Toggle Background Color





Chapter 58: Yuki Takamiya 4




Nothing new to see here, so we’ll just skip through the preamble.



Consider Front Gate




Oh, I’ll go with you!



Huh, Aiba’s not here. Weird.



Well, she’ll probably catch up, let’s get moving.



Music: Bad Omen (Mitsuhiro Kaneda)



Ha! You tryin’ to give me orders now?
You better get out of my face. I’m not in the mood for your shit right now.





Ah… Um… Takamiya-san, are these people… friends of yours?
That’s right. And if you’re friends with her… That means you have to be friends with me too.
Hey!




You think you can threaten me!?
Bastard…






Stay back, Aiba.







Cheese it! The fuzz! Aiba already split, Yuki, what are you waiting for!?



The school called the cops on me.




Can I go home now?
*sigh* No.
Dammit…

You say that like you expected it to work.

Four-eyes isn’t going to shut up about this. Ugh. It’s gonna be a real drag if I get suspended from school…




Just stay still and stay quiet.



…Wait, what?



Just wondering where the ladies’ room is.
……



I’ll just stand here with my mouth shut.



Yes sir.

Finally, something happens.



Glad to see you haven’t changed, Takamiya.

Music: Between The Lines (Kikuchi Yukinori)



Most of them got away. The two we caught only have minor injuries.



They took you away, and… I didn’t even know you were transferred. What happened?



Tell me what you know.
Sorry, old man. Can’t talk about it.
……



There was an incident involving the transport of heavy machinery. It was reported as an accident, and in the middle of all of it… was a young lady. Ryoko Shinonome. I took her into custody.
Shinonome…
But, just like with you… Those men from the SIU took her away by force. Her statement was a curious one though. She claimed both her and her weapon came from the future. To fight against kaiju.



There was another heavy machinery accident just recently. I saw it there, just before they covered it up in a tarp. And let me tell you… That thing was no ordinary piece of construction equipment.

That must have been Miura’s Sentinel, right?

Something is going on in this town. And I have to find out. You’ll tell me what you know, won’t you?
……

I love that Onishi is under the complete misapprehension here that any of this is in any way his story to unravel. Nope! Leave that to the teenagers, buddy!

Consider Minami’s Notebook

(Shinonome and her weapon came from the future, huh… I remember, in Nat-chan’s notebook… She wrote about time travel. And a robot that fights… Onishi the Ogre may just be another old fart… But he’s an old fart I think I can trust. Maybe I should talk to him. And have him help me, too.)

Use Natsuno Minami on Detective Onishi



Are the police even looking for her?
Natsuno… Minami? The name doesn’t sound familiar.
She’s a first-year at Sakura High, and the SIU are looking for her. You’ll let me know if you find anything?
I’ll keep my eyes open.

Use Special Investigations Unit on Detective Onishi



About the SIU?
It seems there’s an understanding among the higher-ups. But it’s still a mystery for us underlings. As far as I know… They’re doing extensive research on Shikishima Industries.
I figured as much.

Use Shikishima Industries on Detective Onishi



But, according to four-eyes… Shikishima is making nuclear weapons. And there are minors involved.

Involved how? Still no idea! Probably because it’s a fucking lie! The part about the nuclear weapons, I mean, not the minors.

They told me to watch them, which is why they transferred me.
…Minors?
Ryoko Shinonome is at Sakura High too.



It’s a request to limit traffic while transporting heavy machinery. The thing Shinonome claimed to have arrived in… is on its way to Shikishima’s new shipbuilding dock, as we speak.
If I can get there… Maybe I can finally figure it out. What the machine is… And what happened to Nat-chan.




(I had no choice but to get on this train. Shikishima’s shipbuilding dock. No idea what shit I’m gonna find there. But the anticipation is twisting my stomach into knots…)

I guess Onishi just… let Yuki go after that, huh? Whatever.

