GARAGE'S PROFILE

HIDDEN EVENT fumino_ending:
    ACTORS = fumino, hibiko

# call default_ending_preamble (yuki)
# PLACE "home A" @rain
PLACE ending_home OF hina @rain
# BTW: flavor @rain doesn't exist, alas.
USE OUTFIT ending FOR hina, fumino, hibiko
LEARN NAME fumino
LEARN NAME hibiko
"""
Twenty-five ...

Twenty-{b}five{/b}.

Twen{i}teeee{/i}-{size=-2}five{/size}.

Last night I celebrated my 25th birthday ... went out with some friends, had a few drinks, much chatting and laughter.

Too much Karaoke.

Way too many drinks.

...

Hope I didn't do anything stupid ... or at least not too stupid - not {b}stupid{/b} stupid ...

... nah ... I can remember the whole night{w} ...{w} I think ...

There's some soft noises coming from the bathroom ...{w} oh{w} {i}right{/i}!
"""
USE TEMPORARY OUTFIT hibiko-ending FOR hibiko
show hibiko like
hibiko "'Mornin', sugar - finally awake?"
p "G-ood morning, [first]--"
"""
...

For half a second her presence confused me - and why is she calling me "sugar"?

Then my memory returned ...
"""
hibiko @like "Feeling better?"
p @blush "Y-yeah. Thank you for staying --"
hibiko "That's what friends are for. There's no way I'd leave you to your own - not when you're like that."
p "Meiyo ... he's sure worrying about you ..."
hibiko @like "He's fine. I texted him last night."
"Of course she did."
"..."
p "It's time you head home now."
hibiko "...{w} Are you sure you're OK?"
p "Yes. I'm fine."
"She looks at me skeptically. I really should know better than trying to fool her."
p "I'll make do. I will survive."
"""
This time she's buying it. She nods at me.

And maybe I {i}will{/i} "make do". Maybe it's finally time to ... move on?

...

Maybe.
"""
hibiko "In that case. {w}Ready whenever you are."
NOWHERE WITH ImageDissolve ("elliptic.jpg", 1.0)
pause
# PLACE "home A" WITH ImageDissolve ("elliptic.jpg", 1.0, reverse=True)
PLACE ending_home OF hina WITH ImageDissolve ("elliptic.jpg", 1.0, reverse=True)
#  Maybe Notebook screen somewhere?
"""
By the time I got back from taking her to the station, even the rain had stopped.

I really felt like ready to "turn over a new page".

...

Somehow.

...

First things first, tho.

Cheked my e-mail.{w} ... A lot of the usual "Happy Birthday"-wishes, of course. I took the time to answer those who deserved an answer and deleted the unavoidable junk.

A very posh, very polite mail from a reknown recruitment service caught my attention:

Hmmm. Forgiveness blah blah - yeah why not since you're asking that nicely ...

"Brought to our attention that you" ... and so on ...

Ah! That's what they're about! One of their clients is needing a "security coach for their trainee counseling" as they call it ...

Hm.{w} Working with some entitled business suits.

Not exactly my favorite bunch of people.

But I'm between jobs currently - and this sounds like they'd pay nicely for an easy enough task.

Baggers can't be choosers, right?

