Echoes of the Heart

by Joseph Ida

Toby Kimura, a nearly deaf piano player has had his school close down and he is transferred to Yamaku Academy to continue his studies, little does he know that someone has her eyes on him. Katawa Shoujo is owned by 4leaf studios, I'm not that good when it comes to making a plot for this.

7. Chapter 7

Act 2: A Simple Note and Key

Katawa Shoujo- School Days

It's already half past six, but this morning's class has not yet begun. Toby was going to start the day off with music, but the teacher is nowhere to be seen. Had he known this beforehand, he would have slept in too. He even brought his own piano to show to his teacher. Suddenly the classroom door slams open and Tanimoto grunts her morning greeting to the classroom from the doorway.

"Good morning, everyone!" Tanimoto told her students while trying to keep a smile on her exhausted face. Tanimoto looks like she has not slept at all. The stubble, her messier-than-normal hair, and the stained dress shirt create a less than favorable impression. Toby could guess she had fun last night at the festival too. "Excuse my being late, I ran into unexpected problems. I'm usually not one for festivals like this, but I hope you all had a good time. After all, these sorts of events are important for you all, since they give you a short reprieve from schoolwork." Tanimoto explained. "Many students came to me as they seemed to be interested in the music club. We might be getting some representatives of the Art Club down the hallway today as they say they are coming to visit to see if our music helps them with their art." The class replies with various degrees of enthusiasm, and Tanimoto proceeds to take roll and get started. "Right, then. Today's subject is how you will use your music with your creativity…" Before long, Toby has descended into a comfortable coma-like state along with the rest of the class, letting Tanimoto's rambling speeches pass through one ear and exit the other without leaving a trace. "Now, who could tell us how you will use music to your creativity?" She's written a rather easy question on the blackboard. Desperately, she tries to get the class to participate. The answer seemed more subjective as there were multiple ways of tackling it. Tanimoto looked at her class as her smile droops as she couldn't see her class being this bored. "Nobody? Come on, guys. Kimura, how about you?" Toby felt he was unfairly singled out and cornered, Toby decided to give her an answer. It causes her baggy features to twist into a genial smile that would scare little children senseless.

"What we use our music for creativity, it could be inspiration for what we read in a book, writing a scene or using it for inspiration. It also helps us relax after a long day." Toby explained. Tanimoto smiled at Toby.

"Precisely! Good work, Kimura!" Tanimoto explained that she was impressed with this work. Toby felt both disturbed and honored by the fact that she can remember his name only one week after he and Nina transferred here. From what they've seen, Tanimoto would have serious trouble remembering the names of anybody else in the class, and most of them have been here since the first year. The room settles into a dreary mood, students and teacher alike trying to get back on track after the festival. Toby must've figured last week must've been frantic for everyone. Not a minute goes by and the bell rings. Toby and Nina exit the hallway as they go to their next class. It seemed that someone was coming.

Katawa Shoujo- Hokabi

"MAKE WAY! IMPORTANT BUSINESS!" The voice shouted. Toby turns his head just in time to see other people scatter out of the way as someone charges from the far end of the corridor towards the stairwell. It's too late to realize that he's standing in the middle of the corridor, directly in the way of the oncoming human projectile. Toby tries to skip back towards the doorway. Unfortunately, the person running towards him dodges in the same direction. In the following fraction of a second several things come to mind in sequence, yet almost simultaneously. First, Toby doesn't recognize the girl who is on a collision course with him. Second, he realizes that it doesn't feel natural to get tackled by someone that he didn't know. Once again, Toby could feel almost comfortable if not for the reflexive panic and terror. Third, she seems to be carrying a foot-tall stack of papers while running in the hallway. She nearly crashes into Toby with Nina pulling him out of the way, This causes her hand to cramp up.

"Owiiie... Why does this always happen to me?" Nina asked Toby as she felt her hand cramping up. Toby looked at Nina to see if she was hurt.

"Gee, I wonder. Could it possibly have anything to do with her running through the corridor like she was on fire?" Toby asked Nina if she was in a hurry. He looked over to see that the runner girl had collided into one of the students she was handing papers to. Nina whimpers regretfully, looking like a hurt puppy. The sight makes Toby regret him standing in the hallway when she came flying around the corner the very instant it emerges from his lips.

"But... she was in a hurry." Nina explained to Toby exactly what was happening. Toby looked over to see the girl tending to her injuries and the fact that all of the papers she had scattered on the ground. She seemed like she was in a rush but for what he didn't know.

"I can tell." Toby told Nina, He turned his head back to the girl who stood up with her mess of papers.

"Sorry." She explained. The person she ran into began speaking.

"Don't worry about it." He told her. She wails weakly one last time and rubs her forehead as if to expel the ache while her gaze sweeps over the hallway floor. As she notices her neat stack of papers spread all over the floor in one big mess, she lets out a horrified yelp.

"Aah! The printouts! Oh no oh no, what am I going to do? Teacher will give me hell if they get dirty." She yelped as she realized what was going on. Toby and Nina began to sneak their way through as the conversation happened around them.

"They're probably fine. Let's gather them back up; it won't be a problem." Hey explained to the twintail haired girl. They quickly round up the papers, and she tries to sort the scattered pile in her hands back into the orderly stack it was.

"Where are you going?" He asked her. Toby and Nina continued to listen while they were trying to find their way around.

"Nowhere in particular, I guess. Didn't want to be left alone with Mutou in the classroom. I think he has a hangover." He explained. Toby and Nina felt like they had to do some mental gymnastics in order to get their way around to their next class without being noticed, they were mostly killing time and needed to find their way out of there.

"Have you eaten breakfast?" She asked the boy if he had eaten anything this morning.

"Not yet, but I'm not feeling very hungry anyway." He explained to her. Toby and Nina had wondered what was going on that had drawn them into the conversation. They can't be wasting any more time right? This conversation was going on for the past couple of minutes. Nina looks at Toby incredulously, as if doubting his sanity for letting such a thing out of that boy's mouth.

"You should go to the roof! I promised Rin I would eat lunch with her. I bet she'd like company." She explained that was the plan for lunch. For Toby and Nina they didn't want to think any more of this and decided to head off to their classes, this could have gone a lot better for them. Uh-oh. His lunches with the mysterious girl have been remarkably unsuccessful. He must've known where this conversation is going and it's hard to not get drawn along, so he must've had little choice but to play ball.

"OK, I'll go pick up some bread or something first." He explained to the runner girl. The runner girl smiles brightly before he say anything further.

"No no, I'll go and deliver these super-quick, and then go buy lunch for us. And Rin, too, of course. What kind of bread do you like?" She explained. She was explaining about Rin. Toby and Rin didn't know each other other than that one conversation they had just last week. Could Rin be the next topic when it would come to creativity? Tanimoto said that the art class was coming over for the afternoon.

"It's fine, you really don't need to..." He explained to her but she shakes her head as if there was no need to apologize.

"Don't worry, it's all right. Consider it an apology. I'll be back before you know it!" She said, ready to take off.

"That's what I'm worried about. Don't get into another accident." He told her. He saw her walking down the hall, but since she's still talking to him, she isn't watching where she's going.

"I won't!" She replied. Famous last words. She's already jogging down the stairs as she shouts that not-so-reassuring promise back to him. Sighing quietly, Toby and Nina start plodding along in her wake as she zip past them. Toby and Nina split as Toby heads off to his next class to be spotted by someone familiar.

"Helloooo." The voice belonged to Misha as she seemed to be quite pleased to figure out what just happened. She wanted to know how everything was going. Toby noticed Misha sounds very drowsy as she says that, stretching the end of the word with a slurred voice. Despite that, her eyes are wide open. Toby looks at her, his shadow overlapping her face.

"What are you doing? Am I late?" Toby asked Misha if he ran late and made her upset. Misha raises an eyebrow at that question.

"On time you are, I will say." Misha explained to Toby that he was on time despite the conversation that happened between two strangers that held him and Nina up. She answers, challenging the rationale of Toby's perfectly valid question without even tilting her head to look at him. Misha's cuteness seemed to be the one thing that didn't want Toby to hit her in any way. The worst thing is that I'm not sure if Misha's doing it on purpose or not.

"All right, then. Let me rephrase: Who is this Rin girl I've picked up on the way here?" Toby asked Misha if she knew who Rin was. Shizune watched in the background like a wolf. She seemed to be more or less engrossed in the conversation between Toby and Misha. Shizune gives a lazy shrug and sniffs dismissively.

