Going a little further into explaining how this game works.

Method 2 to win: Stop the Murderer

What this means is to figure out who is doing the killing and, convince a majority of the remaining alive to believe in you. Which requires 2 things. First they have to trust you. So their trust in you needs to be somewhere, the higher it is the easier they'll trust you and the less argument you need to make, unless the person you are accusing also has a high trust. So to make people believe you, the best thing to do is to make them not trust the person you are accusing, while at the same time getting them to trust you. Your actions and words will have effects on all of this.

Another thing, if you befriend the murderer, they will not attack you, however they might attack someone who has low trust for you, or accused you, and so on.

Hope that all makes sense.

I'll give you updates on their trust levels periodically throughout, so you can plot your moves.

Now then, on to the main matter at hand, who is going to enroll in this tale?

I'd like to give it a shot. We're going to go with the majority result when voting?

>>18866
By majority I meant the npcs.

The new student Rudolf has joined Akademi High

I've decided to open the game up to one more player. This 2nd player's backstory is basically the same, but not quite, they are a new club leader.

A little info about the story, the story is about all the club leaders gathering for an event to strengthen social relations between the clubs.

So the 2nd player in the game will be a newly appointed club leader. What club they are leader of, is up to them, with some exceptions, those being Martial Arts, Occult, Computer, Gardening, Chess, Book, Cooking, and Choir.

If no other player joins by Saturday, the game will start with 1 player.

I'll play. Just will make a character first.

>>18878

Thanks for holding my spot. I'm in.

Name: Miyako Wakahisa

Leader of the Astronomy Club

Name: Karma Akabane

Transfer student

~~~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~~
The teacher pounds on the blackboard when all the students don't quiet down.

"Quiet down all you maggots! I said quiet!"

She keeps pounding but it doesn't do her any good. She eventually gives up and lets it go.

"Forget it. You are all brats." She grumbles before introducing the new kid. "This is the new kid, Karma whatshisface." She loses motivation and desire to introduce Karma mid-sentence and just starts waving her hand to signal she doesn't care. "Sit wherever, I don't really care."

Karma wonders just how she is a teacher.

"Miss Doestgvafuk! Miss Doestgvafuk" A girl with long green hair stood up. "I'll give Karma a tour of the school! I'll help him!"

The teacher waved her hand. "Sure whatever. Your seat will be... I don't care, sit anywhere, if someone is sitting there already, sit on top of them, or move them, you can deal with it."

"It is nice to meet you Karma." The green haired girl extends her hand out to Karma.


~~~~~~Miyako~~~~~~~

Miyako finds her seat in class, and right after class starts her classmate hands her a note.

She looks at it, trying not to catch the eye of the teacher.

It reads, 'Are you excited about tonight? Nervous? Scared? If you're scared I can protect you. It will be fun don't worry.'

She knows right away who wrote the note, it had to be her classmate the Club Leader of the Gaming Club, that flirt.

She realizes he is talking about the club gathering.

As a way to bond the clubs together, and help unite the students, all the clubs leaders have an event occurring to do this. But there are so many clubs, they had to split them up into 2 groups.

She focuses for a moment, trying to remember which clubs were in her group, it was Martial Arts, Occult, Computer, Gardening, Chess, Book, Cooking, Choir, and then her own Astronomy Club.

The group randomly chose lots to see which leader got to pick the activity. She tries but she can't remember who picked the activity or what it was, she just remembers it wasn't her.

She stares at the note in her hand, she could write a response on it.

>>18884

Miyako smiled slightly, despite trying to keep her expression neutral for their boorish teacher. Even though she couldn't remember much about what was going to happen tonight, she was definitely excited for it. Now that there was someone new, it was even better! Perhaps he'd even be interested in joining the Astronomy Club, she thought. That'd be nice. I wonder if he knows of any good stargazing spots...

She caught herself before she got lost in her own mind, a bad habit of hers. After a moment's consideration, she decided to write back. After all, the leader of the Gaming Club was always so nice to her, a good friend and she was sure he meant well. Why be standoffish now? Quickly she placed the note face-down in her study book and began writing on it, trying to make it look like she was taking notes or doing other schoolwork.

She wrote, "My hero. :) I'm excited though. Except I can't remember what we're doing... You know me, such a 'space case!'"

Waiting for an opportune time, she passed the note back to him.

>>18884
"Ah, nice to meet you. Karma Akabane, and you are?"

~~~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~~

The girl smiles brightly at you, as if you are her source of life and happiness, you find it kind of creepy and annoying.

"I'm Midori Gurin! I'm the club leader of the Gardening Club. I like gardening because of all the green things. I love green things, but I guess that is kind of obvious given my hairstyle. It is so nice to meet you Karma. I hope we can be good friends. I just know you are going to love it here!"

The girl doesn't seem to ever shut up, she just goes on an on, and even the class is going on while she is talking. The teacher doesn't seem to care at all and is continuing with the lesson.


~~~~~~Miyako~~~~~~~

As your fingers brush when you give the note back. Haruto's fingers a little longer than most people would consider appropriate. He winks at you when you make eye contact. This action doesn't surprise you though, he is known as a heavy wide flirt throughout the whole school.

He passes the note back quickly.

It reads, 'You're so silly, we are doing the test of courage/occult thing, since Oka won the lot.'

Last edited at 16/02/12(Fri)17:47:11

>>18887
"Midori Gurin, eh? Your name is almost as funny as mine. Granted, I love my name.

Also, are there a lot of clubs at this school? I'd like to see all my options during my tour~"

>>18887

"Oh right," she wrote back. "Any word on what that is? A haunted-house-style thing might be fun. Occult tests of courage already seem like something from a horror movie. :-P"

~~~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~~

Her face lights up and she begins to go on and on endlessly about all the clubs. Taking the cliff notes of her speech, you make out that there are 18 clubs currently.

"I hope you really enjoy the clubs. As a way to make you feel welcome my group talked to the principal and got him to agree to let you join us tonight. It will be so much fun!"

~~~~~~Miyako~~~~~~~

The note you get back says, 'Oka just told us all to show up back to school at night. I wouldn't get your hopes up too much, it will probably be some crazy ritual chanting or dancing, to try and summon a demon. Though not like we have a choice.'

>>18890
"Tonight? How late of an event are we talking about? And why would the gardening club have events at night after the sun is down? Wait, is this going to involve heat lamp farming?"

>>18890

"I'm not really a fan of demons. I hope the new person isn't spooked off by them. He seems nice. Think he's a gamer or a stargazer?" she wrote back.

Secretly she hoped there'd be dancing. She did love to dance. It made her feel at home.

~~~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~~
She tilts her head in confusion. "How could you farm lamps? I don't think they'd grow even if you put the bulb in the ground."

She laughs. "Anyway, it actually isn't a gardening club activity. It is a gathering of 9 of the 18 clubs we have. The principal wants all the clubs to get along, so every 2 months we have a gathering of the club leaders to try and forge bonds between the leaders to help unify the clubs. We randomly draw lots and that decides what we do, last time was an art museum visit, this time we are doing a ghost hunt type thing. And it is happening tonight, the principal and I thought it would be a good way for you to start to fit in, so you are joining us. And no it isn't skip able if that is what you are thinking. It is a mandatory attendance if you are part of it."

~~~~~~Miyako~~~~~~~
'I don't like the look of him.' is what comes back.


~~~~Both~~~~~

Everyone in class is suddenly brought to attention when a large cracking sound echoes.

Everyone turns their attention on the teacher, or more specifically her desk. It has been split in half by a karate chop.

There is a student standing there in front of the now broken desk. He bows politely to the teacher as an apology for breaking the desk, before turning to face all his classmates.

"Class has already started, the time to fool around is later. Everyone sit down and focus on the lesson, we are at school to learn and better ourselves."

He folds his arms as he scans everyone's eyes, his stance is defensive and ready to take on anyone who would continue to act out.

>>18893

Miyako was halfway through her reply when she decided that discretion was the better part of gossip and crumpled the note. Although there were many definitions of bettering herself, she doubted that the head of the Martial Arts club would see it that way. So instead of bringing it up, she started doodling a spiral galaxy in her notebook.

>>18893
"Ah, my apologies. I appreciate you keeping us on task, but to break a desk is simply uncalled for.

Nonetheless, please continue the lecture, sensei."

~~~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~~~

Budo stares hard at Karma but says nothing, with class starting to return to what one would consider normal, he returns to his own seat.

The class doesn't fully quiet down at first though, it is a buzz with hushed comments. 'Budo has become a real asshole lately.' 'He thinks he runs this class because the class prez and head the student council doesn't come to class.' 'All those Martial Arts students do is bully people nowadays.' Are some of the things that could be heard.

Budo scoots his chair back noisily, and instantly all the chatter stops.

The teacher un-phased by all this, clears her throat and continues where she left off once everyone is seated.

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

As soon as the chime for lunch is echoing in the classroom, Karma finds himself bombarded by the energetic green haired Club Leader.

"Let's eat lunch together Karma? All of us who are going tonight are meeting to discuss what we are doing."

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~~

"Miyako!" Miyako hears a voice call out and turns around to see the smiling face of the Haruto, club leader of the Gaming Club.

Just as Miyako is about greet him, Budo walks by the two of you, and he makes his presence known by giving Haruto a strong shove with his shoulder.

Haruto glares at Budo's back as he is leaving the classroom. His eyes look deadly aggressive for a moment, before he shakes it off and smiles back at Miyako.

"Ready to meet the others for lunch?"

Last edited at 16/02/12(Fri)23:18:34

>>18896
"Sure, I might as well get to know everyone.

Say, who was that karate chop guy, some sort of martial artist? He certainly has the air of someone who wants to be in charge."

>>18896

"Mmhmm!" she nodded in a carefree manner. As they walked she looked up at the ceiling, like she was seeing the sky beyond.

"I think a lot of people in our class don't like Budo. Including you, eh, Haruto?" Without waiting for a reply she continued. "Try not to though, maybe? I know that he is rude, and likes proving he's strong, but it's not his fault. He's stuck in a gravity well." She turned her gaze to him and smiled cheerily. "So what are you having for lunch?"

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

As you and Midori head to the lunch room, she answers your question and several others you didn't even ask.

