Let's Play "In Your Arms Tonight"...because...you know...

Exactly. This is what I was trying to say! Koichi just doesn't know that what he's doing is wrong.
And while "He doesn't know better" does not in any way means he can be an ass, it still makes the whole mess much more complicated than if he were just an ass.

I still think that, if he had to pretend in order to get married, he at least suspects that Lysa wouldn't have married him otherwise, because she isn't like that.
That' why I have issues with the whole "He doesn't know better" thing. Even when he set up the rules, he is the one who does that. By himself.
I don't even know if he was trying to prove a point in his crazy way or if he wanted to confuse Lysa before, because he didn't want to talk about this.

It is probably more complicated than "he's an evil asshole", but there are times when he had a choice to do things better and he still decided to be an ass.

I don't like Lysa much either. And that "What is love?" line made me facepalm.

I think it's less a case of "I was nice to you to get what I wanted and, having gotten it, I no longer give a shit" and more that, while Koichi knows what to tell people to get what he wants, he also recognizes that saying things he doesn't mean just to get what he wants is dishonest and fake and that bothers him. Getting Lysa to marry him was important enough to him that he resorted to his usual practice of "say what she wants to hear," but now that they're married it would be wrong to keep actively manipulating her for his own benefit.

There are some obvious problems with this line of reasoning, the first of which is that manipulating her to get her to marry you in the first place was dishonest and wrong, and also the part where not lying to her doesn't mean completely abandoning common courtesy, Koichi.

Back at work, Lysa's problems are beginning to affect her professionalism.

Lysa: '...I'm sorry."

Lysa: "It's just...I've kind of got a lot going on..."

I don't like this Lysa. Not one bit.

Save my sanity, Alternate Lysa!



Oooooh... Aiba's getting serious.

Aiba: "Your only other job right now is the book cafe, right?"

Lysa: "Yes..."



Ouch.

Lysa: "..."

Koichi, I hate you but right now I wouldn't love this Lysa either.



Lysa: "..."

SAY SOMETHING ALREADY!

Aiba: "It's not even good enough to be usable."

Lysa: "Sorry..."

God damn.



Awwww, come on Lysa! Muster up some fire!



Aiba: "I'll ask Mr. Ebihara to put someone else on it."

Oh shit. Passion, Lysa! Get some. NOW.

Lysa: "I'll do better."

Aiba: "..."

Lysa: "I'll have three...no, five proposals by Friday."





Lysa: (Yes... I need to throw myself more into my work...)

Lysa: (Or I'll lose my assignment.)



Okay, there's a little more passion.

Dammit Voltage, I can't even blame Koichi for this! Give me strong Lysa back (ﾉ◕︿◕)ﾉ ︵ ┻━┻

When even Aiba is fed up with you, you know it's bad.

Lysa returns home after work, has dinner by herself, then starts going over her materials.

Lysa: (Five proposals will be really hard to manage...)

Lysa: (But I have to follow through with what I offered.)

I think Lysa really needed that scolding from Aiba! He'd be really good for her.
Go get him, Lysa! Never let him go!

Oh look, Koichi just got home.

Lysa: "Welcome home."



Got a problem with that?

Lysa: "Yes. Have you had dinner?"

Koichi: "Not yet..."

Koichi glances over at Lysa's materials. No not those ones.
Wait, this isn't the alternate thread? Oops, not sorry for random innuendo ┐(‘～`；)┌

Koichi: "... A wine bar?"

Lysa: "That's right."

Lysa: "For the time being I'm supposed to join the project as support, but... If my design gets adopted... I could get put in charge of it."



Did you take your mistress there?

Lysa: "You do? In the city?"

Koichi: "No. In Algeria."



Huh, that's actually pretty interesting...

Koichi: "There was a huge wine cellar in the bar."

Koichi: "It had a display that attracted a lot of attention."

Like the bar in Vegas? The one where the wine angels go in harnesses to get the alcohol from a multi-story wine rack? That one's pretty cool.





Oh god they're bonding.

Lysa: "Wow. Is the wine inside there?"





