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>>2909557

Information:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QM91m
Discord: https://discord.gg/AmjbaTR
Archives: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=do+your+best+quest (Rough Grammar ‘till half of the 9th Thread)
Complete Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-nIx_dvaNCPQ7zLg2BK_ucCyGNM741kAANxqXj7hdDs/edit?usp=sharing

Votes:

Votes are counted until 25 minutes have passed. This rule doesn't apply to the last reply of the day.
Votes that require a dice roll are counted until 10 minutes have passed, so we can speed the process. Rolls are counted until 10 minutes have passed.

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>>2909562

Dice Mechanic (Up for Balance)

We always roll 1d100s!
I use the average (the mean) of the 4 best rolls plus a modifier depending on Johnny’s stats (Knowledge, Courage, etc.) for the quest. The degree of Success will be determined by the difficulty I specify for the action or prompt compared to the result. The stat-based modifier is based in the level of Johnny’s stats (+10 per level not counting the first one). If there are less than 4 rolls I’ll do the math with the ones I have. For example:

>Johnny punches Howie! [Hard Roll][Athletic Based]

Equation:
(Roll 1 + Roll 2 + Roll 3 + Roll 4 + [Stat Based Modifier]) / (Number of Dices Rolled (Max. 4)) = Result!


Rolling over a 95 is a critical strike and ignores the other rolls! In the same vein, rolling 5 or under means a critical failure (Only for hard rolls on)…

The difficulty of the roll is tied with the effectiveness of the action, in other words, the harder the option the better the result for the fight!

Don’t forget at the end of the day this is a Story-driven quest! So what the prompts are describing is more important than difficulty of the rolls are for the results in a fight.

We will roll after the voting is done!

>>2909557
>>You need to check on that traumatized neighbor of yours like a good tenant!

>>2909557
>You need to check on that traumatized neighbor of yours like a good tenant!
>Watch the news! Big things are happening and you need to stay informed!

>>2909557
>>Watch the news! Big things are happening and you need to stay informed!

>>2909557
>>You need to make sure nights are for sleeping. Deal with Yu Yan’s issue now!
>>You need to check on that traumatized neighbor of yours like a good tenant!

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“Enough headpatting, Amelia. I got stuff to do.” You stop your affection towards your sister, who isn’t all that pleased.
“Aww…” She’s a little let down, but you can see on her face she understands. And that’s why she’s a good sister! “What stuff?”
“I need to check on our new neighbor again. Making up for my mistake will make me feel a lot better, if nothing else.” And then a good night’s sleep will seal the deal!

“Does she even want to see you?”
“Probably not, but that hasn’t stopped me.”

You check your phone for messages from her or something. There’s nothing!
“Maybe if we bring Osgood as a sacrifice, she’ll pardon us?”
“Hey, I want to kill that goofy good-for-nothing guy myself.”

Poker Night.
Never forgive.
Never forget.

“That’s kinda rash, Johnny. What did he do to you again?”
“N-nothing important. Don’t worry about it!” It’s a joke anyway. The poor guy has been beaten up multiple times for yours and the team’s sake. Maybe petty revenge isn’t quite worth it?

“I’ll make dinner for everyone first, then I’m out.” You head into your kitchen and get to work.

And so you started making dinner for everyone while watching the news! A lot of things have happened and you need to stay informed from now on. Sure you have an intel team and all, but it’s no good reason to slack off! Good thing there are more channels than the government one. If there weren’t, you think the country would have rioted long ago…

–Lloydington imprisonment has made the rounds around the world!
Neighbor nations are demanding your country to free the obviously-evil man. Heck even the N.U. (Nations United) have issued a statement in favor of the local politician – they also said this is will be the last warning before they attempt taking action. Your government has remained silent about the whole thing, only damning them further.

–Multiple gigantic protests and demonstrations flared up around the country in favor of Lloydington, demanding his liberation!
Dang, the one right here in Pokyo Lokyo had millions in it! You were too sleepy to notice the ruckus. Wait, it wasn’t even that close to your place! This happened on the whole other end of the city. Their problem, not yours!

–Old Chief of Police Danforth Villiers is NOT rejoining the force after all, and the guy from the other day has been officially promoted to the full-time position.
Uh-oh! Since these news are on air, you wonder what happened between him and Flint over movie night. No public indication from Ka-Shing, and whatever happened wasn’t dire enough to force him to call you up. Maybe they had an amicable discussion about their different tastes in movies?

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>>2909808

The other bunch of news are shit you don’t care about, though you notice Nariko was sitting up a bit straighter when brief news about an upcoming collab between Chewirton, N A K A, and POKYO LOGIC came on…

“I wonder what’s going to happen now… These things are happening so close to us.”
“I dunno, I wouldn’t mind having a civil war break out. Would make for better TV!” Yu Yan jokes, but Amelia just shoots her a distressed look.
“Watch your mouth, short one. This is serious business.” Nariko is not fond of Yu Yan’s comments.
“You watch yours! Hasn’t been ten minutes and you’re already drooling!” The supposedly-elegant girl blinks a few times, then absentmindedly cleans her mouth with a napkin.

“Dinner’s ready! I’m heading out now.” It’s time!

Nariko gives you a smile and gets up out of her seat to bow gracefully at you. That’s way too formal! “Thank you dear Ando. But I’m curious, where are you going?”
“To a neighbor’s place. Won’t be out for long.”
“Yo, isn’t that that psycho girl you told us to check out? The bitch didn’t even bother to open the door last time! People are so fuckin’ rude nowadays…!” Yu Yan curses with no regard to what she’s saying! Her eyes are on the delicious food you spread on the table.

“Maybe she was out?” Amelia wonders, then quickly changes her mind. “…Nevermind, I don’t think that’s possible.” Probably as bad a shut-in as T.T. Neko…
“Dear Ando, are you sure you want to go alone? You aren’t exactly physically fit right now, and frankly I’m worried for your life.” Nariko is showing her kind side. You can still see a bit of drool on the side of her face. The food must be getting to her already!
“She’s literally down the hall. I think our big boy here can handle it.” Yu Yan gives you a knowing look. What is she implying…?!

You should consider going with someone, maybe to keep her in check? But who?

>Go with Yu Yan.
>Go with Nariko.
>Go with Amelia.
>Go alone like you always have!
>Write In.

>>2909813
>Go with Nariko.

>>2909808
>>Go with Nariko.

>>2909813
>Go with Nariko.

>>2909813
>Go with Nariko.
Stop watching TV

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Amelia didn’t do anything when you freaked out, and Yu Yan is a nuclear explosion waiting to happen. Considering your options thoroughly, the only good one is Nariko. She knows how to behave and while she isn’t necessarily the calmest one, she’s cordial and has actual manners.

She also needs to stop watching so much TV. Doesn’t she know TV rots your brain? Or maybe her brain is too far gone?!

“Now that I think about it, Nariko – can you come with me?” You ask your hungry hobo. “I don’t want to worry any of you anymore.”
She cleans herself off with a napkin and starts talking! You didn’t even notice when she started to eat. Her plate is already almost done! “I would love to, dear Ando!” Nariko is on her feet in moments.

“You’re going to go check on some sick girl, not go to a picnic.” Yu Yan grounds Nariko for no reason!

“Short one, no need to be jealous. Dear Ando knows who to trust.” Nariko’s confident voice comes from the kitchen between sounds of containers being moved around.
“Johnny and I are tight, amiga. A bond a simple-minded farm animal like you wouldn’t understand.”
“We’re going to have fun on our own anyway, right Yu Yan?” Amelia gives Yu Yan an optimistic smile, elbowing her a few times. Your sister is eating your food at a decent pace, just like she always does.

Nariko speaks up again from the kitchen. “Amelia, could you do me a favor while I’m out? Could you ask the owner once again to allow me a rent here on my behalf?”
“Yeah sure! Hey Yu Yan, that’s our job now!”
“Huh? Aren’t we eating now? Can’t you just wait?” Yu Yan is having none of it! She starts devouring her plate so fast you barely see her knife cutting at her food!

“You ready, Nariko?” You ask your OG hobo, hearing her walk up behind you.
“Indeed, dear Ando. I packed an extra meal for her too.” Nariko smiles. You hope she didn’t pack that for herself. Then it would mean Yu Yan is right. Again

You’re already at Ajna’s apartment! It was a pretty quick walk. You knock on the door like any decent neighbor would do.
Because that’s what you are.
A good caring neighbor.
Not an idiot that attacks flameless girls out of paranoia…

…

No answer. Weird.

“Just like last time. Perhaps she’s sleeping? I know sticking to a normal schedule is difficult when you’re forced into this type of situation.” Nariko talks out loud as she inspects the door like she’s some kind of detective. She probably knows from experience if what you’ve heard of her past is any indication.
“Last time she had no problem answering though…” Maybe there’s something wrong?

The image of her taking those pills with her shaky hands flashes in your mind for a second.
Nah, there’s no way. If she ever would’ve done that, she would’ve tried it a long time ago. Right?

