Hello, everyone!
Before we start, I'd like to address all of you to answer some questions that people ask me often about the story in general and to clear up some misconceptions about the last chapter. Consider this a mini Q&A. So, here's the three most commonly asked questions:
-C.A.Q. 1: "Is Labrys going to solve the mystery faster than Yu did in Canon?"
The answer to that is a NO. I said that I wanted to make the story diverge after Yukiko's castle, but I'm not planning to have Labrys solve the mystery sooner than Yu did.
-C.A.Q. 2: "Will characters from other games show up to become part of the story?"
For the most part? No. I'm planning to keep this story mostly self-contained. After all, the premise of the story is "What-if Labrys was the main character of Persona 4 Golden", so Labrys is the star of the show here. I may make references to other characters and events from the other games, but apart from one or two important exceptions, I'm not planning to have anyone else show up at the moment. Even if they do, it'll most likely only be a one-time thing and nothing more.
C.A.Q. 3: "Will the Dojimas ever discover Labrys's true identity?"
Honestly, I'm surprised that there aren't more of you asking questions like: "Why do the Dojimas think that Labrys is part of their family at all?" instead. After all, you don't just start believing that someone is part of your family out of nowhere. You'll all just have to wait and see.
But I will say this, though: Labrys still feels bad about having to lie to them about her true identity, because no matter what, she still cares about them. That's why she always helps out with house chores, why she does her best to watch over Nanako while Ryotaro is away, and why she always works hard to behave well and to get good grades in school. She wants to repay the Dojimas for their hospitality any way she can. Those things are gonna play a part in what will happen if the truth ever comes out…assuming that it IS the truth.
Now that this is out of the way, I want to address something about the last chapter. In the last chapter, I put in a short sequence where a certain entity decided to address all of you. Me, personally, I like this kind of metafictional fourth-wall breaking stuff stuff, but I understand that it's not for everyone.
Some people have been sending me messages about how they like the fact that she's aware of the fourth wall, while others told me that they didn't like it. That's perfectly fine. Like I said, I like meta stories where characters break the fourth wall (as long as they do it well and don't go too far with it), but I understand that some people don't share my opinion. They have the right to like or dislike what they want. I can't fault them for that.
However, that being said, I would like to reassure them by saying that I'm not planning to have "her" do this sort of thing again for a while. And I'm not planning to have it affect the story too significantly either. At most, it will only happen once in a blue moon, and it will be quite rare.
So, for those of you who don't like meta fourth wall stuff, I just want to say that you don't have to worry, because I'm not planning to turn "her" into some kind of Deadpool-esque caricature that constantly breaks the fourth wall to address you. I just wanted to establish what "she" can do and how much she knows, that's all.
Also, when "she" said things like "you are not beyond my reach", I didn't mean it a way that she would do something like reach across the screen to grab you or anything like that. That'd be ridiculous. What she really meant what that YOU, the reader, are not above falling into the fog.
What we must remember is that In the context of Persona 4, "she" represents humanity's desire to live shrouded in a fog of lies and self-deception. So, when "she" said that YOU are not beyond her reach, she was being metaphorical, not literal. what she really meant was: "Anyone can fall to lies and self-deception if they aren't careful. Even you." I should've made that more clear and I'm sorry for not doing so. I was trying to be subtle by giving it a double meaning, but maybe I was too subtle.
Lastly, I'd like to say in my defense that it's not unprecedented for cosmic beings in SMT/Persona to break the fourth wall to address the player (*cough* Yaldabaoth *cough*). Again, if you don't like that either, then that's fine. I won't judge you for disagreeing with me. And again, I won't do it again for a long time, so no need to worry for now. To each their own.
But I have a question : Did you react the same way when characters from the other games broke the fourth wall too to address you as well?
Thank you and enjoy the chapter!
4/28 THU
Lunch
Yasogami High School
I've made my decision.
I'm gonna attend Saki-sempai's funeral on the 30th. I thought it over for the last couple days, and I decided that I wanna say goodbye to her. Also, I wanna be there to support Yosuke-kun and Naoki-kun if they need it. I didn't know Saki-sempai all that well, but she deserves to be mourned…and avenged. Also, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about what a funeral is like, since I've never been to a funeral before. She didn't deserve what happened to her. Man, it's been less than a month since she died, but it feels like it's been so much longer than that.
