Your mind is filled with restless dreams as you sleep a deep slumber. Eventually, you find yourself in a dark forest, with the rumble of thunder in the distance. You move forward as if compelled by some otherworldly force and eventually come upon a large, blue door. It opens, and you step inside.

The room is beautifully ornate, and everything in the room is dark blue. Sitting on a velvet couch across from you, resting his hands on an old wooden desk, is a strange old man. Your attention is drawn to his long nose, bulging eyes, and wild eyebrows. Before you can ask a question, he greets you. “Welcome to the Velvet Room.”

The name of the room fits the decor. The room is lavish, and the walls are covered in ornate bookshelves, filled with tomes of various sizes. Large windows depict the darkness outside. The floor, the upholstery; everything in this room is a deep blue velvet or purple. Your attention then turns to a young woman sitting near Igor on a dark blue chaise.

“My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. It has been quite some time since I have welcomed a guest to this place, or should I say, guests.” You are unable to turn around and look to see if there are others nearby, but you can feel their presence. “It seems you all have an interesting destiny ahead of you.” He gestures to the room adding, “This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…”

In the distance, or perhaps inside your own minds, you can hear the soulful aria of a woman. Igor continues,“It is a room that only those bound by a contract may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you.” He motions to the young woman.

“My name is Safie,” she says with a warm tone, “My job is to assist you on your journey.”

"Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we? Each reading is done with the same cards, and yet the result is always different." The man chuckles with an impish grin. "Life itself follows the same principles, does it not?" The cards in front of him begin to shuffle themselves, and he pulls his first card. "The first card, representing your present is...the moon, in the upright position. This card represents uncertainty, illusions, and disease." He moves his hand over to the next card, drawing it. "The card representing your imminent future is The Hierophant, in the reversed position. This card represents challenging conformity and unconventional relationships."

"You must seek out those who your fate is tied with to find an answer to this challenge."

"The coming year will be a turning point in all of your lives. It seems that your fate will be intertwined with this disease, and it is our duty to provide assistance to our guests to ensure you may avoid a cruel fate. We shall attend to the details at a further time. Our time together appears to be coming to an end..."

The world begins to fade into darkness, the song of the woman fading off into nothingness.

The young man yawned, rubbing his eyes. How long had he been asleep on the train? It didn't matter. He was lucid enough to know that he'd arrived at his stop. He'd visited the school several times for interviews, orientation, and other things, but this was the big official move. Hiroichi Yamata reached into his jacket pocket and produced his cellphone, looking through his messages.

No new messages.

That was...normal. The last few messages had been from Principal Gokan at the Academy, explaining his duties as the boy's dormitory teacher, as well as the subjects he was expected to teach. His parents hadn't sent him a message in over six months now. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and grabbed his bag as the train began to slow to a halt. Most of his belongings had been shipped to the school already; all that was left was for him to move in. The new semester would begin tomorrow, and he'd kept in constant correspondence with his fellow staff members in planning for the semester.

As he stepped out on the platform, he breathed the cool spring air. It felt different compared to Tokyo; it was quieter and more rustic. The train had felt empty compared to being packed elbow to elbow on the Ginza line. But perhaps this was what he needed. For the next year, he would be living in Kenkōichi. His job was simple: teach classes, make sure there wasn't trouble in the dorms and keep his head down. That would be easy enough.

He began walking down the steps of the train station and he saw it in the distance, looming over the rest of the city in the North. The Kenkōichi Research Hospital. It reminded him of pictures of the Ushiku Daibutsu, looming over the city in the mornings like an actual God. At least the Daibutsu depicted a God. The hospital looked more akin to a looming monolith, menacing the skyline.

"...Its feathers choked the alligator as the bird slid down his gullet. Only when his stomach had fully settled did the pink alligator realize what he'd done."

Laki stretched in his chair. The hospital only provided little stools for visitors–especially visitors for patients who couldn't actually converse. It made prolonged visits far too uncomfortable for Laki's liking.

"The pink alligator cried out and–"

He caught a glimpse of the analog clock on the wall. 7:43. Late. He needed to get home to pack up and clean, then head to the dorms and settle in. Maybe he would even get a chance to relax today.

