A.N. Please comment more, I love them and it fuels my ego.
Hot showers were a wonderful invention — easily in Lee's top five human achievements of all time. Even if it didn't actually do much to her already perfectly clean body, the warm water helped her muscles relax and, more importantly, gave her space to think.
She leaned against the tiled wall, letting the spray hit her face. "Hey, System. What is SP anyway? I got some from that… uh… achievement."
[System: SP stands for Special Points! You can use them to purchase items in the Shop or roll on the Gacha Wheel! (๑>◡<๑)]
Lee narrowed her eyes. "There's a shop?"
[System: Opening Shop panel! Ta-dah~ ✧]
A translucent screen popped up in front of her, nearly fogging up from the steam. The interface was sleek and color-coded, but the contents made Lee stare in disbelief.
The first section was Toiletries — soap, shampoo, conditioner — all of which she didn't even need anymore thanks to Yaoshi's blessing of permanent cleanliness that she appeared to now possess for some reason.
Next was School Supplies: notebooks, pens, a fully stocked pencil case, even a pack of emergency mechanical pencils.
Lee scrolled further, eyebrows rising higher with each item.
The Gag Items tab had things like:
• Dramatic Confession Roses™ (summons a shower of rose petals on demand)
• Convenient Banana Peel (for slapstick comedy moments)
• Chibi Mask Pack (temporarily gives the user an adorable chibi face for "maximum moe impact")
Then there was the Romance Props section, which looked like it had been designed by a lunatic:
• Perfect Accidental Hand Brush Kit (includes instructions for dropping your pen at just the right time)
• Umbrella of Destiny (guarantees it will rain the next time you walk home with your love interest)
• Scripted Trip-and-Fall (forces one person to fall and land in a compromising position — can only be used once per day)
• Mysterious Breeze Generator (for dramatically blowing hair during emotional moments)
At the very top, under a section labeled Hot Items, were premium purchases:
• 24-Hour Fragrance Soap (smell good forever, completely redundant)
• Magic Hair Dye (change hair color instantly, lasts one week)
• Romance Aura Perfume (makes you sparkle faintly when standing near your crush)
Lee stared at the panel, utterly unimpressed. "These are all completely useless. Why would I ever—" She stopped herself, scrolling back up to the Umbrella of Destiny. "…Okay, that one is at least a little clever, but still completely useless in my situation."
Lee's gaze flicked to the final tab. "Oh good. There's an R-18 section," she muttered flatly. "Of course there is."
She did not click it.
Instead, her attention slid down to the button at the bottom of the screen. "Gacha, huh."
[System: Correct! The Gacha contains every item in the Shop — plus rare, limited-edition extras that can only be acquired from the Gacha Wheel! ☆]
Lee narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh. And what, exactly, am I supposed to do with any of this?"
[System: You can use these tools to create the perfect romantic opportunities! (≧▽≦)]
"Yeah. Sure. Perfect." She swiped the panel closed and leaned back against the shower wall. "What else can you even do? Besides shoving flowers and banana peels in my face?"
[System: Functions include the Romance-o-Meter, the Romance Map, the Romance Shop, the Romance Gacha, and the Romance Inventory! ✿]
"Romance Inventory?"
[System: Correct! You can only store romance-related items purchased from the Romance Shop.]
Lee rolled her eyes. "Of course. Wouldn't want me to store anything practical."
She crossed her arms. "What about achievements? Can I see them?"
[System: Achievements cannot be viewed in advance. This prevents users from 'farming' them for SP.]
"So what, I just have to stumble into them?"
[System: Affirmative! All achievements are tied to romantic events!]
Lee gave the invisible panel a flat look. "Wow. Really didn't see that one coming."
She let the water run a little longer, thinking, before muttering, "Not like I need SP anyway. Every single item in that shop is useless to me."
[System: (・・;) You're… not supposed to say that out loud.]
