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wake up

You open your eyes. And then immediately squeeze them shut as a cloud of chalk dust gets clapped in your face, the student next to you looking surprised— but the sort of surprised as if they're faking it, barely suppressing a laugh. "What're you dozing off for, transfer student?" they ask, going back to wiping clean the chalkboard you two are standing in front of. "The sooner we get everything cleaned up, the sooner we can go home!" Another classmate tosses a wet rag at the side of your face, laughing as if a joke— if it weren't strangely warm to the touch, with dark red stains smelling strongly of iron.

All characters open their eyes and wake up in one of the classrooms around school. Whatever they remember last, it's lost in a thick, sleepy fog, the drowsiness still wearing off and making it difficult to reconcile the fact that they've never seen this classroom or these people in their lives, but somehow, it feels like they've been here forever. The other students all act familiar towards you, calling you by name and encouraging you to help clean the classrooms as part of observing the Vernal Equinox. Buckets of soapy water are set on the desks around the classrooms, light pink suds spilling over the sides, and both students and faculty can be seen hard of work scrubbing dark, stubborn stains out of the walls and floors. "It must be absolutely spotless," they murmur under their breaths. "All evidence must be erased."

You don't have to stay and clean. You could throw the rag back into a bucket and flip these strangers the bird and exit the classroom. But those who don't help clean even a little will find that they leave sticky red footprints wherever they walk, creating more work for everybody else and becoming very easy to track down and """accidentally""" knock over the backside of the head with a mop handle. Besides, it's not like you can walk out of the school and get back to whatever you were doing before. Your feet may bring you to the front door on autopilot, but the doors do not open for you, and neither do any of the windows no matter how hard you try to pry them open or kick them in.

Careful, though. On some windowsills, particularly on the third and fourth floors, rests a stack of five flat stones one on top of another: a gorinto to those who recognize such a thing, a pile of rocks to those who do not. The stones are all damp with water, topped with a scattering of wisteria flowers, and flanked by cheap packaged snacks. Whether on accident or on purpose, the moment you touch any of it—-

wake up

You open your eyes. The last thing you remember is touching a wet stone or trying to swipe the rice cracker beside it, and in the next moment, you're somewhere else inside the school. Characters who touch the gorinto or its offerings will find themselves pulled into a memory of high school life, one that feels like theirs, although they recognize that that's impossible. There's the feeling of being classmates with the other characters- perhaps two characters are seat partners, or best friends, or rivals, or club members- but despite the familiarity, do not know each other's names or recall ever seeing their faces before. Essentially, live your pre-established cr high school au dreams.

The memories fade in and out of different scenarios, but they all start off the same: You open your eyes.

(tw: implied suicide)

You're standing in front of a window, cold fingers wrapped around your wrist and pulling it away from the pile of stones. Perhaps another character has come to your rescue, or else one student in particular who shakes his head, whispers "don't," and walks away.

wake up

You open your eyes and wipe a bit of drool off the corner of your mouth. There's really no shame, when half the students sitting around you in the auditorium are half asleep as well. As if coming out of a dream, the characters don't remember getting here, just that they are now- sitting in uncomfortably hard plastic chairs in the back rows in the auditorium, the school principal's flat, droning voice reverberating oddly off the walls of the large room. No matter how hard you try, you cannot get up out of your seat.

"...and now, let us congratulate the graduating class," the principal says, stepping back from the podium. A single student rises to her feet and meets the principal at the center of the stage, her long dark hair falling across her face as she bows and receives her diploma. "Congratulations, graduate. May your life be full and prosperous. Please, if you would say a few words..."

The girl straightens and pushes her hair out of her face with one hand— she has no other hand, the entire sleeve of her right rolled all the way up to the shoulder and pinned flat. She forgoes the podium and the microphone, but somehow, her voice rings out clearly and reaches all the way to the back of the room: "Keep your eyes open."

With that parting message, she steps off the stage, disappearing into the mass of students who stand and fill the room with applause, drawing the graduation ceremony to a close. Characters find that they can now get up and move, which is a good thing because the other students are all pushing and shoving to get out of the auditorium and out the front doors, phasing right through the closed doors. Like a sieve, the school empties out, leaving behind the dregs.

wake up

Your eyes are open and the school is quiet. None of the students or faculty remain in the school, and all the staff— the principal, faculty, nurse, and counselor's— offices are locked. A skinny black cat flicks its tail from where it sits on top one of the lockers, where characters can find a copy of the school calendar showing the next two weeks to be spring vacation, with the school being closed for the holiday.

