Entry tags:
six reconnections ➱ open feb catch-all;
Who: Himeko Inaba and YOU.
What: Catch-all log for February
When: Throughout February.
Where: Various locations as listed.
Warnings: None for now, but will be updated as necessary.
↳ option one. ( during the disney trip, but not at disney )
↳ option two. ( feb 12th )
↳ option three. ( valentine's day )
↳ option four. ( wildcard )
What: Catch-all log for February
When: Throughout February.
Where: Various locations as listed.
Warnings: None for now, but will be updated as necessary.
↳ option one. ( during the disney trip, but not at disney )
- [Perhaps you're one of the plucky ones that decided to say no to Disney, like Inaba and find yourselves rather bored--and well, given that everything is basically self-study now and Inaba is, well, not exactly hurting in terms of her studies, as she was a naturally good test taker. And on top of that, she was actually decent at math, so it's actually rather...
Well - it certainly doesn't push all her worries, but it definitely allows her to relax a bit, knowing that having an emptier school meant all the nuisances were gone, albeit temporarily.
Which also meant that she could do as she pleased. Hence for those who might still be around, they might notice her in various places, but especially on the second floor - particularly in the cooking room and workshop.
What she can be found doing in the cooking room is well, trying to teach herself how to cook a little better--it's something that she had been doing before, back home and is something that she wants to carry over here. Even more so since it's actually a matter of survival.
Probably doesn't help that she's not all that great of a chef and finds it rather frustrating to do so...]
What a pain... why is cooking so fucking difficult. Maybe I should just buy stuff from the vending machine, instead...
[But she can't rely on others to cook for her in the first place!! What if someone decides to take advantage of that...! Well, at the very least, she isn't blowing up the kitchen and is instead just frustratedly staring at her cooking notes. It's probably fine.]
↳ option two. ( feb 12th )
- [So. How about that tuition, huh?
Inaba, someone who looks at the PDA when she has the time to, even if she doesn't reply to everyone's antics, given the way she is.
But then that ping goes off and well...
...time for her to investigate the matter! People might notice her snooping around places where faculty may be while trying to be natural about it; not to mention that she's polite about it and all. But it's odd that she's trying to be so proactive and trying to actually talk to people, isn't it?
Hm.]
↳ option three. ( valentine's day )
- [Otherwise known as "the worst day in Inaba Himeko's existence".
She's awfully aware of what day today is and while she's already naturally distant to most people, today is a day where she's... well, not in the best state. In fact anyone who is a third year, or teaches third years will probably notice that she's looking a lot more lethargic, and not in a 'she hasn't slept' way but she also has bags under her eyes showing that she hasn't slept much lately.
People who are observant will definitely notice that she's fiddling with her pendant idly, sighing heavily every now and again to the point where it's honestly just kind of sad.
After classes, she actively avoids people, wanting to find a room without people--or well. At best a place that she can keep herself distracted.
Which is why she chooses the library, stockpiling on a lot of random books. But none of them are romantic in nature. It's fine.]
↳ option four. ( wildcard )
- [I wrote this all at 3AM, come @ me with anything else you want to do with Inaba, I'm down for a lot. She isn't going to Disney, but if anybody wanted to attempt to convince her prior to it, feel free to make An Attempt at least. Feel free to hmu at

Option two! (but he's def going to notice that exhaustion there in the third prompt rip)
Hey, Inaba.
[He's at his desk in the Faculty Office, shuffling paper about. It's the kind of offhand friendly (not Subaru sunbeam levels, but pricked cat ear and tail levels) greeting Rantaro also gets; it's quite possible being around Ranger rubs off on a person this way.]
Are you looking for something?
[It's best to open conversations with a question sometimes, even if Shin is already very sure the answer is yes.]
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[Not that she's keeping it a secret what she's asking about, but she certainly is playing her hand close to her chest for now, just in case. Not to mention that her voice sounds a lot like it would in customer service, polite, a bit higher pitched than normal.]
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[Shin... does not like them, the slightest inflection of it in his voice. He doesn't like being in the same room as them, it makes his skin feel like it's going to crawl off, listening to the people who killed so many students like it was a game laugh and talk amongst themselves. But he keeps his ears pricked, anyway, just in case.
