yogen | feel like it's all downhill;

( she's feeling marginally better, after confirming rokkun's alive, so... she'll take this chance to not be stagnant, for once, all this idle moping only making her feel worse.

there's not much she can do, but at the very least, she can peer over amami's shoulder, when he's crouched over some items, to glance at what he's doing. )

What do you have in there? ( nosy... )

( it's good that rika's starting to get better — she took recent events hard. needed some time to process, it seems like. the same can't really be said for amami. as things are, even though he's looking at the pages of the book in his hand, it's unlikely he could name much of the content if he was asked.

he's tired...

but rika interrupts, and he faces her with a warm smile, regardless. )

It's just a book. I found it in the library, but —

( he pauses, glances back at the page for a moment. )

— Come to think of it, you might like it.

Ran-tan, you look like you haven't slept in daaaays.

( she smacks him upside the head, gently, jokingly, but it's out of concern, regardless. )

Do you wanna nap while I read? I'll lend you my lap as a pillow.

( you just gotta lay on the good side... anyway, she reaches to grab the book and pluck it out of his hands, peeking at the title. spells... )

( he might not have? listen. )

It's not that bad, and I wouldn't want to be up all night instead.

( but the concern makes him a little happy, even if it's not the best sign. with the book out of his hands, he'll shift the topic. )

It's not often you find something that's not a reference book there, so I thought it might have something useful in it, but...

( well. if she flips through the contents, they're pretty consistent, but not quite what he was after. )

You don't sleep that well during the night, either.

( you think she doesn't notice, bitch? she's right here. anyway... before he can say anything else, she flops down behind him, legs crossed, and reaches with her good hand to grab onto his shoulder and force him down.

stay! )

Hmmm... ( she glances at the page, and reads out loud: ) "These days are drenched in erotic energy..." Whaaaa — !

[ It took some time to pull together his senses and write this note, with the ever lingering pretense of Hyde fighting his every vibe to do anything functional. Especially on these last few days - or past week. It may have been a conversation some time ago, for Rika. However, to Jekyll it was a discussion they had to one another oft but what felt like perhaps a few days ago. The dissonance of time slipping from his grasp. If he does not do this now after deciding what would be done. Then he would never.

It felt like the time he wrote to Utterson(Watson?), as well as a will he left with Laynon. It almost felt ironic, truly Servants were always predisposed to following the same established fates that coincide with their real life patterns.]

To Rika Kawai,

It has come to my attention that time draws wrong for me, which means of course my worse fears have come to light. Unlike you and the rest of the group. I have long lived my life once before when I was alive, and perhaps it would make no sense to any of you. It is important I draw that realization to a conclusion that I should not be here. I wish to take responsibility for the cause and effect of what my presence here does to this world. As well as those around me. Especially you.

For that reason I want you to understand that despite never being able to speak to you myself, I longed for a friendship with someone much like you. You reminded me of an old friend, whom is lost to me in a fuddle of memories. Even still, I admired the fortitude of your will, and mind. Despite seeing everything that you have seen. Rika, you tried to work with what was given to you and look beyond the evil of what was before you. I cannot even fathom how that is even possible, for as long as I wished. I wanted to destroy evil, or make it disappear. As if it were a chemical substance needing rearranging or transforming. Inevitably, I learned in my mistakes and in the irony of my actions. That evil exists as much as good will, and neither can live without the other.

I wish that I had more time and weren't in a situation that were predisposed to making my ailment worse. As a servant, whom you can more or less acquit to me being a phantom or ghost. I am bound by rules, and the essence of what these rules stake over my existence. The worse part is, that as I were from my original world, my 'soul' you could say. Was already messed up and broken, to be very forward and most honest. As this will probably be the last of what I will ever get to say - I should not have ever been able to exist as what I am.

All servants are, are basically Heroes. What I am - is just merely a man, tied to a fate where the monster that I created. Were spun about like a wool into a monster bound by my want of justice against evil. I could never be a Hero, but if I could say one thing when had I met you. Keeping to myself, and trying hard not to speak to you. My thoughts were overwhelmed and charmed by the fact that I had been in fact. Within the presence of someone who could 'become' a Hero.

I believe in you Miss Rika Kawai, and for what it is worth. You are someone who I would have loved to have called my friend, and stood beside all along. That is why I hope these necklaces will help you figure out the mystery of this school, and how to get out of here. If there is anyone who can, I know it will be you and the rest of your friends.

Best Regards,
Dr. Henry Jekyll

[ The letter is placed within her locker, with a small bag containing These two necklaces you can find here. ]

Edited 2021-07-03 20:05 (UTC)

[now that she's a bit less... distracted, Stephanie remembered that she had something she'd wanted to bring up to Rika. well, now it was two things.

it's easiest to find people after lunch, she's found, so she stands outside the classroom door of 1-A, bouncing on the balls of her feet, waiting for the students to clear out a bit. when she sees Rika, she skips up to her, smiling.]

Rika? Can I talk to you for a second?

( she's a little more accessible, now that she actually attends classes again. so, it's easy enough to stumble upon her, as she exits the classroom and glances over at stephanie, only a tad surprised.

people have been asking her about the fundraiser, so maybe it's about that...

well, either way: )

Yeah, sure. Here?

[she pauses, looking around, taking into consideration the amount of people...]

... No. Somewhere else.

