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

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 continue Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories…

Yuko Ichikawa and her companion Kanae Tomita had escaped places sinking to the south, and journeyed north only to come across a fire…

As the group at the soup kitchen dispersed to help fight the fire, I was asked to assist, too. Kanae stayed right where she was, so I hurried off by myself. Yamanote was on the other side of the railway tracks, which meant passing through a short tunnel beneath them.

In a stark contrast to the devastation of Shitamachi, the buildings were mostly intact, with some cracks in walls and a little damage to the roads. I didn’t have time to sightsee, as everyone was rushing towards the large plume of smoke — and I joined them, offering to lead the bucket relay, making sure to focus. In short order, the fire was out and the crowd dispersed.

No, of course it didn’t, in fact, a dude in a blue shirt started arguing with Naoto's father, accusing him of starting the fire and not telling them about the soup kitchen. A fight looked about to break out, so I attempted to mediate the conflict — which Blue Shirt did not appreciate.

Luckily, a police officer ran over, so the crowd dispersed and I had a chat with Nogiwa, the sous-chef of the Chinese restaurant which had just been on fire. He seemed upset that the two peoples couldn’t get along, despite having worked together to put the fire out just minutes ago. He had only been living there for a few years, right about the time the restaurant was opened by Blue Shirt. Nogiwa also let slip that the owner’s daughter was dating Naoto, and that Blue Shirt was not a fan of it.

Just up the road was a café, and despite the barista trying to turn me away, I practically begged for some food, so he sold me some sandwiches. I bought a Smoked Salmon Avocado Sandwich and a Massive Roast Beef Sandwich, then continued chatting to people. The house at the end of the road belonged to Blue Shirt AKA Matsuno. He thanked me for helping, complained about the Shitamachi people, then told me to get off of his property when I attempted to get past him.

A tremor hit as I crossed the street, knocking me on my rear, then I continued around and past the demolished Yurigasaka Station to the police station. As I went back towards the restaurant, I spotted some residences behind and went to check them out. A broken fence sat uselessly at the far end, and just past it were some concrete steps which seemed to lead nowhere. At least, they would if not for the big hole in Matsuno’s fence.

After crawling through and finding nothing of interest, I went back to the other side of the tracks to check on Kanae. I met Naoto just as I exited the pedestrian tunnel, and he admitted that he wasn’t there to help with the fire as he was seeing his girlfriend, Rie. I listened seriously, and when he asked me to deliver a letter to Rie, I agreed in the name of love.

Naoto told me to throw a stone at Rie’s bedroom window, but a tremor interrupted us, making him want to check on his family’s tofu business. I gave the letter a read, but it wasn’t at all interesting. To get this task out of the way, I returned back through the tunnel, only to land face-first on the ground when a tremor struck.

I did check if I could get past Matsuno, but when he still refused, I crawled back through the hole in his fence and tossed a pebble at Rie’s window. She opened it and looked down, but before I could speak, I noticed someone crawl through the fence and set some trash bags on fire! Someone called out, asking who was there, and figuring they’d think I did it, I hurried back out through the hole.

It was probably a bad idea to go straight to Matsuno, so I went to speak to Nogiwa, who responded quickly and went with the police officer to put it out. Following them up the hill, I found the fire now extinguished, but there was no way to deliver the letter now, so I headed back to Naoto. Outside of the tofu shop, I met Kanae, who told me that Naoto was inside.

Before I could speak to him, Naoto was confronted by Matsuno — they had found the letter which I must have dropped. As the obvious arsonist, Matsuno and another dragged Naoto to his back garden and locked him in the shed.

Outside, I spoke to Kanae, who rejoined me as we concocted a plan. I suggested going in the front door, but she said we should pose as Rie’s friends. I didn’t know how old Rie was, but I figured I should put on a disguise, so popped on the Sailor Uniform I had picked up earlier. Not that it worked, however, Matsuno recognised me — but believed we were friends with Rie and let us inside.

