Parental supervision not required
Harem Protagonist: CHYOA
Chapter 10
"Wait! I'm not done yet-"
*FLASH*
You stood there blinking as spots danced in your eyes. Your hand was still outstretched, pointing ahead of you into the spot in the air where it had seemed like the narrator's voice had been coming from.
Silence.
...Crap.
You were probably on your own for the rest of the night- and it was nighttime now; you were back in the physical world. A quick peek out the window of your apartment showed a quiet, peaceful street with a some small apartment buildings lining it.
Right, this wasn't... wasn't the world you'd grown up in. But... it felt so familiar.
Because, for better or for worse, you were Shujin Kou now, and you were going to live his life. Or, he was you, and this was the life you'd always been meant to live. Huh, it was kind of confusing to think about things like that. You knew that you hadn't usurped his life- something told you hadn't kicked his soul out of his body- though it didn't look like the body you were familiar with, it still... well, it felt right. You'd just have to get used to staring at Shujin'- your- features in the mirror each day.
Your memories told you that you had a mother and father who-
"Ow!"
What the hell? You'd been trying to think of your parents, and... your head had started pounding, like you were getting a really bad migraine.
The memories of your parents- the parents who had 'created' this body that you inhabited- for some reason you couldn't access them.
It was dark out- and the calendar on your wall showed that it was Sunday night, so that meant you had time to look around your apartment and familiarize yourself with things before the next day started- which would be your first day as the 'Harem Protagonist.'
Looking around your apartment, trying to find signs of just what kind of life you lived... your search turned up disappointing results.
There was nothing.
No photos of you with your mom and dad, no photos of your parents together, no gifts or objects that signified some kind of home life... it was almost like you didn't even have parents!
That was... huh. You weren't really sure what to feel.
On one hand, it meant that you were pretty much free to enjoy this new life as you pleased, but on the other hand...
*Gulp*
Your small apartment suddenly felt... cold. Lonely.
(((Yeah, I'm not surprised this is coming as a shock to you. If you don't want to be feeling like that forever, then you'd best jump right into befriending the lovely ladies all around you.)))
"Narrator? You're back?"
(((Damn straight! Just had to take care of some last minute stuff. Anyways... you're probably wondering where mommy and daddy are. I don't know the exact details, but I can tell you that they aren't going to be present in your life. You've probably noticed that the protagonists of most anime generally don't have their parents in the picture.)))
"Well, yeah... but that's usually for shonen stuff! Not harem-genre romcoms!" You stated, feeling more than a little frustrated that the narrator had left out such an important detail. It was hardly a deal-breaker (and honestly, you weren't even sure if not having adult supervision was even a bad thing. You were free.) Still, it was annoying that you hadn't been informed of that prior to making an irreversible choice.
(((Hey, think of it this way. Chicks will be flocking all over you if you show them that sad, puppy-dog look. There'll be women lining up out the door to cuddle your woes away!)))
"Uh... isn't playing the 'pity' card a scummy thing to do?"
(((Hey, if it works, it works.)))
"Ugh, whatever. What's the deal with this anyway? Did Shujin's- I mean my parents ditch me? Or did they... die, at some point?"
(((Don't know. All I can tell you is that they won't be around to tell you what you can and can't do.)))
"What do you mean you don't know?"
(((It means what it sounds like, kid. I hate to break it to you, but I'm not omnipotent. Far from it. Sure, I know more than you, but that doesn't mean I know everything. All I can tell you is what I've been told. Your parents aren't around. Whether they dumped you in an orphanage after you were born and then fled to Hawaii, or if they died tragically in a car accident when you were 2... it could be anything. Think of it this way, there might be a hidden heroine or two in your future- maybe a loving big-sister/mother figure who watched over you in an orphanage, or a suit-wearing government appointed warden checking in on you every now and then... there's possibilities out there!)))
Well, it seemed like you weren't going to get any more help on that front. Still, it answered the basics- no parents, and few rules. That was... that was going to take some getting used to.
"Hey, narrator?"
(((Yeah?)))
"Is there anything else I should know about my power? You said it'd have drawbacks if I used it."
(((Mmm. Good question. Yeah, cause you're so inexperienced with it you might have some problems for a while- most people wake up their Esper gene at the beginning of puberty, not in the middle/end of it. You'll still be able to use your powers, no issues there. This wouldn't be a wish of yours if the wish didn't work! But back to the basics... The easiest way to explain things is that your power works on a 'take and give' method right now. Basically, if you want to grow something (or somebody) you'll have to use yourself as 'ammo.')))
