give your friends a surprise

[closewithnewintown]

Who: EVERYONE
What: FAMILY MEETING
When: 8/4, right after school closes.
Where: Student council room
Warnings: Eventually, probably.

["If my friends back home were acting like this, I would've already locked them in a room and forced them to figure out their feelings."

the job puts all of her considerable superspy skills to the test. she knows where every normal kid's locker is; it's easy enough to slip the note into each that morning. if it's someone who she knows would be unable to read the note, she tells them its contents, but keeps her own involvement out of it. lies of omission don't count.

the note reads:]

I have very important information about this place. Please come to the student council room after school ends today.

- Nao Sato

[and if the text looks just a bit girlier than you'd think she'd write, hey, you don't know her. she's got layers.

either way, it's a pretty interesting proposition: the student council room door is, for the first time in seemingly ever, wide open. anyone can walk inside - and, hopefully, most everyone should. because it's only when Stephanie thinks that she's got enough of them inside that she actually enters the room, shutting the door behind her.

click.

it locks. she grins, spins the key on her finger, and slips it into her pocket.

"How are you supposed to do that with grownups?"

the exact same way, she's decided.]

We haven't had any meetings since, um. Well. The last one. But, I'm pretty sure nobody has no more murders to report, so it shouldn't be too bad, and we can all just focus on the most important task: Getting along! All of us are on the same team, but most of us barely even know each other; some of us even hate some of the others! [SHE SAYS, LIKE SHE DOESN'T ACTIVELY DESPISE KOKICHI] So, I figured we could spend the evening fixing that problem. Play some games, talk about stuff we've discovered since the last time...

And, maybe, if everybody does a really good job, I'll unlock the door!

[smiles]

Comments

[decrypter]

Confiding in one another is of course excellent, and so is building our bonds. That I don't disagree with.

[turning her head a little in his direction, he'll see how her expression is carefully neutral.]

I just wish it wasn't under these particular circumstances.

[commences]

Hm... you can only blame me for this predicament since I brought you along.

( he stares at her face, reading what expression she gives, and from what he can tell... she has her own thoughts on the matter. )

I will say she was creative... out of all rooms, the one where the crawlspaces can't even be used...

[decrypter]

So there's really no way out.

[her grip on her cane doesn't waver, but she takes a deep breath, slipping back into being controlled, precise.]

Don't worry, Mr. Komaeda, I don't blame you for being kind. I wanted to stay informed, after all.

[commences]

Now, now... it'll be fine, she's against killing, so there's that.

( but it doesn't protect them from others who may kill, and also the arguments that may start because of people who don't want to be kept here against their will. it's a sensitive thing, and while stephanie's only a child, she finds this to be the best way, but as for komaeda... he has a better way to obtain her goal. )

... ( him? kind? he laughs, placing his arms down on the table. ) If you have anything important, you can tell everyone, or keep it to yourself... but listening offers more than throwing them into more confusion.

( that being said, komaeda doesn't tell them everything he knows unless they need a little push out of confusion. )

[decrypter]

There's a question I have, but it's not as important as a murder...

[aka, are people going to listen anyway?]

[commences]

What is it?

( he's listening if they won't. )

[decrypter]

This was in my locker when I opened it.

[and from her pocket she draws an old fashioned but clean looking key.]

I don't know what it goes to, but it might be useful. Is it worth trying to get everyone's attention about?

[commences]

( old fashioned is right — )

May I...?

( depending on her answer, he'll grab it to look it over, or he'll eye it from her hand. either way, his thoughts remain the same. )

I'm sure a few people will help you, but I can say... in the music room is a place that's locked. I don't know if this would be the key, but it's been like that since we've been here... ( hmmmm... )

[decrypter]

It would be easy enough to go check right now, but given our current predicament...

[let them OUT to investigate! they'll come back!]

Well, we could check it before we go to sleep.

[commences]

( crossing his arms, he lays his head on them as he looks towards helena. )

Arisu-san's away, so us cats can play... i need something from the piano anyway.

[decrypter]

What exactly do you need?

[color her curious. it's better than listening about missing people she'll never meet.]

[commences]

Wire.

( he's already took some once, and second time is the charm. )

It's a grand piano, so it has a lot to spare.

[decrypter]

Can you do that without harming the keys, Mr. Komaeda? I'd like to hear it play again someday.

[just. asking.]

[commences]

( he's thinking about it, contemplating... )

Are you interested in it too? You should ask Arisu-san to play a bit, I've never heard her myself, but...

[decrypter]

Miss Arisu? I've not yet met her, but if I see her, I'll say hello. It's Mr. Minato I heard playing before - he even offered to teach me.

[which is pretty generous! especially since she's only barely touched a piano in her life.]

[commences]

( see her? helena you have some explaining to do. )

Minato-kun? ( he'll stash that name away for later, might come in handy. )

I'm surprised, I thought only Akamatsu-san and Arisu-kun were the only two that could play it... ( now there's a third player in this brawl? amazing. ) Does he happen to appear in that room often?

[decrypter]

I've only met him in there once, but he's around the school. He has a softer voice - like he's accustomed to sitting in the back of a room. But his presence is a kind one, if solitary.

[see her as in a figure of speech smh...]

[commences]

He sounds like a ghost, I wonder if I'll get lucky.

( meet someone with a comforting voice, and a kind presence. would they kill, is that why they're like that? komaeda wants to know. )

Are you attracted to people of that nature?

[decrypter]

Maybe. It's easier to be comfortable around someone like that, at any rate. Where you don't have to shout to be heard...

[vagueing everyone who's being loud in this room? maybe.]