Anyway, my plans today are to ask my friends about details concerning the funeral. I did some research online and I already know some details about how funerals are done in Japan, but I need more context. After all, learning stuff just by reading about it online ain't as valuable as actually experiencing it. Plus, there might be some details that the web wouldn't tell me. Above all else, I've always known that being a machine doesn't automatically make me the smartest person in the room, especially when it comes to culture or social norms.
Right now, it's lunchtime and I'm gonna meet up with the others to ask some questions about all this. I already texted 'em to tell me that I wanted to meet up with 'em to talk.
I'm on the rooftop where we sometimes hang out, and they should be here any second now.
…
*Click*
I hear the sound of the rooftop doors opening. I turn my head towards the doors, and I see Yosuke-kun, Chie-chan and Yuki-chan come right through the door. I smile at them, and they return my smile right back at me.
"Yo! What's up?"
"Hey, Yura-chan!"
"Hello."
I wave at 'em and I gesture them to come sit down next to me. They do so and they start opening up their lunches so they can eat while we talk. Yosuke-kun already knows why I can't eat, while Chie-chan and Yuki-chan both think that I simply don't eat at this hour. So they won't ask any questions when they see that I ain't eating with 'em. Yosuke-kun is the first to initiate the conversation.
"So, Yura-chan…what did you want to talk to us about?"
May as well get straight to the point, then.
"Right, then. So, here's the thing.", I declare. "I wanna go to Saki-sempai's funeral."
They all stop eating to give me a look of surprise.
What, did I say something weird again?
"Why are you all lookin' at me like that? Is there somethin' wrong? Is it gonna be one of those funerals where only family and very close friends are allowed to attend? If it ain't okay for me to attend her funeral, I understand,
but-"
"No, no!", Chie-chan cuts me off. "It's not that. Both friends and family are allowed to attend the funeral. It's just…well, I dunno about Yosuke or Yukiko, but I wasn't expecting to hear something like that from you."
"Yeah, I mean…sure, there's nothing wrong with you wanting to go, and I'm sure Sempai would appreciate it, but you told us you've never been to a funeral before, right?", Yosuke-kun asks me.
"Yeah, so?", I answer him. "I mean, sure, I've never been to a funeral before, but I've done some research since you guys first told me about it a couple days ago. Sure, I got some things to learn, but I think I got the general gist of it!"
They both give me odd looks, and then they shrug. Yosuke-kun gives me a warm smile.
"…I'm sure sempai would appreciate having you there. I know she'd be happier to see you than me, that's for sure…Hehehe."
Aw, Yosuke-kun…still beating yourself up about what you saw in the fake shopping district, eh?
"Do you have a black outfit to wear to the funeral, though?", Chie-chan asks me. "Or at the very least, something that's a really dark color like navy blue?"
No. Unfortunately, I don't. Which is another reason why I needed to talk to 'em. I was hoping they'd know of a good place where you can buy some clothes to wear at a funeral service.
"Yyyyeeeaaah, about that…", I mumble nervously. "I checked my wardrobe last night, and I noticed that I ain't got any dark clothes to wear for somethin' like this. So, I was wonderin' if any of you knew a good place where I could get some clothes for this sorta thing?"
Yosuke-kun and Chie-chan both look at me for a bit, then they make a thinking pose. They're probably both searching their memories to see if they can remember something. Suddenly, Chie-chan's eyes go wide in comprehension.
"Oh! OH! That's it! Yukiko!"
Yuki-chan looks at Chie-chan in response to hearing her say her name.
"Hmm…? Did you figure something out, Chie?"
"Yeah!", Confirms Chie-chan. "You remember about that place you told me about that one time? The one that the Inn sometimes orders textiles and dyes from? What was it called again…?"
A place where you can get textiles and dyes?
"Oh! You mean the textile shop in the shopping district?", Yuki-chan asks.
A textile shop…? Yeah, now that they mention it, I think I recall seeing a textile shop somewhere in the shopping district. I was planning on visiting it eventually, but I haven't really gotten around to it yet. If it's got what I need, then maybe today is a perfect time!
"Yeah! That one!", Chie-chan confirms. "You can tell Yura-chan where the shop is so what she can go get some clothes there!"
"That's right, I remember. There's a textile shop on the shopping district, isn't there?", Yosuke-kun recalls."I think it's not too far from where the Konishi liquor store is."
Yeah, that's right! It's in the northern part, ain't it?
"Not a bad idea, Chie.", Yuki-chan agrees. "But…I think I should go with her."
Huh? She wants to go to the textile shop with me?
