あやかしごはん Ayakashi Gohan ~ Common Route ~ Ayakashi!Rin

So here’s a pretty long summary of what happens during Ayakashi!Rin’s common route before it branches off into any of the routes. I will mention that you cannot do Asagi’s route until you’ve completed the rest. I’m actually not 100% sure if that means I’d have to do all the Human!Rin’s routes as well but its recommended either way you do him last.

I played the trial a few weeks back and skipped to where it ended in the game so I didn’t give in detail about her childhood and part of her high school days but I gave a quick summary on what happened and the background behind everything. After this I’ll be posting Yomi’s route. Hopefully I don’t have too many typos (though I’m sure I have some).

The game starts off with Rin as a little girl. Her father is dead and her mother is has stopped caring and only works. Rin eats alone, takes care of herself, and only keeps to herself. Soon summer break is coming up and her grandmother, Sumi, will be taking Rin to her house to spend spend summer break with her. There she meets Gin (AKA the main cook in the household) whom is very close to Sumi but not actually related to her but still family nevertheless.

As days pass by Rin starts to get used to living with her grandmother and Gin and they get a little closer each day. One day though Rin goes out by herself and Gin gives her a bell in order to protect her. She goes to the shrine and around then ends up lost in the forest until dark. A strange voice of woman Ayakashi tries to lure her in but Gin appears and tells the Ayakashi to leave. He speaks like he knows her and Rin gets scared and tries to run away and Gin finally catches up to her while she loses consciousness and see’s Gin in his Ayakashi form.

Rin becomes a afraid of Gin and her grandmother explains to Rin about how Gin is actually an Ayakashi and how they exist in this village. She says not all of them are bad. Rin doesn’t really understand but her grandmother’s words but she tells her she’ll understand when she’s older.

Time passes and Rin is still afraid of Gin. One day she loses her Teddy bear’s eye and Gin replaces it for her. She doesn’t really understand why he’d do that but her Grandma mentions its because he was worried about her. Rin starts to reconsider her thoughts about Ayakashi as she meets others like a woman that helped her when she fell and her encounter with other Ayakashi.

Soon after Rin feels guilty for not being able to apologize to Gin and one day at the dinner table she spills out all her feelings and tells Gin she’s sorry for being cold to him and being afraid of them. So they finally make up and Rin is able to spend the rest of the time she has there happily.

All too soon summer vacation is over and Rin has to leave back home but promises she’ll come visit again someday.

———

10 years pass and Rin is living alone since her mother died recently. Gin then suddenly visits her asking her to come live with him. She agrees and comes back to the village to stay with him. The house was now a restaurant for both humans and Ayakshi. Rin’s grandmother Sumi had passed away and Gin now lived with his son Suzuri (he had a wife that was human and died) and two brothers named Uta and Yomi who are dog guardians of a shrine. They’re told by Gin to (well Yomi in particular) to protect Rin while she attends school with them.

Once Rin enrolls in school she meets both Ibuki and Hana. Ibuki is a cheerful classmate who is interested in Ayakashi but has yet to see any. (and obviously has no idea they’re right in front of him) He decides to show Rin, Uta, and Yomi around the school on their first day.

Hana is a very lazy, snide, character who dislikes both Yomi and Uta for the reason being he’s a “Nekomata” Ayakashi while they’re “Guardian Dogs” hence why they don’t get very along.

There’s also Manatsu who runs a shop that Gin always receives food ingredient deliveries from. He’s apparently Suzuri’s uncle and his sister who died was the woman that Gin had a child with. He rides a motorcycle but always tends to end up crashing so everyone always knows when he’s arrived.

Lastly there’s Asagi who is a very mysterious character that usually appears by the giant Cherry Blossom tree that blooms all seasons. Its unknown why but apparently the tree makes the Ayakashi feel uneasy.

There’s also a little boy like person named “God” who is the god of the shrine or village I think. I call him Kami-sama cause just saying god sounds weird in english.

—–
September
—–

Its been a month since she’d lived with Gin and the others. The shop is busy with people. Rin and everyone else decided to help at the shop. It was a big help since they had three people to help out. Anyway, Manasu came by for his delivery and it was brought up that Rin likes to cook. Gin took her as an apprentice to help teach her cooking; but has to promise to also focus on studies and hanging out with her friends.

The next day Rin decides to go by the river in her free time. There she sees Hana by some chance. He says she should be afraid of him since he’s a Nekomata. But she just thought he looked really cute and not scary at all. He then runs away saying she’ll regret that.

Later Rin visits the cherry blossom tree and sees Asagi there. They exchange names and Asagi randomly asks to be friends. Though anything about him is still a mystery. Rin’s happy to make more friends since its already been a month she came to the village. She wants to know more about him but she’s got to leave since its getting late.

