01 - ota!

[rebirths]

Who: Ramuda Amemura & whoever
What: Newbie
When: End of November
Where: In Ranger's...coffin.... Also lockers and the art room
Warnings: Being stuck in a coffin?? Claustrophobia. Also may end up containing Hypnosis Mic spoilers so read at your own discretion!

arrival, the coffin (closed to rio ranger)

[ Ramuda wakes up.

...He thinks he wakes up, at least. He can feel himself blinking, but all he sees is darkness all around him. He moves to sit up, but his head bangs on something only a few inches above him. He lets out a little pained "tech" before he starts to move his hands upwards. That, too, is proving to be tricky, given how little space he has to work with.

He's trapped somewhere, and oh, he does not like this at all. The feeling of being possibly buried alive somewhere is his first instinctual thought. IT is frightening. But like he's always done, he won't give up on his survival, even if it's hard to breathe in here.

Ramuda is weakened from...events that had occurred before being brought here, but he bangs on whatever's encasing him on all sides and yells for help with all his remaining strength. There's only so much he can do, though.

It's up to Rio Ranger now to be his savior. ]

lockers

[ When he's finally freed from his own personal hell, Ramuda finally takes his chance to check his PDA. What an ancient device.

He is very tempted to trash the thing, but he wisely decides not to and instead opts to head to his locker. 198. Easy enough to remember. ... Except he hasn't exactly been to school before, and navigating these hallways is kind of confusing? But when he finally manages to get to Locker 198, he grins and puts his hands on the lock.

He turns the dial. Turns it again. And again.

... He's totally doing this incorrectly.

Ramuda squints at it and clicks his teeth in frustration. He looks pretty unhappy with this, but when he sees someone nearby, his expression will immediately shift to one that's a little more sheepish rather than one of annoyance. ]

Hi, hi~! I'm a total newbie here, wanna help me out? I'm having some trouble with my locker, see! I'd super appreciate it if you could show me how to do this!

art room

[ No red? No problem. Ramuda's not as fond of red as he is of yellow, and yellow is here!! That's all that matters!!

It's not like he's really doing anything with the yellow paint, though. Not this time, at least. He's using paper and pencil instead, and he's sketching something on one of the tables. It looks like he's drawing purely from scratch, but occasionally, he'll look up at something hanging up on the wall right across of him.

It's an extra set of the school uniform.

He's pretty focused on whatever he's drawing, but if anyone wants to peek, he won't stop them. It looks like he's redesigning the uniform, actually. ]

anything else?

[ Over at amplitude or PM for a custom prompt. Otherwise, OTA! ]

Comments

arrival | star 5 dorm room (w/ bonus komaeda)

[rearranger]

[ Of all the things that Ranger might have expected to turn up, the cremation coffin was not one of them. It was big, bulky, heavy, and not appropriate decor for the cutely decorated dorm room. He had been planning to push it out, but he thought he might at least wait until he could decide where to put it. The current plan is to just dump it in the hallway, but he'd done the proper thing and looked to talk to his partner about that first (if only to offset the frustration of the entire affair.)

Ranger stands a handful of steps away from that coffin now. It's a sturdy, rectangular gray coffin with a logo embossed onto it. It's not all that much to look at. It's a little strange, since he doesn't think he'd heard anyone had been in there when he left, but by time he returned with Komaeda in two there was yelling and banging coming from it. ]

... So like I said, I guess it came with a person. Pretty ominous, huh, Nagito? Ahahaha.

[ He looks to Komaeda, a cheerful card with an cartoonish open-mouthed grin drawn on it covering the lower half of his face, with that vaguely puzzled look that he sometimes get. He's not sure how somebody could have possibly wound up in there, but considering how noisy they're being, it seems to safely assume that they're fine. But they're noisy, so he lifts his shoulders and holds his free hand up in a dramatic show of confusion.

With that done, he produces the remote from his pocket and clicks the button to open the device. The coffin opens that the same way that any other case might, lifting on the hinges and leaning to one side. He decides not to mention to either of them that it's intended to cremate its contents. ]

[commences]

That's new. They're sending in mummies now.