>>2910028

You doubt there’s any danger here, but you still need to do something…

>Knock on the door louder. It’ll work this time!
>Take down the door with Philonune. Again.
>Call Ajna by phone. You might hear it from here.
>Text Ajna. Better for her to type than speak.
>Leave. Maybe she doesn’t want to be bothered.
>Write In.

>>2910037
>Knock on the door louder. It’ll work this time!
AND
>Text Ajna. Better for her to type than speak.

>>2910037
Use Phil in glasses mode. Thermal mode.

>>2910037
>>2910060
This works

>>2910060
Supportin

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“I’ll text her. She’s not really the chatty type…” Hopefully this ain’t the wrong number. You text her and get back nothing in response. You put your messages on with alert sound for now.
“Perhaps you should call her, dear Ando? I admittedly don’t know the situation all that well, but we cannot let this food go cold. Microwaving it would be a shame.” You’ve been microwaving your own leftovers for years, come on!
“Nah, don’t worry. I’ll just knock louder.”

And you do! It’s not like you’re beating it down too heavily – just some gentle reminders that you’re here.

“Perhaps the loud noises scare her? I was scared of them from the other residences at night when I lived alone. Please keep this a secret from the short one.” She blushes a little. That’s adorable.
You nod at her. “I haven’t heard a thing from inside yet.”

Suddenly your phone rings. It’s a message from Ajna.

>give me a minute >_<

You read her message out loud for Nariko. Wow, reading texts out loud sounds so stupid.
“She only wants to look presentable. I don’t blame her. A well-educated woman will always want to look her best in front of visitors or unexpected guests.” Nariko nods in agreement. “I looked hideous for so long with you. Shameful behavior from my old self, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I did like the beanie though.”
An incredulous look from Nariko is all the answer you could have hoped for.

Out of nowhere the door opens ever so slightly. You are able to see Ajna peek from the little gap like last time before everything went to shit. She looks exactly the same, so no beforehand preparation. She stares at you and struggles to speak out loud.

“...H-h-h-he-hello.” Ajna is really nervous despite being able to speak again. You get the feeling she’s always this way.
“S’up, we came to visit.” You try to sound relaxed in the hope that it’ll calm her down more.

Ajna stares at Nariko wide-eyed, and starts trembling faster. Nariko glances at you and gives you a quick firm nod.

You should have some manners and introduce Nariko.

>“She’s my servant Nariko, we also brought you food.”
>“She’s my cousin Nariko, we also brought you food.”
>“She’s my friend Nariko, we also brought you food.”
>“She’s my girlfriend Nariko, we also brought you food.”
>“She’s my hobo Nariko, It’s complicated. Point is we came to bring you food and see if you’re okay. You are okay, right?”
>“She’s Nariko, she’s cool – can we come in? I was worried about you and wanted to check on you. Everything good?”
>Write In.

>>2910253
>>“She’s my friend Nariko, we also brought you food.”

>>2910253
>“She’s my friend Nariko, we also brought you food.”

>>2910253
>“She’s my friend Nariko, we also brought you food.”

>>2910253
>>“She’s my hobo Nariko, It’s complicated. Point is we came to bring you food and see if you’re okay. You are okay, right?”

>>2910253
>>“She’s my hobo Nariko, It’s complicated. Point is we came to bring you food and see if you’re okay. You are okay, right?”
Sorry I'm late, going with this.

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“She’s my friend Nariko, we also brought you food.”
“I’m Nariko Edamura, nice to meet you.” Nariko does a formal bow.
“…Aj-Aj-Ajna.” She points at herself with barely any courage to speak. She then closes the door, unlocks it, and opens it again.

She’s trembling in place, just staring at you and Nariko.

You take the plunge! “Can we come in?”
Out of nowhere, Nariko hands you one portion of food she packed.
“No, Johnny first…” You were right! The other one must be for herself! You have to stop her from eating so much, but that would be interrupting the moment. Plus, it would be awfully rude with Ajna standing right here. “There, eat to your heart’s content. The way the spices are balanced together just right is absolutely sublime, if I do say so myself.” Nariko puts a hand to her mouth and does a demure giggle. Little does she know, flattery of your cooking skills won’t save her from you or Yu Yan! However, it does make you feel a lot more proud than you did a few seconds ago.
“…T-t-t-t-t-t—t—t—t-thank you.” Ajna is talking again! Progress is progress.

Ajna leaves the door open and leaves into the darkest confines of her empty apartment. Again, the lights are off and the curtains are drawn. Time to use Philonune’s shitty ability for once!
“What do you mean for once? You’ve used me plenty of times, Johnny! …And now you’re just repeating yourself.”
Wait, were you whispering that out loud to yourself? That’s pretty weird.

“Should we…?” Nariko doesn’t want to traverse ethical barriers, despite the fact that the flame-based brain surgery she went through is one hell of an ethical barrier!
“I think so.” You go ahead and enter the dark apartment, now no longer so dark thanks to Philonune… Nariko soon follows and closes the door. Poor girl can’t see a thing now.

Still nothing inside but the boxes, the TV and such. Unlike last time, there are some bits of trash lying around. You turn the lights on so Nariko is able to see.

“Thank you.” Nariko says in her usual polite voice. “But what’s going on this place?” She’s confused and a little uncomfortable.
“Let’s try not to be mean...” You didn’t know how to express it properly, but you aren’t here to judge poor Ajna!

You see Ajna pulling one box in front of her, then she sits in front of it and leaves your food on it like a table. Aside from that she’s not touching it; the weird girl is only staring at you with those eyes of constant apprehension… It’s like she’s expecting something.

“Do you need anything? We can help.” Nariko tries to be tactful. Ajna just trembles faster.

Things won’t go anywhere if you leave them as they are…

>>2910501

How will you help the situation?

>Tell Nariko to sit with her while you prepare their “table” like a real waiter or something.
>Ask Ajna what she wants. It’s important for her to communicate even if you can take the hint.
>Tidy the place up! Not sure if that what she wants, but it’s what she needs and deserves.
>Go get water from the kitchen and bring her her pills. Did she take them already or not?
>Write In.

>>2910501
>>Tidy the place up! Not sure if that what she wants, but it’s what she needs and deserves.
Need to get back into our old janitorial services routine.

>>2910506
All of this and bow deep in apology for our first encounter.

>>2910506
Backing >>2910522
DO ALL THE THINGS

>>2910522
>>2910532
Yes

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“Ajna, please. It’s important for you to talk more. So tell us if there is anything you need.”
She pantomimes for a fork and knife.

You get the clue and also the idea that you should clean this place up for her. She deserves it after everything she’s went through. It’s weird to know a person who was actually scared of the entities like her. That should be more common. Or maybe it is, and you just haven’t seen them.

Or maybe she’s scared of them because she’s normal, and everybody else with a flame isn’t.

“Sit with her Nariko. I’m going to prepare everything here.” All that janitor work is going to pay off! Thanks Dr. Calamity!
“Dear Ando, I can help. Even in my sorry state from before I was able to help with the house chores.” She murmurs back.

“Don’t leave Ajna alone, she’s going to get uncomfortable if we’re cleaning her place and she only watches. Go ahead, sit and enjoy your meal.” Again.
Nariko nods in agreement. She’s kind of easy to convince, huh? Or at least she really believes in you. A lot of people are doing that recently. Feels good.

“Dear Ajna – oh my, do you mind if I refer to you that way? I don’t want to be rude to you in your own home.” Nariko gets closer to Ajna as you prepare to tidy up this place.
Ajna takes a few long moments to nod dismissively. She doesn’t seem to mind.

Time for you to work!

First you prepared and set the ‘table’ with everything you could find from the kitchen. There’s a few actual cups and plates in the cabinets now! Did she unpack because she was expecting you to return? Oh well. You then brought Ajna her pills and a glass of water. She stared at you dumbfounded until you told her you wanted to help, so she took her meds.

Now Ajna and Nariko are starting to enjoy the meal together while you’re busy cleaning this place up. It’s not nasty per se. The fact that she’s doing more things to result in this trash is a sign that she’s getting better, moving around and not spending the whole day sleeping or comatose or worse.

Does Craig take a peek or two here during the day? Maybe he’s busy; you heard from the girls yesterday he was hard to find. But even so, this is some serious neglect!

No, it’s not his fault really. It’s his girlfriend’s! And Osgood’s! Well, it’s complicated! Moving on…

Ajna sits there watching Nariko as Nariko tries to spark a conversation, more tactful than you were anticipating. Either way she’s not making much progress. If your little ability to understand this damaged girl is reliable, you think she’s feeling more comfortable. Small steps!

Once you clean the shitty apartment and put the trash out at the back of the building, you’re back in front of Ajna while she looks around her now-spotless residence. You take this opportunity to bow to her like you’ve never bowed to anyone else before!

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>>2910802

“I’m sorry again for everything I did the first time we met.” You tell the girl who lost her smile.
“Dear Ando…!” Nariko didn’t know the extent of your fuck-up. Seeing you seriously bow to somebody else is giving her an idea of just how bad that was, if her shocked expression wasn’t enough to go by.

