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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

[moraloutrage]

[Ishimaru does not seem bothered by Noah's attempt. He doesn't expect adherence to honorifics from others, especially people not from Japan, but he is still intent on using them himself.]

Well, I admit that I have not explored this school comprehensively yet... [The moment his memories became clear, he headed straight for the door!] But I suppose that I have noticed some unusual things here and there!

For starters, the way in which everyone else departed after the graduation ceremony seemed quite unusual! ...And there's also the matter of... well, I keep on feeling as if I am a student of this school, even though I know that this cannot be the case!

[silentabyss]

Ah! Yeah, me too!

[His eyes flying wide, Noah stops mid-stride to wheel around and look Ishimaru in the eye, thinking that maybe actually looking at fellow classmate might jog his memory or that something will just magically click into place. Sadly, no such thing happens. The only thing that comes to his mind is that Noah is the shorter of the two. After a short, awkward moment passes, he turns back around and continues leading the way. Window, window... why's it so hard to find a window?]

I mean, I've never seen a graduation ceremony before, so I wasn't too sure about that. I've also never been to a public school before... But I feel like I've been here before, even though I was last in... uh...

[Of the few things Noah is positive about, he's absolutely sure that he had been on his way to the demon realm, which, unless the demon realm is a whole high school, he doubts he made it there. Would saying that freak Ishimaru out? Probably. Noah expects most people to be scared by that sort of talk. Okay, so, he'll just... come up with something else. No problem.]

Well, I was travelling through the woods, or at least, I feel like I was. [Close enough?] I should have been, anyway. Oh, and when I arrived here and, um... when I woke up, all of the things I had on me were gone. Did that happen to you?

[moraloutrage]

[He skids to a halt as Noah looks him in the eye! Without realizing why he's looking at him, Ishimaru just stares back - intently, but a little confused. And then he'll just continue following him when he moves again.]

Well take it from me! The graduating class usually consists of much more than one person! Not to mention that... well, this was likely just a trick of the eyes, but... it almost seemed as if everyone walked through the doors without even opening them.

[But he laughs off that nonsense with a shake of his head.]

Such a foolish thing I thought I saw! It must have been some trick of the eye. [Then he pauses as he considers Noah's question.] ...Ah, yes. As a matter of fact, I did not have anything that was on my person beforehand. [Which was just his e-Handbook and a note, but still.] Not to mention that I woke up in different clothing! I am relieved that it is another school uniform, at the very least.

[He doesn't know what he would do if he was forced to wear anything other than a school uniform!]

[silentabyss]

[No, no, those kids definitely walked through the doors! Noah has seen enough weird shit in his life to not mistake when more weird shit happens.]

Y-yeah, I'm not going to lie to you, I don't exactly... uh... like these clothes in comparison to my old ones. Don't you think it's weird that you came into the school wearing one set of clothing and woke up in another one? Doesn't that strike you as insanely creepy?

[What's up with that? They took his stuff, undressed him, re-dressed him, and put him in a desk chair? Bizarre. Noah doesn't want to think about it.

So, in an effort to not think about that further, the search continues, this time with his attention exclusively on window-hunting. This does, eventually, turn out to be a fruitful venture — there's a large window with a rather lovely view of the school courtyard! It would be lovelier if they weren't currently stuck here, but hey, pretty things are still pretty even if they pop up in the middle of what Noah thinks is a life-or-death situation.]

Oh, hey.

[His voice is quiet as ever as he announces the presence of the Very Extremely Obvious window. That came out more excited in his head. A few long strides bring him to where there's a simple looking latch mechanism, and Noah figures that their time at this place is done finally and that they can leave. He's absolutely wrong about that, because after trying the latch, he finds that it doesn't budge. At all.

Okay, well, maybe he's physically weaker than he remembers. That's fine! It's fine. He steps aside and motions to it, a look of defeat on his face.]

Please tell me that I'm just going about this wrong.

[moraloutrage]

[Ishimaru frowns in thought as he looks down at his clothing.]

