>>17463
You lurch up. A cold sweat coats your face.
The walls of the inn cool the room as you gain your bearings. The leg muscles supporting your weight all the way here twists in agony. Your breath is heavy, choking for air. Just… as usual…

You try to calm down, quickly standing up, as lying down anymore makes you nauseous once again. Everything is fine, it isn`t real. It is all over…

---

--

-

You eventually regain your composure. You cautiously check the room and find everything in place. The door works fine and window is locked. And of course your outfit is there too. The faint memories of that dream tingle at your head. Even after coming all the way out here you cant escape from it...
From the clock you see that it is still early in the morning (6:14am).

>>17464
"It was all a dream, huh? I really did wet myself though..."

I'll change my clothes and go get some breakfast.

>>17529
You change into your clothes and head downstairs.

You find it is somewhat quite, it doesn't seem like Masato and Yuuichi are up yet.

>>17530
I'll go to the kitchen and grab some food for myself.

>>17531
You sneak into the living room and into the kitchen. You find that is is fairly standard, a few drawers, cabinets, sink, fridge, trash can, oven, pantry.

You also find a bowl of mikan oranges on the counter.

>>17532
I decide to eat an orange for breakfast, so I take a knife and slice it up. I might want to slice some more oranges later, so I pocket the knife.

>>17533
You cant find one in the immediate vicinity, but you realized that these types of oranges peel without knifes and just do that. You promptly eat the small orange.

>>17534
Check the trash can, fridge, and drawers. What's inside?

>>17535
You open the fridge and find various food items as well as some leftovers. Mostly jars fill with vegetables and the like. There is some uncooked meat still, probably some left overs. You also see a bundle of mackerel.

In the drawers you to be rather messy, along with some kitchen tools you find rubber bands, some band aids, paper clips, and a small pedometer.

The trash can is empty. Must have been recently cleaned.

>>17536
I'll take the pedometer, some rubber bands, some paper clips, and remove the trash bag from the trash can and carry that with me too.

>>17537
You take note of the items, but cant think of any good use for some of them at the time and leave them there. He probably wont mind the rubber bands or paper clips though since there are so many, so you take some.

>>17538
Guess I'll take a walk outside.

>>17539
You leave the inn and step onto the snowy ground.

The cool air gives a small howl off the top of the mountain tops surrounding the area. Seems pretty dead outside as well. Scanning the surrounding areas you catch someone moving to the old part of the village where the abandoned houses are. Its hard to make out from this distance but it appear like it is Lee.

>>17540
I'll go see if I can talk to Lee.

>>17541
You head over to the abandoned part of the village with a brisk pace. As you get closer you can see the houses are just what you would expected, weather torn and dilapidated. It seems they go on for a while, but you cant see Lee from here anymore.

At your feet you find some footprints leading off however.

>>17542
Let's follow the suspicious footprints!

>>17543
You follow the footsteps deeper into the fray of houses. Eventually the footsteps seem to stop at some in front of the entrances to some the houses, finally ending at one which has its door missing, leaving the entrance open. You don`t hear anything inside.

>>17544
I'll go inside, because why not?

>>17545
You enter the building and carefully make your way through the mess. Moldy tatami mats and various shambles of sliding doors cover the area inside. Most of the walls have fallen down and the house is more just one large room. The window opens up in the back with a view of some of the valley, with the Yamada`s house and the Inn in sight.

The area remains silent, and you cant see anyone inside.

>>17546
I use my Stand's ability to draw a map of the interior.

>>17547
You look around the room and get a better idea of the layout.

>>17548
"Okay. I guess nobody is here."

I'll leave and go to the shrine.

>>17549
You leave the house and that area of the village without finding anything else out of the ordinary.

After a long trek you make it back to the steps of the shrine. At the top you see what you assume must be the priest who is shoveling some snow from the walk way.

>>17550
"Good morning! How's it going?"

>>17551
He turns in your direction upon your greeting. "Ah hello. You must be Masato`s friend, are you not?"

The man wears a thick outfit and holds his head up straight. He has a shaven head and calming, relaxing even, atmosphere around him.

>>17552
"Yeah, I am. I don't think he's awake yet, though. Sometimes when I'm really bored I go for morning walks."

