!"
"Are you okay?!"
Everyone else rushes over to check on her, including Karen, who had jolted to her senses. Hikari moans pitifully as she pushes herself up, her nose all red.
"It hurts…"
"T-Take it easy!" Mahiru frets. "Let's go see the nurse, okay? Karen-chan, help me."
"Roger!"
As Mahiru and Karen both move in to support Hikari and pick her up, Maya watches their bars drop about 5% each. But worse than that is-
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Claudine rounds on Maya instantly and lashes out. Maya watches in dismay as her high level of 80% plummets to 60% all at once.
"M-My apologies-" Maya whimpers. "I'm not sure-"
But Claudine doesn't hear her out. She just whirls around and follows after the others down the hallway.
Maya is left stunned and stupefied.
Evidently, there were hidden traps like this incorporated into this gameplay, as well. When she thought she was doing something right, it could have the option to be rigged. She's certain there was something like an 80:20 percent chance of a good or a bad outcome happening from the option she selected. She'd just gotten unlucky.
I must be much more careful than I thought…
With this interaction over, it marks the first portion of the game - what was sort of like a prologue - as over. Maya is shown her current stats with each of the 8 targetable girls. Hikari is at the bottom of the list at 25%, with all the others now ranking in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Claudine is still at the top, but with a devastating 20% drop from where she had started off.
Maya swallows. Her initial assumptions about this gameplay ReLive being entirely just fun might have been a bit off.
I must be careful and choose wisely…
A bit disillusioned now, Maya draws in a deep breath and proceeds to the next part of the game.
Throughout the rest of that first day, Maya encounters all sorts of prompts and dialogues, anything as minor as picking up a non-winnable character's fallen eraser for her, to having to choose between all 8 of her friends as a dance partner for lessons.
Since she knew and was most comfortable with Claudine, Maya had chosen her. But due to the incident that had occurred that morning, Claudine had outright refused to pair with her and walked away. The game had then forcibly paired Maya with one of her most neutral classmates at the time, Nana.
Throughout the entire day, Maya does her best to smooth things over with Claudine. But Claudine never seems to want anything to do with her.
By the time classes are over for the day, Maya doesn't want to risk interacting with her further, because at that point, the game is giving negative outcomes no matter what. So she avoids Claudine for the rest of the evening for fear of making matters worse.
It's at the very end of the night, when everyone is about to go to bed, when Maya is face-to-face with Hikari for the first time. Her nose is still slightly red from her fall this morning, and her heart meter towards Maya is still at a pitiful 28%, not having risen much at all throughout the day. Maya is given dialogue for her now:
-Tease her ("You look like a certain famous reindeer")
-Apologize
Maya is filled with a rush of relief. She'd been waiting all day for a chance to apologize, but she presumes she'd been so preoccupied with Claudine that she hadn't gotten it until now. Even so, Maya doesn't think twice about her answer.
"Kagura-san. I apologize for what happened this morning. I feel terrible that you got hurt because of my carelessness."
Hikari actually perks up a little bit.
"It's okay. The nurse said the redness will be all gone by tomorrow."
Hikari's meter inches up to a respectable 40% before she turns and follows her roommates out.
"It's about time."
Maya jumps a bit as Claudine's sharp huff of a voice sounds from behind her. Evidently, she had witnessed the apology.
"Mahiru told me poor Hikari's been in shambles all day. Not because she was hurt or anything, but because she wanted to approach you and tell you she was fine. She didn't want you to feel guilty. But she was too nervous to initiate, so it's a good thing you finally did."
As Claudine explains all of this, her eyes soften just a little, and her heart meter increases up to 65%.
That's when Maya realizes she'd been too focused on mending things with Claudine that she hadn't stopped to consider making things right at the heart of the problem. Had she tried to approach Hikari sooner, or even chosen her as her dance partner, she likely could've mended things much more effectively. But as things are, at least the game gave her the chance at the end of the day today.
Had she played a different way and been meaner to those around her, Maya assumes she might never have been granted that option to right her wrongs.
"Saijou-san-" She wants to say more, but the ReLive doesn't permit it. Claudine simply gives her a little nod, then walks off to her room.