Ah... I suppose that it is somewhat unsettling to think about like that. Unless we changed our clothes ourselves and merely do not recall it? But that aside, there's nothing wrong with wearing a school uniform! It only makes sense, now that we are part of this school, to abide by its regulations! Also, I would daresay that it is quite the neat and orderly look! [He smiles a little as he tries to coax Noah into accepting this.

And eventually they reach that window! A look of relief washes over Ishimaru's features. Surely this shall be their ticket out of this place! He watches patiently as Noah gets to work on the window. ...Getting just a bit nervous while it refuses to open. After Noah steps aside, Ishimaru strides forth to take his place.]

I am sure that you are in some way. But it is no problem! Leave it to me! Perhaps you are merely handling the latch the wrong way... [He grunts, as he keeps on trying different ways of moving the latch, but nothing seems to be working.]

[silentabyss]

[See, handling the latch the wrong way is exactly what Noah thought he was doing, but Ishimaru seems to be struggling as well. Which means... ugh. If brute force doesn't get the window open, are they really stuck here? Is it possible that they can maybe get onto the roof and... climb down the building or something? That seems like a ridiculous athletic feat, though, and might be more likely to get them both killed.

Noah is currently in processing mode with a hand under his chin. The next logical step is obviously to break the window. The second is to try and find another door — a side door or something, though with the front door being impossible to open as it is, that might be a no-go as well. The third is... maybe finding a vent or something to crawl in? Are the vents going to be that accommodating? The fourth idea... the roof?

His head hurts, and his anxiety is mounting.]

Is it... maybe superglued?

[Noah tries another window nearby because, hey, maybe that one is broken, right? He finds that the same is true of this one, however; it doesn't budge, at all. Maybe they're all glued. It's fine, it's fine! They'll just die here, probably. In some foreign school neither of them can recall enrolling in. It's cool.]

I'm going to punch it. [That's a bad idea.] Back up. You don't look like the window-punching sort.

[Most people, in fact, do not punch windows. But should this one actually break, Noah doesn't want Ishimaru to get showered with glass. He winds up, and while Noah doesn't usually punch his way out of situation, it's clear by his stance that he's absolutely some sort of teenage veteran fighter. That punch winds up doing absolutely jack-all save for making a dull kthunk against the glass and bruising the absolute hells out of Noah's right hand. With a justifiably-dramatic OW FUCK, he takes a surprised step backwards and cradles his now very-purple hand.

Perhaps he shouldn't have put his full weight into that swing.]

Unless you want to try, I think the window idea is a bust... [Comes a very strained statement on the matter.]

[moraloutrage]

Hrgghh... Grrrf....

[Ishimaru grunts as he struggles with the latch. He tries pretty much everything, tugging at it from every angle and alternating along every possible application of force! But it still refuses to budge. And so does Ishimaru. It's like his struggle with the door all over again! If anything, this seems even more insulting to his eyes. This window seems even less secured than the door was. It should not be this hard to open!]

...I... do not see any signs of any adhesive in place...

[This leaves them no closer to figuring out why that window is jammed! Soon Noah suggests the window-punching idea. Ishimaru does not approve of it at all, but he still steps back to take a breather, and Noah sets it into action before he has a chance to object. Ishimaru's eyes widen as he sees Noah withdraw his hand.]

Are you alright? You are lucky that it was not worse! If you succeeded in breaking that window, Noah-kun, then you could have suffered worse wounds from the broken glass! And what's worse, you would also be responsible for damaging school property! So please, from now on, Noah-kun, think things through instead of embarking on such a reckless action!

[silentabyss]

[Sheesh, is he really getting a (completely, 100% justified) lecture right now? Isn't damaging school property the least of their concerns? In fact, Noah would say that damaging school property is the only way out!]

Listen, like I said... I've had worse injuries.

[Thinking things through isn't exactly Noah's strong suit. "Reckless" may as well be his middle name. But, the pain in his hand says he might want to consider taking Ishimaru's words to heart. After a moment, Noah offers an acquiescing nod. Okay, fine. No more stupid shenanigans.]

What do we do now, though? Is there a side door or... o-or something we can try?

[moraloutrage]

Worse than that?! [He states in disbelief as he glances back towards that window.] ...In any case, as I said to that, that is no excuse for you to expose yourself to further injury!

