No. 186 Live to Protect Everyone 皆を守るための人生たれ

Before Dawn | Higoromo-cho | Abandoned Factory Alley

△Sentinel

So the Sentinel’s a weapon from the future…?

It’s strange to say, but… it does make sense.

After all, even one of its “computers” was so far beyond what we knew.

△Tsukasa Okino

おそらく…

沖野は猫が好きだ

…いや

だから何だという訳ではないのだが

If I had to guess…

Okino must be a cat person.

Well…

Not that particularly important to know…

△Yakisoba Pan

ア01

I should head to school.

My yakisoba pan’s waiting for me…

No, wait… That’s not the point! Can’t lose focus…

I need to find Okino.

I should…

Go to Sakura High School

Remain here

Behind the School | Passageway

ウ01

Whoa―

…?

Just another studtent…

But she’s so pale, and covered in bandages…

In the tree’s shade, she looked more ghost than girl…

ウ02

…?

ウ03

She’s no ghost, but… she is hauntingly beautiful.

As long as I’ve gotten this close already, maybe…

…No, no, no.

This is not the time.

>ウ04

Talk

Um…

…?

Ugh…

Is this cheating…? No, of course not.

Why wouldn’t it be?

Okino’s a man, anyway.

If, hypothetically, I had fallen for him…

It was when I believed him to be a girl.

Oh, now I remember…

He cozied up to that rascal Ogata, too.

Rascal

He even confessed his love…

…

Sorry, Okino.

But you strayed first. It’s only fair…

Excuse me, miss!

…

…Oh…

I should…

Go to the schoolyard

Go to the schoolyard

Remain here

Sakura High School | Schoolyard

ウ05

Hm?

ウ06

I know that cat.

It’s Okino’s little friend again.

エ01

That kitty’s so cute.

Does it live at the school?

Oh, you mean Lucky?

Lucky?

You know, because he’s a lucky cat!

“Lucky,” is it?

A cat of many names, it sounds like.

What’s so lucky about him?

You just hand around this cat…

And you start finding money everywhere!

!

What, seriously?

I mean, it’s… it’s usually like, a couple coins…

Oh, so just loose change.

…

Well, worth a try…

Let’s see what’s under the box, shall we…?

>

△Change

…No, there wouldn’t be any around here.

エ02

△Change

Hm? That’s…

エ03

Pick up

A 100-yen coin…

That’s a lucky find.

エ04

Hey, did you see that guy?

He was looking under the vending machines.

What do you think he was doing?

Maybe he dropped his change?

Oh, what?

I wouldn’t go digging around for it. That looks so sketchy.

I should…

Go to the cafeteria

Remain here

Sakura High School | Cafeteria

Perchase…

A yakisoba pan

Never mind

…百五拾円か 金が足らん…

I have… 100 yen on me.

150 yen…? I don’t have the money…

Behind the School | Passageway

△Change

Hm? That’s…

Pick up

A 100-yen coin…

That’s a lucky find.

Sakura High School | Schoolyard

Sakura High School | Break Area

オ01

Hey, Kurabe-kun.

Are we on for today?

…

I’ve got somewhere to be.

Well, all right.

オ02

△Change

Hm? That’s…

オ03

Pick up

A 100-yen coin…

That’s a lucky find.

Drink Carton Vending Machine

I have… 300 yen on me.

Drink carton?

Hi-King (Milk Coffee)

Hey-C (Apple)

Nah

△Hi-King (Milk Coffee)

珈琲か…

甘くてうまい…

Coffe, huh?

It’s good. Sweet, too…

リンゴを絞った汁…

なんという甘さだ

△Hey-C (Apple)

Fresh apple juice…

That’s powerfully sweet!

×Canned Soda Vending Machine

△Canned Soda

缶入りラムネ…甘くてうまい…

Sparkling soda… Sugary and refreshing.

いや駄目だ

ジュースは一日一本だ

No, I shouldn’t.

One canned drink a day seems like a healthy limit.

Sakura High School | Cafeteria

I have… 200 yen on me.

カ01

Your finest yakisoba pan, please!

キ01

△Yakisoba Pan

Sorry for making you wait, yakisoba pan.

But it’s okay now. Time to dig in…

Mm… mmhm…

Delicious…

Impossibly delicious.

But of course it is… It’s yakisoba pan.

Sakura High School | Wooden Building

キ02

I don’t see Okino anywhere…

Is he not at school?

キ03

Oh…

Isn’t that…

One of the Sentinels’ scout units…

Why is this here?

This is not good…

キ04

And he’s…

キ05

Talk

You… You’re the one from the shrine. Where we crossed time…

…

What’s wrong…? You can’t move?

Something’s happened. Did Okino get him too?

キ06

Talk

I should get him back to the hideout…

Don’t tell me I’m going to have to carry him.

What a hassle…

…

What am I, just another one of Okino’s cronies…?

I don’t have to run around cleaning up his messes…

キ07

×Examine

Stop! Blasted gizmo!

What’s Sentinel technology doing here…?

キ08

Examine

How did you get here?

I’ll take a look…

What is this?

ここから2188の映像

What were you thinking, Okino?

What’s wrong, Takatoshi…?

What’s wrong is this core system.

Oh. Figured it out, huh?

現在の比治山

Okino?

2188

Professor Shinonome found it.

Deimos? Really?

Everyone knows that’s one of the old kaiju survival sims.

Even I played that thing all the time when I was a kid.

Don’t worry about it.

You’re putting the fate of humankind’s last colony in a video game?

I’m just refusing the infrastructure. Environment management code.

Relax. We’re not gonna get kaiju popping up.

Still…

And hey, faster than building the codebase from scratch. Right?

Come on. You love me, so you can trust me, right?

The work’s done.

We’ve done all we can for the human race’s future.

As long as this colony’s life support holds out…

As long as I’ve got even a second more, I’d rather spend it with you.

Tsukasa…

…You’re right. I’d rather be holding you right now, myself.

I’ll see if I can explain it to Professor Shinonome.

Thanks…

I love you, Takatoshi.

What… is this…?

That wasn’t… me, was it…?

But Okino and I were… together. In love…

It’s impossible.

キ09

Examine

Hey, what did you just show me?

Put it up again.

2188

Here begins my final log…

now

This isn’t the same recording…

2188

Tsukasa’s dead…

The medical biokits are no good to me now, so… Only got an hour or two left…

Why did it come to this…?

It was all logistical debate over Project Ark. An energy dispute.

And Tsukasa…

He argued to cancel the plan. To divert the energy to life support.

If that damn Ogata and his cronies hadn’t come armed…

…No… Too late to point fingers now.

Izumi-san shot Tsukasa…

So I made his pay. Him and his allies.

As for the survivors…

There’s Professor Shinonome and Ida… They made it our safe…

…and me. Though I figure I don’t have long left…

The hanger’s blown out, and the colony’s in ruins.

It won’t even take 20 hours. All we’ve worked for will be gone.

…I came here so I could protect people.

And now I’ll die here, with my friends’ blood on my hands…

If… Project Ark actually goes through…

If I actually get to be reborn somehow…

I hope I live to protect them. Protect all my friends…

My friends… My Tsukasa…

now

Reborn…?

Okino was… killed?

What did I… just see?

I have to…

Find Okino

Remain here

キ10

Why do I have this pit in my stomach…?

Okino…? Where are you!?

His biometrics unlocked those personal logs.

That was… this world’s Takatoshi-san…

Yeah…

I brought him here.

Looks like Okino’s with him, too…

Story

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