surgeworks

13 - September 2 | Table of Contents | 15 - October 1
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Alternate Title: Bad Romance. Worst Romance.

Last time, Chidori swung between moods like a metronome, and Shinjiro started carving out a piece of my heart. He’ll be done soon enough.

9/14. Today, we overhear students talking about a school culture festival and a typhoon that’s headed this way. Mr. Takenozuka talks about nuclear fission, and asks us which of the choices isn’t one of Japan’s nuclear prohibitions. The answer is ‘can’t let others produce’. Junpei was thinking so much about Chidori that the school festival slipped him by. We spend time with Rio after school.

Rio is ‘somewhat dazed’. Not only are the other club members here, but they’re actually enthusiastic about practicing! Though backhandedly, they express a desire for Rio to snap out of it and back to her old, driven self, and speculate that her loss of focus has to do with her crush on Kenji, and of course begin pushing her to talk to him. She turns to us, and we let her know it’s her decision to make. She remains stumped, and unsure of what to do—but then makes a decision. She’s gonna tell him she likes him, because after all, any outcome has to be better than drowning in unspoken feelings, right? We express some shock at that, and she pouts. Surprisingly, she goes right now to tell him. Yuko walks in right then, with some nonsense about club funding forms to deal with, but look who just ran off! We suggest going after her.

Probably in a Scooby Stack, we spy on Rio as she talks with Kenji in the hall, demanding the clueless boy tell him if he likes her. According to Kenji, he likes her about as much as ramen. Yuko and the rest of the club actually get outraged at this insensitivity and step in to defend Rio’s honor, chiding him on his remark. He runs off, and Rio laughs it off. Apparently, ramen is his favorite thing in the world—so if he’s being real about that, she’ll take it. Everyone smiles, and Rio thanks us for giving a push and laughs. RANK UP! A club member offers to buy Rio a shake.

At the dorm, Fuuka remarks on Junpei’s budding relationship with Chidori, saying she’s a Strega member and they’re our enemies, without ever actually condemning it or allowing us to. We spend time with Shinjiro tonight.

The heartfelt music is playing again. Shinji mentions he wants to go someplace tonight and asks us if we’d like to go. We ask where—it’s Paulownia Mall. We head off, and he takes us to Chagall Cafe. He asks us what we want, and he’ll take tea, why not. He calls that a girly drink, but smiles, and orders it for us…but before we can get them, he starts a coughing fit, causing us to ask if he’s alright. He brushes us off; it’s not contagious, but it’s why he doesn’t come to places like this often. We ask why we came here, and he says he needs to buy something, seeming a tad embarrassed. What’s he buying? ...Ground coffee. We ask if he drinks it, and he says he’ll drink what’s left after he…..you know….uses it for cooking, he admits, while blushing. Yes, he’s going to treat everyone at the dorm to some nice homemade food. We offer to help, but he brushes us off. Smiling, he says it’s not that he doesn’t trust our cooking skills, but...it’s important to him that we eat it, not make it. He actually seems in good humor, laughing and saying we’d better tell everyone it’s great even if it tastes like trash (as if!). RANK UP! We then get back to the dorm.

9/15. Akihiko meets us outside the gates to bemoan that the next Full Moon Shadow isn’t for another three weeks, and wishes they’d all come at once. When we voice skepticism, he speaks the truth by saying hey, we have ten fucking people fighting now, it shouldn’t he bard to take on three more shadows who are all barely balanced for four-person teams.

We spend time with Yukari after school. This one’s important, as it’s another MAX Rank—Yukari’s invited us into her room.

When we get there, she prides herself on how clean it is, offering us any CDs or DVDs we find to borrow. She asks us what type of music we like, and we select Jpop. After some time is spent chatting offscreen, Yukari mentions she has something to give to us—it’s the strap from her cell phone. It’s the one her dad got for her at the Moonlight Bridge opening, so many years ago, and she’s treasured it since then. There used to be a small toy figurine attached to it, which she talked to when she was younger, desiring something to hang onto. She muses that this may have been her trying to run away, into the happy memories she had. As time went on, she started to dislike this about herself, like she was using it as a tool to act like a damsel in distress.

