[IC] Persona - Academic Akrasia

[Crimmy]

@Savo@Suku@GarlandDaHero@JBRam2002

NPC: Jihei Okazaki - Drama Clubroom?????, Saturday Morning

"Youta-san would have been pleased to hear that," trailed off the Drama Club's vice president, dimmed eyes quietly looking around the depopulated club room. At first glance, he did not seem visibly perturbed by the stagnant facsimile of their school that now surrounded him, but it was clear that the greyibg walls, the rhythmic dripping of the blood-red fluid, and the heavy air was beginning to affect him too; his subdued aura was definitely more withdrawn than usual. "But ..."

Youta Oogami was not physically present. The frog costume that the drama club's leads had been occupying mere moments prior was empty of life. Deflated and without support, the thing toppled over upon contact with another prod, falling forwards onto Alexander. There was no human inside. Only the heavy weight of a cartoon frog costume.

Not only Oogami, but the rest of the drama club was gone. Vanished without a trace. Even Hanazawa, who had been happily chatting to the second-year kendoka metre moments before, was gone. Okazaki breathed in, trying to ignore the creeping chill of worry worming its tendrils into his heart. He didn't want to think of the worst. He didn't know what he could do. He was just the temporary stand-in.

Meanwhile, the kendoka girl was already taking charge like nothing happened. As if an entire room of students had not disappeared before their eyes. He wondered where she found that resolve to immediately want to b head out.

"It is 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark'," he corrected half heartedly, verbalising the words that club president would very likely have said had he been here. Yamamoto was finicky about his quotations, although a part of Okazaki wondered if he was using his leader as an excuse for his own affinity towards named extras like Marcellus. "Are you sure you will be safe going out?"

He knew nothing of what could have transpired to the rest of the school. Venturing out seemed foolhardy. He would not stop her if she wanted to go, but were they in a good enough condition to leave? Ikari was more panicked than he had ever seen her, and the malevolent atmosphere was uncomfortably draining.

[Crimmy]

@vancexentan

NPC: The Park, Saturday Morning

"So this is what kids do these days?"

The source of the voice was a middle-aged man in a suit sitting on a park bench, cheese and tomato sandwich contained within a carefully-crafted prison of Glad-Wrap. His eyes, a dark brown, were watching Hans' activities with an analytical gaze, much in a manner akin to a chemist weighing his samples. Sleek black hair, coiffured impeccably, rested upon his head, and his terse face betrayed little visible emotion. He was quite a serious-seeming figure, especially when considering the impeccable formality of his clothing, and his stolidity in his tone and action did little to argue against that perception.

"Don't you have a club to attend?" he asked even as he precisely unwrapped his sandwich to reveal the beautifully-made lunch inside the plastic cover. "Or doesn't your school do those?"

He had not planned on talking to the high schooler in the trees at first, but even a solemn man like him was capable of curiosity.

[AdmrlStalfos19]

Etsu continued to watch the screen on her phone when all of a sudden, a ghastly shriek stopped her in her tracks. There was no discerning where it could possibly come from or whether male or female was responsible, and the shrillness of the cry in question had cut Etsu to the bone. Her eyes, widened in alarm, slowly peered off the screen and in a forward trajectory.

"Wh-who's there?" Etsu called out in a hesitant manner.

Unfortunately, the only sound that came in reply was a second bloodcurdling scream off in the far yonder. It might've sounded as though it had a slightly different pitch, but it still had a feel of androgyny to it. In her shock and awe, Etsu scanned the hallway she was walking along, genuine concern for her own safety written all over her face. She was all alone, classrooms seemed to have been outright abandoned, and the only colors Etsu could see for yards to come were white, black, grey, red... were the walls of the school even red in color, from a normal standpoint? Etsu couldn't remember for the life of her, and she'd regret not even paying the slightest attention to such a detail, but right now she was more focused on trying to find out what the hell was going on.

"I swear, if this is supposed to be a prank or a jump scare, I'm gonna find the asshole who thought of it and punch him in the face," Etsu muttered to herself; with that off her chest, her nerves seemed to be stable for the moment. She scouted around cautiously, even taking the chance to look over her shoulder to ensure that no-one was stalking her from behind. As she did, she noticed something suspicious about the way the walls were now colored. She reached her left hand out and nearly touched the wall before suddenly recoiling in fright, fearful of what laid before her eyes upon a closer examination.

