Kotori (The Girl In Your Memories)

*For the disambiguation, and not to be confused, see Kotori (Human-Faced Bird)*

A mysterious girl who seems to be acquainted with the Yuzu in Yomawari 3.

She appears in Yuzu's lost memories. Not much is known about this strange girl, besides her age being slightly older than the third game's protagonist, her search for something or someone, and her trusty camera.

## Appearance

In her official artwork, her hair color resembles a blue-green or grayish color. However, in trailer gameplay and screenshots, her hair resembles more of a faded blonde color. Like the other characters, her eyes are 2 simple black strokes. She wears a white jacket over her white dress and pink slippers. She carries around a black portable camera with a pink strap around her neck.

## Background

### Pre-History

During the Protagonist's pre-school years, she came into town for a visit. She is familiarized about the Protagonist and her school that she studied in. As the days go by, the Protagonist's pet cat, Mugi, has passed away, devastating the Protagonist. The Girl tells the Protagonist to keep Mugi in her heart.

A few years passed, and with the Protagonist now in her elementary year, The Girl's mother suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. She decided to visit the Protagonist's town, where her mother was last seen. The only tool and memento she had was the camera that her mother used.

She went into the Empty Building, which used to be a commercial building for certain businesses and has a shrine on the rooftop. Unable to find the weird sky she was looking for; she encounters the Protagonist again, who was chasing her pet cat's spirit. She knew her back then, even if the Protagonist had forgotten due to being young. The Protagonist asks if she had seen a white cat, the Girl replies that she knows the white, fluffy one, and recognizes the Protagonist very well.

Later, after exiting the Empty Building, the Protagonist checks the bulletin board about the photo, before the Girl mentions that the sky is "weird" there. She offers her to buy drinks, and the Protagonist may buy what drink she want. At the park, the Protagonist buys two drinks for herself and the Girl. She states if she could go back to the past, no matter how hard she wished, things cannot be changed the way they were. She offers to walk the Protagonist home, but the Protagonist mentions that she is going to school at night with her classmates. The Girl decides to join in, seeing this as an opportunity to see the weird sky from there. She throws in the soda can, landing inside the bin, telling the Protagonist to keep their promise.

In the night, she managed to find and call out to the Protagonist, teaching her a spell or a trick for her courage when she is too scared. The Protagonist replies that she hears it, before going to bring the stepladder to the window. Inside, she manages to sneak into the school rooftop to find the weird sky from there. When the Protagonist find the Girl there, she tells her not to look up at the sky, before jumping off the roof.

After surviving the fall from the jump, she finds the Protagonist crying from the bullying, commenting that her classmates were just awful. The Protagonist is relieved to see her alive and uninjured. She mentions about the bell, before the effects of the curse starts to affect her, and the Protagonist rings the small bell to suppress it, relieving her. In order to break the curse, the two bells must be returned. Since they already have one, but still have to find the second one somewhere in town. The Girl walks the Protagonist home.

Further in the nights, as her curse worsens, she finally found her mother, albeit devastated and shocked to see her corpse. Not wanting to delay any further after discovering the truth about her mother, she makes haste to break her curse with the help of the Protagonist to find the second bell. Managing to reach the Protagonist in time, she tells her about the bell and Mugi is the key to breaking the curse. She asks where Mugi is, with the Protagonist reply that she is right "here", not knowing she is actually dead and accompanying her in spirit the whole time. She tells the Protagonist that her memories were lying, and she needs to remember the truth by shining a light on a dark fog. The Girl states that when she remembers, she will be at the rooftop waiting for her as a part of their promise.

### Yomawari: Lost In The Dark

#### Before Prologue

As the curse worsened, she is now transformed into a spirit and is an extension of the Human-Faced Bird, also a servant of the Spirit Forest's God. She cannot remember where it was.

#### During Prologue

After the Protagonist went into the spirit forest, falling off the school rooftop by an attempted suicide, she encounters the Protagonist in time to save her, but notices that she cannot see after making eye contact with the Human-Faced Bird. She guides her to safety by the use of the small bell that she had, until later the Protagonist's eyesight is restored. She notices that the Protagonist had forgotten, as she asked her name, and tells her that telling her name will not help her. After teaching her how to avoid spirits without making eye contact with them, she guides the Protagonist near the shrine archway before giving her a pocket watch to indicate the time that the time limit for the curse is until morning.

