>>19245

"Oh, thought that went up through the ceiling itself. At least that answers that question."

Miyako smiled at Midori. "Not what I meant, Midori. I mean maybe that message was done in a paint that turns red when it turns cold. That way it could have been painted any time today. It's just an idea, though."

With that, she removed the string holding on to the cup and flipped the breaker.

~~~ Both ~~~

The lights come back on when Miyako flips the switch.

But that isn't the only thing that happens. Midori's phone starts buzzing.

"It's from Sakyu." She says as she opens up her phone. "It says we need to come to the 2nd floor, classroom 2-2, quick."

Last edited at 16/03/05(Sat)15:55:24

>>19247
"I'm still new here, lead the way Midori."

>>19248

"Agreed. Lights are on, we should get everyone together again anyway."

~~~ Both ~~~

Midori leads the way to classroom 2-2 on the 2nd floor. When they get there a surprising turn of events is waiting for them.

"Get... get back..." Sakyu shouts at Budo.

Budo is covered in blood, but he doesn't seem to have any injuries so it can't be his blood. He is also holding a bloody knife.

"Don't come any closer."

"This is a misunderstanding!" Budo shouts back.

"What... what is going on?" Midori asks.

"We split up to search the rooms, and then I come back and find this guy, like this!"

>>19250
"Budo! Calm down, drop the knife. Then try to collect yourself and explain the situation as you found it.

Don't tell me..... is someone in that room hurt? Who is it?"

>>19251

Miyako doesn't say anything further, but walks towards Budo in a non-threatening way, holding an open hand out for the knife.

~~~ Both ~~~

Budo hands Miyako the knife. "I found it, I didn't use it. That is a big difference. And as for this blood, I don't know how I got it either. I was entered in this room and suddenly, I was coated in it."

Karma looks around the room, but can't find anything strange.

Sakyu frowns. "You're lying aren't you. Don't treat us like a fool. How would you just randomly get blood on you, and then find a bloody knife."

"It's the truth."

"Liar! You probably do something to Oka, didn't you!"

"I didn't! I was in the room with you, how could I have done anything?!"

Before anymore words could be said, a scream is heard coming from the room next door.

"What was that?!" Midori shouts, running out of the room.

Ryusei, Haruto, and Kuu are standing next the open door of the next classroom.

"What's going on?!" Budo shouts running up to them.

"The.. the door was locked..." Kuu says in a shocked tone. "So... so.. But when we opened it."

She points inside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hn3gBV-nYc

Resting against the wall of the room in between two windows, is Sota. Blood pouring out of his chest.

>>19253
I want to run over and check his vitals. Is he dead or currently dying? How warm is his body? Has rigor mortis set in? Not sure if possible, but I'd like to attempt to stop the bleeding.

>>19253

Seeing Karma over at the body, Miyako focused on the rest. "Kuu? How did you all get in, if it was locked? And when did you and Haruto find Ryusei?"

~~~ Karma ~~~

You rush over to Sota's body and check it over. He has multiple stab wounds on his chest. His body is warm, he probably died only a matter of minutes ago. Rigor mortis does not appear to have set in yet. You find no signs of a struggle on his body.

All the wounds are open, so the bleeding does not appear to be able to be stopped. And since he was just killed recently, it looks like the bleeding is still continuing.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

"Well... Haruto and I found this door locked and so we were wondering if Oka was inside." Kuu answers.

"So I went to go get something to open the door." Haruto adds on.

"While Haruto was gone Ryusei showed up from the hallway. And the two of them broke open the door, and well you know what we just found, since that just happened."

Sakyu glances at Miyako, "Isn't that knife in your hand the murder weapon. It is after all covered in blood."

>>19256
"He's dead. Rest in peace, Sota."

I stand up and face everyone else.

"Multiple stab wounds, this clearly isn't an accident. There is a murderer, either hiding in the shadows or amongst us at this very moment."

I turn towards Miyako. "Hey, we need to inspect the knife and compare it to the wounds on Sota. It is very possible that isn't the murder weapon, so we should be careful to check the width and depth of the blade versus the stab wounds."

