An ongoing play through Rin's arc

[horizon]

And the story continues with another heart-rending episode:

There were regrets indeed. Even though I knew to fear it was coming, it was painful to see it. In the morning Hisao confronted Rin about last night, and she told him that it was a stupid decision that would be better forgotten. Frustrated, he tried to make her spill out how she really feels about him. She replied that he wouldn't understand.

At this point I get to choose between two options, either asking her to explain what she means, or stating that I need to understand. Given how hard it had been to get Rin to explain things in the past, I didn't expect the first line to bear much fruit. So I opted for the latter.

The result wasn't pretty. She insisted that she needed to do things her way, to which Hisao told her that he wanted nothing more to do with her obsession over the art exhibition project. The conversation ended soon after in bitter feelings, and he departed the Atelier.

That was the end to Act 3. Didn't leave me with very high hopes of seeing the story coming to a happy conclusion.

...

Act 4 picks up the story on the same day, with Hisao bringing up Rin's unhealthy obsession with Nomiya. Predictably, that only angered the man.

...

Days passed without Hisao seeing Rin, yet he couldn't get her out of his mind. His bitterness turned to anger, which he couldn't contain when she unexpectedly showed up to meet him in his dorm room. This would be another painful scene to read through.

She tried to kiss him, told him she needed him, but he rebuffed her. Hisao accused Rin of selfishly toying with him, coming to the conclusion that she treated him as nothing more than a source of inspiration for her painting. She couldn't explain to him why she'd behaved the way she had. He ended up yelling at her; she told him to get lost and he told her to get out of his room.

Afterwards Hisao wondered why Rin seemed to have changed so dramatically after taking up this art project, and if he was partly responsible for it due to his urging her down that path.

The blues is strong in this arc. It's making me feel depressed.

[Enemy |]

Indeed, these parts of her route are heartbreaking.
Except the "this is my room" line made laugh.

[horizon]

So, the day of the long-awaited art exhibition finally dawned. Despite his heated outburst the previous day and the sad feelings that followed it, Hisao went to see the event over at Sae's gallery. Emi and Rin were both there.

As soon as Rin was brought forth by Nomiya to talk about her art and thus made the center of attention, I knew it was not going to end well. She was a fish out of water there, unable to keep up with the audience's barrage of questions and could barely open her mouth to adress them. The situation was just too much for her and she collapsed on the floor.

Hisao had to help her back on her feet and take her outside for some fresh air and relief. She managed to recover and expressed her wish that she'd never have to deal with people asking her questions, as she felt that she could never come up with the right things to say.

Here I was presented with another decision point, one that I thought might be quite an important one. The options were to ask if she weren't happy that so many people took interest in her art, or what would it mean if she did find such a person. To me the latter felt like the natural choise to make.

It was an interesting if brief conversation, as Rin answered that then she at least wouldn't have to be alone. She also concluded that she'd made a mistake in pursuing this exhibition, and walked away from the gallery, saying that she wanted to be herself. Hisao couldn't stop her, but called after her, telling her that she shouldn't need to be alone even if she'll never find a person she wouldn't ever need to explain herself to.

This scene felt very much like a crossroads to me. The whole art exhibition thing that much of the plot had revolved around was now over and done with, and there was no telling what direction the story might be taking from here.

...

Come the next day at school, the last one before summer vacations, Hisao was dragged out of classroom by Nomiya. It turned out that Rin had been avoiding him since her running off the gallery the day before. After being questioned by the art teacher, Hisao went looking for Rin, and found her in a vacant classroom.

They spent a good while talking, with Hisao eventually bringing up the question of why she paints, even if it may not make her happy. Rin explained it as something that she has to do, because she couldn't express herself adequately in other ways. Art was for her a way to try and reach out to other people, so that she wouldn't be alone. Hisao confessed how difficult it was for him to connect with her, and that he couldn't really understand her paintings. He also pointed out that no one else might be able to, either.

In the end, he convinced her to go and apologise to Nomiya for running off like she had.

[Sperance]

Oh, it seems you're reaching the climax for your choices. Things are going to get interesting now, you'll see

[horizon]

Yes, you could say that things got very interesting indeed. So interesting I that couldn't stop playing until the end credits rolled!

Anyway, on to the final entry on this playthrough:

I kinda hate Nomiya now.

Rin wasn't even given a chance to apologize, as he vented his anger and lashed out at her, yelling. Which reminded the eavesdropping Hisao of his own outburst just a couple of days ago. After Nomiya was finished scolding Rin and stormed off from the art classroom, Hisao went to try and comfort her, leading to the by far most touching scene in this arc for me.

...

