Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma High // Manga Clubroom
Monday, April 20th, 2015
After School

As she was finishing up her 2nd path on 'Devil Survivor', the door suddenly opened and in walked Alexei. Given that it was Monday, a day known globally as one hated by people of all sorts, especially students (well anyone with a job really) and of course since Rui was involved in others clubs and well, the others turned into ghost members, suffice to say, she wasn't expecting anyone to drop-by. Saving her game, she turned her game off and placed the DS inside her school bag. Getting up to stretch, she turned towards him.

"Oh hey. That's true, it's mostly me but aside from another 2nd year, the rest have pretty bunch turned into ghost members." She laughed as he set his bag down on the table. "Not that I really mind, though." She continued. "I'm quite used to having no one around, quite relaxing really." she smiled.

Stifling a yawn, she paused a moment before responding to his next question. "I'm quite interested, however, since I was invited by Inoue, I joined the kendo club. I pretty much have mondays and fridays locked with this club and Tuesdays and Wednesdays with the kendo club but I'm free Thursday and what not. And I can always drop-by every now and then on Mondays when bored but I'm not really sure when your club meets, if that's fine."

"As for the betas and backgrounds, I prefer to do them myself. No offense, but I like the satisfaction and sense of fulfillment of writing and finishing by own work un-aided. Plus, it's great practice for when I attempt to be a professional, no?" she beamed.

---

Akira Kirigakure // Warakuma High // Archery Range

He couldn't wait until she finished before breaking into a laugh. Not a mocking one but a good ole honest laugh. To be exact, it was after she uttered 'Number 2'. Despite what you may be thinking, it's not that. He's not a child, after all. Anyways, it seemed like she was totally writing off Rokoru and he found that hilarious. Especially when you consider the fact that she's crushing on the very same Rokoru. She got spunk, that's for sure. "Oh how I'd pay to see the look on Rokoru's face upon hearing that." After calming down, a grin formed on his face.

"Well considering this lot," referring to the other archery members currently at the range, "you might truly be my greatest competition." he finished with a laugh before going back to shooting at the target. After hitting another bullseye, You never know what fate may bring... With a grin, he reached for another arrow.

Alexei Dragunov : Manga and Anime Club

"Well we are flexible in our schedules, we meet up whenever we are free and not out of equipment." he said with a dry laugh. Not a good way to let a possible entrant know of their shortcomings. But, he felt that Akane wasn't the kind to dwell on such matters for long.

"We can work out a Monday and Thursday if you are interested. We usually practise in spurts. It's mostly Inoue though, she nags us into training her. A real fiesty one, that." he said with a smile. It was the reason he liked Inoue, she didn't mess her words and was pretty straight forward and simple.

Akane, turned down his offer for the help which didn't bother him much. Afterall it was an artist's choice whether to do that or not. But he felt he'll let her know about her professional aspirations.

"I think it will help you if you are looking to turn professional. The deadlines would be really something, at that time going out and searching for a beta or background worker would be troublesome. But your call, I admit, there is nothing like completing something on your own." he then fished into his bag to take out a steel lunch box, really spartan and boxy like himself. He opened it to reveal some onigiri rolls, delicately rolled and designed with the wonders of Japan as a theme.

"Would you like some." he offered.

"I see... Was the blood intentional?", he asked jokingly. Though before she could respond properly he made it clear it was a joke and continued.

"That was a joke, Tokyo is a nice place, I'm sure you'd love it", so she hasn't been to Tokyo before... It wasn't uncommon for people to have never left their home towns, even in a place like Japan, but it's become harder for such an event these days as transport has become easier. If she had the money she could take a one and a half hour shinkansen to Tokyo central area... Honestly it wasn't that far, but there were costs, and unlike train networks, the shinkansen didn't come by that often. After that, she brought out the cake he ordered, and it was... Presentation was certainly nice. He took a sip of his drink, and then began to eat at the cake.

As he finished and paid he bid goodbye to the waitresses and then left to do his own thing for the rest of the day...

---

With Golden Week fast approaching, some clubs were actually already talking about either training through Golden Week, or using it to rest... The baseball team was visibly going to train, they had a match coming up shortly after Golden Week and apparently their members were a little on the casual side. In any case... What to do today... Rui pondered on what clubs were open today... Kendo and Drama were the only things on today for him.

Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma High // Manga Clubroom
Monday, April 20th, 2015
After School

"Well, that's quite comforting to know." she said as she had a laugh of her own. "If your schedules are that flexible, then I accept your offer. Should help give me more fuel for my work."

"It really depends," she said in response to his opinion about a worker, "On if I'm able to go pro with this. Depending on how a certain magazine works, I'm sure that there'll be assistants and such, that they have worked with in the past with their various artists, that they could call in and do the job. So it wouldn't matter either way." she finished as she was cracking her back.

After finishing, he offered her some onigiri rolls. With a smile, "I'd love some."

Monday 20th April 2015: After School

Saya Ueno: Warakuma High- Archery Range

"I-I didn't mean Senpai of course!" Saya blustered, looking more than a little distraught that Akira would pick her words apart like that. So much for friendly banter...

"Rokoru-senpai is the best. He's our President, and you should treat him like such," she sniffed, irked by Akira's words as she let loose an arrow of her own. With a quiet thud, it hit around the middle rings, which was...strange. Did she shoot a little better when she was angry or something? Or was she actually improving? Huh.

In a laughable comparison, Akira shot out another bullseye, which made Saya wonder. Why was Akira such a jerk to everyone? And why didn't he get along with Senpai if they were both such great archers?

It was a puzzler, for sure.

---

Tuesday 21st April 2015: After School

Leiko Hamada: Warakuma High- Auditorium

Seeing Rin yesterday was...pleasant, Leiko mused, as she waved her goodbye to Saya and headed for the auditorium where she had booked the next club meeting. She didn't get the chance to see him very often, and when she did, he often assuaged her doubts and made her feel a whole lot better. Her friends wouldn't really understand if she told them, so she decided it was best that she didn't bring it up at all.

More importantly, today was a Drama Club day, and deciding on booking the auditorium's space for their next meeting, she entered the large hall-structure and set her notes on a spare table whilst people entered.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Today is going to be a little different to our usual warm up sessions," Leiko began to speak in a clear, commanding tone as her clubmates started to trickle in. "As you all know, auditions for this year's school performance is on the horizon, and I'm sure some of you would like to try your hand at bigger, more challenging roles. Today is exactly about that."

Leiko paused and noted the response to her announcement. Some looked more than a little surprised that she was bringing up auditions again so early, but no one was more surprised than Masatomo, who fixed her with a piercing look of disdain. She was going to have a headache about this afterwards, of that there was no doubt. "So, I would like everyone to spend this time to discuss amongst themselves on what they would like to do this year. Potential leading men and ladies, please put your names down on the form I've pinned to the wall by the door. If you would prefer supporting roles, backstage or design, please come to me and I can place you in the respective categories."

The auditorium began to bustle with noise when Leiko's announcement was made, and it wasn't long before questions began to surface.

"When are the auditions?"

"Do we need a lot of theatre experience first for this?"

"Aren't you just going to cast yourself, President-dono?"

The last one was a sneer from Masatomo himself, which rewarded him with a trademark Hamada glare. "Of course I will exempt myself from the auditions for the sake of fairness. That needn't be a concern. As for your other questions, they will be answered at a later date. I'm looking for enthusiasm and interest within our group first and foremost. I will organise auditions once we have a decent amount of candidates. Thank you."

And with that, Leiko fell silent, allowing the others to speak amongst themselves. Once this exercise was over, they would move onto more physical-related activities, but for now, this felt more important.

Alexei Dragunov: Tuesday, 21st April 2015: Warakuma High - After School
Alexei meandered to the roof as the bell signalled the end of the dily business. The past week had been weighing on him, the sudden disappearance of Matt and Noboru before that had kept him on the edge. A bit concerned about his sister, news of the mysterious cult was spreading and slowly with all the rumors circulating about the place, it was enough to make him a bit jittery.

He took out a Lucky from the pack, it has always calmed him down. An anchor amidst the storm, he felt that he could brave any storm once the grey wisps entered his system and gave him focus. The tiny embers symbol of his persevering spirit, he could be down but he wold never be out, atleast he could find a good house for Elena and his mum was taken care off.