( listen, there's not much he can really do to fight with her on this, now is there? it's her good hand against his still having a broke rib, and honestly, it doesn't quite feel like it's worth the effort. he does look a little bit troubled about it, but...

sighs.

at least, until she starts reading out of that damn book, where i looked at the spell i linked about as closely as amami himself did before putting it there. immediately, his expression shifts into something like disbelief, reaching up to make a grab for her book. )

Huh — wait, give that back.

( maybe he's not giving this to rika, what the hell!!! )

( oh. something sensitive, then. )

Music club room is usually empty at this time... ( she suggests. it's the first thing that comes to mind — )

( another win for RIKA.

now that she's got him all settled in her lap, she can return to reading the book, looking Very Interested, now that she realized what it's about. love spells, huh? not that she really believes in any of this, but... it could be a fun addition to the fundraiser, maybe.

just something to mess around with — )

Ah, no way! ( she quickly removes the book from amami's immediate reach, smacking his hand down. ) Taking gifts back is suuuper rude! And my Ran-tan is suuuper nice, right? ♡ So —

( smacks it down again. get that grubby thing away from her face or so help m )

[... oh no now she feels like she's being Difficult and that's her least favorite thing to be.]

Um, can it... be not over there? [you know. up the stairwell where she opened up a door and there was a corpse.] Maybe, in, um...

[where's a place with less terrible memories.]

... The bathroom?

( it's not a problem, rika wants to assure, but, you know what. the bathroom is right there, and maybe if they're lucky, nobody of any importance will overhear anything.

... maybe. it's still a bathroom, so people are bound to come and go. )

Sure. ( she shrugs, taking the literal three steps it takes to get to the bathroom from 1-A, and waiting for stephanie to join in.

just... girl stuff... going to the bathroom together... don't worry about it )

[just girl talk!

when they enter the bathroom, she looks around once more. just to be safe.]

... Hiro told me to be careful in the dorms the other day. [beat] I think it's ghosts.

[ghosts are girl talk right. she doesn't actually know many girls.]

...

( huh, well... they can't exactly go examine the dorms, so it's not as if they can confirm or deny that it is ghosts.

it's worrying, but not entirely unexpected, if she has to be honest. )

Well... we won't know for sure until we get them back. And, uh, if there's something... we'll just get rid of it. ( there's a whole occult club here now it's fine they got rid of the imps so — )

I think they'll be dangerous ones. Like the ones that... [y'know. natsume.]

... There's two more things, but they're kinda... Do you want the really bad one first, or the less bad-sounding right now but probably really bad later one?

[what does that even mean.]

Maybe we should talk to Imp-kyun about scouting the premises for us, when we actually get them done...

( oh god. )

Uhh... I guess I'll take the really bad one first, and the less-bad-right now one... later? ( WHAT A CHOICE!! )

[she takes a deep breath.]

I don't know if anybody's told you this before now... But, I saw those posts the really creepy guy in my class did, and I read them... Hyde died a few days ago.

I don't know if I'm that nice... Besides, it's not like you really need something like that anyway, right?

( she already has a boyfriend, and if amami finds out about her and rokkun using some kind of erotic spell so help h

but he makes a face when his hand is smacked away a second time, withdrawing it. )

... that's... ( she looks down, at her hand, and then at her pocket. in there, two parts of a single necklace — a last gift from jekyll, before he'd disappeared.

she assumed he disappeared. she assumed... he was gone, because hyde pushed him out, just like he told her, just like he worried about, but — )

... I should've known... ( that when she didn't see him around for a few days, it meant... ) It's been a little too quiet without him... huh?

A little. There's others that are just as loud, though.

... It was his own fault. There's nobody to blame for what happened but himself. [because she's like 90% sure rika won't stab noah over this but that's too much of a risk.] But, um... Yeah. He's gone. There wasn't a body. Servants are weird like that.

( rokkun literally said he'll never ask her out bc he wants to be alone y'all TRIPPIN

it's fine, she gets her hopes up sometimes, too, but... well. if she thinks about that too long, she'll just get sad. who knew being pushed away wasn't a pleasant experience? )

I don't, 'cause I'm too cute. Everyone just falls for me naturally! ( A-DUH

but... )

Chiakkin would have a field day with this, though... ( she runs her fingers over the spell, a little quieter. rika would think it's silly, and she'd tell chiaki to pick a better target, and in the end, she'd cast it for her, anyway, because it was worth it, seeing her smile. )

I know... I know it was his fault.

( she doesn't know what happened, but she knows this: hyde was reckless, and dumb, and too arrogant, too eager to get hurt, stabbed, too excited about the idea. she also knows he didn't think he could die, because he claimed to already be dead.

she knows all this, but still... )

I just... I don't think Jekyll deserved any of what Hyde did, that's all. ( "a hero," he called her. she wrinkles her nose, and her shoulders slump. )

... and the other bad thing? ( let's just get this over with. )

( well amami doesn't know that — and rika made it sound like what it sounds like, so now they have to deal with it.

not like amami's any better, anyway. )

...

( it's one thing when she's saying something very correct and easy for him to agree with, but when chiaki comes up, it's harder to know how to respond.

he gives it some thought. )

...What ingredients would it need?

( pretty sure there's an actual specific word for spell ingredients but like hell amami knows it off the top of his head. he has recently been signed up for an unofficial occult club though, it seems, so maybe he can do something. )

feel like it's all downhill;

07/02, @amami

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07/01 on, Note to be found in Locker .

7/5

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how dare you give me the depression icon