"That's Budo, he is the club Leader for the Martial Arts Club. I wouldn't recommend messing with him, he is kind of feared right now by everyone. He is the righteous fury type of guy if you do something to disrupt school or anything he deems 'bad' he'll restrain you will all his strength. People say he has even taken down local gangs around town, even when they came at him with knives and guns! He doesn't normally act like that, or well he didn't. There are a lot of rumors lately that he has been beating up other students after school. But don't take all that the wrong way, he is a good guy, or used to be."

She drifts off and then changes the subject going into the school's long and boring history that apparently she had memorized for just this moment.

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~~

Haruto's fists clench at the topic. "He is just a bastard, that's all. I can't believe I used to call him a friend."

He turns toward you. "I know you are new toward our group, but I've been in the same group as Budo since the club gatherings started. So I'll tell you straight out, stay away from him. He might act friendly and like a good guy, but he is anything but. He is chaotic neutral for sure. And if you cross him, you'll get it. Remain low and stay out of his line of fire. He is like an executioner type role, if you get caught by him, its all over."

Haruto smiles and laughs when the two of you enter the lunchroom. He is staring at Midori firing conversation bullets at rapid speed toward the new kid, Karma. Her words are flying a mile a minute, she could easily become the world's greatest auctioneer.

"I should have known, she'd get all caught up and clingy like that." He turns toward you. "Let's go save the poor guy."

~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Midori, he doesn't have any interest in learning the school's history, frankly no one does."

Midori's month finally stops moving as a new voice enters the conversation. She turns toward Haruto.

"You don't know that. He could love history."

"Key words there, 'history' our school's is not interesting like regular history can be."

Midori grumbles and pouts, but she brights up seeing Miyako.

"Miyako it is so nice to get a chance to actually talk to you. I hope our group doesn't overwhelm you. We kind of have known each other for a long time, so we are a tight circle already."

While Midori found new prey in Miyako, Haruto turns toward Karma.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Haruto Yuto, I'm the leader of the Gaming Club. We are the best club because all we do is play d'n'd, card games, and video games."

"Hey! What about the gardening club, we are awesome too!"

Haruto smirks at Midori's reaction. "All you do is watch plants grow. How is that 'awesome.'"

Midori "Hmph! You just can't appreciate the beauty of seeing life grow. You playboy you, one of these days, you're going to be forced to. You'll randomly get a text or letter saying, 'I'm having your child.'"

Haruto freaks out a little, "Don't even joke around about that. I don't want to be tied down to a kid."

A snide smile appears on Midori's face "Or one girl," she adds on.

>>18900
"Nice to meet you Haruto. I'm sure everyone thinks their club is the best, so I'm going to simply have to see them all before making any decisions about joining.

So, there's a club get-together tonight to search the school for ghosts? You kids do this often, or is this a first time thing?

>>18900

"It's nice to talk to you too, Midori. Don't be worried about me being overwhelmed by a tight circle. I'm just a happy little planetoid drifting through space, glad to find a solar system. I'll find my orbit soon enough, once everything pulls me into my spot. That's the laws of the universe, after all! Well, or I could possibly collide with one of the other planetary bodies, thereby annihilating it and potentially causing the whole system to devolve into chaos, but I like the first outcome better..."

Her gaze drifted back upward to the ceiling for a moment, before she brought it back down and smiled in her carefree manner. At Karma's question though, she grew confused. "Ghosts? I thought it was some kind of test of courage?"

~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~

Midori frowns, "We honestly don't know what we are doing tonight. Oka the club leader of the occult club is the only one who knows. She planned it out this time."

Haruto adds on to answer Karma's question, "We have a joint activity with all the leaders every month. But, to answer your question specifically we do different things each time, this is the first time we've done something like this. I'm honestly a little surprised, the school wouldn't even let us take a camping trip, but they are letting us into the school at night, their priorities are a little wonky."

"Every month? But we didn't have one last month.." She is a little confused.

"That's because you just recently became the leader of your club. We took last month off, but normally it is every month."

He begins grumbling under his breath. "Anyway, I doubt we have the school's permission to use the school at night.
But I wouldn't say anything about it, or else Budo will lay you down flat."

>>18904
"Wait, Haruto, I'm confused.

You said that we are allowed by the school to come here at night, but then later said that you doubted that we had permission and should keep it a secret. Don't these statements contradict each other?"

~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~

Haruto looks confused for a second, but then he laughs nervously. "Ah that's right, you are new here, and Miyako is new to our group. Well, putting it bluntly. The school itself probably doesn't know. And if we were to tell anyone Budo would probably send you to the hospital. Because Oka would get in trouble."

Midori looks away nervously while Haruto continues talking. "Budo will protect Oka, because frankly, he is banging her. So if you try to get her in trouble, he'll kill you."

>>18907

"The school doesn't know? Then, um, how are we going to get in?"

She looked to Karma and shrugged. "I'm kind of new to this too," she said, by way of explanation. Miyako Wakahisa, by the way. I'm the head of the Astronomy Club, if you're interested."

>>18939
"Astronomy club, huh? You do mean like looking at the stars scientifically, right? Because that astrology stuff like horoscopes is rather boring."

Turning back to Haruto, I say "well anyway, sneaking in sounds like a lot of fun. Hopefully this will be entertaining."

~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~~

"I'm sure Oka must have some type of plan." Midori answered.

The four of you chat a little longer while heading over to the table with all the other club leaders in the group.

Haruto sits down next to a girl with purple hair, and Miyako is about to sit down next to him. Midori is about to sit down as well, but she glances at the seat she is going to sit in. A frown appears on her face, and in a flash she snatches up the seat Miyako is just about to sit down on, almost causing Miyako to fly backward.

She is slightly phased by the sudden event, but sit downs in the seat that Midori was about to sit in. Karma sits down in the last seat next to Miyako.

Budo is the first to speak. "Ah here are the stragglers. First let me apologize to you, I showed off something vulgar in class earlier." He stands up and bows to both Karma and Miyako. "I'm sorry to have shown something like that."

The girl sitting next to Budo speaks up. "He is really sorry. Will you forgive him?"

>>18947
"You have nothing to apologize for. You were right, we should have been paying attention in class."

Looking around at everyone, I continue. "Allow me to introduce myself formally. My name is Karma Akabane. It is very nice to meet you all."

>>18947

She chuckled and nodded at Karma's question. "Mmhmm. Though the stars can mean so much to so many, we only gaze at them and learn about them, not any mystical properties they may have."

Miyako smiled at Budo's apology, deciding to ignore the stolen seat. "Of course! Karma is right, the class was being disruptive. It may have been a bit much to destroy the teacher's desk, but it was who you are. A star burns hot to light the way, right?"

~~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~

Budo raises his head at the acceptances of his apology. He always looks a tiny bit flushed and embarrassed probably because of Miyako's comment.

The guy sitting across from Miyako speaks up. "It is nice to meet both of you. I'm Ryusei Koki, I'm the leader of the Chess Club."

The woman sitting next to Haruto gives a sultry smile to Miyako and Karma. "I'm Sakyu Basu, the club leader of the Choir Club, my voice is known to enchant people, you should come and listen to me, I'll cast a spell on you."

The girl sitting next to Budo speaks up next. "My.... name is Oka... I run the Occult Club."

For while there is silence, until Ryusei lightly jabs the girl sitting next to him. She is too engrossed in her book, and even after a few jabs she barely looks above it. "Kuu Dere, Book Club."

The guy in front of Midori fidgets as it is finally his turn. "Ummm..... well..." He mutters barely above a whisper.

"Speak up! You're a man!" Budo shouts.

He probably meant to encourage, but the act causes the guy to get even more nervous.

"Come on! You're a man! Don't be a whim." After a while a shouting some more, Budo gives up and sits back down.

The boy still looks like he is unable to speak, but maybe it isn't from being nervous anymore though, it might be something else, embarrassment perhaps.

"This is Sota Yuki, he is the club leader of the Cooking club." Midori decides to try and break the tension and answers.

"I...... I like to bake things...." Sota finally speaks for the first time, but it is still just a whisper.

The group looks like of unsure how to continue talking after the awkwardness.

Oka claps her hands together and then kind of looks embarrassed and looks away. "Tonight... is the night." She tells everyone, a smile appearing on her face.

>>18956
"Chess club? I'd like to play you some time but I'm not really all that good.

As for Miss Basu, I'd love to be enchanted by some beautiful choir~

Looks like the book club girl has priorities matching her duties....

Sota, no need to be embarrassed. You chose a craft, it is your duty to be the best at it that you can be. If you need anybody to taste test your food, that happens to be one of my specialties.

Oka, was it? I hear our activities tonight are being arranged by your club. I look forward to what you have planned.

And Budo, I'm rather intrigued by your martial arts techniques. Tell me, what form of karate do you practice? It certainly looks effective, how long have you been practicing?"

>>18963

"A pleasure to meet you all. Well, again. Or rather, formally," says Miyako, smiling.

While attempting to not interrupt Karma, she replied to Oka, "Do we get to know what you have planned? Right now the rumors are going wild!"

~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~

Ryusei smirks, "That's okay, I can give you an handicap. I play any and all skill levels of people, so if you are interested just stop by the club sometime. We don't force you to join to play."

Sakyu gets up and walks over to Karma. She leans down and whispers in his ear. "Oh really? Well if you are 'man' enough I can can entertain you sometime." She gives one last long breath on his ear before she rises and laughs. "I'll be on my way, I have some stuff to get ready." She waves to everyone and sends a wink to someone but it is unclear who she is looking at, she could be just sending it to everyone.

Budo responds to Karma's question. "I practice lots of forms, not just karate. Karate, Hapkido, Jiu Jitsu, Krav Maga, Tae Kwon Do, are my main focuses, but I've spent time with others before."

Oka speaks up then. "Yes... I have to get ready as well. I need to explain. We are coming back to school at night, everything will be set up then."

Sota looks a little nervous, he probably is scared. "Wh-wh-what do you mean?"

Oka responds cryptically "I can't say. Everything will be clear later tonight."

Oka smiles a little giving a glance toward Budo for a moment before she looks back at the ground and rises from her seat. "I better get going."

Budo gets up right after her. "Hold, on I'll escort you back to class."

Midori looks down at her watch after they leave. "But we still have 15 minutes before class."

Haruto lets out a sigh. "Why don't they just say it flat out, it obvious enough as is."

Ryusei chuckles, "You mean announce to us, 'hold on, we're horny so we're going to go fuck quick, catch ya later.'"

Kuu stops turning pages in her book. She looks up at Ryusei and utters exactly 1 word, "Vulgar," before once again going back to her book.

