Ultimate Revival?

[waitingforplayer2]

Who: Chiaki Nanami + you
When: Late January
Where: Around the school (specific locations below)
What: Dead girl reawakens
Warnings: Spoilers for Danganronpa 3; nightmares and PTSD likely.

A: outside the dorms

[ Sunlight. That's the first thing she notices. And it's far too bright.

She's pushing through foliage, trying to get her bearings, and it isn't long before she stumbles into a clearing. She looks up and recognizes the back of the dormitory, and it all comes flooding back: right, yes, she must have wandered into the forest. She forces herself into a brisk walk, because she really needs to get back to class and... ]

[ Her walk slows suddenly, as a few thing tumble together into her mind. She looks up at the dorms again in slow and sleepy realization. ]

This isn't right... is it?...

B: attending school

[ Right or not, there's too much compelling her to go to class - and so she'll attend, as if in a daze.

She keeps her head down. She sticks to the back of the class. She fidgets like mad, wishing she had her game console. When she went to her locker to look, all she found were some clothes and a notebook.

When the teacher calls her name, it takes a couple of tries for Nanami to register it. Nanami stands up quickly, splutters out an answer, and sits back down again immediately, face bright red and not even sure if she said the right answer. ]

C: game club

[ It doesn't take too much asking around for her to find out about the Game Club. She goes to the first meeting she can, wandering in sleepily. ]

Ex-... excuse me, sorry... [ (another huge yawn) ] ... is this the Game Club?

D: dorm, after hours

[ It's been an exhausting day, and for some reason she does still need to eat and sleep, even though that shouldn't make sense for the afterlife. But she doesn't actually know if there's any open beds, so she'll end up dozing off in one of the common room's armchairs pretty quickly after classes end.

That was a mistake. It doesn't take long before she wakes up screaming. ]

Comments

D!

[notsosou]

[There's not any clubs today, so he's returned to the dorms fairly early; scraping off snow at the door when he hears screaming and he doesn't even think, he rushes there.

It's someone having a nightmare, not being murdered. Which is a bit of a relief, because what could Shin have done if it was? It's still not good, though. And... he recognizes that pink hair.]

N-nanami?

[He approaches, a concerned face and concerned hand hovering.]

I-it's okay, you're not there any more... It was just a dream. Breathe, okay?

[And so on like this. It's pitched soothing, just keeping the words coming until she can get back to reality. He and Sara... are no strangers to this kind of nightmare.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Yet another person already knowing her name is barely fazing her anymore. She's taking great heaving breaths, trying to calm herself down, trying to erase the endless walls of the labyrinth form her head.

You're not there any more.

She breaks completely, and the gulps for air dissolve into uncontrollable gasping sobs. She's not there anymore. It's all gone. Including her. ]

I'm s-s-s-sorry!!

[notsosou]

H-hey, hey, it's okay, you didn't do anything wrong...

[Oh no. He doesn't know where she is, what past's attacking her, but that's true enough to be said, right? There and now. He's doing his best to radiate assured calm, be a grounding rod for the panic.]

You're here, you're alive... just keep breathing. Slowly, right? [Like he is, trying to lead by example. Trying to get all the air is like trying to drink water too fast... he doesn't have Sidney's training but he knows that much, feeling it out from having been on the other end.] You're in the common room right now... in one of the armchairs. Never did find out where these came from... they just kinda came with the place. But they're pretty comfortable right?

C!

[silentabyss]

[Noah does not come from a world where video games exist, so the last several months has mostly been him learning how to play said video games, and also doing tabletop RPGs — you know, standard "I missed out on my entire childhood" stuff. The first time Nanami went missing, he'd thought it was lonely without her around in the club, and that thought doesn't resurface too often these days—

That is, until she walks through the door and he immediately jumps to his feet, exclaiming,]

Nanami! You're here! Are you okay? What happened?

[waitingforplayer2]

Ah...?!?

[ She freezes. What. This is not how she expects to be greeted. This whole world is strange. ]

I... I don't know. [ One-and-done answer to all of it. Nailed it. She sits down slowly to get her bearings. ] May I... may I ask who you are, please?

[silentabyss]

[Noah immediately just... deflates at that, shoulders slumping as he picks his way back to his seat. He shouldn't get his hopes up in this place, he knows he shouldn't. And yet...

Sigh.]

Oh. S...sorry. It makes sense that you don't remember, so it's okay. ...I'm Noah Ebalon.

a

[samuraiwomen]

[ A girl throwing rocks at a wall behind the dormitory looks up when someone stumbles out of the bushes. Sara blinks, taking in Nanami's ruffled clothes and blank expression and turns to face her. The rock in her hand drops to the ground with a soft thump. [

Oh...Nanami-san?

[ It's not unheard of for people to appear again after so long...in fact Kaede had vanished at the same time as Nanami, and she had arrived only a month or so ago. Maybe Sara should have expected this. Still, its hard to hide the shock of her expression. When she first woke up she would have wanted something...Warm...friendly. Something with a smile. She tries to face Nanami again. ]

It's been a while. ..........Welcome back.

[waitingforplayer2]

Ah... hello? Oh...?

