Act 4 - Scars

Act 4: Scars is the fourth and final act on Hanako's route.

Synopsis

After Hanako fails to show up to class again, Hisao calls Lilly for advice. She tells him, to Hisao's consternation, that she's been concerned his actions have been feeding into Hanako's bad habits, that he's been too focused on protecting Hanako as if she needed special care. If Hisao chooses to ignore Lilly's advice, he goes to see Hanako, but their relationship stagnates or ends.

If Hisao listens to Lilly, he decides to focus more on ending his own listlessness he's discovered since moving to Yamaku. After talking to Yuuko while studying at the Shanghai, he returns to Hanako's room. He opens his shirt to display his damaged chest from heart surgery, showing she's not the only one with scars. A few days later, Hanako invites Hisao to her room to do the same. She disrobes and shows him the entirety of her scarring from head to toe. The intimate moment leads to them making love for the first time.

The next morning, Hisao wakes up in Hanako's room, but with no Hanako. She returns with some breakfast, but both her and Hisao are even more aloof than ever before. Hisao believes this is because they had sex before even establishing their relationship. The merest glance from her classmates sends her bolting out of the school. Hisao realizes he has to talk to her.

Hisao walks to a park and texts her to meet him there, doubtful that she'll come. When she does, he asks Hanako how he's supposed to interpret what happened last night. Hanako admits that she was afraid of losing Hisao as a friend. After her accident, she lost so many friends that she stopped being around people altogether and thought of herself as something useless and broken. When Hisao didn't treat her that way, she didn't know what to do. In the middle of the park, she collapses in hysterics. Hisao embraces her from behind and tells her he loves her. After she's calmed down a bit, Hanako gives Hisao her first gift to him: a kiss in public.

Characters

• Hisao Nakai
• Hanako Ikezawa
• Lilly Satou
• Shizune Hakamichi
• Misha
• Kenji Setou
• Miki Miura
• Yuuko Shirakawa
• Karla Satou

Scenes

1. Truancy
2. Faraway Presence
3. Continuing Melody
4. Shanghai Studiousness
5. His Past
6. City Rendezvous
7. Whispered Touch
8. Indeterminate Future
9. Adulthood
10. Cut Petals
11. Misstep