Part 27: 06/21/09 - 06/25/09

Alright, so today we're hanging out with Chihiro. This is gonna be very necessary, yes.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



But...

> Chihiro looks scared.

I'm worried about the missing money...

> Chihiro's expression darkened.

I hope it was just some kind of mistake...



There's no thief.
...N-No. you're right. There couldn't be.
As a member of Student Council, I shouldn't be making accusations like that.
I should follow your example more, Makoto-san...



> Today, you two became a lot closer...

+45 points towards next rank, even. Generally speaking, that's more than enough to guarantee a level up every time.



But, uh, since we're "dating" Chihiro, we can give her a specialised item.



In particular, things like these. We can buy a thing for Chihiro that is one of the "best" options at the school store.

But both of these that we got from Tanaka are still valid. We'll go with Perfume since we have plenty of it.



W-Wow...
Um... Can I really have this?
Thank you!



Both the Perfume and the Brand Purse are an extra 10 points to the next rank. Which is, really, plenty considering the "date" gives a minimum of 30 anyway.

...The ideal gifts are, uh, +50 which is ludicrous and will almost always go entirely to waste.



We didn't even need to use the Perfume to get this, but we'll take advantage of it anyway. The rank up at the next real hangout are why we bothered with this in the first place, yeah.

Iwatodai Dorm



As a change, there's no-one downstairs in the dorm at all. I wonder if there's anyone here, period...





...And now, the news.

B-Black Condor?! No!



The gang are all up on the second floor, which is nice.

I wish I was a dog, so I could get girls' attention...
Don't you think Akihiko-senpai would look good with a dog?
Not an unusual one, just an ordinary, playful dog...
Yeah, that's true.
I could see them running on the beach together...



What kind of dog do you think would be good for Mitsuru-senpai?
Hmmm...
I can't see her with a dog...
She'd probably have a doberman.
And she'd feed it filet mignon...
Junpei-kun... I think you've been reading too much manga...



Yeah, there's no Tartarus tonight but that's fine. We weren't planning on going anyway.



At least not while there's still some coffee to drink. We're gonna want to max out Charm fairly soon now, really.



Academics is gonna be Academics, though. I'm sure it'll be fine by the time it matters...



Want To Be Close (Reincarnation) / Time



The night before last... The 12 Shadows... Tartarus...
Isn't there just too much we don't understand?
True...
It's starting to get to me...



Many European countries don't serve octopus. because they're feared as "devilfish."
My darling, for example, won't touch octopus. Last time I made pasta for him...

> Mrs. Terauchi continued to talk about octopi as food...

But octopi aren't the only undersea creatures that are called "devilfish."



Of manta rays, squid, and jellyfish...
Which of these is NOT known as a "devilfish"?
(I didn't even know octopi were devilfish! How am I supposed to know this!?)
(Hey Makoto, what do I say?)
(...Jellyfish?)
Good going, Junpei!



ughhhhhhhh

...It was just a joke.
Hahah! Just plain common sense, Mrs. T!
(Thanks, Makoto! I almost looked like an idiot...)



Alright, so it's a Monday which means most of our normal preferred options are unavailable right now. We could spend time with Kazushi, but he won't rank up and that won't even push it close...



So, Fuuka? Sure, Fuuka.

Joy



Would you mind trying some of it...?
I think it'll taste better than last time...
...At least, it can't be any worse, right?

> This food looks better than the food she prepared last time.



Well, here's something unexpected. Hey there little buddy.



You can sort of see the cat here through the text box, but it's not super clear.

...Oh, a kitty cat!
Aw, he's so cute.
He looks hungry, doesn't he?
Here, kitty kitty.
Maybe I should give him some food. What do you think, Makoto-kun?

I think that might be considered animal cruelty...

Sure.
I was hoping you'd say that.



It makes Fuuka happy, sure, but...



The cat's survival instinct tells it to get outta dodge while it still can.





Huh...?

> The cat ran away...

Wait, was it the food...?

> Fuuka tasted some of the food she prepared.



Hmm... I must've left it out too long...
...S-Sorry, Makoto-kun... Please don't eat any of this...
...I don't want you to get sick...

> Fuuka seems discouraged.

*sigh* I'm so disappointed...



And, there aren't many chances to eat homemade food when you live in the dorm...
So I thought it would be nice to make lunch for everyone, but...
*sigh* I need to get better at cooking.
Maybe with your help, Makoto-kun, I can.

> Fuuka seems to need your help.

> Your relationship with her has grown...





I'd be happy if you'd be willing to taste test my food again.
Well, I'll see you later.

> You have decided to go back to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm



Well, it's still on the fritz, so I checked it out, but...
I dunno, dude. I don't wanna just press buttons at random. y'know?
Sooooo... It's all up to you, buddy!

