(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

[necrophily]

I really, really wanna kill you so bad.

[ dito grins now, wondering if anyone is even able to stop him at this point. he takes a step forward, shoving his spear into the floor right next to komaeda's side. ]

I'm gonna lick the blood off your hand and enjoy it, goddammit...

[ and then take the arm, because he can. once he offs the other, anyway. that might even be more exciting than the arm at this point, and it gets dito's heart racing.

he crouches down over the other, the fingers on his spare hand that isn't gripping his spear in an almost balancing way hovering over his belt before he takes out his dagger, moving to point it at komaeda's chest. ]

I'm so tired of you.

[decrypter]

[the slam of her cane on the ground can probably be heard throughout half the dorms at least. Helena, standing up out of her chair, and the sound waves are enough that they might be felt, a ghost on the skin -

but it's Dito who will take the full brunt of it, with the ringing in his ears enough to disorient, to throw him off balance and slow him. for at least ten seconds, the sound will have him in its grip, and everyone in the room will be aware of him, aware of his presence, his exact motions, the way he's crouched. sight, after a fashion.]

Komaeda, move.

[it's spoken not as a plea but more like a command, a knowledge granted to her of exactly how precarious this situation is. and the full knowledge that she'll take this man's murderous intent and fury upon herself if she has to - because she knows exactly what she'd need to do to survive, how to get outside in under fifteen seconds, to lose him in the dark.]

*replies here, edits my tag*

[commences]

( there's this thought in his mind, maybe a chance he could die here? but it feels so hopeless to die here, the thought of dying by the hands of...

the thought of dying after he hasn't finished what he's had to do... there's still much he has to do...

it feels like static in his head as he feels the sharp blade against his chest — a different sort of feeling compared to the spear that went through his stomach in his youth, but to know that if he moves forward — it'll break the skin, push into the cavity of his chest. it's practically hard to resist.

he's not listening to dito properly, his thoughts are too muddled to even think straight, that's why as he lifts his mechanical hand to wrap it around dito's wrist while he's disoriented by helena's interference that he takes advantage of —

he tries to push the blade closer to himself, to feel the sting against his chest, piercing the clothes to the skin until a spot of red begins to — )

[subtract]

[There's a flicker of blue that washes over the room, the faint sound of a clock ticking down that lingers around Komaeda—Helena is probably the only one who can still hear it, steadily counting the seconds.

Add doesn't bother standing up, but he does scowl in Dito's direction.]

Can we not?

[silentabyss]

It's Dito. Are you shocked?

ur linear progression

[sisters]

( it's a jarring moment, but it's true — it looks like out of the whole room, there's only one person who really takes the brunt of it. amami watches the scene slowly unfolding, the glint of that dagger under the light, the game, the blood that pooled on the ground under rika's body. his own movements are just as decisive, because it looks like komaeda's not going to be listening to helena no matter how much he should, and amami himself is already nearly seeing red.

so standing just at the other side of the whiteboard already, it doesn't take much for amami to close the distance — to put himself between them so that he can take dito's wrist in his hand and forcibly pull the dagger away from komaeda's chest. )

Komaeda-kun, she said move.

( and if you think he's going to stand by and just watch you do this— )

thank u im dying

[necrophily]

[ he really didn't expect anyone to be brave enough to interrupt him. but here we are.

he scowls when amami grabs his wrist, turning his head to pay the other attention. which isn't a good thing.

he cocks his head at the other, frowning in an almost bored way. ]

Who are you?

[ this doesn't have shit to do with him, as far as he's concerned.

he thrusts his arm forward to shove the blade right into amami's chest. it's probably off point with amami grabbing his wrist and all, and he misses anything vital, stabbing a little too low. it's enough to fracture a rib, maybe. but it's not fatal.

still, amami will end up with a knife in his chest, that dito almost immediately tries to pull out without any delicacy. ]

Annoying bitch.

[subtract]

[SoT is on cooldown so

sorry amami ur on ur own lol gl]

[decrypter]

[the waves linger, for that moment, and she knows this room now with perfect clarity. can see what happens, and what happens next is reflexive, with him right there. there are no pallets to slam, nothing to turn around and trick someone with, but the top of her cane is heavy and metal. before it leaves her, before she's left with fleeting work, Helena simply moves to shove the end of it into Dito's side, all her weight behind it to move him away and try to unbalance him more.

her aim is perfectly true, and it's a hard push, but it also makes her stumble in his direction - she's not used to this, she's not a fighter, but she is not afraid. rather, there's the simple desire to prevent it from getting worse. even she can take a blow or two for someone else.]

