You, Me and Empty Words is a visual novel by Charon. Unlike most of her other works, it features no horror elements and instead is a short drama with some implied supernatural elements.
Shintarou is an ordinary guy who has befriended Akino, a mysterious boy in his class, after realizing that they have the same taste in music. While they are close and Akino seems to value their friendship, Shintarou begins to suspect that there is more to him than he has shown, as well as grappling with how his own feelings might be changing.
This work contains examples of:
- Attempted Rape: Shintarou can choose to assault Akino at the hot spring, having deluded himself into thinking that Akino will see it as Shintarou's love and accept him for it. Akino stops him by stabbing him in the neck.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: When they visit the hot spring, Shintarou deliberately gets Akino drunk in order to give himself an opportunity to sexually assault him.
- Foreshadowing: One of the conversations that Akino and Shintarou have at school features Akino asking if Shintarou would still be his friend if he found out that Akino had been keeping a big secret, to which Shintarou will answer positively no matter what you pick. Akino's secret is that he's transgender, which Shintarou discovers after forcibly stripping him, and this ends their friendship permanently since Akino stabs Shintarou to death in self-defense.
- Friendless Background: Shintarou and Akino are both said to have no other friends before bonding over their shared taste in music. In Akino's case, he reveals that this is because he had a friend in the past who couldn't accept him as male, and may have tried to assault him in exactly the same way as Shintarou. Since then he doesn't try to get close to anyone.
- How We Got Here: The opening of the visual novel consists of some narration from a person riding a train, referring to having "lost" Shintarou some months prior and wondering how much it meant to them. The True End confirms this to be Akino's narration, as he reflects on their relationship six months after he killed Shintarou in self-defense.
- Last-Second Ending Choice: Only the final choice at the hot spring where Shintarou decides whether or not to assault Akino affects which ending you get.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Akino frequently refers to himself as existing outside of time, not being human, and possibly being reincarnated, as well as referencing someone or something named "Sepia." This continues in his own internal narration, and it's not clear what exactly any of this means.
- Multiple Endings: Two, depending on your choice at the hot spring:
- Bad End: Shintarou chooses not to assault Akino and they spend a peaceful weekend at the hot spring. However, Akino disappears shortly afterwards with only the enigmatic statement that he is "going to see Sepia" as explanation.
- True End: Shintarou chooses to assault Akino in order to find out if he is really male or female. Akino turns out to be a transgender male, and he stabs Shintarou in self-defense while lamenting that Shintarou is like all the other people who couldn't accept him for who he is. A short epilogue shows Akino riding a train about six months later, reminiscing about Shintarou's death and wondering if he was really sad at losing Shintarou at all. He muses on his own life and sends thanks to "Sepia" again.