We'll go and check that out shortly, but first we'll do our usual rounds.



It is also growing stronger and faster.
It is similar to Takeba's Persona, however mine is more offensive-minded as opposed to support-oriented.



Apparently, there was an unexplained explosion near our school ten years ago...
At the same time, a large number of students refused to go to school...
The news reports stated that the incidents were somehow related.
Isn't that fascinating...?



...why do they turn into coffins...?
Are they pretending to be dead?
I heard that works if a bear is about to attack you...
...Actually, I just made that up.



Police are investigating the possibility of arson. For our next story...





...Wait. What?! This seems pretty important!

The police are currently searching for any evidence relating to the incident.

Damn, that was super heavy and kind of seemed like a bigger deal than we're implicitly being told it is?

Oh well, let's check out the computer in the meeting room.

Mitsuru Kirijo Ace Detective
highly recommend you just watch this instead really

Silence





Mitsuru and... Officer Kurosawa... huh? An unlikely pair.



By the time I realized the door was halfway open, his room was already in this state.
I've left the place untouched. as you requested.
...Whose room is this?



I've been attempting to reach him on his cell phone, but he hasn't responded in the last 30 minutes.
......
It was careless of me to let my guard down... This dorm has been attacked in the past...



...I hate to say it, Miss Kirijo, but this is most likely--





Iori!?
Where were you? I've been trying to contact you!



*sigh* Well... I'm just glad you're safe.



Theft!?
What else could it be? Someone clearly tore through the room looking for something.



Well, that sounds a bit... insanely extreme!



How about it, Iori? Was this room, in fact, vandalized?
Uh... Heh heh... Well...
My room always looks like this...



B-But...
You can't possibly live here in this state, can you!?
A-And... the door was open.
Oh, right... I wanted to air the place out while I was gone. No one we don't know ever comes around, so...
......
I think this case is closed. May I return to my duties, Miss Kirijo?
Oh... yes...





It seems my upbringing may have been more sheltered than I realized...



What's the deal with you calling the police over a messy room, anyway!?
What did I do to deserve this!?
Hey, wait...



> The recording ends here...

End

Welp, poor, poor Junpei. Worst luck indeed.



Meanwhile, we're having great luck apparently. We just hit Charm 4 like a couple of days ago and we already got it to 5?!



I'm definitely not complaining about that at all. We're definitely gonna hit max before its needed at this pace.

Middle of the Night
very definitely should just watch this instead



There's over 2 weeks before the next full moon, still. I think Pharos is a little early this... time...

The Voice Someone Calls



This isn't our room. This is...



Some unlucky schmuck who's gonna get ganked by a Shadow? But we already saw that...

How the heck did I--







...Well, this is different.



And this is a guy voiced by Derek Stephen Prince. Well, alright then.

Truth be told, we all visit this world every night.
Wh-What are you saying? Who the hell are you?



And here's Grant George for the third time this game. Sure, okay.

Take a look.
Name, address, age, etc... This is you, right?
Wha--!? Where did you get this!?



Revenge!? What kinda bullshit is this!?
Who put you up to this!?
Can't tell ya. We're professionals.
"Professionals"...?
Oh shit...





...Is that... "revenge" huh? That's a gun. Shirtless Cowboy has a gun. Well then.

Hey... W-Wait... I haven't done anything!
Why me!? What'd I do!?
That is not our concern.



People hear what they choose to hear, and believe what they want to believe.



N-No... Stay away...



You gotta appreciate Generic NPC Yuri Lowenthal trying to run from the guy with a gun. That's gonna go well I'm sure.

You squeal most magnificently!
Such raw emotion!





And, finally, the gothic lolita here is voiced by Mona Marshall. Neat.

Doesn't matter...
We've held up our end of the bargain.



If there's nothing else...
I'm feeling rather tired.

End

Well, I guess that explains the dead body mentioned on the news but it raises many new questions.



Want To Be Close (Reincarnation) / Time



Listening: Revenge request...? What's that?
Gossiping: You can write the person's name you want to get revenge on, and bam! Mission accomplished. They say it's guaranteed successful, and completely anonymous.
Listening: Seriously!? Give me the URL! Quick!
Gossiping: Well... It's just a rumor... I mean, I don't know the details... Why are you so desperate...!?
Listening: Huh? I'm not... I'm not thinking about revenge at all.
Gossiping: ......

> The first bell has rung.

And this gives us a bit more of an explanation of that scene we just saw. Feels a bit backwards, with how quick this happened. Maybe should've been more of a delay before we got this little bit, rather than have it be immediate, if it was going to come after the scene itself.



As for our important time, we'll be seeing Chihiro today. It should be obvious why, really.

