Let's make this new scene thing official:
ACT THREE, SCENE THREE - TAKUMA
Nope, Taku's not really doing anything that supersrs. He'a leading the vigilante corps towards the supermarket for guard duty, as agreed upon.
Apparently, Tano-san has told them to leave the Daichis alone, but Taku finds this prospect impossible. "What Daichi society? They should call themselves the Dumbass Society." Yeah, we know you hate the Daichis Taku-bro. Quite simply, in the current survival situation, they're endangering both the mental health and resources the Schoolers have (new ZakaTheory: the Daichis actually have other sources of food, they are intentionally depleting the goods of the supermarket to make the Schoolers join them). Takuma has many reasons to consider the Daichis in the wrong, both ethically and realistically.
Thus, insubordination.
Taku's gathered up everyone he knows really hates the Daichis for this job. Wonderful. Oh, and (callback to the bricks he picked up as a weapon a long time ago?) he instructs his men to pick up heavy rocks to keep in their pockets. To skip stones across the lake, obviously. Well, either that or because, as he says, stones might give them an edge against the enemy (who owned them last time, remember?).
There's nobody at the supermarket when they arrive. Of course, this leaves Taku feeling rather unfulfilled. Well, no matter, he decides to press on towards a place market "department" on the map; presumably where the Daichis acquire their supplies. They are to reconnoitre the area; Taku's justification is that the Daichis did the same to them - not quite claiming the moral high ground. Well, survival situation et cetera - oh, and maybe my ZakaTheory might actually check out!
There's a guard posted at the store. Taku is rather angry about this, as this means the Daichis have taken from the Schoolers, yet still persist in avoiding theft by others - hypocrisy!
Well, it's one guard and many vigilantes. What do? The discussion feeds the Daichi hatred, and they decide position themselves so the wind blows towards them, and then execute a simultaneous ranged attack using the rocks. The guy runs, dropping his flashlight. It turns out there were more guards, with two flashlight showing - so three? Perhaps. Could be a nasty surprise waiting, though.
They make contact, a Daichi shining his flashlight upon our not-so-heroes. He asks why the Daichis are guarding the place - it seems it's because there have been a lot of thefts lately. Taku calls them out on their hypocrisy. He also manages to spot one of the policemen, who is being partially hidden by another guy. After some further criticism, the man himself begins negotiations. Told that one of the Schoolers had a bone broken, he apologizes; rather sincerely, gravely. He eventually asks for the vigilantes to leave the two other guards alone. Taku accepts, and the other guards leave after some hesitation.
So, what shall the policeman do as repentance, he asks? Taku wishes for the man to disappear from the world. The policeman can't quite bring himself to do that, though. So why did the policebro do it? Was it fun? Did it feel good?
Yup.
Taku asks for more detail. Eventually, he gets "...The excitement and the pleasure was so great that I thought my brain would melt.". Well, well. He asks for forgiveness. Taku asks for the policeman's full story. Hmm, might be an attempt to instil some shame. So, tell us, from the beginning...
And he does. At the end, the policeman's still composed, though rather tired. The M.O. for the women before Nozomi was similar, as well.
When asked, the policeman claims he told the whole tale to Ryugeju-sama as well - and was still accepted. Well, this confirms Taku's hatred of the Daichis even more. Of course, he's picking the easy targets here; he's not exactly getting the full picture. On the other hand, why would he want to? Confirming your prejudices is much more informative, after all.
After Taku disses Ryugeju, the policeman gets rather annoyed, and reaches for his breast pocket, presumably containing his gun. Taku immediately thrusts his pipe at the man's chest. Energetic music plays.
The policeman is having none of it, and grabs Taku's pipe. Katou-kun, a guy who apparently has karate training, thrusts at the man, driving his stick at the guy's ribs. Following standard harm reduction procedure, the policeman assumes the fetal position as the Schoolers' blows rain down upon him. He tries to crawl away, which... is not a good idea. The show must go on, and they hit the guy until he stops moving, his clothes in tatters, his skin ripped, bleeding.
He's dead.
Not that Takuma cares.
He didn't actually have a gun, which I was actually semi-expecting. As the men begin to walk home, they spot a witness watching open-mouthed. They rush towards the guy. Fade to black.
