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Earlier on Tsukihime...

Chapter 1

Young Shiki wanders out into a field in the middle of the night and witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and several unnamed others. The only thing he can think about is how pretty the moon is. Next, he wakes up in a hospital having survived a terrible accident. Following the accident he can see mysterious black lines covering everything, and if he runs a knife along those lines he breaks stuff. He meets a mysterious woman by chance and spends several afternoons with her, talking in a nearby field. Before she leaves, she gives him a pair of special glasses that make the strange lines disappear.

Chapter 2

8 years later, Shiki leaves the Arima home for the last time. He's only leaving for school, but afterwards he'll be returning to a different home: the mansion he grew up in. On his way to school he reminisces about the Arimas and also about the sister he left behind when he went to live with them, Akiha. He's eager to see her again upon returning to the mansion, but doubt also plagues his mind. His wandering mind almost causes him to be late for school, but he runs and makes it just in time. Except there's a strange noise coming from somewhere and he isn't sure if he should investigate...

Chapter 3

Shiki ignores the noise, instead hurrying off to class. He chats for a bit with his classmate, Yumizuka Satsuki. He's not too familiar with her because she's very popular and he's a whiny, emo loner, but she seems to have a thing for him. She expresses relief when finding out that, although Shiki is moving, he'll still be attending the same school. Shiki's best friend and secret gay crush, Inui Arihiko, greets him happily before class starts. The three students discuss the recent serial killings until class starts.

After class, Shiki needs to run off to the school office to get some moving details in order. On the way he 'accidentally' runs into a certain 'familiar' senpai by the name of Ciel. There is nothing strange about this at all. They agree to meet at lunchtime, in case Shiki ends up being a vampire or something..

This is our fourth time here and I don't think we've ever picked 2.

Music: play track 3

"…… Ah."
I'm surprised…… no, I'm astounded.
There, plain as day, is a table with not two, not even three, but four unoccupied seats.
There are two students sitting at the table, and it seems like one of them noticed me during my efforts to locate a seat.

"Yo, Tohno!"
The student vigorously waving his hand is my dear classmate with the dyed orange hair.
"……"
My head hurts.
But there isn't anywhere else to sit, so I have no choice but to return the wave and walk towards the table where my friend is sitting.

"If I pretend like I'm bothered by this, nobody will think I'm gay..."

"Yo, Tohno---hey wait…… Senpai, do you know Tohno?"
"Yes, I've met him once today already. We bumped into each other with a bang today, didn't we, Tohno-kun?"
"Ah…… yes, sorry about that."
I lower my head in apology.

"Not at all. I'm also sorry for spacing out like that. You're a serious person, aren't you, Tohno-kun?"
"Serious……? No, not really."
Smiling, Senpai gives a satisfied nod.
How should I say this…… Senpai has a unique atmosphere around her.

"But it's sure surprising that Tohno-kun and Inui-kun know each other. Could it be that you two are in the same class?"
"That's right! Me and Tohno are more than casual acquaintances! We've been in the same class since our first year, and we've been inseparable best friends since middle school!"
My best friend strikes the table with a bang for emphasis.
…… Is it just me, or is he more hyper than usual?

"YES! The same class, that's it! We're certainly not gay lovers or anything. No, not at all... couldn't be."

"Come on, best friend, sit down! If you just keep standing there vacantly, your chikara-udon is going to go stale. Hurry up and sit down, and let me hear all about how you got to know Senpai."
Arihiko slaps my back cheerfully.

"Hahaha, best friend and not gay lover, get it? Because we're BEST FRIENDS and NOT gay lovers!"

"……"
While I really have no story like Arihiko might be hoping for, there are no other seats available.
Reluctantly, I take a seat next to him.

Well... somebody certainly has been paying attention to Shiki

"Ah, I also got that impression. He was only concerned about me when we ran into each other, and he apologized to me just now, too."

