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bulletin board updates

✽ There are several new points of interest at the bulletin board this month, most prominently a wooden box with the slit on the top just large enough to drop a sheet of paper inside. Above is an explanation of Secret Santa and a form to fill out for those interested in participating to write down their name, homeroom, and locker number. Sign-ups close on 12/5, and following assignments, gifts may be given in person or through one of the student council members if anonymous gifting is preferred (contact the mod to hire a stuco elf).
✽ Right next to this box is a poster with a large orange giraffe painted on it. The contents of the poster has nothing to do with giraffes, but rather, is an advertisement for student store commissions featuring quality work with quick turnarounds and a special discount for the month of December if you buy five or more commissions, or bring the shopkeep a warm drink and maybe a snack while they're working.
✽ To the side of the class roster and current ranks is a digital countdown, and scrawled on the bulletin board itself is the message "You're almost there! You can do it! One more push!" but it's unclear whether this message refers to the countdown to the new year, or to the long glass tube situated along the edge of the bulletin board next to it. Maybe both. The tube looks similar to a graduated cylinder, holding a total volume of 5000 ml and currently containing 4850 ml of dark red (presumably) blood, hot to the touch. It can not be broken or removed. The mod will be in contact if any character action this month causes the volume to change.
✽ A neatly typed notice, half buried under all the other announcements, contains a reminder that tuition will be due soon for those students continuing to study at Yogen. If tuition is not paid in full by the end of February, "compensation" will be taken instead.
✽ And finally, there is a notice from the student council that proof of club activity is once again due for submission to the student council by 12/24, otherwise the club will be dissolved and resources taken back. Please submit activity proof to the toplevel below.

12/20 - 12/24 finals week

✽ The week before winter break is finals, with many students cramming as many math formulas and foreign country leaders into their heads as possible without it all spilling over, while other students have decided to chance the practicum instead. Those who have signed up for the practicum are asked to meet inside the auditorium after homeroom at the start of the day while test takers begin their written exams. Students are allowed to change their minds on which to take, up until the end of homeroom on Monday, after the bell rings and the doors close.
✽ For the test takers, finals last for five days, from 8AM until noon each day, after which students are allowed to go home, or have lunch and continue studying in their homerooms or in the library. At the end of finals on Friday, students are asked to remain in their homerooms over lunch break while their exams finish being graded, after which homeroom teachers will return and ask certain students to go with them to the faculty office. These are the failing students. Which the homeroom teachers themselves have the pleasure of executing for their failures. All other students are dismissed and wished a happy winter break.
✽ For those opting for the practicum, finals last for two days, from 8AM until noon on Monday and Tuesday. All students from all grades meet in the auditorium the first day and are told the very simple rules for this semester's practicum: in order to raise your failing grade, all you have to do is kill another student, upon which you take their points for yourself. At the start of both days, students first gather in the auditorium for a headcount and then are given a half hour no-killing grace period during which they are allowed to scatter and find the best sniping/ambushing/hiding spots. The hunt is limited to four hours each day and kills must be done on campus; any kills done outside of these parameters are just for fun and do not count towards their final grade. Points are given for kills involving students in the same grade level of different homerooms (e.g. third years only benefit from killing other third years) and points are revoked for kills involving other grade levels or test takers not participating in the practicum. They studied hard, leave them alone. Most students need only one or two kills to pass, but multiple kills stack and earn them extra credit that will carry over to the next semester. Students who end the second day with a still failing grade will be called to the faculty office. ... All remaining students are dismissed and wished a happy (early!) winter break.
✽ A winter storm starts to whip up around noon on the 24th, raging through the night before settling down come morning, blanketing the entire campus with several feet of snow.

OOC

✽ PC faculty still have finals: they will either take written exams excluding that of their own subject, or they can take the practicum. Players with faculty characters are asked to reply to the toplevel below to indicate the number of failed students per class, but characters do NOT have to ICly be responsible for killing failed students. Unless they're cool with that, and if so, please let me know.
✽ This is a reminder that for any character that murders (again, please let me know), they will experience the same pain the following night and lose powers/abilities for one week. Two weeks after the murder, +1 tally and +100 merit points will be awarded for each kill.
✽ The void in the auditorium continues to grow, and (pending character interaction) by the end of the month will encompass the entire right wing of all floors, including the locker area but not the rooftop. Please mind the void, murderers.

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[there's a knock at Shin's door this Saturday, late afternoon - he probably knows it by now, that Helena comes calling when she feels the urge now. gentle but insistent, and coupled with her voice -]

Sou, are you in?

