(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

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.

[necrophily]

Fine, fine, whatever.

[ dito chuckles, moving backwards slightly.

he even mock bows at her, just for effect. not that she would notice.

he rolls his eyes. ]

Consider me gone. I'm still gonna kill him, though. Maybe I'll kill you, too.

[ he scoffs, raising a hand as he waves at her before leaving the area before even more annoying people get on his ass. ]

... Next time.

[decrypter]

[100% definitely listening for the door to close behind him. good riddance for the night.

so, someone wants to kill her. it wouldn't be the first time.

if she just goes to stand against the wall for a moment, that's her business.]

[necrophily]

[ he is definitely pissed about her weird abilities inhibiting him finally offing komaeda

thinkin bout her xoxo ]

[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.

[silentabyss]

You can heal—

[Oh thank fuck, because all Noah is, is a heavily-armed kid desperately trying to keep pressure over the stab wound with one hand. They can't have Amami bleeding out on them.]

...okay. Do it.

[And if they need to move Amami's shirt out of the way, Noah will help with that too, and continue to support the man in the meantime.

He looks to where Dito and Helena are, wondering briefly if he should attack while Dito is down—

—no. Amami first.]

...I can't heal, so.

[filialdeception]

[ Passing the spiritual energy to heal is going to tire him out a tad, but it's fine; it's something that can be regained with his golden core, after all.

Meng Yao reaches out to the other male, lightly touching him on the shoulder even a bit before Noah gives the go ahead, though he does nod.

So there he goes, passing the energy through to the other to deal with the closing of the wound. Which theoretically should ​do a decent enough job to bring things out of the fatal/danger zone, at the very least. It's not going to be perfect on how it looks on the surface, but it does the job. ]

[sisters]

( hm... wasn't expecting this part though. he blinks again, and suddenly there's dark and blue in his peripheral, coming into focus all at once to make sure that amami stays steady — a loud voice follows, and he can't help but feel a bit embarrassed about it. like, yes, that sharp feeling like fire burning through the tips of every nerve in his chest is slowly beginning to spread outward, a hollow throbbing feeling as the pain registers and spreads with each breath he takes as his damaged ribcage expands to accommodate, then shrinks as he winces at the pain, but really? )

It's okay — don't worry, I'll be fine.

( "it's not a big deal," says the guy who's probably in shock, voice strained.

but yeah, he will be fine. he's assuming so at least, because the next person in his line of sight is meng yao, and that's obviously what that would mean, right? and even though amami's own gaze finally manages to catch the sight of komaeda leaving the room, concern flashing across his features, well... it's probably safer in another room right now, so that's fine too. everything is going fine, because it's not like he's never got himself hurt before. )

Thanks, Meng Yao.

( there's some visible relief in his expression as he turns his attention back to the two at his side. the temporary feeling like a cool compress pressed against the burning surface of his wound as the spiritual energy begins to close off the flow of blood. not much they can do to save the sweater though, he can't help but think. )

[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. )

thinking about dangan stars

[commences]

( komaeda has never liked noisy places, along with places where he's unable to fit in, like even now — the disaster is what he's used to, but everyone else that followed suit, he's unable to do it, mentally it feels unreasonable when he's the cause for all of it. he's always been unlucky, and maybe it's the tradeoff of being so lucky to understand the methods to one of the killing's madness, and this is what he's given — to be prevented his death, to see an ultimate take the stab instead, and all those people... it sends a shiver down his spine, why did they take part?

unlike natsume who moves in the darkness, and mindful of his steps, he instead hears subaru trotting down the hall of the dormitory, and komaeda's not even thinking of visiting his room. it's too close unfortunately, and there are others who live with him, and he thinks that for tonight he'd rather avoid people in general. he turns his head to look towards the idol, empty eyes focused on him, and he feels like he should... check his surroundings even more.

he doesn't because subaru's already a handful, and komaeda's not fully prepared for anything else, so spotting natsume isn't high on his to-do list. master magician also a master spy. )

...

( he turns a corner, now on the path towards the exit of the dormitory, but he stops right there as he waits for subaru to pass him by. he should, because what other reason does he have to stop near komaeda? )

think about it forever

[starrypoint]

[subaru doesn't hear natsume either, but he's always, always aware of eyes on him; it's no different than normal, and if natsume would rather linger behind than step forward the way he has then it's fine. he knows the other is wary of komaeda, from the way subaru himself had been cautioned against by name, but there's no need to be. not right now, anyway.

this is what he's sure of as he follows komaeda around the corner, almost right past him before he realizes it and jerks to a stop, pivoting to face the other--

and hugging him, by god i am sorry but komaeda gets a tight hug and no choice in the matter.]

thinkin how natsume is that laughs in hidden post

[commences]

( it's a relief, he thinks at the moment as he watches the other walk by, but subaru swivels around, arms opened to hug komaeda causes the ultimate to stand in place. it's not an unfamiliar gesture, but it's only fine when he does it, and he quickly finds his arms up, and grabbing subaru's shoulders — his organic hand doesn't have much pressure applied, but his mechanical one however is rougher, and the tightness comes from komaeda's lack of realization. he's not being careful, no, but it's not frustrations he wants to take out on the other for no reason — not anywhere like komaeda cutting vegetables on a board, and then somehow imagining it being his fingers that are slowly chopped away instead. )

Don't touch me.

( a warning, probably too late because of the disaster that's already passed, but he is going to try and remove a jock off of him — he may fail, but it's the attempt that matters? it weighs on his mind, and he remembers that people near him are to suffer over and over again — to acquire good luck, he has to witness a certain amount of bad luck, but he sees nothing good coming from this. )

If you want to play hangman, ask someone else.

[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. )