Given the events of her first day, Maya feels she understands the game much better now. Depending on who she interacts with and how, different events and dialogue prompts will appear. And based on her current ratings with each girl, they have a chance to react differently.
There is also a hidden lottery system behind certain choices, where she will have a random chance of getting a good or bad reaction.
She would need to learn the tricks and traps of this game if she ever hoped to be free of it.
As she reaches her bedroom and lies down, she hopes tomorrow will be more successful. She's decided it's probably best to end this sooner rather than later, after all, so she should probably choose her intended target and focus on winning her over.
Of course, she will persist with Claudine.
And in the end, I will make Saijou-san my very best friend.
Or so she assumed…
Over the course of the next few days, Maya navigates herself with extreme caution and care as she starts to get a feel for and a hang of the game.
While making sure to have all of her friends maintain a decent relationship with her - without letting any of their meters drop too low - she focuses primarily on winning Claudine's favor.
Maya does whatever she can to interact with Claudine and place herself near her at every twist and turn the game throws at her. And as she re-plays and re-experiences some scenes for a second time, she is cautious with her chances and keeps the tricks and traps of the game in mind.
But depending on her chances, a choice as simple as sitting next to Claudine at the lunch table could majorly affect Maya's progress.
In the worst luck of the draw, Claudine would turn up her nose, grab her things, and leave when Maya sat next to her. If Maya was doing moderately well, Claudine would simply huff, but allow it. And on the best of days, when Maya had gotten Claudine's heart meter in the high 70's, Claudine would actually smile and make space for Maya to sit.
But if there's anything Maya learns about this style of ReLive, it's that any percentage of the heart meter could change drastically from one single choice.
After four days of hard-thought decisions and calculated choices, Maya is doing quite well with keeping Claudine's favor. She'd even received the option to train with Claudine after school, meaning she could spend more time alone with her.
Presently, Maya is doing just that. She's hyper-aware of her surroundings, especially when they are dancing together, because sometimes, there will be a timed prompt that appears unexpectedly, and if she doesn't step or move the correct way in time, she could risk messing up their dance or dropping Claudine. Thankfully, she hadn't done the latter of the two yet, but she had indeed messed up a few times in previous days and made Claudine annoyed because of it.
But this afternoon, Maya is radiating confidence. Claudine's heart meter stands at a respectable 73% at the time when the fateful choice appears in front of her.
Claudine is on the topic of trying to make a weekend arrangement to hang out with some friends. As the two of them dance, she discusses the idea with Maya.
"Futaba and Kaoruko want to go out sometime soon," she says. "I'm not sure if I should go with them. What do you think?"
Now that she's warmed up to Maya a bit more, she's been asking her opinion on things more frequently. Maya sees some options appear in front of her.
-Encourage her to go with them
-Discourage her from going with them
Maya's brain works out a slew of possibilities from either option. If she tells Claudine to go, Claudine might invite Maya to come along, which would be a wonderful opportunity. Or Claudine might agree and simply go with the other two by herself without inviting Maya, which would mean Maya could lose a whole day of potential progress with her.
If she discourages her, Claudine could either agree and stay with Maya for the weekend, or become offended.
But based on Maya's currently-positive relationship with her, she sucks in a breath as they continue their dance and goes for the first option.
"You should go," she decides. "Enjoy your weekend with friends."
"You don't think I'd be a third wheel?"
"Not at all."
Maya smiles as they move around the room following the steps, and Claudine ponders.
"Maybe… Say, Tendo Maya, if you and I were going out on the weekend, who would you invite to come with us?"
By now, most people would probably have recognized this game as having a romantic plot line, and that this prompt was a hint from Claudine that she would want Maya and herself to go out on a date alone together.
But being that Maya still hasn't comprehended that the objective of this style of game is to romance a lover rather than simply get close to a friend…
Maya's options appear in front of her:
-Hanayagi Kaoruko
-Yanagi Koharu
-No one, just you and I, Saijou-san
In Maya's head, this is a game to make Claudine her friend. Therefore, if they were to go out together on the weekend, the more the merrier.