"...Sorry, Mom. I'm gonna need to go. I'll be back... Sunday after next. Opening week's always a bit hectic."

His mother, of course, did not respond. She simply lay there, tubes hooked up all over, looking so very tired. She'd always been tired, but the time spent afflicted by the Plague certainly hadn't helped. Laki could swear that her brown skin was even more lined than before. He wanted to grab her hand and pull her out of her slumber. He wanted her to jump up and shout cheesy motivational statements in broken Japanese. Anything except for the absolute zero in front of him.

He had to get moving. Staring endlessly would get him nowhere. He'd have more opportunities to visit later. Laki grabbed his bag, gave his mother one final glance, and left.



Laki turned the key to his–no, their apartment. Four years spent in this godforsaken 4 1/2 mat after his father left. Four years of anxiety, not knowing when the next paycheck would come in, not knowing if they'd have enough money to pay the rent or buy enough food or pay the medical bills. Four years of him and his mother, doing all they could to stay afloat.

He stepped past the threshold. There was a slight smell of disinfectant in the air. Even years after his illness, the endless cleaning and re-cleaning his mother had done back then still pervaded the room. And now, it was time for the room's final cleanse.

He picked up the portable stove from the corner. Countless bottles of boiled medicine, moist towels, hastily-cooked porridge had been borne from its flames. They'd fixed it so many times over the years, it probably wasn't the same stove anymore.

"I wish you good use in the next life," he murmured to it, half-jokingly. His mother would always talk to the objects and tools in the home. It wasn't a part of her culture–it was just something she did. Over the last three months, Laki had found himself doing much of the same.

Next, he cleaned out his futon–probably the most expensive thing in the room save for his laptop. His mother had always insisted on high-quality sleep, even when they had such little cash for food or utilities. "Good sleep, good work, good play," she'd say. Laki the futon up and bundled it. He could probably sell it online, get a decent price, cover a bit of tuition.

Speaking of sleep... what exactly was that dream from last night? It'd been a long time since Laki even remembered a dream after he woke up. He shook his head. He'd have time to think about it later. Right now, it was cleaning time.

The rest of the room didn't carry much sentimental value. He'd already sold or trashed most of the junk the day before. The only things left were his books. They were all mostly worthless, maybe only worth a few hundred yen at most. Still, they'd carried him well through the first two years, when they didn't have an internet connection. Romance, philosophy, fantasy, business, sci-fi, self-help, investment tips, cookbooks, classical literature, he'd devoured them all. Not like he had much else to do while lying in bed in pain. He sorted them into piles and boxed them up to be sold.

"Goodbye, books. May your pages be turned until they wear to dust."



That was it. That was everything the Hirata family had to its name. Well, that and whatever Laki's father owned, but he didn't count.

Laki checked his watch. It'd taken him over two hours to vacuum, scrub, run the books to the corner bookstore, haggle for a higher sell price, dump the futon on the landlady (she'd paid him an excellent price), and take the rest of the appliances down to a storage locker where they'd sit for (hopefully) a short amount of time. He couldn't quite sell everything yet. That'd be like giving up hope.

He grabbed his backpack and suitcase, then locked the door and left the key with the landlady.

As he walked down the street under the noonday sun, Laki thought about his curious dream from the night before. A blue room, a woman whose beauty was second only to her strange hair and eyes, and a man with a nose longer than a banana. And there was that business with destiny... and tarot cards?

"I wonder which deck he was using." he murmured to himself. "It was probably the Rider-Waite or Thoth deck. Marseille's deck does have a Hierophant, but it's usually named as the Pope due to translational quirks..."



After unpacking, Laki sat down at the provided desk in his room and retrieved his planner. He needed to get everything sorted out as soon as possible.

"Finances first. I have my job... Mom's savings... the cash from selling stuff..."

As he wrote down the calculations, a thought struck him. He pulled out his laptop, connected to the school network, opened his email, and navigated to a certain unread message.

Hey, Laki,
I hope everything's going well for you. I don't message much, but your mom and I aren't really on speaking terms anymore, you know?

Anyway, I heard about what's been going on, and I want to make up for... what happened in the past. If there's anything I can do for you, just ask.

