(open) alice in yogen...land

[shimashima]

Who: Alice and anyone!
What: Awakening + some post-arrival catch-all content for variety (library studying efforts; music room moment of silence; attempting to carry out his "three hopeful deeds" quest; testing whether he can bathe without summoning his fairy godmother at awkward times or prove that it was all a prank after all).
When: Late January and probably early February.
Where: First floor hallways and locker area; library; music room; dorm building common room and bathrooms; anywhere you want to run into him to aid his mission.
Warnings: YTTD spoilers and discussions of death in some threads.


a. first floor — counselor's office to lockers: awakening

[ Alice blinks, shaking his head as he catches himself against the doorway. The fog hampering him barely lifts; something feels off, but it slips through his fingers as soon as he pursues it. Finding a mysterious surprise in one pocket is just as perplexing — 35.4 N, 138.6 E... Whose writing is this, and why is the note in his possession? Since when...?

The answers don't come. They definitely aren't written on the walls, or the floor, or anyone's face. For now, Alice folds the scrap of paper back into a small square to store in his locker — it's possible that he simply needs to get some rest, out of sorts, he decides.

Upon reaching the correct row of lockers, entering the combination for his own, he hovers there too long, abruptly gripping the edge of the locker's open door so tightly that his hand trembles, white-knuckled, and the locker hinges creak. His other hand does the same with the front of his jacket, creasing its lapels.

This, all of this— What in the world is he doing here, classes to attend on his mind, years after already finishing high school...? In such a plain uniform, at that! It's almost as bad as enduring the restrictive shackles of "slammer style"! These thoughts hurtle through his head, wherever they came from, knocking loose question after question, each one more dizzying to ponder than the last.

He shuts the locker, and thinks of countless others lining a white room. He opens it again, merely to continue peering inside at its perfectly normal contents, seized by the absurd fear that he'll come face to face with a gun-wielding schoolgirl. But that can't be right — she was outside—

In some sort of nonsensical dream, yes? ]

How... how ridiculous...!

[ Open, shut. Open, shut. A white room with a stained ceiling. Perhaps it would be best to turn around and leave for a change of scenery, but he can't seem to clear his head for that, soon clutching onto the locker partly because his knees might buckle otherwise as one hand tugs at his shirt's collar. ]

b. library: totally blending in

[ The spectre of finals week may have been vanquished for the time being, but this is still a school, and the start of another semester heralds the inexorable approach of further torment. Not only that, but if the rumors are to be believed, this particular school's methods are plainly insane, the biggest yikes imaginable! It's like a death game, culling students so cruelly...

As tempting as it must be for everyone to hide from it all (right?), they have no choice but to prepare in advance for whatever else lies in store.

Alice, for his part, is seated at a table in the library, textbooks and pages of notes laid out before him. A model prisoner elsewhere, it should be a piece of cake to mold himself into a model student here, thanks to the completed high school experience under his belt, thus setting an inspiring example to follow — it's the least he can do now. And so, with what might be unexpected diligence, he turns page after page, the tip of his pen scratching across paper, covering the sheets in neat (if somewhat odd-looking) handwriting.

Consequently, the look of concentration he wears is particularly intense, closer to scowling at the study materials in front of him — at least until he pauses for so-called furtive glances cast around rather conspicuously. Eating in the library is surely forbidden, and he knows better than to try his luck here, even with his unparalleled capacity for stealth, but how can anyone focus uninterrupted for hours on end on an empty stomach?!

All the same, despite such inconvenient obstacles, if anyone in the vicinity appears to be noticeably discouraged in the face of their schoolwork today, Alice will eventually speak up. ]

...Trick questions would violate some kind of code... I'm sure of it. So it's simply a matter of studying regularly, and paying attention in class, in order to face future exams without any mental blocks... Perhaps that's the key to avoiding a terrible fate.

c. music room: reko was better at this

[ Why come here, of all places?

Alice can't play a single instrument — it makes no difference whether or not most are locked away out of reach. Even so, once he's approached the piano, he lingers there awhile, though he only lets his fingertips wander across a few keys, slowly, from left to right, without pressing down.

He does hum under his breath, just a brief sequence of notes that breaks off before long, leaving the song unfinished. ]

d. dormitory common room, various locations: three hopeful deeds

[ Support others, lift their spirits by returning hope to their despairing hearts... What a task he's been handed! Honestly, there's a part of him that thinks this is purely for his peculiar fairy godmother's entertainment. He's rather out of practice when it comes to spending so much time around others, for one — unless this school counts, hazily, and the Death Game before it — and no one seems especially inclined to regard him as a beacon of hope.