"I'm trying to experience people like you. People probably don't do this enough." Misha explained. Shizune looked at Misha, that was a botched answer on Misha's end.

"What exactly are you trying to experience here? I can't really tell, but there's probably a reason people don't do... whatever." Toby asked Misha what she was trying to experience. It sounded vague and Toby would want a better answer to it. She's playing dodgeball with Toby again, answering his attempt at small talk with riddles Toby doesn't want to puzzle out as he didn't have the time nor the energy to summon. But he doesn't want to ignore her, either.

"Yeah, but the reason is that everyone is too busy with their lives to pay attention to the really important things. We try our best to stay on top of that as Shicchan puts it." Misha explained to Toby what exactly they were trying to toy him with in terms of what he was going to say.

"Like watching the sky?" Toby blurted out, this was just a mere example somebody would do when it came to their daily basis. Not that Toby, Shizune or Misha had any interest in this hobby but this was something someone might do when it would come to it. Misha tears her gaze away from Toby and finally looks straight at Shizune. The penetrating deepness of her eyes once she focuses them on something is startling. Shizune began signing to Misha as Misha began to speak to Toby.

"You know, if you were able to look into the sky you might see something interesting other than clouds. If you were a cloud watcher that is." Misha explained to Toby. Toby seemed curious about sky watching, he didn't know if that would make him interested in doing something like this.

"If I was a sky watcher, I wouldn't come this close to spotting a plane in the sky and I always thought my dad was coming home from Taiwan. I have that much common sense." Toby explained to Misha about his family. Misha and Shizune lifted their heads with interest when they heard about this.

"I wouldn't either, but sometimes it can't be avoided. Shicchan says she didn't know you had a dad. Like now, for example. When I think about it, Shicchan says she always wonders when her mom and dad were getting home. Her mom is in Scotland and her dad flys back and forth every now and again to visit her." Misha explained to Toby about what was happening and how it came to be. Toby nodded and began to speak.

"As a guy, I guess I can understand that. To us, they're some sort of half-mythical object that we can't quite comprehend. I always get scared at the thought of flying in the sky. I seem to think that we're going to fall out of it." Toby explained to Misha that he seemed to reflect on the trips he would think about his own father and how they were high up in the sky. "I always felt like we were flying in the stars with the earth below us." Shizune paused as she began to sign to Misha about her reply to what she thought about it.

"Yeah, that's exactly how I think about them too. What a coincidence. Shicchan says the same thing. She always wondered when her mother was coming home." Misha explained to Toby about what Shizune's thoughts were.

"It really is. So did you have world history in the morning class?" Toby asked Shizune and Misha if they had class with him so they could talk about it more. Shizune seemed to be curious as she began to sign to Toby.

"We do but the period we have it in, we're not in your class." Misha explained while Shiuzune signed everything to Misha. Toby began to think about it and wondered if this was the only period he had with Shizune and Misha.

"The only period?" Toby asked them. He was more or less curious about Shizune and Misha. Shizune began to sign to Toby with Misha handling the translation to her.

"Well, I'm not actually doing what it looks like I am doing, or at least I think that what I am doing doesn't look like. We're not one for skipping as any day can hold something very important to us. Now tell me, do you have anything going on this afternoon?" Misha tried her best to explain to Toby about what Shizune was saying. She wanted to say something to Toby and wondered where he was going to be.

"I guess whatever your reason is, it's as good as any. I will be helping students from the art club with their visit. I wonder who's going to show up for their visit?" Toby asked, he stated his whereabouts to Shizune and Misha if this was going to be it. Giving in to the tired feeling in his eyes, Toby sits down next to Shizune. The cold floor was not the most comfortable bed for his feet in the world, but if she can stand it, then Toby should be able to as well. Misha was busy tapping her pencil while the teacher rambled on with the topic at hand. It seemed Misha wasn't taking much of it into consideration as Shizune and Toby listened with interest.

"What are you waiting for?" Misha asked. Toby turned his head to Misha as the teacher had written down the problems on the board for them to solve.

"Hmm?" Toby asked. Shizune tapped his shoulder and pointed to the board, he wasn't jotting the problems down fast enough. Misha smiled as she decided to do some of the work for Toby.

"Try it." Misha told Toby that he can now solve the problems. Toby bent his neck down to take a look where she was looking. The silvery blue ink, dotted by herds of lead sheep, fills Toby's field of vision entirely. While it's pretty, the view is nothing special even though the problems were fairly written down. Toby gives a shrug, trying his best to imitate the nonchalant manner which Misha seems to have evolved to perfection with this class, and Toby begins to solve them. The pen pokes at the paper through his thin patience whenever he begins to shift his hand even a little, forcing him to keep as still as possible to come up with the correct answer. Toby tries to ignore the discomfort and himself, instead concentrating on the vastness of the questions over the three of them. This wasn't the vastness of the world he was used to when it came to writing music for the piano.. Far above, the late spring clouds drift soundlessly across the dome of the sky, looking down on the both of them. Neither Toby or Shizune has anything more to say, thus silence covers the classroom. The subdued noises of students on their own problems, cicadas in the trees and traffic buzzing past the school are humming pleasantly somewhere in the background. Once getting the questions done, they now had time to chat. And Shizune was signing away for Toby.

"Listen, I had a great time yesterday." Misha began to sign for Toby as this was something she wanted to say to Toby.

"Did you?" Toby asked curiously. Shizune smiled as she began to sign to Misha who was to handle the translation.

"Well, to be honest, no. But it was all right. It was probably the best thing we could have done as a group and you managed to work hard for that prize even though Misha was jealous that you didn't get her one, which is kinda impressive." Misha explained while translating everything Shizune was saying. Misha paused when she realized that she got nothing from that wiffle ball game. "Hey!" Shizune smiled while she used her hands to gesture to Toby that she was laughing. Toby couldn't help but laugh along as well. He was trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.

"Is that impressive?" Toby asked Misha and Shizune if they had any opinions on that matter. Shizune began to sign to Toby while Misha handled the translation.

"I think it is. I'm usually too restless to do anything like that." Misha explained that Shizune was always one that seemed to be restless when it came to events such as these.

"I think I had a good time too." Toby replied while making some signs of his own. Shizune paused as a cloud passed above them, casting its shadow on the school. A chill surges through them from the sudden change of sunlight to shade. They had yet to realize that summer is not in its full bloom quite yet. The only measure of time passing is the slow pace of the clouds moving towards the town. Stray beams of golden sunlight leak through the gaps, blinding them for a moment whenever they hit me directly in the eyes. The blue of the sky looks so unreachable. This reminds Toby of the time he spent in his old school, where he was bored out of his mind on a daily basis only to break it up with Nina and their club which they recalled having a blast in. Hopefully they can have a blast with the few weeks they have left. Somehow, it didn't matter after a while. Toby managed to learn to appreciate other things besides watching TV and gossiping with people he didn't even like. A comprehensive sensation of calmness spreads from their sight to their other senses, finally hitting my brain. An airplane zooms by, leaving two thin contrails in its wake like a pair of chalk lines drawn from one end of the sky to the other. Toby wonders where it is heading to. Could it be his dad coming home after Taiwan? The low din of its engines carries all the way down to his ears, although it's barely audible over the racket from the quad. "It's nice." Toby explained that in the lull of finishing class work, they could enjoy and take in the scenery of what was going on around them. Misha began to speak for Toby.

"It's nice, but I don't understand why this is more important than going to class." Misha asked, what was more important than just doing the work. Toby looked up at the sky as if it was a breather as a way of catching his breath.

"Isn't it good to do something you like? Every once in a while?" Toby asked them if they could just look at the clouds. "It's what me and Nina do on nice days to clear our minds and let them rest. Shizune and Misha looked at each other, was watching clouds something Toby did to get his mind to take a break?

"Of course, but—" Misha tried to explain. The bell rang as it was a signal that this period was over, now it was time for the third period. They began to walk along the school hallways when they were flagged down by Aiko who had come to speak to Toby.

"What are you doing?" Aiko asked Toby if he was able to give some answers. Aiko has snuck up on them without either noticing and is only a step away from me, holding several packages wrapped in plastic film in her arms. She leans forwards and peeks over him, overshadowing Toby's face almost exactly the same way he overshadowed Shizune and Misha before. Toby began to wonder how weird this looks, the three of them heading to their next class to only be flagged down by them.

