«One More Rumour»
«In the evening, when twilight befalls the library, it always feels so lonely in here. It makes me want to talk to someone.»
«Would anyone like to exchange messages using this desk?»
«Please reply, if you see this.»
«S. H.»
MIHO: "Look at this crap! What kind of idiot does something like this?!"
MIKA: "What a dreamer! This is so embarassing, makes you wanna die! Do such people still exist in this day and age?!"
KIMIKA: "Must be, like, a super lonely social misfit or something!"
MIHO: "Maybe it's a guy?"
KIMIKA: "Hard to tell from just looking at the writing, huh."
MIKA: "Which makes this... what? An exchange diary for lovers or something? How absurd!"
MIHO: "Hey, Mika. I'd say, etiquette dictates you should write a reply! What with you being the one who found it and all."
MIKA: "...Heh, why not?"
KIMIKA: "Damn, Mika, you're rotten to the bone..."
MIKA: "Oh no, I'm no match for you!" [Kimika and Mika used two stock phrases from theater villains here, implying that they are up to no good.]
MIKA STARTS WRITING: «I have seen your message.»
«Is it fine, if I just call you S. H.?»
«As for me: My name is Mika Kishii and I'm in class 1-D! Let's get along!»
«This is the first time I'm doing something like this, so... Please be gentle with me! ♥"
«Dear Mika, thank you very much for your reply!»
«I never expected anyone to actually write back to me, so I am really happy!»
«Although it's one of these library's various desks, not many people come to this particular one. It's a strange place.»
«It would make me very happy, if this exchange of messages between just you and me could continue happily forever.»
«......»
«S. H.»
«One More Rumour»
CHISATO: "Exchanging messages using a desk...? That sounds like fun!"
MIKA: "It totally is!"
MIKA: "It's THE constant hot topic between me and my classmates right now!"
MIKA: "We all think about what to reply together each time. The whole class!"
CHISATO: "But that person that you're replying to... they're writing earnest answers, right?"
CHISATO: "I feel kind of sorry for them..."
MIKA: "Oh, who cares! If they find out... Well, they'll learn something about how harsh the real world can be and that's a good thing!"
MIKA: "Getting hurt just makes people grow stronger! Don't you think so?"
A: "I guess so..." B: "Aren't you being a bit mean?"
A: "I guess so..." B: "Aren't you being a bit mean?" [X]
YUKARI: "I think you're going a bit too far here."
MIKA: "Huh? But this person is a creep, anyway!"
YUKARI: "Well, even if this person is a romanticist or whatever, the time will come, when they will grow out of it naturally. They don't need to be hurt by you guys to learn that!"
YUKARI: "You should just stop this and leave them alone already."
MIKA: "But..."
YUKARI: "You might be different, but I at least feel sorry for this person."
YUKARI: "Without even knowing the true face of the one they're writing to, they put all their heart in their replies."
YUKARI: "«That's what Bronson would say.» ...Probably." [She's using the stock phrase of a Japanese music group from the 1994s. See video description for more info.]
MIKA: "......"
MIKA: "...Uhm, do you perhaps know anyone at our school that goes by the initials of S. H.?"
YUKARI: "S. H.?"
MIKA: "Yep. Those are the initials of the person I'm exchanging messages with. They said they're a second-year."
A: "Let me think..." B: "How would I know?"
A: "Let me think..." [X] B: "How would I know?"
YUKARI: "S. H., hm... Well, just the initials alone won't be enough."
YUKARI: "Does S. H. ring a bell for you, Chisato?"
CHISATO: "I might know one or two... maybe... I cannot say for sure right now. I would need more info."
MIKA: "That person also said they like reading."
YUKARI: "Reading, huh... That might actually be a rare hobby these days."
CHISATO: "Do you want to find this person at all costs?"
MIKA: "Hm? Uh, no, it's not that important..."
MIKA: "I'm just wondering, like... you know... what kind of person they might be?"
YUKARI: "Well, they've gotta be kind of dense, considering you guys are just replying to make fun of them and they're not even noticing."
MIKA: "I guess so..."
Desk Correspondence Number 3
«Dear Mika, how are you?»
«I know, I'm one class above you, but that does not mean you have to be particularly polite to me.»
«As for what exact class I'm in and what my real name is, that will have to stay a secret. I'm sorry...»
«There's no deeper meaning behind me keeping that secret, I'm just still a bit embarassed about all this.»
«......»
«Let me write some more about myself.»
«My favourite school subject is... classical literature perhaps? ...I really enjoy reading books, so I frequently come to the library.»
