Part 51: Shu Amiguchi 4

Chapter 51: Shu Amiguchi 4

Time to jump back into this scumbag’s brain, I guess.




*yawn*

Music: Forty Winks (Rikako Watanabe)



All these weird dreams must be getting to me… And that show that came on in the middle of the night. Wish *that* was just a dream…

Consider Tomi Kisaragi

(In my dream… Her soul was in an android body. That’s gotta be the craziest feeling. What would it even be like? Not having a body of your own…?)

Consider Miyuki Inaba

(Miyuki Inaba’s been hijacking the airwaves. All so she can talk to me through the TV… She knows me, somehow… Not just that, she says I’m the only one she can depend on… …… I’m still waiting for the punchline here…)





What am I getting self-conscious for? It was just a dream. It’s got nothing to do with anything I actually feel. But… if I bump into her, things could get awkward fast. *sigh* What I really need now is a cold drink. Just gotta grab a drink, sit down, and chill out for a sec…



Well, let’s go grab that drink then.




YUKI DETECTED










Welp, time to go bother her!



No you weren’t, you fucking liar! I’m inside your brain!

Destiny sure wants us to be together.
The hell are you talking about…?

Did you even expect this lame-ass pickup line to work, dude?



Yuki takes a sip from her Hey-C.




You like Hey-C? I heard vitamin C helps keep you healthy.

Does anyone fall for this crap!?

I’m not drinkin’ it for my health, dumbass. Nat-chan used to drink it, that’s all. Gotta lay off the smokes anyway. So I need somethin’ else to focus on.



No.



……



Use Motorcycle Key on Yuki Takamiya

“Hey girl, I got this motorcycle…” God, what a dirtbag.



We could go somewhere right now?
No.

Use Motorcycle Key on Yuki Takamiya

Weird that the story is taking a diversion for Shu’s futile attempts to get some, but I no longer have the capacity to be surprised by this game.



I know a place with a great view.



Use Motorcycle Key on Yuki Takamiya

God, you’re pushy, man! She said no, dude!



A place from back in the day? Somewhere with good memories?
……



Or is there a reason you can’t go back?
Of course not. I just got to thinkin’… Reminded me of my grandma on my mom’s side. Haven’t seen her since my parents divorced.
You don’t say.



You set me up!



What?
Let’s go see your grandma!
What are you, nuts? She’s not even in the city. Her place is in Hamanashi, a whole prefecture over.
…!
That’s what I thought, dumbass. It’s too far.



That’s just about a hundred kilometers one way.
…?



Hey!



Music: The Plot Thickens (Rikako Watanabe)

After what I heard from the TV last night… I’ve gotta find out.



Let me tell you where you are.
…What do you mean? This is my house.
That’s not what I meant. Think bigger. I’m talking about everything you know.
…?
Everything in this city… Everything you’ve lived…



An enclosure? …… But we still get news from all over the world. You’re telling me we’re closed off? No, that’s too much. I don’t buy it.
That’s a reasonable reaction.




You should now be able to see the truth.
……
Go to the edge of the world. To the outer walls of the city itself…
……



Suddenly, the TV turns off. Shu walks up and turns it back on.





Huh? You say something?
You ever think anything through, Amiguchi?
Hey, I can get us back within two hours. Home before sundown, easy. Don’t worry about it. How about you tell me a little about your grandma?
……

Music: Now Or Never (Kazuki Higashihara)



Yeah?
Used to go to her place every summer. Walkin’ between the fields in the mornings to do radio gymnastics with everyone…
No kidding! I did the same thing in the countryside when I was a kid.
In the afternoons, grandma would give us some watermelon… We’d swim in the river, and catch fish with our bare hands. And we’d go catch cicadas off the old zelkova tree, up on the hill behind the house…



What?



And we’d go catch cicadas off it.
Oh yeah?
And the river, the watermelon…



What a weird coincidence!








This tunnel should end around the prefecture line, so…



Suddenly, Shu hits the brakes.






Yuki and Shu get off the motorcycle.

Music: Who D-Unit (Yoshimi Kudo)




*shock*





I can’t even see the end.



Where the hell are we?

Use Outer Walls on Yuki Takamiya



But what the hell *is* it? How do we get through?
I don’t know if there *is* a way through. What if… all our memories from outside town are fake? What if everyone’s been convinced that an “outside” even exists?
…No way.
I can’t believe it, either. How could I? It’d mean this 30-kilometer enclosure… this isolated city… is the only world we’ve ever known.




Well, I spoke too soon about this game not being able to surprise me anymore, clearly.



We haven’t updated our mysteries in a while, so we remove “BJ and Miura?”, “Magical Gun?”, and “What Are The Numbers On The Note?” before adding a new mystery pertaining to this baffling 30 kilometer enclosure.



We also add a “friend” connection between Hijiyama and Miura, and a “same person” connection between Miura and BJ.



And here’s the updated board.