"See? That's the kind of guy he is, so he doesn't make those kind of mistakes. …… Ah, could it be that your anemia was acting up again?"
Arihiko's voice shows his serious concern for my physical health.

"…… No, it's not that. I was running to the office to deal with some details for me moving. That's when I ran into Senpai."
"Really? Well, I thought you became careless because you're depressed over the move."
Arihiko folds his arms and nods to himself in agreement.

----And then,

"Tohno-kun, are you changing schools!?"
Senpai exclaims almost hysterically.

"I'm not changing schools, Senpai. I'm just changing my place of residence, so I filed the paperwork for a change-of-address."
"Eh…… So that means you're going to be living alone?"

Yes, we've been over this. Tohnos live in the Tohno mansion.

Senpai asks with some hesitation.
The western-style house on top of the hill is probably seen as something special to the residents of this town.
I haven't been there for eight years, but even in my memories, the Tohno mansion was ridiculously large.

"Yeah, that's right. I don't think it's the right place for me either, but it's too late now that I'm done moving."
"Hmm…… You don't seem too happy about it."
"It's not a particularly good or bad thing. I don't really understand it myself."
"Well, even if it is your house, it's been eight years, right? I can understand if you're feeling restless. It'll probably feel like someone else's house for a while."
"I wonder if that's so…… I haven't gone back yet, so I don't know. Well, I'm a bit relaxed, since I've always got a refuge at your place."
"Hmph. Listen, you, I'm not impressed with how you come to stay at my house every time something bad happens. I like your personality trait of not standing out, but I've hated how you're always too reserved for a long time now!"
Arihiko strikes the table with a bang again.

"This relationship just isn't ready for that, yet! We need our space!"

"……"
Well, everything Arihiko said is true, so there's no way to fight back.

"Yeah, he does. That damn Tohno is too reserved toward his parents and he would come to my place every long vacation. He's reserved towards them cause they're taking care of him.
That's why he comes over to my place, where we conveniently have an empty room. Since he looks pretty decent, my sister took a liking to him, and he shamelessly comes to stay with us without paying a cent!"
Arihiko's fist trembles, as if to say 'unforgivable!'

"If he keeps it up, my sister's going to figure out that I'm gay! Yet the man who's supposed to love me so much doesn't care at all!"

"…… Taking care of Tohno-kun?"
"Ah----"
Arihiko clamps a hand over his mouth.
"…… Sorry. I should've thought before I spoke."
"It's okay. You didn't say anything bad."
I continue to eat my chikara-udon without looking at Arihiko.

Going through the beginning again, the game seems like it's trying so hard to be happy that it's like a gay joke a minute. ...and I don't mean a happy joke

"Tohno-kun, um…… did you not get along with your previous family?"
"No, that's not it. This guy had no problem with the Arimas. Oh, the Arimas were the family who took care of him. They're really nice people, and from what I could see, they're a happy family.
Even so, he refused to be their adopted child, and he escaped to my place every vacation. Sheesh…… just what were you not satisfied with, anyway?"
"There's nothing I wasn't satisfied with. It's just that I've received so much from them already, I didn't want to be a further burden on them."
…… Senpai drops her shoulders and falls silent.
It looks like she's sorry for asking about my family situation.
"It's okay, Senpai. Sorry for making you listen to something so boring."

"Eh, not at all. I'm sorry for asking you something so strange, too."
Senpai forces herself to look cheerful.
The topic might be fine for a long-time friend like Arihiko, but a complex matter like this would only have been troublesome for Senpai.
And to prove my point, Senpai sits there uneasily.

"Listen, Senpai---"
"Um, I've finished eating, so I'll be leaving now. I'm really sorry."
Senpai lowers her head in a quick bow and leaves her seat.

Only me and Arihiko remain at the table.

The game really does all the work for me. A here a there, this update's ready to go.

