one reconnection ➱ text post

[dereban]

Who: Himeko Inaba and YOU.
What: It's a reintroduction--this is primarily a text post, but can be moved to action, of course.
When: 9/21
Where: Your PDAs.
Warnings: None for now, but potential mentions of death later.

vs nalobql pna ernq guvf cyrnfr ercyl hfvat gur jbeq nccyr

My hand slipped, sorry. I'm super unused to these PDAs. Newfangled tech, am I right? I hope I didn't bother too many people. How's everyone doing tonight?

[OOC: As a note - the supposed 'gibberish' is actually a ROT13 cipher if anybody wants to ICly solve it.]

Comments

un: n.yashiro

[mermaidcursed]

inaba-san?

where are you

[dereban]

3-B classroom.

[mermaidcursed]

( nene doesn't bother replying- not really. just shoves her pda back into her windbreaker's pockets and runs across the courtyard, up the stairs- nothankyouhellevator- and if she bumps into walls as she takes too-wide turns in her haste no she doesn't.

(yes she does there will be bruises on her shoulder later.)

when nene gets there- she's... it's easy to see time's passed. she has real bangs now. her hair's longer. there's scars that weren't there before peaking out from her sleeves, dark shadows under her eyes- )

Inaba-san? Is- is it really you? This isn't some- some stupid trick the school's doing, right?

un: r.ranger

[rearranger]

[ Hmm...? What's this... ]

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ🍎

[ does it still count if it's an emoji instead of the word ]

[dereban]

[Inaba is plenty observant to notice that. She's also noticed a few things when she was looking at her PDA--how much time has passed without her. And that puts her on edge, just slightly.

She rubs the nape of her neck a bit, still feeling a little sore as a free hand wraps around the pendant around her neck.]

It's me.

[She realizes that her voice is a little throaty and that it's a little more difficult to speak, as if she hasn't drank any water in a while--]

I mean... I don't think I have a way to prove myself, though.

[dereban]

That's a cute face.

[Is she counting it or not, who knows.]

[mermaidcursed]

I- I don't think I'd know a way either--

( tentatively, nene slides the door behind her shut, and approaches wide-eyed and... not quite nervous, but disbelieving. after all, with everything that's happened... )

... W-what's the last thing that you remember?

( because it could be two wildly different things for them and hoo boy would that suck. )

[dereban]

[Fingers run through her hair, her brows creasing as she finds herself struggling to recall things.]

I remember- shit, do I have to say it?

[She coughs a little bit, her voice still... struggling even as her hand reaches towards the pendant on her chest.]

Someone must have... attacked me from behind.

[rearranger]

I know. (･ω<)☆

qvq lbh whfg jnag gb frr jub pbhyq svther vg bhg? (・・ ) ?

[ It probably is just as simple as scouting out others who might know ciphers, and certainly one could without having any real talent, but that's fine. ]

[dereban]

You use them often, I'm guessing?

n yvggyr

un: s.tsukimi

[notsosou]

[He'd been avoiding doing more than just reading the network, but his frantic post kind of broke that streak and... he's a little curious. Hand slipped, huh.]

Gnxvat n ebyy pnyy? Ab nccyr sbe gur grnpure, fbeel.

[It's been a while since he's done any ciphers, but it's like riding a bike.]

[dereban]

fbzrguvat yvxr gung

v jnf


tbar


vg ybbxf yvxr. sbe n ybat gvzr

[notsosou]

.........

[Yes he is... typing out the ellipses. Gone... after what Nene told him he can guess where but... people can return from that? Seems like least one other person can read this (hi Ranger) though, so.]

Ubj ybat, vs lbh qba'g zvaq zr nfxvat?

[Before or after last graduation, is what he's really wondering.]

[dereban]

Gur ynfg qngr V erzrzore jnf rneyl Znl.

vanon...

[notsosou]

[Huh. Filing that away...]

Jryy... jrypbzr onpx, Vanon-fna.

N ybg'f unccrarq fvapr gura... unf nalbar tbg lbh hc gb fcrrq lrg?

sometimes rot13 gives you really funny things

[dereban]

Gunaxf. Nygubhtu V jvfu V qvqa'g unir gb 'jrypbzr onpx' va gur svefg cynpr.

Unira'g lrg. Rkcrpgvat n ybg gubhtu.

Ubcvat gung "n ybg" vfa'g fghcvq.

it does i love it

[notsosou]

[Not stupid, with everyone here? Oh boy. He can at least start with the most recent notable bit of common knowledge, thanks to the murder mystery meeting. He doesn't want to connect this username to his face any more than necessary, so he's trying to stick to things it wouldn't be unique to know.]

Qrcraqf ubj fghcvq fbhy-fjnccvat vf gb lbh... Lbh zvtug trg nfxrq gb cebir lbhe perqragvnyf, j.

[This is his first time interacting with her... so even if she is some kind of replacement... The doll Reko was still basically a person, and didn't even know.]