### Bad Ending

Kotori is displeased, that the Protagonist could not remember. Until the Protagonist remembers, she will be stuck in the rooftop, dying over and over. She tells her to shine a light to see the truth, before jumping off. The Protagonist tells Mugi that there is still something she has not remembered, they go outside but the Protagonist feels the pain and the curse has begun to transform her slowly before a flashback of one of her memories begins to show that the Protagonist was running out of the building to end up accidentally scraping her knee. Kotori offers a bandage once they get home, and the Protagonist comment about the sunset looking like a bright, shiny marble. Since it will get dark, the Protagonist shows the Toy Flashlight, given by her mother. Kotori asks that the flashlight broke, with the Protagonist saying it will eventually turn on, and the light turns on. The two of them are relieved, not worrying about the dark as they leave, before finally flashing back to the curse-transformed version of the Protagonist, as the credits begin to roll.

### Mid-Climax

After the Protagonist remembers all of her true memories, how Mugi died and the place where Mugi was buried during her pre-school year, Kotori appears again in the rooftop, gladly acknowledging that she finally remembered. She tells the Protagonist that she must go to the Spirit Forest, where she will be waiting.

In the Spirit Forest, the Protagonist rings the small bell, and she comes out of small shrine, explaining that the two small bells belong the God of the Spirit Forest. They encounter a locked passage, requiring a "Dirty Pebble" which is actually a magatama, and fits into the stone slot, unlocking it.

Before they can proceed further, Kotori is caught by one of the Spirit Forest God's traps, and the Protagonist fends them off by avoiding each attack, until they use a Magnetic Altar to appease the god. The God of the Spirit Forest rises from the pit and flies to the peak.

### Climax

Closing in on the Spirit Forest God's peak, Kotori lends her shoulder to the Protagonist so that she will not be blown away from the blizzard wind. She states that one day, the Protagonist will find something more important, and will not blame her for forgetting her. Kotori asks that maybe one day, the Protagonist will remember her again. She tells the Protagonist to raise the bells, and the Spirit Forest God succeeds taking the bells as the screen is filled with glowing bright light.

### True Ending

After succeeding to return the bells to the Spirit Forest God, Kotori and the Protagonist return to the shrine gateway, performing the same exact method to pass through, taking them back to the real world. In the real world, Kotori is nowhere to be seen (due to breaking their curse, presumably her soul or spirit was now set free and released from the world). The Protagonist calls out to her, but no one replies, as the credits roll.

### Epilogue

During the same day again where the Protagonist was bullied, the class gives her a worm on a plate. This time, she rings the bell in her head, and suddenly remembers and refuses to eat the worm, sending the entire class on shock. She runs out of the classroom, going to the school rooftop, only to find that the weird sky and Spirit Forest God are no longer there. The view fade upwards to the night, before a ringing sound of a small bell is heard again, as the screen fades to black.

### Aftermath

With the curse finally broken, and making a bouquet, Kotori appears again in the Empty Building's rooftop. The Protagonist states that she is now brave, no matter scared she was, thanks to her, and tells her that she will never forget her again. Kotori smiles back at the Protagonist, before disappearing and leaving a Music Player behind for the Protagonist to pick up. The Protagonist leaves a bouquet behind for her, and goes back to her house safely, listening to the music Kotori lastly listened to in her room.

## Trivia

* It is revealed that her mother was not a great mom, despite trying her best to raise her before she ended up mysteriously disappearing and dying one day.
* According to the Cutely Written Note that the player collects throughout the game, it is revealed that she has the same name as the Human-Faced Bird.
* At the end of the game's main story, it is unknown how Kotori managed to reappear at the Empty Building. It is safe to assume that she went to visit her at the same place they met for the second time, allowing the Protagonist to meet her again. If the player goes back to interact with the bouquet the Protagonist left behind, Kotori's presence is nowhere to be felt.

## Gallery

The Curse-transformed variant of Kotori.Looking back on the Protagonist.Facing northwest.