(Did his words dispel Ranmaru Kageyama's despair, that time...?)

Nevertheless, unwilling to risk something dreadful if the entire thing is true, Alice is taking his quest seriously indeed. Around the school grounds, on each floor and from rooftop to courtyard, he stays on the lookout for anyone who might fit the description of someone who has lost the will to go on.

In the dormitory building's common room, however, while he tries to surreptitiously keep up his watchful observing from a free seat, the disturbing decor remains distracting. This feels horribly familiar, too, all these paintings on the walls. ]

As if one art gallery like this wasn't enough...

e. dormitory hallways and bathrooms: haunting

[ Since human bodies continue to function as they did in life outside of this bizarre purgatory, it would be completely disgusting to have no access to running water, and so forth. Daily showers are as necessary as ever!

But with a ghostly presence lurking about, how is a man to bathe in peace?! Said ghost could appear at any moment, and if it wasn't a lie that no one else can see him, reacting aloud would arouse suspicion...

Alert, Alice does his best to tiptoe through the hallways, and to flatten himself against the walls without touching any of the paintings. It's a race against time — he can't hold his breath much longer to stay silent as he creeps towards the nearest bathroom! ]

Comments

[shimashima]

[ That icy touch again, a touch from beyond the grave! Alice shivers palpably the instant that Komaeda's thin fingers trace the tally marks marring his wrist — his own skin is much warmer, and the contrast feels no different from being splashed with cold water. Even so, that twitch of movement aside, he holds still, tension in his posture.

Killed or murdered... At that, Alice's expression darkens. ]

...Isn't everyone here dead? Back where we came from...

[ It's unlikely that everyone has a criminal record that includes murder, however — or any criminal background, real or fake, for that matter. Alice's eyes lower to his wrist. ]

If I could kill that man, I would... This time, I really would, and I wouldn't regret it!

[commences]

Hm? You were pinned as someone's murderer... who was it?

( touching alice's tallies only last for so long, casually dragging the tips of his fingers along the length of them before he withdraws his hand. he'll make a mental note of new information as he lifts his gaze up to meet alice's eyes. as someone who meets the same height as him, it's fairly easy to see eye to eye unlike everyone else who he has to look down on.

now while height is an interesting subject, he doesn't waver from what they're talking about now. )

If it was deaths back home, then it would make sense... but I doubt that's the case. Maybe if you're lucky, you'd get your wish is that person appears.

( he even smiles as he states that, but it could be that he's looking at this from alice's side of things. )

[shimashima]

[ Should he explain it? It won't make sense to mention a name, considering that Shin Tsukimi continues to use that name here, and it's not as if the man in question and Komaeda have ever met. It's not unlike before, when the trial's verdict and incomplete articles were all that Alice himself could recall, bizarrely. It's like remembering nothing but Sou Hiyori, and the strangeness of someone else appearing with that name, very much alive.

Explaining it never made sense until the truth was finally uncovered.

Hesitating, Alice clutches his purchased items to his chest, tightly now. He shakes his head. ]

...That person, appearing here? Then he would be dead, and he should never reincarnate. Someone like that...

[ It doesn't feel right to elaborate — he wasn't the only one affected by Midori's scheming. ]

No doubt it's impossible to kill him, anyway.

[commences]

( that person, someone who must not be named, it reminds him of someone that he's learned from others. there's no need to bring them up, because who knows is there's any connection between alice and what komaeda knows. without pressing into it, he understands the male's feelings on the matter — someone like that who shouldn't reincarnate...

as much as that would be the case, komaeda shakes his head. )

He can if he finds the means, but if you kill him first... you'd stop him before he could.

( though, hearing that he can't be killed makes komaeda blink once, then twice in interest. )

I believe in your hope to overcome his hope! If you have that, then you can't give up! You have to get rid of him...!

[shimashima]

[ This... Is he cheering him on, encouraging killing someone? It's justified, given who the target would be, but such enthusiasm is rather surprising. If only hope were all they need to stop Midori for good in every possible way! ]

I know he shouldn't be underestimated... but perhaps you're right. No matter what, it's too dangerous to let that kind of fiend exist anywhere.

[ Maybe he should hope that Midori is brought here, trapped here. It's a smaller space, somewhere to contain him where he can't do much, like sealing a demon away. ]

At any rate, if he appears, it won't be long before he's discovered...

[ This topic and everything connected to it have really put him off eating — fortunately, the can of soup and packaged bread and crackers should keep until later. ]

[commences]

Really...

