SMS

Persona - Academic Akrasia

@Sarcelle Renard @chukklehed @Crimmy

Natsume Natsumi(?); Saturday Morning - Practice Building?

---

Charge in, stop the monster for a bit, grab the girl and run. It sounded like a good idea at the time. If it went well, they would have gotten away safe and sound. Except for the broom maybe. If only the monster wasn't so powerful though. Her attempt at an attack was easily neutralized, and not even a second later she found herself being punched in the gut by a fist that she didn't see coming in her tunnel vision.

The air was knocked out of her as she flew back for a few meters. The sudden sensation proved to be a horrific experience for the white haired girl. For the entirety that she spent in the air, she was frozen and unable to breathe. A few seconds felt like minutes.

Eventually her body crashed back down onto the ground and it wasn't exactly gentle like she had hoped it would be. Although her back hit the floor first, the back of her head slammed hard from the force of the impact. A muted cry escaped her lips as her body instinctively turned to the side and curled up to try and protect her head from the immense pain she was feeling. Like her skull was being crushed and slowly suffocated.

Her breathing was short and ragged, her body trembling. The world felt like it was spinning even through her forcefully closed crying eyes. There was a loud ringing in her ears that wouldn't go away that was clouding her hearing. The girl trapped in her own bubble of pain.

Persona - Academic Akrasia

@Sarcelle Renard @chukklehed @Crimmy

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Practice Building?

---

Something inside of Natsume stopped working the second she laid eyes on whatever the hell was chasing the girl that was desperately running for her life. The sight of it defied anything and everything that the girl knew. "T-that can't be real, right?" With a sound that was disturbingly inhumane, all of the red pools of liquid on the walls suddenly made a little more sense.

Blood.

She started to feel sick to her stomach and she began to tremble. Short strained breaths. Her weapon suddenly starting to feel useless in the face of this monstrosity. Fear enveloping her entirely. Her eyes wide open, with diluted pupils, couldn't tear themselves away from the being that was in front of them.

All of Natsume's being was screaming to get away from it.

She wanted to scream. But no words came out.

She wanted to move. She wanted to run.

But her body wasn't responding.

She was frozen in place. Not even a scream could escape her.

"I'm... going to die here?"

The inhuman figure got closer and closer.

"I'm going to..."

...

...

"Change of plans, Natsumi-chan. Take the girl and run."

"-uh?"

"N-Natsu...mi?" Wait. Was that her name? Was the blonde talking about her? "Y-yeah, I think that was my name." Her neck barely turned to look at the person beside her, as her eyes finally managed to pry themselves from the horror in front of them. From the corner of her vision she could see a smile on his face. "Why does he-?"

Her eyes went back forward, and the girl from before was now on the ground.

"Move."

The monstrosity was getting closer to her.

"Damn it, move!"

Without so much of a resolve, the white haired girl found the strength to push her legs forward as she let out an undignified desperate battle cry.

This is stupid. She will die against that thing if this charge with a broom was all she had. She probably wouldn't even faze it. "But I have to do something!" Somebody needed help, and as futile as it might be, she had to at least try.

Once she felt the distance was right, she stopped beside the black haired girl and gave a wide swing from the side using her broom towards the monster. While she wasn't aiming for anything in particular, she tried for the head since it looked like the most logical thing to aim for when you're trying to kill something.

Persona - Academic Akrasia

@Sarcelle Renard @chukklehed @Crimmy

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room?

---

CLICK

Natsume blinked, before slowly turning back into a tomato as she realized that the president had suddenly snapped a picture of her without warning. "Yuuhei-senpai, please delete that immediately." Her voice suddenly a little more serious. She tried to not let her anger and embarrassment show much, but her eyebrows probably gave it away. Not that she minded her picture being taken, but she disliked it when people did it without her consent. The girl often found herself weird looking in candid photos, and so wanted to avoid them as much as possible. She was just about to try and get the camera out of his hands when he stopped twirling it in his fingers and pocketed the device. "I'll get you next time." She took note of which pocket it was in, hopefully finding a moment later on to grab it and delete the photo before the president could get it back from her.

"W-well... I don't know." Natsume replied as she scratched the back of her head with her hand. "I guess it just hasn't hit me that this is all happening. For all I know, I may have fainted the moment I entered this room and this is all just a dream." A deep breath before pinching her cheek with her other hand and wincing a bit at the slight pain it brought. "It feels pretty realistic actually..." A pause. "The screaming doesn't help though." It still all felt so surreal to her.

The girl eyed the broom that the blonde was offering her. It was about a head or so taller than she was, so it would have at least give her the reach to make up for her shorter stature. Natsume took the broom into her hands and noted its weight and sturdiness. It'll probably last until she graduates if used properly, but it probably won't last the night if it was used as a weapon. "Well, it's either we get hurt or the clubroom gets a little dirty until they get a replacement." She was silently hoping that she wouldn't actually have to use it as a weapon against something. The girl proceeded to grip it like a sword and took a few steps back to give her some space to feel it out. Natsume gave the makeshift weapon a few slow and wide swings. "Too heavy on the brush side to use it like a sword." At the end of the second swing, she slid her hand closer to the center before swinging it again. At the top, she twirled the broom in her fingers a few times before catching the side with the head with her other hand. The shifted weight felt better in her hands, and was satisfied with it. "Yes, this'll work." A small smile creeping up on her lips. It was no spear, but it'll get the job done.

