Part 20: Tomi Kisaragi 1

Chapter 20: Tomi Kisaragi 1

Music: Bright Days Ahead (Azusa Chiba)







They’ve already got like four at the intersection.





That bus is so… old! What am I even looking at? And all these cars are so… blocky! They look so weird.




I think I’ve seen signs like that before…



This is kinda surreal!





Oh, hey Gouto. You’re looking hale and hearty after getting shot by Megumi. Actually, wait, this is almost certainly before that happened. Oops.



They seriously haven’t invented smartphones yet? Ahaha! This is so crazy! How do they even talk to each other?

I’m going to spare you a hackneyed joke about zoomers bein’ on that phone, okay? We good?





I can’t *believe* that hair.





What even is that? A pompadour? The Showa era’s so weird.



Huh!?
Your hair, duh. I just said.
You tryin’ to start shit?
*sigh*

I’d just like to point out that Nenji Ogata does in fact have the same English voice actor as Josuke Higashikata. Nothing I can say here will be funnier than just acknowledging that.





I’m afraid she’s a little… Well, she has difficulty with social interaction.
Hey! Don’t make me sound like some kinda weirdo!
Please, carry on. I’ll give her a talking-to once we’re home.





You realize we’re only here with the help of this era’s facilitators.



We’re essentially foreign refugees. Don’t forget that.



It’s the same school. I expect you’ll adjust quickly.
That is *not* my school. Everyone from that class is old enough to be my mom. Don’t act like it’s the same. We left mine back in 2025.



Consider 2025

(So in 2025, I would have turned 16 next month. But now… I’m way back in 1985. So, like… How old am I, technically?)



I understand your situation. But I need you to cooperate.

Use Facilitators on Renya Gouto



You mean Shikishima, the military corporation?



You sure we’re not being used?
That is not your concern.

Consider Shikishima Industries

(I remember seeing that company in the news back in 2025. They make everything, from fridges to missiles. They’ve got tons of factories across the world.)

Use 2025 on Renya Gouto



I thought I explained this already. The world was destroyed.



I’ve still gotta go help my mom and dad.
They won’t be there. It’s already too late. I doubt you’d get the clearance to timejump anyway.
That another one of their orders?
……
I didn’t want to get dragged into this. Am I supposed to just take it? Whatever you say?
Precisely. You should count yourself lucky to have escaped with us.

Consider Ruined World

(I never saw it myself. The world was destroyed, apparently. What do I even say to that? “Yeah, cool, got it”? Still, even if I begged to go check it out… Something tells me they aren’t gonna let me. What I need is a little leverage over them. I gotta make them an offer they can’t refuse…)

My choice now is to reference The Godfather, which I haven’t seen, or the classic TNT series Leverage, which I have watched two episodes of and probably would not play as a reference for any of you. Or I could take the third option and make a bad meta-joke about it, as always!



Do not act on your own. Remain inconspicuous. And for now, simply attend school as usual. Am I clear?

Music: Halcyon Days (Yoshimi Kudo)



Consider Ruined World

(So everything back home’s been destroyed? Yeah, right. I’ll believe it when I see it. I gotta get leverage and go back to my own time…)

Consider Shikishima Industries

(Shikishima’s a conglomerate with political ties. They made it big during the Meiji modernization. You always see their branches on “Employer of the Year” lists. Back in the Meiji era, they were shipbuilders… But they expanded into aviation and a bunch of other things. During the war, they did a lot of weapons R&D. And now, they make everything from home appliances to rockets. Shikishima Industries is just one of those branches. Their machinery’s known all over the world.)



Did you check out all those books? What are they?



They’re not that interesting.
I just want a peek.



Business Quarterly? Corporate guides, economic reports…



Are you studying for a career in business?
Uh, not really… I was kinda looking for some leverage. You know, dirt on some big shady corporation. So then I could, like, control them a little.
Huh? Usami-chan, that’s a little… weirder than I was expecting.




How does one person sleep that much?




Manually searching through books is so inconvenient.



Oh, uh, like…



This game rules.

…Or something.

Consider Business Books

(I scoured the whole library for reference materials. Wasn’t hard to find things on Shikishima, but… It’s just like… stock market stuff. I should’ve known. Nothing I could use as leverage.)




Shall we go there after school?
Sounds good! Those crêpes from yesterday are gonna be hard to beat, though. Back home, they went a little too crazy with the toppings. Sometimes, simple is best.