She wants us to hold onto it, at least until she can shake that facet of herself. That, she says, will be when she’s able to proudly go see her mom, and reminisce about her dad together with her. We sense a strong bond, and RANK UP.

We are informed that our Lovers Social Link has reached maximum rank, and that we can now fuse Cybele, the Earth Mother.

Yukari wonders if she’ll ever get married one day, become a mom herself. We figure that’s likely enough, and she’s actually looking forward to it. Still though, no boyfriend-hunting for now, it’s more fun hanging out with us! She invites us to stay and talk the night away, and we do so.

I should mention that oddly, there was no voice acting for any of this. It was understandable for Mutatsu and Tanaka, considering they’re not main characters, but Yukari is a fully-fledged central character, and after hearing Junpei’s fully voice-acted MAX rank Link scene, this was kind of underwhelming, especially as the music remained cheery and unconcerned with us throughout it.

At the dorm, Fuuka remarks that Chidori’s apparently starting to open up a little, though she still doesn’t want to talk about Personas. Junpei, when spoken to, says he’s going to give her space, though it’ll be hard.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 16

Shinjiro congratulates us on having beaten nine of twelve shadows already. Koromaru’s free tonight, but the schedule says to study, so that’s what we do.

9/16. Gossip today tells us that Yukari will be in a maid’s outfit for the culture festival, having drawn the short straw in her archery club. We spend time with Bebe again.

He’s doing fairly well today, leaving what we want to make up to us, and we select the knit rabbit we made previously. We’re complimented by Bebe on accomplishing it faster than last time and just as well-made, too. What next? Bebe suggests a scarf, stating ‘happiness comes to girls who knit scarves’, something his aunt told him. A heart floats over him as he says he wants us to be happy. Man, this guy is a sweet one. The happy expression on his face dampens somewhat as he realizes that either (we still can’t see) the sewing machine has stopped working, or he has no inspiration to sew with. We advise him to rest. He begins to worry about his uncle and how he’s to convince him to let him stay. He thinks he might come up with some ideas at the sweets shop, so he invites us out.

Once we get there, Bebe reaffirms his desire to stay in Japan, no matter the cost, which we express our support for. Bebe seems to have been right about his idea processes, because he has a plan. He is going to return home, but not because he’s giving up. He’ll just go home, convince his uncle how great Japan is in person, and bring him back here! He asks for our support explaining his position to his uncle, and we RANK UP. We say goodbye, and head back to the dorm.

Once there, Yukari confirms angrily that she has been selected to wear a maid’s outfit. Akihiko and Mitsuru both note that the typhoon is headed this way, and may cancel the culture festival. We hang out with Shinjiro.

Happy music! Shinjiro wants to do the catering today! He wants us to let the others know that it’ll be ready in about an hour, and to be patient. We ask him what he’s making, and the little shit answers ‘dinner’. Pfft. Shinji calls Fuuka, and they head into the kitchen. He’s already set everything out for her beforehand, and asks her if she remembers what to do. She tries her heart out, and he corrects all her mistakes. We observe that even under a process like that, he’s still cooking something else entirely off to the side without missing a beat. Having already been told we can’t help, we ask if it’s ready yet, and he laughs, saying even Koromaru knows how to wait better than we do.

Junpei wanders down, smelling good food. Koromaru and Aigis are right behind him, with the rest of SEES not far off. Shinjiro confirms that he’s made enough for everyone, and we all get excited, with Shinji getting a little overwhelmed. It’s another two hours before the food is ready, but when it is, the sight is awesome. According to the text, there’s “tomato pasta, sweet-and-sour pork, fried chicken, paella, omelette with fried rice, and more”. Yukari runs to get Mitsuru, who’s still in her room, and Shinjiro tells her to get Ken, too, who is probably still up despite the late hour. Everyone has something to say about the amount of food, the quality of the food, or its preparation, with Mitsuru wondering if someone called a chef. Shinji tells us all to sit our asses down and dig in.

