Welcome back, everybirdie! I’ve been a little busy, but I can’t let that stop me pressing on; we’ve come too far now. Next up, we’re pursuing Ryouta Kawara, our childhood friend. The year gets off to a fairly pedestrian start with the class hike.
“Ryouta! Let’s eat together.”
As we prepare to eat, Ryouta looks a little concerned.
“Huh? … is that your lunch, Tera…?”
“Yup! It’s a CalorieM**e.”
This is, of course, supposed to be a CalorieMate energy bar, as famously seen in Metal Gear Solid 3.
“That’s a pretty sad thing to bring on a picnic…”
“No, it’s not! A great man once said it’s the ambrosia of the gods!”
“Geez, if you eat like that you’ll be dead on the roadside by the time we head back. Here, I’ll share mine.”
“Really? Wow! Thanks, Ryouta!”
And so I got to eat half of Ryouta’s lunch. His cooking is so good! We can save the CalorieM**e in case of a survival situation.
It does pay to be prepared.
A month passes us by, and the sports festival arrives. We join the three-legged race along with Ryouta.
“Want to run together? I haven’t found a partner yet.”
“Okay!”
Get set… Go!
Ryouta’s running for both of us. Pairing up a bird and a primate might have been a bad idea… We somehow came in second anyway, though. We have brought honor to our class.
While it’s generally not advisable to spend too much time thinking about the logistics of this setting, in this particular instance I think it’s hilarious. Knock yourselves out.
Another month passes us by.
I wonder what I should do during break…
Since we happen to know who we’re going to meet, our hunter-gatherer instincts point us at the cafeteria.
I think I’ll eat at the cafeteria today.
Yum! My favorite.
As in the last timeline where we visited the cafeteria today, so many routes ago, we hear a familiar voice pierce the air.
“Coo!”
(No! This is wrong! A fake! A vicious lie!)
A familiar voice indeed.
“I know! You said! So come on, let’s eat outside! We can’t horse around in here!”
“What’s going on?”
Not that I can’t tell by looking.
“San saw the pudding here and went nuts. I stopped him from going on a rampage, but… Ow! Cut it out, Okosan!”
“COOOOO!”
(Release me at oncce! My RAGE VOLTAGE is rising!)
“Help me, Tera!”
Last time, we foolishly indulged Okosan’s tantrum, but now we have no patience for his antics.
“Leave it to me, Ryouta! MY HUNTER-GATHERER BLOOD BOILS! AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”
“Cooooo!”
(No! The beast-queen shows her true colors! Pull out! Pull out!)
Okosan rushes from the cafeteria like a rabbit from a catapult.
“Aaah! Safe at least. Thanks, Tera.”
“No problem. All I did was shout at him, anyway.”
“Apparently that was enough. Now we can all eat lunch without fear of disaster.”
The evil is defeated! A couple weeks later, it’s Tanabata. As per the usual, we find Ryouta’s wish hanging from the bamboo, among others.
Perhaps the most straightforward wish we’ve seen so far, but then, Ryouta’s a pretty straightforward kind of guy. Another week finds us back at school.
Barely two hours into the day and I’m already hungry! Aaah, I can’t bear this…
“Ryouta! We’re in the textile room next, right? Let’s walk together!”
“Uh… sure.”
Huh? That was an awfully unenthusiastic response.
“Umm… you don’t look too good. Are you okay, Ryouta?”
“I-I’m fine! I’m fine. Let’s go. Uuurgh…”
“You’re not fine!”
There’s no slipping one past the protagonist’s hunter-gatherer senses.
“Y… yeah… it’s my stomach. This happens all the time. It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll just go to the infirmary for a bit… could you let the teacher know, please?”
“Can you make it there on your own?”
“Yeah, I can. Thanks. … see you in a bit.”
We head off to our next class as Ryouta lurches off queasily to the infirmary. By the midday, though, there’s still no sign of him.
Is he still in the infirmary? I’ll go check on him after I eat lunch. A Tera marches on her stomach, after all!
Before we can eat, though, a pallid-looking Ryouta approaches.
“… Ryouta!?”
“Are you okay? You look even worse than you did earlier…”
“I’m… fine. Sitting around just makes it worse… I got some medicine from the doctor, but…”
I’m not convinced that medicine is doing him any good! I wouldn’t trust anything that doctor prescribed.
We have a multitude of good reasons to be suspicious of Shuu, but… this is his job.
“Something’s wrong if you go to the infirmary feeling sick and go home feeling worse! Wait a minute, Ryouta. I’m going to go give that doctor a piece of my mind!”
“W-wait, Tera! It’s not his fault! I just have a weak stomach…”
We can go yell at the doctor, or heed Ryouta’s plea and remain here. Ryouta’s stomach may be weak, but something’s fishy here.
“That has nothing to do with it! I’ll be back in a minute.”
“No, thank you! I want to talk to you about Ryouta!”
“Ryouta…? Oh, mister Kawara. He left some time ago.”
“He rested here for two hours, and wasn’t any better for it! You did something to him, didn’t you!?”
“Wouldn’t it have been worse to do nothing to him? Doing things to people is my job, after all.”
“Well, yes, but… I mean something unnecessary!”
“I’m afraid I can’t respond to complaints with no evidence. I examined his condition, and provided him with the appropriate medicine. Beyond that, it’s all down to how quickly his body recovers. You can’t possibly be holding me responsible for his unhealthy nature, can you?”
I think we’re doing exactly that!
“Waah…!”
He’s probably right… he doesn’t have anything to do with Ryouta’s weak body.
“I-if you did something to him…!”
“Please, do send in a complaint. … after you find evidence, of course.”
An evil smile flickers across his face for a moment, and is gone. He did something to Ryouta, didn’t he…
Alas, that’s not for us to say. On that parting mystery, I’ll leave you all, hopefully to pick this up a bit more promptly than last time! Until next time, everybirdie!