"What's wrong? Getting all serious all of a sudden. I'll tell you now, I don't have any money. From today onwards, I'm going to be living life as a penniless youth."
"It's not that, damn it. What I want to know is this; what's really going on with you, Tohno?"
"What do you mean?"

Awww. Arihiko cares!

"He didn't 'disinherit' me. He just kicked me out of the house for some reason."
"Tohno-kun, if there ever is a house that kicks their child out of their house 'for some reason', that's not a tragedy, it's a comedy. 'Oh, it's party joke!' But it's so boring, it's not funny."
Arihiko spreads his arms and shrugs.
"…… Yeah, I guess you're right. If you get kicked out of the house, all you can really do is laugh."

"And then he said some cliche line like, 'Never step foot in this house again!' or something, right? That's what people would call 'disinheritance.'
Come to think of it, I've never heard why you were disinherited."
"……"
…………… Who knows?
That's something I'd like to know, too.
"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."

Grabbing his bowl with both hands, Arihiko drains his cold udon soup.
Lunchtime is short.
Following Arihiko, I decide to quickly eat my own chikara-udon.

Music: stop

Chapter 4

School ends and Shiki stares at the sunset for awhile, reminiscing about the accident in his past. He doesn't remember much about it, but his life following it has made him hate the color red. Even way back in the first chapter of the fucking game he thinks it's pretty miraculous for him to have survived the accident, hint hint. Afterwards, he returns home because we want another Far Side path.

Chapter 5

The actual text I got here is slightly different from the linked post since we didn't eat in class, and that means Yumizuka didn't talk to us in the hallway. The differences are extremely slight (and covered during the hallway conversation), but I can post them if anybody cares.

He meets up with Yumizuka on the way home and they walk most of the way together. While they walk, she tells him a story about when they were in middle school. She and the rest of the girls from the badminton club were trapped in an old shed when Shiki came by and freed them by cutting the lock. It was then that Yumizuka realized, if she were ever in trouble, it would be a guy like Shiki that would come and save her. Before they part, she makes him promise that if she's ever really in trouble, he'll come save her. He feels a bit reluctant about it, but doesn't want to let her down and so he agrees. Their paths split there, so she goes a separate way to her house while Shiki returns to the mansion.

Chapter 84

Shiki slowly walks home through unfamiliar streets. His mind wanders through various subjects such as the Tohno Mansion (the Tohnos live there, you know), his younger sister, and the sudden death of his father, Tohno Makihisa.

Music: stop

I don't remember their names, but there were two girls who were twins.
Father has once said that they didn't have any relatives, so he took them to work as servants.
"…… That's weird. We played together so often when we were small, but I can't remember their names."
I close my eyes and cast my mind back.

Music: play track 9

Shiki-chan!

She would often laugh and take shy Akiha's hand, trying to make her play with us.
Maybe she was older than the both of us.
She would guide me and Akiha to play together, but once we started playing, she would just watch over us.
Even Akiha's tutor, the harsh butler, would say "I don't mind, as long as ****** is with you guys", and let Akiha out to play, as if there was no helping it.

Fantastic censorship there, it was already down to two choices

In contrast to that girl was the other one.

She was the twin of that cheerful girl, but she would always gaze at us expressionlessly.
That girl would never try to leave the house.
All she would do was watch us with those cold eyes.

---Well, in the end, I only ended up talking a little with her.

Afterwards, I was quickly found by one of the servants and taken to the front entrance.
With no one to see me off, I walked out of the gates of that giant mansion while the Arima lady held my hand.

It was my last memory of when I left the Tohno mansion, eight years ago.

Aww

I think it's much, much healthier to want to make good on a childhood promise than to want to fuck your sister. Good show!

Music: stop

Music: play track 3

"We have been waiting for you."
The door opens with a creak.
Inside is the lobby I remembered and a young girl in an apron.

Hi, Kohaku

"You're Shiki-sama, aren't you?"
"Eh--Yeah, but you don't have to call me '-sama'."
"You are, right? Oh, please don't scare me like that! I was beginning to think I had made another mistake back there."
She gives a good-natured laugh.