Claudine knows by now that Maya and Kaoruko are close friends, so choosing Kaoruko might rub Claudine the wrong way or make her feel left out. Therefore, Maya chooses the girl neither of them know that well.
"I have a friend by the name of Yanagi Koharu. She attends a different theatre school, but I believe she would make for a fine companion to any of our excursions."
Little does she know that this single choice will shape the entire rest of her game.
"Yanagi… Koharu…" Claudine tries out the name, mulling it over. As she does so, she inadvertently slows down her dance, which catches Maya by surprise. Maya accidentally misses a timed reaction and ends up stepping on Claudine's foot. "Ow! Watch it!"
"My apologies!"
But Claudine's meter has already dropped down to 65%, both because Maya had stepped on her, and because she'd unknowingly denied Claudine the date of just the two of them alone on the weekend.
This is a mistake Maya will discover all too late.
But for the remainder of the afternoon, she is puzzled as to why Claudine has taken a sudden interest in the name Yanagi Koharu, and why Maya must now answer all of these questions about her.
And the next day, as well, Claudine asks about Koharu - her school, her plays, her contact information. Maya tells her all she knows, which really isn't much. She tries to win Claudine's attention back, but can't ever seem to get her beyond 70% again.
And then the weekend arrives. Claudine goes into town with Kaoruko and Futaba, and Maya is given the option to follow them. In spite of the risk that she could get caught and accused of being a stalker, Maya goes.
And it's at the center of the bustling mall that she watches Claudine break apart from the other two and wave to a different girl.
Yanagi Koharu is there, smiling shyly. Claudine hugs her outright, stating how she'd heard so much about Koharu and had been so curious to meet with her.
Maya isn't given the option to interfere. She can only watch as Claudine and Koharu break off from the other two - not for a group gathering of four friends, but for two pairs of what Maya now understands will be romantic dates.
It took her this long to understand this style of game has romance as the objective, but it's too late now for her to do anything but tail Claudine and watch.
Claudine and Koharu chat pleasantly, visit shops together, and get coffee and snacks together. Maya watches them as though it were a montage, and by this point she is no longer a participant, but merely an onlooker.
At a little shop, Koharu picks out a bracelet and fits it onto Claudine's wrist. Claudine blushes, and Koharu ends up buying it for her to keep.
At the arcade, Claudine wins Koharu a cat plushie, and Koharu excitedly hugs her.
At a cafe, Koharu gets a crumb from her cake on her lip, and Claudine carefully cleans it off with her thumb.
All the while, the heart meter - the romance meter - that Claudine had for Maya, drops down farther and farther as she ultimately loses any interest in her.
Maya watches in despair from behind some decorative potted trees until the end of their date, when Koharu and Claudine share a tender look beside the mall fountain. They lean in and kiss before Maya's very eyes.
All at once, Maya sees blackness in front of her with the words BAD END.
She'd failed, lost Claudine's heart to another, and now she would have to start the game all over again.
Maya's first failure ends on the scene of Claudine and Koharu kissing. Her chest burns with defeat and humiliation.
"Yanagi Koharu… I will never forgive you!"
Her vengeful shout echoes around the mall, which has now been stilled with the end of the game.
The BAD END visual slowly fades as the ReLive - and all of Maya's progress - is reset.
The next thing Maya knows, she is waking up in bed again. Though the heat of defeat is still coursing through her chest, the world around her is calm and quiet.
Now she knows.
Now she knows this is a game about romance - not friendship - which changes how she intends to play entirely.
She won't fail again. Not like that, at least. Not in a way where she would lose Claudine to someone else and they would fall in love and kiss by the conclusion of the first date.
Even if the rushed progression was for the sake of showing that Maya's first attempt was at an end, it still stung.
This time, I will win her heart. I will make certain of it.
Now that she understands this is a game of romance, Maya changes her style completely.
As she replays the start of the session, she remembers the little tips and tricks she'd learned her first time around. This time, she doesn't drop poor sleeping Hikari, which doesn't make Claudine upset with her, but it also eliminates Maya's need to apologize and have Claudine warm up to her.
By their second day of school for the week, Maya has already made enough choices differently to essentially create an entirely new plot line with different options she'd never seen before.