I turn towards Budo. "Hey, this is looking really bad for you, what with the knife and the blood and the motive. Still, I'm rather surprised at how quickly you handed over the knife. It is possible that you're being framed. Tell us your story in as much detail as you can remember, there might be some clues to solving this murder."

>>19256

"It's a knife covered in unidentified blood. That's all we know. Might not even be human blood."

>>19257

"He's right, best to just tell all the truth now, no matter what it sounds like," she said to Budo as she walked over to the corpse, starting with an eyeball comparison of the width of the knife to the width of the wounds.

~~~~ Both ~~~~

"Hmph." Budo snorts and begins to walk away. "I have nothing to hide or tell you. I walked into the room got covered in blood, and found a knife that's it. Whatever you want to make of that, is your choice. But I don't have time for this, I want to wash this stuff off." He begins to walk down the hallway.

Sakyu stares at him. "I don't like this."

Midori nods in agreement. "Yeah, it is dangerous to go alone."

"I'll watch over him." Ryusei says as he lets out a sigh. "He is probably heading to the locker room in the gym. We'll be back." He says as he runs after Budo.

Miyako stares between the knife and Sota's body, she can confirm, this knife is the murder weapon.

Kuu stares down at the floor. "I don't get something though. We were on the 1st floor, how did Sota get up to the 2nd floor. He said he wanted to be alone, but he went into the room on the 1st floor, how did he get up here."

~~~ Both ~~~

You hear the sound of footsteps, and then a voice. "Are you sure it is wise to let him go. This could be a wolf and sheep puzzle you know."

It is a girl no one has seen before, she is wearing a fancy dress.

>>19260
"A strange visitor in the night? Now, that's odd."

All the humans in this building are been shown. The evidence I have of this is that having more than one mysterious person show up would lead to issues with never being able to find the culprit. Therefore, the assumption that this game is winnable is my proof.

"Welp, I don't really have time to speak to whoever this is, so I leave that to the rest of you. I need to catch up with Budo and Ryusei. I doubt she's the murderer since she was willing to walk up to us and announce her presence."

I'm going to run after them. If possible I'd like to convince them to return to the party but if I can't convince Budo, I'll be stuck tailing them until Budo gets changed.

>>19259

"I was about to ask that myself, Kuu. I heard him say the window, I assumed that he meant the one we came in on the first floor. Did you all not see him exit the window or leave the room you say he was in?"

>>19260

"Oh. Hello. Were you the friend that Oka brought in to help with the pranks? Just judging by your tacky Halloween dress, that is. Glad that you've revealed yourself, but in case you can't tell this has gone way beyond pranks. So if you have any information please let us know."

>>19261

She nodded to Karma. "Good luck. Keep an eye out for Oka too. She may need help or...well, just keep an eye out."

~~~ Both ~~~

"Excuse me?!" The girl shrieks upon Miyako's words.

"Who... who are you?" Midori asks. Everyone else looks equally confused.

The girl shakes off her annoyed expression and smiles and curtsies. "I am Erika Furudo, the detective. I am the 11th human in this school. I was hired to watch all you club leaders. You all probably know about the incident a few days ago, I was hired to investigate it. So as you can see I'm not a suspicious person. I have no connection to anything that has happened to any of you. So you have no reason to suspect me."

Even though her words didn't make much sense, for some reason everyone felt compelled to believe them, and accepted her as someone trustworthy.

"And since I'm here, why don't I solve this crime for you."

A new lose condition has appeared: If Erika creates a theory that can't be disputed or is believed by the majority of the remaining suspects, and 'solves' the gameboard, Karma and Miyako will both lose

"Wait Karma! I'll come with." Midori shouts chasing after Karma.

~~~ Karma ~~~

You, Midori, Ryusei, and Budo head off to the gym, more specifically the locker room, the men's locker room to be precise.

"This sucks, it even got on the skin.. ugh, it feels awful." Budo groans before heading into the locker room. "I'm going to have to take a shower and everything."

"Hold it Budo, it would dangerous by yourself." Ryusei follows him inside the men's locker room.

Midori and you are outside the door to the men's locker room.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

"I didn't." Kuu answers.

"We didn't see him go out the window, nor did he leave the room, at least not that I know of, the lights came back on and stuff and we got the text message from Sakyu. So we were going to find you guys."