As she’s leaving Asagi encounters Kami-sama. Apparently he knows Asagi. So she wonders if he’s special or he’s an ayakashi himself. She then leaves still asking questions to herself.

She then encounters Yomi who’s wondering why she’s out so late. Apparently he was sent to pick her up since she hadn’t come back. Of course Rin appologizes and he’s just like “whatever let’s go.”

After dinner Rin sits outside looking at the moon. She also gets reminded of food while looking at it cause it looks like a dumpling. Suddenly she hears a sound and someone calls out to her. She screams pretty
loudly and so does the figure. Yomi then hears her scream and jumps from the second floor demanding to know what happened. Rin is all like “Did you just jump from the second floor?!” Of course Yomi tells her that doesn’t  matter and she tells him she saw someone behind her. Soon Gin and Uta arrive while the figure yells out that they aren’t a suspicious person. Apparently Gin knows him as Tsukito. The moon Ayakashi. Apprently he needs help fishing for fish since they’ve all mysteriously gone missing.

Rin then thanks Yomi for being so quick to help her. But he says it was only by chance. She then says “That’s not what someone who jumped from a 2 story building would say!” And he says hes different than her average person. He also mentions he’s only protecting her cause Gin told him to. Thats it. She says she was happy anyway and thanks him again.
Yomi blushes with a “hmph.” He says he’s going back to his room.

The next day after school Rin, Yomi, Uta, and Tsukito all go fishing! Woopdeedoo! They’ve been waiting over an hour but no catch. Uta then claims he’ll catch some in no time. He says he’s got a catch but its not what they expect! Its a Kappa. Yomi tells Uta to cut the string but Uta says he wants to see the sun dry him out. Rin feels bad for him so thinks they should just let him go. He’s flattered so much he says he wants to marry Rin, PFF. Yomi and Uta signal to each other. And Uta throws him forcibly into the water while telling him to never come back. Anyway apparently they didn’t catch any fish and headed home.

Once home, Rin mentions to Gin they only caught a Kappa. But also asks why he can’t just fish in the ocean instead of the village’s river. He says its because the fish in the village are the best. Then they go on talking about Kaguya-hime who was born in Kyoto 1,000 years ago.

The next day they try to go finishing again. Manatsu comes by and notices that they’re fishing but aren’t able to get a catch. Anyway he goes off to make his delivery and falls off his bike, AGAIN. What a klutz. Manatsu says “heyo~” to Tsukito and notices that tomorrow is a full moon so he must be fishing. Manatsu obviously knows Tsukito through Gin. Rin asks Manatsu if he knows what happened to the fish. Manatsu suggests they go should go check upstream since the fish swim downstream to upstream.

Apparently they find out there’s a poacher using a net to catch the fish. Which isn’t allowed in this village. Rin thinks they should let the fish go but Uta suggests they find the criminal first. So they decide to wait
to ambush them until night fall.

Rin is waiting with Yomi and cuts her hand on a sharp leaf or something. Yomi then takes her hand and does some magic (voodoo shit) or whatever and heals it. Rin then mentions to Yomi that he’s always helping her out lately. And she wants to be able to do the same. Yomi says there’s no way she could cause she’s inferior to him. Then he says “You really are a BAKA.” That sweet tender moment is then cut off by a sound in the woods.

Suddenly some guy name Tsukihiko appears who resembles Tsukito. Apparently he was catching large amounts of fish so Kaguya-hime would recognize him since he loves her. Tsukito scolds him and Tsukihiko promises not to do it again. PROBLEM SOLVED. Tsukito apparently will be leaving tomorrow since its a full moon. But cause they helped Tsukito out he wants to reward them with some delicious fish! Rin suggests they should throw a farwell fish party for Tsukito. Uta’s all for it since he wants to eat lots of food. Yomi is obviously against it thinking it sounds like a pain.

The next day they have party with lots of fish dishes. Everyone joins and in and Rin asks Yomi if he’s okay since he’s giving off a disgusted look. There’s a lot of guests today and he wants to enjoy his food in peace. Rin mentions he may find it annoying but he’s still enjoying himself. He blushes and says thats not what he meant. Anyway after the party
ends Tsukito and Tsukihiko ride ride back to the moon and say bye to everyone.

October
—-

Some time later the cultural festival is coming up. Rin is excited about it and Uta’s all clueless about it.  Hana says he’ll explain since he’s stupid enough to not know but Uta throws catnip at him pff. Haginosuke then explains the cultural festival to Uta. Uta of course is mainly interested in the food. The class then decides to call it the ponpokorin association (The name of Gin’s shop). With food to be served and what not.

The next day they visit Manatsu’s shop and they’re greeted by his mother. They ask if he’s there and  she says he isn’t but just then he cames by and is moe as shit cause when he arrives at his shop he crashes on his motorcycle again. Apparently they came to get ingredients for the food they’ll be serving. (Pork miso soup and Rice balls). Anyway Rin tells Yomi and Uta to head back without her since she has somewhere to visit.

