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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.

You open your eyes and the inside of your left wrist is stinging; you stop scratching, pulling your other hand away before the angry red lines on your skin splits and bleeds. Somebody calls your name, just as you see a pan slide off the stovetop out of the corner of your eye, and the stinging on your wrist flares to a searing burn, hot oil splattering you and the person next to you.

You open your eyes. You're flat on your back in a room that smells of paint thinner, your chest is heavy, and it's so hard to breathe. Something is crushing your throat- a fluffy white cat with golden eyes, purring and kneading away, but then somebody calls your name and its fluff puffs twice its size in surprise, claws sinking into your throat, hooking and tearing as the cat scampers away.

You open your eyes. A kendo shinai comes down hard on your head, the one in your hand failing to come up quick enough to guard, your classmates groaning in sympathy all around you. Your head is spinning, you feel sick.

You open your eyes. You and a friend are seated side by side in the clock tower, back to the walls and feeling the resounding toll of the bell fill your entire being as the count reaches ten, eleven, twelve. The world turns to silence. Your friend opens their mouth to speak, but you cannot hear them. You cannot hear anything.

(tw: implied suicide) You open your eyes. Your classmate sits on the other side of your desk, a spread of sandwiches and juice boxes between you and the window to your side providing a clear view of the upper branches of the wisteria tree in full bloom. And the strangled look on an upperclassman's face as they fall headfirst from the sky on the other side of the glass, hurtling towards the pavement of the courtyard below.

You open your eyes—-

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 is an npc and will be available for threading in his toplevel during the vernal equinox and graduation day, but not during spring break. After the game opens, he will be available as a student for threading on the npc contact page. The graduating student will not be available for threading in this TDM.

✽ During spring break, all npc students and faculty will be absent from the school, with exception of one white cat and one black cat. For this TDM, in addition to the areas greyed out and inaccessible on the locations page, the faculty office and nurse's office are locked and unavailable, as there is no staff. The library and club rooms remain open, but supplies will not replenish themselves.

✽ 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.

Comments

[commences]

( language may, language! luckily for may, komaeda's not going to go out his way to drop the feline into the water. that's way too messy and he only has so many clothes to change into — with that said, his attire is already getting drenched from wading in the water.

the sickly, which is komaeda, isn't going to comment on the smell.. and lucky for him his fingers have ceased bleeding so his own blood doesn't mix into the liquid. imagine getting possessed like that. )

...

( with his au natural hand, he reaches out to the wall to runs his fingers along the surface. he presses his fingers together to rub the wet substance around before sniffing his fingers. he was just a little curious, okay? though, it's short-lived as he watches the cat's eyes focused on a door. one foot after the other, he closes the distance between themselves and their goal. he reaches out to the door's handle, but he stops before touching it.

the atmosphere here hardly makes sense, and there's something troubling him — would you call avoiding falling face first into this messy water good luck or bad luck (especially when may could have tripped him up) so he has a few reservations about what might be on the other side. )

...

[adsum]

[ May pees down the back of Komaeda's neck.

If this isn't replied to by the time I wake up tomorrow then maybe I'll writing something nicer but for now, whatever liquid sample Komaeda's wiped off the wall is overpowered by the smell of cat piss.

Only good things can await beyond the door now!!!! ]

[commences]

( me replying because i'm real as hell, komaeda is going to take the piss and he's going to like it. this has to be... bad luck, or maybe his hesitation was — either way, he can feel the warm liquid running down his shoulder, trickling down his back. the moisture in the room already had it feel like his clothes were sticking to him —

now the pee, the pee sealed the deal. now it's really sticking, and the smell of urine is filling his senses that he's unable to choose how he wants to feel. what he knows is that they better having laundry machines around here because..... )

Man.. not cool, May. ( was she scared? a belated response to what if he dropped may in the water? either way it's gross. ) How am I this unlucky..

( it's a motivator though, making komaeda reach out to the door to push it open — )

[adsum]

[ What school has laundry machines? You take your stinky PE uniform home and wash them yourself.

The door opens outward to...!! A quiet, empty hallway. May leaps off Komaeda's shoulder and thuds onto the ground with a little mrrp! and starts trotting down the hall again with her tail aloft. The ground is dry, and the moisture from the stairwell doesn't seem to creep much past the door that keeps it contained— once Komaeda leaves, it'll all be gone by the time he returns to the stairs later, dry but just slightly tacky, like morning cotton mouth. It's all okay. It's nice and dry and quiet in the hall, so don't mind that.

May turns the corner towards the student council room, but partway down the hall, Komaeda may hear a faint skitterskittering in the ceiling above him. Hm! ]

[commences]

( komaeda will be rolling the school gacha in hopes of a washing machine, you'll see!

that's something to make a mental note of, if the water didn't come from the side of the door — how was it all over the steps. his pants is even tinged a pink hue from walking through it. he needs his entire fit washed, and you know what, he will be going to the bathroom after this journey — life hacks! that said, as he now walks on this drier floor, he leaves behind traces of himself with every step. )

May, you'd tell me if you were keeping u—

( why does he randomly talk to this cat? well, this is his friend now, despite not knowing it himself. though, he guesses their conversation has to come to an end as he hears something scraping above their heads. don't tell me this the man who probably lives up there with komaeda i've been theorizing —

but he is curious despite not showing it, he's glancing around for a vent or maybe a chair just in case.... )

Hey, are we being followed? It's cheating to go through the ceiling.