( he mumbles to himself, trying to understand how he can walk away from a coffin, and then return to someone inside. mummies is... a start, but that's probably not what's inside since they're about moaning and groaning, and opening a coffin is suppose to curse them for millions and millions of years. that doesn't seem to be a problem as he takes notice to the remove in ranger's hands that helps flip open the lid so that they can peer inside to see what they're working with — he's thinking a pile of sludge, or maybe a living corpse considering with how odd this school can be. )

Ah... what a shame.

( he gets down on his knees, fingers curling along the edge of it as he pulls himself forward with a tilt of his head. who knew that deposited twinks in here, actually, and looking the person over, komaeda can say that he's never seen them in his life. because they've never seen this person in his life, it's easy to start with the same makeshift tease he done awhile back, but this time, he has something added into the mix. )

They sent us the wrong sacrifice... ( he shakes his head, turning to look at ranger, and the other could call out komaeda's lie at any time. though, it's best to see who this person is before allowing them to walk around, right? they ddid manage to slip inside of his coffin. with that in mind, he turns to look back into the coffin with a warm smile. ) Because you found yourself in our realm, I guess you'll have to do as our pet.

( yes, he says this absolutely thrilled because he's good at sounding happy and positive about anything. )

[rebirths]

[ He feels the box (??) being moved, though he can't hear anything, and maybe he should feel more grateful that the thing's moving around so he knows he's not buried ten feet underground just yet. Instead, he's pounding on the door just as it abruptly opens to two unfamiliar faces. Ramuda doesn't catch his fist in time, so one of them might get smacked in the face on accident? Oops. But also, fuck this.

His expression turns to one of panic, anger, malice even -- and his voice drops. ]

What the hell do you think you're --

[ Something something sacrifice??? Something something pet??? HEY, HOW ABOUT NO??? ]

Huh?! What are you talking about! Where am I?!

[ He's gonna attempt to leap out of the coffin. Despite how he's half-growling, half-whining, his small stature and cute appearance do not make him seem intimidating at all. ]

Get away from me!

[rearranger]

[ Ranger leans forward as it opens, but keeps enough distance to avoid any accidents. He blinks several times, glancing to Komaeda. The card flips to a cat face. He's never quite sure what to make of his acts, and he's not always willing to play along (having no concept of how to act himself,) but he's been making more of a concerted effort to at least avoid interrupting whatever he's up to. It was always entertaining enough. ]

Ahahaha, really? Well, ain't that a shame! No helping it, I guess~

[ He snickers at the sudden panic. He doesn't think he's seen this one around before... Well, no matter. He holds up a hand once more as he looks between the two men, tilting his head slightly to one side.

Sorry Ramuda, but he's green light on this one. ]

[commences]

( ranger may have missed it, but unfortunately, komaeda is hit by the other's sporadic swiping which catches his face, and he winds up bleeding a bit from his nose. it's not a lot, but just a enough a few drips fall into the palm of his hand — he'd rather avoid going there, but it would probably be the best place to interrogate considering the other wouldn't know how to leave. he thinks of wiping the blood away on his shirt, but he opens his hand, to lick away the blood and then he stands up properly. )

Welcome to Hell.

( which isn't a lie, but it's not entirely the truth? well, purgatory is it's own type of hell. he places a hand on his hip, looking to ranger for a moment so that he can confirm or deny this claim. that's why he's silent as he walks over, standing in front of the other as he digs into the pockets of his jacket — he pulls out an empty bottle of atropine, shaking it to see if there's anything he can use — unfortunately, there's nothing. slipping it back into his pockets, he keeps digging his hands into the jacket and there's a few leftover cat treats...

no, that's not what he needs.

a little deeper until he pulls out a leash and collar, the circumference from ranger's view can tell that the collar isn't meant for an animal within the school. its a very specific one which is best for beginner's, or so that's what komaeda says as he holds it in his hand, and takes a step back. )

[rebirths]

...Hell...?