Rin then goes to the cherry blossom tree and sees Asagi there. Apparently she wanted to hang out with him a bit. He apparently wanted to do the same. He notices she looks really happy and asks if anything happened. She says they’re having their cultural festival at school and she’s the manager of their group that’ll be serving food. Asagi says its sounds fun and she suggests he should come visit. Rin then asks Asagi if his school as a cultural festival cause she’d like to visit his too. He says if a date comes up he’ll notify her about it.

She asks if he really will cause he’s always hiding so many secrets. He says that may be so but he never lies to a friend. this guy gives me major kaworu vibes. Anyway Rin is thinking about how he somewhat looks lonely and then Yomi suddenly appears. He came to pick her up again since it was getting pretty late. She appologizes since she was talking to a friend. She then calls out to Asagi but he’s gone. Yomi tells her not to be so absentminded all the time and to come home.

Next day at school Rin is making preparations for the cultural festival. Everyone is making preparations although Hana is asleep under a sheet lol. They wonder if they should wake him up but Yomi says to just leave him since he’d be annoying and delay progress even further. Yomi then decided to draw a mustache on Hana while he’s asleep PFFFSH. He then wakes up and gets mad while everyone starts laughing at him. He goes to wash it off and no one notices who drew it but Rin noticed a pen in Yomi’s hand.

Once Rin gets home Gin asks her to run an errand for him at Manatsu’s shop and to bring Suzuri along. Rin invites Suzuri and he shows
her his picture of a cat he drew. Anyway, they leave to see Manatsu and pick up some stuff. Manatsu then says he’ll come back with them
since he already had business with Gin anyway.

On the way there they tell Suzuri to go play for a bit. In the meantime Rin talks to Manatsu and mentions he’d make a great father someday. She asks if he’s interested in marriage and he says he’s not. She asks why and he tells her he already has someone he loves. Rin asks why he doesn’t just go to her and he says he troubled her too badly so he decided he’d just watch over her instead. Rin asks how long and he says forever. Just to see her happy. Rin mentions that its possible that person could like him back but he says thats impossible since she doesn’t remember him. Before more can be spoken Suzuri interupts and gives them a flower cause they both looked sad. Soon Manatsu sends them both home. Once they home Rin tells Manatsu they he shouldn’t give up. Manatsu thanks her and pats her in a way different way than usual.

Soon Yomi comes out and says she should hurry up inside. Rin then asks Yomi if he has a person he likes. Yomi is pretty surprised and says he hates humans so even she should know that answer. Rin is confused and says that she doesn’t only mean humans she means Ayakashi too. He gets pissed and says that doesn’t matter and tells her to get inside the house already.

Next scene Gin is teaching Rin cooking skills. They then have unexpected visitors whom are both Tanuki Ayakashi.

Apparently they want to go to the cultural festival too. But they need to be able to shapeshift into a human. BUT they don’t have that ability. And Uta shows off his ability to shapeshift by turning into Gin and Yomi. Once Yomi comes home he asks Uta “What the hell he’s doing” since he’s still shapeshifted into him LOL. They then decide they’ll help the two Tanuki’s learn to shapeshift into a human. Sooo…they decided to go train to shapeshift outside.

The tanuki’s first attempt is an utter failure though and they’re blurred out PFFF. Uta then scolds them saying its completely off since humans don’t have a tail and fur. He then shape shifts into Rin do show a deminstration of a female body. Rin’s all like “Why are you changing to me though?!” and he says she has an easy face to copy. Though she wonders to herself what thats even supposed to mean.

Right afterwords they hear a sound and Hana appears out of the blue. He wonders why the heck Uta is in the form of Rin and he says they’re practicing shape shifting. Hana says he’s still amateur and then Uta says “Well why don’t you try it then?!” So Hana does, and NOW THERE’S 3
RINS OMG. Uta then claims its inaccurate saying that her chest isn’t that large. HAHA. They started going on and on about how certain parts of her aren’t that thin or her face isn’t that size. Rin then got tired of this shit and told them to shut up while wacking them both in the head. Yomi sighs thinking “what a bunch of idiots”.

After training for more than an hour the Tanuki still haven’t gotten it right. And start to feel depressed. Rin tells them not to give up and asks why they want to go to the Cultural Festival so much. They say they are indebted to someone at their school and want to thank them. Rin says in that case they need to try harder so they all cheer together. Yomi thinks its annoying and Rin asks Yomi why he hates humans so much. He says because they go about their lives in an unsightly way since they live such short lives. Rin asks Yomi if thats how he feels about her and with a shocked look he hesitates to speak. Rin says she thinks she’s gotten to know Yomi better and she’s glad that she has. Yomi says she may think that but its all in her head. He believes nothing has changed. Rin tells him thats not true but Yomi cuts her off telling her to shut up and stop talking to him.