>>19263
"Hey Midori, can I see your phone for a second? I wanted to document the exact time we turned the lights back on for the inevitable police questioning since we're all witnesses. The text message from Sakyu that called us all upstairs will give us a good time estimate."

Assuming she lets me, I want to check the contents of the text message: what does it say, when was it received, who sent it? Afterwards, I'm going to check to see if any other messages have been sent or received recently. Hopefully she won't be snatching the phone back out of my hands.

Last edited at 16/03/05(Sat)19:36:34

>>19263

Miyako raised her eyebrow at Erika's words, but shrugged. "Solve away, Miss Detective. We need all the help we can get. Help us and I think we could get Sakyu to take you shopping and Midori will water your hat."

She didn't know why she disliked the girl, but she couldn't deny that she viewed her as an even greater threat than whoever was murdering people. She was debating with herself why that was as she was looking over Sota's corpse again, when something Kuu said struck her as odd.

"A text from Sakyu, so you were coming to find us? Like, Midori, Karma, and myself? Why would you go to the second floor, then? Why not come to us, since you knew where we were? And why this room instead of 2-2? What did your message say?"

~~~~ Karma ~~~~

Midori hands her phone over to you and you peek at her messages. She's only received a few messages lately, the only one that seems revelant is the one from Sakyu, which was sent when you got the lights back on, roughly 15 minutes ago now. It reads 'Hurry! Come to 2-2! Help me.'

She hasn't sent any suspicious messages recently.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

Erika ignores you words, clicks her tongue and walks away. "We'll meet again." She says with a smile that feels slightly unsettling.

"We were going to go back to you, but we decided just to meet you at 2-2." Haruto answers. "We noticed the door was locked on our way to 2-2."

>>19266
"Thanks, Midori." I hand the phone back to her.

I knock on the door to the changing room and crack it open.

"Hey, just checking to make sure you guys are ok. I need a yes from both of you."

>>19266

"Just randomly checking doors?" she asked, critically, before shrugging. "Alright, I can see how that could be, since we're still looking for Oka. Odd that you'd check random doors in your rush, and that you'd leave Sota where you thought he was, but we'll just call it dark matter. It's a good catch-all."

She started going through Sota's pockets, checking his belongings, especially looking for his phone. "Sakyu? You said that you and Budo split up to search rooms, right? Where were you and where was he before you two met again?"

~~~ Karma ~~~

You peek inside the locker room, and see Ryusei sitting on the bench waiting, you don't see Budo, but you can hear the shower, so he is probably in the shower room, taking a shower.

"Yo." Ryusei greets you. "Budo's taking a shower, I told him to be quick, but well knowing him, he probably won't listen."

~~~ Miyako ~~~

"It wasn't random." Kuu explains. She points to the door handle. "You can see from the outside if the door is locked. So naturally we'd check out a randomly locked room. We are looking for Oka, remember."

Sakyu shrugs "We were looking around the rooms, I don't remember which rooms exactly I looked. But after finding nothing, I ended up going back to Budo, and I saw him holding the knife, all bloody, so I sent out the text message of course. I was scared of course, the lights being on and him covered in blood. He might have hurt Oka, and was going to hurt me then."

>>19269
I open the door all the way.

"At this point, it's dangerous to leave anyone alone for too long. Midori, Ryusei, you two talk quietly among yourselves. Don't let the other out of their sight."

I'm going to enter the changing room and walk around the corner and check on Budo. I want to make sure he's not hiding any injuries, so I announce myself to him and nonchalantly walk up and talk to him.

Assuming I find him, of course.

"Yo, just checking to make sure you're alright."

>>19269

"Well, assuming he was telling the truth, it would be difficult for him to be covered in blood and not get any anywhere else. We can keep looking for Oka as well, but we need to see if we can find a place where all the blood might be."

She gets up from beside the body and quickly checks the windows of the room. "Nothing on Sota, including his phone. Can someone call it? I get the feeling we should find it, and I don't have his number."

While she is looking at the windows, she's also seeing if there's any blood in places away from the body."

Last edited at 16/03/05(Sat)20:51:47

~~~~ Karma ~~~~

Ryusei shrugs and leaves the locker room to watch over Midori.