I have no basis for this, but she fits the image perfectly.

"Come; you must be tired, right? Please do come in. Akiha-sama is waiting for you in the sitting room."

The girl quickly crosses the lobby and heads towards the sitting room.

Turning back as if she just remembered something, she makes a bow, a full smile on her face.

Music: stop

Music: play track 1

Chapter 6

The maid, named Kohaku, leads him to the sitting room where he is greeted by his sister, Akiha, but their reunion isn't exactly as he'd hoped it to be. She is cold and distant to him, immediately demanding that he adopt a lifestyle befitting of the eldest son of the Tohno family. He grudgingly acquiesces to her odd demands, and she introduces him to his new personal maid, Hisui.

Having a maid makes Shiki feel uncomfortable, but he allows her to lead him to his room anyhow. It only seems vaguely familiar to him, but Hisui seems to think it's the same room he had as a child. She sticks around long enough just to make sure Shiki has everything he needs.

This exact phrase is actually still there even if you don't know he has the ribbon, I just thought it would be important to have it stick out for those only reading summaries.

Hisui is great. She goes from to in less than a second.

"…… Yes. Kohaku is my older sister."
"Really? Great! Then that means you two must be the girls who once lived here!"
I am so happy that I inadvertently raise my voice.
"………"
In direct contrast to my joy, Hisui does not move.
"Hisui…? You and Kohaku-san were the children taken in here, aren't you? We used to play together. I wonder if you remember--"
I close my mouth as soon as I speak.
…… No.
The girl I had played together with was the bright and cheerful one.
The one who just gazed at us with those cold eyes has to be--

"Oh shi-"

"…… I see. I didn't talk to you much, I'm sorry for getting so worked up."
"You have nothing to apologize for, Shiki-sama. I must also apologize for my rudeness to you when I was younger."
Hisui lowers her head.
"------"
I feel really uneasy.
I know Hisui doesn't mean to make me feel bad, but I don't know how to respond when a girl the same age as me says that to me.

"Do you have any other requests, Shiki-sama?"
"Ah… no, nothing in particular."
"Very well. I shall come to call you in an hour's time. Please relax until then."
As I expected, Hisui says everything with an expressionless face.

Chapter 6

Hisui leaves with a promise to call Shiki for dinner in an hour. He laments the lack of a television and, after some thought, Hisui informs him that her sister, Kokahu, has one in her room. Shiki brushes it off and simply waits for dinner.

Dinner is a painful affair, with Akiha clearly unhappy at Shiki's poor table manners. Unable to relax under Akiha's hateful glare, Shiki grows more and more depressed that he accepted the invitation back to the mansion. He's uncertain that he will be able to get used to life in the mansion. Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment, he thinks it's too early to go to sleep and asks his group of panelists what he should do after dinner.

Music: stop

Chapter 50

Shiki decides to stay in his own room so his sister won't give him any more mean glares. While he's laying there, Hisui enters so she can make the bed. She asks him to leave, but Shiki likes to watch Since he simply can't let her make the bed in peace, they make forced conversation while she works. Hisui informs him of the mansion's early curfew as well as her duties in the mansion.

Hisui asks if Shiki would like anything, but since his perversions don't involve maid-sex (yet) he only asks her to stop calling him Shiki-sama, which she promptly fails to do. Just as she is turning to leave, Shiki remembers something he wants to ask her and he grabs her shoulder. She freaks the fuck out and slaps him, then apologizes for it after she calms down. After all that, Shiki just asks her about his sister's school. After Hisui leaves, all Shiki can think about is how much has changed over the last 8 years.

Chapter 85

Shiki hears an incessant howling that interrupts him from trying to sleep. Despite that, he goes back to sleep.

Far side, GO! More to come. I'll just keep picking choices that are things we haven't done before until we get to some more important/interesting stuff.


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