"That's what I was going to ask, too." Toby explained to Aiko. Aiko seemed to nod while Toby was trying to think of what to say next.

"I would be more concerned about what you are doing. If I were you, I wouldn't come that close to people who could see what Toby could have in his pants. It'll be rude to try to pull them down without permission.." Misha stated while saying something without Shizune's translation. She turned to Misha as if she gave the look saying: That's not called for.

Katawa Shoujo- Generic Happy Music

"Misha!" Aiko shouted to Misha. Aiko's voice is scandalized, but he quickly takes a step backward, pressing his hands against the front of his pants so abruptly that the parcels of paper that were the notebooks he was carrying fall. Toby quickly averted his eyes, and glanced angrily at Misha. Aiko pretends not to see Toby. "Toby isn't like that, right?"

"Right." Toby replied to Aiko that he seemed to enjoy what he thought of as a friend. Toby seemed to fit that category, Misha did not. Aiko scowls at Misha and crouches down to pick up the notebooks. She wipes the dust off them, and skips lightly around Toby to Rin's other side where she sets herself down.

"Anyway, here's your notes. Sorry it took a while." Aiko told Toby that he jotted the notes down. But why were they folded up? Toby needed to figure out what was going on.

"That's all right. Thanks for treating me." Toby explained to Aiko. Toby headed off to the next classroom and entered inside Toby began to unfold the piece of paper when he got to his next class by putting himself up into a sitting position and gratefully accepting the message Aiko is offering. This piece of paper was from Rin. Rin said she wanted to be his partner for the music meeting this afternoon. It wouldn't be a surprise that Toby still didn't know who Rin was despite the fact that they had met when he went to go looking for the art supplies. The message is surprisingly decent and it laid out the directions. Toby decided to look at the message as he followed from the corner of his eye the skill with which Rin handles her message with a pen or pencil between her feet. The message on the bottom was much more professional and it didn't match Rin's writing, it was clear that the message was from Shizune.

Toby made his way down to lunch as the message was still fresh in his mind. He wanted to think about what Shizune wanted to speak to him about. Toby made his way to the table after getting his lunch. Haruhiko, Aiko and Takashi joined Toby while still talking among themselves. It seemed that they were chatting about an upcoming event.

"I haven't seen you on the track in a few days." Takashi told Haruhiko.

"Oh. Right, I... figured it was too heavy a routine for someone like you to start with. I'm just worried about Emi curb stomping us into the dirt. Miki better get her act together if we are to beat this pint sized sprinter." Haruhiko explained to his friends. He wasn't entirely sure about how this track meet was going to go.

"So you've been doing something else?" Takashi asked Toby, wanting to bring him into the conversation.

"I've been considering my options." Toby explained. "I currently have a lot to do, Shizune wants to see me this afternoon and my music teacher is holding a meet with the art club." Toby explained to the boys what his plans were. He couldn't spend it with his friends. Haruhiko frowns but doesn't pursue the issue further, for which Toby was thankful for. Takashi seems pretty headstrong and he wouldn't really want to get pestered by him or let him pester his friends about upcoming events on a daily basis. Toby knew he had enough burdens to bear with Shizune and Misha already. The conversation continued as the boys caught up with each other barely finishing the lunch before the bells rang, calling them back to their classrooms. Toby was on his way to his last class when he was stopped by Shizune and Misha. They were waiting in the hallway.

"Toby!" Misha called out, she flagged Toby down and gleefully ran over to him. Misha waves at Toby when he enters the hallway wing, and starts talking before he even makes his way across the hallway to the classroom. "How was your day so far? Are you having fun?" Toby looked at Misha as he definitely had a lot to unpack regarding the entire situation.

"Umm... still somewhat undecided on that. I'd say "probably." Why?" Toby asked Misha that he didn't know if he was having fun regarding his day so far. He still had much of the afternoon to get through when it came to it.

"Wahaha, just asking, just asking!" Misha replied. She sounded cheerful when it came to it. Her eyes glint in a way that tells Toby she's not just asking. Toby can't even start to guess her motives, though. As the well-timed reminder to get to their next class prevents them from talking further, Misha falls back to plan B. Misha handed Toby a note.

Shicchan wants to speak to you after class! She's been waiting all day for this!

"Weren't you supposed to be doing homework?" Toby asked Misha as they continued to walk to their next class. Misha smiled as her eyes beamed with excitement.

"Don't worry! Everything went really well." Misha explained to Toby, she turned and headed off to her next class. Toby knew he needed to hurry. He wasn't going to reply to that, and she leaves him alone after Shizune demands her attention. Toby's own attention, on the other hand, is directed out the windows when he enters the classroom. Now that he can look at that note from here, through the window and the foliage just outside, the sky seems smaller. Toby can catch only small glimpses of blue; everything else is a clutter of noise right in the middle of my field of vision. What "experience" did some of the students including himself want out of staring at the sky? Surely someone like Aiko would have done it before. Everyone has. It's no use trying to guess her mind, but if he doesn't do that, then he would have no excuse for not concentrating on the teacher's words. Toby looks at the scribbles appearing on the blackboard, trying to figure out their meaning with little success. Toby didn't really have a favorite subject if he did, it would just be music. They have a strong mutual love for each other.

---

Katawa Shoujo- Raindrops and Puddles

After class was let out for the day, Toby could recall what a perfect night last night was. So much so that he can't stop thinking about it. It's probably not the most appropriate time to reminisce, since Toby was kind of nervous for the afternoon event. Ah, it's so unfair. How can they do this? They hold a festival that is the culmination of what has to be at least a few weeks worth of work on a Sunday, and then follow up with the final examination coming in the next few weeks? It's got to be some kind of sick joke. Toby knew that he was not too worried about it, but he began to wonder if they really couldn't have held off on this for at least another week to give the students more time to prepare. At least they were getting the extra week in case they hadn't have the time to complete said test or were absent from it.

Well, at least the weather this morning is nice enough that Toby could look forward to the afternoon and get some fresh air before the meet with the music club and the art club. It's a lot more refreshing out here than it would be in the classroom. Not to mention with how quiet it is, Toby was starting to think that everyone else will be sleeping in pretty late today or if they weren't, they were going to take a nap. Toby stops wandering around the school grounds for a second and stares out at what seemed to be the emptiness of what was once fun, still littered with festival stalls. Looking at them now in the daytime, without paper lanterns or crowds of people to draw my attention away from them, Toby began to notice something peculiar. A lot of the stalls that Shizune, Misha, Nina, Stephanie and Toby visited last night also happen to be ones that he and Nina help work on. Shizune appeared as she came from the skeletons that were the stalls. Shizune began to sign to Toby, she was quite happy now they had a moment of free time and they were alone.

That's cute. Did Shizune come up with this? It had to be intentional, especially knowing her. Did she hope that Toby would catch on and see the fruit of their labors? Toby began to hear footsteps crunching the grass behind him and turned around. He was starting to feel slightly paranoid, but all he found was Shizune standing there with an innocuous look on her face.

Katawa Shoujo- The Student Council

"Good afternoon." Toby said while signing back to Shizune. Why does Toby keep forgetting that she can't hear him despite translating the message? It's probably because he's gotten so used to Misha translating for both of them that Toby hasn't actually run into many situations where he was forced to acknowledge Shizune's deafness and the problems that could stem from it. Toby began to think yesterday was the first. Toby decided to give her a wave anyway. He can do at least this much to start the conversation off with her, but he's not even going to pretend for a minute that he could hold up a conversation with her, considering his ignorance of sign language that Toby and Stephanie present as they mostly signed to each other. Would it be rude to just go back to his notes? Toby doesn't really know what else he could do.

"Where's Misha?" Toby asked while signing. Shizune paused and began to think about it and she began to sign back to Toby. "Not just because I can't understand you. You two are always together anyway, so I'm not used to seeing you apart." Toby explained to Shizune. Shizune looked at Toby and she signed. Toby began to think of what to do next. Toby knows it's silly but for some reason talking to her makes me feel less awkward. Surprisingly, she doesn't get mad at all. She starts signing; but it's different than usual. Shizune's hands move more slowly, and the gestures are simpler. Toby quickly realizes that this isn't sign language at all, but she's still attempting to communicate with him.