You head into the shower room. You see Budo right away, he is taking a shower, not a surprise. He is surprised however when you make your appearance.

"Geez, you're just like Haruto." He grumbles. "Always checking on me randomly when I'm taking a shower."

~~~ Miyako ~~~

You find blood on one of the window sills, that window is also surprisingly not locked like the others.

>>19272
"So there was something I was meaning to ask. It's about that video. Something tells me that video isn't an accurate representation of reality. Haruto claimed it was all from today, yet the video is cut into several parts, as if shot over the course of multiple days. Plus, I have a feeling that there is a lot of missing footage.

Any chance you can explain the reason for this?"

>>19272

"Hmm, well that's certainly intriguing." She tugged the window open and took a look outside, seeing if there was any further blood or signs of passage, using her phone for additional light.

"Anyone tried Sota's phone yet?" she called over her shoulder, annoyed at the lack of response the first time. "I refuse to believe his death was random, but I can only think of a few reasons why someone would want to kill Sota. Between someone being militantly gluten-free and someone worried about what might be on that now-missing phone, I'm thinking the latter. Unless someone has another way of explaining all those sins he was talking about before he ran off?"

~~~~ Miyako ~~~~

"I'll try it." Kuu says, dialing the number. "It's ringing."

You look outside the window, and find some blood outside the window sill as well.

~~~ Karma ~~~

"I don't know. I didn't watch the clip, nor do I have any interest to." Budo tells you.

You hear a buzzing coming from the locker room.

>>19276
"So you don't care whether or not I know the truth, eh? Or maybe you just have a reason to hide it. Suit yourself...."

I'm going to try to find the source of that buzzing. If it's a phone ringing, I'll ho ahead and answer it.

>>19276

She listened quietly in case the phone was nearby while she examined the blood on the outside windowsill, noting if possible if it was a handprint, footprint, or something else, and if there was a way to tell where the path led.

After that, she shut the window once more and came over to Kuu to listen in and see if anyone picked up.

~~~ Karma ~~~

You find the source of the buzzing in the pocket of Budo's jacket. It is covered in blood, it is a cell phone.

You answer it.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

You notice some blood seems to also be on the windowsill of the room below your current room.

~~~ Both ~~~

"Hello? Who is this, who has Sota's phone." Kuu speaks through the phone once she hears someone pick up.

Karma who is on the other end of the phone hears her voice.

>>19279
"Ah, so this is Sota's phone. That's very interesting. Oh right, this is Karma. I heard the phone buzzing so I found it and answered. I'll explain later where it came from. Well anyway, Budo is still in the shower, but we'll come back once he's done. Gotta run."

I'll hang up the phone and then text myself with Sota's phone: 'I found Sota's phone, covered in blood, in the pocket of Budo's jacket. I did not mention it immediately because I wanted to wait for a good time to reveal the information. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'

Then I'll stick Sota's phone in my pocket. Hopefully nobody noticed me with it.

>>19279

Miyako nodded at the conclusion of the call. "Midori and myself can vouch for the fact that Karma was with us when the murder occurred, so I think it's safe to say that he was telling the truth."

Then she looked to Kuu, Haruto, and Sakyu. "Right now though, we need to head downstairs. There's blood on the windowsill down there in the room beneath us."

~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~

You do those things, and once you finish you hear Midori scream from the hallway outside the locker room.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

"I have no interest playing detective, I'll leave that the police, and with Budo gone no one will get killed anyone. And not to sound mean, but I'd rather look around for Oka than worry about finding out how Budo killed Sota." Sakyu says as she walks away. "Who do you guys care about more, someone who might be still alive, or the dead?"

Kuu nodds. "Sakyu is right, we need to keep looking for Oka."

Haruto frowns and closes his eyes for a moment. "Miyako will you be okay on your own. I want to keep looking for Oka while we have this chance."

>>19282
"Midori?! What's wrong?!"

I run out into the hallway to see what happened.

>>19282

Miyako frowned, looking properly chastised.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I've been forgetting to look for the comet because I was distracted by the Moon. Finding Oka is the more important thing right now, and it's best if we try to stick together from now on, in case Budo didn't do it. However, please, I can't imagine the first floor has been searched thoroughly yet either. Can we look down there first? We'll meet up with the others easier too."