[there's something important to discuss.

the small bottle she carries in her hand bears a familiar symbol, slightly raised from the surface, and her fingers stroke over it while she waits for his reply. it had been under her bed, slightly dusty, with others - but this symbol strikes her, remembering the journey into Narumi's heart, and why not ask the first person that comes to mind?]

[Things periodically just showing up in his room: always deeply concerning, in implication.

The kotatsu is forgiven, though. He'd just kind of stared at it for a bit, almost too afraid that if he used it, he'd never leave again. The also deeply concerning in implication lotus print is making him wonder if whatever entity is responsible for this has a sense of humor.

Either way, he's dozing arms folded on it and the study materials underneath him when Helena knocks, head lifting in a muzzy jerking motion.]

Hmnh? [Takes a second for it to register as Helena, and he turns towards the door, arm dangling.] Come in! Err, wait actually...

[Remembered he has to actually go over there and unlock it, both him and Sara tend to leave it locked whereever possible by habit, even if one of them is already in the room; it's not paranoia if it really is murder school. He manages to extricate himself somehow from the syrup-like warmth and flick the inner mechanism, pulling open the door and stepping back to let her inside, revealing the new furniture piece behind him with the motion. One side of his hair is stuck up at new and odd angles.]

Okay, now come in.

Edited (minor tweak) 2021-12-09 03:42 (UTC)

Oh, were you asleep? I'm sorry to have woken you...

[not sorry enough to not walk in, gently tapping and stopping in surprise when the echoes have a different quality than what she's used to.]

You got something added to your room! What is it?

[it feels just a touch warmer here too...but absent the hum of the space heater.]

Ah, no, I was just getting some study done... you know.

[That's his story and he's sticking to it... he actually did manage some before the kotatsu status effect claimed him. Even if they don't fully know the lethal nature of it yet, finals are still coming up and he's shoring up his weakest areas that aren't PE (thankfully Helena and Subaru's November training has been helping just a little there).

There's a warmth in his voice equal to the warmth provided.]

It's a kotatsu! Come on.

[He'll close and lock the door again and hurry over to it... his steps have a rare bounce to them. He sits and then pats the table surface after the sound of shuffling papers out of the way stops.]

It just was here, already on...

[a kotatsu, huh...she comes over and settles down, putting the bottle on the table before slipping underneath...and Shin can probably see the exact second the warmth comes over her and the delight settles in.]

This is one of the most marvelous things I've ever encountered...

[oh. this is magnificent. she's so happy. she could stay here all evening and all night. it would be hard to explain, but....]

Right?? Whoever invented these was some kind of genius...

[She gets it. It's amazing, even more than a nice thick futon... even more than the space heater even, though that one's a close match. Honestly it'll be hard to pry himself away to get into bed proper, so he understands the urge to stay completely. As long as Sara was fine with it, maybe...

His curiosity's piqued by the bottle she's just put down, and he's leaning over for a closer look.]

Huh. What's this?

[a deep, satisfied sort of sigh comes from her as she melts a little further into the kotatsu's warmth. like it radiated down to the bone marrow, to truly warm one up...she might have to sneak in here and nap with it, she thinks. just to see how it feels.

the bottle...the bottle, right. the reason she came. she'll rouse herself enough for it.]

It's some kind of liquid...I found this under my bed when I was cleaning. I couldn't tell you what it is, but the label...the symbol on it is raised and feels somewhat familiar. And it has me wondering, do you recognize it at all? Or is there writing to explain it?

[the heavy iron necklace she had been wearing in her soul. the pendant with no way to get it off. no writing to name it, just a dark logo and a tightly corked small bottle.]

I smelled it, thinking it might be one of Natsume's perfumes, but it just smells like a new tea...

Edited 2021-12-09 10:59 (UTC)

[His first thought is that it might be some kind of weird alcoholic drink, but then it wouldn't smell of tea...]

Another mysterious appearance... Wish we could find out what's behind them. I'll take a look...

[He reaches over, the slosh of said liquid as he retrieves it and holds it up. His body language is curious but idle until he rolls the bottle in his hand to look fully at the label, whereon it stills. It doesn't take long to remember where he's seen something like that before... exactly like that. Here's it's just paper, but some of that sheer foreboding ominousness that leaden necklace had is rubbing onto it by association, and that in turn is bleeding into his voice.]

Doesn't say what it is but... Helena, do you remember when we were in Narumi's soul? ...You had that [chain] necklace on.

That's what I was thinking about, actually.

[she nods, hearing that in his voice - but it was fine, wasn't it? just a little heavy, and she could bear up under that.]

If that symbol was on my necklace, and then on this bottle, then it must belong to me - because otherwise, how could it match like that? And if it's mine, then maybe I was supposed to find it right now, because I need it. Because it's meant for my soul.