( komaeda's thinking of sitting down to continue having this conversation with alice, but he decides to start walking, and stops every so often to see if he'll follow. he doesn't want to leave him behind, but he knows the topic is somewhat heavy considering it's a person he dislikes. he doesn't know who it is for him, but that person must be detestable if the other feels this way.

it makes him curious. )

What would you do if he appeared, you know... if you find him first, maybe you can take care of him before anyone else knows about him?

( that would fix all sorts of problems, sort of the same thing komaeda wanted for himself. someone to stop him from his evil deeds. )

[shimashima]

[ Komaeda turning to lead the way somewhere else is Alice's cue to leave the vending machines behind, too. It's not the best place for their conversation... especially if it's true that no one but Alice can see the Fairy Godmother of Hope! To anyone passing them in the hallways, it must look like he's talking to the air.

Now that the possibility of Midori appearing has come up, it's a scenario that can't be dismissed. That man is dead (truly dead!), according to Sara Chidouin — they managed the impossible, even though Alice has no recollection of it himself. Everything worked out, the girl said, but they don't have the same means here, and other rules apply. ]

If I find him first...?

[ "We killed him" — those were Sara Chidouin's exact words. They all acted together. ]

Of course I'd want to handle it as cleanly as you say, but he's not a normal man. Besides, I'm sure he would be eager to kill me, and ordinary weapons wouldn't give me an advantage...

[commences]

He's not normal...? Hm, there's plenty of ways to deal with someone that isn't normal.

( komaeda crosses his arms, thinking about how do you fight with someone that isn't human. komaeda's human, but it's hard as hell to kill him. he hums softly, looking down to the ground before looking at alice, and lifts a hand to pat his upper shoulder. )

If you find him first, you can control the situation. You can lead him into a trap, do whatever you need to have the upper hand, but... make sure it's a hope-filled murder.

( to say it like that seems like a contradiction, but it's not, it can bring hope to those who know he's dead, and motivate them to deter from their fears. if this person is as terrifying as alice makes him out to be. )

When you're stuck, you can always ask me for guidance.

[shimashima]

[ The Fairy Godmother of Hope Komaeda sounds knowledgeable... Is he speaking from experience, past encounters with cockroach-like individuals? The hand on Alice's shoulder is cold once again, even through the layers of the school uniform, but Alice doesn't flinch away. He meets Komaeda's gaze.

Midori may be dead, nowhere at all now, but it's wise to be prepared. ]

You're willing to get involved, even though we've just met?

[ Komaeda is serious about striving for hope and the two of them being stuck together, isn't he? Contemplative, Alice looks ahead as they walk. ]

Very well... If you have good suggestions, I shall know to come to you.

[commences]

Yep! I'll do anything for hope! Anything...!

( because that's all he has, and all he ever will. things like family are short-lived, and happiness is too, and so as long as hope exists; he'll do what he has to. be it murder, be killed, lie, and whatever else makes what he wants happen, he will. if this person shakes alice's hope, then he can shake others, and if komaeda removes that person then so much will be saved, hope will be safe, and he'll be satisfied. )

You have to come to me, alright? No matter what, even if it's terrifying.

( he doesn't think that alice would be scared, but it might be tedious to accept that someone so cruel can exist in his vicinity. komaeda smiles, knocking his shoulders against alice to make him not as tense, considering this is a serious subject for him. as they walk past the library, komaeda will bring the other over to the steps where they can sit down, and looking up at him. )

You should eat, weren't you hungry?

[shimashima]

[ He wonders what Komaeda intends to do, if it comes to that, the need to request his aid. Would he use his wand to turn Midori into a frog? A frog that no one would kiss, so he would never be able to transform back into a man...

It's genuinely reassuring, in a way, to hear Komaeda discuss it with such confidence, even going so far as to try to lighten the mood. Alice regards him curiously for another moment — he may have misjudged the ghost unfairly — before taking a seat. ]

...I'll call upon you if I must, Fairy Godmother of Hope Komaeda. I won't stand for that man harming anyone else.

[ But for now, he can't deny that he is still hungry, though it's settled down into an uncomfortable ache. Tearing the packet of crackers open first, the other items in his lap, Alice lifts one cracker at a time to his mouth, holding his unoccupied hand cupped near it to catch any crumbs and hide his chewing from view.

He won't speak with his mouth full, but once he's swallowed, he adds one more comment. ]

It's not that I fear him for my sake...