"So is this the sign language equivalent of breaking it down into layman's terms?" Toby asked while signing out the message to Shizune. Shizune paused as she watched Toby. Toby was terrified that if he attempted to gesticulate back, he'd just look like a total dumbass. The look on Shizune's face tells me that she is starting to think that trying to have any kind of back and forth like this is not exactly the best way to accomplish things. There has to be a better way. Writing on a pad? Well, Toby does have paper and a pencil. What else, though? Cell phones? Toby doesn't really have much use for his own cell phone here, so he barely carries it around, and Toby doesn't know if Shizune even has one. She takes the initiative, holding up a finger to ask for a pause before pulling out a pad and pen from her bag and writing a single word on it:

Hello.

This was how Shizune was starting off the conversation. Toby stares blankly at her and receives a similar but somehow more intimidating stare in response. She nudges the pad in his direction forcefully, clearly wanting Toby to reply. Toby began to think about what he wanted to say to Shizune. Toby took the pad and began to write something down on it.

Good afternoon. Is there something you want to talk about?

Toby passed the pad back to Shizune to let her take a read of it. Shizune beams with a disproportionate amount of happiness. She starts twirling her pen triumphantly as she thinks about where to go from here.

"Oh, come on, it's not like we just invented fire." Toby explained as he signed to Shizune. Shizune nodded her head no as her writing these messages back and forth was the one thing that was making her happy. Shizune pushes up her glasses curtly, as if she had heard him, and then starts writing at a furious pace.

Use the notepad! Write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write write!

Shizune passed the notepad back to Toby and he began to read it over, he was confused; was he supposed to take it from her and write "okay" now? This is about the furthest thing he could imagine from a smooth, flowing conversation. It makes him envy the ease with which Misha is able to communicate with Shizune and why he was struggling. Toby takes the notepad and writes on it for Shizune. He passes it back to Shizune to read over.

Are you free after I get back from my meet with the music class?

Toby passed the note over to Shizune who began to read the note over. Toby's pretty sure he can get away with answering simple yes or no questions like this with nods. Shizune took the note and began to read it over. She then took the pad and began to write on it. She handed it back to Toby when she was done. The message seemed playful yet serious at the same time.

You are here very early; most people sleep in late after the festival. That means you are abnormal.

Toby read over the message, Shizune was busting him in a way that seemed both playful with a bit of mischief. ...Is that so? Toby began to think about it as he took the pad and began to write in it.

You're here too.

Before handing that response back to her, though, Toby then remembered what he'd noticed earlier, and added:

You're here too.

Yesterday was fun. I noticed today that I built a lot of the stalls we went to. Maybe that's why they were so familiar. Was this another game?

Toby hands the pad back to Shizune and decided to let her read it over. She shakes her head from side to side indignantly. The answer was no, it wasn't another game. Shizune took the pad Toby had and began to write in it. She handed it back to Toby, the responses was only two words:

No tricks.

Toby took the pad and began to write in it. He was more or less curious about the stalls he made. Shizune was looking at this while Toby jotted everything he wanted to say down.

I thought that because you had made those stalls, they were the most important ones. We had to visit them, because everyone should be able to appreciate the fruit of their labors. I wanted you to be able to see and enjoy what you had done.

Toby felt sort of touched. Still, Toby had to wonder why she would go so out of her way, and he had to ask as much in his response. Shizune took the pad and began to write it down on it. She wanted to make Toby feel at home.

Because you miss your old school. I don't know what I would do when my old school shut down like that.

Toby wanted to say that he was depressed for days after finding out the school was closing for good, but, stop right there. It's true, he was moping quite a bit, and not being too subtle about it half the time, either, so it's possible that she knew that he was going to miss Nina for some time. They were very close to each other. Was everything Shizune did just to cheer Toby up, then?

"Thanks." Toby told Shizune while signing. Toby decides to catch himself to gauge Shizune's reaction, but Shizune doesn't seem to care. Toby knew it was easier to just write it down instead, and she nods once, as if unused to it. The silence between them grows more vast with each passing second, and there's nothing Toby can do to break it. Having to write everything down on paper kind of destroys any hope of trying to be casual. Shizune took the pad and decided to write something down on it. She was going to wish Toby good luck.

Good luck on that club coming up. I wish to listen to your talents.

Shizune pushes the pad right in front of Toby's eyes, breaking his concentration. Taking the initiative again, as always. Shizune got up and left as she had other things to do. As she walks into the school building, Toby can't help feeling a little sad. That felt like the longest twenty minutes of his life, and all because it's so alien to me to have a face-to-face conversation with someone by passing notes to each other that he can't help coming up blank most of the time. It makes Toby want to perfect his sign language and get Nina to learn it too. That's easier said than done. Although in a school like Yamaku, they might very well have sign language classes that Nina can have a go in. In that case, there would be little reason not to pursue this. The only person who Toby can think to ask, at the moment, is Misha. How badly did he want to know this? There's two options: Wait until after the meeting, or go look for her now. Toby could guess he'll go now as after class was the best chance, but he's not certain where she is. Toby's best bet would be to start searching for her in the girls' dorm, though. After all, if she wasn't with Shizune, that's probably the only place where she would be. A guy casually prowling around the girls' dorm during this time of day Toby saw this as unacceptable, but asking Misha about sign language classes in front of Shizune would be just unthinkable. She has to come to school sometime during the afternoon when she is free. After all, we're in the same class for second period, so she too needs to get Toby on some refreshers. If he waited here, he'd be sure he wouldn't be able to see her. Toby just hopes she doesn't walk past him while he's flipping through his notes on music pages as well as something he's currently putting together. It turns out to be a pretty long wait. As students file into the courtyard, Toby began to wonder if Misha is going to be late. Eventually he catches sight of her. While she bounces across the grounds, it hits him that he'd have to be blind to miss her with her incredibly distinctive hair.

Katawa Shoujo- Daylight

"Hi, Toby! Good afternoon!" Misha greeted Toby in her usual cheerful flare. Nina was right behind her as she was spending some time talking to Misha.

"Afternoon." Toby explained to Misha. I don't have a lot of time left before the meet starts, so Toby had to cut directly to the chase. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" Toby asked Misha if he could have a chance to ask her.

"A question? Hm Okay, Toby! Sure sure! I have time, but only because I'm late!" Misha explained. Toby seemed to be confused about what Misha was late for.

"What does that mean?" Toby asked. He seemed curious about how Misha was running late. Misha smiled as she began to laugh.

"Haha. I should have woken up earlier, but I was so tired. If I had, I would have to study for the upcoming test, but since I didn't, it won't hurt! What is it, Toby?" Misha explained that she was late for an upcoming test and she wanted to see what Toby wanted to ask her.

"Well, there are sign language classes here, right? Nina and I need to brush up on our language as I had a bit of a problem communicating with Shizune when I saw her earlier today." Toby explained to Misha where he and Nina could practice so they could understand Shizune better. Misha began to think about it for a moment as she wanted to see where Toby and Nina could practice.

"Yup! They're electives! Why do you want to know, Toby?" Misha asked Toby if he wanted something regarding what they wanted to do if they were going to practice their sign language. Nina however, felt like for some reason that question briefly made her panic.

"We just need to brush up on our skills. It sounds interesting, but I guess it's too late to sign up now, right? I don't want to be passing notes around to Shizune." Toby explained why he wanted to sign up for such a club. Misha smiled and she began to explain. Toby was not exactly being too subtle here, but Misha never seems to pick up on things like that anyway, so they're probably being more cautious than is necessary.

"Hm? Ah, well, Toby, I've heard there are fewer and fewer students taking sign language every year. So! If you want to, I'm sure they will let you and Nina in! Are you thinking of learning sign language, Toby? I think you got the basics down and you and Nina could be eager to learn… wait… you two have the same class together but just in different periods." Misha explained before coming to the realization that Toby and Nina had the same class just at different times of the day. Toby paused as this seemed very awkward for him.

"...Yeah." Toby explained while rubbing the back of his head.

"If you practiced sign language, Toby, that would make Shicchan really happy. If you want, we can go to the teachers' office after school. They'll probably let you in." Misha explained to Toby that Shizune would be pleased if Toby practiced in sign language. Toby nodded as he approved of this. Perhaps Nina can also learn this as it would mean that she would be able to better communicate with Toby and Shizune.

"That would be great. Don't tell Shizune that I want to learn it, though." Toby explained to Misha what he wanted to do.

"Why not?" Misha asked Toby about it. Toby knew that he could trust Misha with secrets and decided to explain it to her.