At least, with school vacated, it's clear from those left who's in the same boat and allows the chance for exploration away from prying eyes of the other students and staff. Introductions are probably in order, a discussion of what the fuck is going on, maybe also a plan of attack— or a plan for survival, at the very least, because there is no way out of this school. What ingredients are left in the home economics kitchen is going to have to last everybody the next two weeks. The student store is already empty. The water runs pink. The vending machines don't respond to jostling or being kicked over and brought to the ground, only the last dozen "merit points" on your PDA that you can't earn any more of, with class out of session. The snack you've been hiding in your locker should probably be saved as a last resort. The cats are starting to look tasty.

Hang in there. School will be starting again real soon.

OOC

✽ Characters experience the recurring feeling of drifting in (school life) and out (canon life) of sleep up until the graduation ceremony, after which they will have full awareness and come to their senses. Pre-established cr is possible to some extent, as a varying degree of familiarity may remain, but all characters will be strangers to one another unless they know each other in canon. All npcs will know the characters' names, but characters will not know each other's names until introduced.

✽ The second prompt occurs upon a character touching a gorinto or any of the offerings surrounding it. While touching it, characters fall into a trance and experience different scenes of high school life, with examples given in the prompt but players are free to play out any aspect of normal school life taking place at any time during the school year.

stopit

npc contact page

locations page

✽ As a reminder, all doors and windows leading outside are locked and cannot be broken. From midnight until 6AM, all sound disappears from the world. Characters are free to use their PDA as a network, but it is text (and shitty touchpad art) only and all threads are public.

✽ TDM threads may be used for bonus activity after April AC is submitted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

WAKING UP

[ Cleaning blood from a classroom wall should be a frightening experience for a twelve year old boy. It should unsettle anyone, really – it should stand out as wrong, as something that's not normal. But for some reason, Kai doesn’t seem to find anything strange about it at all.

He scrubs away at the blood without so much as blinking, though he’d complained a little when his classmates first threw the rag his way. Still, in places like this… going against the rules is usually a bad idea.

Not that Kai particularly cares about that. But in a place so unfamiliar, it’s better to get to know what could go wrong before getting himself in any trouble.

Somehow, he’s confident in those conclusions, though he doesn’t know why. The longer he cleans, though… the more he gets the feeling that something is wrong. Not because of the blood, no… it’s because he can’t recall the names of the students here. No matter how hard he tries, his mind comes up blank, and though they feel familiar… there’s clearly a gap in his memory that shouldn’t be there.

It’s suspicious. And the more time passes, the more that suspicion grows – Kai can feel himself becoming tenser, and he gives the students occasional cold glances before turning back to his work. Still, he scrubs, and keeps on going until everything’s clean. After all, he doesn’t want the others to notice that anything’s wrong…

The second everything’s finished, though, Kai’s out of the door without a word. And he quickly walks in the direction of the front doors – the path comes to him naturally, which is strange, because he doesn’t think he’s ever walked it before. But that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter at all. The only thing that matters is…

Kai pulls at the doors. …They don’t budge at all. ]

Damnit.

[ Somehow, he’s not surprised at all. ]

GRADUATION

[ By now, everything’s come back to Kai. His real life, the fact that he doesn’t belong here – everything. And it makes him feel sick to know that he’d fallen for any of it for even a second. The fact that he still has memories from this school, though they can’t possibly be real… it’s unsettling beyond words.

Just how did he get here, and who did this to him? To mess with his memories to that extent… it must be someone who has an extraordinary amount of power – power that Kai can’t even imagine. All Kai knows is that he needs to figure it out – and he has to escape.

That’s right. This is essentially a kidnapping. And what’s worse is that he doesn’t even have Dranzer with him – meaning he’s completely defenceless, and completely on his own. His team aren’t here either, though he supposes it’s good for them that they weren’t dragged into this along with him. But…

The gut-churning, uncomfortable feeling that Kai’s been feeling deep within his stomach for a while now… If he were to identify it, he’d have to call it fear. …He’s afraid. It shouldn’t surprise him, to realize that, yet somehow it does – he thought he’d escaped fear a long time ago. Fear is a useless emotion, though – it won’t help him get out of this place alive. …It never did before.