Suddenly it starts to rain and Uta says they should do this later. It starts to pour down and Yomi says they should return.  Rin wanted to visit Asagi today but will have to hold off because of the rain.

Days later Rin is at the shop and two figures appear. A man and a woman. Though what Rin doesn’t realize and Gin does is that its the two Tanuki. They finally were able to change into a suitable human form. Anyway the Tanuki are invited to stay and eat with them since they brought plenty of mushrooms to cook. During dinner the Tanuki start crying since they’re reminded of that boy who helped them and gave them rice balls.

The next day at school Rin makes a practice dish before the cultural festival. Which is apparently really delicious so it’ll definitely be a success.
Later that day Uta and Haginosuke decide to stay after school to finish a signboard. Although Uta is only staying because Haginosuke promised to by him food. Yomi then asks Rin if she’s coming and she tells him to go without her since she has somewhere to go. Yomi guesses its the cherry blossoms that bloom out of season. And of course he’s right. Rin says that she’s been going to see a boy named Asagi who apparently knows Kami-sama. Yomi gets curious and decides he’ll go meet him himself.

They then meet up with Asagi near the cherry blossom tree and Rin introduces him to Yomi. Who gives him a unamused greeting. Rin starts talking to Asagi happily about the cultural festival and what’s been going on. Asagi suddenly laughs and says she must be having a lot of fun. She agrees and tells him to make sure he comes to the cultural festival tomorrow. Asagi says he’ll do just that. Suddenly, Yomi tells Rin out of the
blue that he has something they need to do and drags her away while Rin says bye to Asagi. Rin wonders whats up with Yomi and he tells her he feels uneasy around Asagi. He can’t tell whether he’s human or an Ayakashi.

Finally the next day is the day of the cultural festival. Manatsu arrives with some ingredients in the morning. Once she gets stuff ready she suggests that Manatsu take a sample of her food to eat with her. Once they do Rin gets some rice on her mouth and Manatsu takes the liberty of removing it with his finger. Oh yes cliche moment. Anyway, Manatsu makes no mind of it at first until Rin mentions it. He then blushes and says its a habit he’d do with Suzuri. Anyway Manatsu soon leaves as school doors
are about to open.

During the festival their group is very popular as their trying their best to make portions of rice balls and Miso Soup for everyone. Soon after they finish Rin encounters the tanuki in their human forms. Apparently they haven’t been able to find that boy they wanted to see. Turns out that its actually Haginosuke. Though when he sees them in those forms he doesn’t recognize them. Rin then tells them to show their true forms and tells Haginsuke to watch. They change back to their original Tanuki forms and Haginosuke is in shock and screams “AMAZING!” like 3 times. The Tanuki finally give their thanks to him and afterwords Haginosuke is so surprised he starts wondering if its a dream. He asks Rin how she knew they were Ayakashi but she said it was instinct. He then says its amazing she can see Ayakashi and runs off to see if he can go find any more.

Rin then goes off to the festival stalls and sees that Asagi was there. She decides she’ll show him around but before she can Suzuri arrives along with Gin and Manatsu. Apparently Asagi and Gin already know each other. Rin then introduces Asagi to Manatsu. Suddenly Asagi says he has business to take care of and leaves. Manatsu feels like he met him before but doesn’t remember. Rin asks Gin where he met him but even Gin says he doesn’t remember since its been about 1,000 years.

November
——

Soon winter approaches. Apparently someone Gin knew died so he’s currently gone to go to their funeral. Rin is now taking care of meals herself. Uta is wondering if she can manage by herself and she says she’s fine. She then forces Uta and Yomi to help her and Uta freaks out when she yells at him with a kitchen knife in her hand haha. After they make curry Gin comes home later and eats some. He then explains that at the funeral this person called Kumajii died and Manatsu and him were indebted to him  apparently he had lived with an Ayakashi. That Ayakashi wasn’t at the funeral though so Gin is worried about them.

Later Rin comes from a bath and is feeling all dizzy from it so can’t get back to her room. Yomi appears and asks what she’s doing and then she’s all dizzy and falls over. Reluctantly he picks her up bridal style to take her to her room haaah. He says she’s surprisingly light considering how much she eats. Rin then protests saying he could’ve just supported her up instead of lifting her hahaa. Yomi blushes and says she should’ve said that sooner. Rin’s about to protest again but is all “Oooooh I’m dizzy”. And Yomi tells her to act her age.

Rin then glances at Yomi’s face and he’s all “what are you looking at?” but she says nothing but he knows she’s lying and blushes again Pfff. She wonders how he knows and he says its cause she’d usually say something rather than keep quiet. He then calls her slow and Rin wonders why he’s so mad all of a sudden.

