Thursday, October 8, 2020

Live A Hero Chapter 1 Episode 8: Unfulfilled Conditions

Scene picks up the next since last episode, making it Day 2 of the hero event workshop. Once all the preparations are done for the assembly hall, all the children start gathering. In the corner of the place, workshop class prep is still going on and it turns out Akashi is here. He asks what to do next now that the power is connected. Mokdai thanks him and asks him to move a bunch of stuff to a square gazebo/summer house/some other place. Akashi agrees to do so and hops to it, and the game makes a quick mention to say Akashi has come because he isn't going to the second game of the tournament.

Mokdai asks if it's really okay for Akashi to be here, since it is literally the next day after the first game of a tournament he didn't manage to get through. Akashi insists that he's totally fine and isn't so weak that he'd fall over exhausted a day later. Mokdai tries to say he's not talking about being okay physically but isn't able to come up with the words. Akashi still insists that he's okay and reminds Mokdai to get his job done too. Mokdai backs down, and Toshuu is concerned for Akashi after having gotten a text on his phone. The text is a message sent to the school's teachers about the results of that baseball tournament.
 
Back to your side, you go greet Akashi good morning. He greets you back cheerfully enough, and you can either comment that he seems more energetic than usual or that he seems tired somehow. A has Akashi insists that he's the same as always. B has him deny being tired and continue that he's totally peppy. But either way he starts to comment that the things he's carrying are pretty heavy, then trips over a tree root. You call out to him in concern and ask if he's okay.
 
Akashi quips about being clumsy and continues to keep acting more chipper than he's ever been. Mokdai gets alarmed as he tells Akashi that he's crushing the stuff he's carrying. Akashi gets embarrassed at this and wonders what he accidentally destroyed, but it turns out he destroyed a lot of woodworking glue. He apologizes for the damage, but Mokdai says it's okay since there's a lot of it prepared already. More importantly he suggests that Akashi go wash his hands, so Akashi heads off to do so.
 
Mokdai turns to you and says it really does seem like something is wrong with Akashi. You ask if he thinks so too and/or agree. Mokdai comments that it seems like Akashi is forcing it but isn't quite sure beyond that thinking something is off with him. Akashi tripping over a tree root got him questioning if he was always like that, and he figures something must have happened yesterday. You go quiet as you bring up a memory of one of your selves from This Side about a time Akashi was acting like this.
 
Camera shifts over to Akashi, who is surprised at how cold the water is before sighing to himself. You come up to talk to him, shocking him since he didn't notice you and prompting him to ask you to not scare him. He then asks what brings you over, and that it wait until after he's done carrying stuff if you're here to talk about work. You jump straight into asking if Akashi is pushing himself and if he's hiding something he wants to talk about. Akashi is surprised by the question and claims that nothing is wrong, saying that it's not like anything bad happened when he was being fine.
 
You bring up that the last time Akashi was transparently acting he was actually depressed. He's shocked by your statement, and you admit that while it's still vague, you remember that bit. Akashi sighs at you remembering something that's inconvenient for him, but he goes on to admit he wouldn't be lying if he said he wasn't happy. You attempt to ask him to talk about the day before if he's okay with it, but Akashi doesn't think it's worth talking about with you. He feels nothing can be changed if he did talk about it, saying that he has nothing now. But when you try to ask for elaboration, screaming interrupts.
 
The screaming is coming from the children, terrified yells bursting through like a broken dam all around. Akashi figures the direction it's coming from and hurries you to go with him there. You agree or hang back to ask if he's okay. C prompts Akashi to push the subject aside to focus on what's happening now.
 
Elsewhere in the park, children are crying in fear and for help as smaller Kaibutsu have appeared. You arrive around now and see the monsters, of which there are three of them. They have tentacle-like arms snatching up children, and unlucky kid gets caught and Eaten yelling for help. More disappear by the second, and a call from Huckle reaches your phone. He tells you things are serious and apologizes for getting straight to business. Two heroes are being sent to your location, and he asks you to get the details from them. It's a huge emergency, and he asks you and Akashi to work with the heroes to destroy the Kaibutsu, and you say you understand.
 
