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The protagonist is particularly chipper today, for no discernible reason. The protagonist is pretty chipper most days.

I wonder what I should do during break…

We can head to the store, the infirmary, or the cafeteria. A strange precognition advises me to head to the cafeteria for this particular route.

I think I’ll eat at the cafeteria today.

Yum! My favorite.

This is as much of a puzzle to me as the udon thing. Or maybe it’s some kind of cultural/untranslatable pun that’s going over my head. Whatever. We have bigger things to worry about, such as a certain pigeon throwing a fuss.

???

“Coo!”
(No! This is wrong! A fake! A vicious lie!)

I do like how the dialog box thinks that we might not know immediately who this is.

A familiar voice indeed.

See, even the protagonist knows.

Okosan is, as usual, throwing a fit. Yet again, Ryouta’s found himself drawn into the inexorable tantrum vortex.

Ryouta

“I know! You said! So come on, let’s eat outside! We can’t horse around in here!”

Tera

“What’s going on?”

 

Not that I can’t tell by looking.

Ryouta

“San saw the pudding here and went nuts. I stopped him from going on a rampage, but… Ow! Cut it out, Okosan!”

Okosan

“COOOOO!”
(Release me at once! My RAGE VOLTAGE is rising!)

Even I’m not enough of a nerd to get that one.

Ryouta

“Help me, Tera!”

 

Umm…

So what’ll it be, protagonist? Loyalty to your boyfriend or loyalty to Ryouta, your boyfriend or your childhood friend, the route or your beliefs, the okay this joke wasn’t really that good to start with anyway. We’re supporting Okosan, ill-informed as his temper tantrums may be.

Tera

“Let him go! Don’t you realize he’s a fantail!?”

Ryouta

“Eeeeeeeeeeeh!?”

Okosan

“Coo!”
(Silence, fool boy!)

In his distraction, Ryouta is unable to contain the force of nature that is Okosan.

Once freed, Okosan rampages for a while and then comes over with a satisfied expression.

Okosan

“Cooooo!”
(Okosan loves you, gentle maiden, but fake pudding cannot be forgiven!)

Did you hear that? He called us a “gentle maiden!” We’re way in there.

Tera

“Very well! San in the forest, and me in Tatara Village, our love pure! Carry me away on Yakul!”

I think, if St. Pigeonation’s offered a theatre class, the protagonist would be well suited to it.

Ryouta

“Who the heck is Yakul!?”

This is a huge nerd reference to the Ghibli classic Princess Mononoke, a film that I have not seen. I guess Ryouta hasn’t either. He is left confused and alone as we let our wild fancy spirit us off with Okosan to goodness only knows where.

A few days later, we have another elective day, and I think you get the picture with those.

Tera

“Ryouta… you’re in highschool and you still can’t do a chinup?”

Ryouta

“D-don’t look at me like that! You’re making me feel like a failure…”

It’s alright, Ryouta. I couldn’t either.

Tera leveled up! Vitality increased by 5!

Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, is a Japanese festival you can read about on Wikipedia over here. For the purposes of our playthrough here, though, it’s mostly just important to know that people like to celebrate it by writing wishes on little pieces of paper and hanging them on bamboo.

There’s probably a bamboo tree in the plaza this year, too… I think I’ll go make a wish.

This little segment does have a tiny bit of gameplay relevance: here, the game will show you the wishes hung by any of the characters whose routes you are still eligible for at this point in the game. Usually, this is only one or two, but it’s a fun little way to let you know who you’re headed for if you didn’t already know. Let’s see what Okosan’s is like…

I don’t know if Okosan is like, literate. You’re also given the option to hang your own wish, selecting from “to conquer the world by force,” “to rule the world from the shadows,” or “to become a famous artist.” The ambition kind of drops off a bit at the end there. It’s not immediately obvious, but these options do have a tiny impact on your game, buffing your vitality, wisdom and charisma stats respectively. Since we’re still maxing our Vit, we’re going to wish to conquer the world by force.

Tera

“I wish to crush all opposition that rises before me and rule the world with an iron fist!”

Jeez.

Kazuaki

“Oh, hello… is that you, Thielle?”

God, and someone heard us saying that. Fortunately, the protagonist’s flair for theatrics far outweighs their sense of shame.

Tera

“Mister Nanaki!”

Kazuaki

“You should be careful out this late! It can be dangerous for a girl, you know. I was about to head home. Would you like me to walk you to your place?”

I’m sure this could be very romantic, if we were on some other route. As it stands, though, I think the protagonist could slam dunk any threatening bird she met on her way home. All those Vit buffs, and all. We’re going to kindly decline Kazuaki’s generous offer.

Tera

“No, thank you. I still have some errands to run.”

Kazuaki

“Oh? Well, don’t stay out too late!”

 

Wasn’t the Keymania IIDX public playtest starting today? Maybe I’ll stop by the arcade…

Important errands indeed.

A few days later, we have another elective day. It isn’t really worth noting, but a check of the stat screen reveals that our wish increased our Vit by 10, making wishing twice as effective as a gym class. Pretty impressive.

Tera

“You can’t swim, Ryouta…?”

Ryouta

“I-I’m doing my best! I’m going to learn before I graduate…!”

Ryouta’s utter lack of physical aptitude is a recurring theme in these gym classes.

Tera leveled up! Vitality increased by 5!

Now, to make things confusing, we have another swim class immediately afterwards. I don’t understand how this horrible scheduling mishap occurred.

Today is swim class! All these damp, tight-clinging feathers are making my heart race…

Personally, I always thought wet birds looked kinda sad. Still, different strokes, and all.

Okosan

“Coo, coo?”
(Tera is a human! Can you still swim?)

Tera

“Yup!”

Okosan

“Cooo!”
(Okosan challenges you to a race, then! Okosan has never swum against a hominid!)

Tera

“So you’re fast in the water, as well as on land?”

Okosan

“Coo, coo!”
(Naturally! Okosan is the fastest in all things!)

That’s not always a good thing, Okosan.

Tera

“All right, then! Let’s go!”

 

Get set… go!”

Tera

”!?!?”

I assume that’s supposed to sound something like this.

Okosan is running across the top of the water with incredible speed before the signal has stopped ringing in my ears.

Tera

“Th-that’s not swimming!”

Okosan

“Coo, coo! Coo!”
(Okosan is victorious! You are slow, Tera!)

 

And so I learned that I would need to redefine my very concept of swimming before hoping to defeat Okosan.

Our relationship with Okosan continues to provide new and exciting challenges, both physically and mentally. Perhaps we shall allow some time for us to ruminate on our expanded idea of what swimming can be before continuing. Until next time, everybirdie!

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