(open) break yourself inside out

[decrypter]

who: Whoever wants to show up.
what: Nine body pileup, who wants to compile info.
when: 10/7, at least
where: Dorms study hall
warnings: Attempted murder over children's games

[in the afternoon, a message shows up on the forums. is she copying Natsume? utterly, since his organization is why she's thinking about this.]

h.adams

Please try to set aside an hour or so of your time this evening at around 7:30 pm to return to the study hall. I'd like to speak with as many people as possible regarding the recent incident in the school.
-H.A.

[and she won't be replying to anything posted below it.

by the time the hour rolls around, Helena's set herself up in the study hall with the rolling whiteboard she took from the school set up. the markers are a toss up between colors, but the important part is there. she's seated herself by it, and when 7:30 hits, an alarm on her PDA goes off. silencing it, she stands up.]

Thank you for coming. I realize it's another demand on people's time, but given the vast scope of the murders, there's more to be said than unsaid. With it, we had no choice but to split up and find what we could, to do our best at the least to remember and categorize what we saw. Generally speaking, I'd like if we could pool our resources to see if we might draw any parallels between what was where, and if there are any peculiarities to distinguish this or that event.

With that said - [she points behind her at the whiteboard, where Rantarou has been kind enough to write out a list] - if we could try to speak individually, we could write down anything critical shared, so we could look at it from a larger perspective. As well, if something comes up in other days, we could reconvene and add in new information.

As I am unable to do it for you, please allow my dependable transcriber to do so. And a final note before we begin - if anyone becomes overly agitated, I request that you kindly step outside until you can keep your voice to a moderate level. Sound echoes well enough without yelling added to the mix.

Let's begin.

Comments

[decrypter]

[meeting coordinator top level, wherein it's noted that Helena is also transcribing the meeting's important facts into a notebook in braille for a second record of events - she knows how people act around here, and doesn't trust the whiteboard to last.

the board itself has a collection of names to remind everyone.

Elizabeth / Minato Arisato
Rika Kawai / Shuichi Saihara
Akira Kijima / Akira Kurusu
Unknown A
Unknown B
Unknown C

if anyone has any questions or wants to approach her directly, it's possible and she'll take conversation with a smile, but she's also quite serious about maintaining a civil environment.

when R.Ryuzaki shows up...well. they'll see if they can come back.]

10/7

[decrypter]

[meeting cancelled due to hangman crimes.]

[starrypoint]

[ooh.......... okay. study hall time. this is such a joy, the last time they were in here subaru argued with a ten year old. he doesn't like remembering finding bodies but boy i guess this past month is "sorry subaru but can you please recall for the class it's important--"]

Uh, so... Found an arm! Left one, by the lockers. And some cat pawprints places too, guess they must've had some fun with it~.

[that's the..... more fun part to talk about ☆ he's still got a breeziness to him, even though he's definitely not great!]

It was charred to a crisp, like the body halves that were hanging. I know there was another one down the hall, 'cause it's kinda hard not to hear Ishiban yelling, and there was one over the elevator too.

[hinata mvp for deciding it's someone else's problem in the end ngl love that for him (pos, gen)]

That's the one I decided to try my hand at, 'cause he didn't seem that bad off compared to the others~. Knife in the back, one of the ones from the kitchen in the school, but... he had his eyes gouged out. So that was the weirdest thing about him.

[moraloutrage]

I... I see.

[He pauses for a few moments as he thinks about one detail, as if unsure if it's something that should be voiced or not.]

Is it possible that... the cats were involved? Has anyone questioned them?

[decrypter]

In regards to his eyes, Subaru...was it more that they were destroyed, or that they were removed? The difference does matter, because an eye is a delicate thing - to remove it is harder than simply crushing it.

[her stylus taps on her notebook, and she thinks. why take the eyes? sheer fun? or a symbol?]

[silentabyss]

[Hi look who showed up to a meeting it's Noah, who looks tired like always, because the kid doesn't sleep, but anyway...]

The... th-the eyeless corpse. I know their name. They were in my class. It's... [His voice shakes softly,] Rue Ryuzaki. S-so, we can write their name down on the board, if you'd like to.