A few days later there’s an unexpected visitor who looks like a small old man and a young child. Their names are Larry and Momo. Momo was apparently the Ayakashi that lived with Kumaji and Larry wants to help Momo since she won’t eat. Apparently she’d only eat what Kumajii had made her. So Gin takes her in and tries to figure out the meal that was always made for her.

Later Manatsu comes to their place and is trying to help Gin figure out the meal since he delivered ingredients to Kuma-jii. Rin suggests Miso Soup since its brown, salty, and sweet. They then suggest that they ask Momo about it and Rin tells them to leave it to her since she wanted to try and get closer to her.

Next couple days Rin takes Momo and Suzuri to the cherry blossom tree. There they encounter Asagi whom apparently knows about Momo through Kuma-jii. Rin is surprised he knows about him and he says he knows everything in regards to this village. Even what’ll happen in the future. Rin then suddenly remembers that she needs to help make dinner so she has to hurry home. She then invites Asagi and he accepts her offer saying he knew she’d invite him. Once they return home Gin and Rin made miso soup that apparently fills Momo with nostalgia. Apparently it was somesort of potato dish. Later, Rin says goodbye to Asagi and he tells her to continue her favors towards that child Momo.

Afterwords Rin encounters Yomi on the stairs who’s kinda pissed and wonders why she invited Asagi and that its the first time she’s ever invited someone before. Rin asks Yomi if he’s anxious about it and he says he’s not really. He blushes while saying he only noticed she was just speaking with him so happily. Rin then realizes he was anxious around Asagi and told her not to get so close to him. Rin wonders why but Yomi just tells her to shut up and runs away. He seemed gentle about it at first but then got pissed. She starts wondering if he’s at an rebellious stage.

The next day Gin made Chikuzenni, which apparently resembled what Momo used to eat. Soon Yomi comes home and Momo says she misses eating dinner with Kuma-jii and wants to see him. Clearly Yomi is bad around kids cause he asks why she wants to see her dead grandpa again and she says cause she loves him. He tells her there’s no point in loving whats gone. She’ll never see him again anyway. Momo then starts crying. Rin scolds him and but he says its the truth.

From then on they continued to make Chikuzenni, but to no avail. Momo is weakening by the day and Rin then decides to go meet Asagi. He knew she was troubled by something and asked what was wrong. She tells him she needs some advice. He asks if she’s fine doing it by herself and she says she is because its something only she can do. But she can’t come up with anything so she came to him. So she explains the situation to Asagi that she knows the food Momo wants to eat but doesn’t know the right seasonings. Rin wants to heal her saddness. Asagi tells her the memory of losing someone important won’t heal for a long time. This goes for humans and Ayakashi. But because we’re living things we’ll eventually forget the sadness as time goes by. He tells her only time can heal a wound. Its a cruel method by forgetting. He then tells her she’ll soon realize the answer herself.

A few days later Momo is still weakening and Rin tells her to hold on a little longer because Gin will soon figure it out. Later that day Rin goes to the shrine to wish for Momo to get better. There she encounters Kami-sama. He tells her he should’ve just come to him directly. He then says she’ll figure it out once they make the dish again. She doesn’t get it but comes home and makes it again with Gin.

Suddenly, Yomi asks to speak to her. He says he spoke to someone who was close with the old man that died. It was probably a recipe that he got from his wife. Apparently she had a phrase that was “Adding miso to the Chikuzenni gives it a special taste”. Rin is ecstatic to hear this and thanks Yomi by hugging him. Obviously Yomi is flustered and tells her not to hug him out of the blue like that. She thanks him again and goes to run off to tell Gin. He then questions why he’s blushing. Uta then suddenly appears hearing the commotion and…

“Whats with all the noise. She sure looked happy. Did something good happen?”
“Woah–Yomi, why’s your face red?”
“I-Its nothing! Its just hot in this room.”
“No, its been pretty cold today.”
“Aghhh! Shut up!”
“Huh? talk about weird.”

They then remake the Chikuzenni with miso added. They believed it work once Momo says it tastes just the way her grandpa made it but she started crying again. Even if its reproduced it won’t be the exact same as he made it. Rin freaks out and tells Momo to not give up. Yomi tells Rin to be quiet since it hasn’t been decided that she’d just disappear. Since she hasn’t disappeared yet it shows  she still wants to be here. Kami-sama arrives just in time and tells them to take Momo to the cherry blossom tree. Its there they see Asagi and he makes the tree glow.

Momo encounters Kuma-jii there and has a touching moment between them I suppose. Momo says her final goodbye to Kuma-jii. While crying she wonders why human lives are so short. Asagi agrees that human lives are very limited while Ayakashi have many. The time spent between each other is short. But they always live in your heart so as long as she’s alive he’ll be alive inside her. So he’ll never really be forgotten (all that anime speech jazz.)