Midori turns bright red and stutters, "W-w-wh-what that is what they are doing all the time they leave early?! But but but that is like everyday."

Haruto shrugs, "Budo is one horny bastard, I guess."

"I wouldn't say Oka is completely innocent in this regard either though." Ryusei chimes in.

>>18991

"Charon and Pluto, spinning around and around. But which is which, and what happens when Eris changes the rules?" murmured Miyako to herself, watching them go.

She shrugged and turned back to the group, idly munching on a carrot stick.

>>18991
"Huh, you guys and girls really like rumors don't you? What business is it of ours what they do?"

I'll finish my lunch.

~~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~

"It is only a rumor because they don't just tell us." Haruto answers.

Midori smiles at Karma. "Karma is right, it isn't our business what Budo and Oka do. It isn't right to pry into it."

And with that the group ends that topic and resumes eating and chatting about other topics.

Lunch flies by and before you know it you're already back in class, and then class is over, it is like someone is flying through time. Like time is in someone's control, and that person wants school to end already.

It is now after school, and time for school clubs, for those who are apart of them, though daily participation is not required. Budo, Haruto, leave class almost right away. Midori is gathering her books together, but she doesn't seem to be any type of rush, perhaps she isn't going to her club today.

Last edited at 16/02/15(Mon)23:01:11

>>18996
"Yo, Budo, wait up."

I follow him out of the classroom.

"Hey, I was wondering if you'd let me watch you practice. I'm rather interested in your club, though I understand if you're not accepting new members."

>>18996

Miyako, in the meantime, approached Midori.

"Hey, Midori! Are you alright? You don't seem in that much of a hurry to go to your plants."

Noting her own delay self-consciously, she continued, "I mean, I know I'm not going to my meeting, since it's rather hard to look at the night sky without it actually being, well, night, and we have that thing tonight, but I figured everyone else would have club meetings and whatnot."

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~

You follow Budo out into the hallway, he stops when he hears you call him. He frowns for a second before he quickly masks it, but you notice it anyway.

"Sure, I don't mind. I'll meet you there in a little bit, I have something to take care of, it won't be long though." He points behind you. "If you don't know where the club room is you keep going down that hallway and go upstairs to the second floor, it is to the right then." Before you can say much more, he continues down the hallway, you take note that he is going the opposite way from the club room.

~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

Midori smiles back at you. "I was thinking I'd skip the club today, since I'm going to be back at school for in a few hours. I kind of wanted to get home and do my homework, and get ready before I have to come back. I live pretty far away, so if I did the club, I'd wouldn't have enough time to get home, and then back again."

>>19002
"You two have fun," I state as he leaves.

If he doesn't hear me, I'll just take a stroll. First to the classroom I just left to see if anyone is still there. If not, then I'll head to the clubroom to see if any of the martial arts club members are there

Last edited at 16/02/16(Tue)16:47:19

>>19002

"Oh, I see. Yeah, that makes sense. I don't live too terribly far away, but I was thinking I might go to a restaurant or something and work there."

She seemed to hit upon an idea. "Hey! I know you said you wanted to get ready, but if you're ready enough how about you come with me? We can get something to eat and work on homework together! It might even matter if Miss Doestgvafuk ever actually grades our work!"

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~

"Oh, that sounds like fun. It saves my feet the trip." She finishes gathering up her things and heads to the door with you.

~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~

As Midori and Miyako are heading toward the door, Karma comes in the same door.

"Hi Karma." Midori greets energetically. "Miyako and I are going to head to a restaurant nearby and do our homework before we have to come back for the event, do you want to join us?"

>>19005
"Wow, it's like a double date, except I get two ladies all to myself, how can I say no?"

Last edited at 16/02/16(Tue)17:54:31

>>19006

"Well, to yourself and the books, you mean," replied Miyako, laughing innocently. "Let's go then!"

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

"Let's go!" Midori shouts out energetically while pumping her arm, like she is conducting a train. "We'll take the side exit, by the Gardening Club, it is faster."

You three leave the classroom and start to make your way out. She stops and freezes with her hand on the door's handle.

Her eyes go wide and she spins around. "On second thought, the other way is closer to the cafe, so let's go out the main after all. Come on, let's go. This way will take way way longer, we don't want to go this way."

She grabs both Karma's and Miyako's hands and begins to bolt with them away from the door. A kind of echoing 'thud' is heard as you are leaving the area.

"Hold on, before we go can we stop by the Martial Arts Club Room? I need to at least ask them to relay a message for me."

I just need to ask one of the club members to tell Budo that something came up and I'd be unable to be there today.

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~

Midori raises an eyebrow. "O-okay.. we'll wait for you by the main entrance, so let's meet up there! We'll wait, so come there."

Karma watches the two of them leave, with Midori pulling Miyako along at a brisk pace. She really wanted to get her away from there fast.

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

You hear the thud sound a few more times as you are walking past the side entrance toward the stairs. It sounds kind of strange, it doesn't sound like a person, like the noise of an object.

You ignore it and keep moving and the sound fades away. You reach the stairs and are about to go up it, but stop when you hear a very strange set of voices. 2 voices, both of them female. They are trying to be quiet, but for some reason you can hear them pretty well. You kind of recognize those sounds, being a teenage guy, you know what those sounds mean.

Slight curiosity just to make sure you are right about what is going on and not misunderstanding pulls you over to the storage room by the stairs.

You lightly push the door open and make a startling discover. It was not what you expected to see at all, or rather it wasn't WHO you expected to find. Wasn't she with Budo right now?? That's what you had assumed.

Oka is in the room, but she isn't alone. Another girl is there, you also recognize the girl, it is Sakyu.

"My, aren't you really into it today." Sakyu says as she touches Oka's head. "You really should just forget about Budo, he doesn't treat you well enough, clearly. I mean that is why you are here with me."

You back away from the door after hearing that. And decide not to pry any further, but what you saw just now was surprising to say the least.

>>19010
My, my, isn't that interesting? I'll just leave quietly and finish what I came here to do, going to the Martial Arts Club Room.

>>19010

Miyako waited for a moment, leaning against a wall as they waited. Eventually she said, "Are they doing some kind of construction that I haven't heard about? I thought it sounded like it outside. Hope it doesn't mess up tonight..."

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~

You make a retreat and head to the Marital Arts Club room. They are mostly setting up, and talking. It seems they can't start officially unless Budo is there.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

Midori seems to not hear you at first, but she snaps to attention. "Construction?" She looks confused. "Oh right!" She then smiles innocently. "Yep, so we can't use the side entrance. I completely forgot about that, that's why I turned around."

She looks at her phone. "Karma is taking a long time, I wonder if we should go get him. Since the construction wouldn't want him to try and leave out the side door." She mutters. She seems to be debating on what she wants to do. She doesn't seem so cheerful anymore.

>>19014
Get the attention of the nearest member of the martial arts club.

"Yo, I'm the new guy, Karma. Can you deliver a message to Budo for me when he gets here? See, I really wanted to watch you guys practice, but something came up and I'm gonna have to take a rain check."

Once they confirm they will deliver the message, I'll take the side exit out of the building and walk around the school to the front entrance.

>>19014

"Oh maybe, but maybe he's just trying to not disturb them too much. I think we should give him another minute or two before seeing if he got lost. I'm just worried that we'd end up going co-orbital and missing each other again and again. He knows where we are, after all."

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

Midori frowns but nods, "I guess that is best."

Midori lets out a sigh as she stares at her phone again. "Look at how good we all used to be..." She shows Miyako her phone, on it is a picture of the group. They are all laughing and smiling, all 8 of them are in the photo.

She takes her phone back, and just gazes down at the photo. "But now we aren't."

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~~

The Martial arts club members say they will give the message to Budo when they see him next time. Maybe he isn't coming to the club today.

After bidding the Martial Arts club goodbye you head back downstairs, you can't hear Oka and Sakyu anymore, so it seems they have left.

Going to the door, you don't hear that noise anymore. You push the door opened and see someone as soon as your leave the building. They are leaning up against the wall of the school building. They look to be pretty badly hurt, and are trying to endure the pain. It looks pretty bad.

You consider going to get the nurse, but you decide to go over and help them first.

You recognize who it is, it is Haruto. You rush over to him.

"Oowww, don't touch me." He groans when you try to help him up. He brushes off your help "That hurts."

He looks down at the ground. "You should really just leave me here, get out of here while you can. I'd rather not drag someone unrelated into this."

>>19017
Scan my surroundings. If my hunch is correct, the assailant is still nearby. Gotta keep my guard up, lest I get hurt too.

"No can do, Baker. I have a bad habit of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong."

If nobody else is around I'm gonna shout and try to draw attention to us, see if I can't call some more people over.