[commences]

( he's so polite, komaeda's used to people just eating without a care. though, they just met, so he wouldn't be keen on the idea of showing such bad habits, he finds. his arms crossed on his legs as he looks forward, he makes sure not to watch alice, but to listen to him as he speaks. once he's says something of value, komaeda responds to continue the conversation. )

You want to protect others from him? I can understand the sentiment.

( there are some people who will do anything to stop another person from causing harm, and that's why he can see that alice would probably kill this mystery person. he tries to align it with the fact of how he'd kill anyone for hope, and that they aren't too different in that respect if it's to protect someone or something special to him.

with a hand to his heart, he sighs, and then drops his hand back down again. )

But remember now to do things alone, if not me, you should have someone else assist too.

[shimashima]

Indeed...

[ Since Komaeda is unfazed by keeping someone company over a one-sided meal — and he isn't observing it closely — it lets Alice tone down the show of excessive good manners, at least to finish his remaining snacks somewhat less primly. Even hungry enough that he could eat more than this, he refuses to devour the lot like some sort of ravenous beast and make a mess everywhere! He'll just take leisurely bites of bread and sips of canned soup whenever he's listening instead of speaking.

Again, it sounds like Komaeda has had personal experience subduing dangerous people. That sigh, the gesture... ]

...Sara Chidouin, perhaps. Though your knowledge and abilities would undoubtedly be useful... I won't forget our conversation.

[commences]

Oh! Chidouin-san can get it done.

( he agrees, it's sara that has an easier time wanting to kill so that they won't make trouble for her. she's said it before that she wouldn't do it for the group, but for herself, and if that person irritates her enough then maybe she'll attempt to shoot them too without missing, her aim should be better now. )

Many people here are afraid of killing, or they hate you for doing so. Death's a part of life, so make sure you don't feel bad if you end up getting rid of that person.

( komaeda stands up, dusting off his pants as he looks down at alice. he doesn't seem the type who looks like he'd feel bad by doing so, if it's to protect others, it might be fine. there's always a convenient excuse that allows them to ease their mind, so if it's a thought like that, then maybe it's fine. everyone wants to protect someone. )

You have to promise.

[shimashima]

[ It's an easy promise to make. Merely suggesting hypothetically that he could feel even the slightest bit of regret over that man ever again, knowing the truth... Alice's fingers grip the soup can too tightly, leaving dents in its sides. Luckily, there's nothing left in it to leak out — concentrating on the conversation, he must have been eating faster than politeness would dictate after all?! Well, he can't undo it now, and it has helped to tide him over until he can get hold of something more substantial, appeasing his stomach, thus averting any threat of it turning into a giant hole through his middle. ]

Why should I feel bad? For two and a half years, I thought that I was a criminal... I wasted so much time...

[ With a firm shake of his head, Alice rises to his feet as he gathers up the packaging to dispose of, tucking the wrappers that contained the crackers and bread inside the empty can. How should he make his promise completely clear? ]

I'll say it again and again — if it happens, I would never regret killing him!

[ He'll even raise his other hand to pinky swear! ]

[commences]

( it's the aggressive response that catches komaeda as his hands lift up in a way to protect himself and calm the other down. his hands shake as he does this, taking a step back without tripping over his own two shoes.

has alice become scary? no. )

Hey, hey! Don't get so heated, it'll be bad for your blood pressure.

( he'll pop a blood vessel like that, and then that would be good for no one when he starts to feel sick even after eating. there's not much to do then unless they hand over a bottled water, and komaeda would have to find the set that doesn't have any red particles floating inside of it. )

It might sound like a bad thing, but... because bad things happen, it shapes your hope even more! This time, you can do it, have your chance... without those two and a half years, you'd just let him go free!

( not everyone takes this quite well, so he's ready for alice to state a rebuttal. )

[shimashima]

[ His pinky promise... rejected... To Alice, it seems as though his self-proclaimed fairy godmother is suddenly afraid of him, all of which feels like a bucket of icy water was poured over his head. Taking in the shield that Komaeda's hands have made of themselves, he lowers his own, sparing the soup can before it loses its shape entirely. His half-formed protests die on his lips — Komaeda has a point. It's foolish to get agitated now, too late to change the past, and if Midori were here, he would laugh to witness it affecting his health, wouldn't he?!

Has it already begun...? From the rapid thrumming of his heartbeat to the way his modest meal settles too heavily in his stomach, seasoned with unpleasant bitter memories, everything could be a worrisome sign! ]

I've calmed down...!

[ And yet, Alice eyes Komaeda with a furrowed brow, if only because he's doing his best to consider those lost years from such a foreign perspective. Bad things lead to hope, not the opposite? Is Komaeda simply saying something optimistic to keep him from losing his temper? ]

He was definitely up to no good, two and a half years ago... but I suppose I didn't plan to kill him back then, and I have even more reasons to hate him now...

