...In which much ado is made about prisoners, and a great deal of trouble experienced. Oh, and nude women.

HIBARI - ACT 2, SCENE 6

There are so many annoying things. I don't get it. They did something good, so why is nobody praising them?

That's right, we're now in Hibari's mind. Many, many things I wondered about her will perhaps be explained now. Also the first female perspective, although she's a bit... unfeminine. Also, as I learnt while playing XNote's Anon route, having your POV character be a Tsundere can be quite funny/cute.

Calm, somewhat melancholy music plays. Bringing back criminals to the shelter was a bit troublesome, given the lack of jails and such. I tell you, they should've just had a good old execution, but no, they had to let the troublesome bastards live. Jesus, where is the pragmatism here?

Or is it just because I like the idea of killing people? Oops. THAT SENTENCE DOES NOT EXIST. MOVE ALONG, READER.

Hibari's talking with Yuka, who explains the matter to her. She feels like Yuka's treating her like a kid, though. Hibari actually calls Tsukasa Yuka's husband - Interesting, I have to say. Oh, and she thinks Yuka might be treating her less kindly due to her having a man now - jealous much? Hmmmmm.

Hibari sulks. Tsuka, when asked for his opinion on the matter, gives us a thoughtful, composed view of the matter. First of all, as Yuka's previously mentioned, the people of the shelter don't really have any judicial power. For some reason, this is important. Normally they would be handed to the police, of course. Temporary detainment until order is restored is perhaps the best option, yes. Huh, maybe I'm actually thinking a bit like Hibari here... But yes, it's difficult to confine people when there are no cells.

And then, Tsuka calmly describes the other option, which I have been fervently arguing for; giving the murderers and rapists the death penalty themselves. In the end, he concludes that this is a troublesome dilemma altogether - which is why our returning heroes were not praised for their actions. Hibari refuses to accept this attitude - but it's actually held by many in the shelter.

...And Yuka rationalizes, saying someone else might've done something about them. I'm actually disgusted. Well, then, what does Hibari think should be done about them? Asks Yuka. Yay, choice point! Fuck, fuck yes.

I think we should lock them up
I think we should kill them
I think we should release them
I don't know

You know what I think by now. I think we should kill them.

The conversation continues revolving about the difficulties in executing people. W Ho would do the execution, not everyone will consent, yadda yadda. Meh, maybe I can make Hibari hold the (metaphorical) axe or something? I hope for such an option. Hibari:"You hang bad people in western movies too, right?"

...You're not helping, damn it.

However, the next point Tsuka brings up is valid: this would be an act of a more savage society. Could set a precedent for our settlers. Cause disorder... Damn, man. I tell you, they should've killed them on the spot damn it.

In the end, Hibari repeats that she's miffed at the bullshitting about Taku and Tano and quits the discussion. It's just as well, I guess. She leaves in a rather bad huff.

She finds Tanomura outside; he's the same carefree guy as always. Apparently there's actually a meeting going on about what to do about the captives, but they're taking a break.

Hibari mentions an interesting of Tano's character: he never speaks about himself. Actually, Tanomura is his last name. Haven't heard his first name yet, actually. Hibari mentally calls him a jerk here; whether this is actually pervasive or simply tsundere-ness is anyone's guess at this point. Hibari asks what he feels is the right option, but he evades answering and defers to consensus instead. However, he lets something interesting slip - his feelings on violence are different from all the others'.

In the end, Tano feels he wants to keep them locked up. Hida drops in to say hello, asking where Aroe is. Playing with the kids in the back yard, apparently. Also, Hiba's scary, apparently. Crap, this is going to be confusing.

Hiba thinks Hida-san looks weak-hearted and unreliable, not like what she's heard of him. She asks him the same question she asked Tano, and gets the same answer: keep them locked up for now. Looks like the camp is quite split on the issue, though - Hida-san gives roughly the same argument about the society growing more savage that Tsuka did.

