Entry 3: Talking to weird people in closets

[After speaking with Issei I wander around the school grounds, observe some incidental dialogue between NPCs, consider kicking a soccer ball but decide to just shout GOAL instead, and then go to enter the door, at which point the screen goes fuzzy and we get:]

Unknown speaker :: No......your eyes......Master......! Like this......fall......never again......turn!

…!? There’s a sudden pain in my right hand. What could it…I look at the back of my hand…and there I can see a mark like some kind of rune has appeared. I don’t remember at all, but maybe I cut my hand somehow…?…

[We get a visual of a command seal, one of which disappears.]

The pain soon vanishes. I’m not having any trouble moving my right hand, maybe it was just sudden dizziness. I take some deep breathes, get myself together, and hurry on.

[Once inside the school building I get to look around the first floor some, before heading to the storage room door. In Fate/Extra this door was the gateway to entering the Grail War from the preliminaries, and the entrance to the game’s dungeons from that point on. So I’m quite familiar with it at this point.]

This is an entrance. For what purpose this door was made… … …I couldn’t really say. Issei called it a storage room, so it’s probably just a space for keeping things that aren’t in use. Anyway, there’s no need for me to go inside. I take the key Issei gave me from my pocket. I should lock the door quickly, then hurry to my classroom.

…hm? Did I just hear sounds from inside…? I’ve been tasked with closing this place up, I can’t just ignore this. I put an ear to the door, trying to ascertain what’s happening inside. Just then…

Unknown speaker :: Well, I wasn’t doing anything anyways~ Wasn’t lonely or anything, though, I like to let loose and snap into some snacks when I’m free. Mmm, how about that, then, just choosing to do nothing, ‘s comfy for sure…I’m a real winner~ I mean, everyone’s just too shiny. Too serious. Too desparate. Imma leave that holy war to the PKs. So, I should have no problem just hiding here ’til the prize winner shows! I’ll win without fighting, ahahaha, oh Jinako, you’re a genius!

…clearly, there’s someone in there. I knock on the door, and ask “Is anyone in there?”

Unknown speaker :: !?

…the suspicious noises die down after a minute. I take a deep breath, and knock on the door again. “I’m coming in,” I announce, and enter the storage room.

[Nice place you’ve got here? (Images captured by the ever so efficient method of taking pictures of my PSP with my phone.) Anyway, that locker in the corner is shaking, so I go check it out.]

…I don’t really want to get involved in this, but here it is. At least if they’d hidden a little better I could have acted like I didn’t notice, but there’s no missing this. So, I inhale deeply –

[>]Whoever’s in there, come on out!

[I’m indicating dialogue/action options with a “>” and the option I select with a “[>]” – yes there’s only one option here, Fate/Extra likes to do that sometimes.]

Unknown speaker :: N-no one’s in here! ‘m just a talking locker! Iron! Gimme iron! By which I mean, this is real heavy metal — !

The person in there is desperately struggling to keep the door closed from the inside. However, the door won’t close no matter how they try. Looks like our Person A can’t physically fit in this locker.

[>] Well, I’ll open it.
>Well, I’ll close it.

Sorry, but I don’t have time to play along. There’s no point arguing about it, so I just open the locker. Then –

[This girl here falls out of the locker, and Hakuno dodges out of the way to avoid being fallen on.]

Unnamed girl :: Ah-ah-aah!? Y-you could’ve caught me! …who are you anyway? Invading the sacred inviolability of a girl’s private room, makes me wanna just report you right now.

Setting her shoulders defiantly, this mysterious and bizarre person glares at me. I should really be the one asking the questions here, but I get the feeling that will only complicate matters. First I’ll give my name and class, then throw out some questions. She doesn’t look at all like a student, so who is she? And how this place is supposed to be “a girl’s private room”?

Unnamed girl :: Obviously it’s a private room! Just hasn’t been cleaned for close to a month, so it’s kinda a mess. Can’t help it, the custodians don’t come in here! Ah, the secluded life sure is hard…

She’s secluding herself…? In here?

Unnamed girl :: Ah, ah, ah, crap, it’s nothing! You just looked so imperious-like, Kishinami, the words went and slipped out! Mm, I’m Jinako Karigiri. A substitute teacher here and, uh, in my spare time a storage room security guard? Somethin’ like that?

This slob of a woman is a substitute teacher?

Jinako :: Won’t deny being a slob. It’d be a pain if people though they could rely on me or anything, so I commit to slacking off…something like that, anyway. Guess you could call me an Elite NEET.

– I see. What she’s saying, in other words, is that she does nothing and isn’t helpful to anyone.

Jinako :: That’d be a regular NEET. Those little guys’re cute enough, but don’t group me in with them. I’m Elite level. I’m a club adviser, see, for the go-straight-home club, the leave-early club, the hang-out-alone club…

Jinako puffs out her chest proudly. Said chest seems to be struggling against the pressure of that belt, too. She says she’s a substitute teacher. …it sure sounds like a lie, but I don’t have time for this right now, and I don’t think she’s a bad person. Since she’s living in this storage room apparently, I give her the key and ask her to take care of locking things up.

Jinako :: Oooh, storage room key GET! Man, I’ve been wanting one of these! With this I’ll be able to really lock myself in here! Well, with that, I’m out. I’ve got a busy schedule, message board patrolling and stuff, y’know.

She waves her hand at the door, as if telling me to get on my way. I’m out of time before homeroom, so I don’t need telling to head for the exit fast.

Jinako :: Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! Just a minute! You’re real straight forward, aren’t you Kishinami, just heading out when you’re told. Or is it that this place is weird…y’know, dirty, covered in the stench of defeat, so you can’t stand to get near it…I mean, to be honest, am I weird?

[>] You’re weird.
> You’re not weird.

[If you choose “You’re not weird,” Jinako just goes “…Really?” and it sends you back to the question.]

Jinako :: Oh…

I answered her plainly. Pussy-footing around this kind of thing doesn’t do anyone any good.

Jinako :: Calling me weird makes you the weird one, and me a genius! After you gave me the Ice Swo – I mean, the storage room key of my dreams, I thought you might be a good person, but no! Whatever, get out! ‘s not like I expect anything good out of the “real world” anyway!

[Jinako seems to be making a reference to Romancing SaGa with the Ice Sword thing, but I don’t really know what the deal with it is.]

…with one thing and another, I get shut out of the storage room. I hear the clicking of the key in the lock. Seems like it’s been locked firmly from the inside.

Jinako Karigiri. Contemplating the mysterious presence of a participant like her, I leave the dimly lit storage room behind me.

…no, hold on. I think I used a weird phrase there. Maybe I’m not quite awake…I feel like I’m losing focus a lot this morning. I might be coming down with a fever or something, maybe I should read right home after classes today…

Unchanged from https://tsukinoura.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/entry-3-talking-to-weird-people-in-closets/. Please support the original translator.