April event

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04/04, 23:56

M.Arisu

hey... anybody who's awake to see this. hope you're not having too much trouble sleeping.
get rest when you can. work together when you can.
all we can do is keep trying, but i'm hopeful for this year.
feels weird to say... but it's all going to be gone soon, so...
anyways.
see you at school tomorrow.

Any replies on the forum go unresponded, and at the stroke of midnight, the past year's worth of messages are completely gone from the PDA forum, including any sent over spring break. Hope you have a good memory if you were in the middle of a conversation! Though you should really be in ...whatever you've managed to make your bed... because tomorrow is a big day.

04/05, 06:00

The silence continues until six in the morning with the toll of the clock tower bells, and anybody near the locker area will hear two women in mid-conversation as they phase through the front doors, heels clicking on the ground: "-—didn't even have the decency to finish the job! And now I have to— oh, stop crying, for goodness' sake! I swear—" It's a one sided conversation, mostly, and one that stops short the moment the women spot the students lingering around. While the younger woman, recognizable as the assistant principal, hurriedly scrubs at her face with her sleeves, the unfamiliar older woman with the oddly dissonant voice scowls intensely. "I don't need this on the first day of school! Students trespassing over break! I can't believe it! I don't have time for this—" she huffs, shaking her head and stomping down the hall towards the faculty office. "Miss Nene, I expected better of you! And you! Miss Ritsuka— the two of you shall report to the faculty office after the entrance ceremony. I expect a full report of everybody involved. Now behave yourselves and go to the auditorium."

Goodbye...

The assistant principal is left behind and looks confused and distraught. She sniffles and ducks her head a little, draws a shaking breath and stands a little taller. "I'm so sorry. I'll hear you all out after- after this is done. Alright?" She too heads towards the faculty office, trying her best to smile at those she passes by. While they may be followed, they seem to phase through the faculty office doors which remain closed and locked, and cannot be interacted with until after the ceremony.

Until then, other students start to filter through the front door, seeking out friends and chatting about their breaks, remembering about homework and asking if anybody actually did it so they can copy off them before classes start, laughing at any mention of being locked inside the school all break because what?? that's silly. A handful of students wear yellow armbands on the left sleeve of their uniform, marking them as members of the student council, and these student council members go around finally removing the gorinto from the window sills, tossing the rocks into a bag without any apparent ill effects, and collecting the snacks in a separate bag— though they'll offer the food to anybody they pass who looks hungry enough. Which is a lot of you. One or two might give a short lecture about the importance of eating breakfast to start the day off right. Other student council members busy themselves in the locker area, posting the new homeroom assignments and updating the school calendar to reflect exam dates and breaks for the coming year, or help setting chairs out in neat rows in the auditorium in preparation for the entrance ceremony.

04/05, 08:00

The opening ceremony starts at 8, with students and staff moving to the auditorium to sit with their homeroom class, calling characters out by name and dragging them over to their seat— physically if need be, and they're much stronger than they look. Unlike the graduation ceremony, characters are not forced to come to the entrance ceremony, but the moment they take a seat, they find that they can neither speak nor get up again until the ceremony is over.

The assistant principal stands behind the podium on stage, looking rather nervous as she glances down at the watch on her wrist for it to be time, and clears her throat before addressing the room. "Yogen High welcomes you, all our new students," she pauses, beaming at the row of first year classes before her gaze sweeps over the rest of the student body, "our transfer students, our returning students, our... repeat students..." Looking at you, Norton, Gawain, Abel... "I, um. You may have noticed that I am standing in for our principal today, who is currently... unavailable... and didn't exactly leave any notes to go off of..." She wilts a little, but trucks on nonetheless and continues the address, promising that the teachers will pass along any important announcements, expressing her belief in the potential of young minds, and wishing everybody a fulfilling school year. The ceremony concludes in a little under an hour, and the spell binding the students to their seats is broken, allowing everybody to rise and leave.