A few seconds pass without you hearing anything, then you feel someone patting your head…

“I-I-It’s o-o-okay… Tha-tha-thank you.” Ajna finds the forgiveness inside herself!
You honestly feel a little moved, but you need to keep your composure. You reflexively move your head to look back up at her, and this causes her to move away in fright.
Nariko grabs her and stars rubbing Ajna’s shoulders!

“S-sorry.” You can’t say much else.
“It’s fine. We’re here to help, not to hurt you.” Nariko calms the girl quivering in her arms. Maybe Yu Yan has a point and Nariko is great at comforting people, but she was a snobby girl before.
Who could she have learned that from? Or was she always like this for most of her life?

“N-No…” Ajna points at herself. “M-m-my... fa-fa-fa-fa-fault…”

This is still heartbreaking. The entities must have been left her in quite the shock, and with no emotional support or concern from anyone at all – it’s not difficult to put two and two together…

Nariko stops the shoulder rubbing. “Ajna, I don’t want to sound mean. Please bear with what I am about to say: I can help you if you need to bathe.”
The damaged girl starts blushing furiously. Her eyes are going from Nariko to you back and forth, enough that you start feeling concerned she might make herself dizzy.

It’s somewhat late now, this whole operation took longer than you thought.

This isn’t exactly up to you, is it?

>“Don’t be mean to her, Nariko. She’s gone through enough as it is.”
>“I can leave you here for that if she’s okay with it. You up for it, Ajna?”
>“Little steps. I don’t want to keep bothering you any longer today, Ajna. We’re going to leave now.”
>Write In.

>>2910810
>>“Little steps. I don’t want to keep bothering you any longer today, Ajna. We’re going to leave now.”
>"We'll come back tomorrow for that. Would you prefer morning or evening?"

>>2910810
Backing >>2910875

>>2910810
this>>2910875

>>2910875
I'll support as long as we clearly state we'll bring more food, and ask if she has a preference.

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“Little steps. I don’t want to keep bothering you any longer today, Ajna. We’re going to leave now.”
“But dear Ando, I must object! You don’t know how much of a confidence boost it is to sort yourself out in front of a mirror.” Nariko objects.
“That’s why we’ll come back tomorrow for that. Would you prefer morning or evening, Ajna? Any food in particular you want?”

Both of you stare at Ajna. She takes her phone out and sends you a message.

>Evening.

Is what the message reads. Guess food choice isn’t something that’s worrying her at the moment. Insisting any further would be rude.

“Alright, tomorrow evening it is. Thank you, and I’m sorry again.” You tell Ajna who keeps staring at you, not with a look of fear but with one of… ehm… less fear? She’s not looking all that confident despite the improvements. Hopefully she’ll finally overcome whatever traumas she has, though these things take time. You start heading for the door.

“Dear Ajna, it was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.” Nariko bows before following your lead.
“…B-b-b-b-bye.” You hear Ajna stammer out as you close the door behind you.

This was more heartbreaking than stressful. Next time it’s probably only going to be just heartbreaking! Dang…

“Nice job in there Nariko. Thank you. I was right in trusting you for this one.” You are proud of your noble hobo.
“I felt rather out of my element the whole time. I couldn’t just give her the cold shoulder – I’ve never felt like this before. I thought I could only care about you and the others.” Nariko explains, confused by her own feelings.
“See? Amelia was completely right about you! You’re a kind girl from top to bottom.” Not the ruthless leader she wanted to become, like some deluded middle schooler. “Good thing you didn’t go full retard edgelord.”

“I want a better term for that, thank you…” Nariko smirks, trying to hide her happiness now that you threw that shade at her.
“I’m starving, let’s go back quickly…” You didn’t get to eat your own dinner!

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>>2911203

And so you came back to your apartment. As you were eating the microwaved dinner you didn’t get to eat, the other two girls explain to Nariko that Craig is going to contact her tomorrow about the apartment deal! Perhaps there is a chance for her! That’s good.

After explaining what happened with Ajna on your end, Yu Yan seems surprised at how well Nariko dealt with the situation. Amelia also felt the need to go apologize the way you did, shamelessly copying your sincere gesture, but that’s going to wait for tomorrow.

It’s finally time to sleep! Your suffering ends here! Tomorrow on Thursday June 1st, you have a brighter day ahead of you at school! The clock starts ticking louder as the day of the battle approaches. What dangers could you possibly have to face tomorrow…?

“G’night, sweetheart. Have a good one.” Yu Yan whispers as she’s already cuddling with you.

Wait a second…

OH FUCK.

>Drag Yu Yan to the girls’ room and explain the situation. You need to sleep, damnit!
>Well Yu Yan isn’t going to headpat herself! Goodbye sleep, hello insanity! AGAIN!
>Throw Yu Yan outta your room! She’ll have to deal with her problem alone for tonight!
>Ask Yu Yan what to do. Something that’s not you calming her tonight at the cost of sleep?
>Write In.

>>2911206
Forgot to write it! This is the last reply of the day! Thanks for playing so far!

>>2911206
>>Write In.
>...
>Ignore and try to frickin sleep

>>2911206
>Well Yu Yan isn’t going to headpat herself! Goodbye sleep, hello insanity! AGAIN!

>>2911206
>Hug her closer to you and sleep normally.

>>2911206
>Hug her closer to you and sleep normally.
Odds are it's less about the headpats specifically and mure reassuring human contact. Cuddling up for the night should be enough while letting Johny get some sleep.

>>2911206
>Hug her closer to you and sleep normally.

+1

>>2911206
>Just squeeze her close and nuzzle her head with your chin and try to sleep.

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“When did you…? Ah, screw it.” You mutter to yourself. “Good night.”
“I just snuck out of there. You still okay with this? I know you had a bad day ‘cause of me.” Oh wow, she’s feeling genuine remorse. Could this be a first?!
“It’s alright. C’mere.” You hug her closer to you. She didn’t expect it at all, but it’s not like she’s resisting! “I think I took the wrong approach yesterday. Cuddling will help because you need to feel safe in your sleep, or something. Are you feeling comfortable yet?” Reassuring human contact is what this girl really needs!

“Oh wo-wow, you are way more bo-bold than I expected!” She’s getting herself more comfortable. You’re too close to each other… Did she forget you already did this yesterday? “Putting an innocent girl in a situation like this, what a lustful man… Not to mention what you’ve got down there…” Through your tired blurry eyes, you can barely make out Yu Yan staring someplace she shouldn’t.
Hey, getting like that while holding a girl this close is perfectly normal for a guy! Not only is she dodging your question, but she’s distracting herself from feeling better!

This is for her own good, not yours. Your sleep deprivation is testament to that!
“I-I’m more worried about figuring this out for your sake instead of mine. Now answer my question please.”
“You smell really nice…” Yu Yan is lost in her thoughts, her eyes are closing. She’s losing the plot. Again.

“Is that a yes? ‘Cause I’m not hearing a no.”
“Just take the damn compliment… G’night…”

If she wasn’t comfortable, she wouldn’t have fallen asleep like this. Maybe you should follow her lead and doze off too.

Fuck, this isn’t comfortable at all for sleeping! It’s a nice feeling and all, but you feel a bit cramped in this small bed. You’ll adapt to it anyway, same as you’ve done with everything else.
Dreams await you!

Damn, just two hours in and Yu Yan is already having problems. Not as bad as yesterday. You’re not as tired this time so you notice her little twitches, her barely audible moans, and her face looking a little dire. It would be almost cute if it wasn’t so worrisome.

For your own sanity you won’t go the headpat route, instead pulling her closer again. Just in the few hours you were asleep, Yu Yan moved away on her own. She feels so light and delicate… Almost like your sister, except with a wholly opposite personality!

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Your brotherly instinct seems to pay off as the little movements finally slow to a stop, and Yu Yan starts to look relaxed the way she should be. Time to go back to sleep…

Three hours go by until she’s back to having nightmares. This time she’s moved all the way to the other side of the bed! This girl can’t stay put while sleeping. How did Nariko deal with her?
Anyway, you grab this little baby animal and drag her back to the nest. Slowly she stops grabbing at her leg and the comfort comes back to her. Hmmm…

Having a lot of courage make these types of situation more trivial, huh? Yu Yan seems to be happy and that’s what is important here! You promised to care of her, and that’s what you are doing! But what you really need to be doing right now is getting that sleep.

Finally it’s time for you to wake up for real! Oh wait that’s not your alarm, that’s Yu Yan’s. It’s like 5 minutes earlier than your usual wake-up call.

“Did I wake you up? Sorry, I need to pretend I’m an early bird so they don’t catch us out.” Yu Yan apologizes, shutting up her alarm.
“Yu Yan, they can wake up anytime in the night and find out. You only have to tell them the truth.”
“Can’t blame me for wanting to keep this hidden, you know how embarrassing this is. I slept twice with you and you haven’t succumbed to my charms all the way.” Yu Yan jokes. With no horror haunting her while awake, Yu Yan is her usual self. “Seems like you had some sleep this time.”

“Yeah. Not perfect, but good enough for today.” You can do your work a little tired, no sleep is perfect anyway.
“Johnny… Thanks. You’re one reliable dude.” She smiles then skips her way out your door.

