Part 114: Friday's Partings ~ The Smoking Gun

Friday's Partings ~ The Smoking Gun



Because of how the scenes at the start of Friday work, it's possible to have upto 3 at a time with just one person instead of two.



Are you all right?

[Music: Connected Hearts]

...Hibiki. Ha... I was lost in thought there. Not my usual style, huh?
I've decided... now is the time to stand against Yamato Hotsuin.
There comes a time when you have to act, even if it costs your life. For me, that's now.
You prefer equality?
Hotsuin wants a Darwinian world... Where the weak are under the strong's heel.
But are humans such animals? I haven't lived this long to go along with that!



And this moment, right now... Isn't this the time to voice that idea loud and clear!?
Why now?
Now's the only time. The world is falling apart... This is the time to change things!
I will fight for the justice I love and for man's dignity! I will bring about equality!
Do you know how?
...I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight I have no chance of winning. Daichi told me.
You have to defeat all the Septentriones to open a path to Polaris, right?



...Well, may we meet again. Hopefully, next time it'll be as comrades.

Ronaldo leaves, a determined expression on his face...

[Music: Exploration]



Naturally, because Makoto and Io both die after this, it's not possible to have Joe or Yamato do their scenes solo.



Ugh, it's no good. That won't work at all!
What's the matter?
Hm? Oh, hey, Hibiki! Great timing...

[Music: In the Devastated Town]

I've been thinking a lot. You know, about how Yamato and Ronaldo say this and that.
I dunno... Don't the merit system and total equality seem like going too far?
Do they?
Whaaat? C'mon, Hibiki. Think! Don't you see that neither way makes any sense?



You're right.
I know! Hmm... isn't there something else...?
We're all friends, right!? Why do we have to lose our cool over this stuff!?
Shouldn't friends work together to find a way through whatever comes up!?
You're absolutely right.



Either way, it can't go on... I don't want to see my friends fighting like this!
That black scar... The Void is swallowing up more and more of the world. We gotta hurry!

You say your farewells to Hinako before leaving...



Something, something, magic circle under the government building, time to hang out with Keita some more.

[Music: Exploration]



Hmph... It's you, Hibiki.
Looks like the others are bickering about Yamato's merit system.
Morons... I bet they're still going on and on about it. They're hopeless.
...I'm done with my break. If you don't need anything from me, then... Hm?

You see the woman Keita was talking to before, with a boy...

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



Th-Thanks! This is great!
Oh... But what about you?



Are you sure...? Thank you! I'll take this all back!
*sigh* But that's not going to be enough... What should I do...?

You can hear the woman's stomach growling...

Hrgh...



O-Oh... Nothing much... Ahaha...
A-Anyway... I'm sorry I made you angry last time.
......
Oh... And, um... I brought some apples. Some kind people shared them with me...
......
I'm sorry, though... I gave them to a boy just now... If I find something else, I'll...
...You think I'm a fool?
Huh...?



What's so great about giving away food when you need it? How do you benefit?
I... B-Benefit? That's not what...
It makes me sick.
What's gonna be left after you sacrifice yourself for others? It's just self-satisfaction.
You don't have to say it like that...!



That's going too far.
Hmph... Shut up. Looking at people like her reminds me of my idiot father.



He was timid and pathetic... Always with his stupid laugh and trying to help others...
And then... he got betrayed by people he thought were his friends and saddled with their debts.
He had to disappear. He's a complete fool...
No...! You can't talk about your father like that...!
...What?

[Music: Elegy]



But... He helped a lot of people! That's the kind of man he was...
*sigh* What's with you? Don't go around talking like you know everything!



The woman leaves...



She knows something.
Huh...? Hm, she did call me "Keita"...
......
Tch... Like I give a damn. I'm sure she'll change her mind once she gets burned.
...Well, I'm out of here.

Keita leaves...

[Music: Exploration]



For obvious reasons, this isn't quite the scene it would seem like at first. It just has the same name regardless of whether or not Jungo is alive.



Yo, Hibiki...
You're not still all confused about whether to go with Yamato or not, are you?
Well, I don't care either way. If you become my enemy, I'll just crush you and... Hm?

You hear people arguing...

[Music: Countdown]



Yeah? Well, he told me I could have that food. ...Right, kid?
Hrgh... Th-That's...
See? Don't you accuse me of being a thief! Quit butting in!
Y-You're lying! I saw you! You forced that boy to give you his food!
Tch... So what? What idiot would give it back now?
S-Still... You have to...!



Hngh...
C'mon, get lost. If you're gonna go nuts about this, you shouldn't stick your nose in.
...!
Hahaha! If you've got a problem, blame the demons. Well, I'm outta here.
...No! Give that boy his food...!
Huh? You're pissing me off, lady. You wanna talk to my fist?
...!