«I recently started reading 『The Wind Has Risen』. It's a sad love story that takes place in a sanatorium!» ["Kaze Tachinu" (風立ちぬ) / "The Wind Has Risen" is a novel by Hori Tatsuo, first published in 1936.]
«What kind of literature do you like, Mika?»
A: "I'm totally into Murakami Haruki these days..." B: "Russian literature." C: "Uhm... Manga?"
A: "I'm totally into Murakami Haruki these days..." [X] B: "Russian literature." C: "Uhm... Manga?"
«Dear S. H.,»
«When it comes to literature, Murakami Haruki is pretty cool.»
«Having passed through the bubbly 80s, his books contain a characteristic feeling of nihilism, symbolizing the discouraged generation from the 70s, that resonates with the hearts of us 90s kids, as well.»
↑ «She's just paraphrasing Mr. Uchiyama from modern literature class! In truth, Mika doesn't read books at all!»
↑ «Miho, wrote that! Miho stop disturbing our romantic journal!»
«From: Mika Kishii»
Desk Correspondence Number 5
«Dear Mika, how are you?»
«I have finished reading The Wind Has Risen. It was a wonderful book.»
«I shall lend it to you some day!»
«Right now, the sun is setting.»
«The evening sun looks very beautiful from here.»
«With the sun slowly sinking behind the mountains, the mountains themselves tower on the horizon like their silhouettes are aflame.»
«We should call ourselves very lucky to have such beautiful scenery close to us. Do you not think so, too?»
A: "I'd love to see that, too..." B: "You're a romanticist, aren't you?"
A: "I'd love to see that, too..." [X] B: "You're a romanticist, aren't you?"
«Hi there, this is Mika!»
«Up until now, I never came to the library that often, so I didn't even know about that sunset scenery you mentioned!»
«I'm gonna try and check it out, myself.»
«But I don't really have anyone to watch it together with... You gave me such great info and I can't even make use of it. What a waste, huh! (cry)»
«Well, it's not like I'm really looking for someone right now, anyway!»
Desk Correspondence Number 7
«It has been a while since I last wrote here. I apologise for that.»
«I have never heard of "My Little Lover". Is that a foreign song?» [My Little Lover is a Japanese pop group that started in 1995. This game came out in 1996, so they were probably famous among high school girls at that time. They are still active, by the way.]
«I am rather poorly informed when it comes to popular music...»
«But I can play piano a little. The other day, I finished practicing Nocturne!»
A: "You're still practicing piano?" B: "You DON'T know My Little Lover?!"
A: "You're still practicing piano?" [X] B: "You DON'T know My Little Lover?!"
«Wow, you're still practicing piano? That's amazing!»
«Ah, could it be, you're aiming to enter a college of music?»
«But still... To not even know My Little Lover... That's quite something! I'm shocked!»
«I think you should just listen to as many different things as possible! That widens your musical horizon!»
«You know, if you don't even know anything about basic stuff like My Little Lover, then I'm not even sure what topics to write about here!»
Desk Correspondence Number 8
«I am sorry.»
«I feel like my reply has angered you somewhat, dear Mika.»
«I am a bit different from the people around me, so I may have written something strange.»
«If I have offended you with anything I wrote, then I apologise.»
«You will continue exchanging messages with me, right?»
A: "I shall teach you all about popular music and so on!" B: "It's not like you actually offended me."
A: "I shall teach you all about popular music and so on!" B: "It's not like you actually offended me." [X]
«I'm not actually mad or anything. But you really ARE strange, I'll give you that.»
«I just think you should aim to be more like the other high school girls of this day and age, you know?»
Desk Correspondence Number 9
«Thank you for your concern, Mika. I appreciate it.»
«It might be, because I'm so shy, but I don't talk that much with my friends.»
«Because of that, I'm not very familiar with what is popular these days and what is not.»
«If you do not mind, would you perhaps care to teach me a bit about what is popular these days through these messages that we exchange here?»
«I'm mostly in the library after school.»
«From the window here I can see the schoolyard. I enjoy watching everyone from here, when they are doing their club activities out there.»
«Perhaps we can meet at this desk someday.»
MIHO: "Is this person playing dense on purpose or something?"
KANAE: "Something's strange about this! This person is creeping me out!"
MIHO: "For starters, they write they're in the library all the time, but we haven't seen them even once so far!"
KIMIKA: "And that part about watching the courtyard from this window... The new school building is in the way, so you can't even see the courtyard from here!"
MIHO: "Whoever it is is probably just screwing with us!"