[necrophily]

[ he's not expecting it when it hits.

he groans, his ears ringing as he's about to crouch down, but then helena's hiting him in the side and he's definitely falling over, even dropping his dagger. he looks pained as he takes a few deep breaths, not even paying attention to whatever's going on around him.

his head is kind of spinning, and he feels disoriented. ]

Fucking hell... [ he says, moving a hand up to his forehead. he's not a fan of this, and he doesn't feel like moving right now, either. ]

What'd you do?

[decrypter]

It will wear off soon.

[recovering her balance, she steps back, and takes a breath. her hands are gripped around the wood tightly, and she can hear people moving to Rantarou - if she hadn't asked for his help, maybe he wouldn't have been in the right location to be stabbed, but she can't think about that. fear and adrenaline, both race in her, but he's no longer hurting people she cares about.

deliberately, she steps so that even if he gets up, she's between him and those who want to attend to the injured. Helena might be slight, but she remembers how to take a hit.]

[necrophily]

DAMN it!

[ he shouts, moving to shove his spear in the ground to keep his balance. he's not a fan of this at at all, honestly. his head feels like it's in a fish bowl. ]

I almost had him--

[ that's the worst part of it all he thinks, even as he's disoriented right now. he groans loudly, gripping his spear tight even as he's gripping it for his dear life right now. ]

Fuck you.

[decrypter]

I said it at the start, didn't I? If you become overly agitated, then you should leave.

[her voice is not nearly as loud as his, but it's steady, even as her heart beats at a rapid pace in her chest.]

Please go. The next time, I advise you to control yourself.

[sisters]

( it's not like amami didn't factor it in as a possibility but, still, maybe he'd had expected a little too much out of whatever it was that had happened in that moment. moving on impulse, and paying the consequences for it when dito turns; amami's eyes meet with his for an instant, and all the air is snatched from his lungs as a white-hot pain pierces through his chest.

he stumbles back a step, and dito stumbles too — falls, really, though amami is too stunned to really take in the reason why the dagger slips from the wound. he looks down instead, blinking as he takes in the brilliant red that's begun to blossom at the front of his sweater. it's very distant feeling, and time feels like it's slowed down around him, but as the colour slowly spreads across the fabric, he can't help but acknowledge that maybe he'd gotten himself in a little bit over his head with this one.

but... he can't bring himself regret it, when he accepted this risk for a reason.

turning his head, his gaze is searching for komaeda. )

[silentabyss]

[Noah would have attacked Dito if there were an opening, but Amami got fucking stabbed and in a second the kid is at Amami's side to catch him, concern and determination etching his brow all at once.

He's not going to ask if Amami is okay, because he's not fucking stupid, but Noah always carries a roll of stolen gauze on him from the nurse's office, injury-prone as he personally is. First priority, stop blood from getting on the floor — the void is not a good place to be right now. Second priority, wrapping the wound. Hopefully blood isn't pooling that much—]

I could use some help over here!

[He lets Amami lean against him, fishing the gauze out of his pocket, and the first person who comes to help will get it handed to them. They'll need it.]

[filialdeception]

[ ... So apparently nobody can count on things going at least for one meeting here because suddenly! Amami ends up stabbed.

Meng Yao can't even retaliate in time because of this, and he grits his teeth. Normally he is pretty good at keeping his cool, but the fact that one of the very few people he gives an actual shit about in this rotten place got hurt is more than just a little upsetting. Yes he wishes to hell and heaven and back that Amami didn't do something like get in the way like that but he didn't deserve to get stabbed.

For a moment, all he can see is red, his hand drifting to Hensheng, and then Helena makes her move...so he turns his attention towards Amami, repressing that rage which may be hard for most people but he can manage. Which means him having to shift gears has Noah get to him before he does, which is good to ensure the other is caught at least. ]

I'm here!

[ He's hurrying right on over and taking the gauze, ready to assist where needed. Though, considering they were technically 'dead' and whatnot, another idea does come to mind. Even if he hasn't used it before in this place. But regardless of the fact the healing attempt won't be impressive, he's going to try to suggest or at least give it a try. ]

I can also try to see how much I can heal his wound.

