mazegame/projects/kissaten_yugure/docs/SCRIPT.md

# Kissaten Yūgure — Script

First draft of all four character arcs, plus order lines, brew reactions and
ambient lines. Written as prose-first per `PLAN.md` §9 — no data format yet.

**This is a draft to edit, not to approve.** The characters are yours; if
anyone's voice is wrong, it's wrong now and cheap to fix.

---

## How to read this

Every beat is one dialogue box: **3 lines × 26 characters**, ASCII, as laid
out in `DESIGN.md` §4. Every line here has been checked against that limit.

```
**B4 · the crack** — `day>=7` — troubled
    Mock exam results came.
    Law faculty. Tokyo.
    Father framed the sheet.
```

- **B4** — beat number. Beats fire in order; a beat's trigger is *also*
  gated on the previous beat having played (`arc_stage`).
- **Trigger** — conditions from the vocabulary in `PLAN.md` §4.
- **Expression** — `neutral` / `happy` / `troubled`. Three per character, per
  `DESIGN.md` §5.

Triggers are deliberately loose. Tighten them once pacing is playable —
day numbers here assume roughly one visit per character per 2 days.

---

## 1. Hoshino Aki — the exam student

> Cream soda. Weekday evenings, scarcer as exams approach.
> **Want:** pass the Tokyo entrance exams.
> **Secret:** the course is her father's choice. She wants astronomy, at a
> small college in Sendai with an observatory on the roof.
> **Change:** orders coffee instead of the soda.

The dusk sky through the shop window is her arc's spine — she is the reason
that window is there. **Beats 1–6 are the M3 vertical slice.**

**B1** — `day>=2, phase=evening` — neutral
    Cream soda, please.
    The big one, if that's
    all right.

**B2** — `day>=3` — neutral
    Exams in the spring.
    They say third year goes
    fast. It hasn't.

**B3** — `day>=5, served=CREAM_SODA` — happy
    You remembered.
    Nobody at home remembers
    what I like.

**B4 · the crack** — `day>=7` — troubled
    Mock exam results came.
    Law faculty. Tokyo.
    Father framed the sheet.

**B5** — `day>=9, weather=rain` — neutral
    Can't see the sky today.
    ...Sorry. That was a
    strange thing to say.

**B6 · slice ends** — `day>=11, served=CREAM_SODA` — neutral
    Master, do you ever look
    out that window and think
    about anything else?

**B7** — `day>=13` — troubled
    Father's friend teaches
    at the Tokyo faculty.
    It's arranged, basically.

**B8** — `day>=15, absent>=3` — troubled
    Sorry I haven't come.
    Cram school added hours.
    I missed this place.

**B9** — `day>=17, affinity>=60` — neutral
    There's a small college
    in Sendai. They have an
    observatory on the roof.

**B10** — `day>=19` — happy
    I wrote for a prospectus.
    It came in a brown
    envelope. I hid it.

**B11** — `day>=21, weather=clear, phase=evening` — happy
    Look - that's Vega.
    You can see it even from
    town, if you know where.

**B12** — `day>=23` — troubled
    Applications close on
    the twentieth.
    I haven't told them.

**B13 · the change** — `day>=25, served=COFFEE` — neutral
    Not the soda today.
    Coffee. Black, like you
    make for Ota-san.

**B14** — `day>=27` — troubled
    I told them.
    Mother cried. Father
    hasn't spoken since.

**B15 · resolution** — `day>=30` — happy
    Sendai. I posted it.
    Father drove me to the
    post office. Said nothing.

---

## 2. Ōta-san — the retired stationmaster

> Black coffee, no sugar. Early mornings. Rain makes him certain.
> **Want:** somewhere to be at a fixed time.
> **Secret:** the ten-fifteen was cut in his last spring. His precision keeps
> a timetable that no longer exists.
> **Change:** stops apologising for lingering; orders a second cup.

**B1** — `day>=1, phase=morning` — neutral
    Coffee. Black.
    Seven forty. You open
    at seven forty.

**B2** — `day>=3, phase=morning` — neutral
    Your father opened at
    seven forty as well.
    I never asked him why.

**B3** — `day>=5, weather=rain` — neutral
    Rain. I always came in
    the rain. The platform
    had no roof at the end.

**B4** — `day>=7, served=COFFEE` — happy
    Thirty-one years I
    poured tea on that
    platform. Never coffee.

**B5 · the crack** — `day>=9` — troubled
    They cut the ten-fifteen
    in my last spring.
    Nobody came to say so.

**B6** — `day>=11` — neutral
    I still wake at five.
    The body keeps a
    timetable of its own.

**B7** — `day>=13, absent>=2` — troubled
    Forgive me. I'm keeping
    your counter. I'll go.
    ...No. Not yet.

**B8** — `day>=15, affinity>=50` — neutral
    The house is not small.
    That is the trouble.
    It was sized for four.