Everyone’s chowing down and remarking that the food is as good as it smells, with the exception of Ken, who’s a little more reluctant. After everyone’s eaten, we’re left alone in the lounge with Shinji, and that music starts to play. He gives a quiet little laugh about everyone enjoying his food, and we let him know it’d be great to do it again sometime. He’s not opposed to that idea, and laughs again. He ponders that he probably wouldn’t have done all this without our suggestion, and that it was simpler than he thought to just….do it. There’s a quiet moment, in which we let things be, and we RANK UP. Just after, he starts another coughing fit, and says he’s really worn out and needs to hit the sack.

9/17. More typhoon talk on the way to school, and then we hang out with Fuuka. We, uh, don’t rank up despite the guide indicating it. Gulp. I hope that’s a mistake. We need a fruit knife tonight for Theo, which we get from Shinjiro. Only when we take it to him do we see him read off the inscription, which indicates it’s a graduation gift from the orphanage. Shinji just handed off one of his memories to us like it was no problem! For completing that request, we get a special axe for Shinjiro to tear shit up with. Before we spend our evening, we check out a new recording on the command room’s consoles, dated 9/6.

It’s Shinjiro and Koromaru on the lounge couch. Shinji’s watching a cooking program, and we get a fully voiced television voice-over describing how one makes spicy pasta. Before the program can finish, with him wondering if SEES has a pasta cooker, Fuuka’s and Aigis’ voices are heard. Shinji scrambles to change the channel, not wanting to be caught watching unmanly cooking shows, and pretends to be asleep on the couch, despite there being a cooking magazine still in his hands. Koro busts his cover, and Fuuka notes that that magazine is a new issue. Koro is ready to spill more beans for Aigis to translate, but Fuuka cuts that before Shinjiro can be slain with his own secrets. Once they’re gone, Shinji gets up, cursing Aigis and her ability to understand dog speech. Despite it, he’s not mad at Koromaru. He smiles and promises to make him something next time, too.

We take Ken out to the same restaurant we have for three, now four, times, where he orders a ginger pork meal. He’s not chowing down, and we ask what’s wrong. Failing to eat much, he admits to having eaten snacks not too long ago, and asks if it’s true an unbalanced diet doesn’t allow a person to grow as much. We confirm this, and then wonder what might be going on while he valiantly forces himself to eat properly. We ask him what’s up, and he says he’s been noticing how small he still is. He says he wants to be like Akihiko, and nervously says we like people like Akihiko, right? Pshaw, naw. (We have eyes only for Beanie Cap, but I don’t think it’d be smart to tell you that). He looks away, but seems to like this answer. He confesses to really wanting to grow up into an adult ASAP, and we RANK UP. He tries to stop us eating too much, convinced he won’t ‘catch up’ if we do.

9/18. Gossip lets us know that another film festival is being held starting from the 23^rd. We don’t get to do anything after school, as we head straight back to the dorm to avoid some seriously bad weather. We’re drenched by the time we get back. The scene at the dorm awaiting us is everyone gathered in the lounge, talking about the typhoon that just hit. Not only is it the biggest one on record, but it’s slow-moving, so it’ll be up our asses for a while. The school culture festival is definitely canceled. Junpei asks what we’re doing over break. ….We have a break?

Winter break, as it happens. Fuck! I won’t have a chance to make up the lost Fuuka rank! Speaking of, Fuuka was planning on going to the movies with Natsuki, but may not be able to go with the crap weather. Akihiko and Yukari can’t do any training, Mitsuru says she hasn’t decided what she’s doing over break (and kind of snippily brushes off Junpei when he asks), and him? He’s visiting Chidori, of course, as accurately guessed by Aigis. Junpei immediately brags that Chidori wants him to come, and I seethe. Ken has no plans, and mentions he’ll be visiting the shrine, which is where he ‘always’ goes, before he heads back up to his room to do homework. Shinjiro says nothing, but is definitely paying attention. We’re handed control.

Mitsuru is bummed that the culture festival she worked so hard on is now trashed. I take vindictive pleasure in it, because this is what that bitch gets for signing people up to waste weeks of their time without their consent—now she can have all of her time wasted, too. Shinjiro wonders about Ken not acting like a normal kid. We can’t go outside due to the rain, we can’t do Social Links here, and we can’t go to Tartarus, so we go to our room, where we immediately head to bed. We’re cold all over and seem to be coming down with something. We’re out like a light.