Ever since that incident that changed their lives forever, he had always had this feeling of dread, of unfulfilled promises it was during those dark years that he found support in the wad. Each puff that he drew, carried with itself a cure for his situation. He had always held that faint hope, it is what made him trudge through life.

He gazed at the evening sky, birds tweeting and zipping around the place as a constant puff of smoke emanated from him, he looked at the distant horizon, towards the sun that was on its way around the sky. His grim visage remained unchanged as he almost mechanically finished three sticks. Today was drama, with a heavy sigh he pushed out the remaining smoke and walked inside, shutting the door behind him and making his way to the auditorium.

--

Auditorium

He came in time for Leiko's announcement. He wasn't that far from the aforementioned wall where the forms were. He casually walked towards it without noticing others, tobacco hung heavily around him as he took out his fountain pen and wrote his name on the form.




With his work done, he turned towards Hamada again and waited for the president to drop another instruction or directive.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | Tuesday, April 21 2015 - After School

As the bell rang, signalling the end of another school day, the usual hustle and bustle broke out - and much like always, Kotori remained at her seat for a while at first. There had been some talk around the school - mostly pertaining to wild theories about whether the cases of Noboru and Matthew were somehow connected, who was behind them and how aliens were involved in all this. That, and some even wilder stories about a pair of students who had been up to shenanigans at the mall yesterday - an event which Kotori still decidedly ignored due to the sheer absurdity thereof. Either way though, she soon finished up her notes of the day before being one of the last to leave the classroom - though unlike most days, she wasn't headed home right away.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Agriculture Club | After School

Kotori hesitated as she raised a hand to the door. She wasn't really sure if anyone would even be there, what with the only member known to her still being in hospital the day before. Even so, she had decided to at least give it a try and softly knocked. Waiting for a moment or two, she slowly opened the door when no response came to the quiet noise and peeked inside. "Uhm... excuse me?" she asked in her usual quiet voice, looking around to see if there was anyone in the clubroom; the bespectacled girl's application for the Agriculture Club safely kept in her schoolbag.

APRIL 21 2015, TUESDAY
After School

It was a slow day again. Most days were slow days. Sato didn’t particularly enjoy school very much, at least lately. But his school day woes were second to the fact that it was a drama day, and the teen found himself already in the auditorium before he could realize. People were only just starting to enter, and it appeared he was one of the first to arrive. The familiar cast of students poured into the room gradually (minus one or two, though he couldn’t quite place exactly who was missing), and, after waiting a bit to see if anyone else was going to come, the club president spoke up.

Hamada detailed her plan for running the auditions soon while Sato leaned against the closest wall, one of his favorite things to lean against. As she spoke, he considered what he’d be interested in. Ignoring whether the role called for his skill level, the boy’s mind almost instantly set on the protagonist role, and he found himself briskly walking towards the sign-up sheets almost immediately after Hamada was done talking. A few others got there before him, and as he waited for others to get out of the way, he looked at the roles they wrote their names for. Someone else was going to try for the lead male, a few took supporting roles, and someone wrote their name for main antagonist. Alexai Dragunov, the towering guy before him wrote down.

After the man stepped away from the sheet, Sato closed in before someone else could and scrawled under the male lead, in small and elegant characters: Hashimoto, Sato. The slender boy turned away from the form on his heel and looked around for no reason. The brawny student was still there, apparently just waiting out for more instruction. Sato himself didn’t have anything to do beside wait as well, so he figured it’d be at least a time killer to attempt to strike a conversation with the guy.

After he positioned himself to the right of the man, Sato looked (up) at him and said the first thing that came to mind. ”Dragunov, right? I'm Sato Hashimoto. Nice to meet you.” He slid one hand into his pocket while he bowed a bit. ”If we both get what we want, we’ll be protagonist and antagonist. Squaring off against each other. I doubt I’ll actually get the role though. We’ve got some real talent this year, and acting isn’t exactly my one true calling. Do you think you’ll get the role you wanted?”

Few people followed up behind him to put their names on the roster. The announcement had been a surprise for many but they were eager to impress the prez it seemed. Alexei stood by the side as a graceful man approached him for some banter. He had remembered his audition, it had been impressive to say the least, so to learn that his primary interest was in something else made Alexei a bit curious.