[ He supposes he belongs here, at least. Ramuda's done quite a lot of things to warrant it, he's not that much of an idiot. What's wrong here is that he can't figure out how he got here to begin with. He thought that he'd survived what happened to him because of Dice and Gentaro, that he'd been given a second shot at life because of it? But he's here now. Stuck in the afterlife.

And being handed a leash and a collar. ""For beginners."" The least they could've done was give him the intermediate one, he's used to being someone's tool--

Anyway, hm. He doesn't like that one bit! And you know, even if this is what Ramuda has to live with for the rest of forever -- he's not going to be compliant right off the bat. ]

I'm not anyone's pet. Piss off.

[ Small boi can be feisty, too!! But yeah, he's not taking the collar, and he's definitely going to put up resistance if they try to put it on him... ]

[rearranger]

[ There's a tiny twitch of a frown behind the expression card as he sees the blood dripping dripping down. The card switches out, changing to a colorful ice cream cone with a wing attached. It might not have been intentional, but he still doesn't care to see his partner getting punched in the face. The shift in expression is subtle, but his gaze trails from Komaeda to Ramuda and stays there, voice flattening as he verifies, ]

Hell.

[ He looks down to Komaeda as he digs through his pockets, watching as he pulls out a bottle of what appears to be poison and then a leash and collar - and he's not sure which of the two is more perplexing. He blinks a few times, clearly questioning it, but that hint of displeasure is still there along with it.

He looks back to the coffin now. ]

Sheeeesh, I shouldn't have bothered opening it. Can I mark it as "return to sender?"

[ Ranger grumbles, thinking to himself now that it would have been more entertaining to flip it over and push it out of the room with this guy in it... Though, actually, he supposes that could still be arranged, now couldn't it? He taps the side of the remove with his index finger as he considers the idea. ]

[commences]

If it unlocks and locks because of that then... sure, we can send him back.

( he notices the way ranger looks at him, and komaeda understands that he should answer a few questions, and yet he doesn't. instead, he keeps things natural between them as if that didn't happen, but the bottle can stay in the pocket — it's for reference, and if a rainy day comes through. he does smile softly though as he turns to look back towards ramuda, seeing as the other doesn't seem too fond of the idea. )

But... we should give our shipment a choice. ( he chuckles softly, ) You see... my partner would rather not deal with annoying things.

( he's honest about this, but at the same time he plays the role of being exhausted to give the idea that this is a reoccurring theme, and one that ramuda shouldn't want to see through. his free hand runs through white hair, pushing a few strands behind his ear as he watches the other. he allows the collar to hang, swinging by the leash from left to right, almost like it's meant to hypnotize the other into it. his eyes glance over to the coffin, and if komaeda had it his way, the other wouldn't have came out at all — teasing them for a bit, but now they're out and about. )

You understand the category you're falling under, correct? I hope you don't mind deciding what you want... Ah, stay still and act like a good dog, or... ( his smile drops, those sickly green eyes of his changing into a violent crimson color — the playful air about him gone instantly, his tone serious as he watches ramuda — there's something despairing about it. there's a bit of negativity that comes off of him, rather, he's holding back as much as he can while speaking with ramuda, but he manages a few words as clipped as they are. ) Make your own grave...

( clearing his throat, he takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes, and when they open, they're perfectly normal (and dead inside!). his smile seems to have come back, and he's clapping his hands together satisfied with the first choice, and god only knows if he remembers his threat. )

Alright! Have you chosen? We can't stand here chatting all day, you know? ( with a hand on his hip, he has that lil gay stand... you know the ones. ) We're pretty busy Gods of Death.

[rebirths]

[ It's been five goddamn minutes --

Being called a shipment, an annoying thing, the feeling of being powerless in the face of these so-called "Gods of Death". All too familiar. Better this than being called a defect, he supposes, but it doesn't sting any less. Ramuda regards them for a moment and it's clear he is, in fact, taking this seriously. There's a slight shift when Komeda's image does -- Ramuda curls into himself a little, shuffling backwards towards the coffin, hitting his ankle on the rim as he does. He catches himself before he falls, but it's clear that he needs a moment to weigh his options.