That made it worth it, kinda…?

What are your plans for after school? (Choose one.)

>Call a team meeting at the clinic! You need to tell the group your dark secret past you promised them!
>Take the day off, spend time with your weird family here or some shit. Keep your hobos occupied.
>Check your texts before making any decision for today. Anything could have changed overnight.
>Contact Richard about tracking T.T. Neko’s new location. He might help with the Carmella business too…
>Write In.

>>2913630
>>Write In.
Coffee, or energy drink equivalent.
While
>Check your texts before making any decision for today. Anything could have changed overnight.

>>2913630
>Contact Richard about tracking T.T. Neko’s new location. He might help with the Carmella business too…

>>2913630
backing >>2913633

>>2913630
this>>2913633

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“Ugh… I need some coffee.” You mutter to yourself as you take your school uniform to the bathroom. You need a shower too.

After taking a shower and drinking some coffee (black, no cream, no sugar), you decided to read your messages…

>First one is from Richard.
He’s detailing how he found out T.T. Neko’s new location. Seems Bradford was of help. It appears she severed ties with Ka-Shing after the monster incident. He knows you’re injured, so he’s not going to pressure you for help now – but he believes acting sooner will be better. He wants to know if you’re up for it at all, or if you’re staying out of this to recover.

>Second one is from Roger Jackson.
He was caught off-guard! Didn’t think the important news was about Lloydington, though the rest of the police knew about this beforehand. His pals who leaked this to him mentioned that several important businessmen are backing up Lloydington and pressuring the government for his liberation. They didn’t tell him much else this time around.
He wanted to talk to his friends in the brigade of entity-related issues (there is one?!), but they’re extremely busy with the recent raids on the cult. He apologizes for not being more useful.

You respond he has done enough, thanking him for the info. Is everyone in this city guilty of tax evasion?!

>Third one is from Scarlet.
More cute pics! She’s really determined, huh? This time you’re invited to eat at Jackey Frosties again! She did promise she would when you were at the clinic. She intends to pay for everything, though she doesn’t know about your 25K…

>Fourth one is from Terry.
He’s disappointed you haven’t been able to respond to his totally-not-fucked-up list yet. He’s thinking about randomly selecting one soon and being done with this. Scarlet might not be able to handle anything on that list…

>Fifth one is from Trent. The hell?!
Someone named “Yoggie” sent a message to him, wanting revenge or something like that. He says the moron mentioned you in it too, so he’s letting you know. Who the hell is Yoggie…?

>Sixth one is from… Ka-Shing.
He wants to meet the new ‘Rise’, claiming he wants to make sure she’s okay. This can’t possibly be good…

>Seventh one is from Matilda.
She says you sparked her curiosity when you said there’s more to her family, so she went and confronted her grandfather about the whole dojo situation. She wants to talk to you if you are free at some point soon. Uh-oh…!

>>2913941

>The Eight one is from Nina.
She says she feels responsible for what happened to you yesterday, and wants to amend things! She wants to know if you can meet soon. You doubt she’ll get over her problems this quickly. Must be an unrelated thing…

>The Ninth one is from Amelia.
She is asking you if you are going to wait for her father to end his stressful work week first before dealing with him. She wants to be prepared when the time comes.

>The Tenth one is from Nariko. She lives here, why the fuck is she texting you?!
She’s wondering what school she should enroll into. Maybe she could keep Amelia company or go to yours. Anything to avoid going back to her old rich school. Who knows? You don’t!

>The last one is from Osgood.
He mentions something about Yu Yan that Sewel told him. That if she wants to go to school, she needs to enroll at your school – Conti is willing to ignore her lack of school records due to the deal they have. Guess there’s a good thing about him becoming principal after all, huh?!

Well, that’s it! You prepare breakfast for everyone too, as you finally make a decision!

What are you going to do after school? (Choose one.)

>Deal with T.T. Neko! Richard might be an ace detective, but detectives always end up needing backup!
>Finally deal with Terry and Scarlet’s bet! Might be better to go into this with a neutral position though…
>Yoggie…? Maybe Trent meant Howie? Perhaps you should look into that slimy scumbag on the loose!
>Ka-Shing wants to meet Yu Yan? You could arrange something! Ka-Shing is certainly a valuable ally to keep, isn’t he?
> Matilda seems troubled about her family backstory. It’s best if you deal with her first and return the favor!
>Nina wants to see you? Maybe you can make some time today for her and whatever she needs help with.
>That bastard stepfather of yours needs to face punishment for what he did to your family. He won’t escape.
>Deal with your hobos’ education situation. That’s what a good caretaker would do! But which school…?
>Call a team meeting at the clinic! You need to tell the group your dark secret past you promised them!
>Take the day off, spend time with your weird family here or some shit. Keep your hobos occupied.
>Write In.

(Sorry for the delay.)

>>2913944
>Deal with T.T. Neko! Richard might be an ace detective, but detectives always end up needing backup!

>>2913944
>Deal with T.T. Neko! Richard might be an ace detective, but detectives always end up needing backup!
Dirty smelly NEET is gonna get what's coming to her

>>2913941
>Richard
We're in
>Fourth one is from Terry.
Pick the least fucked up one on the list and tell him to only do that one.
>Sixth one is from… Ka-Shing.
We'll ask her if she's cool with it then set up a meeting.
>Seventh one is from Matilda.
Fuck I cant remember what we said to her when we we're almost blacked out
>>2913944
>The Eight one is from Nina.
Tell her we should be free to visit after school provided nothing blows up, attacks us, or sets fire to everything nearby. But we are going to go try an help Richard deal with T.T. Neko
>The Ninth one is from Amelia.
Have her send a preemptive message but don't get to specific.
>She’s wondering what school she should enroll into.
Tell her to come to ours
>The last one is from Osgood.
Tell Yu she's going to school again and let Nariko know about the decision at breakfast. Leave them to go sort that out while we do this immediately
>Deal with T.T. Neko! Richard might be an ace detective, but detectives always end up needing backup!

>>2913944
The summary >>2913978 posted is perfect, so I'm backing that too

>>2913978
This is a pretty good plan. Supporting.

You have no choice but to respond to everyone! Why ignore everyone if you can take your time responding before you go?

-You tell Richard you’re in. T.T. Neko is going down today!

-You selected the least fucked up one from Terry’s list and told him to go with that. Hopefully Scarlet’s dancing skills aren’t terrible…

-You tell Ka-Shing it’s up to ‘Rise’, but you will try to set up a meeting soon.

-You tell Matilda you aren’t sure what you said when you were almost blacked out.

-You respond to Nina that you should be free to visit after school, provided nothing blows up, attack you, or sets fire to everything nearby. You’ll be busy dealing with T.T. Neko alongside Richard first, and you’ll probably be fine.

-You tell your sister to send a preemptive message without going into specifics.

And for the hobos, you will tell them right now! You ask Yu Yan to wake Nariko and Amelia because breakfast is getting cold and they need to get off their lazy asses and eat! While everyone is enjoying breakfast, you make everything clear! Both of them will (or should) enroll at your school!

Nariko seems happy and tells you it’s better if the two of them deal with this today! Yu Yan seems awfully excited about this too. Amelia’s happy for both of them, though that could just be your cooking influencing her.

You took Yu Yan aside and asked her if she’s willing to meet Ka-Shing at all, or if she’s uncomfortable going through with this. Said she’ll think about it, but doesn’t really want to meddle with her past or her past self. More importantly, she doesn’t want to go alone!

As if you’d let her be alone with that maniac. He’s good for money but that’s about it.

You tell her you are going to leave that on hold then and to let you know if she straight up refuses. Seems like Yu Yan needs some time to think more about it.

With lunch ready for later, it’s time to go to school! What a hectic morning!

At school everything went as normal, except at some point Matilda told you about her message.
She said she’s busy at the moment and only wanted to clarify it was something you said in a team meeting – after explaining to everyone about her past. Oh right, you planted the seed of doubt in her head that time… You apologized to her about the misunderstanding. Meeting with you is still expected, just not today.

Another item for your ever-growing to do list! Gee, when are you going to get to this stuff?

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>>2914393

Okay, now school is over! Wahoo! Time to go beat up a NEET for snooping around and causing mischief. You call Richard as you make your way to the station.

“Hey, did you read my message?”
“Yeah, I even answered it. Didn’t you read my response?” You’re still bad at texts.
“Sorry, my text game is pretty bad. I’m not used to people messaging me.” Or caring you exist at all, for that matter!
“Shame. I’ll make sure to call you next time then. Since you didn’t read it, let’s meet up at the clinic. There’s some things I’d rather clarify in person before we head out.”
“Sure.”

Without any fanfare, you arrive at the New Calamity Clinic! He should be at Constance’s room, since it should be his shift or something.

“Johnny!” Constance is happy to see you as always. Oh and there’s the detective himself looking out the window.
“Hi Constance, it’s good to see you.”
He turns to look you over. “About time you’re here. Uh… Why are you wearing your school uniform? That would look awfully visible in public.” Richard is slightly confused. “No need to rush it. I can wait for you to change.”
“I packed an extra shirt, don’t worry. Gimme a sec.” Time to change!