Akashi says he won't let any more children get eaten, and he asks you to transform him and start rolling the camera. You either say okay or ask if he's really up for this, and B has Akashi say he has to do this. You start setting up your phone camera the way Mokdai had taught you at some point, turning on the app and stabilizing the camera until the Standby sign is showing. Akashi sees the camera is ready, so he asks you to transform him next. He gets ready, and you start the Operator app. Unfortunately, it won't activate as normal to your alarmed concern. It spits out an error message about being unable to find a Path, so you point out the obvious that this means Akashi can't transform.
 
Akashi is surprised as he asks why the transformation won't work. You say you don't know as the app reports there are no heroes present. When you repeat this to Akashi, he insists he's right there. Before he can think more on that, the Kaibutsu have noticed you guys. As they start to chase after you though, two figures step in to blow them away. Kyoichi and Shouen arrive in hero mode, and Kyoichi announces his presence as the instructor hero who protects children, Element Teacher, in classic toku hero fashion. He quickly turns his attention to you guys and asks if you're alright. Shouen sadly notes how awful things are and how quickly the children are disappearing. You can address either of them specifically or both of them together. A has Kyoichi insist you call him Element Teacher for now in keeping with superhero secret identity traditions. B has Shouen say he's glad you guys are alright and ask if you're hurt.
 
Anyways, Kyoichi says that for now the explanation will have to wait until after the Kaibutsu are defeated and the kids are saved. Shouen asks you to leave things to them and to give them your orders Master. You say you understand and/or that this is a lot of responsibility. Kyoichi suggests it's time for a special lesson, and Shouen says he has plenty of ink prepared. Kyoichi gets ready with his set square shaped blades, and Shouen dips the tip of his giant brush in front of his tail. The episode battle then begins as Akashi goes into a funk wondering why he can't transform. More story after that.
 
After the battle, the story picks up with two of the Kaibutsu defeated and Shouen focuses on the one remaining. He writes the kanji for destruction in the air, which then fires a light beam at the Kaibutsu and defeats it. The children released in their wake regain consciousness and try to process what's happening, and Kyoichi asks if they're okay. He also tells them that everyone else is hiding in the seminar house, so they should too. They all say they will and thank him, and Kyoichi approves of their answer and tells them to be careful even with the shelter so close. You declare the broadcast to be finished and thank them for their work.
 
Kyoichi and Shouen detransform at the same time the camera stops running. Shouen says you went through a lot too and thanks you for your efforts too. He then mentions that the real problem starts now, which Kyoichi agrees with as he says it's a big problem. You ask what they mean, so Kyoichi explains that there was a reason they came in already in hero mode. They were at a meeting with Huckle, Toshuu, Ryekie, and Mokdai at that square gazebo or whatever earlier when the Kaibutsu appeared and started eating kids. Shouen tells you that at that time, Kaibutsu signals were found throughout the entire park. They all split up with Huckle activating just their transformations, and then the two of them came here. You say you understand and thank them.
 
Shouen brings up that he heard that there was originally one more hero here, and Akashi realizes he's talking about him. Kyoichi admits that he already guessed something like this might happen, having noticed that Akashi was acting strange suddenly showing up and behaving so cheerfully. Kyoichi puts on a serious face as he asks Akashi if something happened yesterday, something that shook his dream to the core. He doesn't answer, and you ask what Kyoichi means by that.
 
Kyoichi attempts to ask Akashi why he's so depressed. He assures him he won't force an answer out, promising to back off if Akashi wants to keep it a secret. But even if he wants to keep it to himself, it's affecting his hero work now. Kyoichi says he's also not saying Akashi shouldn't have come since he has his own ways of coping. He's just surprised Akashi is so badly affected it's preventing him from transforming.
 
Akashi still won't say anything, so Kyoichi brings up that he already knows that Akashi lost the game yesterday and won't be going to the game today because it's already on the news. Kyoichi also brings up that he knows Akashi well enough that he's sure just losing the game wouldn't bring him this down, so he'd like to know why then. He's worried about him as his former senpai and as someone he works with. Akashi is surprised by this concern, and Kyoichi prompts him to talk about it if he wants to. Akashi is quiet at first, then admits that he was told it'd be better that he stop trying to become a pro. On that note the episode ends.
 
 
 

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