"Yeah? Well, you're not supposed to be annoying, and yet—here we are."
There was a pause before Lee spoke again, her tone more curious this time. "Hey. Earlier, you said you 'worked' for a company." Lee thought for a moment before remembering "Sentari Story Systems right? How does that work?"
[System: …I don't like talking about work. (╯︵╰,)]
Lee frowned. "Aren't you literally working right now?"
[System: When you love what you do, it isn't really work! ☆]
"Do you love your job?"
The panel blinked once, then:
[System: …]
Lee smirked humorlessly. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
Another thinking session was needed. She let the water run over her face, steam curling up around her. Okay. Shop's a bust, she decided, brushing condensation off the fogged-up glass. But there are other things I need to figure out. First: school. Or rather, how not to go tomorrow.
I dragged a hand down my face and blew out a breath. I needed a convincing excuse, something real, something Kiana wouldn't question. I have to make sure Kiana still goes, after all.
I needed to get a phone plan, now that I had Kiana's permission to use her address as the billing address — not that I really cared much for permission anyways now that the city was about to be destroyed. It might seem irrelevant in the face of that, and how I would only be using it for a few days, but during the disaster I would presumably need to link up with Kiana and the others. That is if service wasn't down during the disaster, the awakening of the Herscher of Thunder would cause EMP's and the eruption would cause infrastructure damage. Probably only special Schicksal infrastructure specifically hardened against Honkai energy would remain unaffected.
Still, I needed to know what was going on and it was a convenient excuse, I could also say that I needed clothes, which was also technically true, but it's not like I needed them right now, especially since they would all be abandoned immediately anyway, but I could get a few sets, something easy to move around and fight in.
Fighting, never done it before, should probably practice. Maybe I could go to a fighting gym or something. Find somewhere less public to try and practice my new abilities. I needed to ensure my own safety, in my own opinion, while dying wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for this world, it would be a bad thing for me. It would also be bad for my reputation, I was the protagonist in my own story, a Sentari Story Systems story. I couldn't go out immediately, that would just be disappointing to the audience.
I could instinctively feel the path energy that had coalesced within me. Bringing it out to heal, well that seemed to my instincts almost natural, just open the floodgates. But using it for combat, that seemed a bit tricker, especially for someone with no teacher. Not exactly the most natural thing to the path of Abundance, whose nature was inherently somewhat pacifistic. Even if almost none of its emanators abided by that principle. But I am not about to let my story be ended but random Honkai beast #3, or become offscreened.
I'll look up fighting gyms, I have a decent amount of money, I could probably rent one out for the day to practice with nobody around. So the order of operations for tomorrow was fixed, get a cell plan, acquire clothing, and rent out a gym. I also needed some other supplies, like a backpack, flashlight, and some stable food. Anything that I might need to survive in a ruined city in what was essentially a zombie apocalypse.
I also needed some kind of weapon, Kiana had her guns, which seemed like a good idea. However I was legally 16 and a student, somehow I doubted it would be that easy to acquire one, especially in Japan, in a few days. I could always borrow Kiana's shotgun that was bound to end up with Mei, if Mei was attacked when nobody else was around she could always transform into the Herrscher of Thunder, while it was not exactly a pleasant experience for anyone involved, she would undoubtedly survive. I had been to a shooting range before, and I knew how to use a firearm, Mei almost certainly did not.
I could always get a melee weapon. Sure in Japan there were a ton of bullshit bladed weapon laws, but she could always get something like a metal baseball bat, and then reinforce it with the power of Abundance, or maybe wood, given the path. A Honkai tradition at this point.
Knock-knock.
"You still alive in there?" Kiana called loudly through the door. "It's been forever."
Lee jumped slightly, then quickly shut off the water. "Yeah, finishing up!" she yelled back, shaking her head and smirking faintly at herself.Lee dried off quickly, pulling on the clothes Kiana had given her. The fit was perfect — annoyingly so.