Soon they return home and are all finally eating together. They wonder how it was figured out that miso needed to be added and Rin mentioned that Yomi asked an Ayakashi that was close with Kuma-jii. Uta and Kami-sama think its unlike Yomi to have wanted to help out and he says he was just getting sick of making it over and over and wanted it to end already. (in other words he was being 100% tsundere).

Gin mentions that Rin’s grandma also used to add miso as a secret ingredient. She also had various other secret ingredients but never concealed them so Gin never learned them. Momo asked about Rin’s grandma and Rin told her she’s gone as well as her parents too. Momo asks if she’s lonely but she says shes not because she’s made so many new friends already. She’s never lonely anymore because she can eat happily with others.

December
——–
At the beginning of this chapter there’s a voice of a woman who says she’ll always been waiting for someone. The voice replies back that he knows and it cuts off.

Its already December and its full of snow. Rin, Uta, and Yomi are on their way home. Rin is really excited since there’s so much snow and starts suggesting they have a snowball fight or build a snowman. Yomi says they’re not children and that they should just go home already. Right while he’s talking Rin goes ahead and throws a snowball at him. Uta laughs saying his instinct must have gotten dull considering he’d be able to dodge that. Yomi gets pissed and intrupts Uta with a snowball at his face. They then start a snowball fight war between each other.

Once they return home they’re all pretty cold and worn out. Gin makes them hot tea. Larry is there too and mentions they’re all covered in snow. Uta and Yomi argue about who to bathe first but Rin thinks to herself why don’t they bathe together? Or to begin with how does a Ayakashi even catch a cold?

Both Tanume and Tanukichi the Tanuki are there to and order something warm from their shop. They then mention if Gin heard a rumor recently. Apparently near the bus stop there’s a woman Ayakashi who’s been
waiting for someone for a long time. Apparently they stand there from day till night. Rin says she’d be sure to check it out on her way home from school but immediately after they hear a large crashing sound.

Manatsu then runs inside saying an Ayakashi fell. Apparently she fell in the snow near the bus stop. Its a woman of white who looks like a snow fairy. She then wakes up and wonders where she is since she should
be at the bus stop. Apparently her name is Hisame and she thanks them wondering if she could do something in return since it must have been troublesome to help her. Manatsu says she doesn’t have to do anything
and its better if she’s okay. She says she was only napping and thanks them again while leaving.

On their way to school Rin is anxious about Hisame so she wants to go check on her. She drags Uta and Yomi to come along with her as well. She then spots Hisame and asks who she’s waiting for. She responds saying “Him…” and Rin asks if its her lover. Hisame says it is and that they made a promise last winter in that same spot to meet again. Since she’s a snow fairy its not possible to leave the village until it snows. So she’s been waiting a whole year. She can only meet them in her form now since the person they want to meet is human. Rin says she hopes she finds her lover soon.

They soon leave to head to school. Rin thinks its wonderful for Hisame to want to see her lover. Uta thinks its pointless but Rin mentions that feelings won’t change no matter if your a human or Ayakashi. If two people are living they will love each other no matter what. Yomi thinks love is pointless influence and it holds no true value but to breed among others. Rin thinks that sounds really lonely. Yomi wonders why she’s making such a desolate look and she says because she thinks falling in love with someone is a wonderful thing. Yomi doesn’t really care if she wants to fall in love and she’s welcome to all she likes. Rin starts wondering if love isn’t important for Ayakashi.

After school Uta and Yomi are on clean up duty so Rin goes to visit Hisame who was apparently waiting throughout the entire morning and evening. Rin then suggests to look for Hisame’s lover since she wants to help. Rin asks the name of her lover and it fades out with her back at Gin’s place telling him his name is Tanakasaku. Rin wonders if Gin knows about him but Gin says he only knows of the Ayakashi of the village and that  Manatsu would probably know the villagers more. Gin says he’ll probably be here soon to make a delivery and right when he says so they hear a crash outside. Apparently Manatsu knows Tanakasaku as a classmate of his and knows where he is. Rin explains to him that he’s the person who Hisame has been waiting for all this time. Apparently Saku-san is the only son from the Tanaka wood shop and she should be able to meet him there.

So Manatsu and Rin both go to visit Saku-san. Rin mentions Hisame to him and asks why he doesn’t go visit her. Suddenly his mood changes and he tells them he doesn’t know a woman like that and for them to leave. Manatsu then pats Rin’s head and tells her not to worry since its not her fault. Rin says he pats her head like a father would but he says he’d rather be more like an older brother rather than a father. Rin tries
to take it back but he’s all “ダーメ”. Then then decided to go home for now hoping that Saku-san would tell them about it later.

Several days pass. Hisame is still waiting for Saku-san. They asked him multiple times but he wouldn’t answer them. Rin is walking home thinking about what she should do and a voice calls out to her asking if she’s
troubled. She then starts thinking the snowman beside her is talking but its actually Asagi! he was hiding behind a snowman since he wanted to surprise her.