School lets out for the rest of the day with classes starting the next morning, and while many students take the opportunity to leave, some linger around the school. Gossip is flying already with news of the transfer students caught breaking into the school over break and what punishments they might get, rumors of what happened to the principal ranging from a family emergency to hospitalization to death, complaints about the water pipes not getting fixed over break, and general excitement over upcoming events listed on the bulletin board by the lockers, in particular new club advertisements, fortune telling ads, and a Charity Auction to be hosted the Monday after Golden Week next month.

April

School is school... The first thing teachers ask at homeroom Tuesday morning is for students to hand in their spring break homework. Didn't do it? You're on their shit list now. Characters are not forced to attend class, but patrolling faculty and student council members will heckle any truant students into going and can be a pain to deal with. Classes aren't taught terribly, though. The second year math teacher has a knack for easily digestible explanations, even if she writes and erases the board a bit too quickly to copy. The third year literature teacher combines weekly analytical essays with film studies, and is showing Child's Play, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Silence of the Lambs, and Where the Red Fern Grows this month. The first year biology teacher brings eyeballs and frogs and rats for dissection during anatomy lessons, and if you have a special request for a specific eye color, give him a day or two and he can deliver. 2-A's homeroom teacher can be seen stealing chalk from each of the second year classroom she rotates through and is offering extra credit to any students who sneak her chalk without asking questions.

New students will quickly learn that merit points are awarded for a full day's attendance, turning in homework, participating in class and clubs, scoring 80% or higher on quizzes and exams, etc. Less predictably, the PDA may sometimes ping for a single merit point when hanging out with a friend or arguing with a classmate, with stronger emotions (positive or negative) when interacting with somebody else more likely to trigger a point, and if students are abusing this system, it's kept out of the faculty's eyes. As the month goes on, sometimes a student comes to class with a cut eyelid, or a busted lip, or bandages wrapped thick around a wrist, but they always deny anything more than clumsiness or an accident or having pets who very aggressively show their love. Sometimes it's harder to hide, when a bloody nose drips onto the ground or bleeding knuckles brush against the wall, and those near enough to see blood touch the building will find that everything sort of... shifts... Just for a second. The feeling of vertigo that stops almost as soon as it begins, the world tilting without slotting back into alignment. You feel a bit nauseous. Just a little.

You go to the bathroom to splash water on your face and the pink looks a little darker, a little more solid. On the fourth floor, the water has stopped running in the bathroom sinks altogether, and students are told to go downstairs to do their business so that they may wash up after. With more students milling around the bathrooms, it's much easier to notice that people's reflections in the mirrors are just a bit off, lagging that split second long enough to be impossible to ignore once aware.

Every day you have homework. A new essay for something or other is assigned each week. Nobody wants to do group projects with a slacker who can't promise to meet up after school to get it done. Like clockwork, the school empties out at 6 PM each school day, leaving those behind to their own devices. There is no school on Sundays. Golden Week marks the end of the month, and guess who's going to be stuck at school for an entire week with only vending machine junk food to live off of if they aren't able to make progress concerning their living situation? Yeah.

Charity Auction

At least students have the charity auction to look forward to and work towards. Information about the auction set on May 10 can be found on the bulletin board, and appears to be put together by the student council as an annual event and an incentive for students to start the year off strong in earning merit points. Both students and staff are encouraged to donate to the auction, with the items collected and put on display in the auditorium behind locked glass cases. On May 10, students will be able to bid on items using their merit points, those who donate will receive 10% of the winning bid towards their item, and the school will match donations 100 to 1 point with proceeds going towards the "Save A Brain Foundation."

Throughout the month, glass cases lining the walls of the auditorium start to fill up with donations. The most popular donations seem to be physical items: possessions such as jewelry or gaming consoles, or artistic creations such as hand sewn clothing or paintings. There are placeholders for things that can't be put on display all month, such as placards with a picture or description of homemade food that won't be prepared until the auction date, or the promise of fishing lessons with the guidance counselor or a dinner date with the school principal (pending availability). At the back of the room stands the largest case, with the skinny black cat often found lying on top of it as if guarding it, although it will run away when approached.

Inside the case is a body.