There were quite a few talented individuals in the mix but he found that the guy was no less talented than anybody else.

"Alexei Dragunov." he said with a curt bow before replying to his query.

"Frankly, I believe you are quite a talented one but I am interested to know what your true calling is?" he asked curiously, waiting little for the reply before he finished his view on his chances.

"As for me, the villain always interests me so I just went with my gut. Though, I don't have any hopes for my chances. Probably I'll be a tree or rock in the background. Drama isn't my true calling either, it justs helps me remain curious." he replied with a wry smile. The tobacco still hung on his person. The guy interested him with his non-chalance. There was a serenity in his expression, like someone who had all the time in the world.

Sato leaned back a bit after standing next to the taller male. An unpleasant and unfamiliar scent drifted around Dragunov’s proximity, and it took him a while to place the smell to tobacco. He looked like the type of guy that would smoke under-aged, now that he thought about it. Maybe that was a rude thing to think. But it was times like that Sato was glad mind-reading wasn’t a thing. Dragunov was obviously a foreigner though, so maybe it was an acceptable thing from where he was originally from…

”My true calling? I guess it’d probably be… you know what? I don’t actually have a good answer to that.” The teen closed his eyes for a few seconds as Dragunov continued talking. What exactly constituted a ‘true calling’? What you like doing the most, or what you’re the best at? If it was the latter, archery would probably be the most fitting answer. Sure, he liked doing it, but Sato was confident that archery wasn’t his favorite thing around. It wasn’t a ‘true calling’ if he were to go by the former. The phrase started to irk him though, and he vowed to only say it once more. ”I get what you’re saying though. So, what would be your ‘true calling’?”

It was then that probably one of the most popular (at least, from the ones that were in drama) girl from his year strode past them both after writing something down on the sheet, a hop in her step as she walked over to two other girls to complete the Unholy Triangle of Feminine Popularity. Sato didn’t care for her. She spoke down to everyone, judged everyone way too harshly, and did it all while getting some of the worst marks Sato had ever seen. He pitied her parents, even. But he couldn’t deny that her looks betrayed her ugly personality. After half glaring, half trying to figure out whether that was her natural hair color or not, Sato turned his attention back to Dragunov and quickly came up with something to talk about besides ‘true callings’ vocations.

”What’s your type, Dragunov? Girls, I mean.”

Aaaand... There. Form placed for a main role was submitted. He was unsure of whether or not, but the chances of him being picked for main role looked slim considering how many were putting their names up. In any case... What do now? He looked around, there weren't as many people here today as there were during the kinda-sorta joining phase, but there were certainly quite a few people. He recognized one, it was Sato. He seemed to be in a conversation with another guy, whom he didn't recognize. In any case there didn't seem to be much else to do, so he walked over to the two and stood there until their current exchange was done before he greeted them properly.

==~==

Mako smiled at the maid that came to take his order as he settled into his seat, and gave her a gracious nod.

"Thank you very much, miss. I appreciate the service. By the by, I hope I didn't startle you too much with my... entrance. As you may have noticed, I have a tendency toward the dramatic." He cleared his throat, taking a cursory glance at the menu.

"In any case, could I please have a cup of coffee while I decide on my order?" He smiled as she bustled off, looking around the cafe, even recognizing a familiar face sitting elsewhere with a rather large slab of cake before him. Mako smiled to himself, already feeling calmer than earlier, now that he had a decent distraction.

One step at a time, I suppose. Perhaps things will start looking up again soon...

==~==




==~==

Mako was practically bouncing in place as he listened to what was on the agenda for today's drama practice. FINALLY. Bless you, Hamada, you magnificent control freak, you. Finally, auditions were on the horizon! And he even got to pick a preferred role! YES! He practically had to physically restrain himself until Drama-tan gave the go-ahead to go sign up on the forms, and even then, he had to agonizingly restrain himself from running over to the sign-up sheets, so as to not trample anyone in his haste. He squeezed past two of his fellow classmates with a quickly muttered "Beg your pardon, sirs," before whipping a pen out of his pocket.

