yogen | MISSION 2.C

[ Regardless of when they pushed through the door on the fourth floor, each person opens the door to find themselves stepping out into complete darkness, as if sight had been stripped away from them leaving only solid footsteps or bumping into one another to attest to the fact that they have not been thrown into the familiar auditorium void. They find no door when they turn back to where they came, but as soon as all four people have found one another, they can each hear faint hissing in their minds, pulsating with their heartbeats.

A faint light shines from above, miles away as if a singular star in the night sky. They can jump, but they cannot reach it. In an empty abyss of nothingness, it doesn't matter which direction they choose, but they should choose and leave together, because if they split up I'm ditching any stragglers and they'll be stuck in the void forever while the rest of the group moves on. ]

( don't know how the group is grouped as in positions, but komaeda's here to take the plunge into death, and no one will stop him. which i mean, he's going to smack someone by accident because he's looking for an arm to latch onto, like the whole hugging their arm to his chest not because it's dark, but because he's here to be annoying. once he finds it... it belongs to him.

roll initiative for who the unlucky person is. )

...I can't see, but at least we can relate to ( there's a rule about saying people's names at night, right? ) A-san.

( it's all about including people, making them feel part of what's going on, things like that. even if this is the second time he's done this to helena, but hey, doesn't matter. )

Well... perhaps not fully.

( anyone else? what's the stitch gang? anyone else see the north star? )

( unfortunately virtue of me tagging next it's natsume, he hates this, he wishes the poison had taken komaeda considering this takes place closer to the end of the month. )

—Can you keep your hands off of me for at least one WEEK, K...-san? ( never mind that this one wasn't actually Deliberate this time. natsume's counting it. he's gonna try and tug his arm away, let go you gnat.

though he's right. it's completely dark... he wishes he had nightvision goggles or something. sigh. ) I suppose that A-san is...

( ...miss helena, but he replaces it with something else: )

Not doing so bad right NOW. ( he'll just— talk. it's fine. ) It's extremely dark at the moMENT, but there's a light far up in the SKY... Or ceiLING, considering this is the SCHOOL. Like the Northern Star, famed for guiding those lost at sea or on LAND, though I can't say whether or not that that one is in any particular cardinal direcTION.

[it's the hissing she can hear that concerns her most, but since she can't detect more than the four of them, there's nothing to trace it to. nothing yet, at any rate, which means that there's nothing to do but venture forth.]

If that's the state of things, perhaps I should walk a little ahead, since darkness is no great obstacle to me.

[and whoever ~~wants to hold hands~~ that she's near will have one hand slipped into theirs, to stay connected.]

We can stay together easily enough. Hold onto each other, or follow the sound of my cane, whichever is easier for you to do - you won't get too lost like that. Our North Star will oversee our efforts, I'm sure.

[come along then. she won't walk too fast - the steady tap tap of her cane on the ground is done a little more frequently for the others' sake rather than hers. the soundwaves echo off nothing at the moment, but simply going is better than doing nothing at all. this is her territory, nothing more than a large blank space and the four of them, where sound is one's true guide.

but it also means she's very, very aware of the hissing, in time with one's own heart.]

[Since Komaeda and Natsume are wrestling (source: ?) up ahead, Hinata can be the one for Helena to grab onto unless she's closer to one of the others. If she does, he'll get pretty flustered, but will hold on securely.]

Holding onto each other might be best, just in case we lose our footing on something we can't see.

[He casts one more look behind him, and- yep, still gone. Hinata swallows hard as they proceed. He's trying very hard to speak calmly, but inside he feels like he's on the brink of panic.]

This is... wrong no matter how you think about it, right? Even the door is gone behind us.

It's fine, S-kun! You said you're special back home, so you can touch me all you like... no need to be shy. A-san and H... ( these names have shuuen no shiori vibes, honestly. ) Spiky Ahoge-kun agrees.

( better.

he sighs playfully, though he's paying more attention to their abyss-like surroundings than anyone else — maybe on hinata considering his poor condition. natsume can handle himself, and helena is no child, even if she's unable to see. in a way, this is her playing field so she knows better than them. )

Anyway... ( he presses himself against natsume's arm as they walk together arm in arm... mano e mano... ) There's nothing to worry about, A-san is here for us so you hold on, can't you?

