Little Busters!: Refrain Episode 4 - Riki and Rin

Fellow Little Busters! Today I'll be talking about the 4th episode of Refrain which finally gives us a solid pairing of Rin and Riki along with some more hints to the "Secret of the World".

Little Busters!: Refrain Episode 4 

Riki feels like he's forgetting something, but he's still seeing Kurugaya and the last event in his daydreams. Kurugaya isn't even at school anymore. It's safe to say that he actually doesn't remember anything, but he does remember it had something to do with Rin.

While sitting outside on a bench pondering what's been going on, he notices Suginami-san watching him from a distance. He saves her from a bug that was bothering her and shortly after she confesses her love to Riki. She apologizes for confessing since she says that there's already someone Riki likes but Riki is still shocked by what had just happened.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Aweeeeeee :( KanaHana great as usual<3

After the confession, Riki goes the clubroom where he is all alone. He is still astonished by the fact that he was actually confessed to. Her words of him liking someone else really made Riki think. As he thought about that, Rin's face flashed through his mind. That's when he realized that he actually does like Rin but tries to convince himself that it's because they're always together that he thought of her.

Yeah, you tell yourself that

In the midst of all this thinking, Kyousuke suddenly appears on the chair inside the room. He figures out that he was just confessed to, and then tells Riki that Rin was also confessed to not too long ago as well. Riki begins to feel a little down at the idea that Rin was confessed to.

Kyousuke is a ninja I swear!

Later on in the day, Riki is still thinking about Rin and every time he does, his face gets super red. It seems he is beginning to accept this new feeling that was really there all along.

Rin appears out of no where telling Riki to accompany her while she goes to buy Mon Petit for her nekos which are on sale. She needs someone to help her carry her bags.

AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

LOL

After their trip to the store, they make their way back to the dorms by walking along the riverbank. Rin ends up slipping and falling but Riki was there to catch her and tumble down with her. He ends up on top of her but Rin quickly has him get off.

Yeah until he has a narcolepsy attack haha.

Typical generic fall-on-top-of-girl scene

One thing led to another, and Rin suddenly suggested that they should go out. Riki asks Rin if she likes him, and she immediately responds which catches Riki off guard. She asks the same question back and he replies with a yes.

With the beautiful scenery of the setting sun, Rin looks beautiful and it's truly appropriate for what's happening. Riki agrees to go out with her and thus they officially and finally became a couple.

Beautiful scene

Well that came out of...nowhere 

mfw she suddenly proposes they go out

Such a beautiful shot of Rin under the glow of the setting sun

Later that night, Riki is up still fretting over what had just occurred while Masato is sound asleep. Rin and Riki both are texting each other all throughout the night and honestly, it was super cute to see. Rin and Riki talk about telling everyone about their newfound relationship.

Nice face xD

Nice, simple reply LOL

Riki first tells Kyousuke...or at least attempts to. He ends up dodging the question as he is super nervous. It felt very much like asking the father for his daughter's hand in marriage. Kyousuke, being the almighty and all-knowing already figured it out. In fact, he was hoping it would happen soon. He tells Riki that he now has to protect Rin, even after he's gone.

Good question

This is true .. xD

FORESHADOWING

Meanwhile, Rin tells Komari first on top of the rooftop at school about her new relationship with Riki. Komari begins to cry out of pure happiness, thus leading to Rin crying too.

BFFL

Following Kyousuke and Komari, they gather everyone else to tell them inside the clubroom. Everyone takes it well and it felt more like an "about time" atmosphere.

Masato's reaction was priceless! Kyousuke asks Riki if he and Rin have kissed yet, causing Rin to go crazy and she ran out of the room. He tells Riki to follow after her and once they leave, something quite peculiar happens.

I wish my friends were as positive as this

LOOL

Masato has the best reactions!

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN

Poor Masato 

The scene gets very bright with the girls all lining up and the guys with the look and feel as if they accomplished something. It's easy to tell that something is up, and everyone is in on it. They all leave the room one by one, disappearing until Kyousuke is the only one left in the room. He gives off a very suspicious, yet worried look in the darkness.

What's happeni...

HUH?!

?!?!?!

I don't...

That's not a happy smile!

Kyousuke...alone again

Uh oh....

Riki finds Rin playing with her cats and as he sits down, he notices that things are finally different - Rin is actually his girlfriend and now that she is, he is beginning to see everything differently.

Lennon makes his way to them with another task in order to find out the secret of the world, but this time, it turns out that this will be the final task - their task is to volunteer in their homeroom class.

Good observation

I can't wait!

PV

Review

Rin and Riki are now officially a couple! YES! They're both so inexperienced when it comes to love...IT JUST MAKES IT 10x CUTER! Rin is just soooooooooo kawaii because she's so clueless when it comes to  these things.

My favorite part was probably the first texts between Riki and Rin. It was so innocent and cute, yet simple and realistic in terms of these two who know nothing of love. It was incredibly adorable, and made me smile from ear to ear - especially since it made Riki and Rin very happy. 

They're also finally given they're final task of "volunteering during homeroom". Volunteering for what you ask? Let me tell you, you'll be sure to have fun during this. I remember laughing a lot during this part of the visual novel.

Something to note was that Kurugaya was gone the entire episode. She was mentioned in the beginning, but from there on out, she is no where to be seen, nor does anyone else mention her. The scene in the clubroom with everyone gathered except her, no one said a thing. Has her existence truly been forgotten?

Also, Kyousuke is definitely up to something. All the looks he gave throughout the episode, plus the scene with everyone walking out of the clubroom like they were "disappearing" really makes one curious as to what's really happening. It most certainly raises more questions as to what the secret of the world really is... Is everyone in on it? They made it seem like it was some kind of "goodbye". Are they pulling a Kurugaya?! If you noticed, it only showed Kud, Mio and Haruka disappearing. Is it back to the original gang + Komari?

So far, as a visual novel reader, I'm pretty happy with the way J.C. has been doing things. It's been pretty faithful (minus things that had to be switched around) and I can only cross my fingers hoping for the best once it gets to certain events later on *cough*the cheap tricks event*cough*

Next episode will focus on Riki and Rin trying to accomplish this final task. It'll probably be a nice breather episode without too much drama, but it's pretty important in terms of building on the relationship between Riki and Rin and furthering the story.

See you guys next week for Little Busters!

-Tadashi