Dark Hour cut-in! This time though, it’s not Creepy Little Shit. The Velvet Room music is playing, where we arrive in our dreams. Igor says long time no see, and inquires about our Persona ability. He has a new form of assistance for us—higher fusions. We can fuse four or more Personas at once now! He sends us off on our way with that new info.

9/19.

9/20.

9/21.

Apparently our cold kept us out of commission for three damn days. Typhoon is gone, as it happens, and we’re now on a sunny holiday. Before we do anything else, let’s check out what happened while we were out, via a new console recording.

Dated 9/20, it’s a recording of our room, during our illness. Aigis then picks the fucking lock to our room.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 13

She also mentions her time has improved, so this is not the first time she’s done this.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 14

She then walks up to our bed, hovering over us and examining our condition, which has apparently improved. She also prepared a pillow in the freezer, but it won’t be necessary. Aigis makes to leave, not wanting to get chewed out again, but is drawn back. There’s still plenty of time ‘til sunrise in which to watch us sleep, right? Careful, Aigis. You’ve already got hard skin, you don’t want it sparkling, too.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 15

That recording done, we go to the shrine to boost our Fuuka Link. At the form, Yukari mentions jello in the fridge she made for us like the thoughtful friend she is, and Shinjiro is glad we’re better now. We then hang out with Koromaru.

We’re getting ready to take Koromaru for a walk, when Fuuka comes by and notices he hasn’t eaten his perfectly good leftover food. We ask if he’s not hungry, and he takes it in his mouth...but doesn’t eat it. He heads for the door, and we follow. He still has it in his mouth in front of the dorm before we walk him, and we ask if he’s still not going to eat it, and get no answer. We head to the shrine, and it’s there that we finally see why he brought the food: it’s for a shivering puppy who’s made its home at the shrine. Awww! We give it water, noticing a small collar around it as we do. Noticing it, we take the puppy to Officer Korosawa. He says no missing dog has been reported, but despite this, begins calling places to find out who might own the pup. He finds them after some digging, and we’re able to leave the puppy with him while we head back with Koromaru. At the shrine, Koromaru wags his tail and woofs, and we pipe up how happy we are to have found the puppy’s home. He nuzzles us with his nose, and we RANK UP!

9/22. Theo calls to let us know another human got lost. We go to the shrine to boost our Link with Fuuka again. At night, we study.

9/23. The film festival starts today, so we invite Shinjiro out. Predictably, he’s caught off-guard by our choice to do so with him, but is happy to go with us. The movie theme is pet movies today, which Shinjiro is not all that enthused by. Nor is he enthused after it, he’d have us believe, despite tears threatening his eyes and him running off to avoid us seeing him cry. At the dorm, we take Koromaru out for a holdover visit.

9/24. In class, Ms. Ounishi talks about stress, asking the number one source of it—it’s jobs for men and marriage for women, and we stay up despite being tired. Later, Ms. Toriumi says classes are canceled for the afternoon so cleanup of the unused culture festival can happen. When we do, we end up cleaning up the science rooms with Junpei, Yukari, and Aigis. Junpei brings up a school trip in November to Kyoto, and Kenji and Kazushi walk by, Junpei pawning his work off to Kenji. Kenji mentions a cross-dressing pageant was planned, and he was thinking about entering, and he, Junpei, and Kaz argue about who’d look cutest all cross-dressed up. When asked who the cutest would be, the obvious answer is us, of course. We’d look badass in a suit! There’s a lot of banter that’s...fun, but not really important, and they discuss Yukari’s narrowly-avoided maid outfit.

After class, for once Junpei isn’t up Chidori’s ass and kindly worries about us and our health. We spend time with Saori today.