If it's romance Claudine needs from her, then Maya is committed to playing hard to get. That is her strategy.
I will make her yearn for my attention and my affections.
And so, Maya plays it that way on her second try. She does her best to create the perfect balance of interacting with Claudine and ignoring her. But she knows if she ignores her completely, Claudine will stop approaching her and Maya will stop receiving prompts to approach her, too.
When given the option to choose her seat at lunch, Maya sits near Claudine, but not directly next to her, always letting either Kaoruko or Futaba stay between them.
One time in class, Claudine drops her pencil. Maya is given 3 options:
-Kick it back to her
-Pick it up and hand it to her
-Leave it
Maya chooses the 3rd option and ignores the pencil, in spite of Claudine trying to wave and get her attention. In the end, Futaba lends Claudine another pencil for the remainder of the class.
Then in dance class, when they are allowed to choose partners, Maya is allowed to choose between her 3 current highest-ranking relationships:
-Choose Hanayagi Kaoruko
-Choose Saijou Claudine
-Choose Daiba Nana
Hoping to make Claudine jealous, Maya chooses Kaoruko, who purrs with delight. This leaves Claudine with Futaba.
However, when the nine of them gather for an after-supper movie that evening, Maya chooses to sit next to Claudine to ensure she doesn't lose interest in Maya completely.
But when Claudine is on a bathroom break, everyone shifts around on the couch. Kaoruko presses into Maya's left side while Futaba leans back on the couch to her right. When Claudine returns she sits next to Futaba, and eventually falls asleep on her shoulder. Kaoruko ends up snoozing with her arms clinging onto Maya.
It makes Maya a little nervous, so she decides to give Claudine some proper attention tomorrow.
During a study period the next day, the four of them find a table together to sit at in the library.
"I need to study a bit more for history," Claudine says. "What are you all thinking?"
Maya sees her options appear:
-Choose to study history also
-Choose to study Japanese
-Choose to study math
Maya makes her choice.
"I could also do with a review of some history, so I shall join you, Saijou-san."
"Hold up!" Futaba suddenly interjects. "Kuro, we got that math quiz tomorrow, remember?"
"Ah, you're right! I'd completely forgotten! Futaba, let's review for that, okay?"
"Yeah!"
Maya curses herself as she watches Claudine and Futaba take seats together. The math quiz had been hinted at earlier, and the prompt had even given her the option to choose to study math if she'd paid attention enough to remember and see the hint, but she'd missed it.
"Yes, yes," Kaoruko hums. "You two go ahead and flip your fractions. Tendo-han and I will delve into the riveting battles of history!"
Maya waits, hoping for a mercy option to change her mind one last time, but it doesn't happen. She is forced to sit with Kaoruko while Claudine and Futaba laugh and joke across the table together.
In an effort to prevent what Maya already sees happening here, she is determined to win Claudine over before the weekend, and the 'end' of the game.
When it comes time for her to make a choice after school the next day, Maya is faced with the following:
-Invite Hanayagi-san
-Invite Saijou-san
Maya doesn't even think twice and immediately chooses Claudine.
"Saijou-san, please accompany me to the mall this weekend." Her heart meter with Claudine is at a good 70%, so Maya hopes to make the final push to 90 this way.
When Claudine blushes at the invitation, Maya smiles, thinking she's succeeded. However-
"Actually… I've got plans with Futaba this weekend. Maybe some other time, okay?" Claudine turns and walks off with Futaba, who takes her hand tenderly.
This leaves Maya and Kaoruko alone, and allows Maya to notice her mistake this time around. In all the events where Claudine had been getting close to Futaba, it had consequently meant that Kaoruko had been getting closer to Maya. Her heart meter for Maya had been at a promising 80%, and had Maya chosen to invite her for the weekend, she definitely could've won her over just for the sake of ending this complicated ReLive.
But tunnel-visioned as she is, Maya had only considered winning Claudine's heart. And now that she'd asked Claudine over Kaoruko, Kaoruko's meter drops to a disheartening 50%.
"Tendo-han… I thought we had something special…" Kaoruko sighs, and limps off with shoulders slumped.