"So it can be a surprise. Besides, it'll look bad if you tell her this morning, and then I find out in the afternoon that I can't take the classes." Toby explained to Misha that he wanted to keep this hidden from Misha when it came to this. "Hopefully we can keep this a secret." Misha felt a little down to Toby. He was willing to let her trust with a secret like this. She knew she had to keep her mouth shut to prevent herself from opening her mouth at the wrong time.

"Aw. You're right, Toby. Still, this will be hard... It's such good news..." Misha explained to Toby. She could barely contain herself as she got excited about another student learning sign language. Toby had a bit of explaining to do.

"I'm in the Student Council, so I might as well try learning it. I have the basics down, it'd be a step up from there. Besides, Shizune and I can't keep relaying everything through you as if you were a phone or something, right?" Toby explained that they can't depend on Misha for everything Shizune was saying. Misha thought about it for a second, it would take a bit off of her shoulders when it came to it.

"Wahaha! You're right, Toby!" Misha told Toby that there was nothing he could worry about when it came to improving his skills in sign language. Toby seemed to smile, he had help when it came to it and he was ready to step out on his own without relying on Misha for everything. The bell rings to signal the start of the afternoon clubs, cutting the conversation short. Toby would have to guess he'll just ask a teacher after classes are through. Her reaction was a little strange, but Toby and Nina forget about it as the minutes ticked by.

---

Katawa Shoujo- School Days

Toby, Misha and Nina were heading down the hallway trying to brush up on their skills. Toby was having a good time while Nina seemed to be struggling a bit. Although getting into this class was surprisingly easy, it's only been a few days and Nina was still not used to the experience. The actual signing is easier to pick up than Toby expected, but since he was hard of hearing. On top of that, the teacher favors immersion. Nina nor Toby haven't heard her speak since Toby asked if he can help the other students in the class regardless of what period. It's an alien concept, and really unnerving. The moment Toby steps along the hallway, he can hear a familiar laugh explode through the air a short distance to his left.

"Hi, Toby!" Misha greeted him. Toby wasn't used to a second greeting, didn't Misha just say that? Toby realized as he thought of the second period, the one time in the day he saw Shizune and Misha. Misha's not in his sign language class, so this is the first time he's seen her in this context. Toby still doesn't know whether her not being in his class is good or bad. It would be more interesting with her in it, but the potential for awkward situations would increase drastically.

"Hi." Toby nervously told Misha. Why were they doing something like this again? Misha seemed to be surprised but it didn't hurt her to say hi once more, just for good measure.

"It's a surprise to see you here, Toby! ...Ah, that's right! You and Nina are taking sign language, aren't you~? Right! What do you think of it so far, Toby?" Misha told Toby. Nina struggled to sign with her hands as she was finding the process to be a little difficult due to her hands either cramping or the fact that she wasn't familiar with the language.

"It's not easy to learn a new language, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Despite how different it is from other languages, it's still easier than English." Toby explained while signing to Misha. It seemed to be easy to Toby but not so easy to Nina.

"Haha! Really, Toby? Hm... I agree!" Misha explained to Toby while she observed that Nina was struggling to sign. Misha was just joking, but she's apparently totally serious. Toby began to wonder how Misha can effortlessly translate things to me while simultaneously having a conversation with Shizune in a different language like she does. Until now, they've taken for granted how amazing it is. Someone bumps into Toby's shoulder and apologizes. It's getting kind of crowded here, what with it being the end of the day and all.

"I think we should talk somewhere else instead of the hallway. Let's go to the roof or something." Toby suggested to Misha that they should practice there but he seemed to be forgetting what Tanimoto said about the meeting, he wanted to be there to participate. Maybe getting Nina to practice her signing. Misha began to think about it for a moment and came to the conclusion that Nina definitely needed to practice.

"Okay!" Misha told Toby that Nina can practice while they try figuring out what they should do. Toby decides to continue talking on the way. It's surprisingly quiet enough to carry on a conversation while doing so.

"It's still taking me some time to get used to having to look at the teacher constantly. I guess I took all those years of simply listening to the lectures while Nina tried to doodle for granted. It makes taking notes a lot more difficult, too. The introductory class is small, and Nina's already behind. I guess I have a lot of stuff to do." Toby explained to Misha that he was concerned about his friend and how she seemed to be behind everyone else. Misha began to think about it for a moment and decided to find a solution, they were making their way to the roof, trying to practice their conversation. "Yeah, this is much better." Toby turns around to look back at Misha and see her staring at Nina with her hands on her hips and her cheeks puffed outwards.

Katawa Shoujo- Fripperies

"Nina, you're behind? That's not good at all!" Misha told Nina that she could see her struggling.

"I started the class a week later than everyone else. It's not that bad." Nina explained that she seemed to be behind everyone else when it came to something like this. Perhaps she can lend Nina a helping hand.

"Okay, Nina, let's review what you learned, then! I'll tutor you, okay?" Misha offered to see what Nina knew and how she could help her out from there. Toby watched, ready to step in and help Nina when the chance came. This is the first time Toby and Nina heard "I'll tutor you" used outside of dirty movies; Toby was not nearly as turned on as he'd have expected, this must've been a good opportunity for Nina to practice.

"I don't know if I need a tutor yet." Nina nervously told Misha. She didn't trust her as of yet.

"Aw..." Misha explained as she seemed to be more disappointed than usual. It makes Toby and Nina feel awkward to see her making that kind of face. Misha's face puffed out with happiness and she began to explain what she wanted to do in the future.

"I want to be a sign language teacher, Nina! But, it would really be great if I could try tutoring someone in it, first. Even if it's for a little while, the experience would be valuable." Misha explained to Toby and Nina about what she wanted to do for her future. She thought the help would be more valuable if she could find someone to help her achieve those goals. Nina and Toby were the perfect candidates.

"Ah, well, yeah, that's true. I didn't know you wanted to be a sign language teacher." Toby explained to Misha. He didn't know what Misha wanted to do with her future. "If you really want to, I bet Stephanie can help you with that." It's hard to believe she isn't intentionally trying to make them feel guilty, because she's very good at it. Still, it makes sense. She's very good at sign language already from what they've seen, and certainly has the voice for dealing with the hearing impaired. Toby and Nina never saw her as the teaching type, though.

"Hahaha! It's the reason why I wanted to go to this school, Toby! It's also really expensive to attend here, you know. Because I want to be a sign language teacher, I have reduced tuition fees. If it wasn't for that, I don't know if I'd be able to keep going here." Misha laughed while calming down and trying to talk. Toby and Nina were surprised to hear about this school costing a lot. Toby and Nina were mostly there to finish off their last months of school.

"I see. It's not that I think you would be bad at tutoring, it's just that I don't know if I need it just yet." Nina explained to Misha that she didn't know if she needed it but it would be worth a try. Misha smiled and laughed. She was enjoying Nina already.

"You're right, Nina, you're smart." Misha told Nina that she was enjoying her around here. Nina must've felt some appreciation with Misha taking a liking to her and them starting to become friends.

"Well, no, that just makes me sound arrogant. All right, please tutor me." Nina told Misha that she was ready to begin learning under her guidance.

"Ahahaha! Really? Okay! Okay okay okay! Yay! Thanks, Hicchan! I'll do my best! Let's start right now!" Misha told Nina that she was open to teaching her. Toby was pleased to hear but… weren't they supposed to be going somewhere?

"You have five minutes." Toby told Nina and Misha that was the amount of time he was allowing them. Misha felt deflated as this was her first test that she was going to be doing by herself.

"I miss Shicchan..." Misha told Toby and Nina, Misha must've felt rudderless without Shizune who would be her helping hand when it came to this.

"Didn't you just see her this morning?" Toby asked Misha while signing for her. Misha began to think of an answer to this question, could she have seen Shizune this morning? If this was not the case, she could have lied. Lying wasn't in the best interest of Misha however.

"But it's hard to talk to her in class, Toby! There's no Student Council today, either." Misha explained to Toby about it. There weren't any invitations regarding what was going on. Misha's signing seemed to be fluent as Toby and Nina were rough or making mistakes in their signage.

"Well, there have been us preparing for final exams. I'd be kind of mad if there was still a Student Council; I'll be glad when they are over." Toby explained while giving some signs to Misha. Misha smiled while thinking that she was going to be enjoying what seemed to be something for them. Nina was paying attention while attempting to learn from the two of them.

"When it's back, you're not going to skip out, right, Toby?" Misha asked Toby while signing her own for her translations.

