Upper Branch (chapter 3, Setsuna storyline)

Via Part-time Job
Setsuna has overcome her issues at work, and the other employees praise her for how she is handling herself. Karen, Futaba, and Kazuha stop by the Radish to see Setsuna, and she discovers that they all like Makoto. When she runs into Makoto and Kokoro on the beach after her shift, she begins to understand just how popular he is.

Kotonoha comes to pick up Kokoro, and she encounters Makoto for the first time. After telling Manami what she's been up to on the beach, Kokoro begins her plans to set Kotonoha up with Makoto.

The next day, Makoto takes Itaru out for the day before she has to return home to their father's house. On the way, Makoto runs into Otome and Karen, who ask him to help with festival preparations. He says he can't because he has to take care of Itaru. Makoto and Itaru go to the Radish, where they talk about his relationship with Setsuna. Afterwards, he takes Itaru to a movie.

After her shift, Setsuna runs into Yamagata on the boardwalk, who is staring at the ocean. She's startled by Setsuna's appearance. Setsuna asks what she's doing, and Yamagata tells her how she used to travel with her family on the ocean, so looking at the ocean is something she enjoys doing. Setsuna doesn't believe she's telling the full truth of why she's there, but Yamagata turns her suspicion around on her by asking why Setsuna is there, as her train route wouldn't bring her this way. Setsuna stammers that she too wanted to look at the ocean, as she rarely gets a chance to given where she lives. It's clear that neither of them fully believes the other, but they laugh the encounter off and decide to leave the rest unspoken.

Setsuna walks Yamagata to the train station where they run into Karen and the twins. Karen admonishes Yamagata for slipping away from Otome when she's supposed to be helping with festival preparations. Yamagata begrudgingly leaves with Karen. Setsuna asks the twins if they should go as well, but they begin scheming to track down Makoto, now that they are finally free of Karen for a bit.

The twins leave to look for him just before Setsuna spots Makoto and Itaru on the platform. Itaru is clearly upset and doesn't want to go home. She spots Setsuna and tries to convince her to tell Makoto that she can stay. Setsuna suggests that Makoto should ride the train with Itaru to their father's place, and Setsuna offers to ride with them. This calms Itaru down, and she falls asleep during the train ride. Makoto thanks her for her help, and she offers to ride all the way to their father's house, but Makoto says he's planning on staying the night there, so she should probably get off at the next stop. Setsuna asks him if he's going to the festival, to which he replies that he's planning to help with setup, but doesn't want to be working during the festival itself. With an uncharacteristic boldness, Setsuna asks Makoto if he would like to walk around the festival with her. They make plans to meet up and she disembarks at the next stop, nearly in a panic over what she just did.

The next day, Makoto returns from his father's place via train early in the morning and encounters Hikari on the train. Hikari gives him a hard time, as is usual for her, which he mostly ignores. He mentions that he's going to the festival with a date, but won't tell her who it is.

Upon exiting the train, Makoto runs into the twins. They ask why he's at the train station so early. Shortly thereafter, Karen shows up and asks Makoto to help set up for the festival. He agrees to help out, but only until the festival starts. Karen sends Makoto ahead to the festival grounds while she stays behind to admonish the twins for being alone with Makoto, and sends them on an errand with a shopping list.

''Note: There is an alternate series of scenes following the meeting at the train station where Makoto and the twins go to the Radish, which has the potential to result in the ending Double the Pleasure. If this alternate route is taken but that ending is not achieved, the story will sync back up with Makoto showing up at the festival grounds to help set up.''

Karen and Makoto arrive at the festival grounds, startling Otome. She quickly sends him to help set up the tower.

Meanwhile, Hikari meets with Yamagata at the Radish per her request, as Yamagata intends to ask a favor of her. Hikari agrees to help, but before Yamagata make her request, Setsuna shows up to take their order. Hikari tells Setsuna that she ran into Makoto on the train, and that she thinks he was out all night doing something shady. Setsuna says that he was taking his sister home to their father's place. Hikari asks how she knows that and wonders why Setsuna is so quick to defend Makoto. Setsuna stammers out that she merely ran into him on the train the previous evening. HIkari, bored with such a mundane explanation, turns back to Yamagata to hear her out. However, Yamagata is clearly nervous, and doesn't want to talk in front of Setsuna. Luckily, new customers arrive, and Setsuna leaves to seat them. Yamagata again tries to make her request, but is interrupted by a phone call from Otome, who tells her she's not needed at the festival grounds today.

Karen is walking along with Makoto as he carries supplies to the festival. She asks if he will help tomorrow as well, to which he replies yes, but only until the festival starts. She then asks if he has plans, but Makoto won't say for certain. Karen assumes he has a date, and goes to talk to Otome about it. While she's gone, Makoto runs into Shun, but doesn't pay him any mind.

Karen tells Otome that Makoto has a date for the festival. They struggle to imagine who it could be. After some deliberation, they agree that it must be Yamagata. It never enters their minds that it's Setsuna. They decide to keep Yamagata and Makoto busy helping with the festival to keep them away from each other.