>>19017

Miyako takes the phone and looks at it, sadly. "What happened?"

~~~~~~~ Midori ~~~~~~~

She looks like she is about to cry. "I really don't know. One day we were all on good terms and then the next it seemed like everything was different. I wish I knew what happened."

"Tonight, I really hope, things work out. If they do, this night will be one we'll never forget." She smiles and takes back her phone. "Yeah, tonight is going to be special."

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~

Despite Haruto's protests, you stick your nose in anyway.

After a little while of shouting, someone hears and comes out of the school building. It's Budo. His eyes go wide when he sees the two of you.

"What happened?!" He shouts as he rushes over. "Haruto are you okay!" He starts looking over Haruto's body, checking all his muscles and bones.

Haruto lets out a shout of pain when Budo pushes on his left arm. "It could be broken."

"I'm fine! Just leave me. I don't want to get either of you involved."

Budo shakes his head. "Help me, will you." He asks You for assistance and together the two of you help him get up. "Thanks, I'll take him to the nurse's office." Budo says as he lets Haruto use his body as a support.

"I'm fine you idiots. Stop helping, you'll just get involved...." He gives a quick glance at Karma. "I don't want you helping me."

Budo then starts to walk inside with Haruto. "Thanks for making sure Haruto is okay." He says with a smile at Karma before they disappear inside.

>>19020
It's best to make sure they make it to the nurse's office safely. Plus I need to ask Haruto what happened.

"Hey, wait up!" I shout after them. "What happened? It looks like someone attacked you. Who was it? Where did they go?"

I follow after them.

>>19020

"Any time with friends is special. Even if they don't remember they're friends. Constellations don't change."

She looked around again and sighed. "Alright...maybe we should go look for him..."

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

Midori smiles a little. "Thanks." She puts her phone away. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~


"Hey, wait up!" Karma shout after them. "What happened? It looks like someone attacked you. Who was it? Where did they go?"

Midori doesn't look surprised or react at all when seeing Haruto.

"It is nothing, I told you. It doesn't involve you. They are no-one, and they are still around, I'm sure. Just stop helping me, all of you."

>>19023
Budo was surprised at what happened to Haruto. Midori was not.

The thuds were probably whoever did this to Haruto. Midori avoided this exit.

"Hey Miyako and Midori. Looks like Haruto got in a fight and lost. Whoever did this was gone by the time I arrived."

I pause for a moment.

"Well, we should follow them to the nurse's office. Best to make sure he is going to be alright."

I will follow Budo and Haruto to the nurse's office

>>19023

Rather than assist Haruto, Miyako hesitated, then stayed back, apparently in respect for his wishes. "I hope that you recover soon, Haruto," is all she said.

After a few moments, she headed off back down the hall, in the direction they had come from. She seemed to be muttering inaudibly to herself, as she made for the side door.

~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

Midori nods and follows you, and you both go with Budo and Haruto to the nurse's office.

The nurse has Budo put Haruto on one of the beds and then begins to examine him.

You notice Midori go over to Budo and whisper something to him. "We'll be right back." Budo tells you before he and Midori leave the nurse's office, with serious looks on their faces.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~~

You reach the side door, from the window you can see a large pond in the distance as well as the gardening clubs space, it is really noticeable with the large shed, greenhouse and flower field. You also notice that there is no construction is sight.

>>19026
Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong. I should follow them to see what they're up to, but I really can't afford to let myself get caught snooping. It would kill any chances of getting them to like or trust me.

I guess I'll sit here and chill, waiting for their return.

>>19026

Miyako exited the door, looking around the nearby area for signs of where Haruto may have been injured.

"Gotta find the meteorite, gotta find the meteorite..." she repeated to herself over and over as she searched for any indication of how Haruto could have gotten so badly injured.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~

You look all around the area, but most of what you find is unhelpful in your investigation. You find some what appear to be dents in the school's wall. This is probably where Haruto was attacked, but there isn't anything that would pinpoint what happened.

~~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

You wait for a while, but the two don't return. The nurse finishes her examination and after having Haruto stay in the bed for a moment she comes over to you.

The bootylicious nurse sits in the chair in front of you. She is holding a clip board filled with notes.

"So did you see who did this?"

>>19033
"No, it appears the assailant had already fled by the time I arrived. Has this happened before? Surely it isn't a common occurrence."

I pause briefly before continuing.

"Based on Haruto's and Midori's reactions, it sounds like this wasn't very much of a surprise. Is there anything a new student such as myself should know and/or watch out for?"

>>19033

"So many craters, yet no meteorite... Is it Tunguska in miniature?" She traced the edges of the dents, then bit her thumb in thought.

After a moment, a thought seemed to strike her. "Or is the single spot of light in the silent night a binary star system? Could it be? Oh, that would be an amazing and terrifying sight to behold..."

She kept looking for a minute or two longer, on the hopes of getting any more information.

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~

Your in-depth examination has netted you some new information. You notice some blood on the ground near the wall. There isn't much, but it exists nonetheless, you assume it is Haruto's since he did have some cuts on him.

~~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~

The nurse doesn't really pay your questions much attention. "So you don't know who did this... I see." She writes something down on the clipboard. "You do realize this is a serious matter correct? I'm going to ask you to stick around for the police questioning."

"Police questioning!?" Haruto cries out from the bed. "Why?!"

"Because this is serious. This is more than just a simple school brawl. You have multiple broken bones, and some cuts as well. It seems your attacker used a knife at some point, or some other sharp weapon." She walks over to the phone. "Haruto are you sure you didn't see who attacked you?"

You swear you saw Haruto smirk for a moment. "No, I didn't." Or maybe you just imagined it. Since why would he been smirking at a time like this.

>>19036
"Police questioning? What a bother. I didn't see anything at all."

I go and whisper to Haruto. "Say, who are you covering for and why? If you'd prefer not to say, just tell me it's personal and that you're covering for someone and I'll drop the subject."

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~

"I'm not covering for anyone." Haruto answers, however there is a strange emotion coming from Haruto's tone, is seems almost happy.

>>19038
"M, huh? Weird. Suit yourself."

Looks like I'm stuck waiting for a police investigation.

>>19036

After that time, she looked to the shed and narrowed her eyes, but then shook her head. Opening the side door once more, she wandered back inside, walking back in the direction of the intersection where Midori and her had first seen Haruto and Karma.

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

The nurse is about to call the police, but Haruto speaks up. "I refuse to press any charges. If you have them talk to me, I'll just lie my ass off and say I injured myself."

The nurse is put-off. "But, you're so hurt. This, I can't just let it go."

"I just fell down the stairs, I was holding a box cutter at the time." Haruto tells her. "There is no 'attacker'"

He gets up from the bed. "So there is no crime. I'm going to leave now."

The nurse tells him she needs to sling his arm at least, and he agrees to let her do that much.

The door opens and Midori and Budo come back inside, along with Oka. They all look happy now.

"Karma..., we are all going to go out and celebrate, Budo's scholarships. If you want... you can come with.." Oka says to you.

"Count me in." Haruto says with a bright smile.

"Oka I'll text the others." Midori says as she pulls out her phone. "Let's see there is," she starts counting people on her finger. "Oh, can't forget about Miyako. I know! After the party we can start the event!"

"Let's all meet by the main entrance then, I'll catch up once the nurse is done with me."

The others leave, making it so you, the nurse and Haruto are in the room.

The nurse lets out a sigh. "I see, so you're really not going to press any charges."

A very devilish smirk rises to Haruto's face. "That's right."

~~~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~~

Just as you are about to head inside the building, you hear a strange chime. It is a popular song that is going around. It seems to be coming from, the roof? Is someone up there?

>>19041
"Fell down the stairs.... holding a box cutter..... outside, away from the stairs........

Eh, whatever you say, bud."

Guess I'll wait until Haruto's arm is in a sling and escort him to the front entrance.

>>19041

Miyako looked up towards the roof, puzzled. Her eyes squinted a little in thought, and then she headed inside. Instead of going the way she had planned, she decided to take a short detour. Walking slowly and casually, she wandered to a point where she might be able to observe the staircase that led down from the roof.

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~

You and Haruto head to the main entrance. Haruto doesn't say a word the whole trip.

You arrive at the entrance to see everyone except, Miyako (of course), Midori and Sota.

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~~

You wait by the stairs, you don't want to wait long, as you soon see Sota coming down the stairs. When he notices you, he quickly puts away what he is holding in his pocket, you don't get a good look at it unfortunately.

>>19044
"Ah, I guess we're just waiting on a few stragglers?"

Time to wait until the rest of them arrive.

>>19045

"Oh hey Sota!" she said. "I would have figured you'd be at Cooking Club. Is it upstairs and I've just never known? Oh and have you seen Karma anywhere lately? I was trying to find him earlier..."

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

"Yeah, Midori should be out looking for Miyako, Sota however should be here soon. He didn't appear to be going to his club today." Ryusei answers.

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

Sota smiles at you. "No, I was actually up on the roof just looking up at the clouds. The roof is such a nice place to be. It is good for quiet thinking."

"No, I'm sorry I haven't seen him. He hasn't shown up at the roof at least. I've been there since class ended."

"Miyako! Sota!" Mirdori's voice calls out, you see her at the end of the hallway waving and calling out to you.

Sota makes a quick exit over to her. You catch a glimpse at what he had shoved in his pocket this time, it appears to be a camera.

"I'm so glad, I found both of you." She shouts out excitedly. "We are going to celebrate, Budo got his scholarship today! Everyone is waiting by the main entrance, let's go, I've already made the reservations!"

>>19047

"Scholarships? That's wonderful! ...wait, scholarships for what? Martial arts? And reservations for where?" she finished, with a sinking feeling in her wallet.

Still, no matter what the answers were, these were her new friends, so she would go along whereever.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~

Midori nods "Yep, this one really good college was impressed by Budo's dedication and his grades, as well as excellent behavior. He is going to go to a really good college, and it will all be paid for."

~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~

The group meets up with those at the main entrance, and then heads out of the school.

The cafe they go to is a decently fancy place, a kind of place teenagers don't normally frequent.

Haruto whistles, "Wow, this place is fancy."

"Certainly a step-up from Wacdonald's." Ryusei says with a laugh. "So how are we going to pay for this?"

Sakyu laughs and pokes Budo, "Budo's paying for it all, so order the most expensive things."

"What? Why am I paying!? This is my celebration party."

"Because you have the money now of course. don't you feel bad for us, who are not blessed with scholarships." Sakyu teased, sill poking him.

"Yeah, you should treat us." Haruto adds with a smirk.

"I don't feel bad enough to tread you guys to an expensive meal." He lets out a sigh though. "But I'll pay the brunt of it. Happy?"

Sakyu frowns, "Oh well, I'll take what I can get from you."

The waitress leads all of you over to a big table, one large enough for 12 people or so, 11 places have been set, with 11 chairs.

"Midori, you ditz, you made the reservation too large." Ryusei laughs.

Midori frowns and starts counting on her fingers again, "But I was sure, I counted everyone, and didn't mess up." She is counting all the people again using her fingers.

"Foolish," Kuu says looking up from the menu. She seems to be focusing intently on the menu immensely.

Sakyu holds Midori tightly interrupting her counting, "Don't worry about it, we love you for who you are, ditz and all."

Everyone sits down and orders their food. Chat fills the table as you are all waiting. But every now and again all 8 of the friends take glances at the last, empty, plate and the 11th seat.

Last edited at 16/02/20(Sat)10:51:08

>>19074
"Well now, who am I to pass up an opportunity to eat free food? Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about accidentally reserving for too many people, mistakes happen."

Hopefully I didn't accidentally just say something I shouldn't have. I'll try to read the mood, and I'll stay silent if I've made a faux pas.

~~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~

"Y...yeah...." Midori frowns as she speaks. "But... I thought for sure, I invited the correct number."

"Y-you must have made a mistake." Oka stutters.

"Yeah, you just clicked an extra number, since you did it online." Ryusei chimes in.

"Yep, that's all it was." Haruto adds on.

"Is this a joke?" Budo growls. "Did you guys think this would be funny?" He glares at everyone at the table. It is furious and full of hate.