[Unfortunately he happened to see them when walking to go compare sickle-Clamor to Rika's wounds, otherwise he wouldn't know shit about fuck since he didn't go to class that day.]

third floor — rika & saihara

[sisters]

( meanwhile, amami is already filling out a lot of colour-coded details for the third floor onto the board while helena introduces the meeting. he'll add everyone else's notes too if they get their findings in before he does, but at the first available pause, he'll make sure he speaks up too. compared to earlier in the week, at least he's sounding better... determination colours his voice, rather than guilt or grief. though, the short, matter-of-factness with which he speaks might give him away regardless. )

Rika-chan and Saihara-kun were found together on the third floor. They looked like they'd collapsed in the middle of the hall, but once you turned them over, both of them had large, matching wounds that ran through the center of their chests.

Aside from that, there were quite a lot of smaller stab wounds too. Those ones were narrower, so it looks like they used a different weapon. But...

( he sighs, because as if the situation wasn't already bad enough in and of itself? )

... Speaking of a different weapon, it's fairly likely that the scene was tampered with. At least this one was, anyway.

[dereban]

[Inaba was the one who found them, so she'll chime in as well, keeping her cool in spite of the grim situation, also taking physical notes with everything that's being said here.]

It's probably important to note the expressions that they had on their faces as well--they might have seen the person who had done this to them. Maybe even be intimately familiar, too. So it might be important to keep note who may have been close to either of them in particular.

[Which might narrow some things down, but she doesn't want to make any incorrect assumptions one way or another. Not without complete concrete proof.]

There was also a note that was handwritten that we found in 2-C; I brought it with me if anybody wants to take a look at it and see if they can identify the handwriting in any way.

[A beat as she takes the aforementioned note out and then:]

I'm also willing to check everyone's own handwriting against this as well as have someone check my own against it if we really want to clear everyone. Although I doubt that if the culprit were in this room with us that they'd use the same style, it never hurts to be thorough.

2nd floor clue + fun void facts

[subtract]

Komaeda and I did a sweep of the second floor. All we found was a small streak of blood, between the sewing room and the bathroom. Dry and thin, about two to three inches in length, but looked relatively recent... [if Komaeda wants to say it didn't taste like hope, that's on him.] There was nothing else of note that we could find on that floor. No signs of a fight, no bodies. It's unlikely that that any of the messier deaths occurred there, though I find it strange that such an obvious streak of blood was left behind in that place.

It is possible that a fight started there and moved into the other school, however... and there is one other unusual detail we found.

The void that swallows up the other school... something caused it to recede, and not by an insignificant amount. I'd spent quite a length of time in there only a few days prior, and I can say with certainty that it had reached both the cooking and sewing rooms by the 29th of September. But when we went there on the 2nd, it had shrunk back to only encompassing the cooking room of that floor.

I also performed some experiments on the bodies that were found that day, in relation to the other school and the void. [which any body-guarders were likely aware of, so at least they can know the identified bodies were treated respectfully, but feel free to get mad at him anyway] The results were... very interesting. The shadow students showed no interest in any of the nine corpses. It's been my understanding that corpses have always been a topic of interest to them up until now, even ones that had been left dead for many hours, so it's strange to see them not react at all to these ones.

Combined with the unusual changes to the second floor void, I believe something did happen in the other school that night. Something that affected all of the bodies involved...

[devouringdeep]

[He probably makes an amusing sight, lingering off to the side with an almost comically small teacup and saucer that he brought along with him to this meeting. The liquid inside is still hot enough to burn his tongue, and after several attempts to try and power through it anyway he's since decided to be patient for once and wait. Or try to. Which clearly hadn't worked, as he had just tried it again.

In all honesty, he hadn't really intended to come along to this meeting, as he hadn't been present for the body games. Add bringing up talking points on the void, however, makes it worth it.

Taking a moment to smile to himself behind the rim of the teacup, he neatly places it back down on the saucer once again and leans a little more comfortably against the wall, expression easily switching back to impassiveness.]

I'm not surprised how thorough your testing has been thus far, though I have to say I am rather impressed with the lengths you must have gone to in order to test them. I'm interested in hearing the specifics of the theories you personally have that pertain to a hypothetical timeline, if you have any. Whether or not they were disproven by your results.