Before I could second guess myself I quickly formulated a polite response and clicked on "send".
"""
NOWHERE
pause
PLACE "Coffee Shop"
show yua
# Could just as well use TELL NAME, huh?
yua "Ms. [player_last], I presume? I'm [last] [first]."
LEARN NAME yua
"[last]? Oh, it's the boss of that counseling company I was scouted for."
p "Yes, Mrs. [last]. I am [player_last] [player]. I feel honored that you are willing to meet me in person."
yua "Just [first], please. We're a very small team. And - as you shall see - not overly devoted to upholding traditional values."
"Fine by me."
p "Then please, do call me [player]."
"She's sizing me up and down, then she points to a chair."
yua "{size=-4}Perfect.{/size}"
yua "Please have a seat, [player]."
hide yua
extend "And please, forgive me for eyeing you like that. I do have my reasons."
"Not that I mind being ogled by a beauty like her - but I don't think that's what she was about."
"So I just nodded."
yua "Well.{w} About that position we're offering you ..."
""Position?""
p "I was under the impression that this was a one-time contract?"
p "I'm strictly freelance."
yua "That'll be all up to you, [player]. If you're as good as your references indicate ... we might be interested --"
yua "But I'm getting ahead of myself."
yua "Let's speak about our current offer, shall we?"
p "Of course."
yua "..."
yua "The large businesses are still mostly run by men - in our country even moreso than in other parts of the world."
yua "My{w} "mission", if you don't mind the hybris,{w} is to help change this."
p "... and how?"
yua "When you're dealing with business partners, and - of course - rivals, perfect manners and nice looks only take you that far."
yua "Sadly, the same can be said about qualifications."
yua "Sooner or later you have to{w} draw a line -{w} to put your foot down."
yua "You have to make your rivals step down and get your partners to respect you."
"As if to demonstrate her point her whole body language had changed. Gone is the friendly young woman you'd love to sit down and have chat with."
"There's an intensity - a power - around her ..."
"Lucky for me, my friend [hibiko.first] has taught me a trick or two."
"I visibly relax into my chair ... "You're not scaring me, young lady.""
"Noticing my reaction she nods at me, grinning approvingly."
yua "At one point in any career, confidence will be more important than competence."
p "And that's where we come in."
""We.""
"Her face lights up as she catches my slip."
"Sheepishly I shrug my shoulders."
yua "Exactly. That's what {i}we're{/i} trying to teach to promising business women. Confidence. Taking a stand. Getting things done the way you know they should be done."
p "... by physically forcing unruly co-workers into submission?"
"She gives an almost childlike giggle. Not that she's fooling me - she's just shown me her other side minutes ago."
yua "No. Of course not."
yua "But."
yua "If our clients want to stand up to the big boys ..."
yua "Very few will resort to actual violence{w} but plenty {i}do{/i} use their physique for intimidating their opponents."
yua "We offer courses about de-escalation techniques and psychology too, of course."
yua "All these methods and techniques require at least a base level of confidence to be useful, though."
"..."
p "I guess I can see your point."
yua "So - you might be interested?"
p "Yes. I--"
"She interrupted me before I could finish telling her that I would accept."
yua "Sorry for being rude. But you should know one thing in advance."
yua "Before you decide yourself."
"..."
yua "There's one of my employees, my best de-escalation instructor in fact."
yua "She said we should hire you although you might have a problem working with her. I'd really prefer if you sorted out your ... differences before they might become {i}my{/i} concern."
"I just stare at her in confusion."
yua "Thus, I asked her to join us today{w}--{w} speaking of, here she is."
show fumino
fumino "Hello, [yua.first]. Thank you for inviting me."
fumino "He{w=.3}lo, [player]."
"..."
p "{size=-5}[fumino.pet_name]{/size}{w=.2}{nw}"
p "Hello, [fumino.first]."
show fumino
yua "I better leave the two of you now. I'd rather not be involved in whatever--"
show yua at rightish
yua "[player], once you're decided, would you please just mail me your decision?"
yua "Oh, and [fumino.first] - don't bother yourself with the bill, it's been taken care of."
yua "Good bye, [player] - I'm looking forward to your answer."
yua "[fumino.first]."
hide yua
"..."
"Manners! Don't just let her stand there!"
p "Please sit down."
hide fumino
fumino "Thank you."
"..."
p "Is all this just some kind of joke or something?"
fumino "No. The boss was looking for someone with your skills and asked us for recommendations. I knew you'd be the perfect choice ... that's all."
fumino "It's been years{w}--"
fumino "And since you've been the one to dump {i}me{/i}, I thought you've moved on by now ... so ..."
