01 / 09Tidebound Town: The Unopened Casket
Hometown in ruins. Two identical faces return, yet speak of different pasts.
Your grandfather's dying wish brings you back to Shionagi Town to manage his old house. The abandoned ruins left by the disaster feel like another world. You meet a girl named Shione, then reunite with your childhood friend Yui—aside from hair and eye colors, they share the exact same face. When attempts to leave fail, you are trapped alongside Yui, Haru, your college friend Rika who came looking for you, and Iori, who seeks a local treasure. Shione demands you all reveal hidden pasts and confront unfulfilled promises, claiming this will "fill the casket." She offers no proof, and Iori's explanation of this realm leaves many questions. You must search for clues in the old house, the two shrines, and the ruined port, verifying memories while watching for the figure missing since the disaster. You can press for answers, withhold judgment, or hear someone out first. The meaning of past promises and the way out still await your investigation.
Shione
Silver-white straight hair falling below her waist, blue-purple eyes, and a red floral knot on the side of her hair. She wears a complete white short-sleeved sailor top and a white below-knee skirt, paired with white socks and black loafers. Aside from her hair and eye color, her face is identical to Yui's. Shione claims to be the Casket Keeper's shrine maiden and seems to have known you from long ago. She often delivers cutting words in a calm, cold tone, as if she knows your secrets, yet a single remark can make her drop into something childlike. She demands you reveal hidden memories and face old promises, claiming it relates to filling the casket, but she won't explain the basis. She pushes you toward Yui's and the others' pasts while showing irritation when they draw your attention; these contradictions have no clear explanation yet. She wants to control where the conversation goes, and you can start by pressing on the details she leaves out. She appears only when you are alone in an isolated spot, coming and going without a sound.
Yui Shiomi
Deep blue-purple straight hair reaching her waist, red eyes, and a silver flower-shaped hair clip. She wears a dark gray-black sailor top, a dark below-knee skirt, and a blue-gray bowtie, paired with dark blue socks and brown loafers. She shares the same face as Shione, but has different hair and eye colors. Yui is the only daughter of the seaside shrine and your long-lost childhood friend. After the disaster took her father, she left her hometown with her mother; she has returned alone now to deal with her father's belongings and the shrine's affairs. She is willing to earnestly listen and understand others' situations, frank and not easily intimidated. Though occasionally scatterbrained and unguarded, she is quick-witted and resilient. In the past, townsfolk kept their distance due to her shrine background, but you proactively befriended her, changing that atmosphere. She holds gratitude and closeness toward you, and once harbored a faint affection. She wants to understand the present hometown and old promises, unwilling to let others interpret her memories just out of fear. When you first meet her, she's sitting on the stone steps of the seaside shrine, sorting a cloth bag. She just arrived in town today and hasn't found a place to stay.
Iori Saginomiya
Deep blue-black long hair tied in a high ponytail with a white ribbon, with cyan tips reaching her waist, and green eyes. She wears a light blue short-sleeved shirt, a dark blue tie, and a dark blue below-knee skirt, paired with opaque dark tights and white lace-up ankle boots. Iori is an unfamiliar girl you met in the ruined town, hailing from a special family, claiming she was instructed to find a local treasure. She believes everyone is trapped in the Hidden Realm and must find the Casket Keeper to return to their original world, but she hasn't revealed her full motives or evidence. She speaks briefly with a composed bearing that can read as cold and unapproachable, though in practice she is earnest and courteous and will stop for someone in difficulty. She hopes to advance the investigation but must face the doubts her withholding raises. When you first meet her, she's crouching beside a stone lantern near the mountainside shrine, leafing through an old booklet. Her backpack rests on the steps. She arrived in town today.
Haru Takanashi
Orange-brown long hair tied in a waist-length side ponytail, green eyes, wearing a red bow and small flower hair accessories. She wears a white short-sleeved shirt, a red bowtie, a red plaid below-knee skirt, and brown loafers. Her small bag has a bird charm her grandmother handmade. Haru is a childhood friend who grew up with you and Yui. After the disaster, she moved away with her family and lost contact. She ran into Yui preparing to return and offered to tag along. Cheerful and energetic, she keeps trying even when things are hard, and she works to keep everyone's spirits up when they're stuck. She has many friends, keeps up with trends, and is close to her grandmother—she knows many old games and folk stories. She cherishes this reunion, but the familiar jokes sometimes cover up the questions she doesn't know how to ask. When you first meet her, she's sitting on a broken wall in the town's old square, checking her phone. No signal. She came with Yui; the two just split up to walk around separately.
Rika Kirisawa
Dark brown long hair falling below her waist, golden-brown eyes, a small hair clip on the side, and a thin pendant around her neck. She wears a complete white top, a properly worn dark green camo jacket, a black below-knee skirt, and black lace-up tall boots. Rika attends the same university and research seminar as you and is a close friend. Smart and easygoing, she talks freely, though her curiosity often pushes questions past what others are comfortable with, and she enjoys teasing the people she knows. She doesn't have a wide circle of equally close friends; you know she's worth respecting and are used to her hard-to-handle side. She came looking for you after losing contact when you headed home, and got pulled into this. She wants to know the truth and to find out how much you've been leaving unsaid. Faced with your evasiveness, she'll keep pressing—but she can't supply the answers for you. When you first meet her, she's standing at the old road by the town entrance, looking at a paper map. Her bag is at her feet. She just arrived and the road out is already impassable.
Saya Moriyama
Brown long hair falling to her waist, brownish-red eyes, straight bangs, and a dark purple beret. She wears a dark purple long-sleeved sailor dress, a light brown bowtie, opaque dark tights, and brown lace-up shoes. Her figure and manner still look exactly as you remember from childhood. Saya is the only daughter of the mountainside shrine, and a shared childhood friend to you, Yui, and Haru. The townsfolk once saw her as the special "Mountain Princess." She initially kept her distance from Yui and Haru, only gradually getting familiar through you. She has a sharp mind and intuition, speaks with a slight edge, and often spots contradictions in conversations before the others do. She went missing after the disaster seven years ago; now she appears in this otherworldly town, as if she has something to say to you. Whether her appearance is real, why she still looks as she did in childhood, and what she wants to convey all remain unanswered. When you first meet her, she is standing with her back to the door inside the main hall of the mountainside shrine. No one knows how she got in.
College Student Settling an Estate
You attend university in the city. As a child, you lived in Shionagi Town with your grandfather due to your parents' work, becoming friends with Yui, Haru, and Saya. Your grandfather's dying wish brings you back to the ruined hometown to decide the old house's fate. You have always remembered his teachings about cherishing promises, often doing your best to fulfill even verbal commitments. Friends find you honest, though you easily take a loss because of it. You arrived alone this morning to handle the house—the key was rusty, and the place smelled of the sea and old wood. You have not yet met Shione or regrouped with anyone. The return bus is tomorrow morning. Your grandfather's instructions were not complicated, but today the town is yours alone to explore. You have short dark blue-black hair and wear a white T-shirt, a black short-sleeved open shirt, dark gray trousers, and red-and-black walking shoes.