Katawa Shoujo Forums

"It’s okay once you get passed the ear pop.”

I had to read this twice because I was sooooooo confused. I wondered what was being passed.

Also, halfway through she suddenly thinks of Mrs Nakai as 'Hanako'. Seems a bit odd.

Although editing is a bit off today, it's a merry little chapter.

brythain wrote:

"It’s okay once you get passed the ear pop.”

I had to read this twice because I was sooooooo confused. I wondered what was being passed.

This chapter gave me a bit of trouble, so I'm not surprised I frakked up the editing.

This is no excuse, but explains it, at least. Sorry folks. If it makes you feel better, I'm about to get a large needle shoved into my arm in exchange for money, so I'll count that as my penance.

Also, halfway through she suddenly thinks of Mrs Nakai as 'Hanako'. Seems a bit odd.

That's something I need to keep watching for, since I'm not used to having to use their family names that often.

One of the many quirks of this story.

Although editing is a bit off today, it's a merry little chapter.

Thanks, glad it was still decent despite my fuckuppery (is that a word?)

it cuts the flight time in about half

Why? Supersonic Jet?

“Hisao Nakai, Hanako’s wife and Kenji’s partner.

Wife?

“Pleasure to meet you,” the man said, walking over and extending his hand.

I raised an eyebrow at the proffered hand. Instead of flesh and bone the forearm and hand were black metal with a matte finish.

Earlier she is astonished that H&K know "someone from Sarif Industries" but the fact that it's the CEO himself doesn't raise an eyebrow?

Her voice cut out and some rock music with English lyrics started playing

Would be nice if the links were optional. Clicking it takes you quite literally out of the story.

Then the pain in my ears began. It made me groan aloud and cover my ears, clamping my eyes shut as the pain bubbled into my brain. It felt like the pain was trying to rip through my skull out of my eardrums.

So Sarif can't afford jets with properly pressurized compartments?

Nice chapter. Let's see what kind of horrible monsters they'll have to vanquish in Manila...

There is a street in nearby Quezon City named after a large tree that used to be in the middle of it. Balete Drive is surrounded by residences built in the late Spanish Era as well as balete trees, and is known as a literal haunt--the houses are rumored to be guarded by the ghosts of the original Spanish occupants, and reports of a white lady in the area have been circulating since the 1950's. The balete trees themselves are considered magical, sanctuaries for spirit creatures--which may include the resident white lady.

EDIT: Late July 2024...Our president by then would only be in the first month of his/her six-year term, so there might be some changes he/she would have just begun to implement.

Mirage_GSM wrote:

it cuts the flight time in about half

Why? Supersonic Jet?

Layover; something to do with Sendai being a regional airport, I think. Being a private flight, Sarif can just go straight there.

“Hisao Nakai, Hanako’s wife and Kenji’s partner.

Wife?

Okay, so I didn't get a needle shoved in my arm today (car trouble.) Tomorrow, I promise.

Also fixed. Thanks for that .

I raised an eyebrow at the proffered hand. Instead of flesh and bone the forearm and hand were black metal with a matte finish.

Earlier she is astonished that H&K know "someone from Sarif Industries" but the fact that it's the CEO himself doesn't raise an eyebrow?

She wasn't so much astonished as surprised, and since in her mind she has no business pondering the matter, she didn't give it a lot more thought.

Besides, it'd have to be someone pretty high up for them to rate a private flight as payment for a favor.

Then the pain in my ears began. It made me groan aloud and cover my ears, clamping my eyes shut as the pain bubbled into my brain. It felt like the pain was trying to rip through my skull out of my eardrums.

So Sarif can't afford jets with properly pressurized compartments?

In my experience the rapid change in elevation hurts no matter what, but that might just be my ears.

Nice chapter. Let's see what kind of horrible monsters they'll have to vanquish in Manila...

Zombie penguins. Satomi got bitten by one and enacted a Satanic ritual to seek vengeance, but it backfired and now they're out for her blood.

Hoitash wrote:

Mirage_GSM wrote:

“Hisao Nakai, Hanako’s wife and Kenji’s partner.

Wife?

Okay, so I didn't get a needle shoved in my arm today (car trouble.) Tomorrow, I promise.

Also fixed. Thanks for that .

Heh...and here I thought that was intentional. It would have been funny if it was.

Enjoying this so far, and quite interested to see where it will go.

It just had to be Michigan, didn't it?(I'm an OSU fan ) Anyways, nice update. It's cool to see Malik and David in the story. Malik was one of my favorite characters from the game. Not much to say, since it's still mostly buildup, so I'll just say I'm looking forward to where this is going.