OOC

✽ Refer to the npc contact page for which students and faculty are currently available for interaction. The assistance principal will do what she can to accommodate the characters stuck inside the school, but the extent of her help will depend on what is asked of her and how interactions with her go.

✽ The body does not seem to change or rot inside the case, and most npc students will unconvincingly express their belief that it's just a very life-like doll. Closer investigation of the body will not be available until next month, if a character manages the winning bid. Merit points earned are handwaved at player discretion, within reason.

✽ The plot will only move forward as things are discussed and acted upon, and clues distributed during app acceptances are meant to be shared and connected, so don't be afraid to ask questions and dig into things! I am here to enable.

Comments

himeko inaba | kokoro connect

[dereban]

♡ option one - april 5th; 00:01 ( username: h. inaba )

[Inaba, being the technogeek that she is - not to mention that she's also the kind of person that actually stays up at the late hours, being a night owl - manages to see the message and while old ones have disappeared after midnight... that doesn't mean that she doesn't have things she wants to ask.

Which is why she decides to text out:]

I assume that nobody recognized the name from the message that showed up a while ago?

♡ option two - april 5th; after school ( loc: hallways )

[If there's anything that Inaba finds herself rather good at... it's trying to keep to herself in the shadows, not wanting to get into trouble. It's why she winds up going to the ceremony, attending classes, answering things rather easily and even talking to the other students and trying to engage with them.

In fact, she almost seems to blend in too well.

Being normal outside of...

... strange circumstances...

It helps.

... But - that's only during the school hours. Once all of the normal students and staff are gone, which is when she finds herself sighing.

What a pain in the ass, she can't help but think. If she passes by any of her fellow 'transfer students', she'll wear a smile, trying not to worry anyone. Can't have people be concerned over her!]

How are you feeling? You don't need help with any of the classwork or anything, do you?

[Gotta be a good senpai. More importantly, getting in trouble and ruining reputations might cause even more trouble for them...

Although there are definitely those that are older than her.]

♡ option three - various days; after school ( loc: home economics )

[People might notice that Himeko is definitely taking up the home economics space every now and again.

Some days, she's just taking the fabric and sewing materials without a single word.

Other days, she's trying to look through the ingredients and take stock of them and the amount - in fact, people will definitely notice that almost every evening, around 10 o'clock in the evening, she's making a list of the ingredients, the number of them and actively taping it onto the cupboards. It's helping!

Although she can also be looking through the cookbooks and trying to figure out how to do them, although she doesn't seem to be actively cooking... and seems to look just a little bit... frustrated? What's up with that??]

♡ option wildcard

[Want to play anything else? People can run into Inaba taking a bunch of notes - and stock about pretty much everything, and she can also be found in classroom tinkering with the PDA, too. Other than that, I'm pretty open to a lot - check out my plotting post for more, or hit me up at tsundereban. I'm willing to write up custom starts, so hmu.]

three

[taketori]

[ Shirogane occasionally looked through the home ec rooms, mostly in an attempt to get something decent in terms of food or coffee going. It was tougher than he thought all things considered, and he didn't want to make it a habit of going over to the vending machines every time he needed to perk up a bit.

In this instance, catching Inaba going through the cookbooks caught him off guard. She seems annoyed at something... ]

Need any help? [ A beat. ] Are the recipes really complex?

[dereban]

... It's more that some of the jargon is always so annoyingly vague.

[She groans a bit in frustration, running fingers through her bangs.

It's one of the things that she didn't like about recipes in particular. She does find herself sighing, her shoulders sagging heavily.]

I'm trying to get better, but it hasn't been easy.

[taketori]

It's usually made easier through context, but...

[ Of course, if she doesn't have the experience in dealing with that, then that'd probably not help too much.

Shirogane pauses, momentarily trying to think of a different approach. ]

You know, there are instances where recipes aren't meant to be followed to the letter. If you use something simple looking as a template, there's a good place to start.

[dereban]

Really? Aah, I've been going about this all wrong this whole time...

[It's obvious that she's been more than a wee bit miffed that this was one of the things that she wasn't - well... not necessarily bad at, but it isn't as if she'd say that she was some master chef or anything like that.]