The melancholy music stops playing, and is replaced by an ambient wind loop. Hibari mentalogues, whining about various annoyances such as lack of snacks, her clothes being dirty, being considered in charge of Aroe, being alone and trying to not show too much emotion, people being strained recently... And wishes people would be less negative, and appreciate that the girl was saved and stuff.

Hiba collapses on the table, tired of it all, longing for creature comforts and wondering how her cat is doing. And then off-handedly wondering about her parents' situation, too. In the end, we fade to black; Hibari seems to be quite a bit more shaken by the events than she might seem from the outside. Is this a bad dream? Can she please wake up from it?

Well, she can wake up from dreaming, courtesy of Tano. She wasn't asleep. She was just thinking. Ok. She was also drooling. How very cute.

Apparently, the admins(awesome) didn't reach an agreement. They're continuing tomorrow...

Well, it seems near everyone's convinced executing them will be best, though Hida-san opposes. The exact method, however, is still up for debate. Heh. Hiba-chan then instead empathizes with murderers; Tano says they seem to be normal people now. They have futures, relatives... Can't they reform? Hmm, maybe picking the kill option was out of character; then again Hiba is never the most collected when it comes to... well, anything. It's a bit disconcerting to be inside such an inconsistent mind, I have to say. You never know what's going to happen...

Tano is bonding a bit with Hiba. In a characteristically Japanese gesture, he puts his hand on her head. Tano personally think it will end up with a whole bunch of nothing, and the murderers will just be locked up in the end. We shall see.

The morning after, everyone's mood is subdued by the upcoming meeting. Hmm, apparently the villain who was stabbed is still alive. I kinda wonder how that worked out...

Well, things were getting too borepressing, so let's go play with the children, Hibari-chan. Cheerful music plays. App... It seems... It occurs that... She mentions that they've taken in quite a few dogs. Aroe's trapped her favourite poodle, and Hiba plays with the big dogs, which she likes (but not as much as cats). Satou (hmm, wasn't Yuka then) bemusedly says Hibari's just like a child. Mixed feelings ensue.

Hibari mentalogues that she hates kids because they don't take her seriously, even when she's angry. In the end, she seems to be pretty split about everything, even inside her head... Well, she likes playing with them, at least. Then a kids asks if they can see the bad guys. Hiba-chan agrees after some hesitatiion; she wants to see them too, after all.

Followed by a gaggle of kids, Hiba-chan attempts to penetrate the school building, where the prisoners are kept with their arms and legs tied. After seeing the front entrance blocked by three people, she naturally goes for the back instead. It's only one guy, and she knows him from school... Which gets her nowhere. The kids are not very understanding and bothers the guard about it, but Hibari changes her mind. We can't leave the scene all boring like that, though, so one of the prisoners suddenly becomes visible in a window, locking Hibari's eyes with his. He's tied up with wires somehow, which prevents him from actually escaping - this does not prevent him from screaming "please forgive meeee!" rather crazedly, however. The guy's pretty scared of something, maybe being sentenced to death by vigilante justice or something trivial like that. He proceeds to make a short, desperate appeal for people to at least listen to him - they don't even think his words are human words, he says. Somewhat sympathetic, and if this wasn't a somewhat apocalyptic setting I would totally agree to a long prison sentence instead of the death penalty. So yes, he should die.

Apparently the prisoner is being treated somewhat inhumanly, his wrists tied so hard his hands are discolored. He continues his appeal, rationalizing and saying he only realizes what he had really done now, being numbed by the blah blah blah blah I don't give a shit. Hibari, however, is very unnerved, and answers him fairly apologetically. She gets so stressed by the situation she's about to collapse - what should she do? She eventually just can't stand the man pleading for his life and runs off, denying him. Her foot catches in the snow, and she loses a shoe - but she continues without it, running on just her sock, until she's finally around the corner. Aah, an escape from morality questions, how nice.