"Really? You want to go with her alone, Yukiko?", Chie-chan asks, as surprised as I am.
"Y…Yes. I would like to go with Yura-chan. I haven't been to many funerals, I know more about funeral tradition and etiquette than she does, and I think I may be able to give her some pointers on how to behave at funerals so that she doesn't embarrass or offend anyone. Also, I'm acquainted with the owner of the textile shop, so I'm more familiar with what kind of clothing articles can be found there as well."
Huh…those are some good points.
"…And you also want to hang out with her, right?", Yosuke-kun asks.
"Yes, that too.", Yuki-chan answers.
Yes! I've been looking for an excuse to hang out with Yuki-chan, so this is perfect! She's the only one that I haven't really been able to hang out with too often, and I wanna rectify that. I'd be killing two birds with one stone: I'd get to hang out with her, and I'd have somebody to help me out with my "errands".
"Really? Thank you so much!", I say eagerly to Yuki-chan. "Ya got any plans today after school? "
She takes a few moments to think, then she shakes her head in denial.
"Great! Then we can go after school together!" I declare. "Would ya like that?"
She looks at me, smiles and nods.
"…Okay. Let's go meet up after school, and we'll head to the textile shop together. Luckily, I don't have to help out at the inn today, but I'll still make sure to text my parents to let them know what's going on so that they don't wonder where I am. They've been especially overprotective since I got kidnapped…not that I blame them or anything like that, but still."
Yeah, I guess it makes sense that her parents would get really concerned and keep a closer eye on her after what went down a few days ago. Like Yuki-chan, they're probably still recovering from the whole ordeal.
"Awesome! Hey, what about you guys? Did you wanna come too?", I ask Chie-chan and Yosuke-kun.
"Sorry, I can't.", Yosuke-kun says. "I gotta work at the store after school, my schedule is full for today."
"Me neither. I got something I need to do back home.", Chie-chan adds in. "Sorry."
Really? Oh, well. I shrug.
"Okay, that's fine. We'll manage it on our own. Right, Yuki-chan?"
She hesitates for a moment, then she nods at me and smiles.
4/28 THU
Afternoon
Yasogami High School
There's about twenty minutes left before classes end.
I'm sitting at my desk, carefully listening to what Mr. Morooka has to say and making sure to memorize everything that he's got to tell us.
"…Alright, that's about it for today's lesson. Yeah, I know I'm ending it a bit early today, but that's because there's something we gotta do before class ends."
Huh? What's he talking about? Is there something important going on today?
"You punks all know what day today is, right? Yup, that's right…today is voting day."
The whole class perks up at the sound of that. A few people start mumbling amongst each other.
Wait…that's right! Today's the 28th! It's the end of the month! And I remember what he told us back then…he said that the class would vote on who they want to be class representative at the end on the month!
"Alright, all of you, shut yer traps!", Mr. Morooka yells. "Listen up! Here's what we're gonna do. Gimme a sec…"
He reaches out from under his desk, and he pulls out a box.
"You're all gonna take a small piece of paper and write the name of whoever you want to win on it. Then, you'll each bring your piece of paper to me so that I can read what's on it and make sure that you didn't do something stupid like write your own name or some other nonsense on it. Then, once I've made sure that what's written on there makes sense, I'll put it in this box without readin' it out loud so that nobody will know who you're votin' for."
I see…I guess it's a good way to make sure that nobody's trying to rig the vote or something like that.
"Do I make myself clear? You're NOT allowed to vote for yourself, you're only allowed to write the name of another student of this class besides yerself! Oh, and you all got the remaining twenty minutes of today's lesson to make your final decision. Any questions? No? Well, get the hell on with it already!"
He sits down at his desk, and he leaves us to decide who we wanna vote. I pull out a pen and a small piece of paper, and I decide to write…to write…wait a minute. I just realized something. I don't even know who I'm gonna vote for! All this time, I've been busy will other things, but I didn't even take the time to properly consider who I'm gonna vote for! In hindsight, I should've seen it coming. I mean, I'm a student of this class too, so of course I'll have to vote!
"Hey, who are you planning to vote for?"
"Hey, I'm not gonna tell you!"
"Man, I don't even know who I should vote for."
"I've already made my decision on who I'm gonna vote."
I hear some students mumble all around me and talking about who they're gonna vote for.
"Hey, Yukiko!", I hear Chie-chan mumble behind me. "Are you gonna vote for…y'know…"
"Yes. I assume you're planning to as well?", I hear Yuki-chan reply behind me too.