[It's tricky to think about describing how that thing radiated bad news; it's not like there's any one thing about it Shin can point to, just that literally soul-deep gut feeling. At the time there were other things to worry about, in overlapping succession, but he's thought about it sometimes since, the kind of thoughts that are eddies; chasing themselves in circles and disappearing.]

Do you even know what it does?

[She talks about needing it but... he doesn't trust like that. Wait, that was a bit rude...]

S-sorry... It's clearly got something to do with you at least. Meant for you... the question is how, right?

Well...if it showed up, and it smells like tea, and it's a liquid...that means you have to drink it, right? What else could it be for?

[she pauses, extracting her hands from under the kotatsu, reaching for the bottle.]

I don't know what it's supposed to do, but let's approach this logically. It matches something I had reflected on my soul. It smells familiar, and the bottle is small. I think...I think if we're very careful, then I should try it. I can't explain more than that, but a feeling I have says this is safe.

Hm.

[A feeling, huh... He's torn both ways on that, his trust in Helena's logic and intuition pushing up against his suspicion. He hands the bottle back at her reach.]

If we're careful. So just a small amount then... [Should he offer to test it first? Would it even affect him, if it's so clearly linked to her? Wait, that's stupid.] Ah, wait, hang on...

[Sound of shuffling as he gets up and retrieves his smartphone from it's charger, and then him sitting back down with a thump and setting it on the kotatsu, getting to the list of contacts and opening up the only one currently there; Rantaro's. There's no way Shin'd be able to carry her to the nurse if something went wrong, after all, so it's good to have something in reserve.]

There. Help's a button press away... J-just in case.

Ah, excellent. And should you have to, please know you have my forgiveness if you have to make me throw up to get rid of poison.

[because you know, that's how you get some poisons out. and if this is poison, and they need to cure her, she'll forgive him for any disgraceful situation she has to go in to save her life.]

H-hopefully it won't come to that...?

[Most of his off-guardness is that's a very Sara sentence and he wasn't expecting it. He's not even sure how to make someone throw up. Well, okay, he knows quite a few ways but they're all from personal experience of him being miserable and not really easily or desiredly replicable in this situation. Sticking a finger down your throat is how it works in movies, right? This is just what half of his brain is going to be stuck on for a bit now.

He's even kind of forgotten about his weird internal policy of not mentioning the word hope in case it summons Komaeda.]

It probably won't. I promise you, I'm not going to drink the whole thing.

[that said, she pulls the cork from the bottle, and the faintest new scent is added to the room. but it's not newly brewed tea, as she claimed it was - for Shin, it will be something else, whatever drink he recalls with the most fondness, the fumes not overwhelming but gentle. but before she can know this change, it's already at her lips, and she drinks from it, to take half of the little bottle in her and then set it down.

strange. very strange. it tastes nothing like what she expected, but instead vaguely bitter, with a metallic undertone. not very pleasant, but not unbearable. she's still awake, though, nothing about her body feels changed, nothing feels wrong.]

Do I look any different?

[no.]

[He gets a tiny whiff of... miso? That's not tea... is his brain on the fritz or something? He's been watching carefully anyway, but he still leans slightly to give her a lookover before leaning back.]

Well, you haven't sprouted cat ears yet...

[He's still salty about that one magic math lesson. It's very hard to do math without thumbs.]

Maybe it takes a while to work? Or could be it's a dud... Looks old enough.

[That's a thing right? Losing potency over time.]

Maybe...

[but she stops, going pale, clouded eyes going wide. her body is hot and cold, but what she suddenly knows - what grows in her stomach, vines twisting around her soul, her limbs, her heart - is what makes her absolutely still, barely even breathing.

again and again and again. knives and clubs and bombs and stakes and swords, bruised and battered and a world full of sharpness and malice. again and again. suffocation, exploding, slowly bleeding out. limbs cracked, fear rising, sometimes without any warning just collapsing, and screaming. oh God, the screams. agony, fear, despair. voices rising, burning, snuffed out, tears that rip from her as she runs and runs and her limbs beg her to stop and she cannot.

the weight of certain hands on her, and a nausea that settles to her core, but her lips won't open, her voice won't come, she can hear it all, hear everything. it's right there, only a doll to be wound and carried around, and she's sick so sick but she needs to hold it back for now and try to make them happy -

Helena doesn't know that she half rose from the kotatsu, slow and steady, same stunned, almost horrified expression on. she takes one long, shuddering breath, and then completely collapses onto the floor, soundly unconscious.

at least this is mercifully silent and absent of thought.]

[ABSOLUTELY NOT A DUD.]

Helena, are y-? H-helena!?