Mako Moritmomi- Leading Role (The Protagonist)

There. That ought to do it. He looked around at his fellow performers, before he recognized Rui standing a short distance away. A distance he soon crossed excitedly, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

"Hello, Rui! Exciting stuff, isn't it?"

A voice spoke to him just within earshot. Rui turned his attention to this voice, it was familiar, and as he turned to see it was also a familiar face. Mako, this guy was the guy Rui helped out to get into this club, he was unsurprisingly excited it appears. Roles for an upcoming play were being chosen.

"Yeah, I guess. I wonder what kind of play this'll be...", he pondered. Yes indeed, what play? All things considered, probably a Shakespearan one, that seems to be quite popular with Hamada, but even then, that's a fairly broad area, the man did make many many plays in his lifetime after all.

Rui wasn't sure if he wanted a role honestly, it was enjoyable, but he was more afraid of the pressure of being in a large role. From what he's seen of Hamada so far, she's going to be incredibly strict...

The guy leaned against a wall, making a bit of a distance among them. Maybe the smell of tobacco bothered him. Alexei remained at his place as Sato gave a vague reply to his query. Maybe, he wasn't sure what his true calling was but he made sure to revert the question back to him.

Before he could answer it though, one of the wenches of the drama club passed them by, a hop in her step going over to two others and joining the Bitch brigade. They were a rotten group, complete with dirty personalities to match. Thought of themselves as queens of the world. Superficial beauty further augmented by makeup and shenanigans, to impress urge driven guys waiting to spend some time with them.

Sato then changed the direction of the discussion with a question.

"I have no type, Hashimoto. I like them all as long as they are nice to me. But, thinking specifically I'll say those athletically inclined or interested in physical labour to get them what they need would be my type. Not that I have anyone in mind. What's yours? Type, I mean." Alexei was interested in his reply, since judging by the scowl he had on his face when looking towards the girl from before, whiny ones weren't his type either.

Sato got an answer he half-expected. He mulled over it for a second in his head before answering Dragunov’s mirror question. ”My own type…? I guess it would be a girl who’s quiet and sweet, but can get what she wants if need be. Know what I mean? A girl who can look out for herself but isn’t afraid of looking out for others and being looked after.” The teen looked at the floor for a second before continuing. ”Basically a nice girl with spunk. Aesthetically, though, glasses are pretty much have a must-have. A bespectacled beauty is a step above a regular beauty.”

The boy shifted his weight to one hip and looked at Dragunov firmly. He was glad he was more of the gentle giant type, as having someone of his stature being all aggressive and rambunctious would be rather terrible. Having anyone being all aggressive and rambunctious is terrible anyway, Sato considered, but still. A swing from Dragunov would probably knock Sato out cold, or at least send him to the ground. Regardless, Sato had founded some kind of base for a potential friendship. He wasn’t sure how sturdy said base was but it was there and that was good at least. Their future as comrades was uncertain at best.

The conversation eventually died off until they were merely just in the presence of each other, and once Sato couldn’t bear the awkward silence any longer, the willowy teen wondered away from the lofty boy and found the closest person he knew, which turned out to be a girl from his class who had a shockingly similar personality to his own but had radically different interests. They found conversation in their quirks and thoughts that they somehow shared; often they shared the same sentiment towards keeping their interactions brief as to not run out of material to discuss. But somehow neither wanted to try to find someone else to talk to as they waited for Leiko to present the next thing on her drama agenda.

Matt - Hospital || Tuesday morning.

Matt was able to be released only a few days after being admitted as he had no real visible issues apart from minor injuries. He had changed into his uniform that someone from the dorm brought for him as Matt at least wanted to attend part of school, he had missed a lot recently.
He also hid away the treasure that was kept under his pillow in his bag with relief that no one saw it… especially any nurse… That could be dangerous especially if a certain one saw it.

With that he left the hospital.
“bye all thanks for looking after me”
“never come back again.”

Warakuma high school || After school.
“damn it what a hassle” In the end Matt had to go back to the dorms and take care of a few things and check in with the police so he never got to even attend afternoon classes… but he still needed to go and look after the new plants.