Vote for who? I didn't hear what they said. Not that I got time to guess, mind you. Besides, I don't wanna eavesdrop on 'em.
I see some students immediately write something on their pieces of paper and walk up to Mr. Morooka's desk. Man, they made their choice quickly! Among them, I see some people I recognize. I see Aika-chan, I see the girl whose sister I saved from Mr. Morooka that other night, I see the two students I set up together at the food court, and I think I see one or two of the kids who were there when I beat Ohtani-san in arm wrestling. They line up in front of him, and I see him read the first student's piece of paper, at an angle where the other students can't see what's written on the piece of paper. After a moment, he closes it, nods at the student, and then puts it in the box. The student goes back to sit at their desk and the next student goes up to Mr. Morooka.
I turn my attention back to my piece of paper. Who should I vote for…?
I get lost in my own world for a moment, but I snap out of it when I see Chie-chan and Yosuke-kun walk over to the line.
What the heck am I getting so nervous about? It ain't like anybody's gonna see who I vote for, so what does it matter, anyway?
Okay, ya know what? Screw it. I ain't got time to think properly about this, so I'm just gonna wing it. I'm gonna vote…
I close my eyes and, without thinking, I literally write the first thing that comes to my mind.
I open my eyes to see what I wrote, and I see…
"Yosuke Hanamura"
…Huh? I wrote…Yosuke-kun's name?
I mean…I might be biased, but I guess he wouldn't make a bad class rep. Sure, he's kinda goofy, but he's a reliable guy, he's funny, and I like him! He's great! Plus, he's the first real friend I ever made in this town, and he's helped me out a lot!
Well, it's settled. I'm voting for Yosuke-kun!
I see Yuki-chan walk past me to go to the line in front of our teacher's desk.
I guess I should head over there too. I get up and I follow Yuki-chan to Mr. Morooka's desk.
After a minute or two of waiting at the line, Yuki-chan hands over her piece of paper to Mr. Morooka. He reads it, nods at her and puts the piece of paper in the box. She goes back to her desk, and it's my turn.
"Alright, let's see what ya wrote.", Mr. Morooka says while extending his hand. "Ya better not have written anything weird on it."
I put the piece of paper in Mr. Morooka's hand, and I see him unfold it to read it. He looks surprised and gives me a weird look.
For a moment, I'm worried that he's gonna say something, but he just shrugs and folds the piece of paper to put it in the box. He then calls up the next student in line.
"Alright, alright, keep the line moving! NEXT!"
I sigh in relief and I go back to my desk.
After the twenty minutes go by, the last students have had their votes put in the box after Mr. Morooka read 'em. There's about a minute or two left before the school bell rings and we're all allowed to leave. So, will we know who won the vote today…?
"Alright, did you all put yer votes in the box?", Mr. Morooka asks the entire class. "Cuz if you haven't, then this is your last chance! After today, no takebacks! No late votes! Right now, this is it!"
Nobody says anything. I guess that means we all voted, then.
"So, everybody voted, then? Fine. Listen up! The winner of the vote will be announced on the 30th, along with the representatives of the other classes. Then you can all go home when the bell-"
*RING*
The bell rings and cuts him off, and we all know what that means. We all gather our things, and we begin making our way outta here.
"Alright, you all heard the bell! Time to go home, punks!", Mr. Morooka tells us.
Yuki-chan and I both make our way out, then we say goodbye to Yosuke-kun and Chie-chan.
We leave the school and we make our way to the textile shop.
4/28 THU
After School
Shopping District North
"…So, will it be a problem if I can't find or bring prayer beads to the ceremony like everybody else?"
"Well, since it will be your first funeral, it shouldn't be that big of a problem, Yura-chan. If you can't bring or find any beads, then holding your hands in prayer like this should suffice."
Yuki-chan then makes a gesture with her hands together. It looks like what is called a "prayer gesture". While we make our way to the textile shop, Yuki-chan's been helping me understand how to properly behave at funerals, as well as how Japanese funerals work. From what I've read online, most Japanese funerals are traditionally Buddhist, with some Shintoist influences. I ain't quite familiar with these religious movements, but I think I get the gist of how they're supposed to work. I still got a lot to learn. But it's better than nothing. And besides, it ain't like I need to become an expert on everything related to religion to attend just one funeral. Also, everybody's probably gonna be too busy to pay attention to me, so I think I'll be fine.