While you get changed right here, Richard gives you a curious look. Oh, he’s looking at the bandages.

“Still pretty banged up huh?”
“Yeah, it’s magic, but it ain’t perfect. How are you holding up on your end?”
“I’m fine. I don’t expect Neko to put up any kind of resistance anyway.” He seems confident with that easygoing smile of his.

“You’re going to deal with the rude cat lady…?” Constance asks with that wide-eyed look kids give when they ask their parents about work. You think that’s what it is, at least.
“Yeah. We can’t let someone like her know about you, or everybody else will.” Richard explains in a calm voice. He’s used to dealing with younger kids, from what you remember of his tragic backstory.
“A-are you going to kill her?” Constance’s shocked naivety is endearing.
“No, probably just take her flame.” You explain to Constance.
“Uhm… Alright! I’ll be waiting!” She sure cheered up quick…

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>>2914397

You give Richard a look. “Do the others know?” Gotta make sure if this is full stealth or not.
“Of course we do!” It’s Osgood, he just arrived! Nice timing! Bradford’s with him too. “You’re strictly there as back up, you hear me?”
“Yeah yeah…” It’s not like you’re in the mood for a fight, or anything. Nope! That look Philonune gave you totally doesn’t mean anything at all!

“Don’t worry Johnny bro. My man Richard here is pretty awesome.” Bradford raises his fist with confidence, and Richard slowly returns the fist-bump. Since when did they work together on anything?

“Where is Henry?” Didn’t they have a team meeting? He should be fine…
“In his room of course. Where else is he gonna be? He got his ass beat, remember? It’s not like he’s unconscious or anything, so don’t worry.” Osgood explains, pointing in the direction of his room. “Pay him a visit at some point, okay? I heard he put in some serious work that last time. He needs the support while he’s here.”

You give him a thumbs up in response. Osgood just glares at you and folds his arms.

“I’m covering Richard’s shift while I’m still here. So good luck and don’t do anything stupid again.” Osgood the hypocrite says to your face. He nods to Richard, who nods back to Osgood. Feels weird to see them interact.
“Good luck! I know you’ll do your best!” Constance cheers the two of you on. Hearing that from her feels weird…

“C’mon guys, I’ll drive! Your undisputed champion is going be behind the wheel, isn’t that comforting?” Bradford’s enthusiastic reminder of that win he absolutely did not fucking deserve to steal, gains him a triple set of glares. “S-sorry…”
“Just please don’t crash my car…” Osgood moans in pain. Oh boy…

“I can explain the details on the way. Let’s not waste any time.” Richard seems pumped behind his professional demeanor. Guess he was waiting for this for a long time! Even though not much time passed since that incident, having something like this just out of his reach must have been eating away at him.

Do you want to make sure of something before going?

>No, you’re ready to go!
>Check on Henry first!
>Call Amelia and let her know!
>Write In.

>>2914400
>>Call Amelia and let her know!
>>Write In.
Get a change of clothes for the cat lady and some cat food?
Clothes so she won't be drug out in her undies, and cat food to placate the cats.

>>2914400
>Call Amelia and let her know!

>>2914400
>Call Amelia and let her know!

>>2914400
Backing >>2914410

>>2914400
This>>2914410

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“I need to make sure Amelia knows.” You tell the guys.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell her.” Osgood wants to be useful as if he hasn’t been useful all the time already.
“Nah, I can’t do this to her again. It won’t take much time, I swear.” Amelia will appreciate it!
“Take your time.” Richard is very respectful, even if he’s feeling anxious about the job.

You dial your sister pretty quickly. Time to let her know.

“Johnny! What’s up?” Your sister is happy to hear from you!
“What’s good?™ I need to let you know I’m going to help Richard with the T.T. Neko problem. Just strictly as back up.”
“Uhm… Just you two?”
“Bradford is coming too. As support.”
“So just you two.” Amelia is not feeling it.

“Ouch, what did the poor guy do to you?”
“Ask him why his arm is broken…” For a moment, she sounds annoyed.
“Ehm, maybe later. I’ll be fine I swear, I won’t do anything reckless. Not this time.”

“O.K…” Amelia is not really into this. “That’s a promise, you hear?! Be careful!”
“I will. And I’m sorry for worrying you. Bye!”
“Bye bye…”

Amelia is worried now! Just great! But at least she’s informed, so that’s good!

“Relax, Johnny bro. I have my phone ready if anything goes badly.” Bradford shows his support. Being Bradford, this doesn’t make you feel better that much – though he does null the Crimzone effect on things he holds, so maybe this might actually be more helpful than you thought…
“I’ll be ready to move the troops if anything happens.” Osgood backs you up.
“Look if this was a big risk, I wouldn’t be doing this. Without Ka-Shing’s back up, she’s nothing.” Richard explains. “I appreciate the gestures anyway, don’t get me wrong.”

“Then… We should bring some cat food to placate the cats.” You voice your idea.
“Aha! That’s great! I always have some cans of tuna with me just in case!” Bradford seems proud of his preparedness. You do remember that, but why does he even…?

“You never answered me why you have those.” Richard is in the same boat!
“Like I said, just in case!”
“In case of what…?”
“Situations like this!”
“Is this a common occurrence to you?!” The look on Richard’s face is that of a man faced by a talking wall blocking his path.

“He’s never going to give you a good answer, just let it go.” Osgood tells Richard. Seems like he struggled with the same runabout of questions long ago.
“To be completely fair, they are useful where we’re going.” You shrug. “Doesn’t make this any less weird.”

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>>2914653

The fatman is lucky this strange situation is working in his favor. A lot like how everything went his favor back in Poker Night…

“So that means we’re ready, correct?” Richard goes back to topic.
“We need to buy her a change of clothes too.” You voice your other idea!
“Excuse me?” Poor Richard being confused over and over again…
“She’s a filthy NEET, we can’t drag her out in her dirty undies. You saw her in that dream world meeting zone.”
“But it’s funnier this way.” This ace detective is evil!

“We could clean her clothes instead of buying her new ones, no?” Bradford proposes an alternative.

“Her clothes are ugly and she needs new ones. Besides, you don’t know how long it’ll take to clean those dirty rags.” Sadly, you happen to have experience with hobos and their clothing.
“Johnny is right. Her dirty rags are full of holes too from what I recall. Not worth cleaning at all.” Richard backs you up?!
“The hell are you talking about?” Osgood is completely bemused. This is happening to everyone at least once this entire discussion, goddamn…

“What kind of clothes could we even buy for her?” You wonder out loud. Maybe you can borrow something from home – you live with three girls in the same house.
“I still oppose the idea. This is unnecessary.” Richard is not into this one bit.
Bradford stares at Richard, aghast. “You want to be seen dragging out a girl like that? Think about our reputation, man!”
“Reputation…?!” Osgood’s confusion won’t end…

“No, wait, I have the solution to this! Follow me!” You tell the group and head for the door!

Because of course you are going to get…

>A random-ass pair of pajamas! You will have to buy them!
>A cute dress like the one Scarlet had! You will have to buy it!
>A chicken suit like the one Ka-Shing had! You will have to buy it!
>Something borrowed from Amelia!
>Something borrowed from Nariko!
>Something borrowed from Yu Yan!
>Ask Nurse Kata about spare clothes! They have those here, right?
>Write In.

(Last Reply of the day.)

>>2914655
>>A random-ass pair of pajamas! You will have to buy them!
Get her ones with cats on them in an attempt to be nice.

>>2914655
>A random-ass pair of pajamas! You will have to buy them!
I wanna do the chicken suit, if only because chicken suit, but it would be weird to stuff her in it.

>>2914655
>A random-ass pair of pajamas! You will have to buy them!

>>2914694
We can't stuff her in a chicken suit, but we could still stuff cocks in her. :^)

>>2914655
>>A cute dress like the one Scarlet had! You will have to buy it!

>>2914655
>A cute dress like the one Scarlet had! You will have to buy it!

>>2914655
>>A cute dress like the one Scarlet had! You will have to buy it!

>>2914655
Fuck it, changing my vote in >>2914837 to
>A cute dress like the one Scarlet had! You will have to buy it!

>>2914908
>>2915377
>>2915407
>>2915470
Anons... I don't like where this is going.

>>2914655
>Something borrowed from Amelia!

>>2915778
Just get fucking pajamas, we have to turn around and leave to get Amalia's stuff.

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And so you ended up buying a cute dress for T.T. Neko! It was expensive, but you know deep down she’s going to appreciate it whether she likes it or not! You and Bradford had to guess the size. Still 50 bucks down the drain. You’re leaving the shop just now, Richard having decided to wait for you at the van.

“Ta-da! Sorry for making you wait.” You show Richard the bag with the present inside as you head in the van.
“I can’t believe we followed you here without saying a word. What did you buy her anyway?” Richard wonders, giving the package a curious look.
“Something cute.” That’s all he needs to know!
“I can attest to that.” Bradford nods heavily. “Now let’s get going!”

