Katawa Shoujo - Akira Satou Route

Act 3-8 Chains

A glowing sign at the front announces the name of our destination as we slow to a halt. Besides Lilly, Hanako, myself, and a few others, the bus is vacant, with not a sound to be heard save for the muffled trotting of the motor.

The view outside soon shifts into a familiar scene as the bus slows to a halt. Despite there being four or five other passengers, the three of us are the only ones to disembark at the stop. Hanako steps off first and offers her hand to Lilly, who descends to the sidewalk without issue.

The doors shut as soon as I step onto the concrete ground, its path taking it back into the city and leaving the three of us here. Most of the shops have already closed down for the night, leaving only the glow of a few streetlamps and the half-moon overhead to keep us company. A peaceful silence fills the air, almost making me wish there was nothing to talk about.

"It's calm tonight." Lilly remarks, hands at her back. Hanako glances between the two of us, as if expecting something.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. Some peace and quiet is a good change of pace." I reply.

"Very relaxing." She returns.

She reaches out and taps Hanako's shoulder before locking arms with her. Rather than begin the long trek back to the school, however, she reaches out with her other arm, both feeling around for my presence and beckoning for me to be at that spot.

Her hand makes a gentle contact with my arm before hooking around it, offering no resistance as Hanako and I both step off. I take a quiet gulp as I try to fathom why Lilly would do such a thing. She might be quicker to attach to others than myself, but I can't help but feel that my thoughts on a serious talk were correct.

We begin walking back to the school in silence, albeit a strange one. An emptiness hangs in the air as if expecting someone to speak first.

I want to ask Lilly what she thinks of Tetsuo or what she thinks of Akira and him being together. What does she think of her sister's current position in life. How could I possibly bring up something like that without arousing suspicion, though? It's bad enough that I already gave her a bottle of wine and admitted to talking to her on the phone while she was away. Now I have to pry into her personal matters?

Then out of the silence, a meek voice decides to ask "Lilly, what do you think of M-M-Mr. Shuugetsu?"

Is... Is Hanako just as interested in the matter as I am?

We continue down the sidewalk as Lilly takes a small pause to think, mulling over her words with meticulous care.

"He's a fine gentleman." She answers in a curt manner.

I can respect her reply, but it sounds like she's sidestepping something. We both saw how cold she acted towards him at the dinner table, and that's not her usual manner of dealing with people she's at least acquainted with. The only other time I've seen her in a state of non-geniality was when Shizune was pestering her over some paperwork.

She seems to have some kind of a feud with Shizune, though. Does she have something of that caliber with Tetsuo? Or is it just a general distaste? He seemed polite enough at the dinner, and he didn't even make that many poor attempts at humor. All he really did was trip over himself with the introduction to Hanako and argue with Akira.

Should I just ask her about it? Or maybe...

"He's nice enough, but I think he likes to argue a little too much." I remark.

Master of tact.

Hanako gives a weak nod, although refrains from further adding anything as Lilly's response meets the open air.