"Of course. I'm in it, after all. Don't worry, I'm not going to just suddenly stop showing up. A promise is a promise." Toby explained to Misha about this. It would seem that he wanted to spend some more time with Misha and get to know her a bit more. Misha pauses for a second, not looking very convinced by Toby's response.

"Shicchan takes the Student Council very seriously, Toby. Now that you've joined, she works harder than before since she wants to make a good impression. Some other people joined, at first, but they stopped coming soon after. Shicchan tried to get more people interested in the Student Council but wasn't successful. Even when someone would join, they'd stop coming eventually. They'd make excuses and just put it off more and more until they stopped coming altogether. However... I believe that you really mean it, Toby." Misha explained to Toby that Shizune worked very hard to get people into the club of hers but eventually they stopped coming and would often come up with excuses why. Misha thought Toby wasn't lying about it. Nina's eyes stay focused on Misha's hands, tilting and moving almost of their own free will, softly signing everything she is saying to herself as she speaks. "When you said you would join, she was really happy. Shicchan thinks you're interesting, Toby. An uninteresting person won't have the drive needed to join. Even if they do, a person that isn't interesting will quit shortly after. That's what Shicchan said. So! It's my duty to make sure you keep going!" Misha continued to speak. To Toby, this was making sense but to Nina, Misha was straying off course.

"Is that why you want to tutor me? You're kind of sneaky." Nina replied to Misha. She wanted to see if she was going to get into the meat of the conversation. Misha seemed to laugh.

"Really, Nina? That's the first time anyone has said that about me! Wahahaha!" Misha told Nina that she really liked the compliment. There's no chance that neither Toby or Nina would avoid student council work now. Thinking back over the past few days, they've started to realize that the only reason they joined in the first place was because of Shizune; her competitiveness and force of will are alluring. Toby can't tell Misha that, though.

"Okay, Nina, let's review what you learned in class today!" Misha told Nina that they were going to see what they remembered from class that day. It was a simple routine that they should be able to cover when it came to something such as this.

"You don't even know what I learned in class today." Nina told Misha that she wanted to see what she was able to cover when it came to her class subjects. For Misha, this made the journey a lot harder. They might as well start over from the bottom and work their way to the top.

"Hm, you're right, Nina! Okay, let's start with the basics, then! I'll just teach you everything from the beginning!" Misha explained that they should be able to try to work from the beginning, maybe the first lesson and get into the more advanced lessons as Nina's skills improved

"You're kidding, right?" Nina asked Misha if this plan was going to work. Misha nodded with a smile before turning to Nina.

"Huh?" Misha asked Nina if this plan was going to end up going in Nina's favor.

"You're serious? That's like, days of lessons, and we're not even learning on the same level..." Nina tried her best to explain to Misha about how this was going to work. Misha knew there was nothing wrong with it and Nina could use some of the experience.

"It's like riding a bike, Nina! You never forget the basics! Wahaha! I don't know how to ride a bike, though..." Misha explained to Nina that this would be a learning curve for Nina. It wouldn't be forgotten. Oh no. Nina felt worried that she was going to embarrass herself when it came to learning sign language. "Right, right~. I want to be a teacher one day, so of course I know what I'm doing... Okay! Okay okay okay! We're starting! Uh... ...Mmm... Ahahaha..." Toby looked at Misha as she was wondering where to start. Misha looks like she's trying very hard, so this could be bad. Well, learning a language is vastly different from teaching it, and the first step is usually the hardest part. Honestly, Toby couldn't do any better. Still… "Um... Sign language was formally introduced in the 18th century by a Frenchman named... ah... whose name I can't pronounce, and he started the first public school for the deaf in 1755, but the unwritten history of sign language is said to... I don't really know where to start. Sorry... Well, what better place to start than the history of sign language? Right? Right! No, wait, maybe the alphabet. Okay, the alphabet it is, then! Okay, Nina! This is pretty basic stuff, although some people think that this is all of signing, and forget there are all kinds of specific gestures and words. Although you can't really get anywhere else without the basics! This is A. Do you see it? Now, you try!" Misha tried to give Nina a crash course on this and she was trying her best to teach to the best of her ability. The best of Misha's ability… wasn't much.

Katawa Shoujo- Everyday Fantasy

"I already know this, though." Nina tried to explain to Misha, she tried to humor her anyway. Misha showed the letter A using her hand. Nina followed along with Misha. Misha and Toby smiled as Nina was steadily getting the hang of it.

"Hahaha! Yeah, that's it! Now, this is B, and this is C." Misha explained to Nina while making the symbols with her hands. Nina followed along with Misha as she was signing with her hands. Toby watched, Nina was getting the hang of it with Misha making one symbol with each hand, without specifying which is which. "And now D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, VWXY 'n' Z!" Misha explained to Nina. Nina had followed along, she had gotten the alphabet down relatively easily though there was still room for refinement.

"Do you think Shizune wants to do some student council work today anyway? We could go." Nina asked Misha if this was something she had memorized when it came to something like this. Misha nodded with a smile and she began to explain it to Nina.

"Of course not, Nina! Come on, I'll do it again! A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K... Your turn!" Misha explained while signing the first eleven letters to Nina.

"So there's really no student council work that needs doing, or anything like that?" Nina asked Misha if this was going to be the case.

"What are you talking about, Nina? Come on, sign, sign!" Misha told Nina to begin signing, there was nothing to do but stall.

"Like this?" Nina asked. She began signing, but she was bouncing all over the place. K, N, T, Z, K once more, A. Misha watched Nina struggle when it came to signing and she decided to correct her on this.

"No, like this!" Misha told Nina and she began to sign. A, B, C, D, E, F, G and so on.

"Like..." Nina responded as she began signing C, E, G, I, K, M, O. She was improving on the letter placement as her signing was getting there but it still wasn't the best.

"This!" Misha told Nina that she began to tell her to follow her instruction. A, B, C, D, E, F, G and so on.

"Uh... huh..." Nina told Misha. She began to sign once more. A, B, C, D, E, F, G and so on. Misha seemed to smile as Nina was now following along with what Misha was signing. Misha seemed to deflate a bit as this job was harder than Misha had thought.

"I wish Shicchan was here, this would be so much easier with her. Hahaha, that's how sign language is taught most of the time, anyway, with two instructors! Did you know that, Nina?"

"No." Nina told Misha that she didn't think about it. Toby began to let his brain run through what this would be like if Shizune were here. Misha turned to Toby who seemed to be spaced out when it came to this.

"Toby! Are you paying attention?" Misha asked Toby if he was watching. He better stop staring into space.

"Yeah." Toby replied. Misha nodded as she seemed to be impressed with this.

"Shicchan says that sign language is different from any other, because you have to think about everything before you say it. That means every word has more Toby, Hicchan. Every single one is more important than normal. So, pay attention, please." She continues her basic rundown of the basics of sign language. Eventually she starts talking about stuff Nina starts to recognize. In the end, they're impressed. It took a bit of stumbling from Nina to get there, but as a teacher, she's pretty good when she's serious. After a while Toby starts to notice that the five minutes turned to ten, so Toby and Nina thank Misha, bid her goodbye, and go to the music room. Nina learned a lot today.

---

Katawa Shoujo- School Days

Thick, hot afternoon light invades the corridor, making the air feel heavy and lazy. Toby's body feels weighed down by it as he drags it two doors down the hallway to the art classroom. Maybe this is part of the reason why he didn't join any clubs before: afternoons just aren't suited for activity.

Toby knocks on the door of the art room and opens it. A girl who was possibly doing something important with the scroll of paper she's carrying turns to reckon Toby and Nina, and smiles in a sweet if a bit confused manner.

"Hello...?" The girl asked who was at the door. She saw Toby and Nina were standing by the entrance, they wanted to see who they were and if this was the right place they needed to be.

"This is the afternoon music meet, right?" Toby asked the girl if this was correct.

"Yep. Are you interested in joining this afternoon's session?" The girl asked Toby and Nina if they wanted to join the session.

"Yeah. In fact, I might already have done so, but we'll see." Toby explained. He gave her a weak smile, and her own widened a notch, making him feel less nervous.