Joy



No one's said anything to me, but... I know what they're all thinking...
I can't take this anymore... I... don't want to be here...



I... I'm going to go check out some books...



That girl in Student Council... The sophomore... with the long hair and glasses. The one who's always reading.
I hear she stole the class's money...



I hear she has no father...
There's no way they could have any money, since her mom only works part-time.
How could it NOT be her!?
She has such an innocent face, though...



He's checking us out, isn't he!?



...Let's go outside. I'll tell you the whole story.



...c-couldn't find it...

> Chihiro looks like she's about to cry...

...Let's get out of here.

> You left the library.

Living With Determination



The only time I feel safe is when I'm with you, Makoto-san...
I have no one else to turn to in school...
Talk to the teacher.
R-Right... I gave the money to him, so I should ask for an explanation...



B-But, what if he thinks I'm accusing him of stealing? N-Now I'm scared...
...I-I may sound like I'm weak, but I'm fine! Really, I am!
I don't think it's right for me to always be counting on you, Makoto-san...

> Chihiro is on the verge of tears.

> Despite what she said, you sense that Chihiro needs your support.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





Excuse me...

> You decided to go back to the dorm.

Akihiko and Shinjiro

Troubled



We're getting a fair few scenes as of late, huh...

Server: Coming right up! One house special!



Shut up.
You always eat that protein shit.
Hmph...



...You still haven't made up your mind?
...Is that what this is about?



Things have changed quite a bit since you left. We're more aggressive now.
I'm not interested.
Think about it, Shinji. Don't let your power go to waste.



Shinji!
I made up my mind a long time ago. I ain't going back.
You have to let the past go.
What's done is done. It's time you moved on.



What?
Face it...



End

Iwatodai Dorm



Try to increase your strength as much as possible before then.
Two weeks, huh. I wonder what it'll look like this time...
I have to admit, the suspense is killing me...
You're starting to sound like Akihiko.
Just remember, this is not a joke.
That reminds me... Why is he not back yet?
He's prolly eating or somethin'.

Junpei, you're not meant to be watching the other cutscenes as well. Jeez.



You can tell them apart by looking at their masks.

Also, Junpei being this aware and attentative seems weird. It's getting really hard to believe he's meant to be "the dumb one" for many reasons, honestly.



If he's going to be late, he should at least have the courtesy to call me.



Secret powers that only we have...
It's too bad we can't tell anyone about them.



The expressionless girl has since been led away by police. A number of these cases have been cropping up, causing extra problems for the police force...

Apathy Syndrome's effects are getting... very different to "sits in the corner of a room", huh?

Anyway, let's see, it's Tuesday so...



Tanaka's good. Sure, let's learn a thing or two.

This Mysterious Feeling



You know, these days, even a first grader knows how to buy stocks online.
How about you? Are you interested in stock trading?
Not really.
What a pity.... The stock market is the future of investment.
Or, are you just hedging your bets? You're a shrewd investor, my boy.



My company just went public.
Since our sales have been skyrocketing, we decided to sell shares. And guess what...?
The number of shareholders skyrocketed too.



It's kind of a great cycle, from a business perspective. It's not that useful as a story, though. What should we be learning from this? You can become successful by already being successful?

They keep buying more Of our products, so of course the stock will rise!
...Isn't that hysterical? You should learn to appreciate the irony.
I'm thinking of offering you a job, so you should come up with some stories of your own.

> You listened to President Tanaka passionately share his advice.

> You feel like you understand him a little better now.





If you go back on your word, I'll find where you live and ring the doorbell every night at midnight!

This seems like it'd be a bit more of an issue for you than it would be for me. A bit of a hunch, that.

> President Tanaka left.



And before we do anything else, we'll make plans to spend Sunday with Chihiro again.



This time we're accepting the invite for two reasons. The date on Sunday, of course, but also because simply accepting it also gives 10 points towards a rank up.



Want To Be Close (Reincarnation) / Time



...Sort of.
Oh, you noticed it too?
She's been thinking way too hard about Tartarus n' stuff.
I mean, who cares!? Right?

Junpei's start of the day conversation here is all we have today, so we'll skip right to hanging out with... uhh...



Keisuke? Yeah, Keisuke's fine with me.

Joy



> The hours flew by while you were having fun.



> Fuuka is grimacing.

What's wrong?
This has been happening to me a lot lately...

> Fuuka seems to be in pain.

I just have a little headache... It's no big deal, really...



Where are you experiencing the pain? Is it on one or both sides of your head?
...Can you describe the pain? Is it dull? Aching? Throbbing?

> Keisuke is trying to determine exactly what is wrong with Fuuka.



Looks like Fuuka-san's not going anywhere for a while.
Playing doctor?