I had earlier spotted some clothes through the window, so our first stop was the living room where I snatched Sushi Chef Clothes and a Sushi Chef Hat. We then went upstairs and knocked on Rie’s door, and to calm her upon seeing strangers, Kanae said “Naoto’s letter” and she admitted us entry. After we explained everything, Rie asked us to find the real arsonist, and I agreed, so she suggested that we check out the scene of the crime.

When we got outside, the light was fading and I noticed that it was already 5:00 PM. Walking around the house, I saw someone guarding the shed where Naoto was trapped, though I was allowed to approach it without hindrance. I told him that I was there and admitted that I didn’t know who did it.

The site of the second arson proved fruitful, as there was an Embroidered Handkerchief, which I returned to Rie. She suggested that she’d seen it at the restaurant, so I went to ask her father out front where Matsuno suggested I ask his sous-chef.

On the way down the hill, I realised that I was very thirsty and had a high need for the bathroom. However, I hadn’t located one in the area as of yet, and feared what might happen if I drank anything…

Nogiwa was on the upper floor looking out of the window, so I asked him about the handkerchief, which he denied knowledge of. He did, however, claim to have seen someone suspicious heading towards Shitamachi, so off I went, speaking to Nabe by the soup kitchen. He told me that the item was a souvenir from the Chokei Hotel, but became nervous when asked to whom it might belong. Naoto’s dad, sat close by, told me that Mama Shizuka collected things from the hotel, so I went to see her.

Shizuka explained that Matsuno used to be head chef at the Chokei Hotel, and that she had been given another one of the handkerchiefs by Nabe. The secret embroidery revealed that it was handed out to staff 13 years prior, adding another clue to the puzzle.

On my way back to Nabe, I noticed that someone had set up a metal drum full of water, and put a fire beneath it. They were offering baths to anyone who needed them… in the street. I declined, and returned to the soup kitchen where I confronted Nabe again about the handkerchief, reminding him about the one he gave Shizuka. He explained that he thought she might have been the arsonist, but since she still had hers, then I should ask Nogiwa, who had handed them out. He used to be the head chef, before Matsuno.

To my surprise, the restaurant doors were shut when I got back to Yamanote, so I went up the hill to Matsuno and asked him to open up, because I knew the identity of the real arsonist. He refused, until Kanae threatened to get the police involved with his imprisonment of Naoto.

10 minutes later, everyone was gathered in the restaurant. I thanked them for coming, and that the real culprit was someone in the room before going over the events. Holding up the handkerchief, I asked who it belonged to, then explained it was whomever the head chef of the hotel was 13 years ago. It was Nogiwa!

Quick as a flash, he grabbed Rie and held a butcher’s knife to her! He admitted the arson, then blamed Matsuno for it. I asked him to calm down, but he wasn’t having it. Nogiwa went over his backstory, how he had quickly risen to head chef, but after the president of the hotel had died, the new one fired him because of a food poisoning incident, which he was blamed for. Matsuno was hired as his replacement.

With a new house and a second child on the way, Nogiwa was in debt and couldn’t get hired as a fired chef. In time, he saw only one way out: killing his family and himself. However, he only murdered his wife and newborn before being put in prison for years. By chance, he saw that Matsuno’s restaurant was hiring, so took the job, and three years later he was getting his revenge!

A tremor knocked him and Rei to the ground, and Nogiwa saw a birthmark on her shoulder blade. In shock, he realised that it was his own daughter! Matsuno explained that he had adopted Rie, but we didn’t really get into that as Nogiwa confessed to the police and was taken away.

Later, the people of both towns gathered at the soup kitchen and shared apologies and a meal. But the peace was short-lived, as someone came running over to tell us that there had been some thefts from Yurigasaka Marché! A pair of women had been seen loitering around and— wait…

Quick as ever to jump to conclusions, this time with even less evidence, Kanae and I were unceremoniously dragged off and put inside the shed…