We’re working in the library as usual when an announcement comes over the intercom, summoning the two of us to the faculty office immediately by name. Saori’s put off, and we ask if she has any idea what’s up, and she says no. When we get there, it’s Mr. Ekoda—oh wow, haven’t seen him in a while. He huffs and says Saori ought to have a little more shame, slamming a magazine down on the counter that reads “The Continued Corruption of Our Nation’s Youth: Rampant Sexuality in ‘G’ High”. I’m surprised they let that G joke in there, honestly. What this has to do with us becomes clear when we look at the cover picture: it’s Saori. Eyes black-barred out, and renamed to ‘Shiori Nagatani’, but still Saori. Ekoda confirms that the magazine is full of “filth”, wherein ‘Shiori’ talks about all the rated M stuff she and other girls do. Saori is stunned at the obvious lies about her, but that’s not all. The student who brought this to Ekoda’s attention also said that Saori is promiscuous, vulgar, rude behind people’s backs, and doesn’t interact with others because she has some sense of superiority. Ekoda, shit that he is, says that her reputation being so terrible, he isn’t surprised she’d do some interview like this, and drags her through the mud before officially suspending her, without even giving her a chance to defend herself.

We tell him he’s wrong, but he turns his ass-hattery on us—basically, whether it’s true or not isn’t a factor. This article has reached the general public and public opinion, and there needs to be punishment. (So, once again, he’s concerned more with appearances than doing what’s right.) He shits on Saori for being terrible to her poor parents, and we’re dismissed.

At the gates, Saori apologizes. She advises us to beat it, because our reputation’s going to suffer if we associate with her any further, but we shut that down. Saori, distressed, says that the article is a lie. That is her picture—taken by a photographer who said he was writing about the straightedge lifestyle in school youth, and gave her 4,000 yen for it. We ask if she didn’t suspect anything, and she honestly says no. Apparently another student advised her to do it, and she agreed, wanting a friend. Saori dips further into distress, talking about what a lie it is when people say they love you or care about you, and that adults only ever called her mature so long as she stayed quiet and proper. She’s nineteen now, and doesn’t even know how to stand up for herself after so long being a doormat. We tell her we’ve got her back, and on the brink of tears, she smiles. We RANK UP. Despite feeling ashamed for it, she says she’s glad we’re here with us, as she might not be able to endure all of this without us.

We hang out with Ken after getting back to the dorm, taking him out to eat as usual. He orders a Calcium Meal, but doesn’t appear to be that hungry. We ask him what’s wrong, and he says he’s sorry for taking up so much of our time and yammering on so much. We tell him it’s cool to keep talking, but he says it can’t be any fun listening to chatter from a little kid like him, and wonders why we’re so accommodating. After looking down for a moment, he asks us to take him seriously with what he next says. He brings up the manga he talked about last time, and says he threw all his issues of it away. We say we’ll buy him another, but he says thanks, but that’s not necessary. Fighting isn’t something fun, but he did enjoy reading it, he says, and we tell him not to worry about it, but he does anyway, feeling distressed that he got so much fun out of reading about people getting hurt and killed, as if he was reading some sort of horror series. He hates feeling that way, but we tell him to chin up (I mean, the other option is telling him to change, and he doesn’t really need to, there’s no harm in enjoying action manga). Ken’s confused, and mumbles asks why we’re like this. RANK UP! He then hastily tries to avert the atmosphere, worried food will taste bad because of it. Again, we tell him to chill, that’s not how it works.

9/25. Apathy Syndrome is getting worse per the news. We hang out with Bebe, who seems to need our attention right now.

While we work at Fashion Club, he tells us about a great idea he’s had to show his uncle how great Japan is, which is to show him a kimono: the one he’s going to make himself. We tell him that’s a good idea, and he gets excited. He tells us that the design will feature the sweets shop mascot. That’s literally all, we RANK UP!

At the dorm, we hang out with Shinjiro. He asks if we can step outside for a bit, as he’s somewhat uncomfortable in here. We ask him if something happened, and Shinji seems unwilling to answer, though it wasn’t a fight. We head out, where he shows that he’s exasperated with “those guys yapping at [him].” He reveals this to be the other SEES members hounding him about how great that dinner he made was and when he might do it again. Akihiko and Fuuka are at his heels, and everybody’s head snaps his way when he walks by the kitchen. Unashamed, we say we’re looking forward to next time too, which wrings a smile out of him. He asks if we think it’s funny or unlike him to have made that dinner, and remarks that it’s important to have good memories growing up. Though he doesn’t mention Ken by name, it’s clear he’s on Shinjiro’s mind. When asked if we had fun, we give an enthusiastic yes. He mumbles more about the importance of good memories, and like Ken, asks why we seem so enamored with hanging out with him when we could be doing other things. We tell him honestly that it’s fun hanging out with him, and this flusters him and makes him blush. RANK UP! As we’re outside, he offers to take us for ice cream, his treat.