Rin was feeling bitter and angry, and told Hisao to go away. But he apologized to her for the way he'd treated her, for being unable to be a friend to her when she needed one. She was thoroughly confused and upset, unable to see why people were be getting so angry at her, and thinking that there must be something terribly wrong with her. Hisao didn't really know how to comfort her, but he told her that he doesn't hate her, that she should learn to cope with things being as they are.

Rin was moved to tears by his words and fell to a crying fit, embraced by Hisao. They spent a long while like that, her weeping into his shirt. It was then that Hisao realized both how futile it may be for them to try and be to each other something that they're not, and how long ago he'd come to have a crush on her. Eventually she ceased crying, and was quite baffled by her own reaction.

She told Hisao about how she tried to paint her feelings on the canvas so that people could understand her through the paintings. His thought on this was that no one could perfectly understand someone else's feelings, no matter how hard one tried to convey them. She felt sad at the idea, but found it acceptable.

They continued chatting for some time, then departed the classroom. Rin felt tired and wanted to sleep, so Hisao walked her over to the girls' dorm.

The sheerness of emotion in this scene really got to me. Definitely one of the most powerful moments in KS, or in any piece of fiction I've read.

...

On the first day off school, Rin showed up on Hisao's doorstep, soaked wet from having walked through rain. She was back to being her typical self, evident by the conversation about rain she engaged with Hisao. She invited herself into his room and revealed that she needed help changing into drier clothes now that Emi had left.

That she'd come to ask such a thing of him was quite telling. As he was drying her hair, she brushed against his hand longingly. Hisao was still feeling uncertain about their relationship, but pushed his doubts aside when Rin communicated, without a single word, her desire to have sex with him.

This could have quite possibly been the most decidedly contented sex scene in the VN I've seen yet, if not for the mildly bittersweet undertone arising from Hisao's worrying about his possibly drifting away from Rin some day. Still, it was clear that they were both genuinely enjoying themselves.

...

After some sweet lovemaking, Rin remembered that it was "the day" and insisted that they should get dressed and go to someplace. She led Hisao to the forest and on to the hill with the dandelions. They watched the wads of flower seeds flying in the wind. Then Rin asked him whether he loves her, and Hisao couldn't give a straight answer. She wasn't sure if she loves him, either, and confessed that she felt a bit afraid of her feelings about him.

In the end, they decided that it wouldn't matter. They watched the clouds drifting in the sky, and felt content being who they were and with what they had between them. And so the story ended.

I guess that was the good ending, as they are called. It did contain a generous dose of happiness, albeit mixed with some uncertainty and worry. I was left with a naggingly ambiguous feeling, at the same time positive yet somber.

Overall, I'd say that this was a very enjoyable story arc. Not the easiest reading, confusing at times, but well worth the effort.

Thank you to all who read this thread and posted comments ^_^

[Mirrormn]

I've been following this thread from the beginning, and it's been a pleasure to read your interpretation of Rin's route. Pretty spot on, I'd say, and you seemed to have a much better understanding of the story than I did on my first playthrough of it (of course, I read it from start to finish in one sitting, whereas you took over a month, so that may have something to do with it).

[horizon]

I've been following this thread from the beginning, and it's been a pleasure to read your interpretation of Rin's route. Pretty spot on, I'd say, and you seemed to have a much better understanding of the story than I did on my first playthrough of it (of course, I read it from start to finish in one sitting, whereas you took over a month, so that may have something to do with it).

I often forgot to make notes whilst playing, so that when writing the updates I had to go and skim through a scene again via the library. I think that this, together with having to compose my thoughts on a text editor, forced me to think about the story in greater depth than I would have just by playing through it normally.

[mysterycycle]

Congratulations on making it to the Good End. I've read about Rin's path being described as the most difficult, and I would agree with that description due to the emotional difficulty of it. I had actually forgotten many of the moments of happiness in her path just because the darker parts overwhelmed me so much, and really drove home the fact that, were I in Hisao's situation, I probably wouldn't be able to be the friend that Rin needed. Heck, I ended up getting the Bad End the first time...

On other paths, I sometimes noticed the difference between what Hisao said and did and what I likely would have said and done if it were me. Sometimes my choices wouldn't have been strong enough, or clever enough, or persistent enough, and they reminded me of my own failures in pursuing the girls I fell in love with. I found myself questioning whether things might have turned out differently in those situations if I had been just a bit bolder, or analyzed things more clearly, hadn't accepted defeat or taken offense as easily, etc., and that's a deeply troubling thought for me. In Rin's path, I think I felt those things even more keenly, probably because even Hisao had no idea what to do most of the time.