Maya curses herself once again as she is forced to watch the same montage of Claudine's date at the mall, only it's with Futaba this time instead of Koharu.
And to make matters even more painful, she is also shown that Futaba is receiving texts from Kaoruko who is lonely and sad in bed, but Futaba is so involved with Claudine that she ignores her phone. It's just an extra jab to drive home the fact that Maya had failed twice as badly.
She closes her eyes so she doesn't have to watch Claudine and Futaba kiss before the black screen returns with the BAD END message once again.
And so, Maya is reset to the beginning of the week for her third attempt...
This time around, Maya now knows it's too risky to make Claudine jealous by using any of their friends (the other romanceable girls).
Therefore, Maya does her best to spend as much time as possible with their un-romanceable classmates, the girls who don't have heart meters, but the stars instead.
Maya focuses on helping them with their minor tasks and favors, all while still interacting with Claudine whenever she can, to ensure Claudine is watching, aware of, and interested in Maya, and can see her spending time with other girls.
It actually starts to work, too. After a few days of this, Claudine approaches Maya with a bit of a pout.
"Say, you've been spending an awful lot of time with our classmates. Why don't we go stretch out and practice for a bit?"
Maya is faced with her options:
-Tease her about being jealous
-Agree and practice with her
-Invite her to join you and the others
While they all have their own appealing possibilities, Maya sticks to her guns about trying to make Claudine as jealous as possible.
"Oh? Are you perhaps a bit jealous, Saijou-san?"
"I-I'm not! You're so full of yourself! Whatever!" Claudine whips around and storms off. Maya feels this is the most accurate and genuine reaction she's received from her yet throughout this ReLive.
Hopefully it means I am on the path to success.
So she continues spending time with her other classmates, helping them with everything they ask her for, all while egging Claudine on and playing hard to get.
Throughout the week, Maya helps out all of her classmates, gaining and maintaining 3 stars on all of them to show she has an excellent relationship with each of them. It's soon Friday, and almost time for Maya to ask Claudine out for the weekend.
But like before, a simple incident throws everything off.
Maya had simply lent one of her classmates a textbook she'd asked for, and that gives the girl her 3rd star. This shouldn't be anything unusual, as Maya has been gaining stars with them all week.
However, it just so happens that this ends up being the last and final classmate. With this simple book lend, Maya has successfully gained 3 stars with all of them.
Which, evidently, turns out to be some secret sort of ending.
All of a sudden, all of the previously non-romanceable girls no longer have the stars above them, but heart meters instead. By maxing out stars with all of them instead of focusing on the 8 main targets of the ReLive, Maya had unintentionally discovered a secret route.
Now, all of her classmates have a 95% heart meter toward her.
All at once, Maya is flooded with girls, all of whom are clinging to her arms and throwing themselves at her.
"Tendo-san!"
"You're the best!"
"Our Tendo-san is so lovely!"
"And so helpful!"
"So talented!"
"The best classmate ever!"
"I want her to be my girlfriend!"
"Me, too!"
"Me, three!"
Maya is swarmed by swooning, blushing girls, some of which somehow now have flowers or gifts or chocolates in their hands, all trying to give them to her. Maya is baffled and shocked beyond belief.
"L-Ladies, please… I-I don't-"
And in the back of the mass of squealing girls, Maya's 8 friends watch with different levels of amusement and disgust. But the most disgusted of all is, of course, Saijou Claudine.
"I didn't take you for a player," Claudine sighs. "Guess I was wrong."
"N-No, Claudine, wait-"
But before Maya can try to explain herself, a pink screen appears in front of her:
HAREM ENDING (secret end)
And even though Maya did exceed the 90% heart meter requirement with these girls, it wasn't with one of the main romanceable targets, and thus doesn't count as a "true" end.
Meaning the ReLive resets and starts all over again.
On her next attempt, Maya once again tries something entirely different.
Since ignoring Claudine hadn't worked, this time around, she does just the opposite and showers Claudine with affection from the get-go.
Starting off incredibly strong with her intentions changes the course of the game within the first day, giving Maya new scenarios and options once again. When she's asked to choose a dance partner, Maya doesn't overthink the possible outcomes or traps. She simply chooses Claudine instantly, without hesitation.
