Part 72: 10/07/09 - 10/09/09

We're pretty much back to normal now, for better or worse.

Changing Seasons / Sun



Gossiping: Sine! Cosine! Tangent!



Gossiping: Sine! Cosine! Tangenton!

> The first bell has rung.



The precise moment when two agents come into contact... It's so exciting!
All right, Makoto, it's your turn to answer my question today.



This is a low-key clever thing. We haven't had this get covered onscreen, but it's referring to the original vanilla release where this is what Ounishi's talking about instead today.

Okay, new question. Do you know why a matador's capote is red?
To excite the audience.
Oh... you knew? Well, that's correct.
Bulls can't distinguish red from any other color. It's the fluttering of the capote that excites them.
The audience, however, becomes very anxious at the red cape. Human reaction to color is very interesting...



So, let's go back to the Faculty Office now that we can and grab that helmet for Elizabeth.



Well, uh, I don't see Ono anywhere...

Add a little spice here, here, and here...
According to my extrapolations of next year's salary here... I can expect a 4.17% increase...
...Huh? If I round up... does that actually get to 5.17%?

What kind of generous rounding are you using... what.

Ummmm...
In any case, this is one beautiful equation...

> Ms. Miyahara seems to be calculating her income.



Isn't my use of pi in that equation a daring move?

how do you function

Sure, it may not have been strictly necessary, but it's a question of elegance!
Do you understand? Wakari mashita ka?
...I must've sounded like Ms. Terauchi there. We sit close to one another...
I assume you're here because you've discovered the beauty of math, right?
The beauty of math... Once you master its brilliance, even winning the lottery is a breeze.

Uhhhhhhhh

Calculating probability from all sides... And determining the precise collection totals, too.
If you factor in the profit from saving the money you win, you'll never lose.
Not that I've ever bought a ticket...

Right, well, Ono's not here and doesn't seem to be coming around today. Guess we'll be back tomorrow instead.



Ah well, let's round out our free time this afternoon with some more Maiko!



Although, there's not much to it this time around. It's a bit of a necessary evil at this point, unfortunately.

Iwatodai Dorm



It happened after defeating the irregular Shadow, after the dawn of the Dark Hour.
Ken probably didn't have any idea what was happening at the time.
Ken and Shinjiro... I knew what was going on between them...
But I never expected it to turn into such a horrible tragedy...
We shall pray for Shinjiro's happiness in the next world.

Great, good job, thanks Ikutsuki. Would've been nice to know about this a month ago... if not earlier...



I'd like to think that I would do the same if I had to...
What about you?
I don't think I could.
That is understandable... It would be a very difficult thing to do.



But, I guess tragedies can happen in battle...
I'm sorry. I'm still a little shaken up. I can't think straight.



Not when a close friend just died...
I can't just forget about it and move on...
I'm not that strong...



But, I just can't concentrate.
We lost so much, man...
Why did he have to die...?



Shinji died satisfied. He got out while he was ahead.
Let him rest in peace. We should be focusing on what we need to do now...
There's less than a week until the midterms.



He seems to respect Shinjiro-san for the way he died.



Grieving over a death and just feeling down are two completely different emotions...
So, yeah... I'm okay...

Don't look all that okay, to me. At least he's not in his room tonight, which is nice.



Nothing else of note tonight, so next day it is!

Changing Seasons / Sun



In a bout of deja vu, we just skip to right after school's done. Nothing at all happens during the bulk of the day.



...And Mr. Ono's MIA again. Welp.

These are all sweeteners...



Take a look at this.



I ordered a bag of sand through the mail the other day, and it came with this supplement.
"Take this to boost your brain power!" I can't believe they make such claims with an ingredient list like this.
See for yourself. The active ingredients in this are all sweeteners.
At the very end, it lists DHA, but that means there's only the tracest amounts of it.
I know it was free, but what a joke. Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work...
...You can take it if you'd like, Makoto. Though the best it'll do is give a placebo effect.
The food they serve at Wakatsu is much better than that.
It's made with loads of fish eyes... A prime source of DHA!
It's not my thing, though.
Speaking of DHA, did you know the full term is Docosahexaenoic acid? You see, it's...

Well, I guess I learned... something about something. It does give another couple points of Academics if you really needed it.



We'll head on back to the Faculty Office tomorrow, then. For now, back to the shrine to hang out with Maiko some more.

Joy





What do you feel like eating?
Hamburgers.
Oh! I want a Frog Burger from Wild-duck!



> You decided to take Maiko to Wild-duck Burger.



...They talked to me about why they were getting divorced.
I was sad, but I listened to what they said. ...Did I do good?
Yeah, you did good.
Hee hee! Thanks a bunch!



So, Mom and Dad...
They said when there's no love, it's hard to still be married.
...They said not to worry, because they would always love me.
......
...I told them that they're still not allowed to get divorced.



I'll give Maiko credit for this for sure. She seems to be a pretty accurate representation of a child going through this scenario.

As far as I, from a ten billion percent external viewpoint, can tell anyway. Maybe others will disagree!

Hey, so...
I have to choose whether I want to live with Mom or Dad...
But I can't choose that! You decide for me, okay?
Choose your dad.
I love Dad so much! He likes to buy me toys and stuff!

He also doesn't seem to have clear and unaided anger issues.



...But, Mom cries so much lately. I don't want her to be all alone...
Maybe I should go with her.



Mom might move somewhere far away, so if I went with her...
I couldn't play with you anymore! ...That would be bad.
I'd miss you too much.