~~~ Karma ~~~

You rush out of the locker room area, and see Midori pointing toward the other end of the hallway, looking freaked out.

"It's awful Karma. We saw someone running down the hallway! Ryusei told me to stay here, he.. he went after them."

"What.. if... oh no.. what is something happens..." Midori shrieks.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

"I believe Oka is on this floor." Kuu says.

"I think so too, they couldn't have gotten that far, with everything going on." Sakyu agrees. "Let's split up. We'll be fine. You two can look around the 1st floor, and we will look around the 2nd, we can meet up afterward to check the 3rd."

The others agree to this decision and you and Haruto head to the 1st floor.

"Where should we start?" Haruto asks you.

>>19289
"Shit, why didn't you stop him?! Ugggh..... we can't follow after him, or we might miss him coming back here. Plus we shouldn't leave Budo alone in there..... It's best that we wait for Ryusei to come back."

I'll try to convince Midori to wait here.

>>19289

"Let's start with where you and Kuu thought you left Sota. At least it provides a good reference point to start with. From there we can work methodically. When searching for one star in the night sky, going gridline by gridline until you see evidence is the only method."

Miyako trailed off, then sighed. "And, if you're alright with it, I want to look that room over for clues as to Sota's murder. If we can figure out what happened, and who did it, it might help us find Oka faster, and maybe save her. Even if not...we have a homicidal maniac on the loose, but it's hopefully just one."

She looked him in the eyes. "When facing a boss monster, do you really want to let him pick off the party before fighting him?"

~~~ Karma ~~~

Midori nods in understanding, she seems to have changed a little, but that is no surprise since one of friends just got murdered.

"I keep thinking about Sota, and what he said when I last saw him. I keep thinking, I could have done something. If I would have stopped him from running off..."

~~~ Miyako ~~~

You are Haruto enter the room Sota was last seen at. It isn't hard to tell this was the crime scene.

A large pool of blood is in the middle of the floor. There also is a line of blood from the large bloodstain to the window,

>>19293
"I suppose the cliché that someone dies as soon as they're out-of-sight got popular in murder mysteries for a reason...... That said, it's very dangerous to let Ryusei run off alone. Still, it'd be even more dangerous to leave Budo alone, he's still the most suspicious given the blood and the proximity to the murder.... Speaking of which, I'm gonna go tell Budo to hurry up."

I'll go inside and tell Budo to hurry up and get done showering. While I'm at it, I'll check his clothes one more time. I want to inspect the blood more closely. I want to make sure it's blood (check the viscosity and the smell).

>>19293

"Definitely the spot... Budo, always Budo. But there's so much wobble. Other bodies in play, too much gravity. Instability could cause wobble too. Is that all it is...? But the orbit is so regular..."

Miyako mumbled to herself as she quickly looked under the tables and desks in the room, especially in the area by the blood. Then, standing, she inspected the window that the blood led to and the wall around it, outside and inside. She paid particular attention to any scuff marks or similar that she found, and noted the window's relative position to the ones for the room he was found in.

While she looked, she asked Haruto casually, "Hey Haruto, why was the video edited? Wouldn't straight footage be better to prove bullying?"

~~~ Karma ~~~

You head back inside the locker room. You call out to Budo, but get no response. You can still hear the shower running, so he probably couldn't hear you.

You inspect the blood on his clothes. You make out that it is human blood and fresh too. The blood is mostly on his shoulders and a little running down the back part of his uniform. There is only a little in the front by his collar.

You also notice that oddly enough his head band also has a lot of blood on it. Also something seems off about it but you can't figure out what it is.

But that's not all, while going through Budo's clothes, you see something odd sticking out of the locker behind them.

Upon opening the locker you find a clear and very wet full body rain coat. That looks slightly stained by something though you can't figure out what.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

You examine the window, the first thing you notice is, it is unlocked, when it should be locked. The next thing you notice is the blood on the window sill. And when you open the window you also find some blood on the grass outside the window. You hazard a guess that the room right above you, is probably the room Sota's body was found in.

"It's complicated. Not everything in the video, I wanted to come out." Haruto answers looking bored.

Last edited at 16/03/11(Fri)22:20:40

>>19301
Hmmm.... interesting.

Well, seeing as how Budo isn't responding, I'm going to have to check on him. Gotta walk around the corner and make sure he isn't dead or missing.

Last edited at 16/03/12(Sat)00:01:37

>>19301

"Like why a master of bare-hand combat was attacking you with a knife, when he could have just beaten you up with his fists exclusively, and arguably been more effective and with less evidence?" Frowning, she looked at the windowsill one more time. "Hmm. No wear marks of a rope or similar. Interesting..."

She turned and faced him, leaning against a non-bloody spot on the windowsill casually. Showing the knife in her hand to him, even offering it to him to inspect, she tried to search her own memory of the video to verify his response. "Was this the knife, by the way? The one he used on you?"