Fade to black and into the gym, where Hibari is watching Aroe happily singing (badly) to herself while lining up Go pieces as usual. Everyone else of the main characters seems to be gone; Hiba wonders where they could be. Hmm, an admin meeting about the prisoners again, perhaps?

Aroe has given the brooch Hiba gave her away, apparently. Aro-chan does not understand that this is a problem. Hiba is a bit upset, but knows she'll probably get it back eventually. Apparently Aroe tends to cling to her stuff - which means she didn't like the gift anyway :(.

Aroe being Aroe, however, it turns out she actually gave the brooch to the prisoner. We find this out due to her repeating "save me save me save me save me I want to live help meee" and similar; in a singsong voice, as is her wont.

Hibari-chan gives up on reaching Aroe in frustration and just tries to sleep, feeling like the prisoner's staring at her from under her eyelids as she closes her eyes.

Perspective switch.

Takuma

Takuma's been trying to talk to the girl he helped rescue. Her name is Koike Nozomi. He's sitting alone with her, and has been at it for the entire day, just like yesterday. She hasn't made much sense so far, understandably rather out of it due to her previous sub-par living conditions. She's on some kind of sedative right now, and finally able to make some sense. She's fairly uneasy in his presence. Why is Taku there, since he's a man and all, you might ask? She asked him to stay. Besides, he doesn't feel welcome at the shelter anymore, and certainly doesn't want to hang out with Tsuka and Yuka 'cause that bit of heartache will take a while longer to stop hurting. Maybe, he can be useful here.

He's got his own anxieties, though. Apparently he's a champion at unintentionally offending people (possibly misinterpreting) - so he mostly listens to her, responding only when needed. This might be a good approach anyway, of course; whether Taku knows this or not is another matter. Heh, I am personally filled with sympathy right now. Of course, this makes me want to hug people, which would probably not really work in this situation.

The girl ran away from where she was sheltering after the earthquake hit, apparently; she didn't like it there. She just didn't fit in with the people she lived with, taking long walks outside to escape their presence - then one day, she met these guys... Takuma cautiosly says she shouldn't talk about it, as it might be painful to her, but she determinedly asks him to listen to her.

Taku sums up the story - she was caught, and it was indeed painful - but even more, it was a frightening experience, leaving her memory of the days scrambled. Takuma is sad, not because of he girl's tale, but because such a cruel role was given to the girl - a victim of rape:

"The girl in front of me is a victim of rape. She used to be filled with many peaceful, normal factors such as what school she goes to and what musician she likes. But now, the fact that she's a victim of rape has crushed every other characteristic of her."

Philosophizing, he extends this to everyone after the disaster - everyone's normal colors have been lost and they are defined by being victims of the disaster rather than students or salarymen or whatever. He doesn't like it. He feels forced into a role of treating her as just a rape victim, and more and more she is being defined as such herself, and he knows it. It's depressing. Can he change this up? He tries desperately to come up with something, and fails just as hard, causing self-hate.

In the end, he bleats out a non-sequiteur, which only leads to Nozomi (I'm going to use her name now, I thinks) complaining of a hallucinated bad smell coming from her body. She then asks him for her old clothes, as she feels too dirty for her clean bed and clean clothes (her old clothes have been washed, but presumably they're still symbolically dirty). I would probably have refused to get them, because she should be wearing clean clothes because she isn't dirty, dammit, and wearing her old clothes for such a reason is just further assuming the persona of a rape victim. In the end, Taku finds himself unable to refuse her, and she changes behind a curtain while Taku's still in the room (she doesn't want him to leave, as she's scared of being alone). Of course, she's not going to just change, and before I even clicked forward I was debating the ethics of having sex with the girl at this point. Indeed, Nozomi opens the curtain, and Taku is freed of being in the same room as a naked woman - or so he thought, because she is in fact standing right in front of him stark naked. A CG is provided; sadly he face is pretty meh in this one. He turns around again, thinking he's done the wrong thing by picking those clothes, but no - Nozomi has a request for him. Can he please take a good look at her? She can't convince herself of something, but maybe it's just her... How vague. Taku, being incredibly nervous with women, still refuses and says a woman would be a better candidate for such an inspection. Unfortunately, Nozomi can't trust anyone except him it seems. Takuma saved her, though, so he gets a pass - cute.