[System: Achievement Unlocked! "Dressed for Success" — Wear the clothes of a potential romantic partner! +30 SP]
Lee paused, stared at the invisible notification for a long moment, then sighed and dismissed it. Okay, System. I'm going to ignore you for the rest of the night before you drive me insane.
She opened the door and stepped out into the living room. Kiana was sprawled across the couch, eyes glued to the TV, controller in hand.
"What're you playing?" Lee asked, towel still draped over her shoulders.
"Homu: Reach!" Kiana replied without looking away from the screen.
Lee blinked. …What the hell does that imply about the state of gaming here? The mental image of a squad of Homus storming insurgent and covenant strongholds nearly broke her brain.
"You wanna play?" Kiana finally looked over, grinning.
Lee shrugged. "Sure." She grabbed a second controller, plopped onto the couch, and joined in.
They played for a while, comfortably silent except for Kiana's occasional victory whoop or frustrated groan when she died. Eventually, between levels, Lee set down her controller.
"Hey. Just so you know, I won't be going to school tomorrow," she said casually. "I have a ton of errands to run. I'm… not exactly prepared for school life right now. No supplies, no bag, nothing."
[System: School Supplies are available for purchase in the Shop! (◕‿◕✿)]
Lee mentally smacked the panel closed. Ignored.
"That's fine," Kiana said, shrugging. "But you're on your own. I have to go, I promised I'd see my friend."
Lee's heart skipped. Oh, here we go. "Who's the friend?"
Kiana's face lit up. "Mei! She's super cool — like, totally the best at everything. Totally an ice queen, totally beautiful."
Lee had to fight to keep her face neutral. "Uh-huh. Do you… have a crush on her or something?"
Kiana puffed up her cheeks, frowning slightly. "Mei is totally warming up to me, okay? We even hang out after school sometimes."
"Isn't that… just a thing normal friends do?"
"No!" Kiana scowled. "This is different!"
Then she brightened, her smile a little silly. "Mei is the best in the whole wide world!"
Lee opened her mouth to respond when Kiana suddenly added, almost shyly, "You're second best, though."
Lee blinked. "We've literally known each other for, like, a day."
"Yeah, but I can tell what kind of person you are," Kiana said, serious now.
Lee tilted her head, curious despite herself. "Oh yeah? What kind of person am I?"
Kiana's expression softened. "You're mysterious — kind of like me. And I bet you've got your own tragic story, too. But you're a good person. I can tell. You don't want to burden anyone, even if you really need help."
Lee stared for a moment, thrown off by the sudden sincerity. I was literally just having a really bad day, she thought wryly. And also, I'm definitely freeloading off you right now, I can pay my own way.
After playing Homu: Reach (blegh) for another thirty minutes, Kiana finally powered down the console and stretched. "Alright, I'm beat. You ready to go to sleep?"
"Yeah," Lee admitted, spinning on the couch and lying flat across it. "You have a blanket?"
"Nope," Kiana said cheerfully. "But that's fine, we can share my bed."
Lee blinked, sat up, and felt her face go warm. "I can just sleep here on the couch."
"Why?" Kiana tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. "It's fine, we're both girls."
Lee said nothing out loud, but in her mind: You clearly have impure motives! Something strange is definitely going to end up happening!
Kiana was already standing and tugging Lee toward the bedroom. "C'mon, it's fine. It's just sleeping!"
Lee eventually caved, grumbling under her breath, and the two of them crawled into bed. The mattress was warm, and Kiana flopped down like she owned the entire thing.
[System: Achievement Unlocked! "Speedrunner" — Sleep in the same bed as a potential romantic partner after the first day! +500 SP]
Lee's face went red again, the tips of her ears burning. Oh, shut up, she told the system, yanking the blanket over her head. My heart is pure!
Despite everything — the awkwardness, the warmth, and Kiana's slow breathing beside her — sleep came surprisingly easily.