We have to save her!
...Tch, dammit. This is the only time I'm gonna do this!



Aaaah...!

[Music: Heroes Have No Fear]

Hey, asshole... Hang on.
...! Wh-What the hell do you want!? You with this bitch!?
...What? I don't even know her.
Th-Then get outta my way! This doesn't involve y--



...Yeah. You ot a problem with that?
Oh, n-no... Of course not... Yeah... Hehe...
Huh. Looks like you've got some food there.
Hand it over. I'm starving here. You don't have a problem with that, do you?
Huh...? B-But...! This is mine...!
And?
...! N-No, please have it! Well, I'll be going...

The man scurries away...

[Music: Over the Brink of Death]



...Thank this guy. I've got nothing to do with this.
...Hey, squirt. Take this food.
Huh...? You're giving it back...?
...I don't need it. I work with JP's, so I don't have to worry about food.



...Hmph. I don't need your thanks, idiot.
...I have to thank you, too. Thank you so much. You, too, Hibiki...
...So tell me.
How do you know my name? Have we met somewhere?
Oh... N-No... We've never met...

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



...! My dad...!?
M-Mhmm... He was usually a quiet person, there was one time he looked so happy...



He was saying things like "My son's in here" and "He's a frontrunner to win it!"
He was so excited to be sharing that with us...
He was hiding somewhere so close... That moron.
When the earthquake struck... he and I were at work.
But I got scared, and didn't make it out in time... That's when he...



......
So when I saw you... It felt like God was giving me a chance to show my gratitude...
But I didn't have the courage to tell you that your father died saving me. I'm sorry...
......
He... saved someone who didn't get out in time?

[Music: Elegy]



He's a strong person.
Strong!? He saved this woman and got himself killed!
What's strong about that!? That's just being stupid!
......



Keita leaves...

Ah...! Keita...

The woman looks worriedly at Keita.



Strangely, there's also two versions of this one particular event with Hinako. The version that pops up on Friday is actually really easy to miss because to get it you have to avoid doing the event with the same name on Thursday.



[Music: Countdown]

Hinako is here. She seems to be tending to a wounded JP's member...

Aggghhh...! I can't believe... This is where I'll...
Hold on! It'll only be a little while longer...
What did you do!?
Ah, Hibiki...! Y-You saw everything!



Come on! This is no time to be joking around!
This person was wounded by a demon and the bleeding isn't stopping!



Uggghhh...
Hey, hold on! I'm calling JP's right now...!
...Hm? Hinako? And Hibiki, too.

You see Joe nearby.



Oh, Joe...! Y-Yeah, I think the wound's pretty deep...
Hmm, let's calm down, okay? Can we stop the bleeding? Is there anything bandage-like?
Hmm... No. I'll start tearing off parts of my clothes...
Oh, that's okay. I found my handkerchief. I haven't cleaned it in a while, though...
Ah, and Hinako? Can you call JP's for me?
O-Oh, right! Yeah. I'll call them right now.

Joe staunches the flow of blood...



It should probably be blindingly obvious at this point, but Joe is only in this scene because he's filling in for Otome. If she were alive, then she'd be here instead for obvious reasons.

...? How are you so good at this?
Huh? First aid? Well, I've been visiting the hospital a lot.
And while I was chatting with the nurses, they told me how to do a lot of this stuff.
Man, I'm glad I remembered!
......

[Music: Exploration]



Looks like the bleeding's stopped, but he's lost a lot of blood. And his chest hurts.
I see... I'd like to ask you more about this. Could you come with us?
Guh? Okay.
Well, guess I'm getting a ride. Later, Hinako. Later, Hibiki.

Joe enters the ambulance and it speeds away...

[Music: Elegy]



Joe was amazing... He was so calm... I couldn't do a thing.
I can't even do first aid... All I have is dancing...
When I summoned Shiva, I thought I might be useful after all...
But I guess that was just a coincidence that Shiva liked my Japanese dancing...
......
Has my whole life been one useless thing after another?
No.
Haha... Thanks. You're trying to comfort me, right? You don't have to.



All I have is dancing... But that doesn't help anyone.
Yikes, this isn't good. I don't mean to dump this all on you.
I bet telling you all this stuff just depresses you. Hahaha, sorry...

Hinako seems to have pulled herself together for now...

And now... absolutely fucking nothing new or different happens for most of the day. Well, except during the stakes part.



Since Jungo was KIA, Ronaldo turns up to help out there too if we go with Airi and Fumi.



He, um, he isn't very good there. I'd honestly go so far as to consider him a liability quite frankly.

Anyway, we do that, get Lugh, summon the dragon stream, beat up Mizar, Beelzebub shows up, we kick his ass, blahblahblah. Sod it, let's fill in some time with a few new fusions.