With love,
Dad

SENT: 2021-3-17 23:39:43 from hirata.itachi.331@mail.yahoo.co.jp
RECEIVED: 2021-3-17 23:39:47 to luckyravenking@mail.yahoo.co.jp

Disgusting. Abandoning your loved one and child, only to come back years later as if nothing had happened? Laki's fingers shook as he typed out a response. His mother would hate it, but they needed the money more than anything else. It felt dirty, asking for help like this, but it was the only option.

He hit Send and sighed. At this point, he was willing to do anything to reduce his workload. Laki stood, stretched, grabbed a book, and made his way to the lobby to read.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m already pretty much done unpacking.” Yuuhei reassured his old man on the other end of the line. “Seriously, don’t sweat it. I know how hard it is for you to get time off.” There wasn’t even any bitterness in his tone as Yuuhei waved aside his dad’s profuse apologies for bailing on him. After all, it had been the same song and dance between the two for the past seventeen years, so he had plenty of time to get used to it.

The rest of the conversation played out like normal. They promised to see each other soon, Yuuhei refused to commit in clear terms that he would stay out of trouble, the works. The call ended and the blond took the moment to relax into a much needed stretch, basking in the fruits of his labors.

His newly furnished dorm room was already balanced precariously between organized chaos and regular old chaos. The bed was already unmade with its sheets balled into a corner, despite it not having been used yet. In one corner was a staggering collection of cameras (both digital and analog), while in another was a dartboard that was conspicuously missing its darts. Strewn haphazardly across the surface of his desk were a wide range of similar odds and ends, only a third of which he would have any real chance of arguing would be of any help with his studies. And instead of posters adorning his walls stood a number of small newspaper clippings, whose only common thread was that Yuuhei had found something interesting about them.

There were still a few boxes of other treasures to add to this tapestry, but Yuuhei found himself already grinning at his handiwork. Sure, the room’s current state would probably make the people that had maintained it shed tears of blood to see it like this, but at least now it didn’t look nearly as boring and sterile. At least now it actually looked lived in.

A quick glance at his watch showed that it was still far too early, a consequence of trying so hard to work around his dad’s insane schedule. The clubroom wouldn’t be available until tomorrow and here Yuuhei was, likely among the first students to finish moving in, with an entire day to kill. No, maybe that was the wrong way to think about it.

After all, he already had a very specific idea on how to spend it.



“Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, huh?” the club president muttered to himself, all the while sprawled obnoxiously across a bench with his pocket notebook draped over his face. There was a temptation to nod off right then and there, but he really wasn’t too keen on risking a repeat of his weird dream the night before. So instead he shifted his focus to the contents of the notebook currently blocking out the too bright sun.

Even though he couldn’t read the pages covering his eyes, he already knew their scant content by heart. Yellow Plague causes those that contract it to become catatonic with no hope of recovery. Sinners are the only people that can get it. Kenkōichi Research Hospital is responsible for the disease making its way into town. And perhaps most importantly, there were students at the academy that had friends or family affected by it.

Baseless rumors, every last bit of it, but there was something about this insane story that gripped Yuuhei from the moment he heard the first whispers of it over break. But no matter how he sleuthed, cajoled, or begged, those scant few lines in his notes was all that he was able to dig up on it. No names, not even a single confirmed case, had turned up to give credibility to this glorified urban legend. So if it was really out there, then the fastest way to confirm any part of the rumors would be to interview his fellow students, yeah?

Well that had certainly made plenty of sense in his head when he set out from his dorm, but here he was hours later with nothing to show for it. There was so little to work with here that if he had tried to run it, then the newspaper club would truly be reduced to nothing more than a gossip rag. With a languid hand Yuuhei plucked the notebook off his face and snapped it closed, but the smile that had been hiding underneath it was filled to the brim with energy.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and likewise his fellow students were just getting settled in. The rumor mill would soon pick up its pace, so all Yuuhei had to do was be a bit patient and sort out the chaff from the real deal once it all filtered down to him. With his plan set, he made a rather fine show of jumping off the bench and all but skipped back towards the boys’ dormitory.

“Looks like I won’t have to try too hard to make this an interesting year,” he mused excitedly, lightly tapping his notebook against his chin as he plotted how to spend the rest of the day.