"...{w} ..."
show fumino
fumino "Maybe this was a mistake. I shouldn't--"
p "Sit down. You're causing a scene!"
hide fumino
"We just sit there in silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say."
"Seeing [pet_name] again like this ... it's really weird. And it hurts way less than I'd thought."
p "Mrs. [yua.last]'s offer is really generous. And interesting."
fumino "..."
fumino "So ... you'll accept?"
p "Should I?"
fumino @angry "{size=+4}{b}How should I know, [player]?{/b}{/size}"
fumino "How should I know how you feel?"
fumino "You {size=-1}never {/size}{size=-2}even {/size}{size=-3}told {/size}{size=-4}me {/size}{size=-5}why you left ...{/size}."
"So much for "it doesn't hurt". Her passionate outbreak wipes away years of denial."
"The pain of losing her is back in full force."
"And with the pain comes the anger."
"The blind rage."
p annoyed ":hissing: {i}You cheated on me.{/i}"
fumino @shocked "What?"
p "You. cheated. on. me."
fumino "{b}Never{/b}. I never ..."
"She takes a deep breath and locks eyes with me."
fumino "From that very first kiss we shared to the moment you dumped me ..."
fumino "There never, {b}never{/b} was anybody but you."
"Does she really believe I'd buy that?"
p furious "Liar.{w} I {b}saw{/b} you with her!"
fumino @shocked "{i}What?{/i} Whom you're talking about?"
p unfriendly "[kaori.first]. I really should've known better. You never were "over her", were you? One wink from her and ..."
"She just sits there staring at me in{w}- disbelief?"
p "Don't you dare deny it. {i}I saw you with her!{/i} In that park. Holding her. Like--"
"Like there was no-one else in the world but the two of you."
"Like the way you should've been holding {b}me{/b}!"
"..."
"She doesn't deny it."
"In fact she doesn't do anything. She just keeps sitting there."
p annoyed ":hissing: {i}say something.{/i}"
fumino unfriendly "I really don't know if I should punch you or laugh at you, [player]."
fumino friendly "Of all people in the world you picked {i}[kaori.pet_name]{/i} to be jealous about?"
fumino @like "Really?"
"There's a weird kind of smile on her lips. A touch of sadness. But mostly it's like the one she gives me when I did something really stupid."
"Like there's a joke on my expense and I don't even know about it yet."
"..."
# fumino "You want to know why I held poor [kaori.pet_name] like that?"
# fumino "She confessed--"
# "Seeing my reaction she stops and hurries to try again."
# fumino "[kaori.first] asked for forgiveness."
# p confused "What?"
# fumino "She asked me to forgive her."
# p "Forgive her? Why? What for?"
# "She laughs."
# fumino "You remember how I was pining for her, before you ... took my heart?"
# "As if I could've forgotten ..."
# fumino "That day - when you saw us - was when she'd finally accepted that she never could love me back. Not in the way you did."
fumino unfriendly @dislike "I can't believe it!"
fumino "Jealous! You're actually jealous! And about {b}her{/b}! That's--"
show fumino sad
"..."
fumino "I really thought you'd trust me. That you'd know me better."
fumino @dislike "Why didn't you at least {i}talk{/i} with me?"
"..."
p sad "I--"
fumino "No."
"She gets up."
fumino "Leave me be. Don't--"
show fumino unfriendly
fumino "No."
hide fumino
"She's gone."
"I remain sitting at the table, paralyzed."
"After a while the Waiter comes to check back with me."
p "... fine, thank you."
NOWHERE WITH ImageDissolve ("elliptic.jpg", 1.0)
pause
PLACE ending_home OF hina @night WITH ImageDissolve ("elliptic.jpg", 1.0, reverse=True)
"Everything's so{w} unreal."
"Like it's happening to someone else and not to me."
"Today I met [first] after all this years{w} -{w} and now{w} she's gone again."
"..."
"The way she reacted{w} ... she never cheated on me. Right?"
"She was honestly mad at me. Disappointed."
"That wasn't fake."
"And why should she?"
"Why fake innocence now?"
"But that means she really didn't cheat."
"It's been only in my head."
"She never cheated on me."
"I should've trusted her."
"I disappointed her."
"*** beep ***"
"My friend [hibiko.first] texted me about the interview. She can wait. She'll understand."
"[pet_name] was really hurt."
"Why didn't I trust her?"
"{i}I{/i} hurt her.{w} {b}Again{/b}."
"And she never cheated on my.{w} She never would."
"My phone rings.{w} [hibiko.first], maybe?{w} No. That's not her ringtone."

$ disable_side_images = True
p "[player_last]?"
fumino "Hey."
"..."
fumino "It's me{w}, [first]."
p ".{w}.{w}.{w} {size=-4}[pet_name]{/size} ..."
fumino "Yes, me."
"..."
fumino "I--{w} I shouldn't have run away like that."
p "Bu--"
fumino "Sush."
"..."
fumino "If I ever loved you, [player], I should've found a way to hold you back. Or at least make you talk to me."
fumino "I shouldn't have given up like that."
fumino "And I shouldn't have fled today."
fumino "But."
fumino "I made up my mind!"
fumino "You're not getting rid of me that easy!"
fumino "Not this time!"
$ disable_side_images = False

return