( that's said reassuringly as he looks towards hinata (or where he thinks he is) from the sound of his voice mixed with the tap of the cane. i almost wrote cain, sighs. )

Oh, and the ghosts if there's any.

( casually said, you know he keeps that thang — the megaphone hacking gun — on him. )

[ They walk and they walk and they walk and seem to be getting nowhere, as if they were stuck on a treadmill if treadmills were made of smooth marble entirely devoid of bumps or cracks or any sort of irregularity that suggests they're going anywhere different at all.

It's only that tiny light from above that provides a sense of direction, and it's not until they walk far enough for it to have been left so far behind them that it disappears from view, that they see a second pinprick of light, towards their left, flickering in the distance. As they approach, a third appears, then a fourth, as if they were at the edge of a galaxy drawn towards a field of stars. ]

[Hinata's eyebrow twitches in Komaeda's direction.]

...There's a lot about what you said just now that isn't reassuring.

[Is it the name??? Mostly the name, yeah. He'll put up with ghosts, this is infinitely worse.

But when Hinata sees the light, he'll gently tug on Helena's wrist.]

He- [He stops midway through the first syllable of her name. Even if he isn't sure why, Hinata can catch on that something's up; nobody's saying each other's name for a reason, probably, so he adjusts.] ...A, the light disappeared in front of us, but there's another on our left. We should probably check it out.

[Should they?

Hinata doesn't know that for sure, but... It's not like they have anywhere else to go back to.]

Got it.

[turning them leftwards, she keeps her hold on Hinata, the steady tapping of her cane still a signal in the darkness. the group's heading off towards these little lights, with their cute little codenames, no ghosts yet to be shot at or yelled at. with nothing else to gravitate towards in this place, why not? taking direction's easy.

better than staying just wandering in the dark. it's pretty obvious from her that there's not a trace of fear, not in her voice or in her steps. everything will be alright.]

( natsume'll lead komaeda then, he's not resigned to his fate as komaeda's darkness buddy but helena doesn't stop long enough for him to get a good shove, so... it'll be fine, probably.

and then, as the lights slowly appear as they approach— )

There's more of THEM. ( ...he kind of misses planetariums now. he glances behind them — nothing, so back ahead his gaze turns. ) And like our way OUT, our previous star has disapPEARED.

( calm despite the circumstances too, even almost forgetting his arm parasite. there's never not a way out of this school though, so it must be there somewhere... or ahead, or around. it's almost wonderland-like, with choice and mystery and a world that ignores what simple logic states should be.

he'll keep an eye on their new stars as they move though, going so far as to count how many steps it takes before any lights dim if that should keep up as they go on— )

...Nothing suggests we should change our charted course just YET. ( little things. ) I'd keep an eye... well, an ear OUT, just in CASE.

( hell yeah he's komaeda's darkness buddy — hinata has helena, and komaeda has him! his hold is a little tighter though as they walk through the darkness, eyes lifting up every so often to see if the starts move or stay in place. )

Maybe there's other ways to obtain an exit...

( he leans up against natsume as he's guided, but soon after, he makes sure to follow the other's pace so they walk side by side. can't give natsume the thought that he's carrying his own weight and komaeda's. )

Like wishing on a star, there's one for each of us.

( he doesn't say much after that, and he knows better that it should be a shooting start that they wish on, and maybe this odd world they're trapped in works differently. if this is part of the school, that means things work differently here, and anything that's considered silly isn't really silly — like hey, natsume was possessed by the soul of another person through a rocking horse made of wood... that's normally in movies, but yogen is a whole new playing field so! can't knock it.

also, who can komaeda embarrass, which one of yall got a wish he can laugh at. )

[ There's one for each of them and more, although spread out with hundreds of feet in between. The first light seems to drift towards them even as they approach, as if by mutual gravitation, the size of a thumbnail and bright enough to shed light enough to see one another if you're not Helena. It floats around lazily, hanging above Natsume's head, dipping around the back of Komaeda's head, resting over one of Hinata's shoulders, hovering right in front of Helena's face, almost as if curious about each of them as they might be of it.