Takuma has certain trouble looking at nude female bodies, which Nozomi registers as confirmation of her body being strange. She feels her body smells bad, and she just can't get rid of it. Is her body... Rotting somewhere?

Scene switch to outside the shelter. Apparently, in the end Koike couldn't support herself and started crying loudly - and Taku embraced her naked body until she was finally spent. Well, at least my idle speculation about sexual activity was subverted. Like Hiba, Taku's having trouble sleeping these days. Interesting fact: The guy Taku stabbed is in a coma. His personal opinion on the prisoners is this - he feels it's almost unfair to expect them to make up for what they've done, and they can't really be kept prisoner easily anyway, so in the end it's best for both them and society that they die. Takuma blames himself for not killing them on the spot (actually he says him, but that would still leave two guys...). He thinks about the whole deal with people unable to decide on executing the prisoners, even though it really should be done; and he decides on something. He walks toward where the murderers are being kept. He can't get in through the front entrance, so he heads to the back... But nobody's there. Hey, where is that guy? Oh shit, he's lying in the snow. Dead. Garrotted.

Oh shit, our prisoners have become runaways. The energetic, somewhat ominous DnB track plays. They're still nearby, though - the corpse is still warm. Taku firmly grips the knife he's stolen from the kitchen and gets ready for the hunt, improvising a weapon using the knife, wire and tape. I'm not entirely sure what he did with it.. Well well. After responsibly making sure the shelter inhabitants are on guard, and the prisoners are not left in the building, he proceeds to track them using their footprints. Hmm - he follows them for awhile, then loses the trail at a place loaded with the footprints of other people. He looks around, but can't find them, and worries that there are lots and lots of places they could be hiding. Should he:

Report back to Hida-san at the gym for directions
Keep tracking the runaways

Hmm, tough one. The guys have proven themselves capable of skilled violence, but Taku holds a nice force multiplier in his knife. I feel Takuma might have a decent shot at making it, and besides killing people is fucking badass (I'm coming off as rather bloodthirsty today for some strange reason...). On the other hand, he might die, which would be tragic (not necessarily a bad end though; there are bad ends with story, though). Of course, it could end up with the guys actually attacking the shelter too. There is zero guarantee Taku will find them, or live, or anything really. And if he dies, Nozomi is pretty fucked too. This really is troublesome. In the end, though, I choose to Keep searching for our fugitives from knify justice, because bad ends can be fun too. Oh crap, I didn't save before the choice. How silly.

He starts deducing their location, then stalks ahead. He feels presences in the shadows, and recons the area. We're shown a small graphic on top of the background - apparently Taku has made something spear-like with the knife. Excellent. Taku finds them, and listens to them talking, losing his nerve. In somewhat of an echo to previous circumstances, he decides to get backup... And then the the murderers notice Aroe walking around. As one would expect, they plan on taking her hostage, which Taku cannot allow, of course. He's a bit late, though; Aroe walks up to them... Taku plans his attack, and further problems arrive in the form of a concerned Yuka-san. Well, actually a distraction. He attacks, and disables one guy then goes for the next. Unfortunately he hesitates at the final moment, and the guy fiercely counterattacks, breaking his shoulder and generally pwning him into unconsciousness. We switch perspectives to an unidentified person, who arrives at the scene just as Taku's rendered unconscious. The guy is Tsukasa. The murderer takes Yuka hostage due to her massive spot-check fail. Tsuka, however, hears the other man (hit fairly badly by Taku, I think, but not extremely, perhaps). He calls the reinforcements off following Yuka. Aroe walks out of the room she was in, unconcerned. The guy inside has a different plan, though, and charges out, trying to knife Tsuka and Aroe. Tsukasa pulls Aroe and they manage to dodge, and the man is soon subdued. Tsuka decides to follow Yuka and murder-boy's trail, asking the others to come after him when possible. He runs off. Yuka's obediently following, apparently, which to be fair is probably wise as the guy could just off her in a second then run on. Tsuka eventually wonders what exactly he can do, given his lack of combat proficiency, but continues his pursuit nevertheless. Eventually, he tracks the man to a building.