Consider Shikishima Industries

(The shipbuilding dock the robot was moved to… It’s on a landfill near the port. A deserted area with nothing but storage. I’ll take this train to the last stop. And then wait near the facility. I’ll have to wait until dark to sneak in…)






What are you doing here?
Obvious, ain’t it? I’m going home.
But I thought… Don’t you live near Nat-chan’s house?
Yeah, when we were in elementary school. I live with my grandpa now. Where are you going?
Oh. Well, uh… To see the ocean?
You all right?



Decided not to follow you around today?
You mean Erika Aiba?
Aiba?
You’re in class D, right? She’s in your class, isn’t she?
Huh?

Music: Cognitive Dissonance (Rikako Watanabe)



*gasp* ...Wait, we already knew that multiple times over. Never mind.

Aiba’s been absent from school for a while now.



The next stop is Akebi. Akebi.



Gotta switch trains at the next stop.




I really like that scene with Nenji just there, for what it’s worth. It shows that he has some sort of longer history with Yuki and Natsuno than we realize, and that he doesn’t totally hate Yuki either. Also, I just think Nenji’s a good boy.



Consider Erika Aiba

(Not Aiba? Then… who the hell is she? Shit… Who can I even believe anymore? I guess just myself now. Trust nothing I don’t see with my own eyes. And the first thing I’m gonna see… The weapon at Shikishima.)




Sneaking in was almost too easy. Though, when it’s this damn dark… It’s hard to see much of anything.

Consider Erika Aiba

(Nenji Ogata, class 1-D, has made the claim… that Erika Aiba is not who she says she is. If that’s true, then… Who’s the person that’s been following me this whole time? …And what does she want with me?)








Wait… I know that voice… Ryoko Shinonome.



I should be the one asking you that.




What’s going on?
Our bodies are responding. We are pilots.
Pilots?



Music: Hard Pill to Swallow (Kikuchi Yukinori)





What the hell is that!?





And you… are one of the people who can pilot it. Yuki Takamiya.
You… I remember you from the list. You’re Renya Gouto.



This is MY Sentinel.
Sentinel?



Did you sell me out?
I don’t know what that means.



I will not let you have it.



You could say that.

Use Shikishima Industries on Renya Gouto



No, Shikishima did not make this. We did.
Who the hell ARE you guys?
From our perspective… This world is nothing but the past.
You mean… time travel? You’re not serious, are you?
Very. The Sentinels themselves are weapons from the future.

Use Minami’s Notebook on Ryoko Shinonome



This is what Nat-chan was looking for? A robot that can fight aliens?
Really? Aliens? Was she planning on fighting some little green spacemen?

Hey! Don’t make fun of Natsuno like that! Only I get to do that, and I do it with love!

Well… then… What *are* you trying to do?
Save the world from the kaiju.

How is that any less ridiculous than the alien thing, really?

……



Okay, Yuki’s had enough, let’s get outta here.



The hell… Is that real?
You wanna find out?




Or am I gonna have to beat the crap outta both of you?
There will be none of that. After all, you too have a part in this.
I don’t have jack squat to do with this!
Your glowing skin suggests otherwise.
I don’t know what you did to me…




New code has been added several times.
How many times did he come into contact with her?
They must be close…
You’re… from the nurse’s office…
I’d like to research you a bit more. Yuki Takamiya…






How nefarious. That Gouto chap is trouble, I tell you what.



This is like the third or fourth scene we’ve gotten unlocked by “Exterminator,” wow.

Before we end the update, I have something to show off in Yuki’s flowchart.



As you can see, this top branch from the front gate was left unexplored because I didn’t go through these scenes in the right order. This is the scene where we would have, you know, actually investigated Tokisaka Shrine like we kept meaning to. I believe to see that scene, you need to find the notebook and go to the front gate without having talked to Nenji beforehand to find out about Ryoko looking for Natsuno or what happened in the girls’ bathroom.



Fortunately, we can see that branch anyway by selecting the correct scene in the Event Archive.



Let’s check it out real quick, it’s not a big thing.




And I still got nothing.



Why don’t we call it a day?
Yeah, all right. Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way.

And that’s the whole thing.



Here’s Aiba’s updated file.



Here’s a new mystery involving Aiba.



And here’s me finally fixing the font on Yuki’s image on the board!