The world feels a little warmer, eyelids heavier, drowsiness rather than fatigue but the effect is the same: the longer they stay around the light, the more they start to feel sleepy and numb and heavy, the more other lights start to converge upon them. ]

Even if they were stars... What would we wish for, besides getting out of here...?

[Dreaming big, or dreaming small? Hinata isn't really concerned with either - it's the most practical answer to such a thing.

But that's quickly the last thing on his mind. On any of their minds, really, because Hinata very quickly feels a strange sleepiness pull at his body. Part of his mind wants to lull and relax into it - isn't he exhausted? Hasn't everything been awful since he woke up on Jabberwock for the second time and almost died?

But there's another part of Hinata that protests, because that's wrong.]

Hey... Do you guys feel kind of weird all of a sudden? [His eyes track to the light over his shoulder. Is it- it has to be because of them, right? That's the only thing that's changed.] Maybe... we shouldn't go this way anymore...

[Where else can they go, though?

He's so, so tired.]

( well, if any of them are particularly desperate for romance—

but natsume is the kind of person who prefers to fulfill his own more serious wishes, so he's keeping mum on that too. besides, rather than stars... at least now, it reminds him more of a firefly — the thought drifts as lazily as the light does, and natsume tracks it slowly with his gaze. he almost doesn't realize he's slowing at all until hinata's voice pipes up, and then he blinks rapidly, shaking his head.

it alleviates the sleepiness a little, but it's temporary still with the light close- the lights slowly moving closer. )

...Then pick another direcTION. ( his voice sounds like he's forcing it to be louder than it wants to be, but on the other hand... maybe this is what they're supposed to be doing.

he weighs it in his mind, giving himself a pinch after a few moments. little things to stave off the sleepiness he doesn't want anyway, because there is No way he's sleeping in the same area as You People. ) It doesn't matter which one, I supPOSE.

Don't be so pessimistic... 0 Talent and Confused-kun, some people can't wish on stars.

( well his dead parents and the terrorist guy sure can't, aha :)

his eyes feel a little heavy, if he closes them once, then he might not want to open them again — maybe that's what happens for being on the weaker side when it comes to his health. with his arm still wrapped around natsume's, he can feel the other move himself, doing something with his hands that komaeda can't make out until the firefly floats around giving them light.

this is where he tries to discern their surroundings: can he see the floor, if so... what's there? is there anything around them close enough that the light conveys since it's floating around them so curious?

as komaeda goes to sigh, he yawns, accidentally — ) Excuse me...

( he apologies for the sound, but that isn't all that he's asking forgiveness for. he's taking a few quick steps forward with natsume, making sure that neither of them trip as komaeda holds out both his arms. his hands come close to the "light" that buzzes around them, but since it's extremely close to helena's face...

smack!

...did he kill it? )

[ There is nothing on the floor and nothing around them but empty space and that light that gets caught in between Komaeda's hands, the clap ringing through the air and momentarily taking everybody's drowsiness away with it. Komaeda opens his hands to nothing in between them, but rather than plunging them back into darkness, the world seems just a little brighter for it: it's still too dark to make clearly anything out, but they can now see movement out there in the darkness, obscured by the hundreds of floating lights in the backdrop.

Immediately around them is nothing. But all around them, in the near distance, are little floating lights. ]

[while Komaeda may have narrowly avoided hitting Helena in the face, the sharp sound of the smack is still enough to startle her. with a yelp, she flinches back, probably stumbling into Hinata along the way. but before she can ask what on earth that was about, the drowsiness she was about to comment on abates for a moment. long enough to be noticeable, and she shakes her head a little.]

...Has anyone else been hearing something since we came in here?

[that hissing. it's still there. and this clarity won't last forever - this unnatural tiredness is slowly creeping back, making her lean a bit more on the cane. the sound, it focuses her immediate mind, while the body wants to maybe rest.

no. not yet. not until they're through the exit. no, she tells herself.]

The hissing, you MEAN. Yes.

( komaeda just immediately distracted him by being a goddamn MENACE.

a menace with the good quality of being a willing guinea pig; natsume watches first the lights, then the... other movement out further. hard to see given the volume of brightness, but there.

and the unusual tiredness, too, as the effect of clapping the light away dissipates.