Funny that Hisao & Kenji's relationship with Sarif comes into play not a week after I just finished Human Revolution for first time.

Also I'll join the group happy to see Kim back

AntonSlavik020 wrote:It just had to be Michigan, didn't it?(I'm an OSU fan )

You are fortunate I'm not from UofM (stuck up Wolverines....)

Not much to say, since it's still mostly buildup, so I'll just say I'm looking forward to where this is going.

Thanks, I'll try not to disappoint

Also I'll join the group happy to see Kim back

I have unlocked the secret of OC writing! I HAVE THE POWER! UNLIMITED POWAAHHH!

Layover; something to do with Sendai being a regional airport, I think. Being a private flight, Sarif can just go straight there.

Travel time then, not flight time

In my experience the rapid change in elevation hurts no matter what, but that might just be my ears.

Well, I've flown a few times myself, but I never experienced any more pain than I did when driving a car in the mountains - nor have I ever seen another passenger doubled over in pain.
That's why aircraft cabins are pressurized in the first place.
I also doubt hypersensitive eardrums are a possible side-effect of drugs.

Mirage_GSM wrote:

In my experience the rapid change in elevation hurts no matter what, but that might just be my ears.

Well, I've flown a few times myself, but I never experienced any more pain than I did when driving a car in the mountains - nor have I ever seen another passenger doubled over in pain.
That's why aircraft cabins are pressurized in the first place.
I also doubt hypersensitive eardrums are a possible side-effect of drugs.

To his point, the few times I've flown one of my ears basically refuses to pop very much, resulting in some pain. I can be in a car in the mountains just fine.

Mirage_GSM wrote:

Layover; something to do with Sendai being a regional airport, I think. Being a private flight, Sarif can just go straight there.

Travel time then, not flight time

In my experience the rapid change in elevation hurts no matter what, but that might just be my ears.

Well, I've flown a few times myself, but I never experienced any more pain than I did when driving a car in the mountains - nor have I ever seen another passenger doubled over in pain.
That's why aircraft cabins are pressurized in the first place.
I also doubt hypersensitive eardrums are a possible side-effect of drugs.

To be fair, I flew once with a really bad upper respiratory infection (it was to the point where my sinus cavity was filled up with mucous and it started to spill into my eustachian tubes, forming a nice little seal and preventing equalization). Ascending was fine, but descending? I was miserable. Nearly doubled over it was so bad.

So I guess the only positive thing I got out of that experience is that I didn't see anything particularly out of place during the ascent.

forgetmenot wrote:

Mirage_GSM wrote:

In my experience the rapid change in elevation hurts no matter what, but that might just be my ears.

Well, I've flown a few times myself, but I never experienced any more pain than I did when driving a car in the mountains - nor have I ever seen another passenger doubled over in pain.
That's why aircraft cabins are pressurized in the first place.
I also doubt hypersensitive eardrums are a possible side-effect of drugs.

To be fair, I flew once with a really bad upper respiratory infection (it was to the point where my sinus cavity was filled up with mucous and it started to spill into my eustachian tubes, forming a nice little seal and preventing equalization). Ascending was fine, but descending? I was miserable. Nearly doubled over it was so bad.

So I guess the only positive thing I got out of that experience is that I didn't see anything particularly out of place during the ascent.

*nods* I remember flying with a nasty headcold once when I was about 7-8 years old, and it was pretty much just as forgetmenot said. These days if I know my sinuses are on the fritz, I take 3-4 Tylenol mid-flight so that it hopefully doesn't happen again. So far it's been helpful.

I'll be honest, I haven't flown in over a decade, and domestic at that (though airline security wasn't quite as insane back then, even though it was '04/'05) so this and the following chapter are heavily based on research rather than experience.

But my ears did hurt a lot. My parents say I got a lot of ear infections as a child, so maybe that was it.

“I came through and I shall return.” -Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur

Previous Chapter

Chapter Three: The Traveler’s Tale


I never did get airsick, and the flight passed by uneventfully. We reached the Manila airport around mid-afternoon, and once we had landed and the jet stopped moving, I moved to grab as many bags as I could. So did Akio.

“W-want me to pass them down to you?” he asked, “I mean, not that you can’t reach them, but you might pull something -I mean a muscle, you might pull a muscle….”

I nodded, taking his flustered demeanor in stride, “I had the same thought myself. Pass me what I had when we got to the airport and I’ll be good.”