On the road, you turn to look at Richard again. He’s gotta be burning up inside about what’s in the bag! He must be resisting really hard to not show anything on his face like that…

“Wanna see it?” You know he’s curious, he can’t hide it for long!
“No, I’m not really interested. A part of me feels like we lost focus somewhere.” Richard thinks out loud. What a liar.
“Did we? I think this is important. We bought a few more tuna cans too.” You show them to Richard. Bradford paid for those, so he’s going to keep them if you end up not needing to use them.
“Indeed! We’re completely prepared to deal with her now! Speaking of that, how are we going to deal with her…?” Bradford lost the plot too. What’s going on with everyone today losing the plot?!

You’re finally on the right street and T.T. Neko’s base is a few blocks away! It’s a shitty-looking apartment complex far worse than yours! At least yours has decent utilities and services; this apartment’s paint is peeling and there’s graffiti all over the outside! It’s surprisingly close to your apartment in the west district too.
To think she was this near all along and you didn’t know it…

“Oh right, didn’t you want to update me on the way? I’d really like to know how she’s been this close the whole time and none of us knew until now.” What gives?
Richard doesn’t look away from the apartment building, not even to face you. “T.T. Neko never keeps any cats within roughly ten blocks of wherever she lives at the time. Didn’t you notice the roads not having any of them on the way here?” Wait a second… He’s right! “And remember those two points with massed groups of cats we talked about before? They’re being dispatched to somewhere else now, thanks to the delivery people that work for her. We had them under surveillance for a little while, and now we know their MO well enough to backtrace their contacts to here.”

>>2916163


You hear Bradford coughing to get your attention, interrupting Richard. “My idea was for you two pass as two of her deliverymen using this little fellow in the back.” Oh right, Bradford Jr. the cat is also in the van with you three. He meows loudly at this, understanding he’s being talked about. He’s not a little fellow though.“Then you two do your thing and get her, but…”
Richard scoffs rudely. “I found the idea too convoluted. We don’t need to do any more than sneak inside. It’s a normal civilian apartment with regular tenants. With so many people going in and out, it shouldn’t raise suspicion.” Richard throws Bradford’s idea out the van’s window! If it were real, you would hear glass shattering on the asphalt.

“So the plan is to kidnap her out of her own place? Isn’t that a crime?” What a letdown! You unfairly expected more from Mr. Detective here.
“See? I understand Johnny bro’s disappointment. Your plan lacks grandeur, Richard. The raw excitement of sneaking behind enemy lines is emphasized more in mine.” Bradford says in a lofty tone.
“It’s unnecessary. Simple as that.” Richard’s response wipes the smile off Bradford’s fat face!
“But with yours we are going to cause a ruckus! We need to use an elegant maneuver to not raise suspicion.”

In the meantime, Richard pulls a folded paper out of his pocket and hands it to you. “This isn’t a crime either. This is lawful apprehension of a wanted criminal. I have a search warrant just for this reason alone.”
You unfold the paper and look at it. Holy shit there’s a lot of legalese on this! The gist of it is that he does have the right to search the premises for the presence of the criminal with the alias ‘T.T. Neko.’, complete with physical description of that smelly NEET.

You hand it back to him and he puts the paper away. Then he starts to look nervous.
“You won’t believe the trouble I had to go through to get this signed off while I’m still suspended. Most of the usual lawyers wouldn’t even speak to me.” Suddenly you get the feeling this warrant isn’t entirely lawful…

Which plan sounds better…?

>Bradford’s! Pretending to be the enemy is like a spy mission, that could be fun! If all else fails you can brute force this.
>Richard’s! He’s going to lead this operation so following is a good idea. Besides, sneaking is the least dangerous way.
>Yours! Just walk into the building in plain sight, activate the Crimzone, grab T.T. Neko, and walk right outside! Easy!
>Write In.

-50 Gor$

>>2916170
>Richard’s! He’s going to lead this operation so following is a good idea. Besides, sneaking is the least dangerous way.

>>2916170
>Richard’s! He’s going to lead this operation so following is a good idea. Besides, sneaking is the least dangerous way.

>>2916170
>Bradford’s! Pretending to be the enemy is like a spy mission, that could be fun! If all else fails you can brute force this.
If we go in hot, we'll delete any useful hacker info she has of her hard drives.
If we go in sneaky, there's a chance we can take her and her info.

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“You’re in charge, Richard. I’ll follow your lead. Sorry Bradford and Bradford Jr.” Time to get this thing going.
“Relax Johnny bro. We’re here to help, and you two are the experts.” Bradford doesn’t seem to mind. Bradford Jr. raises a paw, yawns, then flops back down to sleep.
“Then let’s get to it.” Richard jumps out of the van. That’s your cue!

What a bad looking place! It’s near your neighborhood, so you should be thankful Craig does a good job keeping his own building tidy and nice. This is an older part of town and all, but graffiti isn’t part of the classic Pokyo Lokyo experience.

“How are we planning to sneak inside? The front door?” You ask Richard, the present with you.
Richard gives you a ‘are you kidding me?’ look. “We can go in through the back door and use the emergency ladder. Neko has the regular entrance under surveillance no matter what. Since she moved back just a few days ago, the back door shouldn’t be as prepared as it would be. The emergency ladder isn’t visible from streetside either.”
“What if the back door is? being watched?”
“Then we drop the stealth and move fast enough she won’t notice us until it’s too late.”

Richard leads you to the back door through the alleys, where the apartment’s dumpster is. Smells awful! The alleys just have some random trash, cardboard boxes, and not much else. Coast is clear enough to pull this off.

Richard then shows you the emergency escape ladder. Looks rusty as if no one has ever used it since it was installed. A safety inspector’s worst nightmare!

“You seem familiar with this place.” He’s getting around too easily…
“It’s the same model of apartment I used to live in years ago. Years ago they tore some of these down when they tried to remodel this part of town. With the public uproar and the difficulty of moving senior citizens, they left the plan midway. Now all the buildings are varying degrees of garbage.”
“Yeah, I heard about that.” You remember your dad calling Craig on the phone once and calling him an idiot for not selling his building already. Craig’s building is still not that great, but it does the job and it’s not a ghetto piece like this one.

“So we’re basically going in this way to give her as little time for her to react as possible?”
“Exactly.”
“Seems convoluted.”
“No plan is perfect.” But Bradford’s sounded like it could have been fun! Oh well, you can have fun later!

Old buildings in Pokyo Lokyo have this strange way they did their emergency exit: they use one big ladder by the side that leads up to the roof. You have to somehow manage to move around to them if you aren’t at the top, which involves climbing out of your window and trying not to fall in the process. This was not the case, as you easily reach the 4th floor!

>>2916352

Richard uses his ability to force a surveillance camera to look upwards. Neat ability. You’re in front of what is supposedly T.T. Neko’s apartment. It’s the one closest to the end of the hall, really close to the emergency ladder too.

The detective elbows you lightly, crouching down close to the door. “I’m going to unlock the door with my ability and sneak inside. You stay here to watch the street and the rest of the doors, rush in if I give you the signal. You ready?” He keeps his voice down to avoid having it heard inside.

Ready?

>Knock on the door! It’s better to be polite isn’t it?
>Follow his orders to a tee! He’s the expert in this.
>Follow him inside! It’s risky if he goes completely alone.
>Write In.

>>2916355
>Knock on the door! It’s better to be polite isn’t it?
>"Neko, I've come to bargain."

>>2916355
>Knock on the door! It’s better to be polite isn’t it?
>Follow his orders to a tee! He’s the expert in this.
Start polite, then raid. Throw up the signal before going in. Act like we're the pizza guy, she probably eats a lot of pizza.

>>2916355
Backing >>2916369

>>2916355
>>Knock on the door! It’s better to be polite isn’t it?

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“Wait, follow my lead. I got an idea.” You whisper back as you gently start knocking on the door.
Richard is flabbergasted enough to not move an inch, giving you an incredulous look. Time to go for broke!

“Your pizza’s here! Please open up!” You yell out as politely as you can.

“W-wait?! Why is the camera not working?!” You hear Neko shriek inside, followed by objects clattering and being moved around, also followed by her grumbling profusely. Then you hear her getting closer. Now she finally addresses you, her voice immediately right behind the door. “I told you pricks to leave it at reception! Bad service!”

You can’t stop grinning in spite of yourself. It’s working! “Lady, your pizza is gonna get cold if you don’t open up soon. Besides, how else am I going to get my tip…?”
You try to inject as much of a pathetic whine as you can into your voice, to the point where it annoys you how much you sound like the loser you used to be. Seeing Richard next to you shaking from holding in his laugh is even worse, but you endure it.

“Tip?! You think I frickin’ tip?! Does this place look like a darn palace to you?!” It’s like talking to a 10 year old in the middle of a tantrum. It would be adorable if T.T. Neko wasn’t so disgusting. “Why are you always sending the new guys here?! What kinda sick joke is this? Amusing Pizza has the worst service, and I’ve said that four times now!”
“Look lady, I’m just doing my job here! Cut a guy some slack!”
“Frickin’ fog! Wait no, I paid online! I already tipped you, you freaking scammer! Is that even my meat lovers’ supreme?! If you brought the wrong order I’m gonna call your manager again! What’s your name?! I want your naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame!”