Claudine even reacts to the speed of Maya's decision and blushes.
"W-Wow. You sure didn't waste any time… Come on, let's stretch."
Maya grins and follows. She makes sure to touch Claudine as much as possible, holding her longer than she needs to, and things of that nature, intentionally trying to fluster her. She gets all of the timed dance movements perfectly, and at the conclusion of the dance, as their classmates clap for them, Maya pulls Claudine in by the arm and catches her in an intimate embrace. She is given dialogue options after that:
-Apologize
-Flirt
-Say nothing
She doesn't need to think twice.
"My, Saijou-san," Maya purrs into her ear. "I can feel your heart racing."
"I-Idiot! It's because of the dance…"
Maya rakes it in as a successful day.
Over the next few days, she continues wooing Claudine and giving her copious amounts of attention. Maya sits next to her, studies with her, and even unlocks an event to go for an evening walk with her around campus.
For every event and dialogue, Maya chooses whichever one involves Claudine or is in her favor.
And for several days, it works swimmingly. Maya has worked her way up to 80% with Claudine.
But then once, even though she's been avoiding the other girls to dodge any potential interactions with them, Karen comes up to her and initiates a conversation.
"Hey, hey, Tendo-san! Wanna hang out tomorrow night? Hikari-chan, Mahiru-chan and I are gonna watch a movie!"
Maya, who had been walking down the hallway with Claudine on her arm, and her orange heart meter at an appealing 83%, has already decided to decline even before her options appear.
However, for the first time, Maya only sees one option before her:
-Accept and join Aijou-san
Maya hesitates, waiting for another option to appear, or hoping that waiting too long without responding will force something else to occur. But even after waiting for a moment, nothing else happens.
Maya can't try to refuse or say things the ReLive doesn't allow during significant dialogue events like these; she'd tried before and the words simply wouldn't be allowed out of her mouth. So this time, she has no choice but to accept.
"Very well. I shall accompany you tomorrow night."
She hopes there will be a chance for her to offer to bring Claudine along, but no such thing happens.
"Great!" Karen claps. "See you there!"
Once she scampers off, Maya hopes Claudine will initiate a conversation that will allow Maya to apologize or make it up to her somehow. But Claudine only shrugs and says nothing as she continues clinging to Maya's arm, and they walk off together.
Perhaps this will be all right then…
Maya is sure to continue her tactics of giving Claudine her full attention the next day, until the evening is upon her. She's hoping she'll be given the option to skip Karen's movie and spend time with Claudine instead; however, the ReLive only gives her one choice:
-Join Aijou-san and the others for a movie
Again, she's never seen these forced one-choice scenarios before. But she has to go through with it now.
"Saijou-san? My apologies, but I made plans with Aijou-san tonight."
Claudine, who had been standing quietly beside her in the dormitory hallway, replies in a low tone.
"I know. I heard."
Maya frets.
"Please don't be concerned."
"Oh, I'm not."
Maya smiles.
"Thank goodness. I promise that as soon as Aijou-san's movie is finished, I will-"
"Say, come with me for a second."
"Eh…?"
Maya isn't given any options once again. Claudine simply grabs her by the wrist and starts pulling her along. Maya follows, puzzled, but hopeful. Even though she'd had to make plans with Karen, Claudine's heart meter had stayed at 83% and hadn't dropped, so maybe there was still a chance of finally ending this...
Claudine pulls Maya to her door and into her bedroom, where she then locks the door behind them. The lights are off, and Claudine makes no move to turn them on. Maya is given no dialogue prompts, so she speaks freely.
"Saijou-san? Is something the matter?"
"Be quiet." Claudine pulls her toward the bed. "Come here."
Maya can feel herself being led across the room, and then knocked over. She falls back and lands on the soft mattress, where she can immediately feel Claudine's body warmth above her. Maya can't see much other than the orange heart meter and the gleam of her eyes.
"Saijou-san…?" Maya's heart leaps into her throat, excited that perhaps they may be able to spend an intimate moment together that might help her reach 90% with Claudine and end this ReLive once and for all. However-
"Don't move." Claudine gives this order in a growl and pins her wrists to the bed. Maya does as she's told.