Naoka woke up straight away. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, she always did that. All of those five-minutes lie-ins added up, after all. What was odd was why she had woken up. Most of the time it was her alarm going off. Instead, a quick glance at her phone told her there were still ten minutes left to go. So it was that weird dream that she'd woken up from, which was the other odd thing, because she usually slept so deeply that she hardly ever had them, let alone that vividly.

She got up and finished getting ready by the time her alarm went off for real. Dressed in the highly creative sweater with jeans, Naoka slumped back down on her bed as her phone buzzed loudly.

"Six-thirty," she muttered. She glanced over at her luggage. She'd made sure it was all ready a few days ago, with some ungodly combination of packing what she needed and throwing out almost everything else. Without all the mess, the room felt foreign. Then again, it did anyway. After two years, she was getting more used to her room at the dorm than the one at home.

"Six-thirty five." Had it already been five minutes? Though it wasn't like she had much to do. There was still some time before they left, but going back to sleep didn't feel right. Instead, she reached into her bag sitting on the floor and pulled out her sketchbook, flipping it open.

As she doodled absent mindedly, she thought back to the dream again. There were people that believed what you saw in your dreams could help you predict your future, right? Maybe she ought to look into it. There was... a lot of blue. That might mean something. The time passed as she continued to get lost in her thoughts. Somewhere along the way she'd started going over English vocab in her head.

"Naoka! Let's go!" her dad eventually called from downstairs, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Take your luggage down, we're gonna leave in a sec."

"Coming! Coming," she shouted back. "Coming! Coming," she shouted back. She hastily closed over the drawing of a woman who looked suspiciously like Safie, shoving her sketchbook back into her bag. Then, she carried her luggage down to where her dad was waiting in the car, sliding wordlessly into the backseat. He started the engine and began to drive towards the school.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. Is mum... not coming?" They were leaving early, since her parents had to go to work not long after. Naoka didn't mind, since she was used to waking up early anyway. The sooner she got in, the sooner she could settle back into the comfortable school routine.

"She was up late yesterday, so she's sleeping in."

"I guess it can't be helped."

"Don't worry, she'll probably send you a text when she gets up. But you're finally third year, huh? You sure have grown. I still remember your first day of elementary school like it was yesterday."

"Oh, really?"

"I think we have some pictures somewhere, you know! I should send you them later."

"Uh, don't worry. You don't need to," she replied, staring blankly at her faint reflection in the window. She didn't feel very different from the year before. She'd gotten her hair cut much shorter over summer (it had been waist length before, but it was becoming a pain to manage), though that was about it.

"You never know when you'll need them. Make sure you study hard this year."

"Yeah. I will. College exams are coming up, so..."

"Mmm. Good luck, Naoka."

She didn't respond. The rest of the ride finished in complete silence.



She'd gotten in early, so the girls' dorms were pretty much empty. There wasn't much hassle, she'd said bye to her dad and gone in. There weren't any tears. They'd see each other again soon enough. Naoka yawned slightly as she trudged up the stairs. She'd forgotten to have coffee that morning. No wonder she felt so off. The dream probably didn't mean anything after all.

Her dorm room was pristine. Not for long though, after a week or two she was always left with half the floor space and ten times the mess. She began to unpack, which is to say, she dumped the contents of her luggage onto the floor. Except for her many posters, which were put up neatly on the walls in the exact same configuration as the last year. It was the optimal arrangement for admiring their contents.

With that done, Naoka's list of things to do was fully exhausted. In a sense. She'd made sure to study at least three hours a day for the entire holiday, so there wasn't a massive need to go over her notes again. Oh, she really ought to deal with all the stuff she'd left on the floor. Sighing, she sat down next to it and began to unpack properly. Her coffee could wait a little longer.

"Yukinari, please sit up properly."

Rio sank more into her seat, pointedly staring at her knees. It was getting a little uncomfortable sitting on the chair with the heels of her shoes firmly on the chair, but hey, she never asked to be here. This had to be some kind of record--it wasn't even the first day of school, and she had somehow already ended up in the principal's office. Well, the guidance counselor's office, but basically the same thing. She had stepped a foot into campus and there the lady was, whisking her away before she had the chance to walk away. They had barely spoken once she had put Rio in a seat, instead the woman tapped away at her computer. Despite her tone, the woman looked more amused than anything, brushing her bangs away from her red rimmed glasses as she looked back at her computer.