'Is this... blood?' Etsu wondered, overridden with confusion.

...

While she had her phone out, Etsu's first instinct was to dial for emergency services and hold it to her ear, praying that someone would pick up on the other end. She had to see if she could contact the outside world. If she couldn't, then what could she do?

[vancexentan]

@Crimmy

Hans stopped his jogging for a moment he wasn't even sure what was going on at first but someone was talking to him. He had almost ignored the man but that would've been rude. Hans stopped and awkwardly turned to face the man as he wiped some sweat off his brow. "Um sorry sir. I don't believe I...ummm how you say...I don't believe that I'm good with talking to my peers." Hans told the stranger. He wasn't sure if this man was just curious about a foreigner running about doing his own thing, or if he just wanted to make sure the kid wasn't doing anything weird. "I'm not comfortable all that much going to clubs. I'm not very good at anything but running around. And even then I'm pretty bad at most sports. I think my school has clubs but they just aren't for me sir." Hans repeated as he took a moment to catch his breath. If the old man was going to stop to question him he may as well take a chance to take a deep breath. "My uncle always use to tell me if you don't get along with people all too well you're best off going off and doing your own thing. I mean I don't think I'm doing anything wrong mister. I mean am I doing something I'm not suppose to? It's just physical training I don't mean to bother no one." Hans said respectfully looking down at his feet. He was hoping he didn't get in trouble...but knowing him he was probably bothering someone.

[Bornlucky]

^{Archery Field?}

Ryoma was deep in thought when the world around him suddenly changed. It looked like something out of a horror movie, with the darken atmosphere and blood like splatters on the walls, when Ryoma scanned the field in greater detail, the targets still had the arrows Jin and himself had shot into them, the red liquid seems to ooze out of it like a piecing wound. Ryoma felt nauseous looking at it. Ryoma felt fear and dread at the pit of his stomach.

Suddenly, shrill screams could be heard from somewhere from within the school, Ryoma's spine tingled and his blood turned cold. His legs were stiff and unable to move to even shift his weight around. Ryoma's hands tightly gripped onto the bow so tightly that his hands and knuckles were becoming numb and white.

Ryoma stood there paralyzed with fear and confusion for several minutes, or it felts like minutes it's impossible to tell time in this strange place that looked his school. Ryoma has heard of ghost stories where victims are trapped in a nightmare version of a place they knew and must escape by tricking the spirit or demon into letting them go. Ryoma would say such stories are silly nonsense but right now when he suddenly appeared in such a place, he couldn't help but believe in those stories. It's more believable than a prank or a hallucination, to him anyways. He has to leave, since in some ghost stories, they're said to hunt down the victims until they trapped themselves in a room without any escape routes, and the archery field lacks any such escape routes besides the entrance.

Ryoma let out a long sigh which finally his legs relaxed ever so slightly and were finally able to move. Ryoma grabbed several arrows to refill his quiver and he checked his bow, which seemed to be in good condition, at least good enough to defend himself if some monster comes out and attacks him. Ryoma walked to the door to leave the room, yet his hand hovered over the handle for a few moments, before steeling his nerves and pushing the door out of the way and he walked out of the archery field.

The hallway didn't look any better. Ryoma started to regret his decision to leave the archery field. But it's better to be out here and able to escape than the archery field where he's trapped. But that didn't make him feel any better.

[SMS]

@Sarcelle Renard

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room

---

Natsume turned her attention back to the president, and slightly got worried as he began spouting stuff about her being involved in something crazy. "B-but I-" At the corner of her vision she saw the vice president roll up a newspaper before bringing it over her head and smacking him with it, the girl flinching as the clump of paper connected with the blonde's head. It didn't look or sound too painful painful, but it did make an impression.

The older girl's words did calm her down, and smiled gently in reply towards her being welcomed to the club. "Thank you." She gave the older boy a sympathetic look. She found his antics to be done in light fun, perhaps keeping everybody in a positive attitude throughout the day. Although she wouldn't put it past somebody if they found him overbearing and decided to leave.

"Well then uh, what am I supposed to be doing now?" Now that she thought about it, she applied for the club without a particular role in mind. She could probably do anything they'd assign her to, she'd just try to avoid getting involved too much afterwards. She could write, if perhaps too academically, but at least she wouldn't be out of the room too much if she understood how the newspaper club was being run with this specific president in charge.

