Part 42: Time Wasting, Episode 5

December 24th, 1986

Ryo heads to talk to Yuriko at the Smiley Flower Shop. In case you missed some discussion earlier in the thread, she's been dating Kurita-san of Kurita Military Surplus.

Yuriko Kikuchi
Employee of Smiley Flower Shop
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 104 lbs
Blood Type: A
Birth Date: 10th April
Zodiac Sign: Aries

Yuriko's father is a banker, who frequently moves from town to town on business. She was born in Nagoya, stayed in Osaka during her elementary school days, and came to Yokosuka when she was in junior high school. When she was in her third year of high school, her family moved to Fukuoka, leaving Yuriko behind to continue her education. She started living alone at Oiwa Apartments in Dobuita. When Yuriko was a college student, she worked part-time at the Smiley Flower Shop and had the full confidence of the shop owner, Nemoto-san. She has continued working for the florist after she graduated from college and many neighbors believe she is the owner of the shop. She is very comfortable in her surroundings and has started thinking that it may be nice to remain and grow old in Dobuita. Her boyfriend is Kurita-san from the Kurita Military Surplus. She knows Ryo because she has scolded him when she's caught him fighting or being bad. Ryo thinks of Yuriko as if she were an older sister.

This is one of the few points in the game that Ryo talks to people and actually asks about how they're doing, rather than, you know, whether or not they know where sailors hang out.

Obviously, something is not well.

Ryo, of course, doesn't care.

But then it comes out.

Good old Ryo, oblivious as ever.

Hmm. Let's go talk to Kurita and see what's up.

Shiro Kurita
Manager of Kurita Military Surplus
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 130 lbs
Blood Type: B
Birth Date: 25th January
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Hailing from a rich family in Yokosuka that is well known, Shiro has never had a problem with money. He is a military maniac and had hoped to join the Japan Self-Defence Force after graduating from junior high school, but because of his parent's opposition, he gave up on his dream and reluctantly went to high school. After graduating, Shiro decided to go to the National Defense Academy and worked hard to enter, but he was rejected twice. After that, he stayed unemployed, dependent on his parents for living expenses. Shiro's parents encouraged him to get any job he could for appearance's sake, so he opened Kurita Military Surplus with his father's monetary backing. His father owns both the shop and the Okayama Heights apartment building, where Shiro lives. Because he thinks of his shop as just an extracurricular activity, he doesn't mind whether it makes money or not, but does care a great deal about the authenticity of the goods he stocks. He often travels overseas to buy new goods, closing the shop for long periods of time. Recently Shiro started dating Yuriko Kikuchi from the Smiley Flower Shop. While he desires to settle down, he often wonders if he is ready to get married.

Uh oh.

Aww.

... Well...

No comment.

???

Interesting.

Geez, Ryo, you even had an excuse this time. "Sorry, but I'm hunting down my father's murderer to get revenge", I mean come on, how hard is that to say?

A little down the street Ryo runs into Miki Maeda.

Miki Maeda
Daughter of the owner of Maeda Barbershop
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 108 lbs
Blood Type: A
Birth Date: 10th April
Zodiac Sign: Aries

Miki, the only daughter of Ichiro Maeda, the owner of Maeda Barbershop, also works there. She has been close to Ryo since they were children. She obtained a license to become a hairdresser at a technical college in Yokohama, after graduating from high school in Yokosuka. Now she helps her father in the shop but he hopes that his son-in-law will succeed him in his business in the future. Meanwhile, Miki is secretly planning to transform the shop into a beauty parlor. Her favorite aspect of her father is that he is a man who respects a child's liberty as long as the child takes responsibilty for her actions. However, she is a little angry that he won't allow her to ride a motorcycle.

Don't know why Ryo would really ask this.

Don't know what this means either. I guess a barbershop isn't too heavy of a workload?

Oh my.

Ryo makes a hasty retreat.

Yeah, okay...

Ryo returns home at night and hits Fuku up for a chat.

Ah, Fuku, you're useful when you're just a messenger.

Ryo goes to check it out.

Pretty flowers.

Ah geez where did you come from?

Any time an old person says this to you, you know what they're trying to imply.

To further push it, Ine just kinda stands there and stares for a while.

Ryo doesn't enjoy this. But whatever, he's got more important things on his mind right now. Like waiting for that phone call.



NEXT UPDATE: Christmas Day