Rin asks him to stop laughing at her so much since she’s embarrassed. She then starts thinking about how mysterious he is since he always appears when she’s troubled. She then tells Asagi whats going on with Hisame and Saku-san. Asagi says he’s never been in love so he
wouldn’t know much but he asks if he talked it out properly. But she tells him he he won’t say anything. He suggests that maybe he doesn’t want to explain to her since she wouldn’t understand love that well. Rin thanks Asagi and says she’s going to go visit Saku-san again. Soon she’s about to leave but is about to say something else to him but Asagi had already disappeared.

Rin then visits Saku-san again. Rin explains she was only thinking of Hisame’s feelings but never tried to understand Saku’s. Reluctantly, Saku sighs and asks if she can see Ayakashi like Manatsu can. Rin says she can see them so it must be the same for Saku. He says in that case she should understand that Ayakashi and humans are too different from each other. Rin asks him if she hates Hisame because she’s an Ayakashi. He says its the opposite which is the reason he can’t meet her. She was more important than anything when they became lovers but when winter came he was afraid if he’d even be able to love her. he’d lost confidence in his thoughts of whether they’d be able to be together. If he thought that way he felt they should’ve become lovers in the first place. He thought Hisame would give up on him if he didn’t go to their promised place. Rin says then she should properly talk to Hisame about it. He says she’s right and that he was only running away. So he decides he’ll go talk to her.

Once he meets with her, Hisame is happy to see him and says she’s been waiting all this time. Saku has a glum look on his face and apologizes saying he can’t be with her. Ayakashi and Humans are too different from each other. Its not possible for them to be together. Hisame says then there’s no helping it since she started to feel the same way. Saku asks if that ws the case why she waited in the first place. Apparently the promise they made together was really important to her. She always believed they could be together. But if he doesn’t hope for them to then it holds no meaning. She was happy to love him for that short time. And to meet him once more. She thanks him and Saku apologies over and over. She tells him not to apologize because she really was happy. He apologizes again and they give their farewells.

Then next day Rin absentmindly leaves the water tap on while Yomi shouts at her to turn it off. He tells her he knows she was anxious about the snow fairy but its over now. He tells her she needs to understand that
humans and Ayakashi were never meant to be together. They then hear a crash outside whom is obviously Manatsu. Gin apparently went out for business and isn’t there but Manatsu brought Hisame. Apparently she fell in the snow again. They thought she left for the mountains. Hisame apologizes for the trouble and Rin tells Hisame that she’ll make some food for her. Yomi asks what the heck she intends to make since she can’t make a hot dish for a snow fairy. Rin realizes this and thinks of what kind of cold dish they can make. Manatsu then suggests Hiyashi Chuka which they all agree on.

While eating together Hisame feels a lot better. She then says she made a lot of great memories until the very end. Rin asks what she means by that and she tells them she still loves Saku. She wants to see him again so she decided she’ll go someplace far so she can’t. She says love is very painful. Rin always felt love was supposed to be warm and happy but it doesn’t seem that way.

The next day the village had gotten colder by the day. They even had to start shoveling snow since there was so much. While after school Rin, Uta, and Yomi encounter Saku. He asks how Hisame is doing since they seemed close to her. He didn’t want her to be lonely so he thought they could help her instead. Yomi asks what the hell he’s talking about. He said its his fault she left in the first place. He tells him he has no right to be talking about her anymore and that its amusing how he’d even ask. They mention she left to a place where she wouldn’t be able to see Saku ever again. Saku is relieved since she can be happy not being with him. Yomi says this is why he hates humans, they think only about whats convenient for themselves. Rin asks what he means and he asks why do you think Hisame left in the first place. Rin says to go to a place
where they couldn’t meet each other. Uta says there’s a method of a way they can’t meet. A snow fairy needs to return to a place with snow. If she doesn’t, she’ll turn into water and disappear. Saku is appalled to
hear such a thing and asks why she’d go that far. It was just love, she should have been able to find someone else. Rin says its not “just” love. She went to those lengths because she loved him and couldn’t see
him again. It was her only and last love. She’d never love again. It had nothing to do with being a human or Ayakashi, it was their only promise. Rin was jealous of Hisame, since her love was a wonderful thing.
She tells him Hisame’s love was true, and there’s no way that she’d be able to find someone else. Yomi asks why Rin is crying and Rin says she’s not she just has snow in her eye.

Saku starts crying saying his love with Hisame wasn’t mere love, he really did truly love her. But he wasn’t confident he’d be able to make Hisame happy. So he could only love her. He didn’t want to see Hisame sad.
So he thought it’d be better if they were apart. Now its his fault that she’s disappeared. He starts sobbing and Yomi and Uta suggest they leave. Rin hesitates since they can’t leave him alone like that. But Yomi tells him that they should leave “those two” alone. Suddenly, Hisame appears. They have a really sappy chat about how much they loved each other and afraid they’d forget or lose one another. All that jazz. They then confessed their love to each other. And were together again, yay!