Koichi: "The way I remember it, it was a wall. Of course, I mostly saw the front, so I can't say for certain."

Lysa: "I see..."



Lysa starts running through a list of options for the central display. She wonders if it should be practical or eye-catching, inorganic or something warmer. She's lost in thought when...



0.o

Is this...interest?

Not enough yet. Need more dere.

Oh! He's actually capable of a sweet smile! I'm shocked!

Still hate him, though.


EDIT: I'm making so many grammar errors today I don't know what's wrong with me TT_________TT

WAS IT THAT HARD, KOICHI?

Progress. No too much, but I'll take what can I get. And c'mon Lysa, you were better than this!

Well, to be fair, Lysa is probably depressed and probably trying very hard not to burst out in tears at work. I know I would.

Spunk is great but in this kind of case, it's difficult to muster the energy to be witty and passionate.

Yeah. People like Koichi tend to drain all my energy and leave me a husk =/ it's why I try to stay away.

...Koichi...try harder.

It was a nice try, I'll give Voltage that, but it`s just not good enough. Being stubbornly biased.

*sigh*
I can't say anything because I know what happens in the later chapters.


Just... just... hurry up and get this bastard in therapy already. He needs one STAT and he needs it BAD.

Oh look, Koichi is trying to be nice. How cute.

But he thought Lysa also thought like that, why would he bother tricking her in the first place? And what kind of standard is 'nice --> marriage--> douche, don't care for other's feelings'. He should realize that any relationship that involves emotional and possibly physical abuse is ethically wrong as a human being.

No, he was already distant immediately after, and I do mean immediately, their wedding ceremony.

Hmm. I approve of the fact that Koichi decides to be nice when Lysa focuses on her work (I'm still not done with you Mother in law!).

Keep up the semi-decent work and you might nope get a promotion! Because we all know that's what you actually care about!

It's kinda like Joie de Combat said before, he was pretending to be nice, and when they got married he stopped pretending because he's aware that lying is wrong and he didn't want to keep lying to Lysa. He's, however, not aware that the way he's acting is wrong, for whatever reason, that's why he doesn't feel guilty of treating her as shit.

But didn't he get even worse after he saw Lysa and her hot ex?

I feel the need to clarify that I don't actually condone what Koichi's doing.
He's an ass.
But it's just that.
I don't know.
I feel like I have to defend him.
I think I even kinda relate to him?
You see, I'm a pretty sarcastic and even kinda somewhat really rude person in real life. Many of my friends strike that, all of my friends, and even my old boss, already called me out on that behavior, and I am working on it, trying to improve, but it's hard. Like, Nintendo Hard.
The thing is, I never really know when I'm being an asshole, so I never really notice when I'm hurting someone, and thus I never know when, or what, to stop.
I know my behavior is bad and I should feel bad.

But the way you're all lashing out on Koichi is kinda... unnerving?
If he were a real person, this would certainly not be the best way to help him overcome these issues.

I AM OPENING MY HEART HERE WHATS GOING ON

I look down on anyone who tries to manipulate someone into a relationship with smiles and politeness just to go "LOL FAKE" and become a massive douchenozzle once the trap's been sprung. Bad personal experience. Then it's no longer your issue you've dragged someone else into it. And that's a dick move.

But being like that honestly from the jump? Nope that doesn't bother me. I'm like that. it's the bait and switch that makes me rage.

That's... an issue, yeah.
I can't really defend that.

Don't worry! You're among friends here.

I've actually noticed that I spill my innermost thoughts here as well. This forum is the first place where I really admitted how much trouble I used to have in social situations. It took years of practice to get to the almost completely socially acceptable person I am today which, sadly, involves hiding my sadistic, fangirling, slightly yandere, otome game loving self in public.

Luckily, I can be all of those things here and even get invited into HAREMS! All my wholesome love ❤

I declared my love for this forum in the Ozzo Ozzo Sensation thread, and I understand that so well <3
Lemme just quote myself here because I'm egocentric.