"No...no... honest. I don't know what happened. I didn't mean anything. I didn't mean to invite the wrong number." Midori stammers.

Haruto's face also turns dark. "Hey, chill Budo. It was an accident. We are all surprised by it."

"Shut up! You better be quiet if you know what's good for you." Budo snaps back at Haruto.

"I wouldn't act like such a big dog if I were you, not anymore." He responds with a smirk. "Because it won't work on me anymore."

"What was that."

"You heard me, your fangs are gone." Haruto continues to smirk, despite Budo grabbing him.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Midori shrieks, trying to calm the situation. "Stop fighting!" She starts to break down and cry. "I just wanted everyone to get along again.... I thought having a party would make that happen... I just wanted-"

"Well it isn't going to happen!" Budo shuts her up instantly. He points at everyone at the table. "And you know why. You all know why."

Ryusei is the next to speak, "Yeah... Midori things will never be the same, because they can't be anymore."

"We... aren't friends anymore Midori." Sakyu gives her a cold statement. "I know it hurts you to hear it, but we aren't."

Budo lets out a sigh, finally cooling his temper. "This party is over." He gets up and leaves, after dropping some money on the table.

Everyone else is kind of powerless to stop him, nor do they want to. The happy atmosphere that was around doesn't exist anymore, and everyone is looking down not sure what to say anymore.

Last edited at 16/02/20(Sat)16:11:38

>>19078
Time to get up and follow Budo. See if I can catch him outside before he's gone.

"Yo, it isn't my place to say, but maybe it's a bit overboard to walk out of a celebration being thrown in your honor. I'm just looking in from an outsider's perspective, but I see someone throwing away one of their last opportunities to spend time with friends before college. Surely you'll regret wasting all this precious time and opportunity 10 years from now."

>>19078

"...um...I might be saying the very wrong thing...but he said we all know why. I...I don't know why..."

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

Budo is staring up at the evening sky as he leans against the wall of the building, it is already almost sunset. He doesn't look at you, but responds to your statement.

"That would only be the case if I really cared to see them again. Quite frankly, I don't. I can't wait to get out of this hellhole of a school, and then forget, everything that happened. I can't wait to get away from those murderers."

He clenches his fist and a look of rage appears on his face.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~

Everyone seems a little put-off by your question. Then don't seem to want to even answer it.

However Midori finally stops crying, and calms herself, and answers you. "We used to be a group of 9. But... but... one day, suddenly we became 8." She starts crying again.

>>19081
"Murderers? Who, those people we left inside? You mean, you lost a dear friend to the actions of one or more of them?"

*sigh*

"Being a new student, it's kind of important for me to know if there are people I should be wary of. Wait... don't tell me this is related to Haruto's injuries."

>>19081

Miyako mutters to herself, "Eris again," before speaking loudly enough to be heard. "I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you all this upset. Especially you, Midori. I just...wanted to know what happened..."

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~

Budo shakes his head, "I don't think they're dangerous to someone like you. You don't need to worry about it."

He clenches his fist. "One of them has a sick sense of humor. I'll tell you straight out, that it was no accident that we got an extra place. One of them set it up, to mess with me... and it worked."

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

Haruto answers your question, "There used to be 9 of us, but stuff happened and suddenly one day the 9th member of our group, committed suicide. She drowned herself in the pond on the school grounds."

>>19085
"Bullying, huh? Such a shame. Why not take it up with the person responsible for setting you off? Why hold it against everyone? Don't tell me you don't have a clue as to who it was...."

>>19085

"Oh..." she said, obviously saddened. Then her forehead scrunched up in thought. "Wait, though... If it was in the school pond, could it have been an accident?"

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

Budo doesn't answer and instead looks away.


~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

"Her shoes were found next to the pond." Kuu speaks up. "So very unlikely."

>>19089

"I...suppose so..." She succumbed to the uncomfortable silence.

>>19089
"Right, my mistake. If you had known for certain you would have directed your anger properly. Hey, you don't think that event and the one from today where Haruto got injured are related do you?"

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~~

A long silence fills the table. After a while Kuu speaks. "So who was it? Who arranged the 11th spot to mess with Budo?"

"I didn't do it! I only made reservations for 10!" Midori shouts getting defensive. "I wouldn't have done that to Budo."

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~~~

Budo frowns and looks up at the sky. "No, I don't think so."

>>19092
"So what now? Are you still coming to the event tonight? Or are you going straight home?"

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

"I had nothing to do with it." Sakyu speaks.

"It wasn't me... I wouldn't..." Oka says.

"...." Sota remains quiet. "I didn't do it."

"Well, I didn't, I don't have that kind of grudge." Ryusei tells everyone. "Midori was the one who made the reservation."

"I didn't do it!" Midori shouts. "I swear."

"Well, what about you Haruto." Ryusei says looking over at said person.

All eyes stare at Haruto.

"Don't look at me, I didn't do it, I was in the nurse's office." Haruto defends himself. "Speaking of that." He looks over at Sota and motions for him to get up.

"Oh... right..." Sota says as he stands and leaves with Haruto.

"We'll be right back." Haruto tells them.

~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

"I'm going." He answers without hesitation.

You both hear the door open and turn and see Haruto and Sota come outside.

"Budo, we want to talk to you." Haruto says while wearing a cocky smile.

"Then talk already."

A scowl appears on his face. "In private." He snaps.

Budo, Haruto, and Sota head off into the alley next to the restaurant. As they pass-by you hear Sota whisper to Haruto.

"Isn't this like kicking him while he is down?"

"He deserves all he gets."

>>19094
"Hey now, I feel rather left out. You team up to pick on someone and you won't even invite the new kid along?"

I move in closer to state Haruto straight in the eyes.

"Besides, you wouldn't want me bringing everyone else out here to watch you."

~~~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~~

Haruto's face twists, but not in displeasure, but of pure excitement, like he just found a new game to play.

"Alright. I think that is a grand idea actually." Haruto laughs. "Don't you Budo?"

Budo frowns and crosses his arms. "What are you up to?"

Haruto tells Sota to go and get everyone. "You'll see. In a moment. You are about to go to top of the chain to outcast in a second. Enjoy your final moment on top. You can go drown yourself like your ex while we are at it."

Budo growls at Haruto and takes a glance at you, but doesn't make a move.

~~~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~~

Everyone is gathered outside of the restaurant. Everyone except for Haruto and Sota have no idea what is going on, or what is about to happen.

Haruto uses his hand not in the sling to take out his phone. "You remember that scholarship, you just got."

"What are you going on about, just get to the point!" Budo is starting to lose his temper.

Haruto smirks enjoying watching Budo squirm. "Well... 3.... 2..... 1...." He presses a button on the phone. "Kiss it goodbye."

Sota stares at Haruto surprised. "You said you weren't going to send it. You were just going to hold it over him."

"I lied." He laughs still focusing on Budo. "Haven't figured it out yet? Well let me spell it out for you. That scholarship part of the reason you got it was for your excellent behavior. Well, that's because you are good at pretending. But, what if they see the 'real you.'"

Budo still looks confused, and surprisingly it is Midori that speaks up. "This is about THAT, isn't it."

The rest of the group doesn't understand what is going on, and they share words of confusion.

"Haruto, just get it over with. Stop the taunting already." Budo growls.

"Fine, fine." He laughs. "Let me share with everyone who isn't in the know about the 'true you.' Earlier today, no let me rephrase that every few days or so, since our last club gathering. Our 'kind and model student Budo' has been beating up his follow classmate after school. That classmate being someone who he used to claim to be friends with. In short, me."

Everyone lets out gasps of surprise and the area is filled with whispers.

"But little Budo here, didn't expect me to fight back, did you. Well why would you, I always let you do whatever and vouched for you, like today for example when Karma showed up. Nice trick by the way, pretending to be someone who showed by because of Karma's shouts. But, today was the last time, today the day we all knew you were going to get your scholarship response. Would be the day, I'd finally get my revenge. The day I'd finally ruin your life completely. I had Sota stay on the roof and snap pictures of the whole thing, we also have a video file as well. And now, both the college and the whole world knows just what kind of person you are. It is all over the internet and sent personally to the college, as well as our own headmaster, we even put the video on the front page of the school website!"

Last edited at 16/02/24(Wed)21:50:21

>>19096
I'm gonna watch Budo to gauge his reaction.

>>19096

Miyako remained silent, stepping to the back slightly and somewhat trying to hide her actions from the main people taking part in the confrontation. She pulled out her phone and quickly logged into the school homepage, to try to find and play the video, while muted.

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~

Budo looks like a deer caught in headlights. He is just standing there is shock. "You... you did what?" He says in a quiet tone.

Haruto turns and glances at everyone. "Well, what do you think about Budo now? He isn't such an upstanding guy now is he? And now everyone knows."

Everyone seems at a loss for words and most of them look away from the scene.

"That.. this matter was between you and me." Budo continues to speak in a dismayed tone.

"What did you think I'd never fight back? That I was just going to let you mess with me for the rest of my life."

"Haruto... I think this might have gone too far." Sota is the one who speaks, he isn't looking at either of them though.

"I've been planning this from the beginning. I had no intention of letting you get away with it."

Budo growls, "You talk about my true colors, what about yours! You are a backstabber and never were you my friend, you made that really clear to me 2 months ago."

Budo's eyes glance over at each of the others. "Believe what you want to believe, but I didn't harass Haruto because I wanted to. He is twisting things around to suit his purpose. I never did see how much of a devil is disguise you were before. And even after it happened, I somehow still felt I might have been mistaken. How naive I was again."

"Oh boo hoo, your life is so unfair." Haruto mocks.

Budo smirks. "Ruin me all you want, because I'll always have the last laugh, and you know it. So enjoy it while you can."

"I'll see you all back at school, I'm going to head over now." Budo says to everyone else before turning and heading off.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~

You take out your phone and get on the school's website and start the video.

It shows Budo punching, kicking, and even cutting Haruto with a knife. It is somewhat brutal, however something is off about it. Rather than 1 whole clip, it seems to be a combination of a bunch of tiny clips cut together, the gaps are somewhat noticeable as well, for some of them seem to have cut out a decent chunk of time.

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

An awkward silence fills the area, as it seems no one is quite sure how to react to all that just got revealed and happened.

Sota stares hard at Haruto, "That is was too far. I didn't sign up for this."

"Quite lying, you wanted this too." Haruto snaps back.