ACT THREE, SCENE FOUR - TSUKASA
We open up to a moaning Yuka. She looks somewhat scared in the CG, but she appears rather aroused. Surprise sex scene!
Review
Annoyances: 4/10 points due to many Japanese Nos.
Titillation: 7.5/10? Still a bit short.
Not review
We don't really have much plot-related stuff happen in the scene, though we do have confirmation that Tsuka and Yuka have been at it a decent amount of times during their stay at the shelter.
They finish up their activities. They are resting under a nice warm blanket in the school building's music room, enjoying some brandy. Yuka makes a small, indirect poke at Tsuka perhaps not being extremely affectionate with her, though it's rather minor and quickly forgotten.
The topic of ghosts is brought up. I am slightly surprised to see Yuka dismiss them as quickly as Tsuka or Taku would. Well, considering how many died during the earthquake, she considers the amount of spiritual activity somewhat insufficient for belief.
Tsuka proceeds to think about what happens when you die. Do you simply disappear? If everything continued on in some form, that would be comforting. He further thinks about the wind, which in his mind produces an array of music tones and timbres. As Tsuka starts to doze off, his thoughts turn dreamlike. Unfortunately for Tsuka, his destiny is to always be interrupted in these moments, and thus he feels something on top of his body: Yuka has embraced him. Cute. She's thinking with a serious expression. Not cute.
What she's been thinking lately is that "Time doesn't go back.". It doesn't return, Tsuka agrees. Thus, we must value it, says Yuka. And then:
"I think the world ended. Or it's about to end."
Yuka encourages Tsuka to ask her why. Why, you ask? Because there has been absolutely no help from anyone from the outside. Thus, everyone else must be dead. QED.
She further compares the town they're in to Noah's Ark. Well, she knows it's impossible, she says - when Tsuka says so, at least. In the end, she says it's more of a comfortable fantasy. Instead, she predicts every single person in town will die there.
Yuka then ponders the meaninglessness of anger at their situation, if they won't get saved anyway. Kinda defeatist, in a way... Yuka's sad about people not just accepting this world-view. Tsuka doesn't quite know what to say.
After some more of this stuff from Yuka, Tsuka asks Yuka if she is in fact despairing? She kinda denies it. He tries to find the words he needs, and speaks. The essence of it is that people really can't help but struggle and suffer, unless they truly have given up on everything.
Yuka accepts the fact, somewhat unconvincingly... And the discussion of hope continues.
Some strain in the relationship shows; Yuka asks Tsuka to please love her in a way she can understand. Well, love her in general. Indeed, somewhat one-sided. She realizes she's been baring a little too much of her soul to Tsuka for comfort, and is a bit scared of what he thinks. She proceeds to somewhat guilt-trip Tsuka, who has actually been showing some anger and annoyance (presumably assisted by the alcohol), into kissing her. It tastes like alcohol - that is his only mental comment.
In the end, they agree to attempt to forget about the whole conversation.
They prepare to go to sleep again; Yuka murmurs "Amako-san no baka..." under her breath (quoted as "..." in the text), which Tsuka may or may not have heard (he probably did). Well, it's time to sleep for out couple. Good night!
Fade to black.
We open up in the gym. Fairly energetic music plays, mixing dnb influences with a more traditional game-music lead. It's a new track.
Looks like Yuka has reasons to despair. After Taku made the brilliant decision to kill Daichis, retaliations have been going back and forth. People are now being killed daily. Oh well, less mouths to feed...
Tanomura actually sent a letter asking for peace. It was not well received. Every man able to fight is training with sticks now, including Tsuka even though he's somewhat disabled.
Tsuka sits down for lunch; Hibari's finishing up hers. Tano's off having a meeting with Hida. It's about Takuma and his gang. They're under house arrest due to their selfish actions. Hmm "selfish" is used quite a lot; a bit of a Japanese thing there, I guess. Not many of the other vigilantes think Takuma did much wrong, though - they're actually supporting them.
Things are going rather badly in general, really.
Hibari asks Tsuka to think of something Aroe might be able to do well - things being as strained as they are, giving her a job would probably ease any criticism of her continued presence at the shelter. Tsuka agrees; Hiba leaves. She's actually really busy, despite her fairly slothful nature.