And then the world went silent.

"H-huh?" She blinked. And the vice president wasn't standing in front of her anymore. Or rather, she physically wasn't there anymore. At the far side, the walls were plastered with what looked like blood, and the one or two other students in the club room were also missing. "What just-?"

Natsume's eyes and head were darting all over the place, trying to understand what was going on, but the suddenness of what happened were giving her a bad impression. "People can't just disappear like that, right?" It wasn't just the people, all of the color that weren't on herself were gone. All black and white. All of the ambient noise now silent. The heavy atmosphere weighing down on her like a heavy rock trying to crush her.

A scream from outside the room startled her, which she thankfully managed to suppress before she herself shrieked by bringing her hands up to her mouth, albeit looking like a bright tomato afterwards. The girl was trying to calm herself down when she realized that she wasn't alone. After a moment, Natsume finally turned towards the only other person left with her. "H-hey, senpai? Are you doing alright?" She briefly wondered if she could call him 'senpai' already, but there were more pressing matters on hand. At the very least she herself didn't feel that much different from a few seconds ago. Perhaps just a little perplexed.

[Crimmy]

@AdmrlStalfos19

Uchima Senior High - Main Building, Hallway

There no reception. Nothing but hissing static, interrupted by regular but infrequent bursts of low noise. The phone was on, but Etsu was isolated. Alone in an ethereal grey counterfeit of a hallway. There was nothing around her. No students, no signs of any life. Just the dull, dizzying hum of stagnancy and the indistinct, distant screams.

Not even anything in that strange, distant corner.

Past the single locked and barricaded classroom to her right, extending deep into the darkness at the end of the hall, there was nothing there. Hiding around the corner was nothing. Except there was still a presence. Waiting.

Watching.

Rumbling feet. Quiet tapping. A noise - a sudden interruption to the monotony, somewhere far behind.

The presence in the corner waited.

That far behind rumblings seemed to shift.

[Savo]

Alexander Furst

---

@Crimmy @JBRam2002 @GarlandDaHero @Suku

---

Alexanders gazed at the frog suit in anticipation as he gave the costume one more poke... only for it to start toppling over. His eyes widened in surprised as he smashed the baton into the head as if he was a baseball player causing the head to fly back and topple onto the floor and rolled around for a bit. The headless frogs body summarily crumpled onto the floor at the boys feet. Sticking his tongue and squinting at the thing as if it was a rotten piece of carcass lead him to promptly kick the thing away.

That was an... experience. He felt as if his heart was going to pop out of his chest and sprint throughout the whole school. Ok then, that smack felt too real as he stood tall and dusted himself off with his other free hand. The more he glanced at the walls, the more shivers that traveled down his spine.

Alex nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard an uncharacteristically girlish and yet simultaneously chilling wail of... oh, it was just Suzune... Alex couldn't help but begrudgingly frown at the matter as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can see why you're in Drama Club now," he grumbled, nearly reverting back to his snarky attitude.

As soon as this predicament was all over, there was a voice as hard as his emanating from the door. Eyeing his classmate, he raised his finger, almost ready to correct her... before swiftly closing his mouth and glancing over at the reserved vice president. He inched his head down into a nod of respect; this guy had his Hamlet down.

But onto more pressing matters - they were all trapped in a school that looked as if Silent Hill and Corpse Party had a baby. At this point, he bet that they would all lack any sort of signal to contact the authorities and that their phones would be useless, save for having them as pseudo-flashlights.

... and then of course, she was trying to take control of this situation. Seriously - most of the people in this room vanished in a mere second and the whole school was bleeding. Either she had nerves of steel or was damn good at hiding her frightened nature.

"Oh good, you seem to have experience with this situation Isami-san," the sarcasm was just seething in his voice. "Dunno if I should be worried or not," he grumbled as he crossed his arms and looked over at Tweedledum and Tweedledee just standing there.

"But yes," Alex rapped on his baton as he raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side as he made sure his own eyes met with Isami-sans and pierced them. "Wandering around a forlorn and yet so familiar environment is such a great idea." The sarcasm was once again simmering as he just kept his posture, save for his head now swinging a little side to side.