Walking to the club room Matt saw a girl opening the door. It was the quiet girl… Kotori wasn't it? Matt was happy to see someone interested in the club but at the same time a mischievous grin appeared on his face as he started sneaking up behind the girl before placing a hand on her shoulder and saying.
“yo how are ya? interested in joining?”

Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma High // Gym - Kendo Club
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
After School

It was another horrendously boring day but she managed to get through it. The only saving grace was that golden week was nearing and boy could she use a nice break from everything. Her writing as been suffering as of late and all she has got going for her is kendo now. Well, Alexei extended an invite to his club, one that Inoue has extended before, so I guess there's that. With a heavy sigh, she made her way to the gym for Kendo practice.

Last time she had to make do with what the club had but this time around, she has her own gear. When she called up Akito, her older brother, with the request, she didn't expect him to get it here so quickly. That's Akito for you... Always coming through and then some... she smiled as she opened the door to the gym. Though a little early, she went to work cleaning up the place and getting it ready before the others arrived. She wanted to get in as much practice as possible today.

The blond waitress chuckles lightly at his comment about startling her, since his entrance indeed came quite as a surprise to her. For the past few weeks that she had been under the service for the cafe, customers who entered were usually hesitant, shy or excited but not as enthusiastic as the male student in front of her. It's nice to have such an enthusiastic customer though, she thought, it reminded her of herself when she first entered this haven of otaku, as one would put it, the place for escape from reality. As dramatic as it may sound, it was applicable for Shizuka since there was nowhere else but within the confines of her room and this cafe where she can be her otaku self, if not for a convention.

"It'll be my pleasure to, master! Please wait a moment while I prepare your beverage, excuse me." Another bow to excuse herself and with that, she darted off towards the counter to fetch him a cup of coffee. The new customer hadn't specified what kind of coffee he preferred so Shizuka simply went with the one commonly requested by other customers. Reaching for the sophisticated designed cup on the shelf, she stretched her arm and grabbed it along with the saucer, before filling it with the dark liquid from the natural coffee dispenser with a press of a button. Just as she picked up packed sugar and creamer, their manager approached the bloody maid to point out that she was already working over time. My how time passes quickly when one loved their job were her thoughts as the waitress let another crew handle the coffee and the customer before she left the cafe to head home.

---

Another day of learning has come to an end and while Shizuka was packing up her belongings into her school bag, one of her friends from her circle suddenly burst into a laughing fit while clutching her cellphone. Slightly alarmed by the sudden laughter, the raven haired student turned her gaze toward her friend and flashed a confused expression. What caused her to laugh that hard? Curious, she approached her friend and inquired, "What do you have there, Fujiwara-san?" As the fit of laughter continued, she flashed the images on her phone that she had been laughing at to Shizuka. Oh. My. Goodness. They were photos of the embarrassing scene that had transpired yesterday. Just who in their right minds even took those photos on the spot? Her friend may not have known that the blond bloodied maid that she was also laughing at was Shizuka but that didn't stop her from becoming embarrassed. With a light shade of rosy pink upon her cheeks, she excused herself and quickly left the room.

---

The female student had calmed down at this point but a certain question kept bugging her. Just who exactly distributed those photos? Shizuka was currently already in her Shizu-chan get up after a long while of preparation at the public bathroom as she headed towards the cafe. Speaking of the cafe, it was the only after school activity she currently signed herself up for but it certainly felt quite empty on the days where she had no shift. Perhaps she could sign up for a school club? She spotted a couple of posters down the hallway about a new Agricultural club earlier, maybe she could try and take a look the next day. Flowers are lovely, it would be nice to grow some at the campus. Anime/Manga club was something she would have definitely joined since the beginning of the school year but she still wasn't ready to reveal her true calling. All these thoughts clouded her mind as she slowly paced down the street of Warakuma mall.

Noboru sighed and packed up his bags to go to drama club. It was boring as all hell, and he was only forced into it by his siblings. He was sure at this point Aiko would let him out of it, by how weird he had been acting, but Akari would do everything in her power to make him suffer. He meandered into the hall to barely catch the statements of Leiko. Noboru turned his head and thought for a moment what to choose. After some thinking, he went ahead and signed up for backstage.