Back at the Radish, Yamagata has finished explaining her favor to Hikari. She wants her to find Makoto at the festival and bring him to a special spot designated by Yamagata, where she will meet him in secret and confess Yamagata then receives a text from Otome saying that she will have to work throughout the festival. Hikari asks if the favor is all for naught, but Yamagata says she'll slip away somehow.

As Setsuna is leaving work, she runs into Shun, but quickly leaves with little more than an acknowledgment. She then runs into Kokoro at the train station, who is on her way to invite her friend Sho to the festival. Kokoro asks if Setsuna is going with anyone and tells her about the shrine forest and what couples go there to do during the festival. When Setsuna finally arrives at home, she agonizes over whether to call Makoto or not, feeling that it might seem clingy.

The next morning, Setsuna arrives at work in high spirits, as does Noan, but Oruha seems upset about something. Meanwhile, Makoto is helping with festival setup and runs into Yamagata as she's arriving. When he leaves, Yamagata asks Otome if she would be able to slip out during the festival for a bit, but Otome (believing she intends to meet Makoto) insists that she can't. Yamagata leaves, disheartened, and Otome tells Karen she thinks the person Makoto invited was Yamagata. They agree to keep a close eye on her during the festival.

Hikari visits Setsuna at the Radish, grouchy about having to keep the promise she made to Yamagata. She asks for something that will give her enough energy to get her through the task, and Setsuna gives her a special drink that Youko makes, not from the menu.

Makoto, still hard at work, realizes that he never set a time to meet with Setsuna, and wonders if he should call her. Karen walks up and asks who he's thinking about calling. He won't say, and she asks if it's Yamagata. He seems taken aback, and Karen assumes that it must be her. She goes and tells Otome that Yamagata is definitely who Makoto is going with. As they're deliberating, Hikari arrives at the festival grounds and asks where she can find Yamagata. Otome calls Yamagata over, and she and Hikari go into the forest, where Yamagata shows Hikari the spot to which she should bring Makoto. Yamagata says that she should avoid Otome while bringing him, and Hikari asks why she can't just tell him where Yamagata is waiting for him. Somewhat reluctantly, Yamagata explains that it has to be a secret because she's afraid he wouldn't come otherwise. She then explains what happened between herself and Makoto at middle school graduation that has made their relationship so awkward since then.

They are interrupted by the arrival of Oruha and one of the ruffian regulars from the Radish. He tries to shoo them away, and Oruha is clearly unhappy with him, saying that she only agreed to come here with him because she broke up with her boyfriend. He tries to feel her up; and when she resists, he says this is what couples do in the forest at the festival. With Yamagata and Hikari staring, flabbergasted, Oruha suggests they go further into the forest if they're going to do that. They leave, and Hikari asks Yamagata if that's what she has planned for Makoto. Yamagata explains that she has to take drastic measures to have any hope of reigniting their feelings for each other.

After work, Setsuna changes into her yukata and goes to the festival. She arrives early and runs into Otome. Assuming that Setsuna wants to find Yamagata, she calls her over. Somewhat awkwardly, the two of them leave to talk. Immediately after their departure, Karen and Makoto arrive. Makoto says he's all done with his tasks and that he's heading out. Otome stammers for a reason to stop him. Unable to come up with anything, Karen jumps in and asks him to fix the children's shrine. He agrees to take a look at it and leaves. Karen reveals that she took Yamagata's phone so she can't contact him.

Meanwhile, Yamagata and Setsuna have found their way into the forest, where they're making small talk about the festival. There's an air of tension, as they hadn't intended to meet up like this. Setsuna asks Yamagata if she knows where Makoto is, and reveals she made plans with him. Yamagata is upset at this, and reveals that she likes Makoto as well. Setsuna says she had a suspicion, but that Makoto said she dumped him in middle school. Yamagata explains that's not exactly what happened, and that she intended to meet him at the festival to confess. Setsuna says she also intends to confess at the festival. Yamagata is not happy with this, but Setsuna says it's a competition.

Makoto starts fixing the children's shrine and receives a call from Setsuna, which Karen answers. Still not considering Setsuna a threat at all, she cheerfully tells her he's in the feast hall, still helping out with the festival. Karen ensures that Setsuna won't tell Yamagata where Makoto is. Karen tries to stay with him while he's working, but he tells her she should go enjoy the festival. She wanders off to find him a snack, and he hopes to be done by the time Setsuna arrives.

The festival is in full swing at this point, and Hikari navigating the packed crowd looking for Makoto. She identifies the building where Otome will be, and decides to look in a different one, where she finds Makoto working on the shrine. After some banter, she drags him to the forest to Yamagata's meeting spot. Yamagata isn't there; and Makoto tries to leave, but Hikari stops him, saying the girl he's there to meet is hiding. She pokes her head through some bushes and looks for Yamagata while Makoto waits, but because of the way she's bent over, he can see her panties, which makes him uncomfortable. Beyond the bushes, Hikari spots Oruha having sex in the forest with her date. Makoto wonders what she's staring at and starts to get impatient.