"Okazaki-san, I will say that her going is very, very stupid," he dropped his boiling tone of voice and reverted back to the same, rock hard disposition he was earlier. Looking at the girls, neither of them looked like they could handle themselves in a scuffle and the vice president here just plain appeared to be ready to give up.

Letting out a sigh, he did know of an alternative way to void he utterly suicidal confidence she had.

"... but if we all go together, our chances of surviving will increase exponentially." Using his free hand, he jammed it into the recesses of his pockets and retrieved his phone. With one swift tap of his button, the light flashed on, displaying nothing but fizzling static and white noise. "And just as I guessed."

That definitely made him feel better. Flashing the phone to the vice president and others, he just kept his usual tone and glare as he continued. "Besides, none of us will be able to use our phones, so contacting the authorities and staying put would be completely asinine. That's also taking into consideration that we're all most likely stuck in the love child of Silent Hill and Corpse Party." Pressing the power button, the static flickered before darkening; Alex then proceeded to set it back in his pocket.

"So, shall we all head out," while it was seemingly a question, this was more or less him telling them they were all going to leave this room right now. Alex blinked as he slowly made his way towards the door... and he heard it.

His breath, his heart... he could feel the weight of them both, the sounds... the sounds... they were both as loud as the rippling cries of disembodied voices... ugh...

As much as he would of loved to wait in one place until things changed back to normal, it probably wasn't in their best interests.

[Crimmy]

@Bornlucky

Uchima Senior High - Practice Building????????, Hallway

The door into the practice building hallway offered no restitute for Ryoma. Equally eerie, the only companion the young man could find was the heavy, suffocating atmosphere. The dripping red of the walls seemed to distort when observed, slowly descending the sickly, monotonous plaster. There was no explanation for the state of the school. For why it had become this facsimile. For why there were the neverending screams so far in the distance.

The hallway extended into the darkness on both sides.

---

@vancexentan

NPC: The Park, Saturday Morning

"You aren't good at talking in general," said the middle-aged man flatly. He was brutally honest. "I have no clue if you're doing anything illegal, but the police wouldn't waste their time on stopping you from practice."

[Bornlucky]

^{Patrice Building?}

The air felt like smog as he breathed it in, it made his chest heavy physically and mentally with anxiety and fear. With closer inspection of the blood like substance oozing down the walls like freshly coat pain, luckily it hasn't rained down from the roof as of yet, but he should keep that to himself or else that fear will be proven reality .

Ryoma pulled his free hand closer to the bow string after he pulled a lone arrow out of the quiver. The constant screaming made him feel anxious and sick to his stomach as each new scream start up again. With the constant noise and heavy air, it made him feel sick and was giving him a headache. But he has to keep moving. And hopefully there's others here with him, at least for his sake, he didn't like the idea of others being here, but even a kind heart will ask for companionship in hell.

Ryoma glanced down both ways, making a quick judgement call. He decided to go to his left. Everybody picked right and if a demon is hunting him down, of course they would be waiting down the path their victims would most likely go down of. Ryoma took in another heavy breath and made his way leftwards and went down the damned hallway alone trying to ignore the constant screaming, but he couldn't, it was driving him mad with fear. When Ryoma was close to the corner he pulled at his bow string and readied it in front of him, preparing for the worst for whatever he should face from that corner. He hoped for nothing, he wishes it another prisoner of this place like him, he dreads if its the cause of all that screaming.

[vancexentan]

@Crimmy
Hans looked down at the ground underneath his feet and sighed. He didn't understand why this older gentleman was picking on him. He hadn't been doing anything wrong...well that ruined his good mood quite quickly. "Yes sir I'm rather useless aren't I? Is there something you needed from me? I don't exactly like to stop and talk to strangers. I mean no disrespect at all. It's just I don't know why you stopped me. I'm not causing any trouble for anyone I promise. I'm just exercising. And I'm sorry for my rather lame Japanese sir. As you can tell I'm not form here. I'm only good at basic Japanese to be honest." Hans said meekly he didn't want to get pushed around into the dirt today which is exactly why he didn't go to school for clubs. What was the point in doing anything but being a shut in if random people just started poking at him?

[Crimmy]

@Bornlucky

Uchima Senior High - Practice Building????????, Hallway

For the young man named Ryoma Mikami, there was nothing waiting. The corner revealed only the path towards the boundary between the practice building and the main classrooms. There was nothing that would be pierced by any arrow that flew true from the strings of his bow. There was merely the dull, endless screaming. No wind. No footsteps but his. Not even the crackling of the dead lights, no longer a source of warmth or illuminance.