Tsuka exits the area, and notices someone being covered on a stretcher, covered in a white sheet. Someone must have died from illness again - they will probably die alone, as no relatives are seeing the person off.
Tsuka then goes to work putting up fences, focusing on repairing old ones where possible. The fences are adorned with barbed wire. Tsuka's at work when Hibari runs over, her expression showing the situation is urgent. ZakaTheory: Something's happened to Yuka.
As expected, I am wrong. Her face pale, she speaks somewhat desperately. It's not Yuka, it's Aroe! She's missing, of course. Probability of having been killed by a Daichi, or even a Schooler: medium. Tsukasa follows Hibari. She explains the situation along the way: Aroe was getting wiped down with hot water (no baths, takes too much resources) along with the kids. Unfortunately Hiba was not in charge of it, and the woman doing it was not aware of Aroe's idiosyncrasies. Tl;dr she tried to make Aroe wear socks. Aroe really dislikes socks and gloves, so she ran away naked, as is her wont. 'Twas about 30 mins ago she started running - however, given her nature she might still be, according to Hibari. The general opinion is that Aroe will come back once she gets too cold, but Hibari finds this somewhat unlikely. Unfortunately, there isn't really any easy way to tell where she went. Too many footprints, and there's a strong wind blowing. A few people are searching for Aroe at Hibari's command, but she wonders if they will really put their hearts into it. I mean, if Aroe is gone, a nuisance disappears. Hibari gets rather upset, sounding about 75% the way to tears.
They return to the shelter, and talk to the woman in charge of the washing. She's blaming it all on Aroe, which I can sympathize with somewhat. Hiba starts screaming at her. Tsuka butts in, ending this sillyness. Which direction did Aroe take after she left the gym? The woman does not know; she did not care to watch where Aroe went after a little while. Tsuka decides there is no more information to be gained from the lady, and our heroes exit the gym through the door Aroe used. It's time for Lost Without A Trace, Swan Song edition!
Hibari's past her anger and looks about to cry;she certainly sounds like it as well. The three people Hibari have helping her are actually searching inside the school area, which is unlikely to produce any results. Tsukasa agrees to search outside the school. He will go by himself. He suggests for Hibari to gather others, and the signal for Aroe being found to be a firecracker. After comforting Kawase-san in her fear about losing Aroe, he runs off.
ACT THREE, SCENE FIVE
Turns out that was an act, though - our hero has no idea where to go. He wanders the ruins with no real idea where to go, his ears blocked by the strong ambient wind loop (WHICH FUCKING SKIPS GODDAMN IT AND IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY). He eventually notices the sun's going down. He can't face Hibari if he doesn't find Aroe, though, so he heads for a place he knows is a long shot: the church. The lake is frozen over now: Tsuka doubts she could've made it that far naked, though. He's looking for a collapsed body now. Fade to black...
Tsukasa must have been really impatient. It might have been fatigue. It was dark... Anyhow, for some reason his vision suddenly spun around.
Uh oh.
He's fallen into a deep ditch, which is as wide as his waist. His face it turned sideways - he can't even look up. He can barely manage to breathe.
He begins to fade away, the cold getting to him - in the end, he mostly feels worthless for not succeeding in his endeavour. His mind's fading.
Right when he's about to fall unconscious, though, he thinks he hears people talking. It's possible he yelled back at them; he doesn't really know. He passed out at that moment.
He wakes up in an unfamiliar room. A mattress and a pillow has been placed on the floor - looks like he's been saved. Good stuff. It's a Japanese-style room, and he's wearing soft pajamas; there's a lit stove in the corner of the room, fed with coal. It's dark - it's still night. As Tsukasa moves his body, a sharp pain runs through it's lag - there's a brace on it, wrapped in bandages. It might be broken. Showing a profound presence of duty and a profound lack of reason, he decides he can't just lie on the bed. He has to carry out his mission to bring back Aroe. Well, maybe he won't try to walk around in search of her, which is presumably what Shirou would do. Summoning his Heroic Resolve against the incredible pain, he manages to make it to the door, at which point he hears a familiar voice...