So he buries it down, and gets to analyzing the situation. …It’s a process that comes far too easily to him.

The doors and windows both won’t open, and can’t break – he’d tried to get out that way even before this joke of a graduation ceremony. That means his best bet for getting out of here is to research – to learn the secrets of the school, and this place, until he’s figured out how he was taken here to begin with.

Just to be safe, though, he approaches the doors, and once he’s there, pushes against them as hard as he can. Yep – he’s not gonna be phasing through any time soon. ]

Well, it was worth trying.

[ All of a sudden, though, Kai can feel someone staring at him, their gaze drilling into the back of his skull. He turns around to spot you, and with a slight scowl, speaks. ]

What are you looking at?

WILDCARD

[ Feel free to throw anything at Kai here! I’ve taken him from the end of season one, for anyone who cares about that – and I’m available for plotting at

Rivenix or over PMs if you prefer. Thanks! ]

[Someone very politely taps Kai on the shoulder.]

Could you move over? I found a crowbar in the janitor's closet.

I'm probably not strong enough to do anything with it considering how sturdy and probably-magic these doors are, but it's better than nothing.

[Seems like another transfer student has escalated before Kai got the chance.]

Edited 2021-03-21 18:09 (UTC)

Hmm?

[ There's a hint of suspicion in Kai's eyes as he turns around and looks up at the girl standing beside him. But at the same time, he recognizes that her idea of using a crowbar isn't a bad one. ]

...Go ahead. See if you can't get it open. [ And he steps back to let her step in and give it a try. ]

[Ritsuka hasn't ever used a crowbar before, but the principle is simple enough; jam the hook end into the crack and pull.

Of course, despite all the flexing of her (fairly toned, actually) muscles, the crowbar doesn't do a thin. Things are never that easy when you're Ritsuka Fujimaru, but she gives it the old college try nonetheless.

Soon enough, she pulls back and wipes some sweat from her brow.] ...yeah, I figured that wouldn't work.

We're probably going to have to wait until everyone else leaves to get the power tools out of shop class, but honestly I have a feeling they'll be just as effective as this hunk of metal.

Let me try, first.

[ He's probably no stronger than she is, especially considering he's - well, twelve (though he himself is considerably muscular.) But Kai doesn't seem to care about that at all as he holds out a hand, practically demanding that the crowbar from her.

This kid isn't exactly known for his politeness. ]

[Ritsuka has seen children younger than Kai rip literally all of Scotland Yard to shreds with some knives and a fog machine. Well, okay, Jack wasn't an actual child, but also Illya could fire beams that make craters the size of small towns so Ritsuka's point still stands. If he thinks he can do it, she'll believe him.

Without a moment of hesitation, she hands it over.]

[ With the crowbar in hand, Kai shoves the crowbar into the wedge of the door... before pulling with all his might.

But no matter how he grits his teeth in frustration, and pulls until his muscles ache - the door's not giving a bit. He knows a lost cause when he sees one - so eventually, he gives up, turning back to Ritsuka and holding out the crowbar to her. ]

No luck. Whatever this door's made of, it's strong. Here.

[Ritsuka takes the crowbar, goes to put it down, realizes that there's not really anywhere she can put it down, pauses, then awkwardly hooks it around her skirt's waistband. If she can find one of her field-ready Mystic Codes it'll be easier to carry around, at least.]

I'm hardly an expert, but this is starting to look like magecraft to me. [Ritsuka crosses her arms, staring at the door thoughtfully.] Unless we're lucky enough to find an expert in, uh... Bounded Fields, I don't think we're getting out of here without discovering the trick.

Magecraft?

[ Now that's not what Kai was expecting to hear. Magecraft? As in, magic? ]

Oi, what the hell are you talking about? Explain.

I'm not exactly an expert on the subject. [Ritsuka sighs, leaning against the door. Dangit, normally someone way more competent than her is around to explain this kind of stuff. Now she's really regretting not paying attention during EMIYA's lectures.] ...really, I know basically nothing other than a few terms that get tossed around pretty often by people a lot smarter than I am.