After a few seconds, Rio lifted her gaze to meet the guidance counselor's, a little surprised to find she was staring at her. Rolling her eyes, Rio sat up, waving her hands with a flourish. "Happy?"

"Very much so, yes," She replied, pushing back her seat to stand. "Come along now, we'll walk and talk."

What the hell was the point of bringing her to the office, then?! Rio resisted the urge to kick something as she got to her feet, trudging behind the woman as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. She swore she heard the woman giggle, though when she leveled a glare on her, she was stone faced. "Are you gonna talk or are you gonna tell me what the hell's going on?" Rio decided to give the woman 'permission' to speak. "What, did the principal tell you to babysit me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes he did. My name is Suzuki Eiko, and while you're attending Kenkōichi you'll be under my careful watch," She replied without skipping a beat. "I understand you're new to the academy, and despite your checkered past, it'll be my job to mold you into a proper member of society."

For fuck's sake, she was joking! Rio scowled openly, raising an eyebrow. "You must not have a lot to do if they're telling you to 'look after me', what a load of bullshit," She muttered.

"Aside from my regular duties, I happily volunteer as the girls' dorm advisor. This is all part of my job, Yukinari." Ms. Suzuki assured her cheerfully. "There is nothing more satisfying than overseeing the students and helping them out to the best of my abilities. That includes making sure you stay out of trouble, like it or not."

"Lucky me," Rio replied.

"A lot of students would agree," Ms. Suzuki giggled, waving to a few passing students. "Come along now, every year I like to greet my students and I'd like to meet the boys' dorm advisor and warn him about you."

Rio would've been offended if she didn't have a point. Oh well, not like she had anything better to do at the moment. That said, she could see why Ms. Suzuki was so damn cocky in her statement--nearly every other student they passed happily greeted her, a few waving and the rest at minimum acknowledging her. She must have been popular. As Rio gave her a look over, she admitted she didn't seem the appeal. They had just met and she was annoying as all fuck.

As she scoffed again, the pair walked into the dormitory. Despite it being early, it looked like there were a few people around, likely some early birds. There were a few benches and a multitude of indoor plants, as well as an empty receptionist desk. Suzuki gave the few students around a wave before beckoning Rio to follow her, showing her the desk.

"I think that part of your desire to cause trouble comes from having too much free time," She cheerfully informed her. "I think having your cooperation in helping me out with reception should curb that a little."

Her jaw dropped as she looked from the desk to the counselor, giving her a look of disbelief. It was like she was being preemptively punished or something! "You're kidding, right?" She asked.

"Better than getting turned over to the police for defacing public property, right?" She replied cheerfully, lightly pushing her into the seat. "Now, I'll list of some of your responsibilities, so pay attention."

Ugh, Rio was so sure there hadn't been any security cameras around when she did that! The girl scowled again, crossing her arms as she half-listened to her instructions. How hard could putting in names and watering plants be, anyway?

As it turned out, the walk from his thinking bench back to the dorm was far too long for Yuuhei to be able to keep his mind off the topic he had just resolved to put on the back burner. But come on, could you really blame him? His juniors at the newspaper club were handling the welcoming fluff pieces for the first issue - which they had sworn was because they wanted the experience rather than their lack of trust in him to take it seriously - and it wasn’t like there were any other particularly juicy stories cropping up just yet. So what was a guy to do other than focus his abundant reserves of energy on the current puzzle in front of him?

With a deep intake of the brisk April air to collect himself, Yuuhei once again flipped open his notebook straight to the page containing his notes on Yellow Plague. One line in particular stuck out to him more than others, as its wording had been painstakingly explicit whenever it had come up in his initial investigation. He walked briskly through the spring soaked school grounds with his face all but buried in the small bundle of papers, his head cocking from side to side in an all too literal effort to look at the scrap of information from different angles.