[necrophily]

[ honestly, his knife would dig in deeper. he would grind it into the other's body, purely for his own pleasure.

but that doesn't happen, because helena slams her staff on the ground, and his head aches and he feels so unproductive in his attempt all of a sudden. god.

he groans quietly, grabbing at his head with one hand as he rips the knife out and collapses to his knees on the floor, ignoring amami. even though he definitely wanted to kill the other. this sucks. ]

[commences]

( it's a whirlwind of things — voices here, voices there, and it's so loud that he can't stand it, but he can hear the thump of his own heart in his chest. where is it all coming from, he doesn't know — perhaps he was excited what he did to himself, through reckless, but he did it on his own. there's a lot that passes in his field of vision — from the students that he didn't expect to appear, their helping hands in a way that observe the situation, that try to find some way to help — it's out the corner of his eye he sees natsume, and with the way his fingers light up, a familiar sight. to watch helena cause dito to fumble in his movements, crippling him for a moment, but to see this all happen because of what amami has found himself in.

...
...
...

it's so sickly familiar that komaeda can feel bile edge up his throat, a concern of his own luck because he's always been lucky — unscathed as long as someone close by took the damage instead. he doesn't show fear, but his life has always scared him, made it hard to live and breathe, it's why at the moment he didn't mind going for it on his own terms. perhaps inaba is right and komaeda needs to learn to cope better —

seeing people like add and shin, distant, but act in their own way of concern or if you can call shin's out of his wits concern, but he knows what add did — he's always quick to do so. as for when his eyes connect with amami, sickly green empty as per usual, lack of thoughts, of anything behind hates the sight of blood that blooms on the ultimate's clothes, but his heart beats rapidly from the hope that's to come from this — he doesn't know if he should be happy, or disappointed in himself, but it's a mix of both.

...

so to be alive at the moment, he watches as meng yao and noah quickly run to amami's aid, and unfortunate for komaeda, he finds himself getting to his feet, and the arm still tucked in his arms is set on the conveniently placed table next to him. it's always his luck that puts him in these positions where he feels out of it, and he decides that it's enough. when there's despair, hope is always around to swallow it whole, and brighten the path for them. komaeda's used to looking at that from afar, anyway, and so he decides to leave without a word. )

[starrypoint]

[it really did happen all-too-fast, and subaru wonders briefly if maybe, maybe the meetings he has gone to were just flukes. tensions had risen in the last one, but no one'd stab at a little girl -- though he won't put it past anyone to try, even if the results would be the same now.

he's vaguely aware of the static in his head, between the attempt on komaeda and the blood blossoming on amami, but at least there's people to help there. he can't do anything. he doesn't know any magic, he doesn't have any real first aid skills, and even the guy that stabbed him is being handled. but subaru is aware of komaeda leaving, head turning to follow the other's quiet path, and doesn't hesitate to follow after.

amami had people who reached their hands out to him, to protect and heal.

but komaeda needs someone, too.]

[crystallomancy]

( the light doesn't dissipate from natsume's fingers, and technically, he should try and use it to heal amami like he had done for rokuro in that memory, like he's been taught you can use this type of magic for

but he sees komaeda leave, and he sees subaru slip out after, and you know—amami has enough people tending to him, anyway, and maybe he should try a little harder to be nice since rika liked him so much but he's going out after subaru, anyway.

natsume doesn't want them to be alone. they've probably been alone before, judging by how friendly subaru is with komaeda, but he hasn't been around to witness it and now he can be, so he will be. quiet in his steps, habitually keeping to the right side so nothing can get the jump on him that way. )

[crystallomancy]

( —natsume is not all bark and no bite most times, but today is not most times. he's started half a step by the time amami's already there, so he stops, feeling just as caught as when he'd seen rika's sword coming for him and shuichi stepped in front of him to catch it.

...why is it always amami, actually?

he retracts his step, but his fingers are aglow with celestial magic, pooling at their tips. )

[notsosou]

[It's like one of his premonitions, the little hunches that race ahead of thought and action like a pilot fish or the invisible motion of lightning before it's strike, only it feels like someone has slammed on the accelerator and sent it to 100% holy fuck is he extremely aware and afraid of every inch of Dito right now.]

[necrophily]

[ boo ]

[dokkans]

[ not here but holy SHIT this is great

this place is so much fun! ]

[necrophily]

[ can we kiss ]