But, yeah. Magecraft is a fancy word for magic. [She can already hear so many of her poor teachers quibbling about how magecraft is not, in fact, magic, but she barely remembers the specifics of that distinction anyways and definitely isn't the one to try and explain it.] This kind of thing has a tendency to happen to me a lot because of my job, so at least some of the knowledge has managed to penetrate my thick skull.

...if not the actual know-how, haha.

From what I understand and, well, personal experience, Bounded Fields are places where some kind of magic rule is applied across the whole area, and it's typically really hard for people to get in and/or out. Which seems like what's happening here, given this school's... everything.

Edited 2021-03-21 22:02 (UTC)

That's ridiculous-

[ Is what Kai says instinctively, but he quickly shuts his mouth. He can't exactly dismiss the idea of magic existing out of hand... after all, he knows all about Sacred Beasts, and the kind of power they have. Can he really claim with certainty that magic doesn't exist?

This is... a bit different from that, though. Really, he'd have to be incredibly naive to believe her so easily... but... ]

Let's say I believe you. What kind of a job do you have that makes you experienced in magic?

[ ...This is the part where she starts laughing, and makes fun of him for falling for it, right? ]

Not so much "job" as "sedated and hauled to An-" [Wait, is the location of Chaldea still supposed to be a secret even though the world has been wiped clean of all life and replaced with horrifying alien trees projecting dreams of dead end histories? Ritsuka decides to stay on the safe side, she does not want to catch any more flak from Goredolf when she figures out a way home.] "-nnnnnn undisclosed location because they needed just one more guy to have an even forty-eight members on the team and I apparently have just barely enough magic circuits to fit the bill except I was the only one who dodged the explosion that took out every other candidate so I was stuck with all of their jobs and had no idea that magic even existed before I stumbled into the blazing command room and was punted back to the year 2004."

[Yeah, that just about sums up the first day of Ritsuka's past two years. It's been a wild ride, Kai.]

Again, though, I'm, like, the worst mage. I can't even do the standard shooty spell unless I put on a special jumpsuit and concentrate really hard, and even then it takes a long time for me to get enough energy to do it again. Plus, like I said, most magecraft theory stuff goes straight over my head.

[ ...Okay, so she's serious. And making absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Thinking about it, there was Team Shadows in Europe... They clearly had supernatural powers, and were capable of doing things that shouldn't be possible. So Ritsuka's words aren't exactly out of the realm of possibility.

Even so.... ]

You're talking like I should know what you're talking about. But, whatever. You're saying these- Bounded Fields mean that we can't escape this place?

Edited 2021-03-23 05:54 (UTC)

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tempingforatlas - 2021-03-24 21:22 (UTC) - Expand

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phoenixhearted - 2021-03-25 04:48 (UTC) - Expand

You. Any luck?

[ Kind of obviously not, but Ala leans to the side to peer around Kai anyways, almost hopeful. She keeps her hands clasped behind her back and out of the way, a smile on her face, biting a bit at her bottom lip because Kai doesn't look the sort to appreciate it if she were to laugh right now. ]

I've seen people leave! Let's hide somewhere and watch- maybe we can figure out the secret!

[ Kai can't help but be a little annoyed by Ala's seemingly cheerful attitude. But she hasn't exactly done anything wrong - maybe she just doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation. It reminds him a little of a certain someone he knows... ]

...Somehow, I doubt it'll be that easy. But watching might not be a bad idea.

Sometimes answers are easy! Don't go hoping things are tough!

[ She lets herself laugh this time, gesturing with both hands for him to come with her so they can hide behind one of the rows of lockers. ] Or would hiding on top be better...? [ They're too small to hide inside, which would have been cool to do if they were, perfectly hidden in the darkness with only that tiny slit on the front to peek through. ]

[ ...What an optimist... ]

There's no need to over-complicate things. Let's just watch from here.

[ Though as he moves to hide behind the lockers, Kai can't help but start feeling a little bit stupid. Is this really going to work...?

[ It's stupid and it's not going to work. Instead of finding her own hiding spot, Ala goes ahead and crouches next to Kai, close enough to bump shoulders because she needs to huddle close to stay hidden as she peers over his shoulder to watch that same door.