Except ...

A cold, breezing wind came from the hallway he had left.

But if he moved forward, there was a shift of a shadow in the doors ahead. Past the boundary to the classrooms.

---

@vancexentan

"You talk too much too quickly."

The middle-aged man didn't really react much to the sudden meekness that the boy was adopting.

"So why exercise on a Saturday when most schools have classes? Why exercise than stay home?"

[JBRam2002]

Kimiko Maita

---

@Crimmy@Savo@GarlandDaHero@Suku

The idea that Suzune was more of a coward than Kimiko had never crossed her mind before now. She had always seemed tough before, ready to tear the head off any guy that approached. Was that all an act that faded as soon as real danger loomed? If Kimiko were not completely terrified herself, she might have thought more on the matter.

As it stood, the crumpled frog, deafening screech in her ear, and her classmates ready to storm the halls and fight did not seem to mix well with Kimiko. "I-is it really a good idea for any of us to leave?" Kimiko spoke up. "We know it is safe here, or at least, there is no immediate threat other than... whatever is on those walls." If Kimiko did not call it blood, then it did not need to be blood, or so she hoped.

Her words seemed to be doing little to slow down Frosty. "W-wait a minute! If you are set upon leaving, then perhaps we should find some way to arm ourselves first." She approached the prop weapons that were in the room and drew one, although her movements were less than perfect due to a certain misandrist hindering her. "These might not be real, but they should keep w-whatever is out there at bay. Unless you wish to go boxing with whatever entity did all of this." Kimiko gestured to their surroundings. Although serenity was not an option for her, she still attempted to keep her wits about her. It was the only advantage she had in a fight, after all.

[vancexentan]

@Crimmy

"I guess I can try talking less." Hans said passively trying to scrounge up what little words he could and still get to the point he had. "It's because I like exploring the world. It's big, vast, and has all sorts of mysteries. By improving my body with climbing, and parkour I can see the world through a new angle. In other words I can stay healthy, and see new places without much hassle, or needing money." Hans explained as simply as possible. "But sir may I ask why you want to know? I'm just some kid doing what he does best. It's nothing interesting."

[Bornlucky]

^{Patrice Building?}

When Ryoma turned the corner, and seen no monster nor spirit, he let out a small sigh of relief, but yet his stomach was twisting and turning and his mind was clouded with an aching pain as the dulling yet endless screaming went deeper and deeper into his head as if it was driving an ice pick into his ears and twisting it around violently in his head.

Ryoma lowered his bow and loosen his grip on the arrow and bowstring. A chill went down his spine as Ryoma could feel a small breeze blew past him from the hallway he just left. Ryoma let out another worried sigh and made his way forward with the bow and arrow ready for any possible dangers.

Suddenly, Ryoma seen a movement of shadows ahead of him, he held his breath after he let out a small yelp like noise and pointed his bow and arrow at the direction of the shadow. It looked like the shadows was by the classrooms, if Ryoma stays quiet they might not sense him, but in ghost stories, the shadow will notice him nevertheless even if he stays quiet, Ryoma out of his best judgement, decided to let loose an arrow and aim at the door frame it is by. If it's a person he can say he thought they were something else, but if it's not, well, he's wants to make the first move.

Ryoma lifted his bow to eye level and pulled the arrow and string back and launched it forward and it aimed right and true at the nearby door frame, the sound should be loud enough for the shadow to notice it, Ryoma secretly hopes its a person, at least a misunderstanding better than the source of the screaming, just slightly.

[GarlandChaos]

@Crimmy @Suku @Savo @JBRam2002

That damned snow cone (sod it, that's what she decided she'd call Furst from now on) apparently didn't consider poking the costume to be enough, so he smacked it with a baton like a baseball player. The action was enough to draw a brief yet hauntingly shrill shriek from Suzune's vocal cords as she tightened her grip on Kimiko. "St-Stop it, you idiot! There could've been an actual person still alive in there!" That comment about how fitting it was that the misandrist was in drama club didn't help matters any either. Gods, she just wanted to tear that stupid foreigner to shreds!