KANAE: "Maybe they don't even belong to our school or something...?"
KIMIKA: "Or maybe it's someone who's kind of fucked up in the head?"
KIMIKA: "What does it even mean that they're not taking part in any club activities themselves? Are they sick or something?"
MIHO: "Do people like that still exist nowadays?"
KANAE: "Mika, we should stop doing this."
KANAE: "It might be better not to get involved any further with this. I grew kinda tired of it, anyway."
MIKA: "Yeah, you're right..."
MIKA: «"ZIPPER" is a magazine for young girls, but if you want to go for something cute, you should give it a try.» ["ZIPPER" is a fashion magazine that started in 1993.]
MIKA: «There's also the magazine "CUTE", but that would be going a bit too far, so better stay away from it.» [Probably refers to "CUTiE", another girls' fashion magazine from the 90s.]
MIKA: "What am I doing...? Who does something like this at my age, anyway...?"
MIKA: "Yukari... Where's Chisato? Still at the archery club?"
YUKARI: "Well, I'm in no club at all and you regularly skip yours – which is why we can go home early like this."
YUKARI: "But Chisato will have preliminary rounds for the Inter High School Sports Festival soon, so it's not like she has the same luxury as us right now."
MIKA: "I see..."
YUKARI: "...What's wrong? You're acting weird."
MIKA: "...Yukari, I'm... beginning to feel kind of... scared..."
YUKARI: "Of what?"
MIKA: "This S. H. person... doesn't seem normal."
YUKARI: "What do you mean?"
MIKA: "How should I put it..."
MIKA: "He or she doesn't give off the vibe of a high schooler from this day and age..."
YUKARI: "Huh!? You're not making any sense!"
MIKA: "It feels like I'm writing to a person from a long time ago..."
YUKARI: "What, you mean you're exchanging messages through time or something? Don't be ridiculous!"
YUKARI: "You started this to mess with them, but it seems you're the one who's being messed with."
MIKA: "No! That's not it! I'm sure of it!!"
YUKARI: "Jeez, what are you getting all worked up for..."
YUKARI: "Then who is this S. H. in your opinion?"
MIKA: "I... don't know, but..."
MIKA: "But... How should I put it..."
MIKA: "It feels like a genuine, natural person..."
YUKARI: "...Well, if it creeps you out that much, then why not just stop exchanging messages?"
MIKA: "Yes, that's what I think I should do, too, but... For some reason, I cannot stop..."
YUKARI: "......"
MIKA: "Yukari, do you know of a book called «The Wind Has Risen»?"
YUKARI: "«The Wind Has Risen»...?"
YUKARI: "Yeah, that came up in that mock exam the other day."
MIKA: "S. H. wants to lend it to me one of these days..."
YUKARI: "......"
Desk Correspondence Number 10
«Dear Mika, thank you for teaching me all these things until now.»
«......It made me really happy. But I...»
«I might not be able to continue replying...»
«Perhaps we won't be able to meet anymore like this...»
A: "What? I'm gonna be lonely without you!" B: "Are you switching schools or something?"
A: "What? I'm gonna be lonely without you!" B: "Are you switching schools or something?" [X]
MIKA: «What? Are you going to change schools? Does that mean our correspondence will be over already?»
Desk Correspondence Number 11
«No, I'm not talking about changing schools.»
«I'm going to go to a place that is far away. Very far...»
A: "What do you mean by far away?" B: "Are you going abroad?"
A: "What do you mean by far away?" B: "Are you going abroad?" [X]
«Even if it's a far away place, you'll come back eventually, right?»
«Ah, are you perhaps going abroad? That would be cool, wouldn't it?»
«I'm kinda envious. I hope you'll have fun! And don't forget to bring me a souvenir!»
Desk Correspondence Number 12
«No... That is not what I meant.»
«The far away place I am going to... does not exist in this world.»
«Soon, I am going to die...»
A: "Why? Are you sick?" B: "Stop it with the jokes..."
A: "Why? Are you sick?" [X] B: "Stop it with the jokes..."
«...Why? Are you sick? Do you have something serious?»
«If this is a joke, I'm going to be really mad!»
Desk Correspondence Number 13
«I am sorry. Are you worried about me?»
«I didn't want to worry you, Mika...»
«I am not sick. But my life is almost over.»
«I can sense that this is so... And I am merely obeying this premonition...»
A: "I won't believe this!" B: "You're just imagining things..."
A: "I won't believe this!" [X] B: "You're just imagining things..."
«Dear S. H., get a hold of yourself! Are you trying to scare me?»
