Reconciliation

Reconciliation is a Katawa Shoujo fanfic that takes place eight years after Hanako’s bad ending. Hanako, having cut ties with Lilly and Hisao over the shame of what she did, is now a best-selling author, but has no real friends apart from her publicist, Sho Yamane. But her past may not be completely behind her, and an unexpected phone call from Lilly gives her the chance to renew her ties with people from her past.

---

Tropes used in Reconciliation include:

• Anger Born of Worry: Akira in response to Lilly not sleeping for days after Hisao's death, not wanting to go back into the room they once shared. Hanako can't decide whether she's angry with the person she's worried about or herself.
• Big "Shut Up!": Lilly to Hanako, while consumed by anger and grief
• Bittersweet Ending: Hisao is dead, but Lilly and Hanako have renewed their friendship.
• Broken Ace: Hanako is a best-selling author, but is also perhaps even more withdrawn than her time at Yamaku. By the end of the fic, the “broken” part appears to have faded
• Cannot Spit It Out: Sho in the epilogue.
• Captain Ersatz: From Word of God, Hanako's books strongly resemble Harry Potter.
• Cooldown Hug: Hanako to Lilly
• Death by Childbirth: Sho's mother
• Death Fic
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Subverted for Sho; he considers his father's suicide to be a selfish act of abandonment.
• Despair Event Horizon: Hanako nearly crosses it after hearing about Hisao’s death. Lilly crosses it after Hisao’s body is lowered into his grave
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Hanako’s remark that Akira is wearing girls’ clothing.
• Distant Prologue: The Bad Ending, eight years prior to the start
• Downer Beginning: It starts with the bad ending from Hanako’s perspective, so it’s naturally this. And it gets worse after she learns about Hisao’s death.
• Driven to Suicide: Hanako contemplates this at one point, but decides not to for Lilly’s sake. Sho's father did this after his wife died, and Sho considers this decision extremely selfish
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Hanako’s hair is shorter, while Akira’s is much longer.
• Fan Girl: Hanako has Julia and Lilly, among who knows how many others.
• Flat What: Hanako's reaction to finding out that Lilly was never angry with her.
• Full Name Ultimatum: Lilly uses it on Hanako during her You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: Hanako regarding Sho. This is true, but the events of the Epilogue change this
• Heroic BSOD: Lilly after Hisao’s funeral
• Heroic Resolve: Hanako suppresses her grief so that she can provide emotional support for Lilly
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Hanako does this quite a bit, partly due to her personality, and partly due to blaming herself for what happened between herself, Lilly and Hisao.
• Innocently Insensitive: One fan at the first chapter who wishes Hanako a happy birthday. The results aren't nearly as severe as what happens in her route, but she still finds the mention of her birthday to be painful.
• It's All My Fault: Hanako, Lilly and Hisao all blame themselves for what happened.
• Japanese Honorifics: Present at times, such as when Hanako's fans call her "Ikezawa-sensei" or "Ikezawa-sama".
• Luminescent Blush: Julia after Hanako waves to her.
• Meaningful Funeral: For Hisao, in Chapter 7
• Megane: Sho Yamane
• Men Don't Cry: Averted by Lilly and Hisao's fathers.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Hanako’s immediate reaction to her actions in the bad ending.
• Netorare Genre: Defied by Word of God and the fact that Hisao is dead.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye:Hanako and Lilly to Hisao, who died of a heart attack
• Nice Guy: Sho. One particular instance is not flinching upon seeing Hanako's scars for the first time.
• No Name Given: Akira’s boyfriend, the one she was dating in Katawa Shoujo and still is in this fic, is never referred to by name, and she tends to refer to him as “The Boyfriend”. Hanako has to ask whether he’s the same one she was dating in the past, and Akira says yes.
• Not So Different: Sho’s life story is similar to Hanako’s; he also lost his parents, grew up lonely, and also sought comfort in reading and board games.
• Not What It Looks Like: When Sho finds Hanako, her shirt is unbuttoned, and she only gets it buttoned up most of the way before Akira walks in, leading Hanako to say this.
• Obligatory Swearing: Hanako tends to use a fair amount of profanity in her narration.
• Original Character: Sho Yamane.
• Posthumous Character: Hisao
• Precision F-Strike
  • Lilly says "That's bullshit” when consumed by grief and rejecting Hanako’s attempt to console her.
  • While Akira tends to throw profanity around more often, her comment that she's "really fucking scared" for Lilly's well-being after Hisao's funeral also fits.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A distraught and grieving Lilly gives one to Hanako, accusing her of not understanding what it means to lose her most important person and of running away from anything difficult. While Hanako is upset by and agrees with what is said, she is able to take it in stride, knowing Lilly didn’t mean what she said.
• Reclusive Artist: Hanako, naturally. She does book signings, but is not entirely comfortable with them, and tries to avoid calling attention to herself when Julia the flight attendant recognizes her.
• Second Love: Lilly for Hisao (third if you count Iwanako) Sho for Hanako
• So Proud of You: Lilly to Hanako
• Sweater Girl: Hanako at the funeral
• Take That: To Twilight, as Sho says telling off Stephanie Meyer is a perk of his job.
• Visible Silence: Hanako's first reaction to hearing about Hisao's death.
• Walking Spoiler: Hisao, being dead is thus difficult to talk about without spoiling the plot.
• We Used to Be Friends: Hanako with Lilly and Hisao. Lilly thus has an awkward moment when she tells Sho how she knows Hanako, unable to say that they were anything more than schoolmates.
• Wham! Line

Lilly: "I-I’m sorry, but Hisao…. p-passed away ye-yesterday"
Sho: “I’m an orphan, you know."

• What the Hell, Hero?: Lilly was initially angry with Hisao for disregarding her advice and angering Hanako. Averted when Hanako is expecting to get one from Lilly, but does not.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Akira is no longer one, as Hanako notices she’s wearing girls’ clothes as a result of a career change.
• Widow Woman: Lilly
• World of Cardboard Speech: Hanako gives one to Lilly, telling her of her painful past, and the guilt she felt after pushing her and Hisao away to persuade her not to close herself off from others like she did.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Hanako says Lilly and Hisao kept the chess set around as a reminder of how terrible she was, Lilly forcefully responds that they did not feel that way and did so because they missed her.