YOU'RE ALL SO UNDERSTANDING AND I LOVE YOU.

*hugs MariPanda*

See I wouldn't mind Koichi so hard if not for the whole marriage thing. If he was a coworker and was this abrasive I'd probably be trying to get Lysa to break that shell! (What? I'm a glutton for punishment what can I say...I like my crazy males I totally had a crush on Bishop from NWN2 hard *hides*) But the whole "I'm a nice guy...nope I'm not." was a complete turn off.

I don't know guise, I have this bitter aftertaste in my mouth every single time he shows up with a semi-nice guy expression...
Tastes like... ULTERIOR MOTIVE!!!

I'm with you MariPanda.
Maybe everyone's so down on him because, well, without knowing what IS wrong with him he just seems like a horrible asshole. Kinda like how I was ragging on Morgan in Pirates because he seems like such an asshat before his backstory came up. I'm still not happy with how everything's wrapped up too quickly and too easy. Were he a real person, he still needs to go see a therapist to fix his head and make sure he doesn't slip up again.

Again, THIS IS NOT A HAPPY ROUTE IN A VERY REAL SENSE. This is not like some crazy fantasy situation. This is a messed-up situation where the guy is from a whackjob family and his idea of what is "normal" is completely askew and this is way too real. What he did is wrong on so many levels, but HE NEEDS HELP. Being a doormat is not helping, but bashing on him is not helpful either.

GAWD WHY AM I TRYING TO APPLY LOGIC ON OTOME GAMES I'VE BEEN WATCHING TOO MANY DR PHIL AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH.

Koichi's just mourning the memory of what it was like to have a job that didn't involve cherry-flavored lube. Don't be so hard on him.

More seriously, I can kinda see where Koichi's coming from, in that while I can be very sweet and accommodating to people I don't know well, I change towards people I know without thinking about it. I am sarcastic and often abrasive, bordering on rude, and I don't always know when I've crossed the line till people call me out on it. Unlike Koichi I grovel at their feet begging for their forgiveness because I hate hurting people, but whatever. The point is I could almost see PreMarriage!Koichi as being just how he is to people he doesn't know or spend that much time with, but now that he's married all the barriers have fallen down.

That is, if he weren't a prostitute.

That's the way I am too. Like, in communities I have to "keep face" so I'm all nice and proper, then I spill my rage on my family. And then I get yelled at by my parents for being nasty. And because I have no tact anyway, sometimes I make people upset without realizing until someone else points it out. And then I apologize.

Ya'know, I was thinking about Koichi earlier today and it popped into my head that his father's business is in financial trouble and so he's whoring out his son to a wealthy woman to pay off his debts!
...Why mind, why?

I don't even do it consciously, it's just a sign of how comfortable I am. Smiling sweetly and talking amicably about random things for hours at a time? Friendly acquaintances or I'm in love with you. Being a snarky asshole and calling you a dipshit? We're friends! I didn't even realize until someone pointed it out to me.

Apparently I'm also rude to people without realizing it just by being frank. And also misunderstandings. I don't realize I'm being rude but then the person left already (because my friends tell me what I did wrong after the victim is gone) so I can't apologize. They always tell me that if the other person knew me, the person wouldn't be offended though. Being direct is good, isn't it?

Also, is it just me or are pauses in conversations with strangers extremely uncomfortable?

To clarify, hating Koichi doesn't mean that I don't want him to get better by resolving his issues. It just means that I hate him and I feel the need to explain why.

They're horrible. Especially when you're trying to came up with an argument and you don't event know if the other person cares or if it is socially appropriate. And I'm shy. That's why I usually relay on manners - it doesnt' work too much, but oh well.

I don't understand how people can chat with strangers. It is maddening. There is the feeling of obligation to talk but no idea what to talk about because you know nothing about each other.

Yeah, and when you end the usual stuff, there is nothing else to add. My old roommate was wonderful at chatting with strangers, because she could almost immediately pick up a topic the other person seemed interested in and keep talking about it. I can do stuff like that only with strangers who have a certain something, because I feel more comfortable.
And I usually need someone else to make a move first, just to be sure I'm not bothering anyone.