"Great! Have a seat, then. We'll start when the teacher gets here." She said to them. Toby and Nina realized something, despite the fact they were fifteen minutes late, their teachers were even later. Without even scouting the room for a good spot, Toby walks quickly to the back of the room and settles himself on a free seat, apart from everyone else. A few other members are lounging in their seats, waiting for the teacher. Rin sits alone in a window seat, looking outside. She's the only person here that Toby knows alongside Nina, although a guy that he never really gotten along with from his own class is here, too. Nobody else comes to greet Toby, maybe introductions are left for later? Toby decided to just settle for silent observation as well. One boy has sunglasses on; an odd sight indoors, were we not at Yamaku. Toby would take the bet he's the blind student Rin was talking to. The wait proves to be extremely short. Tanimoto walks over to stand behind his desk in three long strides, then gives a smile and a flamboyant greeting with the art teacher.

Katawa Shoujo- Fripperies

"Good afternoon, everyone! First things first: Toby and Nina are the new members, so everyone gets along with them." Tanimoto told them as she seemed to be more or less excited for what was going to happen. Tanimoto winks at me unsettlingly. All seven members of the art club, along with the music club including Toby and Nina, answer the greeting with considerably less enthusiasm than the two teachers. Still, people finally straighten up in their seats and begin to pay attention. "I think some of you still have projects to work on, so please continue with those if you like. As for the rest, I was thinking that today, we could do some rough studies. "How does that sound?" Tanimoto explained as the music students were practicing their music pieces and their instruments. Toby seemed to head over to the piano that Tanimoto had for him that he was playing on. Nobody answers except with some unintelligible murmurs, which Tanimoto apparently interprets as unanimous approval. "All right, then! Everyone not working on other projects, choose a partner and listen to what kind of music they are playing to use for your own projects, you should be able to tell how they play based on their emotions. You should be able to complete this today, but if not, we can continue it next time, or even do it again if you find it interesting. Remember to pay attention to lighting and shadow, and give it your best!" Pairing up? Toby began to feel pretty awkward about it, hardly knowing anyone here. Toby wished someone would ask him to be their partner. People stand up and move their chairs closer together, but nobody comes to him. Within a minute, everyone else has paired off. Friends team up with each other, but Toby was left alone. Even Nina went off and found someone to practice with. Toby went off to the piano feeling pretty lonely that no one had paired up with him. Well, there is Rin. She's sitting in the furthest corner of the classroom, still staring out the window and seemingly uninterested in taking part in the exercise. Since she's the only other one without a partner, she walks to a seat right next to Toby. Toby can't see her face because her hair is covering most of it and she's looking away from him.

"Rin?" Toby asked to see who was sitting next to her. No response. Rin looked at Toby as she seemed not impressed with finding no partners to pair up with.

"Hey, want to partner up? You're the only one I know here." Rin asked Toby if they could pair up. She seems to finally acknowledge Toby's presence, head turning like a robot as she looks to see who is addressing her. Rin doesn't answer, and Rin doesn't want to repeat the question, either. Rin was sure he heard it the first time. Why doesn't Toby say anything? It can't be such an awful fate to be paired up with him, can it? She doesn't look at his face, and instead stares directly at his back and neck.

"Oh, okay. Why not?" Toby told Rin that he was free to partner up. Rin began to think about it for a moment, at least she was getting a partner out of this.

"Okay. Good. Great. I'll get the stuff for us." Rin explained with a shrug, she really wasn't interested in any of this. Toby huffed a bit as if he was going to clear his throat for the piano. He began to tap away at the keys. Once finding the rhythm he wanted, Toby got out his book and he began to flip through the pages to see where exactly he wanted to pick up from. He found the music track he was working on or at the very least the very beginning of it. It was labeled Shizune.

"Looking at the equipment Tanimoto has prepared for today's meeting confuses Rin. Instead of paint or pencils, it was music instruments that the art students were going to be learning from. Rin knew something about music but she's never done anything like that before. Tanimoto, however, seems confident in Rin's abilities to adapt to this medium.

"Simple! First you listen to the music that the other person is playing and writing down the notes to. You let them finish, and then you ask questions and give comments on how you are liking their music. This is called watching and listening, it works like watercolors Mr. Nomiya puts it. If you're uncomfortable with it, give criticisms on how the music player can improve on their skills." Tanimoto explained that the art students were going to listen to the music and let them do the work and then they could speak on how they could improve their music.

"Got it." Rin told Tanimoto that she got the gist of everything. Toby nodded and he began to play around the piano. Toby was enjoying what he was playing so far as it seemed that he was enjoying it. He seemed to have at least five lines of music down since joining Yamaku. Rin watched closely and listened to the Piano. She found it to be pretty boring. She wanted to see how she can play around with Toby and maybe try throwing him off guard. Grabbing a vacated chair from nearby, Rin seats herself directly opposite Toby. "Do you want me to do it with my foot or my mouth?" Rin asked Toby if she wanted to play along with Toby. Toby tried to think about it as he finished where he was at the moment.

Katawa Shoujo- Everyday Fantasy

"What did you say?" Toby asked Rin about wanting to help him out. She tilts her head, her brows forming questioning arches, as if she doesn't understand that Toby didn't understand the question. Rin began to speak to Toby about her suggestion.

"I don't mind helping either way. You'll sound better if I do it with my foot, though." Rin explained to Toby what her intentions were. Toby didn't want to cut Rin off nor try to correct her as she just used her feet for everything. Toby didn't want to shove Rin away for interrupting him and his work.

"With your foot, then, if it's all the same to you." Toby told Rin that she could use her feet to help out with the lesson. Toby continued to play around with the piano chords and found a note that he thought was going to be interesting to sound like. Nodding in answer, Rin gets up from her seat and kicks off her sandals. In two fluid motions, she picks up the paper sheet and drops it on the floor, then snatches Toby's pencil between her toes before sitting on the floor in a weird half-crosslegged position. Although Toby must've seen her do everything with her feet already, from eating to painting maybe, this display of dexterity is so prodigious that Toby presses the wrong combination of keys and just stares at her, stunned. Rin contemplates her blank paper intently. The sharp tip of his pencil hovers over the paper in anticipation. When she raises her head to see if Toby's ready, he quickly turns his face away.

"I'll go first. Play me a piece." Rin told Toby that she wanted to be able to listen to what Toby wanted to play to her. Toby seemed perplexed by Rin's request.

"What kind of a piece?" Toby asked Rin what he wanted her to play.

"It doesn't matter. That's the point. You have to make the music that pops into your head, it's what you get, not decide beforehand." Rin explained to Toby about the music that was going to be the one thing he was going to put into if he was to make Rin's time interesting. Toby ends up just sitting in his chair, his hands hanging limply between the keys of the piano. Toby then takes a look at her, and she looks at me for a moment before beginning. Rin's stare is piercing, but impassive, as if she were trying to absorb a part of me into her own self. Toby felt like he's physically shrinking under the pressure of her gaze. He must've got the feeling that for the first time since they met while looking for supplies for the stalls, Rin is actually looking at him, instead of in his general direction. Toby began to play the piano with the pressure from Rin, Rin listened as she found to like Toby's music with confident, bold sweeps of his fingers over the piano keys, not caring about the potentially destructive consequences of an accidentally misplaced note.

After she's happy with the listening of what Toby had so far, she stands up to give her opinion for Toby, stretching her back and legs. This time, she doesn't look at him. Instead, Rin lets her gaze wander around the room. Toby must've felt relieved; it's easier to stare at someone when they aren't staring back at you. Even so, Toby must find it hard to get the next few ideas going. He was musically talented, sure, but he's scared his music will turn into something disfigured, especially when compared to Rin's expectations. He didn't want to embarrass himself too badly on the first try. Rin is not helping the process, either. She doesn't stand still for even ten seconds; tilting her head from side to side to judge Toby and his skills playing the piano, biting at her lower lip, looking unsatisfied, and constantly shuffling around like she was on hot coals. Toby went back to writing in the book some piano chords, finally managed to make some headway in the notebook, and with his next five or so lines done, Toby began playing the entire melody once more with the new notes that he wrote after playing them. Tanimoto passes by, and remarks on the beginnings of Toby's work. He must've had a couple pages down of music notes for the piano.

"Very good! You're getting the hang of playing. It's easier for a beginner to get a grasp of." Tanimoto explained while looking at the music notes, she could see that he was neat and kept into the lines.