9/26. Edogawa is teaching again, substituting for math class and obviously not bothering to teach algebra, and talks about Pythagoras being a magician and talks about the Tetractys, the collection of numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 that are considered holy because they add up to 10. After class, we hang out with Fuuka for the rank-up we missed.

She wants to watch us cook today, feeling she can learn that way. We make sugar cookies, and after the fact, Fuuka notes we washed utensils while cooking, astounded at our multitasking and organizational skill. We notice her very thick notebook that she’s writing in. She comments that this helps her, since she’s so good at observing and analyzing. See, she’s realized that trying harder isn’t going to go anywhere, but that approaching cooking from an angle she’s good at will help, and has helped. She also greatly appreciates our constant encouragement, despite cooking alongside her and seeing her every mistake, and that being liked despite, or because of, who she is, is a good thing and she needs to try it for herself. We RANK UP.

We hang out with Shinjiro again tonight. He’s got an oddly solemn look on his face and wants us to accompany him somewhere.

When we say yes, Living with Determination is playing when we arrive at the TPI station back alley. He reminisces that this is where we first properly met. Back then, he was so sure he’d never rejoin SEES. We tell him we’re glad he’s back, and he smiles, though he says he doubts he’s bringing that much to the team. ~~Well, he’s bringing more than Junpei, Ken, and Aigis, but that’s another matter~~. He frowns, looking away, and seems less sure of himself than usual. Another small smile arrives as he calls us a pain, though it quickly drops again. Anyone else getting the sense that something’s wrong here?

We keep messing things up for him, Shinjiro says. He keeps thinking he’s got his life all figured out, and then here we come, ready to fuck that up. Our face keeps popping up in his head. Though we’re rather confused by his tellings, we can sense we’re getting closer to the real depths of what’s going on. We RANK UP, and he says we need to go back, seeing as we have a place to go back to.

9/27. It’s a Sunday, so no school. We watch a new recording on the command room consoles, dated 9/25. The cam is on Mitsuru’s room, but she’s in the shower offscreen. She then walks around in a towel. Despite her being eighteen, her lounging around near naked and looking at swimsuit magazines is still to my distaste due to it, you know, being a secret recording. We do get some insight on her life—her stylist selects her clothes. The bath towel gets left on her sofa while she struts over to find pajamas. After that uncomfortable scene, we go to the shrine. Although we should probably take this chance to hang out with Akinari, the guide says we need to use the Oracle to boost Hidan’s Link, and I don’t want to repeat Fuuka’s and screw myself up.

We take Koromaru for a walk that night, with Akihiko going with us. While we go out, Akihiko remarks while out of breath that trying to keep up with Koro is a good way to train. He describes finding a stray dog when he was a kid, but he wasn’t allowed to have a pet at the orphanage.

Dark Hour cut-in!

CREEPY BOY IS AT IT AGAIN.

I swear this kid should have his own Hand Holding count. Yes, full moon is in a week, disappear please.

You’d think with how long we’ve had it established that boss shadows appear on full moons, the kid wouldn’t need to remind us of that every month. He even says, this not being the first time, that he shouldn’t need to remind us! How are we supposed to forget?

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 25

9/28. Kids wondering about Apathy Syndrome also wonder if it’s a sign of the end of the world. We stay awake through Ms. Miyahara’s gushing about numbers. Junpei, after class, says he can’t concentrate because all he can think about is Chidori. As he himself says, it’s not like this makes much of a difference, as he doesn’t concentrate that much normally. Regardless,

Romantic Plot Cancer: 17

You do tend to be more on the ball during full moons, and yet I haven’t seen you wonder once about how Chidori wants us to cut off our missions to stop massive rampaging Shadows and stop Apathy Syndrome. Ergo, she’s an enemy.