Surely more than one student sees them as they walk by, but nobody says anything. Reaching the door, though... all Ala can see is their backs, students raising a hand to push open a door that never opens, the edges of their form blurring as they walk through the door that shouldn't let them. If something's happening in front of them just before they exist, she can't make that out at all. ]

[ A visibly annoyed expression appears on Kai's face, but he doesn't say anything about it. After all, she is trying to hide, so she kind of has to get this close. That doesn't make it any less irritating, though.

He watches for a while, but... as expected, there doesn't seem to be any kind of trick to way that the students are leaving. They simply... walk through the door, as if it isn't there at all. ]

I don't think we'll be getting out that way. I wonder if they're even real...?

[ Though he remembers Team Shadows, who could also appear and disappear at will - and they were certainly real. Still, there's something... unsettling about these students in particular. Something that makes him wonder if they even belong in this reality at all...

Huh? Of course they're real. One of them threw a washcloth at my face.

[ They're real enough to mess with her, at least, real enough to talk with her and laugh with her and treat her like a friend. They're people she's interacted with and feels like she knows and that makes them real to her... though the other part of her says that's not what Kai is talking about. ]

What if we were right there next to them? Like thiiiiiiiiis close? [ she leans against his shoulder demonstratively ] Maybe we'd be able to slip through?

...Oi. Get off me.

[ Kai himself steps away, bristling with irritation. Why is he even going along with this girl's suggestions again? ...Then again, as stupid as they are, it's not like he has any better ideas.

So with that, Kai walks over to one of the students who looks like they're about to leave the building. Reluctantly, he gets as close to them as possible - and they're solid, he's sure of it; he can feel their body pressing up against his. But when they walk towards the door... Kai once more finds himself unable to leave, where the student next to him shimmers and passes through the door unobstructed.

He turns back to Ala. ]

Nothing. Any more bright ideas?

[ Ala quickly reconstructs her expression so it doesn't look like she was just laughing at him running into the door while the other students just stepped on through. ]

Mm... There are other doors. Only one door to exit the entire building's a fire hazard, right? And if we can't get any of the doors open, there's plenty of windows and plenty of floors. There's the roof.

The windows might be worth trying. And if we can get up to the roof...

[ ...Kai doesn't even spare Ala a glance before he turns and starts walking away, looking around for any windows he can spot. It seems like he's not particularly interested in teaming up with her, though it's not like he told her not to follow him, either.

Now, if he can just find a window... ]

[ Not being shooed away is good enough for Ala, who tags along and is content to stay half a step behind Kai and let him take charge. She already put forth some ideas, after all, so it's his turn.

At least there's a lot of windows around, several inside each room they're able to get to but none of them open. Asking another student about it just gets them weird looks, a warning about leaving the windows alone because it's still cold out and it'll be bad to let a draft in while the school is closed and empty.

Nobody mentions avoiding the gorinto on the sills. Perhaps it's obvious not to touch them, and doesn't warrant a warning. ]

[ As they keep trying the windows, Kai can find himself growing more and more frustrated. It looks like getting out of here isn't going to be that easy - though he could've guessed that from the start. Somehow, he doubts there'll be easy access to the roof, either.

Of course, that doesn't mean that he intends on giving up. If the conventional methods don't work, then he'll have to focus on gathering information, first... Playing the long game, as it were.

He doesn't touch the gorinto. He touched it once before, before the graduation ceremony, and... he doesn't want his memories getting messed with like that again. ]

If we can't get to the roof, we'll have to focus on surviving for now. I'm sure the people who brought us here will show themselves eventually... there must be something they want. But what...?

[ ...Once more, Kai finds himself wishing that he had Dranzer with him. He doesn't know how it would help him in this situation, but... he's sure that with Suzaku by his side, he wouldn't be feeling nearly as uneasy as he's feeling now. ]

wake up

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OOC

Kai Hiwatari | Beyblade

Waking Up

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i'm canonblind but ritsuka's canon sounds amazing ahsdhgkjfh

IT SURE IS but also don't look up jack her design is terrible. and illya's. the game's bad w/kids

ahhhh that sucks, i hate when games are like that... :'))

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graduation

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