**B9** — `day>=17` — neutral
    My daughter telephones
    on Sundays. Eleven a.m.
    She is very punctual.

**B10** — `day>=19, weather=rain` — happy
    You knew I'd come.
    The pot was already on.
    That is a fine thing.

**B11** — `day>=21` — neutral
    The station is a
    convenience store now.
    I have not gone in.

**B12** — `day>=23` — troubled
    I went in. For batteries.
    The ticket window is
    where the freezers are.

**B13** — `day>=25, affinity>=80` — neutral
    You keep good time,
    Master. That is not a
    small compliment from me.

**B14 · the change** — `day>=27` — happy
    I'll have a second cup.
    I am not going anywhere
    in particular today.

**B15 · resolution** — `day>=30` — happy
    Seven forty.
    Tomorrow also, I think.
    That is all I wanted.

---

## 3. Fujimoto — the manga artist

> Strongest coffee, endless refills, toast set when reminded to eat.
> Very late. Frequency and panic follow a monthly deadline cycle.
> **Want:** finish the chapter.
> **Secret:** the series is being cancelled. Comes here to be anywhere that
> isn't the desk.
> **Change:** the shop appears in the final chapter.

Fujimoto carries the comedy. A cozy game with four sad people is not cozy —
it's a wake. Let them be funny about their own misery.

**B1** — `day>=2, phase=evening` — neutral
    Strongest you have.
    No, stronger. I have
    eleven pages by Friday.

**B2** — `day>=4` — troubled
    Do you know how long
    eleven pages is?
    Neither do I anymore.

**B3** — `day>=6, served=COFFEE` — neutral
    Refill. And again after.
    I'll pay for the pot.
    Cheaper by the hour.

**B4** — `day>=8` — troubled
    Editor called me
    'reliable' today. That's
    what they say before.

**B5** — `day>=10, absent>=4` — troubled
    Four days at the desk.
    I have drawn one hand.
    It's a bad hand.

**B6 · the crack** — `day>=12` — troubled
    I don't come here to
    work, Master.
    I come here to not.

**B7** — `day>=14, served=TOAST` — happy
    When did I last eat?
    Don't answer that.
    ...Thank you for this.

**B8** — `day>=16` — neutral
    Thirty-two volumes.
    Nine years. My whole
    twenties, in a drawer.

**B9 · the secret** — `day>=18, affinity>=50` — troubled
    They're ending it.
    Two more chapters.
    I asked for three.

**B10** — `day>=20` — troubled
    Nine years and I get
    two chapters to say
    goodbye properly.

**B11** — `day>=22` — neutral
    I've been drawing this
    counter. Not for work.
    Just drawing it.

**B12** — `day>=24, weather=rain` — neutral
    Rain's good for pages.
    Nobody expects you
    anywhere in the rain.

**B13 · the change** — `day>=26, affinity>=70` — happy
    The last chapter is
    set in a coffee shop.
    I hope that's all right.

**B14** — `day>=28` — happy
    Here. Page forty.
    That's your counter.
    That's your lamp.

**B15 · resolution** — `day>=31` — happy
    It's done. Nine years.
    I'm starting something
    new. Set here, I think.

---

## 4. Nakajima-san — the widow

> Two coffees. One with milk, one black. Slow, seasonal, weather-tied.
> **Want:** keep a routine that belonged to two people.
> **Secret:** the second coffee is his. It goes cold every time.
> **Change:** one day she orders one.

**Handle with care.** Her hook is the strongest in the game because the
player solves it unaided — the order is visible in the serve mechanic long
before anything is said. Per `PLAN.md` §8 item 14: **no one but Nakajima-san
ever explains it**, and she does so obliquely, at B4, and never apologises
for it. Do not let another character mention her situation.

Her arc runs on a slower day scale than the others by design — she should
feel like someone you see less often.

**B1** — `day>=4` — neutral
    Two coffees, please.
    One with milk.
    The other black.

**B2** — `day>=8` — neutral
    The same, please.
    You remember which is
    which. That's good.

**B3** — `day>=12, served=TWO_COFFEE` — neutral
    No, don't clear it yet.
    Leave it a while.
    I'm not finished.

**B4 · the crack** — `day>=16, season=autumn` — neutral
    He liked the autumn.
    Said the town looked
    better in brown.