Nothing truly useful so far, unfortunately. Apart from getting some advance warning of what finals entailed so that plans could be made.]
Ahaha, not the most helpful sorts, are they?
[He's for sure noticing That Voice given he's practiced at using it himself. He's not sure what to do with being on this side of it.]
Err... I could ask...?
[Trailing off question mark? He's not going to pry, because she really has no reason to trust him (and that's a bad idea anyway, says that core-deep voice), but the implicit offer of assistance is there if she wants it.]
...I should get going too, come to think of it.
[He's already starting to pack up, stacking the papers for tucking under one arm purposes because he's not trusting Komaeda with free access to his students' assignments at all, for one. But it'll leave the Faculty Office conveniently empty if Inaba wants to rifle through it, whatever she's trying to find out.]
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[She sighs, sagging her shoulders before shaking her head, dropping all of her pretenses.]
No, it's fine; I'll ask them myself tomorrow if I have to, since it's something that I'd like to hear with my own ears, anyway.
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He might've spotted Inaba around a bit, certainly more tired than usual, but he made a mental note to not hound her so much about it. Truthfully though, Miyuki's busy dealing with his own trauma. Maybe not quite as traumatic considering he only has one book, but still lost in his thoughts all the same.
...Until, he gets a glimpse at this scene. ]
Doing a little speed reading there?
[ Unless she's researching something. ]
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Oh. Right. ]
Oh! R-Right. You know what, I hadn't even noticed, haha.
[ He. Absolutely noticed. More than anything, he noticed how dumb it was to even say anything at this point. ]
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[If he's not going to bring it up, neither is she, regardless of whether she's noticed or not.]
There's a lot of books I haven't read, even though they are pretty old. But some of them are interesting... and I was thinking that maybe I should also read some detective novels.
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[ ...Alright. He'll bite. He needs the distraction too. ]
Can I see one?
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[She knocks on the mystery novels.]
...maybe knowing the genre more will be of use. Although it'd also probably be better to actually be on the scene for once, if I'm going to be honest.
[Everything being complete hearsay is actually a weakness in this case.]
But I will say that I'm not really interested in solving these mysteries for justice. There's no proper justice in a world that is supposed to be the afterlife. Any punishment that can be doled out... does any of it hold any significant meaning that can truly deter someone into not repeating the act? Honestly, you'd have to be something inhuman to do that much, here. A god, or something.
[She laughs, something derisive and bitter.]
Here, take this one.
[She goes through her books before handing over Murder on the Orient Express.]
Although if you want something that isn't a mystery... I can have you read something a little more modern that isn't a book. Though whether it's interesting or not, I couldn't say; don't really know what your tastes are.
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[ Said with the confidence of someone who's probably not even read Orient Express. Interesting.
More interesting though, is Inaba's thoughts on why they're doing this. With that, Miyuki takes the book and takes a seat across from her, flipping through the book a bit. ]
I wouldn't say what we're doing is so much about justice, as it is accountability. That much we can do as human beings, considering we don't have the authority to really dole out any particular punishment. Not to mention, I feel as if most of us have people willing to defend us if it comes down to it.
[ He'd swear up and down it would be someone like Subaru or Komaeda, but they have people willing to defend them, so it wouldn't work. Not to mention, given what Natsume told him... ]
Even if there was some kind of deity at work, wouldn't that be easy to figure out? Generally they'd make some kind of grand appearance at some point.
[ Boasting about how foolish everyone is and that someone else was next. ]
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[She's then quiet for a moment, but then conintues.]
Ah, no-- I'm not referring to the culprit as a deity. Rather it's more... like, magical voo-doo police? Like you go and find the culprit and some god or another is like "yes, I spite thee".
[This is stupid.
She should stop this.]
Well, given how this all is, I wouldn't be surprised at all if people would defend each other even if they knew that they were the culprit. Well. People already do regardless of the truth.
[Inaba scoffs a bit, in a way that sounds almost amused.]
I'm just lucky I didn't get accused; I don't think I'd be lucky enough to have other people defending me. I'd just have to brute force it with the evidence.