"Am... am I going to be stuck doing things like that?" Because that sounded... less than ideal.
(((No, definitely not. You'll just have to use your powers enough that they start to grow. Remember, you're way behind everyone else in this. Use your powers enough and they'll get stronger. If you want an example, think of it this way. The tiny little loli, Ava- you could turn her from and under-five-foot, flat-as-a-board girl into a 5'8 bombshell on Izumi's level... but you'd probably shrink by the same amount of mass that she gained.)))
Okay, that sounded logical enough.
"What about if I wanted to shrink something?
(((Eh, the 'shrinking' thing works a little differently than the growing stuff does. This is all keeping inline with your wish, AKA your desires, so you can't shrink everything you see. If you want it spelled out, You can only shrink yourself, or an inanimate object. And you can only make inanimate objects or girls grow. Your power doesn't affect men.)))
You weren't sure of how the logic behind that worked, but honestly you didn't care enough to question it. The narrator was right- it matched up with your desires, and you had no desire to make another guy grow or shrink.
"Wait, what happens if I shrink myself? Would I have to make something or someone else grow?"
(((Not if you shrink yourself. If you shrink an inanimate object, then yeah. Same rule as previously- whatever shrinks, you have to give that same amount of mass to something, or somebody else. With you... it's more like the lost mass is just 'stored away.' Also, and this is important, because you might hurt yourself or someone else otherwise- Anything you grow will stay that way unless you use your power to shrink it, same if you shrink something. But if you try to shrink yourself, you'll grow back to normal after a while. The more you practice using your power, the longer you'll be able to stay shrunken for. And obviously, the more your practice, the more you'll be able to shrink or grow something. Heh, right now you probably couldn't make Ava or Ayano more than a D-cup...)))
Well... it looked like you were stuck in this brave new world, for better or for worse... but at least working at developing your power would give you something to focus on beyond just going to school.
And who knows, maybe it'd really shake things up? The Harem Protagonist game had been a blast, and you were looking forward to seeing just how much things would change in this new world.
"Alright, it's late so I might as well get to sleep. Tomorrow's a school day... so I guess that'll be my first time encountering the heroines of the game. It's going to be something to look forward to!"
(((That's the spirit! Okay, Shujin- I'll see you tomorrow.)))
And with that, you crawled under the covers.
Who knew what the next day would bring?
*FLASH*
You stood there blinking as spots danced in your eyes. Your hand was still outstretched, pointing ahead of you into the spot in the air where it had seemed like the narrator's voice had been coming from.
Silence.
...Crap.
You were probably on your own for the rest of the night- and it was nighttime now; you were back in the physical world. A quick peek out the window of your apartment showed a quiet, peaceful street with a some small apartment buildings lining it.
Right, this wasn't... wasn't the world you'd grown up in. But... it felt so familiar.
Because, for better or for worse, you were Shujin Kou now, and you were going to live his life. Or, he was you, and this was the life you'd always been meant to live. Huh, it was kind of confusing to think about things like that. You knew that you hadn't usurped his life- something told you hadn't kicked his soul out of his body- though it didn't look like the body you were familiar with, it still... well, it felt right. You'd just have to get used to staring at Shujin'- your- features in the mirror each day.
Your memories told you that you had a mother and father who-
"Ow!"
What the hell? You'd been trying to think of your parents, and... your head had started pounding, like you were getting a really bad migraine.
The memories of your parents- the parents who had 'created' this body that you inhabited- for some reason you couldn't access them.
It was dark out- and the calendar on your wall showed that it was Sunday night, so that meant you had time to look around your apartment and familiarize yourself with things before the next day started- which would be your first day as the 'Harem Protagonist.'
Looking around your apartment, trying to find signs of just what kind of life you lived... your search turned up disappointing results.
There was nothing.
No photos of you with your mom and dad, no photos of your parents together, no gifts or objects that signified some kind of home life... it was almost like you didn't even have parents!
That was... huh. You weren't really sure what to feel.
On one hand, it meant that you were pretty much free to enjoy this new life as you pleased, but on the other hand...
*Gulp*
Your small apartment suddenly felt... cold. Lonely.
(((Yeah, I'm not surprised this is coming as a shock to you. If you don't want to be feeling like that forever, then you'd best jump right into befriending the lovely ladies all around you.)))
"Narrator? You're back?"
(((Damn straight! Just had to take care of some last minute stuff. Anyways... you're probably wondering where mommy and daddy are. I don't know the exact details, but I can tell you that they aren't going to be present in your life. You've probably noticed that the protagonists of most anime generally don't have their parents in the picture.)))