But no matter how he looked at it, it just seemed all too out of place to Yuuhei. In just about any other scenario, writing it off as nonsense born from small-town syndrome seemed like the only logical conclusion. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to do just that due to the fact that the exact wording for it had been used in multiple tellings of the rumor. But even with his barely above middling grades, Yuuhei couldn’t figure out how, much less why, a disease would care about how virtuous its victim was.

His free hand reached for the handle to the dorms unconsciously, as him wandering through the school on auto-pilot while his mind was tied up elsewhere had become second nature. Yuuhei’s sharp brown eyes peeked over the top of his notebook, which he had taken to rotating every which way to mirror whichever position he had cocked his head, only to land on the group of male students that he instantly realized was where he should have been a good five minutes ago.

It was hard to tell if Yamada-sensei had noticed him stumble upon the group, as the young teacher was busy handing out keys to the assembled crowd, so with all the grace of a breaching whale Yuuhei plopped down on one of the newly vacated couches. Next to him was Laki Hirata, who he instantly recognized despite having never met before due to the guy’s foreign features and relatively monstrous physique. Now while Yuuhei was constantly drawing from a nearly bottomless well of confidence, even he couldn’t help but feel tiny next to him. But seeing as how he hadn’t gotten up with the rest of the students, Yuuhei figured that the guy was in the same boat as him and had moved in earlier. And thus, the perfect person to question.

“So did I miss anything good or was it just business as usual?” he easily asked the big guy with an equally easygoing grin. Yuuhei didn’t have much on Hirata, as he wasn’t part of any clubs and hadn't stirred up any real trouble, but his gut was already feeling like he fell more on the gentle giant side of things. And he was proud to say that his instincts when it came to people's nature were right about twenty percent of the time on a good day.

“Ah, right, manners." And for the first time in a while, Yuuhei actually sounded a bit sheepish. But that was part of the problem with keeping up with so many different people, as sometimes it became difficult to keep track of who you have and have not gotten around to introducing yourself to. I’m Seiho Yuuhei by the way.”

@stone

It took a moment for Laki to realize that Seiho was talking to him.

"Ah, Seiho. You were in my class last year, but we didn't talk much at all, did we?"

And thank God for that. Laki didn't have a problem with Seiho–the guy was friendly to basically everyone and wasn't bothersome. However, Laki had heard about Seiho asking around about the Yellow Plague. He couldn't have Seiho dropping any information or acciedentally spreading any rumors around.

It certainly didn't help that the rumors involved the idea of "sin," that those who were affected by the Plague had committed some sort of misdeed to warrant their affliction. His mother already suffered enough–a damaged reputation would just be fuel for the fire.

Plus, he couldn't have any of the teachers finding out about his part-time jobs. Kenkōichi let their students work, yes, but certainly not the amount of time that Laki did. If the school found out that he was bending local labor laws, he could even get suspended. His mother would be deeply disappointed if that happened. "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest," she'd say, quoting either a revolutionary inventor or a musical lyricist–Laki could never remember which.

Laki had to choose his words carefully. He bookmarked his book and laid it in his lap.

"In case you forgot, I'm Hirata Laki. What were you up to, coming in late like that?"

Sorting out the mess on her floor had taken longer than she'd expected. It probably would've been quicker if she didn't just dump everything on the floor, honestly. But by the time she realised that, it was already too late.

Naoka stood up from where she'd been sitting next to her shelves and yawned. She'd been at it for a while. She wasn't too surprised, she always took forever to clean stuff. It was just a waste to get things all neat and organised only for them to become a mess again in a week. She picked up her bag and decided to head down, maybe she'd run into one of her friends and she could pick up that coffee she'd been longing for.

Making her way down the stairs, Naoka checked her phone. No texts. Everyone was probably too busy getting settled in to chat and her parents were already at work. They worked such long hours that even when she was at home, she hardly saw them. Staying at the dorms didn't change much.

Naoka entered the lobby. A some people had already congregated, a few she recognised, most she didn't. She'd already picked up her key, so she didn't really need to stick around and so continued walking to the great outdoors. The weather was good, with any luck it'd stay that way. There weren't a lot of people outside, but the one that stuck out the most was a blonde girl pulling around a suitcase. Was it natural? It was an international school, so she could just be foreign.

Cautiously approaching the girl, she definitely wasn't anyone Naoka recognised. A first-year, most likely. Well, if there was anything Naoka wanted to do, it was to make a good first impression on her underclassmen.