He takes that moment.

And ultimately, he decides to be defiant. He'll thank his (hopefully alive) Posse for that. Time to be a rebel... ]

Ahaha~! What to do, what to do... Look at all the options you've given me!

[ Feigning confidence and serious contemplation, he taps his finger on his chin. ]

Well, you see, how about ya go ahead put that collar away? I won't be needing it, so there's no need to waste your time any longer! So you can be allll scary on me all you'd like, Mister. This shipment's prepared to be lost at sea forever, anyway.

[rearranger]

Forever? Nah, it won't take that long... Actually, I just throw unwanted stuff in the garbage.

[ Ranger looks back to the coffin. now that he thinks about it, he should test it out to see if it's still functioning correctly. Furthermore, he hasn't be explicitly told not to act as he pleases in the event that Komaeda's offer was refused... Though thinking about it, he's not really sure what the guy had planned if it was accepted. He adds that to the list of questions to ask him later, seeing as he wasn't going to get any answers as long as this entire affair was going on. ]

So, we donezo? Can we move onto step two already? I wanna get this guy outta here, you know.

[ He glances to Komaeda again as he jerks his thumb toward the coffin and Ramuda both, looking for approval to do whatever it is that he might be thinking of. Ranger may or may not still be upset that his partner was punched in the face, and it was true enough that he didn't enjoy annoying things, nor dealing with people who were stupid and arrogant enough to test his patience. It was only admirable to be defiant in the face of danger when one had the potential to overcome it.

So, is he going to keep playing games, or can they get this over with already? Ranger's already bored with the entire thing, and sick of seeing a coffin in the middle of the room, and moving it with a person seems like a fine retaliation to him. But perhaps because he's used to working with another person, or perhaps just because he'd already promised to behave, he hesitates to immediately act on that.. ]

[commences]

Hm...

( komaeda smiles softly as he looks at ramuda, surprisingly content with this turn of events. his laugh remains soft, understanding he should calm down because realistically, he means no harm. messing with the other means komaeda can contemplate his hope, get a good idea — )

Your determination is interesting, but you lack the hope that I'm searching for. Ah... hopeless people give hopeless results, so I'll help!

( as for ranger...? ranger is his own brand of thoughts, and komaeda can tell he's waiting for confirmation on something, compared to when he can do things by himself without komaeda's say. that's not how this works anymore, he's realized, and he'll turn to look towards the ai to size him up with his eyes. he knows that he isnt in the position to deal with this, his senses too sharp which means his nerves are unprotected by the flesh, they're out there for the touching, in a metaphorical sense, and they're being hit. he does as told (shockingly enough) by slipping the leash and collar back into ranger's right pocket. he lifts up properly,  contemplating his next move, and then he'll lift a hand to poke at ranger's cheek to pull him from his thoughts. )

Right-o. Great ideas, everyone. ( he'll walk over to ramuda with a hop in his step, and he extends with his prosthetic first so that he can push ramuda back, wondering if he'll fall back inside. does he? ) Alright, you don't deserve to be here, we'll send you back to the land of the living.

( in that coffin where for the moment, ramuda can go back to the point mentally where he thought he was alive before exiting. it's a blissful moment, special even, a luxury not many of them have anymore. )

[rebirths]

Mm, hopeless?

[ He's light as a feather, so yep, into the coffin he goes. He lets out another laugh again, somewhat pleased with himself that he managed to bore these two weirdos enough that they've decided to put the leash away. He can breathe a little easier now -- though Ramuda doesn't entirely trust that he's free, there has to be a catch to this, he'll take this over that collar any day. ]

Nah, nah! See, you've got it all wrong. I'd just rather have to claw my way out of this thing for the rest of my measly spiritual lifespan than be your subservient pet. You understand, don't you?