[starrypoint]

Well, that definitely sounds like someone took a little trip over... It's the same kinda thing Ama-chan did when facing down that jerk puppeting Clamor-san's body.

[just a quick swipe and that's that... hmm.]

I still dunno enough about the void to help figure out anything else though, sorry.

[decrypter]

Or the receding was the reason itself.

[in her head, a little diagram of what he's talking about plays out, and she thinks about how, and why.]

I admit, I haven't known of the other school as much as others, but if the other students wanted corpses always before - perhaps it was as an offering, a desperate wish for the void to take that, and leave them be. With it going back, then they might not have felt the same need.

Faculty Hallway

[filialdeception]

[ Meng Yao will decide to share his portion of observations about the body found in the faculty hallway. ]

Ishimaru first found this body hanging in front of the counselor's office. Once we were able to get it down, it became clear to me that this was a girl who had brown hair and was a third year student from 3-E.

There was a long, deep gash that cut into her cheek on her face down to across her chest. It's enough to see the bone due to how far the slice had been made. I should mention that this was made expertly, with one stroke, and to me that speaks to a talent towards a bladed weapon of some kind made in a powerful strike.

There was also bruising on her neck, and upon further examination, it seems her trachea was crushed by a relatively strong force—either from something heavy being placed there or a rather strong individual. Again, I suspect that it's the latter if their primary weapon was a blade.

[starrypoint]

[yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah he's glad he didn't get that body ☆]

Can a sword or something really do that? Like, I see it a lot in movies, but I never thought someone could just ssssshink! like that, the way samurai do that cool quick-draw move of theirs~.

[decrypter]

The bruising on her neck - was it all over or just in one spot? The former would indicate strangulation...which is likely what it is anyway, since it would be awkward to put something heavy on a small neck area.

[with one's own hands. someone didn't mind feeling it happen.]

[moraloutrage]

[Ishimaru's silent for a while. And a bit teary from time to time! It's hard to shake off thoughts of those who were found dead on that day. But eventually, he finds the strength to speak! ...After standing at attention by the whiteboard for half a minute.]

Aside from what I examined with Meng Yao-kun, I did also take down the body... ah, the body half that was suspended by the main entrance. As it was the first body to be noticed, I believe it would be designated as 'Unknown A'?

[He takes a breath and shuts his eyes as he recalls the image of the body.]

It was quite the gruesome sight. L-like other bodies that have been found, this one was burned beyond recognition. It was... only the upper half of the body, and it was also missing its left arm. ...M-most likely the one that was discovered by Akehoshi-kun. The body's head was also crushed. From what I could see, it seemed that... that the head was crushed before the body was burned... and then the body was severed apart.

[He looks sick as he recalls it.]

I could find no other traces of a fire, or any possible source of it. It seems that multiple bodies or parts of bodies were strung up, but I cannot possibly fathom why. That... those were my findings.

[He softly bows and steps to the side.]

[sisters]

Thanks, Ishimaru-kun. It's good that someone was able to get a closer look at them...

( because he sure did forget about it immediately when he realized it wasn't his missing roommate. )

It's not like we have an incinerator for trash. The school doesn't even seem to have heating or cooling, so whoever did that must've done it themselves... not unlike the case before it.

( is he skipping "clamor" and to the body "clamor" killed? yes. )

We should keep an eye out for any evidence that could relate to how the fire was started. Magic is something that's not off the table, and we can consider that when we're looking at how some of this was done, and... I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet, but if it was magic, it'd be someone who knows a lot more about what they're doing than Clamor's imposter did, to not leave any evidence of the fire behind.

If anyone else has any other ideas though, it'd be good to hear them.

hangman + clues

[commences]

( he'll clap his hands... well, the severed arm he found on top of the locker that subaru spoke about — the deceased's limp claps into his metal one as he holds it with his organic. he doesn't care too much for whatever blood might flick off too. it's to get whoever's attention that will listen to him, but who would just ignore some psychopath with an arm in their grasp? )

I am nothing but interesting in how hopeful these deaths must be for each and every one of you... ( he pauses, sighing a bit as if trying to catch his breath ) a majority snuffed out the brilliance of one Ultimate... and now you pay the price, I'm glad to see you all working together.