Akari laughed and giggled. All over school Noboru's picture was circulating. The bare chest shone on many phones, allowing for many people to have satisfaction. Feeling her work was done, Akari decided to head to the mall.

In the mall, Akari looked around. The maid girl from yesterday was on her way to work. Before she could get there, Akari zipped in.

"Hey there friend. I see you enjoyed that little show yesterday. Seems all your friends are as well. If you ever want to have the picture and many more for yourself, find me in school okay? Todaloo!"

With that, Akari zipped off, back to her house.

Tuesday 21st April: After-School

Leiko Hamada: Warakuma High School- Auditorium

Eventually, the crowd started to settle on their own choices as they all signed a respective form, save for a few stragglers who appeared torn on their decisions. It was to be expected though, since Leiko did only just spring this on them, so she would allow the group a little longer to reach their conclusions. There were a few surprises upon observation however; namely that Noboru Yamamoto had decided to show up for a drama session, let alone partake in the whole process. She could feel her eyebrows arch upwards as he walked over to the backstage form and scrawled his name on the dotted line. Strange for a boy of the Yamamoto name to go for a behind-the scenes role, but his well-built, muscular frame would prove useful for moving particularly heavy props...

Upon other observations, Dragunov had announced himself a candidate for antagonist, which hardly surprised Leiko due to the nature of his audition. Aesthetically, he really looked the part too, with his towering, intimidating figure, so she would certainly need to bear him in mind when casting...

She also noted Shinichi, Hashimoto, and that new member (Moritomi, was it?) gathering around the 'main character' form and signing their names boldly on the sheet. Leiko wasn't exactly sure if any of them had what it takes, particularly that Maki individual, since she hadn't even seen a real audition from the boy yet, but she was keen to find out all the same. Rui was a boy of many secrets, who might just yet surprise her, and Hashimoto had a certain charisma to him when acting, no doubt. But would they be good enough to take up such a huge mantle?

"Consider me signed up for the hero role, President-dono." Ah, there was Masatomo again, approaching her with a cocky tilt of his head an a well-chosen glare. "I'll wipe the floor with this riff-raff. And then you'll see what a colossal waste of time this all was." Leiko opened her mouth to retort to his rudeness but she was quickly interrupted with a strangely disjointed remark. "I have to go home a little early today actually, by the way. Take care of yourself alright, dear President?"

Leiko watched him with a confused expression as he turned and left for the door rather abruptly, before shaking herself quickly out of her reverie and whipping out her phone. She recalled that Kasumi would most likely be interested in knowing the details of today's session so she hastened to inform him that the forms for theatre roles were now available. Just as she was about to put away her phone however, she noticed the message icon suddenly light up.

Hama-chaaan! ^_^ Meet me by the gates when you're done with Drama ok! I have a present for you ;)

Saya? What did she want? Wasn't she supposed to be helping her parents shop for groceries today? It was a little weird, but then again, it was Saya she was talking about. The girl was just so excitable about everything. Allowing a wry smile to cross her lips, Leiko shoved the mobile phone back into her cardigan pocket before addressing the rest of the group.

"Okay everyone, thanks for your consideration. I'll announce the audition dates soon, but in the meantime, let's focus back on drama, shall we? Right then. Some of you have problems with controlling your voice. So today, we are going to focus on projecting your voice as long and as far as you can. Place your hands on your stomachs and we'll go through breathing with our diaphragms..."

---

"Wow, thought you'd take forever, Hama-chan! Did you even listen to the last bell?"

Saya was loitering by the gates, a pout plastered across her face as Leiko finally emerged from the school. She probably worked her group a little too hard at the end, but hey, that was show biz. "Guess I got a little too carried away at the end. Besides, what's with this sudden meet up?" Leiko inquired with a questioning look towards her impatient friend. "Aren't you supposed to be shopping for your parents?"

"Sure did!" Saya chirped, holding out the paper bag of fruit and vegetables and other miscellaneous things for Leiko to see. "But I found something and I thought I just had to get it for us, you know?"

Leiko looked a little surprised at the usage of the word 'us', but she bit her tongue as she waited for Saya to explain herself. It wasn't until a gaudishly pink strap was thrust under her nose that her mask of indifference melted away to a shocked look. "What's that?"

