AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Enjoy your time with it; now that I've finished I'm missing it because it fills the black void of my heart but I already know all the stories so there won't be the magic there was the first time


That said I'll probably play it again in a few months after I've forgotten everything

ACT 1- In The Nursery



Its big windows open to the courtyard, towards the main gate.


Her enthusiastic statement of the obvious makes people around us stare, but Misha doesn’t seem to care so we proceed to the line. There is a rather long list of menu options, which seems great until I realize that many of them are to accommodate students who need special diets. How nice. It almost feels like I’m back at the hospital, eating portions measured with scientific precision to meet the needs of the patients. I pick something at random and follow Shizune to a table, sitting opposite of her.



I don’t understand sign, so the point escapes me. Maybe looking at a person who “talks” to you is proper and polite?


Hisao: What?
Misha: About anything! We’re your guides so you should ask if there is something~!


Let's test Hisao's tact.
>Ask about Shizune’s deafness.


But I can’t really ask about something that personal, can I? Hmm…I can’t come up with anything else to ask so I just focus on my food while the girls talk between themselves.


Maybe they are talking about secret girl stuff or something.
…
I quickly notice a conversation in sign is not enough to fill a silence.



Well hello there mystery girl.


"Elegance of a rhino" is a bit rude, Hisao. Gosh.
She shrinks deeper into her seat. I can feel her tension all the way from here, as if she were slowly turning into stone just from our presence. Misha and Shizune either don’t notice or don’t mind it, as they walk directly past her to their seats and begin to converse.


Getting into the rhythm of school feels strange; it’s as if my brain remembers how this is done, but my body doesn’t. Towards the end of the class I start yawning and counting the minutes left. I shouldn’t be this tired on my first day of school. Maybe it’s the long time spent in the hospital that made me like this. I’m even feeling physically weak and lifeless.



Beside me, Misha and Shizune are having a short conversation. After a bit of deliberation, Misha turns to me.


Misha: Unfortunately we can’t stay and show you around today, Hicchan. We’ve got to hurry already, since there is a lot of work for us to do.
Shizune: …
Misha: You’ll find your way around here, I’m sure of it.
Hisao, now's your chance to escape!
Hisao: Ah, wait! The teacher said I’d have to see the nurse. Where do I have to go?


Misha: Come on, the nurses have their own building, so we have to go outside.
dammit



It’s built in the same style, so it looks like it’s actually a part of the main building.


Misha: This is the auxiliary building here. There’s a lot of official and important stuff inside, like the Yamaku Foundation office and all the nurses’ offices. They even have a swimming pool!
Hisao: How is that official?


Misha: Don’t be silly, Hicchan! It’s for physical therapy of course. Anyway, all the nursing staff facilities are in there too. The head nurse’s office is on the first floor. You’ll be fine from here, right~? We’ll be going, then! See you tomorrow!
Hisao: Yeah, thanks. Bye.
I'm certain that "silly" wasn't the word Shizune was going for, what with that face.


I guess it’s necessary for a place like this.


On a white door on the left is a green cross with the text “Head Nurse” and a nameplate. A voice from the inside responds to my knock almost immediately, but I can’t quite make it out.



His desk is neat and tidy, but the bin under the table is over flowing with used medical utensils and there are at least a dozen coffee-cup rings lingering on the desk.


He is young-looking and sort of rugged, but the dimples in his cheeks wash that impression away when he smiles.
Hisao: Erm, are you the nurse?


Smiling man: Why yes, I am. It says so on the door, no? You can call me by my name or just “the nurse” like everyone else.
Nurse'll do.

Of course. I shake off my confusion, realizing I probably should grab his extended hand. His handshake is rather firm and friendly.

Hisao: Right… err, I’m a new student and my homeroom teacher told me to come and meet you. My name is Hisao Nakai.



Nurse: Some kind of chronic arrhythmia and related congenital heart muscle deficiency, right?

He gestures me to sit down in a vacant armchair in front of his desk.

Hisao: Eh, yes.
Nurse: Good. Well, you’ve probably been briefed about the school enough, so I’ll just go over this quickly. We have all kinds of facilities available, mostly physical therapy and such. There’s always someone from my staff around, even at night, so never hesitate to call us if there is a problem.


Hisao: Wow, this is like a hospital.
Nurse: Well, not exactly. For instance, we don’t do brain surgery here.

His joke feels so out of place that I’m left thinking why he even said it.

Hisao: Yeah…just that it’s really weird to have so many medical people at a school.
Nurse: You’ll get used to it.

I’m not so sure of that myself but I don’t let the nurse know it.

Nurse: Now, let me just find your file again…

While he searches for something from his computer and shuffles stacks of papers around, I let my gaze wander around the room. It’s the epitome of generic, I’d like to say. Beige walls and ceiling, dark gray laminate flooring, and all the equipment you’d expect from a school nurse’s office. Even the ridiculous educational posters are hanging on all four walls, reminding me to eat properly – three times a day from all the food groups.


Nurse: So, you already have medication for the arrhythmia, just remember to take your pills every morning and evening or it won’t be much help. Apart from that… do you do any sports? Rash stuff like… I don’t know, boxing?

He grins to his own joke but I don’t.

Hisao: Eh, well. I played soccer occasionally with some classmates.
Nurse: All right, I’m afraid I’m going to have to recommend you refrain from doing that. At least, for the time being.
Hisao: Oh.


I guess I never did it out of burning passion for the sport. Just to have something to do.