Neko is not one bit happy about this! She’s pounding on her own door! Next to you, Richard’s face goes red from trying not to laugh out loud.

Uh-oh, she’s almost onto you now… You need to respond accordingly!

>“Online payment doesn’t add the tip! Please read the instructions next time!” Could be true…
>“Paying with a card doesn’t include tip! Tips are cash only! Sorry about that!” Could be true…
>“Yeah I got a meat lovers’ supreme with double cheese and extra anchovy!” Does she like fish same as the cats…?
>“No wonder the boys call this place the hell-hole. It’s because of you!” Riling her up might do the trick!
>Write In.

>>2916525
>>“No wonder the boys call this place the hell-hole. It’s because of you!” Riling her up might do the trick!
Say it under your breath, but loud enough for her to hear it.

>>2916525
backing >>2916535

>>2916525
>“Yeah I got a meat lovers’ supreme with double cheese and extra anchovy!” Does she like fish same as the cats…?

>>2916525
This>>2916535
>"Our boss doesn't count tips by card, it needs to be cash lady"
First though so we can drop the bomb.

>>2916525
>>“No wonder the boys call this place the hell-hole. It’s because of you!” Riling her up might do the trick!

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“Our boss doesn’t count tips by card. It needs to be cash, lady.”
“B-But you have a whole thing set up online for this! You lying prick! I’m going to call their number right now!”
“Geeez… No wonder the boys call this place the hell-hole. It’s because of you…” She mutter between your teeth loud enough for her to hear.

“P-pri-prick! You’re a prick! Y-your whole stupid es-establishment is full of p-pricks! You lost a v-valuable customer! I e-even wrote good o-online reviews for you!” Is she sobbing…? “L-leave the pizza on the floor a-and be thankful I’m not going to call your manager! I don’t care about your place anymore! Unprofessional prick! Your service is awful! AWFUL! ZERO STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARS!”

You take a brief moment to make sure you can still hear with your ears. “Lady, I want my money.”

“You already have my money! What else do you want from me, huh? My life?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She lets out an ear-splitting shriek. You’d worry about the neighbors hearing that and coming outside to check, but knowing her they’re probably used to it.
Good god almighty, she has some serious issues.
“Okay fine, just shut up! I’ll leave the pizza here, lady. I have the address written down and I will come back later if what you said isn’t true, okay?”

“B-b-b-but I told you I paid online!”
“That’s not how it works, lady. I’m leaving now. With my low wages, this shit isn’t worth the hassle…” You walk away giving Richard a thumb up so he can be prepared to ambush her when she opens the door. The detective barely holds it together long enough to wave at you that he understood.

You stop at the top of the stairs and wait for the inevitable. Richard puts himself next to the door, back to the wall, waiting for his chance. After a minute of waiting, the door opens and you can see T. T. Neko looking down.

“THE PRICK TOOK THE PIZ—” Before she could finish yelling, Richard slips into the doorway past her and grabs her from behind – covering her mouth with a rag in the process! She’s flailing like a maniac while he starts pulling her. Unsurprisingly, she’s wearing almost the exact same clothes she wore in the dream world. You can tell from his grimacing that Richard isn’t enjoying this.

WHAT NOW?!

>“Drag her to the bathroom! We’re going to bathe her!”
>“Drag her inside quick! We need to restrain her!”
>“Knock her out or something! It’s the safest way!”
>Leave it to Richard, he knows what he’s doing! Right?
>Write In!

>>2916763
>“Drag her to the bathroom! We’re going to bathe her!”

>>2916763
>>“Knock her out or something! It’s the safest way!”

>>2916763
.......oh, I feel bad now.
>Leave it to Richard, he knows what he’s doing! Right?
We shall take her home, make her an honorary hobo, and then bath the ever loving shit out of her.
>>2916770
No rape shit in her own house
>>2916778
And risk hitting Richard? Think.

>>2916763
>“Drag her inside quick! We need to restrain her!”

>>2916763
>Leave it to Richard, he knows what he’s doing! Right?

>>2916763
>“Drag her inside quick! We need to restrain her!”
>"Quickly! Find some Febreeze or deodorant and spray her down!"

>>2916763
>>“Drag her inside quick! We need to restrain her!”
Changin mine to this.

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“Drag her inside quick! We need to restrain her!” You call out to Richard. He nods quickly and drags her inside the apartment; you trail behind and close the door on your way there.

“What the fuck…?” Richard whispers involuntarily as you join them, stopping in place still holding a Neko struggling for dear life.

One part of you was expecting this, one part of you knew this was a possibility – not even visiting Ajna yesterday could have prepared you for a sight like this.

Empty pizza boxes with flies doing loops over them, magazines falling apart, dirty clothes and underwear, badly-made anime figurines, empty plastic cups and partially-empty glass bottles, discarded wrappers, posters stuck to the walls and nearby objects, bits of paper everywhere. A couch that would be rotting if couches could rot in the first place. A mattress barely visible under the pile of refuse and junk strewn all over it. Air not only vile it’s positively stifling. Windows all closed and probably never opened before. Questionable stains here and there. And there’s more to this apartment???

What the actual fuck.

“I think I’m going to puke…” Richard murmurs in a very faint voice. You feel like agreeing, but that would mean opening your mouth.
“MhmHmmhm!” Neko struggles.
“Here, uh… have some tape…” A small roll of scotch tape floats out of one of his pockets and levitates in front of you. Richard is barely keeping it together. His eyes and nose are twitching.
“Yeah…” You close your mouth so fast you almost bite your tongue.

After tying up T.T. Neko with the tape, you both drag her further into the living room where there’s a neat dual-screen computer setup – still surrounded by some nasty shit wherever your eyes look. This place’s layout is very similar to yours, except with one less room. The places where your room and the girls’ one should be are used as storage rooms… which might in fact be portals to true hell itself.

Speaking of Neko here, her flame is on her left ankle. Knowing this, you worked with Richard to tie her up movie-style, with her arms on her back and both feet tied as well. She won’t be able to reach her flame like this. Richard insisted on putting a piece of tape on her mouth. You didn’t want to, but he did anyway when you weren’t looking. The whole time you’ve left her open, she’s been sobbing her eyes out all over her discolored carpet.

With some effort you managed to get a window open in the hopes that it’ll help. You also found some deodorant lying around here and sprayed it everywhere you can. In your heart, you know all your efforts here are ultimately futile. Only a proper shower back home will save your troubled body now.

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>>2917048

“This is enough abuse for now unless you refuse to cooperate.” Richard gingerly removes the tape from Neko’s mouth.

She resumes bawling immediately. “Don’t kill me… Please… Don’t kill me…”
“Calm down, we won’t kill you.”
“I’m sorry your brother exploded… Just don’t kill me…” She continues begging in a breathless voice, not hearing a single word Richard said. Her face is in a pure anguish you don’t think you’ve ever felt in your life before. Maybe you have…

Richard’s muscles visibly tense up and his jaw sets. “You’re making it quite difficult…” He says through his teeth. That struck a nerve!

Neko gulps down a few breaths of her toxic air. “If you kill me, Ka-Shing is going to be at your guys’ throats! You know?! He’s like… powerful and influential and stuff! You don’t want that! Nope! And if you pricks don’t leave, I’m going to make your life hell too!” Slowly T.T. Neko is coming back to her wits. Her crying doesn’t stop, but her eyes are a glare of defiant loathing.
“We know your alliance together is done…” Richard states, making Neko freeze up. “And you’re in no position to spout meaningless threats at us.”

You don’t want to hear any more people crying like this anymore. One part of you wants to be nice with this girl, but Richard is the expert here. He knows how to deal with actual criminals.

What can you do in this situation? (Choose two.)

>Search Neko’s computer for information! It shouldn’t be too hard…
>Search the place! Maybe you can find something important you missed before. Like an infected cut.
>Drag her to the bathroom and beg her to take a shower. She’s the nastiest thing in here… isn’t she?
>Be the good cop to his bad cop! Let the interrogation begin! As much as you don’t like this, you need the info.
>Tell Richard to go easy on her! Maybe you’re a bleeding heart for caring about an enemy like this, but still!
>Write In.

>>2917051
>>Write In.
I'm going to call my friends, (Nariko and co) and while they take their time to get here I'm gonna clean the bathroom, and then they're gonna scrub you head to toe.
You stay here, and stay calm.
I'll go and make sure the bathroom is clean enough.

>>2917051
>>2917063
AGREED. Tell them to bring soap, shampoo, a mop, trash bags, rubber gloves and some deodorant, STAT.

>>2917071
Yes
All the YES

>>2917051
Backing >>2917063

>>2917063
Agreed

>>2917051
>Tell Richard to go easy on her! Maybe you’re a bleeding heart for caring about an enemy like this, but still!
>Be the good cop to his bad cop! Let the interrogation begin! As much as you don’t like this, you need the info.

>>2917063
>>2917071
I don't really like the idea of leaving her alone with our two hobos. We're also not everyone's personal cleaning service.