Some time later Rin is helping Gin in the kitchen. Apparently Saku and Hisame are having an engagement party of some sort. Suzuri then randomly appears in the kitchen saying he lost his blue crayon. Apparently he was drawing a fish. Anyway, everyone gives cheers at the table. Apparently Saku-san is late since he had work. Rin tells Yomi to eat his meat dumplings but Yomi refuses saying he’ll only eat vegetables. Rin tries to feed it to him and he tells her to stop but then she says he needs to eat lots of meat or he won’t grow! He reluctantly agrees after she consulted Suzuri to agree.

Rin then asks Hisame if its scary to love a human and she agrees it is. She knows that they have earlier lifespands then they do and it’ll hurt her afterwords. But she can’t help but only love. It doesn’t scare her anymore because she wants to spend the short time they have together without regrets. She wants to value all the painful and good times together.
She wants to get stronger so when her loved one dies, she can accept it and live on. Rin says she can understand that a bit. Since she finds it hard to accept the death of her loved ones. Hisame says she’s happy now so its fine.

During all that happy time, there’s a loud crash outside which is obviously Manatsu again. Just as he appears he says that Saku got hit by an avalanche of snow by his work which is by a mountain. Apparently others had made it out but he had been missing. Rin wants to go look for him but it’d be too dangerous by themselves. Hisame then tells everyone to draw back. She summons the power of snow and says she’s going to go look for him. Gin says its too dangerous for her to do alone but Hisame tells him its only something she can do. Gin says Ayakashi aren’t immortal so using a power like that could cost her life. They keep searching and finally find him buried in the snow barely breathing. Manatsu tells him to take him to a hospital but Uta says its too late. He can’t sense any life in him anymore and his heart is weak. Hisame says its okay because she’ll help him. Yomi tells her to stop since if she uses even more power than she already has she’ll disappear. Hisame says she swore her life to him, so if she can do this much for him she’ll be happy. Soon the complexion in Saku’s face is appearing and he wakes up. He asks why Hisame is here and she says she’s here to help. He remembers what happened and notices Hisame is starting to fade away. Just as Rin is about to yell her name Yomi tells her to wait.

Saku notices that Hisame is using up her life to give to him. He tells her to stop and that he doesn’t know what he’d do with her gone. His life would have no meaning without her. But she presses on. Apparently they first met on that mountain by his work place and got to know each other little by little. And basically all their feelings and moments together made them happy. And that they made that promise to meet each other in winter. They then make one last promise together which is a promise of engagement. He shows her the ring he intended to give to her and puts it on her hand as proof of their promise. They decide they’ll meet each other when they’re reborn again. Finally, Hisame disappears. Rin starts to cry and Yomi tells her not to. Since Hisame decided this for herself and was smiling in her last moments.

Some time later Saku had been recovering and was visitng Gin’s house. Apparently Saku decided to wear the ring as proof of their promise. BUT…outside it shows Asagi outside with Hisame. And she says she’s happy that Saku looks so happy and thanks Asagi while he tells her that they should be going.

Some time later the same month it had been getting colder. Rin was thinking to herself whether Hisame had been reborn yet. Yomi tells her to close then window and she surprisingly obediently does so and Yomi says its weird when she does. Uta agrees and says she’d normally get angry or something. She asks if those three are going somewhere and apparently they’re going to get ready to have a have Christmas party. Uta says they need to have a cake and everything. Yomi mentions they’ll probably be more then 10 people so he better be ready to make a huge cake. So they then decided they should have a sort of feast as well. Rin then mentions to Yomi she’s a lot happier now and Yomi gets weirded out saying he can see that by looking at her. Then Uta and Yomi both call her weird at the same time.

Soon the long awaited Christmas Party on December 25th came. So the shop was currently closed for preparations. Rin was preparing a cake and Uta kept picking at the food, pfsh. Meanwhile everyone starts arriving to make preparations. Manatsu, Hana, and Haginosuke all join to help. Though Hana has to have Suzuri persuade him to help decorate.

Soon everyone arrives to join the party, and they’re ready to start.The cake looks pretty delicious too~

And they gather at the table and start eating a grand feast.

—

Final Thoughts:

This ends the common route more or less and the other routes branch off after/during the Christmas Party. I didn’t really expect to write so much but ended up doing so anyway. I should add that I was going for Yomi’s route while playing this so some of the choices were more directed for his route but its more or less the same either way and barely changes anything aside from which route you choose. TBH it seems like there’s a lot more “Yomi” centered scenes in the common route than anyone else. Probably because you can’t even do Asagi yet and Manatsu doesn’t appear as often as Yomi does.