"Excuse me," she said, approaching cautiously. "I'm Toba Naoka, one of the third years here. Do you need any help?"

@Inkarnate

Hirata’s rather innocuous question earned him an unsettlingly mischievous grin from Yuuhei. The blond leaned in conspiratorially with his beefy classmate, looking every bit the part of a guy that was about to spill the secrets of the very world itself. “Well you see,” he started quietly, dangling his notebook in front of Hirata expectantly, “I’ve been chasing down a story over our break, but I just can’t seem to get anywhere with it. I've searched high and low, but all I've dug up so far is a bunch of hearsay that even I'm not crazy enough to print.” But rather than seem defeated, Yuuhei all but glowed from discussing his utter failure to produce results.

“So after I finished unpacking this morning, I hit the bricks and spent the rest of my morning asking around to see if anybody has heard about Yellow Plague.” As soon as the phrase passed his lips, Yuuhei’s playful eyes immediately focused in on Hirata’s expression with intense scrutiny, searching for any kind of reaction from his classmate. Because even if he hadn’t intended to drag Hirata into his investigation when he had sat down, Yuuhei simply wasn’t the kind to pass up opportunities that gift-wrapped themselves for him like this.

The critical look only lasted a few moments though, as regardless of what he saw he shrugged it off with a small laugh. “Ended up completely forgetting that I was supposed to be here at eleven though and all I got out of it were the uncomfortable looks of my cute juniors that I’m sure will haunt my dreams,” he finished without the slightest trace of remorse in him. And with his small story finally done, Yuuhei leaned back into the couch and made himself comfortable. But rather than just leave it at that, he leveled another pointed look at his classmate.

”So your turn Hirata, ya hear anything interesting lately?"

"...spent the rest of my morning asking around to see if anybody has heard about Yellow Plague.”

For all his internal posturing about revealing nothing, Laki's face tightened. Did he know? Did he notice Laki's discomfort? He tried to rearrange his features into something of a neutral expression.

Breathing is fun. I like to breathe. Just think about breathing.

Seiho seemed to continue on without a care in the world for how Laki reacted. He probably didn't know. He was just making small talk. He was definitely making small talk. No doubt about it.

”So your turn Hirata, ya hear anything interesting lately?"

Did he mean about the Plague?

Small talk, Laki. Small talk... Nothing else.

"Nothing in particular. I've been sequestered at home all summer–haven't gotten a chance to really chat with anyone." The statement was at least partially true. Laki certainly hadn't talked with any of his classmates all summer, save for a few close run-ins with them near the construction site where he worked. He had to steer the conversation away from any dangerous territory.

"How about you? What'd you get up to over the summer? Do anything with the club?"

@Sarcelle Renard

"Oh, I'm really- not at all- well, if you say so," Naoka said, slightly flushed. "But, overpacked? I'm not too sure about that." She looked at Sawajiri's suitcase. Was it even half as much stuff as she'd brought herself? She'd basically moved her entire room over. "There's a lot of space in the rooms, so you don't need to worry. Though you can always pick up extra stuff over holidays or get your parents to drop it off."

She gave Sawajiri the most welcoming smile she could muster. "The lobby's over there," Naoka said, motioning to where the entrance was. There were already a few other people coming out of it. "Pick up your room key, put your stuff away and then you've got the rest of the day free. Is there anything else I can help you with? It's no trouble at all."

Naoka hoped she was making a good first impression. It would be nice to be popular with the first years. She could be the cool, mature senpai...

She was getting a little ahead of herself, wasn't she?
@Inkarnate

Yuuhei let Hirata’s string of questions hang in the air for a few awful moments as a knowing smirk took over his features. That small reaction that he had managed to coax out of Hirata had only proven that the big guy had at least heard of Yellow Plague. Now, whether he actually knew anything new or interesting about it Yuuhei couldn’t be sure, but the way that Hirata had sharply swerved the conversation away from himself was certainly making the blond wonder.

The silence couldn’t last though, as this was probably his last chance to steer them back towards what he actually wanted to talk about.