>>2917071
Gonna continue with more required stuff.

Old clothes they don't mind getting dirty, air fresheners, bleach, loofah sponges, a broom and dustpan combo, grout cleaner, floor soap, eucalyptus scented paste so we can breathe...

Anything else, guys?

>>2917099
She stinks, and it won't go away if we take her elsewhere, so wash her first then remove her.
Then if needed, wash her again.

>>2917103
Cause it smells bad in here, like old socks in a dead dog left on the hot road for a few days bad.

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“I’m going to call my friends and while they take their sweet time to get here, I’m gonna clean your bathroom as much as I can. Then they are gonna scrub your head to toe. So you stay here, and you stay calm.”
“W-what?” Neko is taken off-guard by that response. At least she’s not screaming and wailing now.

“Hold on a second.” Richard drags you away from the prone girl and leans in close. “What are you talking about?”
Gotta keep your voice to a whisper to avoid spoiling the surprise. “She needs to wear the dress, remember?” You show him the bag.
“Oh right, I forgot.” Richard closes his eyes then nods. “Wait, we didn’t make it here only to force her to shower, you know.”
“Let’s be honest, she really needs it.”

He looks at Neko. Neko looks back, scared.
“I do agree interrogating her like this won’t be pleasant. I’ll go inspect her computer in the meantime.”

And so, you two idiots completely missed the plot (again!) and went your way to do your things.
You briefly called Nariko, Amelia and Yu Yan to come here and help you clean this girl. You also asked them for soap, shampoo, a mop, trash bags, rubber gloves, deodorant, old clothes they don’t mind getting dirty, air fresheners, bleach, loofah sponges, a broom and dustpan combo, grout cleaner, floor soap, eucalyptus-scented paste…

They shouldn’t take long due to distance from there to here, though they need to buy some of this stuff from a shop on the way…

You are in the bathroom cleaning it up, using your shirt to cover your face from the smell. This is beyond grueling. Meanwhile Richard starts digging into Neko’s computer. You can hear them talking from the living room…

“W-what are you doing?”
“Cracking your password, seeing what’s inside, and making a copy of your hard drive. What else?” Richard explains like this is the simplest thing in the world.
Neko starts laughing, relieved. “You think it’s going to be that easy? You think I’d leave my computer unpro—”
“I’m in. Let’s see what we have here…”

“W-what? No…” T.T. Neko finally understands the severity of what is going to happen.
“Huh, what’s this…? Seems like some type of game. I’m not familiar with whatever this is supposed to be.”
“WAIT! STOP! CLOSE THAT!”

“…Oh dear! Aren’t you the most beautiful girl in the world? Yes, I mean you! I know we have been together for a little while, but I feel I have known you forever…” That’s a guy’s voice. Oh god, that sounds like a terrible VN – the voice acting is abysmal and the music is disgustingly sweet. Seems like she reached the end of a route earlier.

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>>2917383

“The hell is this…?” You hear Richard’s confused voice.
“J-Just turn it off… Those beautiful words aren’t meant for you.” T.T. Neko whines.
“…Wait, you like this stuff? Like, seriously like this stuff? I can see it in your eyes, you like this romantic trash! Pffft… HAHAHAHAHA!” Richard can’t contain his laughter any longer and starts howling in glee. It’s the same as when he laughed at your tragic backstory, except much much louder.

Somehow Neko found a way to reach the bathroom where you’re cleaning, crawling slowly up to you. Richard’s roaring laughter continues in the background.

Neko gets closer to the bottle of bleach you are using to clean the shower. Her eyes don’t leave it.

“I hate my life… I need to end this… I need to drink it…” Her flame is acting up; not even close to Yukika levels and far from Nina’s. You wisely move the bottle away. “Just let me die… Mercy kill me… Clean my sins from the inside out…”
“Can’t do that, sorry. I can help you make things better. I—”

Richard interrupts you. He seems to be really excited by something. “You need to see this! Her computer is full of inspirational quotes, self-help audio books, and some of the worst poetry I have ever read.” Wait he wasn’t just laughing at the VN thing, he was laughing at everything he was investigating! “C’mon, get over here and give it a little peek!”
“I-I’m fine…” You shush him away cordially.
“You don’t understand! If my deduction is right, she even paid people real money to tell her nice things on video – are these actors of some kind? Celebrities? Or just random people on the internet?” Richard asks Neko, who is all red and looking down onto the bathroom floor. He is enjoying this way too much for it to be normal in any way. This is actual sadism.
“This is a gold mine! I wonder if I’ll find something even more pathetic…”

Neko broke down crying a while ago by the way. You feel so bad for her you want to headpat her and tell it’s all gonna be okay… But damn, the girl is nasty!

No, you shouldn’t be like this. It’s not right.

You put your hand on her head and start stroking her hair. She stops crying and starts breathing heavily.

“Richard, stop that.” You call out to the sadistic detective. “It’s all right… I’m sorry for all of this…” You say to Neko in the calm voice you always used on Amelia whenever she felt close to this bad.

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>>2917388

“I don’t want your pity!” Neko suddenly flies up out of your hands! She got rid of her tape somehow! No… She used her partner to get rid of it without you noticing!

She’s charging headlong towards Richard! At least she doesn’t hate you that much… “Die you prick!”

“Your bullying stops now, you asshole!” Her partner speaks! It’s pointing at you with a pointy block-finger. “Then you’re next. You will regret what you did to me, you coward!” Wait, what?!
“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!” Neko shrieks like a banshee, making you fear for your hearing.

But sadly Richard’s good mood continues, as he uses his ability to effortlessly move the soap you were about to use, and put it in Neko’s way. The NEET slips on the soap and collapses on the tiles, not even close to Richard. Her partner disappears into the air and her flame returns to her left ankle.

She’s not unconscious or anything. She only lost her will to fight after being humiliated to this point. Her flame is smaller than ever.

Then the ace detective takes his tape out and puts it back on Neko… He even added a little more extra measure! The girl didn’t even struggle this time. Damn…

“I hope now you understand there is no way out for you.” Richard scolds her in an almost disappointed tone. “I did go a little… overboard with my comments, I’ll give you that… I should have kept my composure. Apologies.”
Oh you can’t let that shit slide. ”A little?” What is wrong with him?!
“Don’t forget what kind of person she really is.” Richard stares cold daggers at you, before turning back to T.T. Neko. “Your point still stands Johnny. I will keep quiet from now on. The investigation is more important than dealing with this brat.” His voice is acid.

T.T. Neko opens her mouth and grins unsettlingly wide with her teeth. Reminds you eerily of that one cat

“The ones you’re searching for… The ones responsible for that explosion… the ones responsible for the attack were those who your flame considers his allies.”

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>>2917391

Richard’s eyes go wide as Neko continues to speak freely.

“The Pitfall Arcade was one of the base of operations of a group of white flame users. A kid named Blake was responsible for erasing all the loose threads that would lead them to their base, since he was to blame for the leaks in the first place. A dumb kid doing stupid things, getting into fights and messing around. The kid died before he could get rid of the final one tied to “The Hosts of Rebellion,” and his other members decided to detonate their own base before those other pricks got to their intel first. Their timing being juuuuuust right enough to take out the Hosts members was perfect planning. Shifting the blame onto the guys they murdered was icing on the cake!”

What the fuck?

“During the first explosion, the Arcade didn’t crumble completely. A lot of people survived after the fact… A little nerdy kid was between them in the crowd, begging for his cool big brother to come save him… But the flames were getting stronger, and those on 4th floor weren’t going to make it. And then he went poof.”

“Don’t say a word.” Richard’s hands are shaking.
“W-wait, a cat saw all that? That doesn’t make any sense!” You try to be reasonable. He needs to calm down and this is the only thing that comes to mind.

“I was there, you prick!” She grins again, licking her lips. “And I was able to escape… I let your brother die, Richard Wright. I watched him die right in front of me. And now? I don’t regret it one bit!” Neko’s manic laughter echoes off the grimy bathroom tiles, a maddening laugh you can’t ignore or run from.

Richard’s flame is going out of control now. Whatever happens, it might just be do or die…

Sadly this is all we have for this thread! Thanks for playing!

(Sorry for taking my time with these btw.)

>>2917383
You honestly cant say we missed the plot when we did something totally in character, we take care of weirdly attractive hobo's and make them look like sane people.
>>2917391
>“The ones you’re searching for… The ones responsible for that explosion… the ones responsible for the attack were those who your flame considers his allies.”
No shit, kinda expected though.
>>2917395
Awwwww, we done already? I had a good come back to blow this out.

Us missing the plot at that moment might have actually been a good thing. Because Richard seems like he's about to go off the deep end with Neko following not long after. Thankfully Nariko and Amelia are on their way as a result of our choice!

>>2917430
>>2917518

The missing the plot line was a joke, though. Also I think next thread we're going to start from this point too, so keep your come back in mind for next time.

>>2918886
Shit, I have to come up with it again. How long do I have.

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>>2919200
'till Saturday probably.

>>2919420
I will break the NEET's brain and calm down Richard. I swear it.

Have we nutted on anyone's forehead yet