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[ It's all really stupid and silly, but he didn't know exactly what would work or not. Honestly. The existence of the supernatural only makes him know even less about the world. ]
--Yeah, I'm not too sure about that. With regards to President Arisu and the Vice Principal, I don't think you'd be tall or strong enough to do it. Not to mention in your state at the time... knowing that, I'd say I'd have enough of an argument to tell anyone that it wasn't you.
[ With Hiro, maybe. But even then. ]
Still, I'm probably in the same boat. Akehoshi mentioned going to bat for me as a friend, but I didn't feel like I could accept it. In all honesty, I don't know if I could confidently ask for someone to defend me here.
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[Or at least, that's what she thinks.]
Obviously. I mean, that's for this particular case only, right? And again, it's just something that can be pointed out with just simply the evidence alone... along with my physical state.
I won't expect any defense for any future murders. Just facts.
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[ Just facts. ]
I guess given the circumstances, saying that you wouldn't kill anyone here is more of an opinion. I can't speak for how you were during your lifetime, after all.
[ He doesn't know the difference between the Inaba who was alive and the Inaba who's here after all. How could he? For all he knows, they were completely different. ]
Death probably changes a person more than the obvious way.
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3
But she has homework to do. And the library doesn't allow checking out books... mostly Nanami's holed up in a corner in the back, trying to finish her work and not let anybody approach her. She's got her cat-eared hoodie pulled up over her head.
When Inaba approaches looking for books, she glances up but doesn't comment. Nanami's surrounded by several large stacks of books herself... are they for homework, or for hiding? Either way, it's not impossible that the slightly empty shelves around Nanami have relinquished most of their most important volumes to the huge stacks on the table. ]
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And given just how observant she is--she'll be peering at what kinds of books are there; she won't note on the amount, or what they are but her near-perfect eidetic memory will remember that.
She does know that people came back from the field trip recently. Not to mention that she does want to know what happened, given that she decided not to go herself.
But that's something she can push to the side. There's other things of interest here. The fact that this girl has a duplicate is already an interesting thing in of itself--she doesn't know what the deal is with that, exactly, as it'd be prying way too much, but she can't help the curiosity.
Plus, she needs a distraction.
That's what she's here for, really, more than anything.]
You don't mind if I join you, do you? Although if friendship ended with people and books are now your new best friend, then I don't mind coming back later.
[...Inaba.]
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But... she didn't really think she made enough of a fuss at the meeting to be approached like this. Still... who knows what her duplicate's been up to, really? They haven't talked as much recently.
After quite a few moments of Nanami processing some things, she lowers her gaze and shakes her head. ] I don't mind... [ There's an empty chair next to her.
To be honest, most of the book stacks are just whatever she could find to make a little hideout, and she hasn't been reading most of them. In front of her, though, is a math textbook (which she's using to help do her homework), a couple other textbooks for history and physics...
And a well-worn strategy guide. One of those old ones from the 80s that have a whole bunch of guides for lots of games, this one for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It's dogeared and tattered, as if Nanami's been reading it a lot recently.
When Inaba comes to sit down, Nanami goes back to her homework - she's in the middle of a difficult problem. But she can't help glancing at her new deskmate from time to time. ]
You were at the investigation meetings...
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Yeah, I was. To the dismay of literally everybody. Honestly, it's a pain in the ass to deal with... anyway, it's Inaba, by the way. My name.
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[ Of course with her duplicate, that's because she had more real-life experience than she should have, so... maybe it's the same with Inaba? ]
... I'm Nanami Chiaki. [ Inaba might already know that, though. But it's only polite to exchange names, right? ]
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[She sighs, again.]
It might have been better if I had actually checked the scenes for myself, if I'm going to be honest. But I didn't, so I have a disadvantage. Which kind of sucks to be me I guess, but it's not as if I really have to participate in solving this case. There's not much of a point, really, if I'm going to be honest. The killer already did what they needed to; at this point in the game, they're just simply watching, sneering at us. Honestly, they could reveal themselves and...then what? Sure, people will probably make an attempt to punch the living lights out of them, but there's no real consequences. It's all just hollow, I suppose. That's my two cents, anyway.