Baal and Metatron work well enough to give us our top-tier Megami, Amaterasu. She has Samarecarm for a reason, and it's the same reason she has Anti-Almighty. If you're going to have a healer at this point, might as well have the best healer.



One Fate 5 demon deserves, anoth- oh wait, no. Asura was Alcor's Fate 3 demon, that's right. Shiva and Astaroth were the two that made him in this case, and that was mildly more annoying than I'd have liked.

Because Asura is the only non-Suzaku demon to have Inferno by default (and he even needs to level up to earn the right to use it!), and I didn't have Remove Command for quite some time.

There's only one demon in the mid-70s I skipped over, because he's baaaaad. It's a shame too, because he's the highest ranked Genma and probably the one least worth using. Go figure.

Oh, right. There's no demons that are level 78 or 79. Instead, we now start skipping levels between demons, and our next level is...



80, and we'll use Black Frost here. The highest ranked Jaki, and he came from Anubis and Baal. Probably gonna switch his passives around later with a Mitama (most likely to remove Ice Repel and place Pierce in its place). He's pretty solid, and very definitely worth our time.



Wait, hang on. Wasn't this a fight before?

[Music: Countdown]



Hey... Did you guys hear that!? Those sounds...
Oh man... That's not good, Hibiki! We gotta hurry!
Where's Makoto?
How should I know!? But those sounds definitely sound like fighting!
...I'd say we should hurry too. This is serious... Let's go on in!



Makoto... You've lost. Surrender now, and I promise no harm will come to you.
Don't take me for a fool... I'll never surrender!
...Are you going to continue serving Yamato's ambitions, no matter what?
I've made myself clear...! I... devoted myself to JP's. I will not betray them now!



...! Fine, shoot me!
If you're just going to make me a hostage -- a liability to the Chief -- just kill me already!
...! Makoto!



[Music: Silence]



...! M-Makoto...? No way...!
E-Everyone... I'm sorry... I...

[Music: Requiem]



......
W-Wait a sec... We didn't make it in time...? No way...
What were you thinking!? Why did you kill her...!?
It's you guys... ...Say what you will.
Clicky... What's gotten into you? You're just doing this to oppose Yamato...?
Yes... That's right. I think now's a good time to tell you this.
I've gathered my forces and successfully raided the Nagoya branch. JP's is weakened...



St-Still...! You didn't have to kill her!
Why'd it have to be this way!? Hey, Hibiki...! Say something!
This has gone too far.
Yeah! Way too far!
...I've said what had to be said. I don't intend to harm any of you, but...
If you're going to get in the way of my ideals, I will fight you with everything I have.





No... This can't be happening... Makoto...
Makoto's dead...

Honestly, this part of the game feels like the most unsure of what it wants to try and do.



Immediately after this is the route split, where even if Makoto dies, Ronaldo gets to waltz into JP's like nothing just happened. And you can still side with him even if you disagree with him just straight up murdering her.

Well, we're already through the looking glass so why not just dive in headfirst?

[Music: In the Devastated Town]



...Hey, Hibiki. Thanks for coming.
I came to hear you out.
Ha... Thanks. I wanted to talk with you if I could.

[Music: Heroes Have No Fear]

...I'll be straight with you. I want you on my side.



Ooh, yeah, it'd be great ot have Hibiki in our corner. Ronaldo's inviting you, huh?
Hey guys, I snagged some food, and-- huh? What're you doing here, Hibiki?
Ah, Airi! Looks like Clicky is recruiting Hibiki, haha.
Ha... The gang's all here.



Them too?
Yes, that's right. They believe in the cause and have already agreed to fight for it.
I've said it before, but I want to bring world peace through true equality.

[Music: Connected Hearts]



Man has abandoned kindness in pursuit of his own gains. It's not normal...
And Hotsuin's merit system will be one where those lacking in ability are tossed aside.
I... That's not just. It isn't right. That world can't be allowed to be made real.



Wouldn't it be wonderful if people were more considerate? If they helped each other out?



But... That doesn't matter.
I want a world with no poverty or war, where there's a smile on everyone's face!
With Polaris' power, as long as we don't stray from our path, it's within our grasp...!



Okay.

[Music: The Operation Starts]



Hahaha, we lucked out! You'll be a big help!
I knew you'd say yes, Hibiki! Thanks for supporting us.



Hibiki... Let's join forces and bring about equality!
We've already driven JP's out of Nagoya.
We took over the Nagoya branch as our base of operations.
I'll have someone prepare a room for you. The fight starts tomorrow, so rest well...!

You head to the Nagoya branch with the others...

Yeah, we go to the base, tell Tico we don't want the recap etc. etc.

We got Daichi's e-mail last time, when we sided with Yamato so we'll skip over that one.



opportunity for you to see my power and how right I am in pushing for a meritocracy.