"Okay, gotcha. I'll be sure to remember that.", I tell Yuki-chan. "Is there anything else I should know, or…?"
"Well, yes.", answers Yuki-chan. "But don't worry, I'll tell you more when we get to the shop. Speaking of which…"
We both look in front of us, and we see our destination. I read the shop sign.
"Tatsumi Textiles"
Tatsumi Textiles, eh? Well, how does the saying go again? Nothing to lose and everything to gain, or something like that? We make our way towards the doors of the shop, and we prepare to enter.
"Well, here we are.", Yuki-chan says. "After you, Yura-chan."
I nod at her, and I open the door.
I hope this textile shop's got what I need.
4/28 THU
After School
Tatsumi Textiles
I gotta say, it looks pretty inside!
There's pieces of cloth stacked everywhere around the room. They each have different colors and come in various patterns. They look beautiful. Whoever designed these did a really good job!
"Welcome, welcome!"
I hear a voice greet us. I turn towards the source of the voice, and I see a woman in a kimono with grey-ish hair and oval-shaped glasses. I assume that she must be running this textile shop. I decide to greet her to be polite.
"Hi! Good afternoon!"
"Good afternoon, Ms. Tatsumi.", Yuki-chan greets her while giving a short, polite bow. Upon seeing her do that, I decide to copy her and to give a small, quick bow too. The woman, "Ms. Tatsumi", smiles and gives us polite a bow of her own.
"Yuki-chan! It's good to see you! You're as lovely as always. Your features are starting to remind me of your mother when she was younger!"
Huh. I guess she must've known Yuki-chan's mother when they were younger. Maybe they both went to school together? Also, she calls her "Yuki-chan" too? I guess I ain't the only one who thinks it suits her.
"And I see you've brought a friend with you! How can I help the two of you today? Are you shopping?"
"Yes, that's correct.", Yuki-chan confirms. "This is my friend, Yura Narukami. She's going to attend a funeral on the 30th, and she needs some dark clothes to wear. So, we were wondering if you had some clothes she could buy for the occasion…?"
Ms. Tatsumi's eyes look a bit sad at that.
"…Ah. I see. You…You have my sympathies, young lady. Losing someone important to you always hurts a lot."
"Thanks, but that ain't quite accurate. I didn't know her for that long, but I still wanna say goodbye to her, because I liked her and I wanted to be friends with her. We went to the same school and we hung out in the same circle of friends, but that's about it."
Ms. Tatsumi looks a bit surprised when she hears that.
"Wait…to the same school…? And you're a Yasogami student. So, that means it must be…that poor Konishi girl."
I nod to confirm it. There's a sad silence in the room. Ms. Tatsumi sighs.
"That poor girl…to die so young…I met her and her family a few times, you know. Sometimes, I'd see her walk down the shopping district with her brother when they both came back from school. And her family even came a few times to this shop to purchase a few things too. I couldn't even begin to imagine what that poor family must be going through right now. Such a tragedy…what is this world coming to…?"
She shakes her head and composes herself.
"Well, anyway, if you want clothes to attend a funeral, then you've come to the right place. I believe I have exactly what you may need. I don't have many articles for this sort of thing, but I believe I may have just what you need. Please give me a moment."
We both nod at her and she goes to the back of her shop, presumably to find what she's got in mind.
Since we both gotta wait here for a bit, I decide to look around for a bit out of curiosity.
"Do you like this place, Yura-chan?", Yuki-chan asks me. "I think it's pretty nice."
"Yeah, I agree. So, are you a regular here or somethin'?"
"Sort of. I've been coming here from time to time on Inn business, so I've spoken to Ms. Tatsumi quite a few times in the past. I also know her son too. I haven't spoken to him in a while, but he's a Yasogami student too. One year below us."
Huh. Really? I don't recall anything about a boy named "Tatsumi". Then again, there's lots of boys at our school, so maybe I just haven't met him yet.
I get distracted by what's around me. There's all different kinds of stuff here. There's blue covers, there's black carpets, there's an orange patterned cloth on the table, there's-wait. Orange patterned cloth…?
"Yura-chan?"
I didn't pay much attention to it before, because my attention was focused on Ms. Tatsumi, but…
"Yura-chan…? Are you okay? You seem distracted."
Yeah, I am…by an orange cloth draped on a box that's on a table right next to the place where Ms. Tatsumi was. That orange cloth…why does it seem so familiar? Wait…hold on. Ain't that-?