[But now he pauses in thought as he considers Noah's words.]

...Ah... I- I am unsure. I did not notice a side door... but we can always do another sweep of the area together! We can find another door or window and work on getting one of those open. We can't give up now! Let's keep on doing our best to get out of here, Noah-kun!

[silentabyss]

[Noah's hand may be a lovely (not-so lovely) shade of dark purple right now, and Ishimaru may not believe it, but this kid has been stabbed before and an all-encompassing bruise is nothing to him. He's not going to share that, because he's already done a number on poor Ishimaru and doesn't want to subject him to further concern.

At the very least, unlike Noah, Ishimaru seems to have a positive outlook on this whole situation. It's refreshing, honestly.]

Right... I didn't see one either, but you'd think there would be more than one entrance. [That's probably true of a normal school.] We could try going upstairs and seeing about the windows there, but...

[But I'm not sure how inclined you are to try jumping out of windows, are Noah's unspoken words.]

[moraloutrage]

[People as young as them should be subject to a minimal amount of pain! What sort of life does this other boy leave?!]

But we might as well! [He finishes that sentence for him.] We should try every conceivable exit. There has to be something that is not locked! if we could get one of the upstairs windows opened, then perhaps some sort of makeshift rope could be functioned, with which one can safely reach the ground!

[The wheels are turning in his head!]

[silentabyss]

[Unfortunately, Elrios is a dangerous place, and also people are assholes, so Noah's "normal" is no one else's normal.]

A makeshift rope is a good idea. [And here's Noah, thinking that they would just climb down the side of the building like monkeys or toss themselves out the windows. Think smart, kid.] We passed by a staircase earlier. Let's start with that.

[Noah therefore sets off down the hall back the way they came, nodding toward the stairwell once they reach it. He shoves his injured hand in his pocket to keep it out of sight. If they run into any other students, he doesn't want to be questioned.]

Do you think any of the classrooms are locked? Maybe... maybe there's something in one of them that can help us? Especially if we need a makeshift rope...

[moraloutrage]

[As Ishimaru moves with a formal stride, he keeps himself thinking about the ways to make their escape. He gives a firm nod at Noah's suggestion.]

A good course of action! From what I have observed so far, there do seem to be some classrooms that are open. Those would be good places to check for helpful items! In that case, perhaps we should search a classroom first. There is even a chance that we could find something that could be helpful for opening a window!

[silentabyss]

Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe there's a supply closet somewhere too...

[Noah hangs a left once they're at the top of the stairwell, making headway into the first classroom he sees. No one else appears to be in here, which is perfectly fine with him!

So, rummaging and rifling begins. Noah... really isn't sure where they can find stuff for a makeshift rope. Checking every inch of every open classroom seems like their best bet in his mind.]

It would be handy, [he starts as he pulls out a really nice pen and eyeballs it for a second like he's going to pocket it before putting it back,] if students kept their clothes in their desks so that we could tie them all together.

[moraloutrage]

A supply closet! Of course, there absolutely has to be one! [He pounds a fist against his other hand as he makes the realization!] That will be another place to check out.

[Ishimaru then follows him into the classroom and joins him in rummaging around.]

Clothing? ...Well yes, the material could be used in that way. But it would be a disgrace to use school uniforms like that! There has to be another way.

[silentabyss]

[This guy really likes his school uniforms, huh.]

Okay, but... [How does Noah get through to one so academically inclined?] What if the only thing we can find are school uniforms? Do we forgo making a rope in that case?

[He doesn't want to say "school uniforms don't matter right now, we're in a nightmare situation, get with the program" because that would just be mean, but... also, he kind of wants to say that. Noah refrains from doing so, since he's antagonized Ishimaru enough today.

The rifling through stuff continues!]

[moraloutrage]

[They are the pride of a school! An important symbol not to be besmirched!

Noah's question seems to give Ishimaru quite the moral struggle.]

Hrgh...! I- I... I feel that... We should not even ask such a question until we have exhausted all other options! Now, please get back to searching!

[Ishimaru looks through some more desks - carefully, respectfully! - but he's not really finding much of use.]