So basically it's fine to just - guess? Ah, not in like the crazy sort of way where you'd overdo it, but like... 'around this much' based on the wording?

[taketori]

That's right. Tastes differ from person to person after all, so no one method will do it for everyone.

[ He's had to spend a lot of time judging how many ingredients they have left... having to be thrifty is a hell of a thing. ]

I know you said you're trying to get better... have you not done much cooking in the past?

[dereban]

... I see.

[But then there's an embarrassed look in her eyes as she rubs the nape of her neck.]

I've been learning a little, but I mostly work with frozen foods and not... too much in the way of actual cooking, I hate to admit.

one ( un: h.yeon )

[rhymed]

[ It's hard to sleep in a bed that isn't his own. Even if it feels faintly familiar, and smells of him, Hajun can't shake it out of his that this isn't where he belongs. His PDA buzzes and it serves as a distraction, so of course he takes it: ]

I certainly don't.
I assume searching for this person should be our priority?

[dereban]

Or figuring out who that was to begin with. Although that should be left for when everyone's gotten some proper rest. It'd be pretty bad if people didn't take care of their bodies while stuck in a place like this.

[rhymed]

Do we really have time to rest?
Not to mention, who can actually sit comfortably here... even if it feels like we've been here for awhile.

I'm not particularly fond of this school at all.

[dereban]

I can't say I'm fond of the school, either.

But - people need to keep their strength up. There's no use in not sleeping if you wind up collapsing in the middle of trying to get out of here. What would be the point of that?

[rhymed]

So where do you expect all of us to sleep?

[dereban]

Sit in a corner or something.

I had to do it for the last couple of days.

two!

[tempingforatlas]

Oh, I'm fine, don't worry about me! Just heading out from the shop room, was working on a project there.

[One of Ritsuka's hands seems to be actively smoldering.

What's worse is that she doesn't seem to notice this.]

[dereban]

... I think your burning hand tells me a completely different story.

[There's an obvious concern in her voice as she runs fingers through her bangs.]

[tempingforatlas]

...ah-

EH?!

[Ritsuka is genuinely started by this development and frantically smothers the fire with her uniform's fuku, although she seems more alarmed than actually in pain. It's quickly doused, at least.]

Ahhh... ha. Sorry about that. I don't really have much feeling in my hands; I really should've been paying more attention while I was working on my shop project.

[Considering how much of her hands are horribly scarred and partially necrotized, yeah, that makes a distressing amount of sense.]

[dereban]

Haaahh...

[She sighs a little sympathetically, shaking her head, if only because this is the kind of thing that she expects from her friends.]

Sounds like we should at least take you to the nurse's office. What were you even working on, anyway?

[Inaba can't help but be curious on the specifics of this 'shop project'.]

not a gagtag

[tempingforatlas]

A sword.

[dereban]

... why?

one! [username: h. hinata]

[futurebullets]

[As exhausted as he constantly feels, Hinata's had trouble sleeping early some nights because his nerves are too frazzled by the situation. Tonight happens to be one of those nights, so he sees both the preceding message and Inaba's following one.]

No, but I'd like to. I'd have a lot of questions for them if I did, because their message was... worrying.

You don't happen to know what they meant about things being "gone", do you?

[dereban]

I'd like to know as well.

"Gone" is very vague, but it seems that at first glance a bunch of the other messages from the forum are gone, including the post that I had written a few days ago.

[futurebullets]

That's what I was thinking at first too, but...

No. It's probably nothing. In any case, the fact that it's been erased is disturbing. It almost feels like someone is trying to hide something, but I can't guess what.

[dereban]

If they're digging for something, then that's something that that I'll have to look into and figure out myself.

[futurebullets]

I can't let that slide, either. I've had enough of people pulling the strings from the dark and keeping things from everyone.

It does at least seem like they're focusing on whatever was in the messages from last year, since they haven't deleted any of what we're saying now. Not even while we're talking about things like this.

[dereban]

[Oh, same, she thinks but she doesn't actually say aloud.]

So there might be something in there to potentially dig up, then.

I wonder if I can try programming anything into the PDA right now, though.