In any case, my ability is just something that I've honed over the years. Observation and analysis is a hobby of mine, so there's a few things that I pick up on pretty easily. And taking into account the larger picture and what options are there is just like connecting the dots. Kind of like a roadmap, or -- [She glances at the guide, and decides:] choices in a video game that split off into different branches. You just need to be able to think of what possibilities can lead into the same branch, that's all.
I'd say 'nice to meet you', but this place isn't the best for proper introductions like that.
[She says it so casually with a shrug of her shoulders.]
Do you have a preference on which name to be referred by? It must be hard when the two of you have the same full name.
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But... I can't really think of anything else... [ And she hasn't really had enough focus to think about it much recently anyway, since... yeah. ]
[ She pauses in her doodling when Inaba asks the other question. ] Ah... I... [ She uneasily looks away. ] We... usually we've just been telling each other what's been happening... so that if anybody approaches one of us and thinks it's the other one... it's not a bad thing, really. We're really similar, anyway...
But... we haven't talked as much recently, so... [ She swallows. So that's a burden to people, probably, if they don't figure out an answer. ] I'm... not sure?
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[Just putting that on the table for a moment.]
Although it wouldn't be a shock if they were. But if you consider the potential motive, it doesn't really make any sense to kill Hiro if killing the vice principal and Maya gave them what they wanted... at least, not for the motive that everyone's been thinking on.
[It doesn't make any sense to her, why someone would kill Hiro if they weren't caught. In fact, Hiro had stabbed Miyuki because he was an easy scapegoat. Not to mention that there's Subaru, too...
All of it is strange, in her eyes.]
I suppose that there is one motive to kill Hiro if it's the same killer--ah, no. Maybe two, actually? But I'm not completely sure if that's the case or not.
Since nobody solved the case they didn't really need to do anything more than that. Killing another person on top of that only causes more of their hand to be shown. Of course, there's always exceptions to that rule. Like JTR.
In any case, unless they're killing people indiscriminately, I don't think they really have a reason to go attack someone else. But I'm just speaking about that specific killer. I couldn't tell you if someone else would try something, especially here.
[She says that really casually without even pausing, only feeling half confident in her thoughts.]
It's not important what the other one thinks right now, though. I'm not talking to that Nanami Chiaki right now, am I? You're your own person, you know. Even if you look alike and are somewhat similar, there's still differences that people can pick up if they're paying close enough attention.
[Well, Inaba's already noticed enough to tell, even if it takes her a few seconds.]
So what do you want?
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Why? I just... don't understand... why anybody would do that... we're already dead... isn't that enough?
[ Wouldn't being dead be bad enough... torn away from your home and your loved ones, without also taking that out on the people around you? Why does she have to face the threat of dying again? It doesn't seem fair at all.
The other question brings her up short, though. ]
Mm... [ Actually, being asked is a bit of an unexpected kindness. She can't help but smile a little at the question. ] You can call me Chiaki if you like... that would be fine, I think.
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[She trails off.
There isn't a single word that she can use to properly describe how this group can be. And if she started griping, she'd be here for days.]
And even before the whole "everyone is dead" reveal, people still killed. For lesser reasons. In terms of these specific murders, however, there's a few motives that I can think of, based on the information that we know now.
If we keep into consideration that the vice principal might have been called out by the killer versus Maya, what seems to be most likely the motive is to change the school and manipulate those changes.
The vice principal gives out merit points to those who kill; it's one of the 'perks', so to speak, of causing a murder. And given how things are here, merit points are most likely needed to graduate from this school, but they've also been used to buy things. There was an auction, for example, really early in the school year where you could bid on certain things. Although it doesn't look like anything of that nature's come up again.
And then there's the contract for Maya--since it looks like killing her causes the contract to change, now the contract is in the hands of Ishimaru. Of a "transfer student". You see where I'm going with this, right?
It's possible they killed those two for that reason. As for Hiro, if I had to guess... the motive might have been as simple as ending his suffering, or something like that. I'm not too sure on that one, but it's a guess.
[...]
Sorry, I went off on a tangent there.
[The apology is said just as casually.]
Chiaki, then. [No honorifics. She's this kind of person, unfortunately.] I'm not a nickname person, so that works fine for me.
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