~~~ Karma ~~~

You open the door into the shower room and head inside. You look around the room, but you don't see anyone, the door to the gym seems slightly open. The shower is still running.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

"I egged him on. That isn't the kind of thing that would make me look like the victim. Eventually I broke him, enough that he took out a pocket knife. So no, it wasn't that knife."

>>19308

"Day in and day out for a long time? They must have been some powerful words. He does have a strong temper though. Still, if all you did was talk and he escalated to violence, he was in the wrong."

She takes one last look around the room, seeing if there was any evidence as to who might have been waiting in the room for Sota to arrive.

After that final check, she turned to Haruto. "Thanks for humoring me. I think we should work our way towards the gym, next. See if we can meet up with the others. I know you and Budo don't see eye to eye, but it's probably best to have a lot of people around."

As she got ready to head out, she asked, "As we walk, can you tell me about what you said to Budo that made him so mad?"

~~~ Karma ~~~

You hear someone enter the locker room and call out for you, it is Midori. You come out of the shower room and explain to her that Budo is missing.

She goes into a panic and runs off to look for him. You follow right behind her.

~~~ Miyako ~~~

Haruto suddenly gets angry. "This may sound strange, but Budo isn't that violent of a person normally, so don't go calling him one." He frowns. "And it isn't that we don't see eye to eye... alright..."

You two begin walking toward the door leading to the gym building.

"It wasn't that hard. I just kept bringing up his dead girlfriend. The reason he was going after me was about that in the first place, so adding more and more fuel to the fire was easy."

Haruto doesn't seem to happy, wasn't this his goal in the first place?

"Hey, isn't that." Haruto notices something ahead of you. "Ryusei!" He calls out the to the person standing by the stairs to the 2nd floor.

"Did you see anyone!" Ryusei answers with a strained voice. "Did anyone pass by here?"

After hearing your responses, Ryusei clicks his tongue. "Damn... I see, I was too slow."

"What is going on?" Haruto asks.

"Midori saw someone running down the hallway, so I gave chance, and I've been chasing them since the gym building, but I guess I lost them in this one." Ryusei answers.

A little while later while the three of you are sharing information, Midori and Karma appear.

~~~ Both ~~~

"Ryusei! I'm so glad you are alright." Midori shouts and hugs him, but jumps away right after doing so.

"I lost them." Ryusei mutters.

"That's a good thing!" Midori answers. "But we have something else to worry about now. Budo is missing!"

Haruto closes his eyes, he appears to be deep in thought. "I wonder if-"

"Stop!" Midori shouts at him, she grabs onto him. "Please don't say it."

Haruto frowns and looks away. "Look, it is just a possibility and it makes sense."

Midori is pushing up against Haruto, who looks really uncomfortable as Midori is pushing against his body.

"I don't want to believe it either okay, you know that." Haruto growls pushing back against Midori and she finally lets go of him.

Ryusei frowns, "Care to enlighten me on what you are talking about?"

Midori turns to face Ryusei, "Well..-"

But before she can speak a scream echoes from the floor above.

All of you rush up in a panic fearing what has been found. You run to the room where the scream came from, Sakyu is standing in the door way shaking, while Erika is looking around the room.

You all quickly run into the room, brushing past the frozen Sakyu.

End of Opening

Middle: https://archive.seacats.net/gameboard/res/19311.html

Last edited at 16/03/12(Sat)15:54:38