"But I didn't choose any melodies..." Toby explained to Tanimoto while he kept playing the music. Toby looks at her and then at Rin in confusion, but she's already moving onto the next pair, and Rin seems unresponsive. Just like when she was eating lunch when he went to get art supplies, Rin has become so engrossed with Toby's work that it seems she has shut him, the classroom and the entire world itself out from her own little sphere of existence. Every now and then, she leans backwards, seemingly to get some perspective. Sometimes she bends forward, leaning down until her nose almost touches the paper. This rocking back and forth looks silly. Suddenly, Rin proves she hasn't completely drifted off into a world of her own, and speaks.

"Are you having fun already?" Rin asked while giving a small smile to Toby. She was curious to see if he was enjoying the work he was putting into his music. She doesn't raise her eyes from the notebook, which is a good thing. The breaking of the silence sends a jolt of surprise through Toby, as if he'd been electrocuted.

"I... don't know, yet. It's hard to say." Toby began. "I try my best when it comes to this to be clear. Tanimoto told me about that a couple days before the festival. She just enjoys hearing me play." Toby explained to Rin who seemed to be engrossed in his music work. Toby couldn't hear how she replies to his answer because it seems she is suddenly having a private, whispered conversation with his notebook. Toby doesn't understand how she can get attached to something that he does so well in when creating it while she has the attention span of a butterfly. As it seems she lost her interest, Toby went back to work on his music writing as well. There was no way he was going to add some flair to his music without Tanimoto checking it over first and giving her feedback, to somehow grasp the way the golden afternoon sun lights her bright red tousle aflame and transfer it to his paper in shades of black and gray. Somehow, this pen and the bottle of ink seem like such lousy, inadequate tools for the task. Minutes passed, but the music he wrote down was getting so long he had to turn over another page. Her voice wakes Toby up from his despair.

"What about now?" Rin asked while Toby was jotting down what keys he wanted to play before wanting to play the melody once more.

"Excuse me?" Toby politely asked Rin. He wasn't angry with her but he was so engrossed in his work that he was shaken by Rin's voice.

"Are you having fun already?" Rin asked Toby if he was enjoying his work

"Why do you keep asking that?" Toby asked curiously to Rin. Rin shrugged as she began to think about it. She smiled and began to explain.

"Because it's a club, right? Clubs are meant to be fun. You joined to have fun. Are you having fun?" Rin explained, she was being a bit playful with her words as she was enjoying hanging out with Toby. Toby was still engrossed in his work.

"Is it important that I'm having fun?" Toby asked Rin if he was finding enjoyment in playing his music. Toby admitted that he was having fun with Rin around as if she was his own audience.

"...Yes." Rin answered Toby. He was enjoying his time playing with the piano.

"...Okay, I'm having fun." Toby told Rin. He seemed to give a laugh a bit to Rin as he was enjoying this.

"Good." Rin told Toby that she was more or less happy that he was enjoying himself. Toby began to wonder if he said that just to please her, or if he really meant it. He can't really decide which it was. It wasn't that he didn't hate this, though. He can honestly say that much. It's good enough for now. As the allotted time to finish the studies quickly ticks away, Toby desperately tries to improve his music piece, but it doesn't seem to get any better or at least how it sounded. He didn't know if he wanted to start again from scratch, but what would be the point? There's no time for that, either. Might as well get Tanimoto to read it over when she gets the chance. Tanimoto looked at the clock, they had spent a good hour with this club and the students needed time to do their homework.

Katawa Shoujo- Daylight

"Okay everyone, that's it for today! Please turn in your notes on my desk, and I'll see you all next Monday!" Tanimoto explained to the students if they can hand in their work and the fact that they were going to enjoy this. Toby decided to leave his music book with three completed pages of music for the Shizune project. He didn't feel confident in it but he seemed to be getting somewhere, he was more or less used to playing someone else's work and not writing his own. Toby glances once more at his work. It doesn't exactly look like Rin will enjoy it as it felt rough when it was written. Toby could guess you could say that Misha would enjoy this more than Rin, but that might be a bit generous. The melody was smooth but he was worried that it didn't fit Rin who was different in personality compared to Shizune. Granted, it's my first attempt at making music with someone who had little knowledge in the topic, Toby thought that it's still pretty bad.

"That's not bad." Rin began as she was reading over the music work. She was more or less pleased with how it was turning out. She sneaked up behind Toby while he was lost in thought.

"You caught me Rin. I was hoping I could smuggle the portrait to the teacher without you seeing it." Toby told Rin that he was planning on giving it to the teacher without Rin noticing it. Tanimoto needed to see it so she could make the corrections she needed and Toby can revise it and play it again.

"Why?" Rin asked Toby if this was the case.

"I'm not really happy with it. I wish I could have done better." Toby sighed. He handed it over to Tanimoto who wondered what was Toby doing this entire time

"You just need some practice. You'd be great in the future. I actually enjoyed listening to your music despite the stumbles." Rin explained to Toby that she enjoyed his music and she thought he would be excellent once everything was paved over. Curious himself about how the music writing turned out, Toby peeks at his notes from an angle. From the way Rin was doing with painting and him with writing music, it looked like she was really into it. And so was Toby. Toby looked at Rin with her notes and it was a sketch of Toby. It's excellent. Somehow the seemingly arbitrary strokes come together to form an image of his face, from the shape of his chin, to the messy hair, to the somewhat focused yet carefree expression. Her sketch blows Toby's mind. "I looked at your music notes, you're amazing." Rin added that she seemed to be interested in Toby's work.

"It's not that amazing. But thanks." Toby told Rin that it seemed to be nothing spectacular or perfect. Rin takes a closer look at Toby. His expression was becoming dry like freshly stroked paint on a canvas.

"You know, your music sounded pretty carefree, meandering like a river and rambling at times. Seems like I'm the person who rambles about everything and it spills into my art work." Rin explained to Toby that she liked his music and it was one she wouldn't mind listening to.

"You do look kind and carefree. I mean, I agree; but it's also true otherwise, too. Like this you, not the you I try to think of." Toby explained to Rin, he was taking an interest in her while they exited the classroom and into the hallway.

"I do?" Rin asked. She seemed to be curious about what Toby was going to say. She found him interesting but she didn't know if he was going to conflict with her goals. It was worth a try though.

"I think so at least." Toby told Rin while they walked through the hallway. His simple statement makes her suddenly feel incredibly self-conscious. Toby began to feel like he needed a mirror right now, to confirm or debunk Rin. It's a nasty feeling. Maybe it's just her. Rin hopes it's just Toby, and that neither one of them don't look like the music notes and what the tune of it would say to the others. It's a good yet rough piece of music to listen to, but somehow Toby gets a really oppressive feeling from it.

"I see. Anyway, it looks really good. You really are amazing." Rin told Toby that she enjoyed listening to his rough music and she would enjoy it even more with the revisions done to it.

"Thanks. I'm glad you could listen to my music. You are an interesting person." Toby told Rin about it. Rin smiles again at Toby as they keep walking down the hallway.

"You're an interesting person too, but that didn't help me much." Rin sighed as her mood deflated. Toby's self-dedication has no limits today, but Rin ignores it all. Toby knew that he could never compare to Rin as of yet, but to see the difference with his own eyes is quite humbling. "See, I tried to make you look like you think a lot, since you did a lot of thinking. And yeah, I might have overdone the passive-aggressive-with-life expression, but cynics are like that, right?" Rin asked Toby as she tried to visualize his personality in her eyes but he didn't seem that way to Rin, he was more or less like her and someone Shizune was taking an interest in. Toby wanted to retort something pleasing and filled with kindness to Rin, but a voice down the hallway gives Toby no time to think, ushering them around the corner.

"Hurry up, you two!" The voice called out. It sounded like Misha but that wasn't usually her. She was definitely loud enough for them to hear. While Toby and Rin have been chatting the rest of the clubs have taken their leave and separate ways for the day. Toby and Rin have found themselves to be interesting and among each other. Rin must've taken a liking with Toby and for him being a friend to her. Rin must've been looking forward to her meetings with Toby. Toby meanwhile had parted ways with Rin and headed off. He was walking blind now, and no girl found his sides. He had to speak to Shizune and Misha tomorrow.

[A/N]: Hooray another chapter out and it seems everyone is coming to my work like flies to a light. I might be having something to do next Thursday which means they will be checking up on me. I will get this lengthy chapter out for you to read and you can give your opinions on it to see how far it's coming along and how you like it.

If you start seeing [insert dialogue here] instead of "insert dialogue here" for the rest of the story going forward, I'll explain what it means, I'll finally be giving Shizune dialogue even if she isn't speaking it. Next chapter will come out... whenever. Enjoy yourselves. See you later.