Disaster Report Diaries (Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories) Part Fourteen

This is my exploration of the Disaster Report series, where I will chronicle my playthrough like a text-based Let’s Play. Now let’s start the epilogue of Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories…

Months had passed and it was now December 201X, and Yuko Ichikawa had returned to Hisui City for the first time since the disaster, having almost been sold into slavery and blown up the last time she was there…

Leaving the bus at Suiren Park, I couldn’t help but wonder how the people I’d met were doing. It was 2:08 PM on Day 159 of the disaster, and I had only brought along eight storage spaces and 155,800 yen (I had to believe my millions were in a bank somewhere). In the park, I found the man who had dropped his lunch on that first day — following my suggestion to return home, life had fallen apart for him…

Next to him, I found an Every-Morning Newspaper, July Issue, from right after the earthquake. It was an M8, or magnitude 8.0, earthquake and had been centred on Hisui City, so both Country U and Country T had dispatched relief efforts. Across the street, in the clothing store, I found the woman whom I had handed almost 2 million yen, who was still depressed. I asked if she needed anything and she seemed to recognise me before snapping at me. On a whim, I asked if she had the key for the staff room, which she took offence to — before admitting that she knew where it was.

To reveal the location, she demanded a newspaper from the time of the earthquake… and a Christmas tree. Obviously, I couldn’t bring an entire tree, so she told me to just bring a Christmas Tree Compass instead. I already had the newspaper, so the only place left to find the compass was inside Glintir Inc. opposite.

I went straight past a security guard as I saw something on the ground, but someone caught my eye as they walked past me — Tomoya Kazama, the human trafficker! I grabbed the compass and swapped it for the one I was using, then chased after him. I tried all of the dialogue options, and he admitted that was his name, but denied having met me or done anything wrong. He wandered off towards Asagao Crossing, but I was unable to keep following him…

Returning to the demanding woman, I showed her the paper and compass, and she said that she’d hoped they would help her remember how she paid off her debts. Then, she told me that the key was in the plant pot “furthest away”, so I went to the ground floor and the plant in the corner, immediately locating the Apparel Office’s New Key.

Much like the first time, it allowed me to gain entry to the storeroom where designer Akemi was, but at least this time, she wasn’t stuck under some boxes. She recognised me, and I confirmed that I’d saved her before, then asked why I was there. She was amused by my desire to check up on people I’d survived a disaster with, then immediately asked me to deliver a package to Ajisai Crossing. I had planned on going that way anyway, so I agreed, and she handed me a bag to take to her second store — which used to be a jewellery store.

Before leaving the storeroom, I picked up a copy of Every-Morning Newspaper, End of July Issue, which described the human trafficking bust at Hozuki Airport. The ringleader of the group, Snake Snake, was taken into custody along with the vice leader, “Tomoya Kazama”, AKA Keith. Oh, and since it was Christmas time, I put on a Santa Costume.

I headed to Asagao Crossing, as that was the direction of Ajisai Crossing, but I wanted to stop by the site where Natsumi Higa had died. As I was passing the convenience store anyway, I went inside and to my surprise, I found teenage bully Eri Akasaka working behind the counter. I brought up Ms. Higa right away, so that Eri didn’t think I’d forgotten that she bore partial responsibility for the teacher’s fate. She said that she couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I had to assume that was because she got a part-time job in the store across the road.

Eri then told me that bullying victim Hiroko Yamauchi had disappeared a week ago, and asked me to search for her, as her parents and the police were looking. I chose to not answer her, and went into the staff room, where I found the manager, who also recognised me. I said that I was going to offer flowers at Ms. Higa’s grave, though, since I didn’t know where that was, I figured the site of her death would do.

I then checked the store room, as I spotted the other (former?) bully, Hidemi Shimizu, through the glass drinks doors, sorting stock. She asked why I was there, so I brought up the teacher again — neither student deserved my forgiveness.

Before leaving the store, I bought a Pure Bouquet for 380 yen, then crossed the road to offer the flowers and pray. I asked that Ms. Higa protect her students from above, and felt a presence.

Taking a quick look around, I found a Power Shovel Compass on the foot bridge but nothing else of interest, so went to Ajisai Crossing. It was snowing and had begun getting quite dark — it was 7:30 PM — but the area reminded me of Yayoi Kasahara and I wondered if she was okay.