I…I think I remember something. Back then…on the first time we entered the Midnight Channel…that room. This orange cloth…the…the pattern…
"Yura-chan? Why are you staring at that scarf?"
"Mayumi Yamano…", I mumble at Yuki-chan, which confuses her even more.
"Huh? Mayumi Yamano? What does she have to do with-? Oh, wait a minute…"
She's starting to catch on. She doesn't know the full details because she wasn't with us when we first stumbled upon the Midnight Channel, but she knows about the creepy room we saw.
"Is it just me, or does that scarf look a lot like one Ms. Yamano used to wear sometimes when she did announcements? I think I might've even seen her wear it once or twice while she was staying at the inn." Yuki-chan ponders.
"No, you're right.", I tell her. "It's got the same shade of orange, and the same pattern too. But what could it mean?"
Before we can speculate on what it could mean, we hear Ms. Tatsumi come back from the back of her shop.
"I have news! I found what I was looking for!"
She looks puzzled when she sees us stare at the orange scarf.
"Huh…? Why are the two of you staring at that scarf?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, Ms. Tatsumi.", Yuki-chan answers her. "It's just that the scarf looked really familiar and we were wondering where we had seen it before."
"Yuki-chan thinks she might've seen a similar one on that announcer who died recently.", I specify.
Ms. Tatsumi sighs a bit.
"Well, yes. The truth is, Ms. Yamano did come here once to place a special order for two orange, patterned scarves. Initially, she wanted the pair, but at the end, she changed her mind and decided she only wanted one of the scarves. So, now we don't really now what to do with the remaining one apart from selling it separately."
Huh…I see. Interesting. I wonder why she originally wanted two…? I mean, that Namatame guy was having an affair with her behind his wife's back, so maybe Ms. Yamano wanted to give the other scarf to him before all hell broke loose? Yuki-chan and I both look at each other, and we shrug. It probably doesn't really have anything to do with our case, so we should leave it be for now.
I decide to take a look at the outfit Ms. Tatsumi got for me.
It's a black shirt with long sleeves, a black skirt and some long, dark leggings that look like they could completely cover my legs.
It reminds me a bit of those pictures I saw online of women dressed in black at funerals. They had some similar outfits there too. And others, who were closer to the deceased, wore black kimonos instead. "Mofuku", I think they're called. Overall, this outfit looks great. It doesn't look too fancy, it looks just generic enough for me to blend in with a funeral crowd, and it looks about my size. Exactly what I need! Now, if I could just find some black shoes to match…
"Yes, this should do nicely." Yuki-chan says. "It's normal for funeral outfits to be more conservative and to cover more than regular clothes, so this is perfect. And I have a pair of black shoes back home that you could borrow to complete the set, Yura-chan."
I smile at her in gratitude. Now, all that's left is to try it on…
4/28 THU
After School
North Shopping District
Well, I'm now the proud owner of a funeral outfit set.
After I tried it on, both Yuki-chan and Ms. Tatsumi agreed at it looked good on me, and I agreed with 'em. It was a good size for me, and I think I'll be just fine. The only downside is that the outfit itself was kinda expensive, so now my wallet is kinda dry. I'm short on cash and I'm gonna need a way to make some money soon apart from making envelopes or whatever else I got now...I mean, yeah, it pays okay, but not much. Good thing I'm gonna start with some other part time jobs I applied for next week.
"Thanks for your help with this, Yuki-chan. I really appreciate it. If you hadn't showed me that shop, I dunno how I would've been able to do it."
"It's no trouble, Yura-chan. It was nice to hang out with you. We should do something like this again, sometime."
Yes! Progress!
"Yeah, definitely! So, about what you said back there concerning your black pair of shoes…"
"Don't worry about it. I'll bring them with me to school and I'll give them to you the next time we meet. I trust you'll be careful with them, right?", she asks me.
"Of course! You have my word! You won't forget 'em tomorrow, right!"
"Tomorrow? We don't have school tomorrow, remember?"
Huh? What does she mean by-? Oh, right. There's a holiday tomorrow, right? "Showa day", if I recall. So that's why Mr. Morooka said that the results of the vote would get announced on the 30th.
She smiles at me when she sees that I'm a bit confused. We make some more small talk, then we part ways for today.
She takes the bus back home, and I make my way back to the Dojima residence.
For some reason, I get an ominous feeling that the 30th is gonna be a very interesting day.