"My, Saijou-san~ Are we perhaps going to…?"
"Shut up."
Maya can feel her moving around above her, and the meter has inched up to 85%.
Maya is so close. She just wants to gain that final 5% quickly and put an end to this. So she conjures up a husky whisper.
"Saijou-san… I want you tonight…"
"Oh, really?" Claudine places her knees on either side of Maya's hips to keep her from moving. Her hands have gone elsewhere in the darkness, releasing Maya's and allowing her to latch them around Claudine's back and pull her down. Claudine goes willingly. "That's interesting…" she huffs. "Because I want you-"
And then, Maya sees her eyes clearly.
"Forever."
Maya's arms are thrust down onto the bed, and the next thing she knows there are ropes tied tightly around her wrists, trapping her to the bed. Claudine's heart meter, which had crept all the way up to 89%, suddenly turns black, and the numbers disappear. Claudine laughs deliriously.
"Tendo Maya… you're mine now." Claudine smirks in the darkness, showing teeth. She lays her full weight down over Maya, but less in the comforting way of a lover, and more in a restrictive, possessive way.
"Showering me with affection all week… and then making plans with Karen? Don't mess with me. You're mine and you know it, Tendo Maya." Claudine bites her ear and presses her nails into Maya's palms. "No matter. Now you'll never be able to make plans with anyone else ever again. You're going to stay here with me. Forever…"
She chuckles again, and Maya realizes it's all over. Her vision goes black and the words appear before her:
BAD END (yandere ending)
Another failure...
And when she next opens her eyes, she's back in her own room on morning one.
Maya sighs, sitting up slowly as the morning light comes in. Her heart is still racing, because honestly, had it been a little less severe, the previous situation would've been quite fun and exciting. But she would keep that experience in the back of her mind.
It was time to try again.
And try she does.
Maya tries all different methods, chooses different dialogues, unlocks different events…
But each time she fails.
Once, just to give her heart a break, she seriously tries romancing Kaoruko. But in the end, even though this is just a ReLive and these are not truly her real classmates at heart, she feels like she is betraying Claudine. So Maya deliberately doesn't progress enough with Kaoruko to pass 90% or reach the weekend date, and she starts over again.
Another time, Maya pursues Claudine again and buys her flowers, but Claudine ends up being allergic to them and sneezes herself into an emergency room visit, thus ruining their hopes of a date.
Another time, Maya tries to kiss her prematurely and ends up with a slap mark on her face.
Then once, when Maya tries bringing her to the mall date, an extremely rare and low-percentage event is randomly triggered where the fire sprinklers go off, creating chaos all around them and leaving Claudine drenched and miserable.
Another time, Maya somehow sleeps in and misses their date, at which point Claudine dumps her via text message.
Again and again, Maya tries.
And each time, she falls short, either by turning Claudine off, ignoring her too much, giving her too much attention, or accidentally letting Claudine or herself end up with someone else.
Either way, Maya never surpasses the 90% required to end the ReLive.
She must go through it at least 20 times...
The next time she wakes in bed back at square one, Maya doesn't know what to do anymore. She fears there really might not be any way to win this, that it's rigged to always have something go wrong, no matter who she tried to romance or how.
But she'd gotten so close with Claudine so many times… She wants it to be her.
"Yes… It must be Saijou-san. My heart would not accept it any other way."
She exhales, steels herself, then gets out of bed.
Even though for everyone else involved, it is the start of a new 'game', Maya walks past her friends with only the basic morning greeting, strutting down the hallway straight to Claudine's door before she can even leave to go help Mahiru with Karen and Hikari.
Maya reaches the door just as Claudine is stepping out. Just like always, Claudine's heart meter starts at 80%, since she is close to Maya in real life. Maya calls out to her right away.
"Saijou-san!"
Clearly, Claudine hadn't been expecting to see Maya standing right outside her door first thing in the morning, though. She jumps.
"Sheesh! Tendo Maya, you scared me!"