Kimiko had a point about not exiting the room. Only the gods knew what horrors would await them if they stepped outside. However, Suzune figured that she should be able to keep at least her sanity in check if she stuck beside her shrine maiden love interest. She was managing to keep a level head throughout all of this, somehow. Gods bless her soul.

After the miko had chosen an impromptu weapon, Suzune finally released her grip on the slightly older girl and took a few deep breaths. "Maita-sama's right. If we want any hope of getting through this hellhole high school, we'll need to be prepared." She then began looking around the room in search of anything (or things) that could be used as makeshift weapons.

Suzune's eyes soon fell on a table with various tools on it. Of particular interest to the dark-haired girl was a hammer and a few nails, the latter of which being inside a plastic container. Smirking, she briskly walked over to her find, grabbed the hammer, and slipped the box of nails inside one of her hoodie pockets. Turning the blunt instrument around in her hands, the misandrist chuckled. "I think it's time for a little school improvement. Ready whenever you are, Maita-sama."

[Crimmy]

@Bornlucky

Uchima Senior High - Practice Building -> Classroom Building????????

Wood shuddered and splintered. The arrow struck true, piercing the frame with all the force of Ryoma's bow. A high-pitched shriek. It could have blended into the chorus of cries that never left the grey fake of the school. Except it was a shriek of panic. Of complete shock. Of utter fear. A feminine shriek. A figure dashed away from the shadows and into the dim light of the hallway. Its motions were frantic. It tripped. A human shriek. A human cry of pain.

Even on the floor, it tried to scramble away.

She tried to scramble away.

She wore the same uniform as every other student of Uchima Senior High. Her pale hair was tied back, but at some point in the panic, it had loosened into a mess. The expression on her face was a mix of pain, fear and despair, and with every movement of her leg a wince could be seen. There was a notebook clutched tightly in her hand, paper crumpling as she gripped onto it with a force born from fright. At a closer glance, however, Ryoma would quickly be able to recognise her. Ai Hanazawa. Member of the Drama Club. A fellow third-year from one of the other classes.

"H-huh?!" she managed to blurt out, her panic dying down somewhat as she caught sight of Ryoma. Her voice still trembled with fear, but the sight of the other student had a slight calming effect. "Is ... I-is that you, Mikami-kun?"

There was a pleading note in her tone. As if she couldn't believe the boy was real. As if it could have been an illusion.

"O-oh," she said a second later, voice growing small as the energy in her slowly began to subside. "It is you."

It wasn't fake.

"Don't scare me like that!" Hanazawa cried out, sheer relief evident in her voice, only to wince as she tried to stand up. "You nearly - ow - shot me! Don't do that ever again okay?!"

Complete and utter relief.

[Suku]

Kagami Isami

---

@Crimmy@Savo@GarlandDaHero@JBRam2002

"You are right going together is the best course of action at this moment sorry just this situation is unnerving me a bit to much and there could be others in danger." Kagami said as she thought about it there was bound to be someone out there beyond them it was just going to be hard trying to find them. "I already have my weapon right here." Kagami continued hoisting her katana bag onto the floor and unzipping the black cloth revealing her polished brown bokken. Grabbing the handle lightly she held it loosely at her side where she would be able to quickly strike should the need arrive. "It seems we are ready so shall we go?" Kagami asked loosening the kendogi a little bit allowing for me freedom of use in her arms. The difference in terms of clothing between her and others clear to see. Her being in the traditionally assigned kendo uniform of the school compared to the school uniform of the others.

[Sarcelle Renard]

Yuuhei Seiho

Saturday Morning – Newspaper Club Room?

---

”Eh?” the noise escaped him almost involuntarily, as while Natsumi’s question seemed quite innocuous, it was actually quite the bureaucratic conundrum for the president.

Yuuhei scratched the back of his head sheepishly, as he didn’t actually consider what position the girl could potentially fill when he accepted her application. They had plenty of writers and the president served as the main editor for the paper, so saddling her with either of those jobs seemed like a waste of resources. But at the same time, the white haired girl certainly didn’t seem to be the type to be jump at the chance to be an interviewer, but maybe she would continue to surprise him? That sounded too hopeful, even to Yuuhei, and part of him was honestly worried that he might scare her off yet at this rate.

Thankfully, reality decided to relieve the president from his unenviable positon for a bit and went on break.