Nurse: Any kind of concussion might be very dangerous to your heart and risking another attack is not a good idea. Was the previous one caused by a sudden concussion to the chest area? There is no mention of the cause in your papers.
Hisao: Err… not exactly.
heh


Nurse: Still, you need to keep your body healthy so some exercise would do you good. We have physical therapy and such available as I said, but I don’t think you really need such heavy measures. Just get some light exercise regularly. Brisk walks or even light jogging, jumping rope, that sort of thing. Swimming, maybe? There’s a pool here.
Hisao: So I was told.
Nurse: You were? Very good. At any rate, and I’m sure you’ve been told this before, you just need to take care not to overexert yourself.
Exercise sounds like a decent idea. Maybe Hisao should meet someone involved in a sport or something.


Nurse: Absolutely no unnecessary risks. Take care of yourself.
Hisao: Okay.

He goes over my papers one more time and sets them on the desk, obviously content.

Nurse: Good. That’s it, then. Come meet me if you ever need something.


Quick, unlike getting this update out.

Spoiler alert Nurse is the best character in the entire game

Also daisies look at that timing
11:11 on 11/11

Guess who totally forgot this thread existed for a solid month with only one new update to show for it. (spoiler alert it is me)

ACT 1- Nobody’s Room


It’s the first real look I get at the other students, so I watch people coming out of the school, going towards the gate or the dorms. Everyone seems to know where they are going. And I still keep thinking that most of them don’t look too special for being students at a special school. Then again, neither do I.


…
I should go somewhere too, to prevent me from getting lost. It’s around dinnertime, but I feel tired instead of hungry. The weariness in me only grows as I trudge towards the dorms, set a little way apart from the main building complex.


It dawns on my tired mind that the smell feels novel because I haven’t been outside at all for so long.



Hisao: Room one-one-nine…

Despite the ornate exterior, the inside of the dorm is fairly new, functional, and boring. Just like in the main building, the halls and doors are wide to accommodate wheelchairs. The same goes for the elevators at the ends of the hallways. I poke my head around the corner of the common room door. Inside a few students are watching the television. One nods and gives a quick “hello” before turning back to the TV.


Well isn't that relevent to your interests.
I climb the stairs to the upper floor.


Each of these minor halls seems to have a toilet and shower, as well as four rooms. About halfway down the hall, I spy room 119. The name plates on the rooms adjacent to mine are blank. I guess there are just two of us here. Light shines from below the door of room 117, so I knock lightly.

Hisao: Hello, is anyone home?

From inside, I hear a few movements, then the clicking of way more locks than I thought these doors had. After a moment the door squeaks open.


goddamnit no
Bespectacled hallmate: Who is it?

Blind? No, at least not completely, why would he have eyeglasses if he was?


Hisao: Hisao Nakai… I’m moving into the next room. I thought I should introduce my…


Kenji: Oh, ‘sup dude? The name’s Kenji.
Hisao: Ah, hi.

I take Kenji’s sweaty hand and shake it, still a little rattled by the sudden change of attitude and vehement welcome.

Kenji: There were some suspicious-looking people going in and out of your room earlier.
Hisao: It was probably my parents.


His out-of-place proverb is left hanging between us awkwardly as I try to think of some way to respond.

Hisao: I’d say the chances are high enough.

He shudders and makes some exaggerated hand gestures.


Kenji: Me, I don’t think I could trust the chances. The only one I trust is myself.
Hisao: Does that mean I shouldn’t get to know you, either?

He thinks about this for a while.


Kenji: daisies, you are smarter than you look. Probably. What do you look like? I hope not smart.

He squints his eyes and leans closer again, but I lean backwards to dodge it.

Kenji: Never mind, it doesn’t matter.


well i am certain he will not be bothering us ever again
I slide the key into the lock of the door marked 119.


Looks like a motel room I stayed in Texas once.
It’s no one’s room; impersonal, like my hospital room was. My bags are sitting at the foot of my bed, looking a lot emptier than they did this morning. The closet is sitting open, stocked with my clothes. Also, it seems that there are a number of school uniforms hanging there as well. A note is pinned to the sleeve of one of the shirts.


Ha even his parents call him Hicchan.
Well, at least I don’t have to worry about unpacking. I kind of hoped I would have, then there would be something to do. It’s still too early. I put the note down on the desktop and lie down on the bed, feeling drained. Lying there makes me want to read something, but I have nothing with me. I wonder if the hospital conditioned me for wanting to read whenever I have nothing to do.


Maybe it’s stress or something. I was pretty nervous about it before coming and for the entire day today too. I still am, I think. daisies, I have to distract myself somehow, so I won’t be this unnatural all the time. Tomorrow, I’ll go borrow some books from the library. Yeah, I’ll do that. But for now…


I pick up one and shake it just to hear the contents rattle inside, and then read the glued-on pharmacy label.


If I was bored with my job and a terrible person, I'd write that.
It doesn’t really say that, but it could just as well. It’s kinda twisted, having your life depend on chemicals like this. I resent it a little, but what choice do I have? With a sigh, I begin my new daily ritual of taking the right number of pills from each bottle, being careful to check the correct dosages.


I lie down again, feeling hollow and uncertain and after that I keep staring at the blank, unfamiliar ceiling for a long time.


The sheets feel slightly more comfortable, warm and nest-like against the chill that passes for room temperature here. Soon the lighter shade of darkness that is the ceiling looks like every ceiling does at night, and it becomes the only thing I recognize any more. The night beckons me to sleep, and I feel the coldness of unfamiliarity and fear creeping up my spine once again.


And into the exciting world of getting a girlfriend or something.