I think this looks better with a header.
Aaaaaand, in the end we get fairly happy, relaxing music again as our survivors celebrate New Year's Eve with some traditional, if sloppily made, soba. Looks to be some kind of soup; we are treated to a CG. A stray thought reminds me that soba shops often use hentaigana to write their signs. You may ignore that last sentence.
The food seems to include a much greater variety than I stated in the previous paragraph; there's dried octopus and lots of other stuff, apparently. Hibari gets minorly upset at the others teasing her - Yuka wisely remarks this is probably just a show of their affection. Additionally, Hibari finds being treated like a girl (perhaps specifically a Girly Girl?) disgusting.
Tsuka-chan, using his hearing superpowers, notices the new year being announced by church bells. The CD-player, which was playing the soothing music, is turned off again. As the group hears the gong strike midnight, they realize there are others left alive than themselves. There is some relief over this.
I will now make a ZakaPrediction. These generally have a poor accuracy rate, by the way. I predict that once they make it over the lake, conditions actually worsen as civilization has broken down; anarchy will reign. Why? Because we need more drama, and quite a bit more story, for the vn to really work. Other drama sources are the potential of someone falling into the ice-cold water (very dangerous), and someone else getting a fever or Yuka's getting worse. Alright, meta out.
And then Tanomura mentions that he's never heard of a temple with a gong in town. Oh, not church bells. Oh, ominous. Nevertheless, Tsukasa assures us that it's not just a recording using his finely-tuned hearing - a person is banging the gong, after all.
Takuma - Act 1, Chapter 4
We're shown a splash screen - apparently, Takuma is our new POV character. I can't say I like this, but oh well. Let us see how this goes, and if he will be more likeable after this.
Taku-chan wakes, and proceeds to tell us that he's quite depressed, diary-style - not just about the situation, though that's certainly a factor. Apparently, he's always melancholy when he gets up, and has a hard time doing it. I can kinda feel this; I guess I have some sympathy for him right now.
Apparently, Yuka's back to normal now. Taku finds her very cute, and thinks being around people isn't as bad as he though it would be. I guess he's pretty shy - would he qualify for Social Phobia, though? Perhaps - I have a personal interest in the subject.
We're treated to a flashback of when Takuma met Yuka (he uses -san). He definitwly has self-esteem issues, and considers himself extremely inferior in all social matters.
Yeah, he has social phobia, according to my incredible e-psychology. Yuka, having fallen over, causes a great conundrum for our not-so-hero. He considers what a normal person would do, and panics over whether he should help her up or not. In the end, things don't go as expected - she takes his instinctively offered hand, and thanks him! He does talk to her a bit over the following years, but never works up the courage to do anything like getting her mobile phone number.
On this christmas eve, he was playing an unnamed MMORPG. I suppose I would have been with my parents, even if I was normally living alone (I'm a NEET though, sowwy world). That hasn't stopped me from playing WoW on christmas eve, though, and I never considered it to be that bad. While Takuma did have fun online, but he does worry if this is really want to spend his life. He concludes that he's likely to spend his entire life this way, not without regrets - he hopes things will change.
And then the earthquake hits.
He survives without any injuries, then puts on a coat and walks outside. He does not acquire any supplies from his house - how silly. He checks on Yuka, having learnt where she lived by checking nameplates. It turns out she's alright, and with her friend Hibari. Yuka directs him to gather supplies, and he joins the two girls for a leisurely stroll in catastropheville after accomplishing this task. It's worth noting again that he brought his laptop with him - Chekhov's Gun or useless? Only people that are not me can tell.
After a rather uneventful walk, our somewhat-heroes see a light. Uncharacteristically it does not lead to a corpse, but to the church!
And that is How We Got Here.
After some angsting over crossing the lake and thus seeing more people, Taku-chan decides Yuka would like it better with more people around. He realizes he really likes Yuka, in fact. I suppose that's one way of motivating yourself - apparently, he's actually been working hard on building the raft.
The gosh-darned ambient loop containing the metal groaning noise is back, by the way. Ugh.
He's actually put together a raft now. It's stable - enough for three people. This, of course, means five lake-crossings minimum to get everyone across. Well, apparently the surface of the lake is fairly calm. I still worry about someone falling in, though. It might actually kill them, if portrayed realistically.