........ )

A-san, I'm going to clap NOW.

( just a forewarning for her, since she yelped before and he has been tragically yanked forward by komaeda, and he doesn't want to startle her -- he'll clap another light between his hands, wincing a little at the sting of his hands against each other. he is just a little bit stressed, he may have used a little more force than necessary. )

-- What do you suppose it IS? There's nothing here to cause IT, but I doubt it's a shared deluSION.

( after natsume's clap, komaeda blinks as if trying to force the drowsiness from his eyes, and he looks towards the miniscule lights here and there. this sudden feeling of taking a nap didn't come until they arrived, and so he hums softly as he tries to get a good idea of where everyone is from the small bits of light. )

...

( he lets natsume go so he can properly clap, and komaeda doesn't want to hold him back — he has an idea, and he's going along with it. with the group close enough, he manages to shuffle behind natsume and hinata just a bit, and with both his hands he'll slap them at the same time against their ass — )

Just to keep the lights away. ( whatever those lights happen to be, and if either natsume or hinata made a reaction... that's komaeda taking his turn to make some sound, you know? don't disappoint him. ) I heard it as well since the start... but with this many, it hasn't gotten any louder..

( or are they just not being subjected to their power? either way, with the lights all around them, it probably doesn't matter where they go because they'll run into them eventually. )

I didn't get a good look when trying to squash it. ( there wasn't any residue on his hands either that he feels so. ) It's no firefly, that's for sure.

( natsume turns around and punches komaeda in the stomach )

Sorry, there was one on YOU ♪

GHRG —

( is that a sound? i don't know. but right in the stomach is where he's healing AFTER HE'S BEEN ALMOST POISONED! WTF NATSUME!! okay, but with the pain comes his legs weak as he falls to his knees, but since he's on the ground he's going to wrap his arms aroudn natsume's leg ( to trip him up ) — you're coming with him bitch.

but with every pain... comes hope, as long as komaeda can hold on —

cough... )

Ah...ahaa... from that too... can come... ( cough ) hope...

( you BITCH he's (rolls a dice real quick) falling yeah, hissing even though he's catching himself with his forearms. )

I'm going to throw sulfuric acid on you as soon as we have access to IT, I swear to GOD--

( sighs sorry everyone )

[a loud thwack breaks between them, a very decided strike of the cane against the ground. while it doesn't have the same power it did before, it's the equivalent of a judge hitting their gavel, a door being slammed. it's also very attention getting at close range.

having recovered from her stumbling, it's been clear enough what she can hear from the childish scuffling that does nothing to solve their predicament - and really, infighting can wait until they're at least out of here. slap each other in your own time.]

Please, would you cut it out? We still have to find the exit.

[at least they haven't moved her to actually yelling. that'll be a rare day if it occurs.]

Come on, we have to keep moving.

( —he jerks a little, quiets down, and then, after a moment: )

SorRY, A-san. ( but not sorry, komaeda. HE STARTED ITTTT would be his tone but he knows he's at fault here too.... even if komada DID start it........ ) We should continue lighting up our surrounDINGS.

( ............he's kicking komaeda off his legs, so not much in the way of deliberate hurting but if he gets hurt then that's just how it happens, natsume just wants to stand up again so he can get to work on smacking more little lights and disappearing their tiredness :/ )

I'm sorry for (E)S-kun...

( ensemble stars-kun. komaeda sighs as he's shaken (but not stirred) off by natsume's attempts. even though he did start it, it beats letting drowsiness take over them within this odd abyss. whenever the idol gets to his feet, komaeda follows suit albeit slowly — he is a sick adult, you know! a hand rests on his stomach where the other hit, and he chuckles softly before hinata has a chance to get on him for his actions. )

Of course, trash like me only knows to ruin things... sighs...

( is that good enough for an apology? he even bows his head despite helena can't even see him, so that's an accomplishment. )

Hmm... if you suggest crushing more of the lights... ( since helena's the party leader, he directs his inquiry towards her: ) I can go up further to see how many I can kill if that's fine with you?

( he's going to listen just this once. )

MISSION 2.C

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