You yawned and stretched your arms. Man, the weekend had been exhausting! Saturday during the day you'd been rushing around the shopping district helping Kiyoko pass out fliers for a petition she'd been putting together, that afternoon you'd spent with Ayano at the arcade, and you'd somehow gotten involved in a minor brawl, helping some of Jouko's 'associates' fend off goons from a rival clan.
And on Sunday you'd met Hotaru at the park to help her test out her rebuilt drone. The rest of your Sunday should've passed by uneventfully, but you'd just happened to run into Izumi while out doing your weekly grocery shopping, and knowing that your reputation with her was considerably lower than any of the other girls you were friends acquaintances with, you'd wanted to score some brownie points with her.
Carrying her extra shopping bags back to her house had left you wiped out. Damn, it felt like she'd stuffed the bags full of rocks- but regardless, you'd managed it. Too bad you didn't see any immediate improvement; she hadn't even thanked you.
At least she hadn't slammed the door in your face, that was an improvement over the last time you'd seen her.
Honestly, you hadn't meant to look up her skirt on Friday! You'd both been heading to your last classes for the day- she'd been going upstairs to the school's second floor, you'd been going down to the ground floor, and one thing had led to another...
It wasn't your fault, really! The uniform skirts were short enough as it was, and you hadn't meant to turn around at the exact step on the stairs that gave you a totally unobstructed view of Izumi's butt. You must've let out a sound at the glorious sight of Izumi's wide hips and shapely rear, because she'd turned around not one second later.
And of course, she predictably flipped out at you getting such a perfect panty-shot.
Yawning again and heading into your bathroom, it seemed that the red mark on your face had almost entirely faded- there'd been quite the bruise on your face. Izumi could hit hard when she was angry.
Which had left you feeling sore all weekend, both mentally and quite literally physically! Seriously, you could at least acknowledge that you'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that was overkill on Izumi's part. At least nothing recently had tanked your reputation with any of the other girls you knew.
-----------
Several minutes later, you were stepping out of your shower and drying off. Time to start another week of school. Thank God you were friends (or at least, casual acquaintances) with such a quirky bunch of girls. Life as a high schooler was hum-drum enough as it was.
Something caught your eye as you finished getting dressed in your school clothes. There was an odd weight in one of the front pockets of your pants.
Reaching into the pocket, you withdrew...
"Holy cow! A... a rock?" And not just any rock, but a perfectly smooth, oval-shaped rock. A rock that was amber-colored and glowing faintly.
Huh. This was some rock.
(((You said that right, Shujin! That's not just a rock, that's the wishstone! I was wondering if you were going to unlock it!)))
"Whoa! Narrator?! Where the heck have you been, I haven't heard from you since Friday! I almost thought you were taking a vacation!"
(((Eh, I wanted to see if you'd survive weekend without me. Doesn't look like things went too poorly. In fact, I'd say they're better than ever! With the wishstone in your hands, you'll really be able to shake things up!)))
"Uh, yeah. I've been meaning to ask, what exactly is this 'wishstone?'" You said, turning over the glowing rock in your hands. It was strangely warm to the touch.
(((Well, it grants wishes, for one thing. The name should've been a clue.)))
"Okay, but how does it work?" You'd read enough manga to know that magical wish-granting artifacts were usually not benign- quite the opposite, in fact. Best case scenario from most manga was that a wish-granting artifact followed the equivalent exchange rule, where you'd have to give up something of equal value to the wish you were making.
Worst case scenario was that you'd have to get involved with some freaky black magic, or perform human sacrifice or something.
(((Okay, okay- I can tell what you're thinking, and it's nothing that bad. Seriously, this is a romcom, not a horror or drama.)))
You still didn't quite understand what the Narrator meant by comments like that. But at least he'd given you a bit of peace of mind about your new possession.
(((Seriously, here's the deal- or at least, as much as I'm authorized to tell you about the wishstone. As far as you need to be concerned, there's three simple rules that you need to keep your wishes within the parameters of. 1, Simple is best- say what you want in a sentence or less. Anything longer than that might not work. The wishstone tends to, uh, fizzle, if you try anything to complex. 2, and this one's a standard rule you've probably heard fictional genies say- no bringing back the dead. I can't think of why you'd want to, but it has to be said.)))
Okay, those made sense to you so far.
"And the third rule?"
(((Another stock genie rule- no making people fall in love with you. Or anything that would alter someone's mind. If you want an example the kinds of wishes that you'd probably be able to use that magical doodad for, you'd want to say something like "Help me pass this math test" or "give me really good luck today." Admittedly, it's kind of oxymoronic, but the wishstone works best with specific, well-defined wishes or simple, vague statements.)))
"Like wishing a girl had bigger boobs?"
(((Hah! Now that's the Shujin I know! I was wondering when you'd connect the dots. Yeah, you can definitely do something like that. Honestly, using the wishstone for things physical things like that'll probably get you the best results. Of course, you'll want to experiment for a while to really get a handle on it. Good luck, champ! Oh, and to use the wishstone, you don't actually have to say anything out loud, or use the terminology 'wish.' Just focus really hard on the wishstone as long as it's in contact with you and think about what you want. Oh, and... one last thing. Do be careful with the wishstone. It is a very powerful object, and people might get hurt if it gets abused. You'll find it much harder to undo a wish than you will to make one.)))
And like that, your mysterious 'friend's' voice faded away.
Looking at the rock in your hand, you smiled. The narrator's warning notwithstanding, you were sure this marked a positive turning point in your life.
Now, you were a healthy teenage boy with a magical, wish-granting rock. What should you wish for first?
---------------------
1) You have a quiz in your algebra class today that you don't feel like you've prepared enough for- what better way to test the wishstone out than by wishing to ace the quiz? The Narrator had said that was an easy-to-grant wish.
2) Eh, why not pocket the wishstone for now, and make a wish once you run into one of the girls at school.
3) Your cheek starts throbbing at that exact moment... making you remember the incident with Izumi from Friday. Why not make a wish to get back at her?
4) Before you can make a wish, you hear Ava's voice outside your window!
5) Something else happens (not a choice chapter, only go with this if you have a specific idea that isn't covered above)
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