[ She blinks sleepily. Who is this? ]

Th-thank you, I think... ahh...

[ She looks up at the building again. Too many contradictions, too much for sleepy brain. ] ... this is... our school, now?...

[samuraiwomen]

[ It's pretty apparent she's not recognized. Sara stares a moment longer...decides not to mention it. Nanami seems disoriented, and not in the simple sleepy way Sara had once known. ]

This is Yogen High School, Nanami-san. Ah...my name is Sara Chidouin! I'm a first year here.

[ She points back across the grounds towards the school building itself. ]

Er...I don't mind explaining a little more but do you have your PDA on you? Otherwise, I can go look for your locker.

B

[rearranger]

[ There's a blocky TV in the room, along with a couple game consoles including a Playstation, but the individual in the room doesn't seem to be interested in either of those. Ranger instead sits at one of the desks with a laptop with a logo on the back of it.

He taps away at the keys with one hand, having already raised a card with cheerful, open mouthed grin to cover the lower half of his face. Without stopping his work, he looks over to the person who entered.

He frowns a little. He more or less knows all the faces around here by now, and so he thinks this person must be new. ]

Yep, sure is. Whatchya need?

[ He's not a part of this club, and actually he just came here because it was empty today, but that's beside the point. ]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She hesitates. He's eccentric, that's for sure, but... she's pretty used to that. It's the more normal students around here that feel out of place, now. ]

I... wanted to know what games you have... if that's alright.

d is for dad

[wolfetracks]

( he's not normally out and about at this time- normally he gets assigned 'teddy bear' by a boyfriend and then he doesn't get to get up again until morning. but it's late and he's got a book to read and something warm to drink sounds nice-

until it doesn't, because there's a poor kid asleep on the couch coming straight from a night terror. sidney doesn't hesitate to crouch beside her- sidney might be an intimidating man at full size, where one can see the scar over his gold eye and missing arm combined with his bulk and height, but he tries to keep a soothing voice as he speaks. )

It's alright. You were having a nightmare. You aren't alone, and you're not in danger.

( simple, short sentences, easy for a rattled mind to parse. simple truths- or as close to the truth as it can be. )

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She's gasping for breath, looking every which way to try to figure out what's real, or if anything is. When the man starts talking to her, she closes her eyes and tries to take deep gulping breaths to calm herself down. ]

Pl-please pardon my intrusion... [ Silent tears start running down her face as her breathing begins to slow a bit. ]

D

[miirai]

[Maybe the screaming is a relief, because it gives Rika a sense of time - sound can't be heard during certain parts of the day, after all. But she finds herself rushing to the source, a little frantic--]

What wrong — what happened?

[Her voice is a bit more serious and terse than she'd like, but she can't help it.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Chiaki looks at her with wild eyes - where'd this girl come from - but some part of her recognizes that this is the room she fell asleep in some time ago. She's not in the dream anymore. Probably. ]

S-sorry!! Bad dream... [ She gulps and tries to ignore the knot in her gut. ]

prayer hands I hope you don't mind me wildcarding b

[futurebullets]

[Hinata has had problems with the stairs since he arrived here, both now and in the time he can no longer remember, but he's a lot faster getting around them now that he has a reason to frequent the third floor nearly every day. Nowadays, when he isn't elsewhere he can frequently be found in the art room watching Rokkun sketch or hoping to catch Akamatsu playing piano in the music room.

It's not at all unusual for him to be climbing the stairs. What is unusual is for him to freeze as soon as he's at the top of the staircase, dropping his school bag in shock from the person he sees not too far away from him, probably having just left her class.]

Nanami? [His voice is both joy and agony, happy to see her but miserable that it's in this school of all places.] You... You're really Nanami, right...?

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Somehow the day's already been way too long and tiring despite only technically being half over, but Nanami's dragging herself between classes anyway. The voice ringing through the air causes her to freeze in place and turn slowly towards the source, heart hammering.

She only knew him for a few weeks, really, but it was enough, and a part of her has been listening for that voice ever since.

Her breath catches in her throat at the sight of him. ] Hinata-kun... you... you're here too?

B

[moraloutrage]

[Another day, another class attended by a bunch of second year students! ...Except there's something out of the ordinary, which catches him by surprise. That's hearing the teacher call out the name of someone long gone...

...and even more surprising, hearing someone answer back. Ishimaru immediately turns to face the student sitting a few rows over from him. Normally he's not one to speak out of turn in class, but-]

N... Nanami-kun?!

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She's been going through her school day in such a daze that she didn't even notice the Hope's Peak underclassman sharing her class. She looks up sleepily from her idle twiddling. ]

Pr-present... ah! [ Her eyes widen. Yes, she does recognize him! But they didn't share a class and she can't pull his name. ] Ah... [ She glances at the front of the class to see if they've been noticed, and then silently from her seat does a slight but visible bow as a form of greeting. ]

A

[adsum]

[ It doesn't feel right, a school she's never seen before but knows every inch of, a large wisteria tree in the middle of the courtyard in full bloom despite the winter chill, a bright flash of light in her periphery and if she turns, she'll see a student out of uniform lowering a polaroid camera from their face, looking just as confused as she does. ]

How long did you walk for...?