"A phone strap dummy! We both have one!" Saya beamed, holding out her own neon yellow strap for Leiko to see. "They were embroidering them at the mall, and I thought that I just had to get one for each of us! They're like, a symbol of our friendship!"

Of course Saya would think of something so inane. Of course. Leiko looked a little apprehensive as she took the strap for closer inspection. On one side inscribed the name 'Saya', and on the other side'Best friends'. It was so sickeningly cute and stupid it took all of Leiko's self-restraint not to ask for Saya to get it returned.

Whilst Leiko was inspecting her own, Saya had already gotten to work on attaching her strap to her phone. "It says the same for mine, except mine says 'Leiko' of course." Saya explained happily, allowing the strip of vibrant fabric to dangle from her phone proudly. "I know it's kind of a boyfriend-girlfriend thing too so I made sure to put the 'Best friend' motif on both of them. Neat, huh?"

Leiko coughed uncomfortably in response, sliding the strap slyly into her cardigan pocket before shooting Saya an encouraging smile. "Yes, it is certainly...something. Thank you, Saya."

Fortunately, Saya didn't seem to take note of her less-than enthused response and instead chose to chatter mindlessly about this and that as they made their way home in the darkening streets of Warakuma. Boys, gossip, clothes, schoolwork, clubs, all manner of subjects passed their lips, but Leiko couldn't help but feel an unnatural chill in the air as they walked. Something...felt wrong, somehow.

"Hey, so what are your plans for Golden Week, Hama-chan? I heard that they're holding some kind of cooking contest in the mall! Do you think I should go for it?"

"Hmm? Oh...yes. Sounds nice..." Leiko murmured distractedly, arms wrapped tightly around herself as her fingers dug into the soft, comforting fabric of her angora sweater. It was so...cold.

"I mean, not to blow my own trumpet or anything, but I'm pretty okay. I mean, what if they give out an awesome prize like money or clothes? That would be sweet!"

"S-Sure...

"Yeah and..."

Leiko's hand suddenly reached for Saya's wrist and stopped her abruptly in her tracks, olive green eyes looking around them wildly. "I don't like this. Let's retrace our steps."

"Huh?" Saya's expression was that of utmost confusion as she gauged Leiko's uncharacteristic panic. "What's wrong? We always walk this way back."

As Saya tried to spot the root of Leiko's fears herself, a piercing wind started to pick up, shop signs screeching on its hinges and creating an unsettling sound, so much so that blood pumped wildly through Leiko's veins until she could feel the pulse on the roof of her mouth. "We need to go. Now."

But it was too late. By the time the girls turned back, there was a solid line of figures, wrapped in robes, hoods disguising their visage as they stood as still as statues. Saya's startled gasp echoed in Leiko's ear as the girls froze in place, uncertain of what was happening. Leiko dared to glance behind her, and true enough, the same figures were blocking the other exit. Their only path of escape.

"U-Ummm..." Saya's hoarse murmurs were lost on the crying winds, and it took all of Leiko's courage to speak out to the mysterious figures. "You're in our way. Please step aside.

Did that sound confident? Leiko really hoped so, although the telltale tremble in her voice probably indicated otherwise. The figures, meanwhile stood just as still before, as if her words hadn't reached them at all. Dear god, were they even human underneath those robes? It was an absurd question, but Leiko's panicked thoughts hardly held any semblance of logic at this point.

A flash of yellow suddenly caught Leiko's eye, and a feeling of hope and sheer joy passed through her as she noticed the phone slip into Saya's hand. She was calling the police! Yes! Everything was going to be okay!

And then...they moved.

"SAYA!" Leiko's scream pierced the air, drowned only by the fury of the wind as limbs coiled around Leiko's body, ripping her away from her friend's side as Saya's phone slipped out of her hand lifelessly. Saya's eyes opened widely for a split moment, utter terror filling her eyes before she crumpled to a heap to the ground without a sound.

Was...was she...?!

Leiko's mouth opened again to cry for her, but a chemical scented cloth filled her mouth and nostrils, causing her to cough and splutter. She couldn't breathe, god, what was happening?

Why was it getting so dark?

Where...was she...?