**B5** — `day>=20` — neutral
    Forty-one years of
    two coffees.
    It's a hard habit.

**B6** — `day>=24, weather=rain` — troubled
    He'd have hated today.
    He walked everywhere.
    Never once took a bus.

**B7** — `day>=28, affinity>=40` — neutral
    Your father served us
    at that end table.
    We were young then.

**B8** — `day>=32` — neutral
    I know it goes cold.
    That isn't the point
    of it, Master.

**B9** — `day>=36, season=winter` — troubled
    Three years this month.
    People stop asking after
    the second one.

**B10** — `day>=40` — neutral
    My son says it's time
    I stopped. He means
    well. He means well.

**B11** — `day>=44, season=spring` — neutral
    The cherry by the
    station is out.
    He'd have said it's early.

**B12** — `day>=48, affinity>=70` — neutral
    I don't cry about it.
    I just like ordering
    for two. It's an hour.

**B13** — `day>=52` — neutral
    You never asked me why.
    That's why I come here
    and not the new place.

**B14 · the change** — `day>=56` — neutral
    One coffee today.
    ...With milk.
    Just the one.

**B15 · resolution** — `day>=60, affinity>=90` — happy
    One, please.
    I'll take the window
    seat. He never liked it.

---

## 5. Order lines

Spoken on arrival, before the brew. Rotate at random within a character;
they're texture, not story.

**Aki**
    Cream soda, please.
    The usual, Master.
    Soda. I've earned it.

**Ōta-san**
    Coffee. Black.
    The usual, if you please.
    Coffee. No sugar. Ever.

**Fujimoto**
    Coffee. Keep it coming.
    Something that will hurt.
    Strongest. And toast.

**Nakajima-san**
    Two coffees, please.
    The same as always.
    Two. Milk in one.

---

## 6. Brew reactions

Replaces the generic quality lines currently hardcoded in `kissaten.c`.
Quality bands as implemented: 3 = perfect, 2 = good, 1 = fair, 0 = off
(thin or over-strong depending on which side of centre you locked).

| | Aki | Ōta-san | Fujimoto | Nakajima-san |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **3** | The ice is just right. | That is correct coffee. | Oh, that's cruel. Good. | He'd have liked that one. |
| **2** | Mm. That's a good one. | Good. Very good. | That'll do damage. | Very good, Master. |
| **1** | Thank you, Master. | Thank you. | Fine. It's wet. | Thank you, dear. |
| **0 thin** | It's a bit flat today. | A little pale today. | Is this tea? | A little weak today. |
| **0 strong** | Ooh. That's a lot. | Strong. I'll manage. | Perfect. Awful. Perfect. | Oh my. That's bracing. |

---

## 7. Ambient lines

Shown while the shop is empty. The four currently in `kissaten.c` are
placeholders; these replace them. Weather- and season-gated where marked.

**Any time**
    The radio hums softly.
    The kettle ticks as it
    cools.
    Steam on the window glass.
    A bicycle bell, outside.
    The lamp buzzes, once.

**Rain** — `weather=rain`
    Rain taps at the window.
    Someone runs past under
    a newspaper.
    The gutter is singing.

**Clear evening** — `weather=clear, phase=evening`
    Dusk settles over the
    street.
    The sky goes orange, then
    nothing.

**Autumn** — `season=autumn`
    A leaf is stuck to the
    door.

**Winter** — `season=winter`
    The window fogs faster
    than you can wipe it.

---

## 8. Notes and open questions

**Aki's soda doesn't fit the brew minigame.** The siphon minigame is
coffee-specific, but her usual is a cream soda. My recommendation: **soda
skips the minigame entirely** — it's poured, not brewed. That's not a
workaround, it's an improvement: her visits get a different, lighter rhythm
than the three coffee drinkers, which suits a teenager dropping in after cram
school. Her B13 switch to coffee then means she enters the minigame for the
first time, which is a lovely mechanical echo of the story beat.

**Nakajima-san's two coffees imply a two-brew serve.** Simplest reading: one
minigame, both cups. Making the player brew twice would be tedious and would
also make the second cup feel like a chore rather than a small sadness.

**Cross-references are deliberate.** Aki's B13 names Ōta-san; Ōta's B2 and
Nakajima's B7 both reference your father running the shop before you. These
cost nothing and make the cast feel like one place rather than four
unrelated visitors. Add more of these freely — but never let anyone discuss
Nakajima-san's second cup.

**Nobody dies during the game, nobody is cured.** All four arcs resolve by
someone deciding something small. That is the genre working correctly.

**Beat count is 60.** At three beats per sitting that's the twenty writing
sessions budgeted in `PLAN.md` §5 — already spent, if this draft survives
editing.