In the blink of an eye, Yuuhei found himself in a place that looked remarkably similar to the Newspaper Club room that he knew and loved, but with some key differences that made him feel all kinds of unpleasant. The first, and perhaps most obvious, thing that he noticed was off had to be the monochrome palette that the world had taken on. The change was so sudden in fact that the blond actually thought he had found a way to turn off the rods in his eyes, but a quick look at his own hand quickly informed him that was not the case.

Next was the eerie screaming, which he could not even come close to estimating an origin of no matter how hard he strained his ears. Not that he was entirely sure that he wanted to find out what was making it even if he could. And then of course there was the odd patch of color on the wall, which was almost a relief until he realized it was a viscous red. Needless to say, that little fact did nothing to settle the guy’s nerves.

Speaking of which, unnerved was an incredibly good word to describe the president’s current state. His mouth had gone annoyingly dry. At some point his hands had balled themselves into tight fists. It was difficult to make out his own thoughts between the constant screaming and his own pounding heartbeat. Saika was gone. Wait, where did she go? A lot more questions poured in, all doing their utmost to grab his attention, overwhelming him and threatening to throw him into a panic. Yet… underneath it all was a part of him that couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of getting to the bottom of this ridiculous situation.

”Yuuhei is fine,” the president replied reflexively with an almost robotic tone, momentarily not even fully registering that someone had called out to him. It was, however, thankfully enough to pull him back to whatever deranged interpretation of reality he found himself in. His eyes refocused and for the first time he noticed that Natsumi was still with him. As their eyes met, there was an attempt made for one of his usual smiles, but he could tell it wasn’t as convincing as he would have liked.

”I’m fine now,” he reassured the first year, wishing that circumstances were just a bit more relaxed enough to allow him to poke fun at her bright red face. ”You wouldn’t happen to know what exactly we got caught up in, do you?”

---

@SMS

[Crimmy]

@Suku@GarlandDaHero@Savo@JBRam2002

NPC: Jihei Okazaki - Drama Clubroom?????, Saturday Morning

Okazaki did not hide his quiet sigh at the unwarranted assault upon the prone form of the abandoned frog costume that his missing fellow dramatist had been enclosed within mere minutes before. Even if its appearance could be frightening, to attack it such vigorously was too excessive an action, although an understandable result of the situation they had found themselves in. However, the costume was still a part of their club wardrobe, and if they were to successfully escape this eerie realm, it would be necessary to make repairs. At least the damage appeared to consist mostly of scuffing, but he would need to take a closer look to properly assess it.

Except, it was not the time and place to do so; the other four students present had chosen to venture out of the clubroom to find out what had transpired. It was amazing how they could adjust so well to the frightening change of scenery, but given the strange calm that was dulling all his worries and fears, there was little room for him to truly decipher their psyches for how they could so easily take action. Simply more eccentricities that would elude him.

To venture out in a group, in any case, was a logical enough choice of action if they were to learn the truth. Waiting would provide a sense of security, but the introverted vice president knew as well as them that they could not simply sit aimlessly like shipwrecked sailors clinging onto a raft in the hopes that a passing vessel would rescue them from the freezing waters; the chances that anyone could save them seemed slim.

He squatted down next to his chair, quietly unscrewing one of the wooden legs. If there was danger, it would be of little help, but it was, as the others had stated, better than nothing. They would need to face any threat with their best, like the shite of Dōjō-ji, but if they failed, it could be a possibility that their deaths were to follow. The thought flittered through his mind almost carelessly. He wondered why he was so unworried. It was admittedly a rather morbid and sudden conclusion to come to, and one would expect more worry, but it seemed distant to him. Only the fates of his fellows were a source of unease, but it was clear, even from the outside, that the subdued young man had managed to clamp down on the initial shock with a reserved aura.

"Lead on then ... Isami-san?" he said, the unfamiliar name dancing on the tip of his tongue. The chair leg was held in his left hand. His eyes glanced over to the second-year kendoka. It had been her proposition to leave, so he would follow.

---

@vancexentan

NPC: The Park, Saturday Morning

"Hmm, you won't have much time to explore when you're no longer a kid," said the middle-aged man as he chewed on part of his sandwich. "Not that there's many angles for you to see the world from."

He glanced down at his watch for a second to check the time.

"And for why I ask? No reason. Just entertaining myself before my employers call me back from this lunch break."