Part 2
The last traces of summer are disappearing today, a Thursday halfway through October.
This is the day when I, Tohno Shiki, return home. It's been eight years since I left.
"Shiki, hurry up. You're going to be late for school."
I hear Keiko-san's voice floating in from the kitchen.
"Okay, I'm leaving~!" I call back.
I place my hands together in the room that was mine at the Arimas up until now.
"I'm going. Thanks for letting me live with you these last eight years."
Clap Clap. I fold my hands together in prayer.
Then, grabbing my only bag, I leave the room that had become so familiar.
Keiko-san simply nods.
Eight years---the eyes of the person who had been my mother look so sad.
I don't think I've ever seen her like that before.
"I'm sure it'll be hard for you at the Tohnos' house. Please watch yourself. Your body is weak; you mustn't overdo it."
"I'll be okay. After eight years, I'm just as healthy as anyone else. I'm a lot tougher than I look."
"I suppose you're right. But... the Tohnos are different from everyone else. I'm worried they'll be too much for you."
I know what Keiko-san means.
My home from today forth will be a mansion, an uncommon sight in this day and age.
Not only is the house amazing, but the family itself is highly respected. It's said they hold significant investments in many corporations.
To top things off, it's my true home. The Arimas have only been looking after me.
"But, it's already decided."
Yeah, it's something that's decided already.
"Alright, I'll be heading off then. Thanks for taking care of me."
I repeat those words one last time, and turn my back on the household I had grown so accustomed to over these past eight years.
I recovered from a serious injury that normally would have meant death. Then I was entrusted to the Arimas, a family branching off from the Tohno family.
I had lived with my real parents at the Tohno mansion up until I was nine, then I lived with the Arimas for eight years until now, my second year of high school.
I lived a normal life as an adopted son.
From the time I met Sensei---those special circumstances Sensei told me about as she parted never happened, and the glasses hid the "lines" from me as long as I wore them.
The life of Tohno Shiki was a peaceful one.
It meandered along gently...
...... until a few days ago.
The day when the head of the Tohno family sent word to me.
"Return to the Tohno Mansion."
The very family that, until now, had shunned me.
I got along well with my adopted parents, Keiko-san and Fumio-san. It was as if they were my real parents.
I lived a normal life in the loving family of the Arimas like a real son, just like I had always wished. I don't regret living there.
...... Except for one thing.
My little sister, one year younger than me, remained behind with the Tohnos.
"Akiha... I bet she hates me now."
It would only be natural.
She had to live in that mansion all by herself, under the constant supervision of that hard-headed old man.
I could easily imagine what Akiha thought of me, the one who escaped.
I let out another sigh.
I can't help it.
What's going to happen will happen.
Today, after school, I'll return to my true home. Lord knows what'll occur.
"But for now, I've got more pressing problems."
My watch shows 7:45.
Homeroom starts at eight o'clock sharp and anyone who isn't in class by eight is marked as late.
Clutching my bag, I start sprinting towards school.
For some reason, the back gate at our school isn't really popular.
Only ten people or so, myself included, actually use it. It's quiet and pretty devoid of people day or night.
Please don't throw a fit just because I said Hgame, either. I know it can be a somewhat controversial topic on this forum and so I came to an important decision.
Anybody familiar with my Arcanum thread might wonder why the hell I'm doing this. I think the simplest answer is "because I want to." I've really been wondering how I could possibly follow up the Arcanum thread, and I don't think a simple screenshot LP would do it - or even a video LP. This seems like a great way to make a thread in a similar vein as my last one while not burning myself out with a huge workload. I also think it's a shame how few people actually have a real chance to read this, and I want to share it. It's a really high-quality piece of writing, and I insist that it's better than anything in my Arcanum thread. You might not think so just from what I posted above, but please do keep reading and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I'll be playing the game by vote, and I mean that in more ways than one. Most importantly, I want people to vote on the decisions to be made in-game (including the first one presented at the end of the second post). Secondly, I'd like some feedback on how to do the thread. Should there be less text and more pictures of text? Should I include silly comments at points as I see fit (My god that woman's hair is down to her ankles! Wait, it suddenly changed length.
)? Should I include musical cues so those interested can play the game music at the appropriate times? Speaking of which, download the soundtrack here.Updates are not going to be as regular as they were for the Arcanum thread, and will be more typical for LPs. There might be multiple in a day, there might not be any for a couple days, depending on my mood and how busy I am.
To anybody thinking about how monumental of a task this is, or assuming I won't finish: this LP is a cakewalk compared to my Arcanum thread. Seriously. I've got the whole script and I can post an update in about 20 minutes (compared to the 6-10 hours per update on my Arcanum thread, with over 70 updates posted daily). I can easily finish this, with multiple paths if desired. Heck, the "main" path we'll probably end up on is only about 35 choices, and that's a high estimate. I finished Arcanum, please trust that I can finish this. Don't stop reading just because you think I'm not going to be able to do it.
Still, thanks to everybody wishing me good luck