“As much as it pains me to say out loud, it was mostly just me running around town being a nuisance. Especially since my club all but disappears over breaks.” Except this wasn’t his only chance to get something juicy out of Hirata. And besides, the big guy already seemed to be on guard so there was a very real chance that he would simply clam up rather than spill anything useful. So for now, he would put a pin in this conversation and come back to it when he was confident that he would get the results that he wanted.

Yuuhei’s usual big goofy smile returned in force now that his mind was made up. “But don’t worry, I’m sure there will be plenty of excitement to be found this year. I’ll just have to keep tipping over the right stones and see what turns up.”

And just like that, Laki Hirata had gone from being an individual that Yuuhei had never really given a second thought about to his prime person of interest in his investigation.

“But don’t worry, I’m sure there will be plenty of excitement to be found this year. I’ll just have to keep tipping over the right stones and see what turns up.”

"Heh. Yeah, I suppose you do." Laki's mouth was moving independently of his brain at this point. There was still a chance that Seiho was just fooling around, but it seemed to be dwindling faster than an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. He didn't hold it against Seiho, though. The guy just wanted to know more about the Plague–which was totally understandable. Everyone wanted to know more about the Plague. It just so happened that Laki was one of the best people to ask about it. Nothing but circumstance had led them to this point. But what if it wasn't?

Gotta get it together. Stay composed. Think it through.

Seiho had been asking people all morning about the Plague. Laki just happened to be one of those people. It was a little weird that Seiho had just approached Laki right out of nowhere, but it seemd to follow his modus operandi–Seiho likely already had any information he could get from people he knew. Of course he'd have to pester those he didn't. He was just chasing the unknown.

Unless, of course, he was lying about asking people all morning and had only approached Laki specifically because he knew something about Laki's situation.

No, no, that line of thinking won't get me anywhere.

Laki had never heard anything about Seiho being anything less than a little bit annoying with his questions. He wouldn't lie like that to get information. Probably.

I'm reading into it too much. Just gotta have faith in my classmates.

Laki sighed and leaned back in his seat. It'd be best to just act normally for now. "I hope you find something out soon. Seems like the whole town is looking for information at this point."

Ms. Suzuki split her attention between the grumpy secretary and most students that passed, offering a few warm words of welcome. Rio didn't entirely understand why the woman put so much effort into it, but at the very least she got the gist of what she was going to be doing. And by that she meant she was probably going to ditch as soon as she had the chance; no way was she going to spend all her free time at a computer doing nothing but talking to people on her free time. Besides, hardly anyone even approached her--anyone that came around was more interested in getting to their dorm or talking to Ms. Suzuki.

And speaking of the devil, the old hag had finally given her her full attention, positively beaming at Rio's unsatisfied look. "Alright then, I expect you right here after your classes tomorrow," She informed her cheerfully. "If you don't show up, I'll have to go looking for you, so make sure you're on time, alright?"

"Mhm," Rio only offered a noise of confirmation, all too glad to slip out of the desk and snatching her own room key. Walking towards the hall with every intent to spend the rest of her free time in her room, she jumped as a nearby girl squealed loud enough to be heard over the entire lobby's chatting. "Look at that!" The random girl had practically screamed in excitement.

Rio nearly ignored it, but the flurry of yellow and blue outside had definitely caught her attention. What the hell was that? Despite her initial impulse to ignore it, she found herself following a few students outside. Said flurry had been a massive horde of what looked like butterflies, each colored yellow and blue and fluttering in a straight path. Rio quirked an eyebrow, watching as they seemed to fly straight towards the roof of the school. Whatever kept them all together at that point seemed to release them, as each of the little flyers went each their own way, as if they had intentionally wanted to scatter.

A few had actually decided to fly back towards the dorms, and a multitude of students were hastily trying to grab pictures of them. Rio blinked slowly, still surprised by the display, but for some reason she felt like she had actually seen the butterflies before. They didn't look like the usual swallowtails, and they definitely didn't usually travel in such huge packs. Actually, they reminded her of that chick with the long nosed weirdo from the dream she had. The girl had a hairpin that looked like a butterfly, too. But it was just a weird coincidence--and admittedly she hadn't really thought about it until now--and hearing everyone fawning over bugs was starting to get annoying.

Still, it was a really weird coincidence.