«I'll have you know, I'm immune to scary things!» [Which, I suppose, is a lie, since she admitted earlier to Yukari that she is beginning to feel scared.]
«I won't believe that you'll die, or that it's your destiny to die, or whatever! If you want to turn this into a horror story, do it with someone else!»
Desk Correspondence Number 14
«It cannot be helped, if you won't believe me.»
«I do not want to believe it myself, I guess...»
«But ever since I was little, I have been taught that this time... the time of my destined death, will eventually come.»
«My mother passed away immediately after I was born. My sister died three years ago... So now it is my turn...»
«This is a natural course of events.»
A: "I don't understand what you're talking about!" B: "If you're going to write weird things, I'll stop replying!"
A: "I don't understand what you're talking about!" [X] B: "If you're going to write weird things, I'll stop replying!"
«I don't understand what you're talking about! Stop it already! Otherwise...»
«Otherwise I don't think I have the confidence to continue our correspondence...»
«S. H., do you not want to continue exchanging messages, anymore? Please... Let us write about more pleasant things again!»
Desk Correspondence Number 15
«I apologise. It seems I made you uncomfortable...»
«But I...»
«I'm scared...»
«Mika, do you think there is an afterworld? A world we end up after we die?»
«I have heard that it is a very dark and cold place...»
«Ever since I was little, I tried to be prepared for this, but when I think about the fact that it is going to happen... soon...»
«It terrifies me, after all...»
«Mika... Dying all alone feels... very lonely.»
A: "I am ending this correspondence." [X]
«I am ending this correspondence. I cannot go along with this any more.»
«I'm sorry...»
«Bye, bye!»
«Dear Mika... Have you come to hate me now?»
«It cannot be helped... I only wrote unpleasant things to you, after all...»
«Soon, I will have to say farewell to you. It seems like I really have to go.»
«But, before that...»
«I want to meet you, Mika...»
«I WANT TO MEET YOU...»
CHISATO: "Yukari..."
YUKARI: "What is it? You look worried... Did something happen?"
CHISATO: "......"
CHISATO: "Well, I've heard a worrying rumour..."
YUKARI: "About me? Don't worry, I don't mind them."
YUKARI: "It's a common thing, anyw--"
CHISATO: "No, not about you... I've heard a rumour about Mika..."
CHISATO: "It's about the desk scribbles in the library you mentioned. It seems they have become... strange."
YUKARI: "Strange...? Come to think of it, the other day, Mika also mentioned something like that... What exactly is so strange about them, though?"
CHISATO: "Apparently the scribbles started saying things like «I'll die soon» or «I'm lonely»."
YUKARI: "......"
CHISATO: "I just hope, Mika didn't get involved in anything really weird..."
CHISATO: "Where is she now?"
YUKARI: "She said she was going to the library... She wanted to come back directly, but it's been a while already... I wonder what's taking her so long?"
CHISATO: "Maybe she's... writing another reply on that desk...?"
YUKARI: "No, no, she said, she just wanted to go borrow a book."
YUKARI: "I think it was «The Wind Has Risen»?"
YUKARI: "It's a book, this S. H. has been talking about..."
CHISATO: "Hey, don't you think it might be better to go and pick her up?"
A: "Let's wait a bit longer." B: "I guess we can go pick her up..."
A: "Let's wait a bit longer." B: "I guess we can go pick her up..." [X]
YUKARI: "I guess you're right... Might not be wrong to check up on her."
CHISATO: "Yes..."
YUKARI: "Still, what's up with her? Going to the library like this all of a sudden..."
YUKARI: "That's, like, the last place you'd usually find her in..."
CHISATO: "......"
YUKARI: "Well, I'm not one to talk, but still..."
YUKARI: "...Chisato?
CHISATO: "The sunset..."
YUKARI: "Huh?"
CHISATO: "The sunset from here is very beautiful, isn't it...?"
CHISATO: "The mountains kind of look like they're on fire..."
YUKARI: "......"
CHISATO: "For some reason, I feel really uneasy... We should hurry and find Mika..."
YUKARI: "......"
CHISATO: "Yukari, let's go!"
CHISATO: "There's no one here...?"
YUKARI: "...Maybe she went home all by herself?"
CHISATO: "That's not like her!"
CHISATO: "We should hurry and look for her... I have a really bad feeling about this..."
CHISATO: "Yukari, what was the name again of that book that Mika wanted to borrow?"
YUKARI: "I'm pretty sure it was... «The Wind Has Risen». It's probably in the Japanese literature section..."
CHISATO: "Mika is not here..."
