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

[befreiung]

You would if you were paying any attention in class.

[ He gets up from his chair, pulling on a corner of the worksheet in a silent expression of 'gimme that' and peels it out from under Noah's arms. He glances at the paper for a few moments. ]

I'll explain it to you. [ At a safe distance. ]

[silentabyss]

I pay attention in class! [Comes Noah's hasty protest, which is quickly followed by a quiet,] S-sometimes!

[There are some subjects he actually can focus in, believe it or not. Math does not fall into that category.]

But... [Ugh. He might as well accept the help, or the teacher is never going to let him leave this classroom, right? Fiiiiine. He doesn't want to bother Ain for his help, but the guy is so insistent anyway.] ...Alright. I could use the help, I guess.

["He guesses" like he's not bombing this class already.]

[befreiung]

[ DO YOU NOW.... Ain stares at him in that characteristic owlish way for a few moments, until Noah relents and accepts getting tutored.

He tries to go through the principles of the equations carefully and logically. Thankfully, his explanation isn't as long as the rambling teacher they had for math class. ]

You got it now?

[silentabyss]

[The directness certainly helps, and by some miracle the teacher overseeing the classroom hasn't yelled at them for talking — perhaps that's because they're actually being productive instead of dicking around like the students in the far back of the classroom were when the session began. To be honest, Noah only starts taking notes partly to get Ain off his ass, but finds that everything makes sense when he's not copying it down off of a whiteboard and not applying it to anything.

Funny how that works, right?]

I... believe so.

[Everything feels like it's coming together, at least. Noah would still have been better off if this were a history lesson or something, or if he was just handed a book to read cover to cover. Alas, mathematics are his downfall.]

Are you naturally good at math, or... [He has to ask, because in his mind, someone who's been stuck in the void for who knows how long probably wouldn't have time to do math?]

[befreiung]

[ Ain manages a half-shrug. Angels by nature are logical, and he hasn't had any problems learning the mathematical language. Humans are probably worse at it by virtue of that. ]

Probably.

[ A pause as he returns the paper to Noah. There are no suspicious Henir stains on the paper. ]

Now you can finish the rest.

[silentabyss]

[Noah blows a raspberry. Probably, Ain says. Noah isn't sure how he met someone even less sociable than he is, but here they are. The two least-sociable people in the entire school, probably.]

Thanks for the help.

[He means that, even if he manages to sound the least bit exasperated.]

I can... probably help you with some homework. If you needed it, I mean. Uh... I'm pretty okay at history.

[befreiung]

[ Well you know, angels don't natively need to do math? He's also kind of just winging it. Hard to tell if you're naturally good at math if you're a programmed and mass produced clone. ]

Okay. [ He's capable of gratitude, at least. ] I don't need anything right now. Maybe later.

[ Ain puts his head down on his table again, waiting for Noah to be done so they can both go. ]

[silentabyss]

[Goodnight, sleeping beauty.

Noah manages to at least finish his work this time, though, thanks to the help. The teacher gives him a sort of "was that so hard?" look as he's turning it in, though. But, well, whatever.]

H...hey.

[If Ain fell asleep on the desk in the twenty minutes it took Noah to figure out how math works, should he... risk shaking the other awake or something?]

[befreiung]

[ Thankfully, Ain wakes up easily when Noah calls him. It's almost as if he was conditioned to respond when he's called for help.... ]

... you're done?

[ Ain straightens up, shaking his head so that his hair falls out of his eyes. ]

[silentabyss]

[Oh, good. He has a feeling if he had to poke Ain awake that he'd either get harmed like Ain has been warning him or that there might be an adverse reaction. Both of those are the last thing he wants.]

Y...yeah. Thanks for the help. [Honestly, he would have sat here all night and refused to do anything out of spite had Ain not helped.] Let's leave. There are better things to do.

[Liiiike... wander around the school until the sounds go out and remember that they can't leave?]

[befreiung]

[ They could poke around more... or find a place to bunk down for the night. Ain always just sleeps wherever it's dark. ]

Okay.

[ For now, he'll just follow Noah and see if he needs help with anything. Not like there's anything better to do. ]