I'm finding this all really interesting. My entire working life and general social interactions consist of me being slightly snarky enough to be quirky, but only in the appropriate situations / times. I'm extremely good at being charming while thinking absolutely terrible things that never come out of my mouth. With friends, the friendly insults fly. This is often a terrible way to be, because I'm always the one the gets stuck dealing with the asshole no one can stand, including me, but I'm the only one who can deal with him. Then people who know me well tell me I don't express my feelings enough.

^^ I am also kinda like this. I can be really really polite and sweet and charming if I have to (for work or university or well, whatever if it calls for ir) I can smile and treat someone nicely while thinking thinking what an asshole/bore/whatever they are and that I'd rather stab myself (or the person I am dealing with) with a fork than to continue this conversation. Yet, I still do if I have to. My problem is also that most people I meet just don't seem to get sarcasm so when I would say something sarcastic they'd think I meant it and then they'd think I am an asshole. So I rather took to being fake polite and nice - it's easier that way. If I don't have to be charming (be it because I am with friends and they know me well enough or because I just don't care about the person I am dealing with) you'll get a look at the sarcastic, snarky asshole I really am inside. I have made grown man cry only through words and looks alone is all I am saying - they did deserve it though so I'm not even feeling bad about it! Don't mess with my friends or family is what people hopefully learned from that!

Generally speaking, if I start insulting someone that's actually a sign with how close I am with that person and that I my trust in them and in our relationship is big enough that I'm certain that they won't take off if I do it. So, that's only a few really close friends and my family of course (my father, mother and brother are all as sarcastic and snarky as I am so it's okay) Calling you a 'dipshit' in a joking way and with a smile is a term of endearment coming from me and means that I really like you.

I'm also quiet and terrible at speaking with strangers, though I don't usually have the urge to insult people unless I'm having a super bad day or something. The highest level of friendship for me would be when I honestly tell you I'm too lazy to meet you instead of making excuses :p I'd probably just stay home and draw/play video games all day if I could.

/Goes around liking all of the posts because you're all such understanding people who are having civilised discussions without putting anyone else down-- allofmyfeelsdammit ;;v;;
You are all beautiful people <3



On a semi-related note though, it's apparently very common for people in Australia who are close to one another to go around insulting each other. I do this with my friends as well;;; We regularly greet each other with, "Hey bastard!", "'Sup, bitch?" and the like, and it actually feels more distant if we use the person's actual name.
/derail

I regularly snub my friends in an act of brutal affection. Meaning we're horrible to each other and it's fine (I greet them by going "gee you're ugly" or "ew. go away" and we laugh it off) I guess it's an Australian thing xD

So while I get that Koichi may have a warped sense of normality, he holds a steady sucessful job that probably includes interactions with people. And he has a girlfriend. Whom he kisses. And he was nice to Lysa-pyon in the beginning even if it was acting. There's no excuse for him to act like a decent human being, unless he calls being a douchebag (note: different to playful) as his 'true self' which he only shows to "Lysa" cuz she's that ~*Special*~. If he's just being a bit jerky cuz that's how he likes his beef, then he needs to at least hint to her that he doesn't actually hate her guts and wants her as a maid. It's an arranged marriage and Lysa married him on the premise that he's a nice caring man who she could fall for. He can show his true colours to someone but at least moderate for Christs sake until she's somewhat used to it and understands you for the first 3 damn months.

Koichi, Koichi, Koichi. You better prepare your robe, beads and razor to shave that head of yours. You can just stare at the radiance that is Lysa until you're blind I guess

Do we ever get a proper explanation on why he chose to have a mistress? IIRC, in Ebihara's route he said it was just for fun (which I took to mean sex), but in the current route Koichi doesn't seem to even be interested in Lysa sexually (whereas she seemed interested at first, if not enthusiastic). I guess to be fair they hardly even know each other, but... *throws up hands* I dunno, so far this route just makes me feel like bashing my head against a wall.

Isn't Mrs. Mistress