"Claudine!" Maya knows she won't be able to stand going through this ReLive any longer. So instead of trying to play its games, she decides instead to just be honest from the start.
"Claudine-" Maya takes both of her partner's hands and squeezes them. For whatever reason, the ReLive doesn't prevent her from speaking out without a dialogue prompt this time. Maybe it's another secret route Maya had unlocked by doing something the ReLive didn't lead her to. Either way, she isn't about to question it, so she blurts it outright.
"I like you!"
Silence.
All the other girls in the hallway who had been out and about doing their morning routines all stop and freeze in their tracks to watch and listen.
The whole world doesn't move for a good long moment. Maya holds firm, staring in earnest into Claudine's eyes. Claudine's entire face turns pink, and her eyes water as she struggles for words.
"I… y-you… haaaah-?! Wh-What are you saying, Tendo Maya?!"
Still, Maya isn't prevented from speaking her mind, so she continues.
"It's the truth. I have harbored these feelings for you for quite some time now, though I haven't fully realized it until recently… You astound me. You captivate me. Not just with your singing and your dancing and your acting, but with your sense of humor, your compassionate heart, your adorable sleeping face-"
"H-Hey! D-Don't mention something like that!"
The onlookers giggle and squeal, but Maya continues.
"Claudine, I speak only the truth. I have feelings for you."
Claudine's heart meter jumps to 85%, and Maya feels as though she can actually hear Claudine's heart doing backflips inside her chest right now.
"You… You do…?"
Maya nods seriously.
"Yes. And I apologize if it burdens you, but-"
"I never said that…" Now that Claudine has had a moment to calm down and accept the reality of the situation, her voice has become steadier, though the adorable blush remains. "I mean… even though you're arrogant and annoying… it's not like I ever hated you…"
Maya feels her own face flush with heat, and a fuzziness forms in her chest. Claudine's heart meter inches up to 88%.
"We do not have to rush into anything," Maya assures her. "I simply wanted to express my honest feelings for you. You are so beautiful, Saijou Claudine, both inside and out. I love everything about you."
She doesn't even hear the girls cheering and squealing all around them anymore. Her eyes are only for Claudine.
Claudine fidgets happily.
"Tendo Maya… All right, then. We should date."
"E-Eh? Do you-"
"Oui. I mean it," Claudine smiles. "I like you, too."
And not only does her heart meter hit 90%, but it surpasses that and jumps all the way to 100%. Tiny orange hearts burst out all around Claudine.
Maya has not only beaten the requirements of the ReLive, but unlocked a special path by filling Claudine's heart meter to completion.
I see… If only I'd been completely honest right from the very beginning...
At least she'd figured it out in the end.
Heart racing, Maya takes the risk and pulls Claudine into a kiss then and there. Claudine hugs her and kisses her back.
The whole dorm erupts in cheers and applause.
A white screen flashes across Maya's eyes.
GOOD END (~happily ever after, secret end~)
Maya wakes in bed and sits upright. She glances around her room, looking for word prompts or item descriptions above the various objects. But there's nothing out of place. Nothing that's evidence of her being trapped in a romance game ReLive.
Cautiously, she gets out of bed, but she no longer sees "Get Dressed" or "Brush Hair" or any other directions floating in front of her eyes. Maya sighs with relief.
"The ReLive has ended…" She can speak freely, too. Which means…
Had she learned anything at all from her peculiar experiences in that game, it was that honesty is the best and most rewarding policy.
So many emotions are still coursing through her veins, particularly the glee from the last sequence.
It's motivating. Empowering. There's no need to hesitate any longer.
Determined to follow her heart and make Claudine her girlfriend for real this time, Maya hurries out the door with complete conviction.
"Wait for me, ma Claudine!"
A/N: I had a ton of fun thinking up ridiculous scenarios and dialogue options for this story! I felt like I could've gone on forever and ever coming up with different twists and events that could've occurred within one week of time in the game. But in the end, Maya prevails by being honest with herself and unlocking a secret ending to free herself!
I hope you enjoyed reading!
PS: Don't worry, there won't actually be any hard feelings between Maya and Koharu or Futaba or anyone else who won Claudine instead of her haha
Please review!