Random honorific info: Tanomura uses ore. It fits him, doesn't it?
Hibari, inspecting the raft for herself, is accompanied by Taku-chan. Hiba-chan unexpectedly brings up the subject of love - namely, Takuma's obvious romantic affliction with Yukacchi. At first he panics and denies it rather unconvincingly, but he is no match for the conniving Hibari. With a mischievous smile, she declares that if he doesn't make a move soon the new guy (Tsukasa) might well get her instead. Why does our Hiba-chan know such a thing? Because Yuka seems rather attracted to him - apparently this is one-sided for now (please do give me choices, game, Hibari is more interesting).
More honorific info: Takuma uses boku. This should be rather unsurprising.
Takuma wonders if this all means Hibari is on his side when it comes to pairing them. Eventually, she agrees. Zaka Theory: she wants Tsukasa for herself, and finds this a good opportunity to distract her rival. Heh, Hibari finds the idea of Takuma going out with Yuka rather repulsive - but apparently she can't help but aid the weak. Hibari's quite a nice person when not tsun, I guess? Hibariaffection++.
Wait, the raft can actually carry everyone? Oh well. ZakaTheories breaking, as usual.
As they arrive in the flooded part of the town, we're shown a CG of the damage, along with internal monologue pertaining to this subject. We're also shown a spelling error - "presense". Well, it is a free translation patch, after all. Can't complain.
A bird flies over them, casting a shadow on the water. According to Aroe, it's a swan - a partial Title Drop, I guess. Eventually, they find mysterious, unnatural disturbances in the snow, also known as footprints. New footprints, even. And indeed, Tsukasa soon hears voices using his super-senses. Before going to meet them, though, ever-resourceful Tano-chan reveals that he's brought a japanese sword - a family heirloom, apparently. He mentions that it might be useful as a weapon - Takuma is surprised, because he's silly like that. However, he realizes assuming everyone will be friendly is probably a flawed concept. Tanomura mentions that he's probably just being paranoid - but nevertheless, we're greeted by the second choice!
- Find some kind of weapon, broski, you never know
- Don't, bro - just chillax
No, not in those words. Now, what do we choose? Instinctively, I feel like bringing a weapon might be a good idea. However, having weapons may also start a fight, as they are threatening. Having a concealable weapon would be nice, but we can't count on Takuma being smart enough to realize this. Additionally, it's highly likely that he will hesitate to use it in a crucial moment. On the other hand, another guy in the party is already carrying a fairly obvious weapon. If they don't split up, this could make the threatening aspect moot. Takuma usually follows the two other males on trips, so it might be useful indeed.
In the end, it will be interesting to see if Takuma can actually hurt someone. This is likely to be a bad choice, but in the and, I choose to find a weapon.
Click.
He picks up two pieces of concrete and puts them in his coat pocket. Decently subtle, though it does cause a bulge. Not too bad, Taku!
As they stand in front of the building, they announce their presence, greeting whomever might be inside. A man slides a plank aside from a boarded-up window and answers - I don't like the feel of this guy's voice. Apparently, there are more people living with him in the house. But they aren't there right now... An ambush, or did he kill everyone inside? I have an incredibly bad feeling about this.
Tsukasa apparently frowned for a moment, which was noticed by our dear Yukacchi - as previously noted, she's paying a lot of attention to Tsuka-chan. It's likely something he heard that's made him uneasy.
Tsukasa - Act 2, Chapter 1
The man comes out without anything ominous occurring. Apparently, he was a police officer. He's wearing a police uniform, so he's probably not lying to put them at ease. After confirming that the police are no longer working as an organization, he invites them in for tea. But Tsukasa is worried. Guess: either hearing, or lack of footprints from people leaving the house. Hmm, apparently he's actually wondering if the policeman is still making his rounds. But no, these questions are just for information gathering, of course. Is he capturing any suspicious people? No. So is he keeping any prisoners? No.
But wait - he heard a woman and some noise from the house some time ago. The plot thickens! He claims it's his wife - but seems rather nervous about the whole deal. But his wife apparently lives somewhere else, and only comes there to make him meals...
Tsuka remains highly suspicious. Can we talk to your wife, then - with you addressing her from out here?
The man turns around, facing the building. Then he turns back towards them.
And shoots Tsuka.