[Hurriedly pushing himself out from the covers to crouch over her, no hesitation in shaking her by the shoulder, frantically scanning for signs she's still breathing... the growing tightness in his chest releases it's vice grip a little on seeing hers rise and fall and he becomes aware of his own panting as he turns and starts fumbling for the phone.

After some clattering he gets it and presses the call button, holding it to his ear with one hand while the other worries at his scarf, not taking his eyes off Helena like she might take a turn for the worse if he looks away.]

( it only takes about two rings before it picks up, a soft and amiable voice answering as amami accepts the call. )

Hey, Hiyori-kun. What's up?

( not often he gets a whole phone call from shin, presumably, so he's sure there must be something. )

[The assessment is correct :' ) Rantaro's calmness does let him reorient himself a bit, one hand going to his beanie as he tries to breath out.]

R-right, Rantaro... H-helena drank something and fell unconscious! I-I don't know what it did before that but it didn't look good. W-we're in Moon 1, can you get the nurse o-or come help me take her there...

[By which he means carry her there, with him maybe helping a bit. Crouching down and gently shaking her shoulder again with the free hand and a worried expression.]

She's not waking up, but she's breathing...

( oh, he'd thought it was something, but this is like... Something. he's bristling right from the get-go when he hears the nerves in shin's voice, and by the time he's noted helena unconscious, amami's already pushing himself up from his seat to make his way over. )

If she's breathing evenly, that's a good sign.

( in fact, he almost feels himself breathe a sigh of relief at that, but rationally he knows it's a bit too early to do so. )

Is she on her back? Try to see if you can set her on her side until I get there, just to be safe.

( because you're supposed to be more likely to choke if you're laying on your back, right? that's how it goes, isn't it? either way, it'd be nice if he was in sun 2 right about now, but he's not. shin can probably hear the sound of a door being pushed open, and the hurried steps and heavier breathing that come with absolutely just booking it back to the dorms. give him a minute, he'll get there... )

[He can hear various moving noises in the background of the call, which is a good sign given that it is indeed Something.]

She fell forward... I-I'll move her. [He'll gently tip her onto her side and try to ignore how familiar this feels. But at least:] Doesn't seem like it's getting worse either...

[And she doesn't seem like she has any injuries from falling, as well. His head lifts as he picks up on the sound of the door opening and he hurriedly gets up and goes to unlock the door, swinging it ajar before returning to his fretting vigil, phone still pressed to his ear as he tries to pick up on Rantaro's moving position by the sound alone.]

We've got no idea what she drank, the label is just a symbol...

[Maybe he shouldn't mention that they were testing that very fact.]

"We?"

( he repeats that part after shin specifically, concerned by that too. first of all, why was she drinking from a symbol-labelled bottle like that? second of all, who was letting her do that? but it's fine, he can ask those questions in a minute or so, because for now he's just focused on getting there — a task that shouldn't take too much longer when he's shaking off the cold and making his way back into the dorms now. rounding the corners of the familiar path to his own dorm, he takes a left and finds himself surprised by the open door, but thankful all the same as he steps inside.

immediately, he makes a bee-line for shin and helena, dropping down to his knees beside them and taking her wrist to check her pulse with. )

You said she drank something, do you know how long ago it was?

[Shin, Shin was letting her do that. He's kicking himself... maybe he bought a little too much into her logic that it was meant for her specifically. He ends the call and pockets the phone to get his hands free as Rantaro's footsteps become audible approaching in the dorms, looking up as he enters.]

Not long. [Should he reveal he had Rantaro on speed dial in advance? Absolutely not.] I called you as soon as she collapsed... and that was right after.

[So that explains the "we".]

She looked like she'd seen a ghost...

[That look of pure horror before it happened really isn't helping his stress levels any, because something must have caused it.]

As soon as she collapsed, huh.

( it's murmured under his breath, and it took him a minute to really sink in, but they are... in shin's room, aren't they? helena's from a star room, he remembers. he glances up to meet shin's eyes with a serious expression.

...

then looks back down to helena, heaving a sigh. )

Her pulse and breathing are both even. Her temperature is fine, she's not sweating, and she doesn't look pale... I think she should be okay for now, but we can bring her to the nurse's office to rest.

( and maybe if akari's in there she can do some proper poison control. but anyway, with another look around the room, the bottle nearby does happen to catch his eye. a strange spiral symbol... amami points it out, looking back to shin. )

Is that it?

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notsosou - 2021-12-22 01:41 (UTC) - Expand

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sisters - 2021-12-22 02:07 (UTC) - Expand

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DECEMBER EVENT/TDM

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bulletin board updates

12/20 - 12/24 finals week

OOC

c, 4th.

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