Tsukasa searches for a weapon, then hears a sound from the house. What shall he do?

Wait for help here
Go in by himself

Tsuka can't handle this by himself, I feel. I choose to Wait for help. I guess Yuka might get raped or killed, but oh well, shit to do. I don't really like her that much anyway.

Sadly, reinforcements do not arrive. He finds the man asleep, and Yuka likely raped. His heart aches, which indicates he might feel something for Yuka, after all. He enters. He notices something strange: he can't hear any breathing. He touches Yuka; she's cold. Dead. Tsuka drops his axe in shock, waking the man. Tsuka does not handle himself very well, and soon he's in a very precarious situation of the man he opposes holding his axe. He strikes back for a bit, but eventually he's chopped through with the axe. The energetic music stops. It's a fatal wound. He embraces Yuka's body as he falls, the screen having faded to red.

We are returned to the title screen. Bad End, I guess. Oh well, time for some Save Scumming!

This time I go in alone. Tsuka sneaks up, planning his attack, nervous yet attempting to hold his focus. His opponent's ordering Yuka around; he seems tired. He announces his intention to rape her. He asks Yuka to just let him be gentle though - the guy's desperate, knowing he will die soon anyway. He says he'll think about not killing Yuka. Of course, this is bullshit, as we learned during our previous timeline. Tsuka enters, and managed to cut the man's wrist more or less off; it hands on by the skin. Tsuka advances, and the murderer trips over Yuka in fear. Tsukasa administers a killing blow to his forehead, amidst much [[Gorn Gornful]] description of his eyes popping out of their sockets, his body convulsing in death, and other such pleasantries. The murderer's most definitely dead, though.

Yuka (shown with a blood-spattered face in a vertical insert graphic on top of the background) seems to be having an asthma attack, but Tsukasa gets her her inhalator quick, so no such problem at least. Yuka's rather shocked, but Tsuka speaks to her calmly, as usual. She starts asking him something, but then nandemonais it just after. Hmm, how will seeing her boyfriend kill someone affect her? Fuck if I know.

Tsuka takes her to an adjacent room and starts cleaning her up, including stripping off her clothes for whatever reason. This rewards us with a CG displaying boobage. She wipes him down in the same manner afterwards. Hmm, this could get pretty cold. Tsuka's rather shaken with the whole killing people thing, and feels like it was too easy for him. He even blames himself for killing the guy in such a disturbing manner, where if he hadn't sucked so much in combat he could've done it cleaner, somehow. He feels like saying something, but stops. Yuka, however, drags it out of him:

"...It feels like it was me who died there. I may be dead. That's what it seems like. But I'm the one who did the killing. What is this? ...Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She kinda doesn't.

Amako-san, as she calls him, wishes to check on the body, but Yuka softly but firmly denies him. It somewhat echoes Taku's sitation with Nozomi earlier, doesn't it? It's soon clear that Tsukasa wasn't speaking metaphorically.

Yuka hugs him, saying she really likes him; he does not say he likes he back, but is audibly affected. Telling him not to think too much, she kisses him.

The kiss tastes like blood.

Live Blogs ...In which a slacker plays Swan Song
Zakamutt2012-12-16 19:50:18

META

HIBARI - ACT 2, SCENE 6

Takuma

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Live Blogs ...In which a slacker plays Swan Song Zakamutt2012-12-16 19:50:18

META

HIBARI - ACT 2, SCENE 6

Takuma

No Comments (Yet)

Live Blogs ...In which a slacker plays Swan Song
Zakamutt2012-12-16 19:50:18