We spend time with student council today. Hidan says that the faculty wants the student who was smoking in the boys’ bathroom expelled ASAP. This makes everyone in the room a bit uncomfortable, and when they leave, Hidan looks exhausted. He asks what punishment we think the smoker deserves.

> “A proper punishment.” (Um, yes?)
> “A strict punishment.” (The right answer.)

He thinks so too, but he’s still torn. He goes into how he doesn’t sympathize with students that break the rules, but the point of a punishment is to prevent it happening again, so he’s thinking about letting whoever the culprit is go with a stern lecturing, as he’s not sure expulsion will help the problem. But, he’ll have more sway and ability to make the school better if he has the teacher’s trust and does what they say, which he’s determined to do. We RANK UP.

When we get to the dorm, Junpei wants to tell us about how his “relationship with Chidori” was “totally ambushed”. He was at the hospital, you know, hanging around the suicidal chick who wants our mission ruined, and the “old bag” at the reception desk who is, like, soooooo annoying with her questions comes along! And then she has the audacity to tell him to leave, because it’s “past visiting hours”. The nerve! Direct quote: “She totally ruins all my precious time with Chidori! Man, I wish she would just leave me alone!”

Yeah! How dare that receptionist do her damn job, so the hospital patients can recover unimpeded!

Romantic Plot Cancer: 18

Clearly she has it out for you, and is trying to ruin the budding relationship you have with this distressed suicidal emo who thinks you’re naive, invasive, and weird!

Romantic Plot Cancer: 19

Oh, and don’t think I’m gonna forget that part about leaving you alone. I’m gonna revisit that with a vengeance, I promise.

Oh, and happy anniversary! It’s been about a month since you met Chidori! Even if most of this supposed development wasn’t happening offscreen and what happened onscreen didn’t look pathetically flat and forced, I’d still call you a piece of shit for favoring the literal enemy over your friends and allies. Fuck you, Junpei.

Romantic Plot Cancer: 20

He’s not even on the fence about wanting to date this horrible girl anymore.

We spend time with Shinjiro in the evening, with Living with Determination playing.

Shinji considers for a moment before deciding he wants to stay in the dorm tonight, and we take our seats on the lounge table. He doesn't really seem to know what to say, and invites us to speak first. We offer to talk about something fun, which he says is a good idea. We're informed that although he still doesn't say anything and his expression doesn't change much as we talk through cuts, he seems 'lonesome'. He seems to enjoy us chatting, though, and wants us to keep going.

> At Shinjiro's urging, you told him about school, your friends, the clubs you're in, what you've seen on T.V.

There's a small smile on his face when he says it sounds like we're enjoying our days, and we look best when we laugh. I'd think he was flirting, if not for the somber music and tone. He gets a serious expression again as he suddenly tells us, or rather orders us, not to cry. We ask him what he means by that, and he gets uncomfortable and looks down.

"I gotta make sure I don't leave anything behind... No doubts, no regrets..."

He looks downright miserable when he says it. He ask him what 'leave behind' means, and he remarks that he keeps telling us what to forget and remember, what to want and not want, and calls himself selfish. We tell him that's not true.

As long as he's already being selfish, he says, he wants us to do one more thing for him, which we agree to:

"You don't have to forgive me... But forgive everything else..."

When we express more confusion, he tells us we'll understand later. This isn't looking good, man. What happened to the happy Shinjiro vibes? Can I have those back? I feel like I'm about to cry.

"It should be like this for a little longer. I just want it to be... normal..."

> Shinjiro smiles while looking down at his hands.
> You don't really understand what Shinjiro meant...
> Still, you feel like he told you something is important.

We RANK UP.

He asks if it's getting late, having forgotten he doesn't have his watch (!). We ask him about it, and he says it's a shabby old pocketwatch he got from someone a long time ago. We note that it seems important to him, and the game tells us in red color that if we can find his watch, Shinjiro is sure to be happy.

Well fuck, Persona 3, now you realize how best to get me doing what you want! That watch is as good as found!

Before the scene ends, he wants to hear us talk more.

I want everyone to keep this in the back of their minds. Once this Social Link is fulfilled, and we can officially say we've got a little romance with Shinjiro going, I will come back to it, with words about the other romance in the game.

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