The Test

The Test is a Katawa Shoujo romance fanfiction written by Ryan Nurse. Originally published as a one-shot story in August 2012, public interest led Nurse to write a second part the following month, and then to turn the story into an ongoing series. After the publication of Part 8 in August 2014, the series went on an informal hiatus until July 2016, when the story received a major overhaul, with several plot threads altered and a new chapter inserted between Parts 2 and 3.

A sequel to Lilly's route, The Test is written from her perspective, as follows her relationship with Hisao Nakai. Due to Lilly's blindness, the story features a notable lack of visual description. Despite being a romantic drama, one of Nurse's least preferred genres, The Test is by far his most successful literary project to date, with over 19,750 views, 85 followers and 77 favourites as of 22 July 2016. At approximately 14,000 words, it was his longest published work until Don't Say a Word surpassed it in 2014, and his longest published fanfiction until Pokemon: Shattered Crystal surpassed it in 2015.

Plot summary
'[WARNING: This summary contains spoilers for the work in question. Read at your own discretion.]'

The Test starts with Lilly, fearing she is pregnant, visiting Hisao at his apartment, as she needs him to read the result of her pregnancy test. Upon being presented with the completed test, Hisao suffers a mild heart attack, but Lilly manages to calm him down. When Hisao then reveals that Lilly is pregnant, a hormonal Lilly breaks down at the thought that she might end up neglecting it as her parents had. Hisao, concerned that she does not want the child, discusses Lilly's fears with her the following day, and the two resolve to raise the baby and overcome any challenges together.

Three weeks later, Lilly is laid up in bed with morning sickness when her sister Akira phones her, angrily that Lilly didn't tell her about her pregnancy. After a slightly heated discussion, Lilly's sickness flares up and she vomits over the carpet. Akira sends Hanako (who has recovered from her anxiety) to help Lilly clean up the mess, and in the process it is revealed that Hisao had proposed to Lilly a few days prior, having been told that they could not have the baby unless they were married. After initially being hesitant, not wanting to marry Hisao solely for the baby's sake, she eventually accepts, and invites Hanako to be her maid of honour.

A few weeks later, Akira takes Lilly to a custom-made bridal shop to try on her custom-made wedding dress; Lilly is overcome with joy and declares that it is "beautiful". On the night before her wedding, Akira invites Lilly and Hanako to an impromptu "hen night", despite her sister's protestations; the three girls get severely drunk and barely wake up in time to get to the wedding. Part 8 ends with Lilly walking up the aisle and joining hands with Hisao, telling him he looks beautiful; when Hisao asks how she knows, Lilly responds, "I just know."

Characters

 * Lilly Satou: The main protagonist, who is blind. Having graduated from Yamaku Academy, she now works at her father's company in Japan, having turned down a position in Scotland to be with Hisao. She and Hisao eventually become engaged.
 * Hisao Nakai: Lilly's boyfriend and later fiancé, who suffers from arrhythmia.
 * Hanako Ikezawa: Lilly's best friend, and the maid of honour at her wedding. A keen writer, she suffers from burns across a large part of her body, and is very shy as a result. In original drafts, an incident prior to the series' start had caused her to relapse, but in later rewrites she is a more confident, outgoing person.
 * Akira Satou: Lilly's older sister. Though she is sometimes slightly carefree and irresponsible, she cares deeply for her younger sister and tries to look out for her whenever possible.
 * Shizune Hakamichi: Lilly's cousin. Though she has not yet appeared in the series, she has been mentioned on occasion, and may yet appear later in the series.

Development
Nurse wrote Part 1 of The Test in August 2012. Like his other Katawa Shoujo fanfictions, The Hospital Visit and Signs, The Test was originally intended to be a one-shot story, ending on a permanent cliffhanger with the reader uncertain as to whether Lilly was pregnant or not. After readers demanded a resolution, however, Nurse wrote Part 2 the following month to resolve the cliffhanger; again, he intended for this to be the ending. However, this also proved an unsatisfactory conclusion, and after one reviewer noted the storyline's potential, Nurse was finally convinced to turn it into an ongoing serial.

Like many of Nurse's older projects, work on The Test slowed down considerably after he started university in September 2013: only two additional parts were published during Nurse's university tenure, the last coming in August 2014.

In July 2016, Nurse massively updated the story to bring it in line with his modern writing standards, and to address criticism and feedback. The "Parts" were renamed as "Acts", with each receiving a separate subtitle. Lilly's much-maligned breakdown at the end of Act 2 was kept, but the reasoning altered from not being able to see her child's face, to fearing that she may neglect it as her parents had neglected her. The sub-plot regarding Hanako's breakdown was also removed, with Hanako becoming a much more confident character.

Reception
The series has received mostly positive reviews, and is Nurse's most successful literary work by some margin. The relationship between Lilly and Hisao, and Nurse's general portrayal of the characters, has been well-received. However, some aspects of the story, such as Hanako's relapse in the original drafts, have been viewed less favourably. Nurse's initial refusal to extend the story beyond one or two parts was also criticized; this, combined with the story's success, led him to continue writing it.

The original ending of Act 2, in which Lilly breaks down over the thought of never getting to see her child's face, was panned by most reviewers for being extremely out-of-character. Nurse later explained that the outburst was due to "hormonal imbalances" caused by Lilly's pregnancy; Act 3 establishes that she is "slightly ashamed" of it. Nurse has also claimed that "my interpretation of Lilly, based on the [visual novel], is that she can't handle stress very well; that's why she gets a bit snappy at times, because it's all a bit stressful for her".

During the July 2016 edits, Nurse addressed much of the story's criticism, removing Hanako's relapse from the story entirely and changing the cause of Lilly's breakdown to a more logical one.