[mermaidcursed]

Then... you don't know-

( nene inhales, hiding her face in her hands for a moment before putting them back down, trying to look inaba in the eye without flinching. wildly different things it is... but if it's just her original death, then maybe for inaba's sake, that's better. )

Whatever happened to you, after that you were reanimated- alongside three others- for the 'student council elections'- it. It was a dogfight. All the candidates and you four, and some knives. ... I'm actually really glad that you don't remember it.

( she watched people get torn to pieces. )

... A lot has happened since then. W-we have... dormitories now, with real beds. If you want to come rest. I'll try to fill you in on what's happened.

un: k.ishimaru

[moraloutrage]

Inaba-kun?

Is that you are you alive???

[dereban]

They what--!?

[Okay, sorry, immediately once she's told about the whole ordeal, her body immediately tensing up and face turning absolutely pale, coughing a bit because she overdid it with her voice.

There's conflicting feelings about the fact that there's something she doesn't remember - she's always hated having gaps in her memory. She knows it's not her fault, but...she can't help the irritation that slips onto her features, like a proverbial mask shattering. Her grip on the pendant around her neck tightens even more, like she's using it as a lifesaver.

Realizing that she probably shouldn't spend too much energy overworking her voice for the time being, she takes out her PDA and starts to type, her fingers deft and quick--it's evident that she's well practiced before she shows it back to Nene, trying to steady her breathing.]

I'd appreciate it.

I assume they're shared. I don't know if I'd want that.

[She wants to wholeheartedly believe that none of the 'transfers', so to speak would do that to her, but--]

[dereban]

In the text.

Flesh meetings are by appointment only.

[She's joking, mostly.]

[dereban]

[...]

[Well, that sure is a sentence that she didn't think that she'd have to read here--]

Abg fghcvq.

Penml, fher. Ohg abg fghcvq.

[Although she certainly isn't going to admit that she has intimate knowledge of soul swapping. Nope.]

[mermaidcursed]

( when inaba coughs, nene practically leaps to her side to- to fret, try and support, whatever she can do- ugh, she should have grabbed inaba something to drink on her way up. once she's sure that it's not going to get worse, she steps back a bit though. )

The rooms are shared. All but six are two beds, the rest have four. There's also showers, a laundry room... but you have to get tokens from the student store and it's stupidly pricey.

( she tries not to hover too much as she takes the lead back to the dorms, but... inaba looks so tired, honestly. it's... of course nene's glad to see her, and it helps confirm on some level what chiaki told her, too. but how? )

... After the elections, Ishimaru-kun was made a member of the student council- he was the survivor. After that, we found out it was Komaeda-san who killed Okane-san, the original student council president. There's... been more murders between her death and now. Izumi Sena, Chiaki Kudo, Clamor and... three others. ( n. not counting the horrible imp slaughter. or the flour sack babies. ) Natsume Sakasaki was behind Izumi-nii, Kudo-san and two of the three, under the influence of a spirit. Clamor... h-his body was stolen from him, by a third year student trying to cheat his way to graduation, we discovered everything ( probably? things are still being Meeting'd. ) this month.

... It's... been a rough summer. But I can only imagine what it's been like for you.

[dereban]

[She does feel exhausted in many ways, but she wants to believe that she can power through. And she's certain that she'll be fine physically after a while, but emotionally? That's definitely going to take some time.

Inaba listens carefully as she follows Nene to the dorm rooms, listening to the words and mentally jotting them down--she'll have to start taking notes again. Which isn't a surprise.

She keeps to typing her words on her PDA, however.]

Tokens from the student store? Does that mean that the student store is open now?

[She might have to check it out later and see...]

Did he ever say why? ['Why he did it', she means.] But why would someone cheat their way to graduation... actually, do you guys know what the requirements for graduating are?

[Although she does frown at the whole 'spirit influence' thing--that's not something she's very fond of. Or bodysnatching, really.]

I can't say that I'm entirely fine.

[Actually being honest about that for once, huh.]

But I suppose I could say 'it could be worse'. Maybe that 'worse' part will come up later.

[mermaidcursed]

Yes, just last month I think... It has clothes and school supplies, and the shopkeeper is able to get us supplies like shampoo and stuff. ... I-I don't know if your merit points stayed? So I'll help you get stuff if you need anything.

( yeah there's been a lot of hinky shit going on and nothing is fine but it's fine! it's fine. they're. learning things. and stuff. )

Komaeda-san? Ah... that was to motivate us to work together, and to rely on Shuichi-kun, basically. ... No one is happy with him. As for Mr. Impostor... not that I'm aware of. But grades were a part of it, and Clamor was... the one who had the spell book. ...

The requirements... we don't know everything, but grades do seem to be part of it. But... all of this, it can't just be for grades. There has to be more.

( and there is, but like. her npc contact thread is just barely after this so! exciting!!! )