Silence once again fills the area until Midori speaks up, "I think we should head back to school."

Ryusei nods and gets everyone's attention, "The faster we get this activity over with, the faster we won't have to deal with each other."

No one seems to object and everyone heads back to school.

It is already dark out by the time everyone makes it back to school.

"I left a window open in one of the first floor classrooms." Oka tells everyone and everyone uses it to enter.

The classroom doesn't feel so inviting anymore in the darkness. It feels eerie and strange.

Midori looks around the room and then speaks in confusion, "Where is Budo?"

Haruto rolls his eyes, "Probably crying somewhere."

"I'm sure he is around here somewhere." Oka says and suggests heading to the meeting point. "He is probably waiting there."

As the last member finishes entering the classroom, the window slams shut.

As Karma and Miyako leave the classroom they turn around and glance back for some reason as if they were being controlled to look back.

The window is now locked. The last way to get inside the school, is now gone. The school is a closed circle you could say.

The air feels heavy all of a sudden, and a sense of dread assaults them. No longer does this feel like the same school. It feels like it has been cut off from reality, and is on another plane.

~~~~~

Everyone is standing stock still in the hallway. The only one moving is Miyako and Karma.

~~~~~ Both ~~~~~

Both Karma and Miyako aren't sure what to do, no matter what they say or do, everyone else seems completely frozen.

But just as they are about to give up hope they hear the sound of someone's shoes clicking on the floor.

They turn around to see someone they don't know, or have ever seen making a grand entrance down the hallway. She is in a very extravagant outfit, just who is she?

"Greetings! Welcome to my game." She speaks with an eerie level of excitement. "You are no longer in the world you know. You stepped foot into my little world. You've unknowingly shifted worlds, isn't that impressive. I'm the ruler of this world, so I felt I should welcome you. I have been called many things, but the identity I seem to be called around these parts is The Black Witch Rosa.

She smiles and laughs. "And honestly, I'm so glad you are here, it makes things so much more fun. It gets lonely and boring being the only one here."

"Let's play a game shall we. Not that you have much choice in the matter though."

"So let me set up the game by laying out the rules. Everything spoken in red is the truth. The only person who can speak in red in this world without exception is me. However you both can also use the red, but it is a little more tricky for you. You must first present evidence for your red, or a backing, speak what your claim in blue. I will then see if it can be elevated to red. Once it has been proclaimed red, it can't be disputed, by anyone."

She smirks at the two of you. "Being a higher being I can see the end result of this world, and it isn't pretty. So let's say the challenge of the game I'm asking of you, is to alter that end result. Use your own abilities as well as the blue and red to help you achieve that result."

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

The black witch smiles at the both of you after looking over at all the frozen people. "But it wouldn't be a game if I didn't give you a fighting chance. So using my powers over this world, I will reveal to you how much all these people trust each other."

An image appears in your minds. This is how much they trust each other? But, how can this be. But the Black Witch has no reason to deceive you right? She did say this was to help you, and it wouldn't be a game if you didn't have a fighting chance.

"Now? Do you have anything you would like to ask me, before I resume the flow of time in this world? We may not meet all that often, so if you have anything you want to see, it would be a good idea to do so now."

>>19108

Miyako listened to the Witch quietly, walking around and observing her frozen classmates. She paused as the image formed in her mind, then paced, muttering to herself as the Witch wrapped up talking. As she did so, Miyako's mutterings started to become audible.

"...similar in theory to an event horizon. The edge of infinity. Hallucination? Shared, implausible. Self perceiving as shared? Probable, but that would leave no options. Best to assume sanity for now. Sentient miniature black hole is the best theory. Lines up well with the name, too. There are more things in Heaven and Earth, indeed..."

Then something else the Witch said seemed to make it through Miyako's skull. "Does not end well? Like, death? Paper, I need paper..." She ran into the classroom they had just left and snatched up some paper and a pen. Sitting down at a desk, she began to doodle something, all the while talking to herself.

"9 stable bodies in orbit. Solar system? Sure, for simplicity at the moment. Adjust the model later. Then one body is destroyed. Gravitational pull? Impact? Instability of the core? Unknown, more data needed. Pieces fly off. Velocity and gravity in constant battle. Largest pieces strike these two bodies, altering trajectories, increasing gravity wells... Orbits destabilize. Each requires the pull of other bodies to remain in viable orbit. Massive destabilization as orbits shift. New focal points. Might be viable, but there's wobble that shouldn't be there. There are more bodies in play than have been measured..."

She paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Too many variables. Composition of the 9th body. Manner of its destruction. Comparative masses of these two bodies. True orbits of this one and that one. Is it one body orbiting two, or something more chaotic...?"

She scribbled some questions down on the paper and returned to the Witch.

"It can be presumed that the bad result you mention comes from the current tensions. Therefore, is there any way that you could give more information about the 9th person? The girl who died. I'd like to know who she was, what kind of person she was, what she did here, and anything you are willing to give about her death. Was there a police inquiry, what were the results, et cetera?"

>>19107
"So, I'm to be held captive by the being of a higher plane? I'm not quite sure I can even call such a match fair.

Still, let me take one shot at you to make sure I'm using this 'blue' correctly.

Y'see, there's something bothering me about that video taken of Budo and Haruto. The issue I have is that it's not a single clip. The fact that it's broken up almost makes it look more like film than an accurate representation of real life."

That video is not an accurate representation of today. It was either from different days or shows different people. That, or it is scripted and Budo wasn't just bullying Haruto.


Forgive me if I've wielded my blade improperly, you mysterious witch.

~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~

"I suggest if you want the answers to those questions you seek them out yourself, you have the ability to get them yourself do you not? The actors of that have all been gathered, and you are also at the location of the event. The truth certainly be found without relying on my control of the world. So I won't tell you. I will respond to things that might be hard for you to confirm on your own, I'm not handing out freebies for things that you can get on your own. Do some work, can't be lazy now."

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~

"Your blue blade is almost correct. But in the future you include the backing in the blue. The backing/reasoning/evidence needs to be in blue as well 'The issue I have is that it's not a single clip. The fact that it's broken up almost makes it look more like film than an accurate representation of real life.' this would be that part, it should be in blue as well. But, I will still give you your red, for trying. You are correct the video is not an accurate representation of events, it contains not only multiple days, but a lot of jump cuts in order to cut out the points which would harm the goal."

The witch smiles, "Any other questions?"

Last edited at 16/02/28(Sun)16:10:32

>>19112

"No more free draws from the deck, then? I understand."

She thought a bit longer, looking at the paper in her hand. Then she glanced at Karma, and then at the Witch.

"When you release us from this place, will the actions we've done here affect normal reality? Will I still have this paper? Will Karma and I know that we are about to have our lives eclipsed by cosmic forces beyond our control? Or will we have the knowledge stripped from us, left to follow our paths like the constellations, unable to deviate? Are we going to be players in the game, or pieces?"

>>19112
Budo hurting Haruto was consensual. This is backed up by the evidence of it happening over multiple days and that there is missing footage that would hurt the narrative. Who knows why Haruto allowed Budo to hurt him? Maybe he's self loathing, maybe he's a masochist.

~~~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~~~

"Anything that happens to the two of you, connected to you will remain. Time is at a standstill for the both of you, but only you. So something you'd collect would remain in your possession, something you learned would retain in your brain. However you can't influence others. Say if you tried to stab Midori or Oka here, it would not do anything. Trying to slip the paper in their pocket would also not be allowed.

Closing and locking a door would also not happen if the door was already open. Only something in your possession will retain its form, the rest will return to how it was when time froze."

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~

"I think it is plain to see Haruto did not approve nor want to be beaten up by Budo. He wanted revenge that is why he revealed the incident in the first place. What possible sick twisted kind of consent would be that?"

>>19117
Midori Gurin is the innocent. She seems to have an unnaturally high level of trust in everyone. Well, except Ryusei Koki. Perhaps she knows or saw something about Ryusei. Maybe he's the murderer?

Either way, we should probably get to ghost hunting soon.

>>19117

"Excellent," she replied, tucking the paper into her pocket. Turning, she walked back to the window and peered up into the night sky, looking up at the frozen clouds and the light streaming through from the stars beyond. "Atmospheric impurities cause the stars to twinkle. Freeze the air, and they shine purely. So beautiful..."

>>19122

"Do you know why I love astronomy?" she asked no one in particular. "It's not the study of a star, or a planet, or a solar system. It's a study of the entirety of the universe. Everything flying through the vast emptiness of space... People think that space is a place of solitude, but in reality everything is interconnected. Gravity, energy, velocity, all playing a constant tug of war with each other. Right now, that little star out there is tugging me upwards, away from here. They all are, pulling me towards them like they're calling me to come play with them in the sky. And I'm pulling on them, or I will be by the time my minuscule effect on the fabric of space reaches them. We all pull, we all tug. Change any one thing, and the entire universe changes. It may be imperceptible, but it does."

She turned to Karma as she rested her elbows back against the window frame. "Never study a moon without studying the planet, and never study a planet without studying the solar system. Think of the numbers and how they interplay. Trace the paths, see how the actions reflect the data. Or what was it that one detective guy said once? Something about theorizing before one has all the data?"

She stood up, brushed the elbows of her sweater, and walked over to them again.

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

The witch smiles after thinking hard trying to figure out just what was said. "The numbers relating to trust don't necessarily mean what you think they mean, nor do they guarantee a connection to either the innocent or the murderer. High numbers do not guarantee innocent, nor do low numbers guarantee murderer."

The black witch looks down the hallway toward the other end of the school. "I think that is enough chit chat though. I've very busy, I have so much to do. Goodbye."

She walks down the hallway and vanishes into darkness.

~~~~~~

Time resumes and everyone begins moving again, to them time never stopped, but to the both of you it did, so it feels strange.

"We... we should meet up with Budo." Oka tells the group. "The meeting place was the library on the 2nd floor."

The group begins to head onward, but as you are about to leave, you both hear a noise coming from down the hallway the witch vanished in.

Last edited at 16/02/28(Sun)18:13:25

>>19130
"Hey, uhhh..... did anybody else hear that strange sound from down the hall over there?"

>>19130

"Oh, it's probably just things cooling down and popping now that it's night. Haven't you been in a school after dark before, Karma?" asked Miyako, cheerily. "Still, my locker is kind of in that direction, and I'd like to grab a few things from it that I forgot in all the excitement this afternoon. Is it alright if I catch up with you guys at the library? You can come with me Karma, if you want to be sure it's nothing spooky that you heard." She giggled.