"Well, yeah... but that's usually for shonen stuff! Not harem-genre romcoms!" You stated, feeling more than a little frustrated that the narrator had left out such an important detail. It was hardly a deal-breaker (and honestly, you weren't even sure if not having adult supervision was even a bad thing. You were free.) Still, it was annoying that you hadn't been informed of that prior to making an irreversible choice.
(((Hey, think of it this way. Chicks will be flocking all over you if you show them that sad, puppy-dog look. There'll be women lining up out the door to cuddle your woes away!)))
"Uh... isn't playing the 'pity' card a scummy thing to do?"
(((Hey, if it works, it works.)))
"Ugh, whatever. What's the deal with this anyway? Did Shujin's- I mean my parents ditch me? Or did they... die, at some point?"
(((Don't know. All I can tell you is that they won't be around to tell you what you can and can't do.)))
"What do you mean you don't know?"
(((It means what it sounds like, kid. I hate to break it to you, but I'm not omnipotent. Far from it. Sure, I know more than you, but that doesn't mean I know everything. All I can tell you is what I've been told. Your parents aren't around. Whether they dumped you in an orphanage after you were born and then fled to Hawaii, or if they died tragically in a car accident when you were 2... it could be anything. Think of it this way, there might be a hidden heroine or two in your future- maybe a loving big-sister/mother figure who watched over you in an orphanage, or a suit-wearing government appointed warden checking in on you every now and then... there's possibilities out there!)))
Well, it seemed like you weren't going to get any more help on that front. Still, it answered the basics- no parents, and few rules. That was... that was going to take some getting used to.
"Hey, narrator?"
(((Yeah?)))
"Is there anything else I should know about my power? You said it'd have drawbacks if I used it."
(((Mmm. Good question. Yeah, cause you're so inexperienced with it you might have some problems for a while- most people wake up their Esper gene at the beginning of puberty, not in the middle/end of it. You'll still be able to use your powers, no issues there. This wouldn't be a wish of yours if the wish didn't work! But back to the basics... The easiest way to explain things is that your power works on a 'take and give' method right now. Basically, if you want to grow something (or somebody) you'll have to use yourself as 'ammo.')))
"Am... am I going to be stuck doing things like that?" Because that sounded... less than ideal.
(((No, definitely not. You'll just have to use your powers enough that they start to grow. Remember, you're way behind everyone else in this. Use your powers enough and they'll get stronger. If you want an example, think of it this way. The tiny little loli, Ava- you could turn her from and under-five-foot, flat-as-a-board girl into a 5'8 bombshell on Izumi's level... but you'd probably shrink by the same amount of mass that she gained.)))
Okay, that sounded logical enough.
"What about if I wanted to shrink something?
(((Eh, the 'shrinking' thing works a little differently than the growing stuff does. This is all keeping inline with your wish, AKA your desires, so you can't shrink everything you see. If you want it spelled out, You can only shrink yourself, or an inanimate object. And you can only make inanimate objects or girls grow. Your power doesn't affect men.)))
You weren't sure of how the logic behind that worked, but honestly you didn't care enough to question it. The narrator was right- it matched up with your desires, and you had no desire to make another guy grow or shrink.
"Wait, what happens if I shrink myself? Would I have to make something or someone else grow?"
(((Not if you shrink yourself. If you shrink an inanimate object, then yeah. Same rule as previously- whatever shrinks, you have to give that same amount of mass to something, or somebody else. With you... it's more like the lost mass is just 'stored away.' Also, and this is important, because you might hurt yourself or someone else otherwise- Anything you grow will stay that way unless you use your power to shrink it, same if you shrink something. But if you try to shrink yourself, you'll grow back to normal after a while. The more you practice using your power, the longer you'll be able to stay shrunken for. And obviously, the more your practice, the more you'll be able to shrink or grow something. Heh, right now you probably couldn't make Ava or Ayano more than a D-cup...)))
Well... it looked like you were stuck in this brave new world, for better or for worse... but at least working at developing your power would give you something to focus on beyond just going to school.
And who knows, maybe it'd really shake things up? The Harem Protagonist game had been a blast, and you were looking forward to seeing just how much things would change in this new world.
"Alright, it's late so I might as well get to sleep. Tomorrow's a school day... so I guess that'll be my first time encountering the heroines of the game. It's going to be something to look forward to!"
(((That's the spirit! Okay, Shujin- I'll see you tomorrow.)))
And with that, you crawled under the covers.
Who knew what the next day would bring?
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March 23
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