"Alright, so where do you want to start making noi-" Natsume was cut off by a loud scream. And her eyes widened when it sunk in. It was a different kind of loud.

It sounded like it came from an actual human. Female.

It sounded desperate. Scared. Very scared.

And it was close.

Her eyes went to meet Yuuhei's, but before she could wait for his reaction, she found herself bolting out of the room and trying to locate the owner of the scream. After a moment, a second scream came, and this was much clearer. As the girl turned to source of the desperate sound, she found the owner running out of the hallway bathroom to be a girl around her age. Black hair, wide open eyes, scared out of her wits.

"Hey! What's wrong?" She shouted towards the newcomer. The first words she said may have sounded cliched, but if she could identify what was making the girl have such a scary look on her face, then maybe she could find a way to help her calm down. Natsume kept an eye on the girl, carefully watching her to note of any injuries.

Kingdom Hearts: The Lights of the Multiverse Redux [No Longer Full]

As everything was going down, she kept an eye on the newcomer. He was being awfully quiet, but she chalked it up as to him just being awkward maybe. And shrugged it off as more lasers and gunfire covered the skies and brought her attention back to the comms. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but it sounded like they were now on the offensive after something failed on the Space Station 13's end.

"Alright, so what's the plan when we get inside?" So many things were happening at the same time too quickly. One moment they were being contacted by the space station, then Nails' group's hostage situation, then Mantis' appearance, and now they were suddenly on the offensive. "Can't they give us a second to breathe?"

"Are we aiming to take control of the space station?" Honestly, she has no clue as to how space stations were being run. But it sounded like the logical thing to do for her, besides negotiation which was thrown out the window almost immediately.

Persona - Academic Akrasia

@Sarcelle Renard

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room?

---

From how the president talked about his right hand man, erm... woman, it seemed that Natsume was correct about them being close. They seemed familiar enough with each other to be able to bicker like they did earlier. "Childhood friends? Maybe freshman year?" Although she was curious, it wasn't that much of a priority right now.

Finding a way out would be the most logical thing to do-

"Wha-?" Yuuhei had other ideas apparently. As he pulled out one of the darts inside a box that he produced from somewhere, the girl raised an eyebrow. "Please don't tell me he plans on actually exploring this pla-", and subsequently mentally facepalmed as he immediately confirmed her worry.

It looked like this portion of the rumors really wasn't exaggerated one bit. The one where the president of the newspaper club wouldn't back down from something interesting. And in his eyes, this situation they were in was interesting. Although Natsume could see why, there was just far too many things she didn't know about the place and events that prevented her from sharing his bravery and enthusiasm.

After what felt like several seconds flying by, the girl finally blinked a few times and got a hold of herself as the blonde's suggestion sunk in. After shaking her head and clearing her throat, she gave his plan of action some serious thought. At the very least it was better than staying in this room and waiting for something to happen. Although she wasn't looking forward to actually executing it. Who knows what they'd run into in this place?

"I can't say I'm completely against it. But... darts?" An eyebrow was raised again. It'll probably hurt a lot if he jams it into somebody hard enough, but surely he wasn't planning on bringing the box too? They only have four hands available, and she can't dedicate her own just to hold it.

"Don't you have something else that I can use here?" She said as she looked around the almost empty club room. He mentioned arming themselves with pointy things, so the first thing that came to mind was a sword. Highly doubting she'd actually locate one here. Natsume, howeer, remembered that she couldn't even wield one properly due to her handedness. Though it was less about her own dexterity and more about nobody in her area having the experience to teach a southpaw how to even hold a sword properly.

Although she did spend some time sitting in her friend's training sessions on using a naginata many few years back. While she never got to use one herself, she did often play pretend with whatever long stick that she could grab and whack it a few times against pillar before she got caught. If she ever finds herself in possession of one in this situation, it would go a long way in making her feel a little more comfortable than she is right now.

Kingdom Hearts: The Lights of the Multiverse Redux [No Longer Full]

Mai quietly walked over to where James was motioning her. The girl didn't understand what was going on with what he was looking at, still very much out of touch with this technology. "Uh James, I think I might be the worst person to ask about that," she whispered to him while covering her mouth with her hand as she leaned closer to him. "But if you had to make me guess, probably?" She continued while tilting her head to the side a little.