( or is he? who knows, he seems to be blaming them for saihara's unfortunate doom, and yet here he is the proper stepping stone to see who can take up the mantle. everyone has something interesting to say, however, as for komaeda? add spoke his part, and what he learned about both saihara and rika has been covered by amami. instead, he'll write on the second whiteboard with the name of the deceased as he wheels it in front of the other board — he's doodling hope, drawing a few circles around the word hope... just making sure people understand how important this is.

and then he'll draw a few lines on the board as he draws an arrow pointing at all the corpses for them to choose from. )

We can play hangman as a tribute for our fallen peers...

( he smacks the hand against the whiteboard, a soft thump of palm, and the noose that he's drawn smears slightly, but it's still a playable game. )

I'll make it easy since you're all so frantic, confused, lost... We'll start with the beloved Ultimate Detective, and his blade: Kawaii Rika-san.

------
| ⠀⠀ |
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_ _ _ _ _

[sisters]

( ? rika was beloved too, stupid ass. if looks could kill...

anyway, amami can't kill him, so instead he just sighs with the deepest exhaustion. )

The sooner you finish the game, the sooner we can wipe it off the board, right?

( yes, he sure is no fun allowed. we all know you start with vowels first though, so let's go. )

A.

[starrypoint]

Maddy... I didn't leave it there for you to take, you know.

[he left it there BECAUSE HE RESPECTS THE DEAD.]

Lemme try... R!

[for ur rancid vibes]

[dereban]

[She'll let the others play hangman, but she's here to be the Fun Police™️, too.]

Is now really the time to be playing games that feel like an insult to injury on the deaths of nine people?

[Like seriously... why this...]

[decrypter]

Will you tell me should I get a guess wrong?

[if this is how Komaeda is dispensing his knowledge, she'll play along - what can one do?]

[necrophily]

[ why does komaeda constantly have a fucking arm whenever dito runs into him lately. dito almost sighs at the display, but he still can't help the sparkle that's in his eyes at seeing the limb from one of the bodies, presumably.

it's not familiar to him, so he's guessing it's one of the unidentifiable corpses. not that he cares about any of that, and he's a little annoyed he didn't get a chance to mutilate anything.

honestly, he's just here to see how things are going. the arm keeps him interested though, even as he's crossing his arms and throwing his feet up on the table all of a sudden because he's rude like that. ]

I don't give a shit about the clue. Can I have that if I play along?

[ he nods at the arm in komaeda's hand. he can't help smiling a bit, thinking about how gross and decaying it's going to get. ]

[dokkans]

[ Honestly, since Bonnie here's pretty much been trying to figure out her own mystery at this point (or mostly, recovering from everything), she doesn't have much to contribute... so, she goes right ahead to what she can figure out right now! ]

S!

Fourth Floor - The Akiras - Backtimed to before Hangman Crimes

[notsosou]

[Someone has to present this floor's findings; Helena is busy running the meeting and Crona is...... Crona. So.]

Moving on... there's still the fourth floor. Crona, Helena and I found the Akiras in the middle of 1-C. They were both stabbed on the left side of their stomach and left there... Kijima on his wounded side and Kurusu on his back.

It's interesting, ahaha... they looked like they'd been stabbed in their sleep. There were shards of a wisteria jar in the trashcan as well. [I'm going to say he knows about the sleep inducing effects of the wisteria through the grapevine, he hangs around Nene. He's just going to let these two statements rest for people to combine. There's an infinitesimal wrinkle of his nose in his scarf, but if it does turn out to be important...] ...Someone had thrown up in there first.

[The real Rue Ryuzaki's already been confirmed dead, so he doesn't see a reason to add that part of his investigation. He can still allow himself the pettiness of Komaeda not getting that requested information from him, specifically.]

[decrypter]

Yes...and neither of them were stabbed in a way that would be immediately deadly. It was more like they were put to sleep and then left to bleed out. A peaceful sort of death, in comparison to the others.

[this is strange, considering that if they were asleep, it would be just as easy to slit throats or the like. equally peaceful, so to speak.]

Whoever did this...were they so unused to the idea of killing that it made them ill? Or was something else making them ill?