Meanwhile, Otome is dragging Yamagata around the festival to keep her busy, after having just run into Karen and gotten into a brief argument. Yamagata is clearly anxious that her time is running out.

Finally, Makoto tries to guess who he's here to meet, and asks if she's in their class, which Hikari confirms. He says that if that's the case, there's no reason for him to wait in the forest, because he's already made plans to meet with her. He's talking about Setsuna, but Hikari thinks he's talking about Yamagata, and agrees to let him go.

Makoto returns to the shrine and wonders if he missed Setsuna. Meanwhile, Setsuna is wandering around looking for the feast hall. She runs into Karen, who points out the building. She meets him inside, and he asks her to wait a bit while he finishes fixing the shrine. He can't really talk while working, as he's holding nails in his mouth, so he says he'll answer her with a couple hammer taps. As she's starting to talk, he gets called away to help fix some lanterns. Setsuna starts to confess to him but doesn't realize he's not there to listen. Karen walks in and hears her confession. Setsuna asks if he listened, and to answer with his hammer. Karen, in a panic, looks around for a way to answer, but ends up breaking the shrine instead. Setsuna, believing that he has rejected her confession, leaves.

Makoto returns to find the shrine broken again. Karen struggles over what to say, and then repeats Setsuna's confession to Makoto as her own, word for word.

From this point, the plot varies depending on which episode is achieved.

Via Drowning in Secrets
The plot of the upper branch following Drowning in Secrets is mostly identical to the route following Part-time Job, except as noted below:
 * At the beginning of the chapter, Setsuna does not run into Makoto and Kokoro on the beach, as Makoto is with Youko at that time.
 * The day that Itaru goes home can play out one of two ways:
 * If the bar is low, Makoto will send Itaru home on the train and then return home. He decides to call someone out of boredom, and decides to call Yamagata. She doesn't answer, as she's busy with festival preparations. When she discovers that she missed a call from him, she hurriedly calls him back, but he's fallen asleep by this point. (The plot on this route picks up with Makoto encountering the twins at the train station the following morning).
 * Note: there appear to be some plot incongruities following this route. Throughout the remainder of the upper branch, several times it is mentioned that Setsuna and Makoto made plans to meet up at the festival, though they
 * If the bar is high, Makoto spends the day with Itaru before taking her to the train station, identical to the upper branch plot following Part-time Job.
 * The morning of the festival, instead of calling Setsuna, Makoto tries to call Youko to invite her. However, she has already left for Paris by this point and accidentally left her phone in the manager's office at the Radish. The ringing phone is heard by Oruha and Noan, but they don't answer it.
 * During Yamagata and Setsuna's confrontation in the shrine forest, if Makoto previously tried to call Yamagata, then Yamagata is more assertive and insists that Setsuna give up on Makoto. She mentions that Makoto called her and that she believes it was to invite her to the festival. Setsuna refuses.
 * After Karen answers Makoto's cell phone at the festival and tells Setsuna where to find him, Makoto tries once again to call Youko. However, by this point, her phone battery is dead. Karen, believing that he's been trying to call Yamagata, suggests that he's been dumped, and that he should give up on her. Makoto agrees that he's been dumped and, depressed, sends Karen away.
 * When Karen runs into Otome, who is dragging Yamagata around the festival to keep her busy, Karen mentions that she convinced Makoto to give up on Yamagata.
 * When Setsuna is talking to Makoto while he's fixing the children's shrine, he mentions that he has recently been dumped. During her confession, Setsuna empathizes with him, and says that she understands if he's not ready for a relationship so soon after being dumped.

Route
The upper branch of chapter 3 is accessed via one of two methods, depending on the episode you get for chapter 2.

Part-time Job
Accessing the upper branch following Part-time Job appears to be depending on the value of the hidden Kokoro bar.

The result is a summarization of all your previous answers to all Kokoro-related questions, if your affection at Kokoro is high enough you'll go the green variant while otherwise you'll get to the 'Upper Branch. '

Drowning in Secrets
If chapter 2 is Drowning in Secrets, there are two methods for getting to the upper branch. Both involve beginning on one of the lower branch variants and then transitioning to the upper branch.
 * If the bar is sufficiently low beginning chapter 3, then the lower branch will head towards the orange variant. When Makoto is at home trying to decide who to call, if he chooses "Call Itaru," he will begin to call his sister, only to stop and think that it's probably too late for her to be up. He then thinks about other people he could call, and chooses to "Call Yamagata." As she's busy with festival preparations, she misses his call and tries to call him back later, but by that point he's asleep. Once the call to Yamagata is placed, the story will veer onto the upper branch.
 * If the bar is sufficiently high beginning chapter 3, then the lower branch will head towards the green variant. This route follows the same rules as accessing the upper branch following Part-time Job, except that the critical conversation with Setsuna and Kokoro doesn't occur. As a result, there are no important decisions to be made in chapter 3; the only deciding factor is whether the dialogue with Kokoro at the end of chapter 2 included "Girl?" and "Yamagata" as the decisions. If it did, then the story will veer onto the upper branch automatically.