[ ...Presumably, they would, but -- ]

Ahaha, either way, it doesn't matter. I'm not here to entertain you, so have fun searchin' for your new source of entertainment, Gods of Death! It was nice meetin' ya!

[ time to yeet him into the abyss........ ]

[rearranger]

[ There's an unhappy little noise when Komaeda pokes his cheek, the card switching to an embarrassed squiggle just briefly before he returns to the open-mouthed grin. Ranger supposes it's for the best. His tolerance was naturally low, but it had been lower still as of late, but he's as willing to defer to his partner as he is to drag them around. So it is that he watches without any real expression as things proceed in the unusual melodramatic manner, thinking that shoving the guy back in the box after signaling for him not to do anything.

He does step over to the coffin now, observing both the device and the person in it more carefully now. ]

Nope! Couldn't claw your way outta this guy, but I guess you could tear your fingernails out trying to. Actually, if you just wanna die a second time, it'd probably be faster and less painful to just keep doing what you're doing.

[ Said in the same detached tone that one might use to denote the time. He bumps the coffin with the tip of his boot. What an eyesore. It would be a lot less painful to have his neck snapped, really, then to be banged around and left to die... Well, not that he was planning to do either any longer.

He looks between the two of them. ]

'Kay, so you finished with the dramatics? I'm closing this thing in 20 seconds whether or not you're still in it. I don't need some other dumb bastard crawling in it when I'm not looking.

[ He says that, but Ranger doesn't appear to be willing to actually correct Komaeda's claim, so hopefully either he corrects himself or Ramuda can gather what's going on from the context clues. ]

[commences]

"Keep doing what you're doing"?

( his eyes trail own to ranger kicking the coffin, and now that komaeda thinks about it, this is quite the coffin that he hasn't seen before — he doesn't know much about asunaro stuff aside from what they're capable of doing downplayed to just ais, and a few other things. to see a coffin however, what would be the use aside from putting someone inside and...

...

...

ah, he laughs, shaking his head as context clues benefit him the most. the company that ranger used to be part of has gimmicks that he's seen in movies, but he wouldn't know how it'd go about it. nails that impale the human body, or do they suffocate, for a moment komaeda can feel himself forgetting to breathe, and he coughs slightly trying to get himself together. it's just a trick of the mine, his throat isn't closing in on him, he's not being kept locked away inside in the darkness with no one to hear him scream — )

I don't mind if you're locked inside, but the fact of the matter is, I don't know if he's going to let you out.

( maybe if komaeda asks, and komaeda doesn't mind asking, but what does ramuda do for him aside from hitting his nose and making him bleed. talking about that blood, it's a good thing he hasn't allowed it to drip anywhere. he lifts a hand, rubbing at the side of his neck as he squats down to look towards their company. )

Get out, unless you don't have much to live for.

( it contradicts what he said before, but maybe it's a trick? maybe reverse psychology, but ramuda can stay or crawl out because either way, komaeda can work with him inside of the coffin or outside. he won't look towards ranger, but he'll know that komaeda's talking to him simply because of one teeny, tiny change. )

30 seconds.

[rebirths]

[ Something something dramatics, something something thirty seconds -- everything is just happening so much that Ramuda's not really soaking in everything that's being told to him. It all sounds like noise, but not quite static noise, either. More like loud rattling that's causing a pounding in his head as he tries to figure out how to outsmart these so-called death gods. Normally he'd be down to fight and dethrone god(s) but that's a little hard when he can't really do the, uh. Fighting part of it.

So it doesn't quite look like he's got any other choice but to duck out of here, because he's realized that he's without his microphone and that's just not good. For a moment, it looks like he's just going to sit in the coffin as he kicks his feet around a little too jovially.

And then, he bolts upwards and ducks between the two of them to try and make his way out of the room. The door may or may not be bolted, and if it is, time to lead the worst, most cramped wild goosechase of his life??????? ]

[rearranger]

[ That would be a no.