Akio nodded and we went to work grabbing the bags, while Kenji and Mr. Nakai grabbed the various carry-ons, some of which had gotten scattered a bit along the flight. Mr. Sarif had poked his head into the cockpit while Satomi and Refia waited to get off the plane, Mrs. Nakai behind them near the rear seats. While they waited, she put her hair back up in a ponytail, one hand through her helmet and her jacket over her other arm.

By the time we had grabbed all the bags and shoved on some sunglasses, the side hatch had been popped open, and a dark skinned man in short sleeves hopped into view, waved us down with a grin, and disappeared back down the portable stairwell. Before we filed out, Mr. Sarif stepped over to Mr. Nakai and stuck out his hand.

“We’re headin’ out to Oregon after this,” he said, “Have fun on your trip, son.”

Mr. Nakai grinned and shook his hand, “Will do.”

“I’ll have Jim send somebody through the Embassy to get you a ride home if we can’t send someone.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re still coming by next month for dinner?” Mrs. Nakai asked, her helmet now tucked under one arm and her hair once again in a ponytail.

“Of course,” Mr. Sarif replied, “Will you be making the stuffed bell peppers?”

Mrs. Nakai smiled and nodded, “I may as well, as you’re the only one who likes them.”

While they were talking Kenji had come over to shake hands with Mr. Sarif as well, which he did once the opening presented itself, “Until next time, man.”

Mr. Sarif grinned, “Hopefully it’ll be under similar circumstances.”

“On the bright side,” Mr. Nakai said, “If it’s not we’ll get paid for our trouble.”

Mr. Sarif chuckled as he let go of Kenji’s hand, “You two are starting to sound more like each other every time we meet, you know that?”

“And on that disturbing thought,” Mr. Nakai stated, “I think it’s time we left. Time to go, people.”

“Take care of yourselves,” Mr. Sarif said.

Kenji grinned, “Don’t we always?”

Mr. Sarif chuckled again while Mr. Nakai left the jet, the rest of the Nakai’s except Akio following. Kenji and Miya followed them, Hisato dozing in Miya’s arms. Akio gestured awkwardly for me to leave first, so I thanked him and stepped out into Manila.

The cabin had been air conditioned, so the humidity and heat of Manila was the first thing I noticed, as it blasted me full in the face the moment I stepped passed the hatch. Wearing long sleeves all the time had its price, and as I descended the stairs I could already feel beads of sweat starting to form. When I was on the tarmac I was able to look at the airport proper before joining everyone else.

The Manila airport was much larger than the one in Sendai, clearly designed for international travel. A massive multi-story concrete structure served as the central terminal, while hangars of various sizes lined the outside perimeter. We were relatively close to the central terminal, an attendant looking expectantly at us as we regrouped. On the horizon beyond was a line of skyscrapers that could only be the city itself.

Planes and helicopters of various sizes, designs, and ages were everywhere, and the noise was much louder and focused than the airport we had departed from. I tried to block out the noise but it was too much, and I felt a headache coming as I looked around for the rest of the group.

Mrs. Nakai had split off. Taking a few steps further from the stairway, I saw her watching grounds crewmen operate a forklift to pull her crate out of the cargo compartment.

“Please be careful with that,” she called to them.

“Don’t worry, we got it!” one of them called back.

Another employee added, “It’s tight in there, alright, but we’ll get it. Worse comes to worse we just pry it out of the crate while it’s still inside the plane.”

Mrs. Nakai nodded ad glanced behind her to Mr. Nakai, who was herding the children, “You go on ahead, I’ll wait here.”

Mr. Nakai smirked and nodded, “Of course. C’mon, let’s get this over with.”

“Um,” Akio piped up while another employee helped him load bags onto a baggage train, “Is it alright if I ride with Mom?”

“If it’s okay with her,” Mr. Nakai stated.

Her eyes still on the forklift and crew, Mrs. Nakai asked, “Did you pack your helmet and jacket?”

“In my carry-on,” he replied, shaking the bulky backpack on his back for emphasis.

“Then okay,” Mrs. Nakai said. Sparing a glance for her husband, she added, “We’ll catch up with you at the resort check-in.”

Mr. Nakai nodded and started herding his daughters to the terminal, the Setou’s and myself close behind. Before we headed off, the driver of the baggage train puttered next to me to ask if he could take my bags. I told him I was fine and he shrugged and puttered back to the plane, likely waiting for the crate to be out of the way so he could grab the rest of our bags.

“This way,” Mr. Nakai called, and led the rest of us to a double glass door marked in several languages for international charter arrivals.