Crêpes would be nice too… Do you think we could get both?
……



There’s this company called Shikishima Industries. You know anything about them?
Shikishima… They’re the ones who make ships and things, right? Hm… I have this old friend… His father works for them, I think.
Seriously? Miwako, can you do me a favor? I want you to introduce me.
Sure!



(to self) Those big megacorps always have shady stuff hiding in their HQ. One step closer to getting the dirt.

Music: Bright Days Ahead (Azusa Chiba)




They’re still not here. Did you get the meeting time wrong?
No…



Don’t worry. He’ll be here soon. He’s not the type to break promises.







This is my old friend. Nenji Ogata.
You’re kidding.

What a farce!



You said some girl was lookin’ to ask me out?



Well, um… That would be her. Usami-chan.




Gross.



What does that even mean, Nenji?

The heck is that supposed to mean?

Way ahead of you, Tomi.

I take it you’re not calling me a cute puppy.



What did you say to this guy?
Just that a girl I knew wanted to tell him something…



How dumb *is* he?
I’m standin’ right here.




Please, can’t we all calm down…?





Ah!












You weren’t waking up. I thought you might have died…



Music: Impending Doom (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)

I don’t know… There was some kind of flash, and… Then we were here.




My name…



Get it straight, dogface.
Oh, excuse me, Captain Pompadour. I’m Tomi Kisaragi. Don’t give me any stupid nicknames.
All right, smartass—





It’s like…
We were attacked.




I know the city got leveled. You saw that flash, right? Musta been a nuke.




Isn’t this downtown?
Way I figure it…



Okay, never mind. You’re just a moron.
Hey!



I bet you could survive a nuke, no problem.



You got a better idea? What the hell else coulda happened?



If we’re here, then… No way…



There’s radiation everywhere! We’re going to die! We have to run, or get cover, or—
Deep breaths, Miwako.
I’ll try…




Keyaki-cho.





The hell? You know how far that is from school?



But nobody else is here. Think they all evacuated?



Where’s everyone else?
Miwako…



Consider Ruined World

(The world got destroyed in my time. According to what Gouto said, anyway. So maybe…)



You hear that?



A rescue helicopter?
No, it’s…

Music: The 13th Sense (Rikako Watanabe)





No way. The thing’s huge.




Whatever it was, I got a bad feeling about it.



It’s a kaiju…

Use 2025 on Nenji Ogata



It’s hard to tell with everything messed up like this, but…




Nenji, don’t make that face. What if it sticks that way?

This is my home. Well… *was* my home, I guess.



oh god the face got worse somehow







Tomi “Usami” Kisaragi is voiced by Cassandra Lee Morris, who is Sothis in Fire Emblem Three Houses, Fie in Trails of Cold Steel, and of course, Morgana in Persona 5.



This time, we’ve added a new bit to the conspiracy board, cataloging the ongoing mysteries we’ve discovered. Expect this to only get bigger, folks.




Most of these are self-explanatory. “Miyuki Inaba” covers Shu’s Poltergeist phenomenon, “What Are The Dreams” covers the dreams several members of the cast have been having, etc. I’ll just explain the ones that might be confusing.

• “Where Is Okino?” We still don’t know where Okino is during the events of Destruction (which clearly seem to take place after the events of Remembrance). He’s not one of the 13 Sentinel pilots, but he’s also buck naked in a cockpit, so… what’s the deal?
  
• “Voice On The Radio” The voice on the radio is the person Ei has been communciating with. Who are they?
  
• “What Are The Numbers On The Note?” Likewise, this is just the numbers Ei found on the note in Morimura’s pocket.
  
• “Another Dimension”? What’s going on with Ei being from another dimension? Is that, like, literal? What?
  
• “Miura’s Scar?” How did he get that scar? He doesn’t have it in flashbacks, so… what gives?
  
• “What Does Kyuta Shiba Know?” Kyuta Shiba in Juro’s prologue seemed to know much more than he was letting on. Is he connected to whatever Morimura did to turn Juro Izumi into Juro Kurabe?
  

I’ll be adding to this liberally, but feel free to throw out any questions I missed and maybe I’ll put them on the board!

Anyway, poll time! Our current options for next update are:

Juro Kurabe
Iori Fuyusaka
Megumi Yakushiji
Natsuno Minami
Yuki Takamiya
Shu Amiguchi
Keitaro Miura
Tomi Kisaragi
Destruction

There's also:

Takatoshi Hijiyama (Locked behind Ogata)
Ei Sekigahara (Locked behind Natsuno)

The poll is here.