I decided to nip into the car dealership Geirröd, as the manager had proven quite knowledgeable before. I asked about the business (quiet), the hotel (being rebuilt), the Angelina restaurant (popular), the jewellery store (now a clothes shop), and the message from Yayoi. Oh, and about Kirishima, the president of Vestola, though he inferred that I already knew what happened to him…

In the office, there were some Work Coveralls, which I grabbed, then I went to Angelina to check in. A know-it-all apprentice let me ask about the employees (the waitress, Kouda Yoshimi, had quit recently), but other than being a very popular restaurant there, wasn’t much to discuss. I found some Chef Whites in a locker, and the head chef rewarded me with a Deluxe Chef Hat because I had given her the contract before.

Leaving via the back alley, I made my way to the clothes shop and located the branch manager in an office. Apparently, I wouldn’t have been able to enter from the front door, but she asked me to leave via it after accepting the bag.

Upon exiting, I was stopped by a man walking with the aid of a crutch, wearing a yellow jacket. It was Masaki Sudo (AKA Keith Helm), who had been injured sometime before his escape from Del Ray. He asked me for directions to Asagao Crossing, so I told him and asked why he was going there. Sudo said that he had lost a friend in the earthquake, so was going to offer flowers. I wanted to follow, but as I looked back at Kakitsubata Main Street in the other direction and wondered if Hiroko was there, I decided to call it a day.

Did I say day? Because I meant I’d return in weeks, and it was now Day 177. I arrived in Kakitsubata Main Street to look for Hiroko, as Eri had written to me, saying that her victim still hadn’t been heard from, and I was worried.

First, however, I went into Vestola as I was curious about what I should have already known about my enemy, Kirishima. He was giving a speech to his 30-something staff, standing on a stage and speaking into a microphone in what used to be an open plan office. The company had apparently fallen during the earthquake, but had risen to be better than ever, somehow.

As Kirishima left the room to go somewhere, he recognised me and made a vague threat about standing in his way, then wandered off. I went inside to see if I could steal some food, but bumped into Ryoko Honda, a reporter for Weekly Magazine who had been on Central Island (last seen leaving Rina Makimura alone to deal with a fire). She had seen the president talk to me and asked if I was an employee. I denied it, but she was still curious if I could help her.

She was suspicious about Vestola’s reversal of fortunes, after it joined a partnership with M Co. I agreed that it bothered me how smoothly it all seemed to have gone, so I agreed to cooperate with her and give any information I might come across.

There was nothing else at Vestola, so I exited to the street and spotted Miki Kinoshita doing a street performance. However, I wasn’t quite correct, as she was standing in the audience and came over when she noticed me. She was happy to see me and explained that she was doing performances with her friend Saki, who was the one actually performing. Did she mean Saki Honjo, whom Rina Makimura told could definitely become a famous singer on Central Island? Yes!

Miki asked if I remembered what she’d told me — that two men were attacking women — and said that they were still in the city, so she was performing with Saki for safety. Moreover, she had seen a teenager run past a short time ago, and was concerned for her safety.

Saki began playing (the same song from the previous game), her acoustic guitar somehow providing harmonies, piano, and drums, and Miki returned to her after asking me to give her any information about the two goons I came across. Next to Saki was a Guitar Compass, so I grabbed that, then headed after the teenager.

Since the metro was still shut, I headed inside GZ Burger at the end of the street and bought a 16-layer GZ Burger for 1,200 yen. In the kitchen, I found a Fast Food Worker Uniform, but that burger had filled my pockets. I tossed the Work Coveralls so that I could pick it up, but didn’t have space for the matching hat.

Upstairs, I finally located Hiroko! Sitting with her, I told her that her parents were worried, which she denied, saying they were just pretending. She then told me to leave, and while I was tempted to slap her, I went with “how dare you” — Ms. Higa had died for her, and here she was saying that nobody cared about her. She stood up, saying that she blamed herself and telling me to leave her alone, then she stormed off.

I went downstairs to give chase, since it was only 11:58 AM, but instead I LEFT TOWN FOR WEEKS AGAIN…?