He subtly shifts closer to Komaeda upon noticing him seem to consider the finer details of the coffin. He clicks his tongue when corrected, but the lack of a refusal suggests that he's amenable enough. Ranger is inclined to do as he pleases, but he used to coordinating with another person and willing enough to defer when the request is reasonable. In the end it doesn't matter, given that the guy is not done with this person freaking out over nothing.

Good, at least they're out of his coffin. He clicks the button to shut it, finding that to be one less problem for him to deal with. ]

It's locked.

[ The door is, in fact, locked. By now he's decided that this person is particularly dense (Ranger might be scary, but Komaeda looks like he could be pushed over by a light breeze,) so he helpfully takes a step forward to see if that's enough to help toggle their problem solving skills. ]

Need a hand?

[commences]

Hm... If you're feeling friendly, then you should help.

( there's not much he can do when it comes to someone running around like a dog without their leash attached. his own leash and collar is now within the jacket that ranger wears, and so he's less of a threat as he was at first. )

But... ( it comes straight after like he's willing to give a tip for free. ) ...if you take the help of a Death God... are you willing to hand over something of equal value. Your life already belongs to us.

( his prosthetic rests on his hip, smiling softly as he remains standing next to the coffin, and once it's closes shut komaeda will sit on top of it since the door's locked. he kick his feet like a child as he watches ramuda struggle to get out, and he's allowing ranger to handle this part. )

Don't let me down, Riokun, remember to take one thing of your choice.

lockers

[miirai]

Mii?

[The person who he manages to encounter is a small, short girl who seems to frown, looking rather flustered when she seems to be questioned.]

Do you know the three numbers for your combination?

[rebirths]

[ Short posse in the house, he's tiny too. Not as small as Rika, but!!

He nods and looks like he's about to say it out loud, but he catches himself with a little laugh. ]

Ahaha, I do! Buuuut I probably shouldn't tell you what they are, huh? I just need to know how to turn this thing.

[ He knows what locks are, but look, locks are built differently, we're having a time here. ]

[miirai]

It's supposed to be a secret. ☆

[There's a playful note to the way she says those words. Not that she cares one way or another if she finds out the combination or not.]

You're supposed to turn left, right, left, sir.

[rebirths]

Left, right, left...

[ He says it out loud as he does the turns, and lo and behold, the lock pops open. His eyes light up and he turns to her again with a broad grin on his face. ]

Hey, thanks! You're a lifesaver; it's too bad those death god guys dragged in someone so sweet!

[ ....death gods..... Hm. ]

Have you been here for a while, Miss?

[miirai]

...Mii? Death god guys?

[She tilts her head, blinking owlishly. Guess who hadn't heard about this place being purgatory just yet?]

I've been here a while - [Memories scream at her, saying that should be the case. But for some reason, she feels uncertain, like there's a cloudiness there.] but I'm a first year, so I haven't been here as long as some of the other students.

[rebirths]

[ IT'S FINE, the "death god guys" are...........not quite accurate either, this day has been a time and a half. ]

Oh, yeah. You know, the one with the wild white hair and the other guy with the red-orange hair? He wears some kind of weird mask. Scary, scary!

[ It was legitimately scary, okay. But he hums a little thoughtfully. He's in the same boat as her. ]

Hmm, sorry I didn't remember ya though, my memory's been a little fuzzy lately! Though that's probably because I'm a third year, haha~

[ Not exactly a full-on lie, but he also doesn't want to give away the fact that he doesn't exactly feel like he's supposed to belong here. ]

[miirai]

I haven't seen those two, yet, but that might be because they're in a different class from me. But if I see them, I'll make sure to make super spooky sounds.

[Rika...]

It's okay. But that's why you can get to know me now. Nipah~☆

[rebirths]

Different class?

[ ....hmm. Hmmmmm. He seems to go quiet for a moment before that smile of his pops right back onto his face. He pulls on his locker door, revealing the uniforms, some casual wear, and...pink lollipops. ]

Yeah, yeah! New friends, right? I'm Ramuda~ What's your name?