[ She's covered in leaves and twigs and looks dead on her feet? somebody help ]

[waitingforplayer2]

I... [ "dead on her feet" is extremely more accurate than the other person might realize. Nanami looks up at the school. The overwhelming memories right now, and the reality in front of her, is that she's been a part of this school for quite some time.

There's more distant memories, like from a dream, of a more violent past.

She shakes her head and smiles a little. ] I'm not really sure. But at least I made it back? [ She glances down at her clenched fist and uncurls it.

The petal with a dying glow is there to greet her. ]

D (Trauma Time)

[gatetohell]

[ Joe's pretty surprised when he seems someone new snoozing in the common room. One because new students are pretty rare lately, but also because he just finds this room... incredibly unsettling. The portraits alone were enough to set him off when he first arrived, but the collection of coffins make this place feel far from welcoming.

He's debating on waking her up for a few moment when suddenly she wakes up screaming. He freezes up in fear for a moment before something kicks in that compels him to hurry over to her. ]

Hey... hey! It's okay!

[ He quickly kneels down in front of her and puts his hands on her shoulders. He tries to get her to look at him before speaking as calmly as he can. ]

You're alright... you're- [ Safe? Not in this school. Nobody is. ] y-you're with me. And I'm here for you. Try to take a deep breath, okay?

[waitingforplayer2]

I... ahhhh?....

[ She's looking around wildly, like a trapped animal. When she sees his face there she jerks backwards instinctively -- she doesn't recognize him.

She somehow recognizes that his words are trying to help. Nanami starts taking in huge gulps of air, trying to somehow calm herself down. The tears are flowing freely. ]

wildcard.

[commences]

( it's january, it's still cold, the cool air still sticks to the skin, and to their attire, and the crunch of the snow underfoot that's too familiar. the heavy winter passed, but that doesn't stop him from finally adorning a scarf around his neck, there's even a white ribbon tied to it to keep himself warm. he hasn't worn it before, and to get full use would be to test it out. gifts from others to wear, to be seen with is the last thing he wants considering that would only cause him a copious amount of bad luck, and so he thinks to go out alone, keep it hidden, and gauge his decision.

it's the same as he can tell where something is hopeful, or truly despairing. komaeda knows hope so well, he's been a fan of the concept, no, of ultimates since he was a small child; he had no parents, he had people akin to heroes. those who could do the impossible, those people who could be loved and admired, and they all attended hope's peak. it was everyone, he appreciated them all — he was young, his love had grown, he would do anything for them. their hope was crucial, and that's why he'd do anything to protect their hopes despite being the group of people that couldn't fall to despair.

...

everyone, but one.

there's a warm breeze, but that in itself is off consiering the wind doesn't blow this heavy, and it being so cold... it logically doesn't make sense. so as this feeling that nudges komaeda to one side. look, look... is something that comes to his mind. you're going to feel lucky! he tells himself, but he's always been drawn to that burning sensation, a bright light that keeps people who follow it out of the darkness. he's like a moth that will always been drawn to a flame, and it's just his luck being able to take a step to the side, that overwhelming feeling that tells him not to pass this up.

moths always make the mistake of going to close to the light, especially when there's a zapper right before it that stands in their way — it's an obnoxious sound, a painful sting. that's how it feels, but not throughout his whole body, no, it's more in his eyes — around the lower eyelid, it's this painful heat, it finds its way along the bridge of his nose. it takes a moment to believe his eyes, that's why he blinks slow, and luckily it's not to stop any tears from forming. no, those have been used, they were stemmed away on that horrendous night colored in red, that was the last time he was capable of shedding his tears.

what should be understood is that what her death gave them was a stepping stone for talent to overcome, to even reach a concept as beautiful as hope. in return, komaeda had given her his tears, the time, the love, and the ability to even do so; it's like a gift to her that was never sent wrapped, but dripped onto the floor, soaked into the ground, while her body rose above it; impaled; like someone to be revered.

he blinks again, trying to push away the heat in his eyes as he looks at the young girl by the wisteria. it's so hard to look in her direction, it burns, but... )

Excuse me, ( he can feel hope, it's been years, but it's the same amount that's never changed. he doesn't realize it, a slip of his tongue disgustingly repetitive for someone like komaeda who has his words prepared. ) ...excuse me.

[waitingforplayer2]

[ The tree is the first thing she saw when she escaped the forest, in a mad dash from one life to another. There's something about it she's drawn to. It's a place of relative peace and calm, away from most of the students, and there's a regalness to it, a sense of importance. So she's back, staring up at its glowing blue petals, trying to figure out what she's missing form it, what calls to her about it.

The quiet sound of a person approaching, but she doesn't really register them, pulling the hoodie closer around her with the cold breeze. She startles at the words, pulled out of her reverie, looking around to see who's there to greet her.

Of course she recognizes him immediately, and with it a gasp of shock and a welling of tears. He's different from before too, surely, but he's another classmate she's missed so much, and she doesn't even know where to begin. ]

Komaeda-kun. [ Her voice thick with emotion, she sniffs hard and wipes her eyes. ] You're here too, huh?...