>>17553
"I see. Yes, he doesn't like to wake up quite that early. Speaking of him, I heard you were shown around the village yesterday, what did you think?"

>>17554
"It's a pretty nice place. What's with all those abandoned buildings over there? Something happen?"

>>17555
"Over the years different parts of the village have started to develop and that part has been neglected since it is so far out of the way. Did you see that ruined building there? It was to be a clinic, but with less and less people living over there it was moved closer to this side of the village."

As you are chatting you notice a young women briskly walking from the back of the shrine.
The priest calls out to her as she gets closer, "Ah Shizuka, this is Masato`s friend."

She stops and gives a quick bow, meekly followed by a "Hello..."

>>17556
"Hi, my name is Kinj-- Kintaro, Shirozaki, nice to meet you! I'm on vacation here, you know of any cool places to go see?"

>>17557
"Shizuka... Shizuka Saginomiya. Um, I am in a hurry... excuse me," she says quietly. Then heads down the stairs continuing her brisk pace.

"Are you alright?" The priest asks suddenly, "You are a beat red."

>>17558
"Oh, no, I'm fine. Uh, so where was she going? Something about the shrine?"

>>17559
"I think she is heading back home. She comes here every few days, helping me occasionally. Sweet girl, always asking me about my studies. Most people are bored by it," he laughs quickly.

You note that she was heading down the stairs away from the shrine, not to it.

>>17560
"Oh, alright then."

Well, I'm out of ideas for now. Any suggestions?

>>17561
After what seems like weeks you come back to earth and notice that is has gotten distinctly brighter out. It is no longer morning is what your mind tells you.

The priest noticeably changes pace and gets back to shoveling , "I have an appointment later so I must get back to work. It was nice talking with you, Shirozaki."

"Same, nice talking to you."

I'll go down the stairs to see if I can find that shrine girl.

>>17720
You head down the stairs and reach the bottom but with no girl in sight.
Sadly checking the footprints in the snow is no help, for it appears to have been already stomped flat by the feet of others. Most head into the village, back to the shrine or around to the bridge.

>>17721
I'll go to the place where we got wood yesterday.

On your way back through the more barren areas you notice a trail of disturbed snow jut out from the pathway you are walking on. It looks like someone was stumbling all over themselves through the snow... As you get closer you can see it goes off the path and up the hill next to it. On the ground you find a small spatter of blood stained into the snow.

>>17723
I'll follow the trail of bloodstained snow.

>>17724
BGM: Those Who Wait For What Lies Ahead.

You crest the hill and scan the surroundings the disturbed snow continues into the distance deeper into the area of trees. You can make out more and more blood crossing the sides of the trail. Finally over a small hill you see the source...

Creeping closer you can see its clearly a body...of a deer. its either on its last breath or already dead, but it certainly isn't a human. From where you stand it seems to have a wound in its side.

>>17725
"<Oh... my... God...>"

I will approach the body of the deer (because that's what normal people would do in this situation) and check to see if our good friend Rudolf is still alive.

You can tell now that you are close up that it is definitely dead. From what you can tell it appears to be from a bullet wound.

"Oi, what you doing there boy?" A gruff voice yells out at you from behind. Reeling around reveals a large old man carrying a backpack and a large rifle, who is heading towards you.

>>17727
"Sorry! I'm a bit of a mystery buff and I thought this deer was a human body so naturally I went to check it out I mean uh, I was just walking around to get some wood and I saw a trail of blood... You shot it?"

>>17728
"It was I yes," he says as he gives you a stink eye, while apparently sizing you up. "City boy eh?" he comments before heading over to the deer and examining it with a displeased expression followed by a small click of the tongue.

>>17729
"I'm Kintaro Shirozaki. I'm staying here on vacation. Nice to meet you."

>>17730
"Kintaro eh... sounds familiar," he says while digging through his backpack. "Ichiro Fukushima is mine."

He then promptly pulls out a knife and plunges it into the carcass. The sound of tearing flesh unpleasantly crawls up your spine into your ear. He notices your reaction and speaks up, "I don't like an audience. Get going now."

>>17731
I continue my quest for wood and go to the house.

You leave the large man to his work and get back on the main path.

After a while you finally make it back to that part of the village and to the Yamada household. You head around back and find the pile of wood. You also find Jiro working on something under the little overhang. He doesn't notice you as of yet.

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