A few moments later, Seth had walked in through a portal with somebody. "Another one?" The crew was certainly getting crowded with each passing day. She still hadn't found out who that other girl was back when they were fighting against Walpurgisnacht. Since that day however, they didn't reappear again and she thought if they were still hiding somewhere. The swordswoman raised an eyebrow as she scanned the features of the newcomer. "Suspicious." Although, the gas mask was what probably bothered her about the new guy. Nevertheless, she waved to him in a friendly manner. "Hi, welcome to the team."

For the next few minutes, she kept quiet as Drake pretty much decided to offer himself for the hostage. It was dangerous and was obviously a trap and she wanted to protest about it, but she wasn't one for politics such as what was happening. If she opened her mouth, she probably could just make the situation worse. "Just be careful, Drake." She forced out as she battled with her inner turmoil about the situation.

She continued to stay silent when the message from Space Station 13 arrived. This time she couldn't hide her frustration and anger. "It's not like they got us pinned down, but what can we do about this?" The whole statement came out perhaps a little shakily. Hostages weren't a thing that she liked dealing with, and with an entire populace resting on their shoulders, it wasn't an easy choice.

Persona - Academic Akrasia

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room?

---

Natsume's body tensed as Yuuhei's response felt like it was on instinct, before he met her gaze and seemed to have regained his consciousness. His forced smile certainly didn't help putting her at ease just yet. "I wish I had an answer for that, Y-Yuuhei-... senpai." Although he said that his first name would have worked fine, she still found it awkward for her to suddenly be on a first name basis with the upperclassman she just met not even five minutes ago and so tacked the honorific on at the end.

"Where did Oshino-senpai go?" For all the ridiculous rumors she had heard about the president and the newspaper club, a prank or whatever this was seemed too elaborate and too sudden just to welcome a new member. His response seemed to be genuine though, so she was able to discern that he probably wasn't behind this and relaxed a little. Natsume looked over her shoulder and found that the hallway was the same as the club room, empty and devoid of life. And shortly after peeked outside to see that it extended throughout the floor it seems. The screaming sounded like it was coming from somewhere, but she couldn't tell what or where it was coming from.

The girl stepped back inside and collected herself. Now that she has managed to take in some deep breaths, she noticed how suffocating the stagnant air felt for her. It wasn't restrictive, but the girl noted that it might make breathing difficult if they were to do something labor intensive to get out or something. At least her walking sessions were being useful for once.

A small idea popped into her head and she reached into her pocket to grab her smartphone and flipped it open. She didn't really use it much outside of calling and texting her parents and storing media she could listen to, so its simplicity was perfect for her. Her gut feeling was correct though, she didn't have any reception in this place. But that wouldn't stop her from trying at least. She sent a message to her mother that just read "test". After a few seconds later, and sure enough, the message failed to send. This feels like it's out of some horror film that her dad loves to watch during the weekends. The girl sighed as she rubbed her forehead for a few seconds before slipping the phone back into her pocket and turning back to Yuuhei.

"So uh, what should we do for now?" Natsume was hoping that he had something in mind besides sitting here and waiting for something to happen. Like the rest of the club reappearing. "Should we try looking for other people?" If she and the blonde were here, then there's a good chance that somebody else got caught in whatever this prank or situation was. Although she did wonder why the vice president and the other members of the newspaper club weren't here and only the two of them were present.

Persona - Academic Akrasia

@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.

Kingdom Hearts: The Lights of the Multiverse Redux [No Longer Full]

As long as there're people interested, I'll continue to be here. Admittedly I've just been trying to regain my inspiration to write because my last university term killed most of it.

Persona - Academic Akrasia

@Sarcelle Renard

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room

---

The girl stood her ground as the blonde sized her up for a moment before taking the application from her. She carefully observed him as he scanned the paper, doubtful perhaps of her intention to join the club. Natsume nodded to confirm her name, but then quickly realized that he was facing away from her and backpedaled after clearing her throat. "Yes, that is correct."

"Seiho Yuuhei..." Yes, that was the name she heard about a while back. It seems she was correct about him being the president. Anyone who can turn a 180 just like that doesn't come by often. Especially with his calculating eyes as he took her in earlier. The girl peeked over his shoulder as he gestured towards the vice president in the back. The glare she was shooting the guy made Natsume flinch a little. "I'm guessing they're close. And she must be the one wearing the pants between the two of them." She shyly waved her hand at the vice president, while mentally noting to avoid angering the dark haired girl in the future if she really does bite like the blonde had described. A sight she hoped she wouldn't ever be the focus of. "It's a pleasure to meet you both," she replied before bowing her head in respect for her upperclassmen.

Natsume took another half-step back as Yuuhei spun towards her before kneeling in front of her. And she blinked a few times at his declaration. "I-I'm in?" A few more blinks. She then let out a small sigh of relief before slumping her shoulders a little. While she wasn't expecting a flat out rejection due to his actions a few moments earlier, she wasn't expecting an outright acceptance either.

"I-is this really alright, though?" She asks him before glancing over to the vice president. If she really did wear the pants in their relationship, shouldn't Yuuhei have consulted with her at least? Then again, he technically was the president of the club so maybe he had some authority in this domain.