It doesn't matter when or where, either.
And, he doesn't stop until he knows exactly what it is. Sometimes it takes forever...

> The other members of the club seem annoyed.



(2) I guess he just can't stand to see people in pain. I bet he'll go to medical school and become a doctor.
So the pain is emanating from the back of your head?
...Please turn around.



You must be spending too much time in front of the computer. You should get outside and exercise more.
...That advice must sound funny coming from the leader of the Photography Club...
Oh, I thought I might have come down with the flu or something...
Well, if you're worried about that, I should perform a more detailed examination.



!?
U-Uh, that's okay. I'm fine! Anyways, my dorm is close by and my dorm mate Makoto-kun is here.
You guys are dorm mates!?



But what about you, Makoto-kun? Isn't it hard living on your own?



So, notably both of Makoto's bits of dialogue here were not directed at Keisuke. That does mean that from our choices we gained 0 points towards rank 3, which still has a 1 point requirement.

This bit here that is a guaranteed point gain. It's... kinda a weird workaround when Tanaka exists and proves 0 point requirements function.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





Now, regarding your headache, I don't think you should be walking home. Why don't I call you a taxi?
On second thought, maybe a limousine would be better... The ride would be much, much smoother...
U-Uh, that's okay. I'm fine. Really.

> It's getting dark out...

> After saying goodbye to the club members, you decided to go back to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm



Only a brief evening stint today. Akihiko's the only person in the dorm with updated dialogue for one thing.

You don't really dwell on the past, do you?
I wonder how that feels...



A warning for tourists, though: be careful of the dry weather and guard against heat stroke. Next, a report on more people standing in the road, blocking traffic...

So, it turns out that maybe Apathy Syndrome's new bizarre symptoms are a bit more common than you'd expect...



Wednesday's evenings are very lax in general, I've noticed. That's a pretty good thing, really.



Not every day needs to be super intensive or anything. It's nice to have a respite now and then.



Thursday, on paper, will be even briefer so we should be able to squeeze it in here.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation) / Time



...At least that's what I thought until I saw we had a class. If it was anyone else, we'd still be fine. Now? I'm not so sure.

Mrs. Terauchi was supposed to teach today, but she's had an emergency. I'll be your instructor instead.
Today, we'll learn about natural magic.
It's similar to paganism, which we discussed before.
Natural magic is, obviously enough, magic that draws its power from nature.



Calendar-based spells are also a form Of natural magic, since they involve the seasons.
Some of you may be familiar with dowsing, which uses a pendulum or cane to find things underground.
This, too, is a form of natural magic. It was first used to detect sources of water.
That should be enough examples, I think. Let's move on to the basic mindset of natural magic.
You must first recognize yourself as a part of nature, and accept its power.
In other words, think of human existence as a microcosm of a vast cosmology.



Ancient magicians thought that different objects which shared a common element would react to one another.
They did experiment after experiment, trying to prove their hypotheses about nature.
...Are you all listening? I certainly hope so... Eeeheehee.
I'll give you a little test to make sure.
You'll receive an ill omen if you get it wrong. Ada Ada Io Ada Dia...
Who should I pick...? All right, Makoto, I ask thee.



See, now this is something that I've genuinely known since I was like 12. Shoulda just led with this and saved us all the time.

Dowsing.
Excellent work... your answer rings true. No news is good news.
But back to the main subject... Prayer is a part of natural magic.
A characteristic of the prayers in natural magic is that many of them praise the earth goddess.
This ties into the concept of natural magic as a way of invoking nature's blessing.



But in the transition to natural science, a key element was lost.
That's the problem of "time."
Natural magic forbade the use of performing spells that went against the normal flow of time.
Its practitioners believed that magic should not defy nature, and to this day take care to follow natural laws.



So, why would this be a short day if it wasn't for Edogawa being, well, Edogawa?



So we're gonna spend today with Chihiro, but we did set that date up for this Sunday for two reasons...





Namely this little bit here. If we didn't accept it before, we wouldn't have gained enough points from this to be able to get rank 9. Accepting the date enabled this to just push us past the threshold.

Iwatodai Dorm



Also our evening is gonna be very brief as well. Mitsuru's the only one with updated dialogue.

With them, not only can I inflict damage upon our enemies, but I can also freeze them.
So, do not hesitate to ask me to go to Tartarus.



But the divorce rate is still on the rise. Studies show that one out of every five newlyweds will divorce within the year.
That concludes our special report. Now, back to the news.



At least this Thursday's gonna be a nice day for Charm, thanks to Edogawa and the photo stuff tonight.



But let's see, we're rapidly approaching July and with it the deadline for our requests and the next full moon. We should probably go back to Tartarus sooner rather than later at this point.