> Maiko seems to really like you.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





Hey! Will you hold my hand on the way home?

> You returned to the dorm after walking Maiko home.

Iwatodai Dorm



Well, we still have a whole month, so there's no need to get all stressed out.
And... before that, we have exams...
So, have you been studying?
Of course I have.
Really...?
Now I feel like I'm falling behind...

In terms of the past tense, yeah. We have been studying. Don't need to worry about that at all now, though.



Newscaster: The current rate is 114.30 yen to the dollar. The yen has gone down by 0.22 since last time.

There's very little in the dorm tonight, I guess. We'll head on upstairs though...



There's two, in fact! And I remembered exactly when the first one became available. Whoops, good job me.

Immovable Shield

Silence



So, this is dated in the middle of the night. During the typhoon, no less. This has been available since, uh, the very first day after the typhoon. Whoops.

The Voice Someone Calls



Ohey, it's our room! That's... weird and ominous.





Surface body temperature reads... 98.7 degrees... No fever...
At this rate, he should make a full recovery by morning.
The pillow I prepared in the freezer will not be necessary.



...There are still 4 hours and 12 minutes until sunrise...
......
I need only sneak out again before morning.





End

So, uh, we have video evidence of Aigis breaking into our room in the middle of the night and just... watching us sleep in the weirdest and creepiest way possible. Good thing no one else ever checks these, apparently.

And, hey, we have time for the other one too.

After The Midnight Shower
probably worth at least listening along to this one, because of uh some interesting voice direction maybe

Silence





Whoops... I've gotten used to walking around without my bathrobe lately.
Not a very good habit to fall into...
Well... I'm not at home, so I suppose being a little lax won't hurt...

This scene's a little weird to listen to, honestly. Lines like this have completely different intonation and flow. It's like Tara just sorta forgot to do Mitsuru's accent entirely and no one noticed.



"This one-piece is beloved by all, including friends, boyfriends, and boyfriends' friends..."
"Alluring yet prudish: the ultimate combination..."
......
...What are they talking about?



"Cute" clothes, huh...?
W-Well... I do kind of want to try this... pink one...
.....



I should be careful to remember the distinction between clothes I want to wear, and clothes I can wear.



I knew this was a bad habit... It's a good way to catch a cold.
I should get some rest... I'll have to wake up early again tomorrow.
Now which pajamas should I wear tonight...?



End

I double checked the console to make sure I hadn't missed a third one by accident and forgot. Fortunately, it was just the two. Whew.



Let's just call it intentional so this update has a decent bit of content. Yeah, that'll do.

An Unpleasant Premonition



Whenever we complete an operation, the number of Apathy Syndrome cases usually decreases...
Not this time, however; it's actually increasing...
There's only one Shadow left; it must be apprehensive.
Yeah, it must be.
...I hope so.
In any event, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here... So, thank you.

Changing Seasons / Sun



It occurs to me just now that we've probably seen this guy less than even Ekoda. Which is kinda weird, really.

What are you doing, texting each other or something?
Exams start next Tuesday! We don't have much time to waste! Let's move on to the next sample problem.
Alright, I'm erasing the board now! All gone!
Oh, and I heard someone is counting how many times I say "Did you write this down?" Pay attention instead!

There's really not much to this though. Apparently that warrants an Academics increase. Yeah, I dunno.



So, back to the office we go. This is day 4 now. Ono should be back at this point!



............Welp.

If she's such an expert on usage, what's with this syntax...?
And these weird symbols to the side? Is this... some kind of face?

oh my god did she really write an emoticon what the hell

Won't she ever grow up...?



Don't think that people will lead you around by the hand once you're out in the real world.
...So, what do you want?
Ms. Toriumi seems to have left her share of unfinished work behind.
It must be a severe impediment to your education, having a teacher like her in charge of your class.
You'll never guess what she said during the teacher's conference just the other day...



What's with that? I can't make heads or tails of syntax that tortured!
It's because of teachers like her... I can hardly blame you youngsters for your grammar, can I?
Now listen to me carefully. To begin with, correct Japanese is...

Yeah, that's great. I, er, have to go... water my... cat...



By which I mean head on out of there because Ekoda is never gonna stop is he. We'll have to try again tomorrow for that helmet. For now: Maiko! We're nearly maxed, so let's just give it another push.

Joy



I'm going to live with Mom.
...Since she has to cook and clean and still go to work...
I want to help out too!
I don't have to worry about Dad...
Even without me around, I think Dad will be okay on his own.

> Maiko looks sad.



......
Sorry...
We'll still be friends though, right?
We're friends forever.
Best friends forever! Forever and ever and ever, okay?

Maybe not best friends... You'll make friends your own age at some point.



You can't ever forget about me. Promise, okay?

> Maiko's taken a real liking to you.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





> You decided to head back to the dorm.

If all goes well, we should get Maiko's link finished just in time for the exams. Hu...rray...?

Iwatodai Dorm



If this continues, our next mission will not be successful.
We must forge ahead.



You mean the hospital, right?

I should really study, but.. there's just so much going on.
I usually cheer Chidori up..
But, I'm hoping she can cheer me up this time...



I can't talk for anyone else, but I can't study because my Academics are already maxed.

Well, just so you know, he's probably pissed off right now, up there in Heaven.
He probably thinks you're all acting like a bunch of little kids.
He'd want you guys to study and get on with your lives.

I dunno about that "study" part specificially, but I can see that for sure.

Ah well, we'll just take a bit of a break here before we finish up the rest of this awkward pre-exam stretch.