[commences]

Did you?

( he looks him over, taking a step closer now with that worried look on his face into a smile— he wonders if his actions threw alice off for a bit. that's a good thing, it means that his temper has eased, and the answer he showed moments ago can be saved for someone who truly deserves it. now he'll come to stand right next to alice while putting his hands into his own pockets. )

That means once you've done what's needed, it'll justify your hope even more! I know people think when bad things happen, it's the end of the world... but it really isn't, it helps you pave your future just a bit more.

( that's why komaeda welcomes despair when knowing hope will overcome it, that's why this anger alice shows isn't needed now, but later. he should remain calm and positive because he'll get the chance against the person he's talking about. he's killed him once apparently, so who is to say he can't do it again— komaeda bumps shoulders with the other, that being more of a promise than using his pinky. )

If he wasn't up to bad things, that means... you'd never get this chance. The way you speak to me, how you are towards others... it would have never happened without him! That despair he brought was nicely used for you, because look at you now... you're stronger than you were before! Even if you were a... convict? You're my convict now!

( which is true, but it's said playfully to make him laugh even if this isn't the best time. )

There's always something good at the end, you just have to be patient...

[shimashima]

[ Wouldn't it have been better, if he and Reko had never crossed paths with Midori? If Asunaro didn't exist, monitoring all of them? They could have lived their lives normally — Samurai Yaiba wouldn't have disbanded, either. They wouldn't be dead.

Of course, they can't turn back time, and they can't wipe the root problem from existence. Something good at the end has to be enough. Komaeda certainly seems to believe in his way of viewing the world, coloring it brighter, and while Alice struggles to find anything positive in Midori's poison tainting everything that he touched, he's honestly reconsidering his initial impression of his new acquaintance. Whatever Komaeda is, he appears to be kind.

And Midori hasn't succeeded in giving Alice elevated blood pressure or a stomachache from beyond the grave! ]

Your convict...? [ Alice's hmph could border on laughter. ] What an absurd thing to say... Well, two and a half years of incarceration surely prove my patience, as a model prisoner.

[commences]

From what you said, you've been locked up because of that person... it's fine, because that happened means you've learned a wide variety of skills!

( whatever those skills may be, there's always something learned despite losing something else— it's like how through all of komaeda's horrible situations, somehow he's learned to be kind. he's not stuck up as he was when a child, though that still shows from time to time, but alice will never know, probably. komaeda has decided instantly that he likes him enough because he's fun to play with.

keeping life exciting is what's important. )

Being good means you can get out earlier... that's a smart move! You'll do better than most here... patience is a virtue, you have to act in order to see something happen.

( purgatory is like a prison, so alice should be able to handle this compared to what komaeda has seen so far, and he's almost been here a year. )

Besides... Cinderella was a prisoner to her own family, a fairy god mother had to come along sooner or later.

[shimashima]

[ It's unexpected, truly, to hear Komaeda's spin on the years that Alice recalls with regret and no small amount of anger. It's funny — what is he supposed to do with that kind of encouragement? Most people wouldn't paint a prison sentence as a chance to level up in every imaginable way, yet Komaeda seems to insist on it.

Alice laughs in earnest, a brief surprised chuckle. ]

Then everything today was meant to happen? And my soul is safe? I'm no longer hungry, either...

[ The dented can held in one hand, Alice uses the other to give his abdomen a pat — he does feel recharged, better after growing calmer! ]

Well then, I should begin my task, and find three people in need of help...

[commences]

Yeah! That's how hope works... it sounds like fate, but fate makes your decisions... but hope is something you can make yourself by your every action.

( that's why he loves hope so much as he gets to see what someone does, what they make of it, and how they move forward. he claps his hands together pleased as he runs alice's words through his mind again— he doesn't know about a safe soul, but because komaeda loves hope, he'll make sure that it never falls into despair until he so chooses for it to. now, if his soul is strong enough by being filled to the brim with hope, then no despair will shake him. )

Hmm...

( a judging sound first, and then he looks around the empty hall. what's he going to do? or maybe say? whatever it is, it doesn't seem so bad as he nods in response. )

Look at me... giving you a task, and then throwing you off! You have to forgive me... ( komaeda lifts one hand to raise at the other, waving it left and right as he decides to walk up the steps. he's a first year after all, and his class is higher up. )

When you spread hope into others, you have to tell me all about it! So find me as soon as possible!