( stfu komaeda. )

[adsum]

[ "Myaah?" Sometimes May talks back and Komaeda can play pretend, but when he turns his attention to the ceiling, the cat slows its trot and looks up too, pink little nose twitching slightly as it stares at a point further down the hall where Komaeda had first heard the sound— towards the direction the man I mean sound is heading, instead.

There's no vents around, but they're by the art club room and there's probably stools or something in there for him to give himself a boost and poke around the ceiling for any loose tiles.

Whether Komaeda goes to get a stool or sticks around for now, the cat plops its butt down and sits, staring up at that spot on the ceiling. ]

[commences]

( this is like the man who lives under my bed to stab my belly button so i never sleep on my stomach, nimise fact of the night! anyway, komaeda continues to stare around and once there's no vent to think about going through — he glances at the rooms close by and bingo. he's making his way into the art room in search of a stool — once found, he picks one up and grabs a... chisel.. and if there's none of those, maybe a pair of scissors to slide into jacket before walking out like a normal human being. )

Let's see..

( he sets the stool down close to the wall before he proceeds to walk on top of it. one he's got a steady footing on it, he starts to stand up on the tip of his toes to push at a tile to see if it's loose. )

May, come under this stool.

[adsum]

[ Komaeda obtains one (1) chisel. It is stained a light yellow, like somebody had left it laying in paint for too long and it's hardened to the point where it's hard to fully scrape off.

The tile is loose!

May proceeds to scale Komaeda's pant leg. ]

[commences]

( that wasn't what he said to do may, he's looking out for your safety! luckily for may, komaeda won't knock the cat off so it's allowed to climb up him if it wants into the ceiling as well. once he pushes the loose tile up and then to the side, he exposes an opening for both of them to travel through.

once may's talons are waist level into komaeda's attire, he's picking up the feline and holding it up so that they can go into the ceiling first. once he's sure may has no trouble, komaeda hooks his fingers on the side of the entrance and proceeds — albeit tired and slow — to pull himself up and with a deep breath because god, he don't exercise — )

Huff.. huff.. We made it..

[adsum]

[ We made it! He...? made it?

Komaeda finds himself in the ceiling space utterly alone, as far as he can tell with the only light coming from the missing ceiling tile by his legs. It's quiet, outside of the sound of his own breathing, and he may or may not inhale a whole lot of dust- strange, only because his experience in the crawl spaces thus far has been the conspicuous lack of dust.

He still smells like cat pee. But now there's an additional layer of something more pungent a bit further in front of him. ]

[commences]

( it was a team effort!

aside from that, with the dust clogging his bad lungs because he's already sick... he starts to cough. he's polite about it, making sure to do it inside of his elbow so he doesn't spread germs. cough, cough! he's never had a problem like this before, normally when he goes through these areas, it takes a few deep breaths to get himself together.

the dust is super-effective against him, mixed with the smell of piss.. yeah, he's having it rough. give him a moment to get himself together, and once he's finally able to breath steadily — he looks towards may. he reaches out, patting the feline on the head softly as he notices the dust flutter in the air to and fro, and how it sticks to the cat's fur. )

You're getting..

( dirty...? how is that possible, that shouldn't be possible. he's looking around the ceiling space, using the light from the hole they came through to see what's around — of course, when he finally stops breathing through his mouth to catch his breath, he switches to his nose and..

...!? what the fuck?

quickly, he uses his other hand to cover his nose as he shifts forward so his legs no longer lay across the open ceiling tile, and he's even more into the area. )

it's going to be 234890934 yrs before I have tagging time so we're going turbo

[adsum]

[ What the fuck is the cat not liking the dust at all and zipping off into the darkness and abandons Komaeda for fresher air. As he inches forward in the space, the hand not covering his nose comes down to squash rat... droppings... They're still warm and wet, too.

If Komaeda is brave enough to press forward and wonder when his luck's going to turn around, several meters later he'll come across the source of the smell: an almost entire wheel of stinky soft cheese. There are definitely little nibble marks all over it, but he can scrape that off or not and it's fine? maybe? Several more meters he'll find a small hoard of food of various states of freshness- cheese, nuts, dried fruit, cat kibble, cereal, popcorn kernels, and jellybeans.

THIS IS ALL TO SAY, Lily May was not able to deliver on Komaeda' original request for vending machine currency, but the smell of cat pee naturally scares mice, and the skittering of their departure alerted him to this hidden food stash, and so, in a roundabout way, she did deliver and Komaeda owes her treats the next time he sees her, thanks. ]

LILY MAY.. YOU ARE MY ANGLE.. MY CORNER

[commences]

( what the FUCK, not his poopoo hands now, yeah, komaeda's really going to need a bath. okay, but who knew that his journey would lead him to a hoard of food and snacks. now this could be his lucky day, or this could be another turn of bad luck — either way, he's not complaining, lily may did her job! had me fooled, thought there was going to be a dead body up here and komaeda would have to turn this school into cannibals (for hope)!

now with all these snacks, komaeda will just have to hide it under his shirt or something to carry it all back with him. uhm, about that whole ass wheel... you know what, it can come with him too. what it comes down to, even here, in this strange place — he really is lucky.

he would pat her, but he's not going to rub wet, rat turds on her fur (and he just realized she dipped the fuck out) — instead, she'll be meeting him later when he makes a bowl of cat food with a little treat on top. get ready to feast like a god, lily may hope komaeda.

tune in next time... ! )