>>19134
"It ain't the dead I'm scared of, it's the living. Still, moving in groups is safer than being stuck alone. Who knows what could happen with tensions running high over someone who can break desks with his bare hands."

~~~~~ Both ~~~~~

The group doesn't know what sound you both are talking about, and are slightly hesitant to leave you both, but after agreeing to meet you at the meeting place, they leave and you both head to the lockers by the main entrance.

Miyako goes over to her locker, opens it and takes what is inside.

>>19139
I still want to investigate that noise.

>>19139

Miyako glanced at the papers and pens she had gathered, nodded, and stuffed them into her bag.

"Alright," she said, throwing it over her shoulder. "Shall we go see what that noise was? It might really just be a random noise, though."

~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

Following where the noise had come from, you come to the other side of the school. The noise had to come from around here.

You don't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary in the hallway. The rooms are all the faculty and maintenance style rooms. The headmasters office, guidance councilor's office, nurse's office, janitor's room, teacher's office, bathrooms, power room, boiler room.

>>19148
Maybe we should just head back to the meet up spot....

>>19148

"Probably...yeah..." she said, letting her eyes linger on the nurse's office, power room, and boiler room, before she shook her head. "Things go pop sometimes." She headed back in the direction of the library with Karma.

~~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~~

As you gaze at the doors, you notice something off about the door to the power room. You can't tell what it is though in the darkness. But you just get that feeling, even though there is no noticeable difference about it compared to the other doors.

You shrug it off as being your imagination though.

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

You both enter the library. All eyes turn and look at you. You count 6 of the club members, huh where are the others?

Budo and Midori are missing from the group.

>>19164

Miyako took her bag off of her shoulder and set it on a table near her. "We got my stuff!" Looking around at the room, she noted the absences. "Still no Budo? I imagine Midori's looking for him?"

~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~

The room mostly looks normal, though in the center of the library a tarp with a creepy symbol has been placed with candles all around it, though with the lights on the candles don't do much.

"Yeah, Midori decided to try and look for him." Sakyu replies.

The group waits around for a while, but still neither of the two show up.

"This is getting silly, I'll find them." Ryusei announces before leaving the room.

"I hope nothing happened to them." Sota says quietly.

"Knowing my luck, nothing probably did." Haruto scoffs.

"I...I'm sure it is nothing." Oka adds in. "They'll be back soon."

After a few minutes, Ryusei and Budo make their entrance.

"Where's Midori?" Sota asks the question on everyone's mind.

Ryusei shrugs "I found one, that should be good enough."

"Where.. where were you Budo? You went on ahead of us." Oka questions.

"I took a detour, what does it matter." Budo snaps at her.

"Just like you to bit people's heads off." Haruto snarls. "For no good reason."

"You be quiet."

"And if I don't want too?"

"Alright you boys, knock it off." Sakyu steps in between them to prevent a fight."

"Please don't fight." Midori is standing in the doorway to the library. It seems she just came back.

"Ah, perfect timing." Sakyu grabs Midori's hand and pulls her over. "Now we can start right?"

Oka glances at her phone. "Ah, it will have to wait a moment, I need to use the restroom." Oka heads out of the library to the restroom next door.

~~~~~ Both ~~~~~

Everyone waits patently for Oka to return, and when she does she gathers everyone on the eerie magic symbol.

"We are now going to call out to the spirits beyond. We are going to attempt to bring them into our world."

Ryusei rolls his eyes "Yeah, sure we are."

"Zip it, why don't you enjoy something for once. Stop being so cynical." Sakyu hushes him up quickly.

Everyone follows Oka's instructions and stands in a circle holding hands and closing their eyes.

The area is silent for what seems to be several minutes as nothing happens and no one says anything.

"What is going on?" Midori asks, confused as to why they are just standing their doing nothing.

"I'm waiting for the spiritual power to be at its fullest." Oka explains. She waits a little longer, before she begins to chat and call out for spirits to appear."

She urges everyone to join in, despite how reluctant most of them are. But everyone begins to chat and call out to the ghosts.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

A ghastly scream fills the library. The windows fly open and gusts of wind pour through the room.

Everyone's eyes fly open to see what is going on, but they are surprised to find out that no matter if they have them open or closed what they see is the same. The library is pitch black.

"What is going on!?" Midori's voice cries out.

"The power must have gone out." Budo answers.

"It is the ghosts, they are here. The spirits have come." Oka laughs. "Wonderful."

"Don't be stupid!" Ryusei shouts. "Ghosts don't exist!"

"AHHHHH!!!!!!!"

The scream fills the library again.

"Then what do you call that?" Midori shrieks.

"AH! Stop! No! Help!"

Someone in the darkness is screaming and crying out for help, but with all the other noise it is hard to make out who.

The door flies open and slams hard against the wall.

"What!? What is going on?!" Midori screams. "Something cold grabbed me."

"Save me! Help me!"

"Oka?!" Budo cries out.

"Hold on." Ryusei pulls out his phone and opens it, and quickly uses it as a light.

Everyone stops, completely stunned. The flight scans the room, and it catches something, Oka being dragged out of the library.

"Oka!" Budo shouts, running after, however he is suddenly forced to stop as the door slams shut. "What the hell!?" He tries to open the door, but it doesn't move. "It's locked?! Why now?"

"It must have been the ghosts..." Sota says as his shakes.

"Ghosts don't exist dummy."

"Be quiet both of you!" Budo shouts, as he slams his shoulder against the door. "Help me!" He orders to everyone.

>>19213
"Everyone stop! Calm down, I'm going to take a head count. If it really was the work of the supernatural, everyone except Oka will still be in here. If someone else is missing, I think I can safely say that person dragged Oka away."

I will recount the names of everyone in order to check that they are all here.

This includes Budo, Haruto, Ryusei, Sota, Midori, Sakyu, Kuu Dere, Oka (who we know is missing), Miyako, and myself.

>>19213

Miyako looked to Karma with disbelief. "Stop? Not on your life! Count fast!"

She looked to Budo. "Budo! Breathe. Focus the strike, use your skills! Hand, foot, whatever. Maybe go for the door handle if it would be easier to break than the door! Does anyone know where a book cart is?"

~~~~~~~ Both ~~~~~~~

"Like, hell!" Budo shouts back at Karma as he continues slamming against the door.

"Let me help." Ryusei joins in and they continue to ram the door.

Karma quickly does his head count using the small amount of light from his phone, he see, Kuu, Midori, Sota, Haruto, Miyako, Sakyu, Budo, and Ryusei, everyone else is still inside the library.

Budo stops, finally calming done and regaining some of his sanity at Miyako's words.

"Step back for a moment Ryusei." Budo tells him, and the other obeys. He focuses himself and then unleashes a powerful kick on the door.

After a few Budo-kicks the door breaks open.

"Come on!" Budo shouts running off into the darkness.

"Right!" Ryusei follows right behind him. "You take that side Budo, I'll take this side."

They spit up each going down a separate part of the hallway.

The others inside are about to rush out when Midori stops them. "No... I think we should wait for them to come back. Budo and Ryusei should be able to handle whoever it is. They'll save Oka, but if we run after we'll just get in the way.... I think."

Everyone stops and silently agrees with Midori, none of the remaining here can really fight back against someone, with the exception of probably Karma.

"So let's wait." Midori says as she shakes in fear, she seems worried to leave the room.

>>19216
I'm going to run out of the room and follow Ryusei.

>>19216

Miyako looks back to Midori. "Stay here in the dark if you want. Or you all can come with me and see if we can shed a little light on this situation. I saw the power room on the way in. We'll have safety in numbers. Come on!"

Miyako does her best to urge them on, and heads off towards the power room, using her phone as a light source.

~~~ Both ~~~~

Karma rushes out of the room and heads down the way Ryusei went.

~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~

Miyako and the others follow after him shortly, with the intent of heading to the power room.

~~~~ Karma ~~~~~

You can't seem to find Ryusei, despite running just shortly after he left. What happened to him.

And then you stop.

Something in front of you has caused you to stop.

On the wall in front of you, is something strange and unexpected.

~~~~ Both ~~~~~

Miyako and the others reach Karma, and they also stop.

"What... what is.." Sakyu says holding her hand to her chest.

"That is.." Midori shakes and speaks softly.

Written on the wall in large red letters is a ghastly message. 'All traitors will die' it reads, what appears to be a blood splatter is near the bottom of the message. The red liquid is streaking down the wall onto the air conditioner below it.

But that isn't the only thing causing a chill to run down everyone's spines. In the dark the message and the blood would have been un-noticeable, if not for the light source on the ground also coated in blood.

"That's Oka's phone!" Sayku cries out.

Midori screams, and everyone else looks paniced as well.

"What's going on?" Ryusei's voice comes from further up the hallway and he soon appears in the darkness. "What the hell?! This wasn't here before, or... I don't think it was..."

Budo also appears soon after coming from the other direction. "What happened?!" He must have heard the screaming and rushed back.

>>19219

"Staring at this and her phone isn't going to help us find her. Come on, we need to get the lights back on so we can conduct a proper search."

>>19219
I inspect the writing. Is it paint? Is it still wet? It must be brand new.....

~~~~ Both ~~~~

Before either of you can even move and inch, someone shouts out and causes everyone to stop.

"Hold it!" Ryusei shouts out. "Before anyone does anything. I want to make something clear. Since I find this way more important. And we have no time to waste."

"I don't buy the ghosts dragging Oka away either. So, what I'm getting at is one of us is the cause of this. And I intend to drag it out right now. We don't have time to waste going to the power room. One of us knows where Oka is, and I'm going to reveal right now who, and we are going to drag the truth out of them!"

"This is just like chess, and I'm going to corner the most powerful piece the queen, we can then take the king once the queen is out of the way."

Ryusei finally finishes his speech. "There can only be 2 people who could have painted this. And I intend to drag it out of them right now. Those two people are Budo and Midori."

He glares at both parties. "So fess up, which one of you is behind this!"

>>19222

Miyako paused and turned. "Incorrect. At present there are too many options to narrow down who painted this. You are right that Budo could have painted this before he came to the library. It's also true that Midori could have painted it while she claimed to be looking for him. However, myself or Karma could have painted it when we came to my locker. For the record, we didn't, but you only have our word for that. Furthermore, Oka, the leader of the occult club and who has a definite interest in proving to us that spirits exist could have painted it herself while she claimed to be going to the restroom. I could even claim that you did it earlier today, hid it behind some innocuous school poster, and tore the poster away as you ran by. I admit that one is far-fetched, but it proves my point. How about we try to get more observations before crafting theories, or you'll end up in a Fool's Mate, hmm?"

She was ready to head to the power room.