YUKARI: "......"
CHISATO: "Yukari."
YUKARI: "Hm...?"
CHISATO: "I think this is «The Wind Has Risen»."
CHISATO: "Maybe Mika didn't borrow it, after all?"
YUKARI: "They probably just have a newer edition that she took. This one is super old. It looks like it'd fall apart just by opening it."
CHISATO: "I hope that's it, but..."
TEACHER: "What are you still doing here? It's almost time to leave the school grounds. You should hurry up and go home already."
CHISATO: "Ah, yes..."
CHISATO: "Uhm... Have you perhaps seen Mika Kishii?"
TEACHER: "Kishii?"
TEACHER: "Ah, her! She's been coming to the library quite often these days."
TEACHER: "She was here today, as well, until just now. Probably just went home?"
TEACHER: "She was gone rather suddenly... ...Huh? Wait, that book you have there..."
YUKARI: "Hm?"
TEACHER: "That's «The Wind Has Risen»! So it has finally turned up again..."
YUKARI: "Turned up again...?"
TEACHER: "Yeah. For a long, long time, I couldn't find it anymore."
TEACHER: "A very long time ago, must have been 30 years or so...? Anyway, it was back when I had just graduated. A female student donated this book to the library back then."
TEACHER: "She was what you would have called a bookworm girl back in those days. Would hole herself up in the library all day, you know."
TEACHER: "Probably didn't have any friends, either, I'm guessing... You'd always see her all alone in the library, reading books..."
TEACHER: "She was rather pretty, but..."
YUKARI: "Did something happen to her?"
TEACHER: "There's a cliff in the mountains behind this school, right?"
TEACHER: "She had an accident there and fell to her death."
CHISATO: "......!"
CHISATO: "I am sorry, but... do you happen to know the name of this girl...?"
TEACHER: "Her name, huh... Let's see..."
TEACHER: "Ah! There's a stamp showing that the book is a donation. She probably signed it there!"
YUKARI: "On the back cover...? Here!"
YUKARI: "Year of donation: Shouwa 38 [=1963]. Donated by: Sakura Himegami."
YUKARI: "Sakura... Himegami..."
YUKARI: "S. H.!"
CHISATO: "Yukari! Where is that desk that Mika mentioned?!"
YUKARI: "It should be next to the window..."
«Today, I am leaving.»
«Please meet with me just once, before I go.»
«I will be waiting for you at 6 pm at the shrine in the mountains.»
«S. H.»
YUKARI: "Sakura Himegami wants to meet... with Mika...?"
CHISATO: "Yukari, what should we do?"
CHISATO: "Mika probably went there!"
YUKARI: "Which way to the shrine?"
CHISATO: "It should be... that way!"
YUKARI: "She's not here..."
CHISATO: "......"
A: "Let's look for her here." B: "Let's go a bit further."
A: "Let's look for her here." B: "Let's go a bit further." [X]
CHISATO: "...Yukari?"
CHISATO: "Maybe Mika went a bit further... to the cliff."
YUKARI: "......!"
YUKARI: "Chisato, let's go!"
CHISATO: "There she is!"
CHISATO: "Hurry, Yukari!"
YUKARI: "Mika..."
CHISATO: "Yukari!"
YUKARI: "...? What is it, Chisato?"
CHISATO: "Yukari..."
CHISATO: "Mika is not alone..."
YUKARI: "Not alone...? You mean..."
YUKARI: "...Don't say things like that!"
YUKARI: "Mika..."
MIKA: "......"
YUKARI: "What the hell are you doing here? I waited for you to come back from the library..."
YUKARI: "Mika...?"
MIKA: "......"
YUKARI: "Come on, let's go home already..."
MIKA: "I..."
YUKARI: "Hm?"
MIKA: "I have to go..."
YUKARI: "You have to go? Go where?"
MIKA: "To S. H. ..."
CHISATO: "Mika! No! You can't!"
YUKARI: "Mika!"
YUKARI: "Ah!!!"
"Mika~!"
"Mika~!"
TO BE CONTINUED
[Don't skip the credits, the music is pretty cool! Also, there's something after the credits...]
STAY TUNED!
«I...»
«I...»
«I have become...»
«...a ghost?!»
"This was not the end to their <horror>..."
Hinashiro High School
"A new series of explorations awaits the young girls."
"A looming danger is coming closer and closer!!"
"All mysteries shall be solved."
TWILIGHT SYNDROME – KYUUMEIHEN (INVESTIGATION)
RELEASE DATE: SUMMER 1996
Please look forward to it!
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