Monday

As I said yesterday, my new kitten, Charlie, is delightful but very time consuming. She's settling into our house now, but she still has to poke her nose into everything (even dangerous places), so she needs almost constant supervision.

Rinko met me this morning to congratulate me on my exam results. Seems I was "Number 1" student in my year after all! Thanks to that Official Guide Book...

After that, I had another EXTREMELY busy day in this so-called "real" world...which feels much less real than the world of Towano most of the time. So I hardly had any time to see my poor Rinko at all! Nevertheless, she was waiting patiently for me when school was over, just to walk home with me. Aww. Like I've said before, LovePlus can always make me feel better. Thankfully.

To make up for my rather neglectful day, I took Rin-Rin out to Fountain Park tonight (that old favourite date spot) and made sure to spoil her as much as possible.

Oh yeah, a couple of odd things as I remember them:

1. In my 3DS game, the Flea Markets were shut down for the second straight week because of rain. So no Premium Date ticket YET AGAIN. Next Sunday, I'm taking no chances - I'm going to book two sessions at the Markets, just to be on the safe side. Hopefully one of them will be dry.

2. In my DS game, I had a really weird dream sequence before I went to bed last night. A much older (and scary-looking) Rinko was playing her first gig with the Killer Bambies.

The New Rinko - WOW! SO CUTE!!

I had a very pleasant surprise when I met my Rinko-chan this morning for our date. Maybe she's been listening to all my comments about her lack of fashion sense - because she arrived today looking SENSATIONAL. Very trendy hat, pretty blue sweater and green checked dress. Plus, she wore the cutest hairstyle I think I've ever seen Rinko wear.

Honestly, in all the time I've been playing New LovePlus (about a year and a half now), I've never seen Rinko with these clothes or this hairstyle before. I usually don't like her short hairstyles, but I think I'm going to let her keep this one for a while.

We went to Winning Burger first, for a quick snack. Doesn't Rin look adorable???

Our main date was at the Event Hall, with a live Idol concert that Rinko didn't enjoy all that much. Then we went to the Restaurant in the Waterfront area, which has a French flag out the front. (Actually, I don't remember visit here in my previous game, either.)

Rinko looked at me across the table and melted my heart all over again. Darn, I really love this girl. And yes, she absolutely MUST keep this hairstyle for as long as possible...

Rinko liked the fancy food at the Restaurant, too. We really should go there again some time.

Rinko was so cute when she fell asleep on the train back to Shin Towano, and rested her head on my shoulder.

Finally, here's a long shot showing Rinko's check skirt, right outside the front of her apartment building as we were saying goodbye.

At 12:00 noon there was an interesting "Event" where Rinko met me at the school library and kissed me. I'm not sure what it was all about...but it was kinda nice.

I was annoyed, however, because when I'd booked to go to the Flea Markets at 3:00 pm, it was raining in Towano and the markets were closed. Now my first Premium Date with Rinko will have to wait one more week!!

My final meet-up with her for the day was at Fountain Park. She was back to casual clothes, but at least she still had her cool hairstyle.

Late tonight (after 9:00 pm), I had the dream sequence where Rinko's grandmother is dying and you have to wipe her tears and comfort her. It was very emotional! (And, once again, I didn't have this dream last time I was playing.)

In my game with Manaka on the DS, I had my first date today, and was frustrated that I couldn't kiss her yet. Then I read a tutorial online and found out that you have to unlock the kissing tutorial in Skip Mode. Once I did this, everything was fine. Manaka had an emotional scene today, too - she was telling me about how she was expected to take over her father's work at the hospital when she was older, but her childhood dream was to own a bakery instead. When I asked her why, she replied that people always looked sat at a hospital, but the always looked happy at a bakery - and she just wants to make people happy. Then she asked me if she was a bad daughter. T_T

Aww. I found this little dialogue genuinely moving.

A Delightful Day

Today was an absolutely delightful day in "New LovePlus". I was wondering what Rin-chan would look like in her school uniform with her new red hair - and...wow. She's gorgeous. Especially when she blushes. Hehe. She didn't walk to school with me this morning, for some reason, so I called her up right away and asked her to meet me in the Courtyard.

Argggh! She's so cuuuuuute! Look at Rinko's face in the next shot. I can't get enough of my girlfriend's new look. I just wanna call her up and meet her all the time.......Argggh! I can't take it!

Yep. Rinko is habit-forming. And when I kiss her now, in the skinship mode, it feels so...different. (I was going to say "totally hot", but you'd think I was weird, right?) Just something about that carrot-red hair being the perfect length. And her hair is so nicely animated, too - there are a couple of long strands that catch on her collar when she turns her head and then fall back into place. (*^_^*)

The biggest delight was the "Event" listed for the afternoon time-slot. For the past two days, the Events have been nothing much...or nothing that I could understand, anyway. But today was sure different. Rin-chan said something about food and then waited to walk home with me after school.

But we didn't walk back to my house. We walked to HERS. And once we were inside, she changed into the same green dress and apron as last time and cooked a meal for me!

And you know? Rink is a very good cook. Her meal was a bowl with some kind of meat and either noodles or rice, plus a bowl of miso soup and something else (possibly pickles?) on the side. Once again, Rinko at very politely with a pair of red chopsticks.

The best thing about hanging out with Rinko in her room is getting to sit next to her on the bed. It feels really cosy, and she's so close to me, and it's so cool with her guitar in the background......aw, heck. I'm blissed out today.

A Few Quick Dates

Let me say it quite clearly: I LOVE MY NEW RINKO! I just kept wanting to take her out for short dates today so I could get used to her new orange hair. It's adorable. I would never have chosen the colour in a million years...but there you go. Now I just want to keep Rin-chan this way. I'm so happy! ^^

At 12:00 I went to the Fountain Park Markets and bought the tickets for the Couples Bowling Tournament (for 15 rich). I can't book the date with Rinko, though, because my points are way down after today's date. I'll have to do some Skip Mode days and try to pick up my points tomorrow - because I'd like to do the date mid-week.

These first photos were taken at the Shrine early this afternoon. The purple striped top and pink sakura blossoms are such a nice contrast for her red hair!

Just like yesterday, the "Event" was a mystery to me. Rinko called me up and asked to meet me, and then we were walking along the road together and she was talking about something. Once again, I don't know what. Then it ended. (I wish my Japanese was better!)

Anyway, the next few shots are from my second short date in the late afternoon. I like the dark blue colour of the sky.

Tomorrow will be my first full day with the "New" Rin-chan. And I can't wait to see how she looks wearing her school uniform. Hehe.

Two More Late Surprises ^_^

Just before going to bed for the night, I decided to check into the game and see if anything else was going to happen. I'm really glad I did - because I had two MORE last-minute surprises. First, the next episode of Seishun No 1 Page was ready to play. After chewing out the other members of her band "In The Rye", Rinko had to eat humble pie today and apologise.

I was quite touching, actually, especially when she discovered that one of the girls could play keyboard really well. It sounds like things are back to normal now, and hopefully the band will continue in future episodes.

I thought that would be the end, but when I went to sleep (in the game), it trigged a dream event with Rinko called 夢のまた夢 ("A Dream Within A Dream"). It's the first dream event I've had in this part of "New LovePlus", and it was very sweet...basically dreaming about Rinko falling asleep and dreaming. Apparently you trigger this dream event when you pass checkpoints for the Library Committee 10 times.