~~~~ Both ~~~~

Ryusei glares at Miyako. "Don't make me out to be a fool, if I couldn't provide more I wouldn't have spoken up."

Ryusei clicks his tongue in annoyance. "This is why I hate stupid people. None of us saw this message when we passed by, this would include both the time we all went to the library and the time I came back with Budo and we came this way. If we would have, we would have told you about it! So neither you nor Karma could have done it. Oka was only gone for a minute when she went to the restroom. There is no way she had time to run all the way here, set this all up and come back! I didn't tear down no poster! If I did, Karma would have heard the ripping!"

"Midori who was the last to pass by this area, is the most likely suspect! She returned after Budo and I did."

Haruto frowns "And Midori was trying to keep us in the library... too..."

Midori shrieks. "I didn't do anything! I wouldn't paint this! Stop saying stuff like that Ryusei!"

>>19224

"I'll accept your reasoning as to why Karma and I couldn't have, mainly because I know it to be true. However, You only have your word that you and Budo would have told us about this. If you had painted it, you would not have. Oka may have been gone for a minute, but there is nothing to indicate how long this would have taken to paint. It could have been painted in a very short timeframe as evidenced by the spot on the corner, indicating either mess or spraypaint. It could even have been painted in the time it took Budo to break down the door.

Further options: Oka let someone else into the school before we got here, who is acting as a macabre stage manager, helping her to pull off these pranks, evidenced by her checking her phone before going to the restroom as if receiving a message, and then waiting for the proper time before chanting. Another one: Oka is pulling this off with the direct aid of Budo, whom she has been spending a lot of time alone together with lately. One step farther: They could have enlisted the aid of a master strategist, such as the head of the Chess Club, to help plan it all out. I'm not saying any of this is fact, and I have no evidence to deny that Midori could have done this. But don't get so blinded by stars that you miss the galaxy. I'm not so ready to go supernova on our friends as you. Now, we can stay here and argue, or we can find Oka. Which would you prefer?"

>>19224
I want to inspect this paint. Is it dry? Is it even paint? Is there anything visible about it?

What sort of brush strokes can I discern? Or is it evenly coated like a spray paint?

~~~~~~ Karma ~~~~~~

You check out the paint on the wall, it appears to be bone dry. The brush strokes are wide and a little uneven, this was probably made with a large paintbrush you conclude. While examining the wall, you also find something else, some sticky residue.

You examine the parts that aren't letters, it does not appear to be paint. It appears to be actual blood, very fresh as well.

~~~~ Miyako ~~~~

Ryusei is off-put for a moment, but then shrugs. "I see, I didn't think about that. I'm sorry, I called you out. You'd make a good opponent in a match."

"You all can go on ahead to the power room, we need to look around for Oka!" Sakyu says she grabs Budo's arm. "Come on Budo!" And pulls him away. "We'll catch up to you as we check around the floors, keep in touch, call us if anything happens!"

The two of them vanish in the darkness. Midori stares down at the floor and walks over to you. "Thank you."

Last edited at 16/03/02(Wed)22:45:52

>>19227
I'm going to search the nearby walls and floor. I'm looking for a blood trail or anything else odd or out of place.

>>19227

Miyako smiled thinly. "No I wouldn't. I'm terrible at chess. Don't even know what a Fool's Mate is, I just know the name. But it's ok, we're all scared. Lashing out is as predictable as a pulsar."

Then she reached out and put a hand on Midori's shoulder. "You're welcome. Come on, you can pay me back by helping me in the power room. Anyone else coming?" she asked, before heading off.

~~~~ Karma ~~~~

Aside from the blood on the air conditioner, and on the floor near the cell phone, there doesn't appear to be any other blood, no trail on the ground or anything. It is like the source of the blood just vanished into thin air.

You don't find anything else that is strange.

~~~~~ Miyako ~~~~~

"I'm going to look around a little, Oka shouldn't have been able to get that far, she has to be around here." Ryusei says as he begins to walk away.

The others decide to go with you.

You are passing by the nurse's office on the first floor almost to the power room, when a buzzing noise echoes.

"What's that sound?" Kuu speaks.

"It appears to be my phone." Sota says talking out his phone.

"Is it Budo or Sakyu, did they find Oka?" Midori asks.

However Sota doesn't respond and his face goes wide and he begins to shake.

"No.... no... it can't be..."

>>19230

Miyako reached out to try to grab his phone. "Put it on speaker! What is it?"

>>19230
I examine the air conditioner closely

~~~~ Miyako ~~~~

But before you can grab Sota's phone he quickly pulls away from you.

"No! No!" He shouts. "Don't read it!"

Haruto quickly snatches his phone with his free hand. "It's a text message. It's from-"

"No! Don't!" Sota shouts trying to snatch his phone back.

"It's from her... Soul-chan.."

"Soul-chan... but how?" Midori lets out the surprise everyone is feeling. "She... she's dead.... It couldn't be her ghost?!"

"It's come from her phone, not her." Haruto corrects.

Sota finally gets his phone back. "It says... 'I know what you did, you traitor.'" He backs up against the wall. "This is all Budo and Oka isn't it. They planned this... to kill us all. I should have thought something was up when, this night at the school got announced."

He shakes his head over and over again. "We are all going to die... they are going to kill us because of our sins... They are going to kill me... They are going to.."

~~~ Karma ~~~

You examine the air conditioner. It is blowing really strong and hard straight up at the wall. Someone seems to have tampered with it, and set it to full blast. It also seems to have been set to turn on at a specific time.. It seems to have been set to go on, just before the power went out.

But since it is still running, it must be on a different circuit or something.

The top of the air conditioner is also stained slightly with fresh blood.

Last edited at 16/03/03(Thu)17:54:07

>>19234

"Don't jump to conclusions. The Sun goes up and the Sun goes down, but that doesn't mean it's circling the Earth. Maybe someone just wants to spook everyone. Like you might do when getting a group of people in a school at night to convince them they've summoned a ghost. Maybe someone got a phone and requested her old number, or they had her phone already for some reason. I have yet to see anything that suggests to me that this has to be anything more than a prank. A prank in poor taste, but a prank."

She started walking calmly towards the power room again. "Although we might be able to make more sense of it all if we all knew what sins you're talking about, or how we might be construed as traitors," she said in an offhanded manner.

>>19234
Interesting.

I'm going to need to check the other air conditioning wall units at some point....

I'm going to run and try to catch up with everyone.

"Hey guys, I think I found the source of the power outage. Someone used the air conditioning units on full power to overload the circuit."

Last edited at 16/03/03(Thu)19:01:53

~~~~ Miyako ~~~~

"No! You don't understand. You don't understand!" Sota shouts. His phone continues to buzz over and over again, as he repeatedly gets more and more texts. "They want to kill me. I know it. I've known it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean too... well... I didn't want that to happen. Please spare me. Please!"

Haruto puts his arm on Sota's shoulder, but he quickly shakes him off like Haruto was burning him.

"No! You don't understand. You don't get it! I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here, or they'll kill me! They'll kill me! The window... the window... I can get out from there." His phone continues to buzz and he freaks out more. He shouts and runs off into the darkness.

"Haruto, let's make sure he stays safe." Kuu tells him, and he nods in agreement. "We'll be back."

The two of them also vanish in the darkness, leaving just you and Midori.

"This is horrid..." Midori says. "I just wanted everyone to get along, how could this go so wrong. Did I do the wrong thing?" She mutters while looking down.

You enter the power room, while Midori is still in a daze.

When you open the door you hear some kind of noise. It sounds like something ripping.

~~~ Karma ~~~

You head to the power room, expecting to find the group.

"Hey guys, I think I found the source of the power outage. Someone used the air conditioning units on full power to overload the circuit."

You end up only talking to Midori though.

"I don't think that is what happened." She tells you with a disinterested expression.

Last edited at 16/03/04(Fri)23:04:30

>>19239

Noting the sound, Miyako quickly looked around to see what it might have been, her first instinct being to look up. One could never rule out traps.

>>19239
"Hmm? Midori, where is everyone else? Also, what do you suspect happened? Wait, don't tell me there's some classic weight trap here to pull the breaker down...."

~~~ Miyako ~~~

Inside the room you don't find anything that could have been the source of the noise.

However you do see something strange, attached to one of the switches in the fuse box is a string with the other end of the string being tied to some kind of cup, and heavy ball is in resting in the cup. You also see coo-coo clock sitting on a shelf above the fusebox. And from near the coo-coo clock you see a string going up higher to the ceiling.

~~~ Karma ~~~

"They ran off, to make sure Sota wouldn't do anything rash." She responds "And Miyako went into the power room."

She thinks about your question a bit before responding. "If the a/c was used to overload the power, wouldn't the a/c not have been working, but it was."

>>19242
"Hmmmm.... right....... the a/c shouldn't have been working with the lights out....... Well the paint nearby was very much so dry so I wonder if the a/c has something to do with that. Either way, I'm gonna head into the power room and see if I can help Miyako."

I'll head into the power room.

>>19242

"Celestial spheres...objects in space... Newton makes quite the effective timer. Well, Newton plus a dash of Goldberg..." she muttered to herself.

Hearing the conversation outside, she called over her shoulder as Karma walked in, "The AC unit is running at the wall, hmm? I wonder what would happen to that message if it warmed up a bit? A star's color depends on its heat, why not paint?"

Then she called out to Midori. "Midori, self-reflection won't help your friends right now. Not as much as figuring out what's going on. I'm terrible at getting my bearings, but what's up there?" she asked, pointing to the ceiling where the string was hanging down from.

~~~ Both ~~~

Miyako looks up at ceiling trying to figure out what is up there. She sees a hook high up attached to the ceiling with yet another piece of string tied to it. The other part of the string goes down and ends right about at the height of the coo-coo clock's door where the bird pops out.

"Umm... well... I don't mean to question your reasoning but... I don't think the a/c was used to dry the paint. Cold typically makes paint dry slower. While heat will make it dry faster, that's why artists sometimes carry around a hair dryer. I believe." Midori says quietly.

>>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