bokukaren | IC Contact : Unable to be Reached

[It's surprisingly empty at the moment. If it wasn't, he would have picked somewhere else, where they could talk more privately, but considering the circumstances... this is where the bodies were before. It seems fitting.]

Good. You're here. [He looks toward his guest, and there's a pause, and a shift. Seeing his face makes him angry again; it's not the thinly concealed seething behind a smile from before, but something more raw. He was going to try to be calmer, ask questions, but he just ends up yelling instead.]

How can you just smile like that?! [Pot, kettle. People have thrown the same accusation at him before, but right now he doesn't see the irony.] You said it would be fine!

[ Daisuke flinches, cringes away at the raise of that voice, a shocked expression on his face. It's utterly obvious that he hadn't expected this, at first at least, because once the words register, his head starts to bow.

In contrast, his voice is soft, apologetic. ]

I-I'm sorry, I... I can't say things turned out fine, 'cause I didn't finish the ritual and the ghost is still in there but... The others, they're okay, they came back.

That's not the point! [It's supposed to be comforting, but it's the opposite. Because the fact that they came back doesn't mean he didn't drag them in there or there weren't bodies hanging from the ceiling. Or worse, the part that caught in Souji's mind from before: he's still talking like that wasn't the end of it.]

What happens next time? Will they always come back? Can you promise that?! [It's rhetorical, because he saw someone stain a wall with blood before disappearing through a door. The blood is still there, but the student isn't. He knows not everyone comes back, but he doesn't know why.]

[ Is it not? Daisuke looks at a loss for a moment, his hands bunching into fists against his thighs as he tries not to interject, voice raising a little. ]

They will! I- [ There's an uncertain pause, his gaze flickering downward as if something has distracted him, and then he looks up with more surety again. ] They'll come back, I promise. And next time it'll go the way it was supposed to.

So there really is going to be a next time.

[That was the question he'd wanted to ask, above anything else. Maybe he could forgive it once, but again? It hadn't gone right the first time, so promises about a second attempt fall on deaf ears. It doesn't matter how confident Daisuke thinks he is; Souji won't believe him.]

[Niko'd been wandering the hallway when he heard voices from the study hall. It sounded loud enough it slowed his stride for a moment, his head automatically turning towards the door with dim curiosity, before he shook his head. Wasn't his business.

[Until, just when he turned away, he heard snatches of words that made him stop instantly (one voice soft and harder to make out, the other loud, clear, seething anger): 'ritual...still there...they're okay...came back'; '...What happens next time? Will they always come back?'; '...next time it'll go the way it was supposed to....'; 'so there really is going to be a next time'...]

[At first, there was just bemusement on his face. Then, as he he picked up more, his muscles unconsciously tensed and his eyes narrowed. He didn't have the full context or even know for sure what they were talking about but his mind centered specifically on 'come back', 'next time', and, most strongly, 'ritual' - the last word, in any context, was enough to set Niko on edge but especially in this place.

[Without thinking about it, he opened the door loudly and suddenly. Just as suddenly, he asked, eyes locked on the two occupants there]

What's supposed to happen 'next time'?

Edited 2015-08-24 00:09 (UTC)

[Eiji really hasn't been in the best shape lately, feeling the intense need to help others. The moment he hears the voices, he stops.]

That's Daisuke's voice. And...

[Souji, he remembers. Souji, who'd also been taken with him. Who had a sword.

He runs in.]

What's going on?

[ He opens his mouth to answer, but the very sudden, unexpected arrivals have him stilling and opting not to, especially when they both seem so keen on knowing what's happening.

Daisuke lifts his hands, palms facing outward in a placating gesture as he smiles a little at Eiji, gaze flickering from him to the other student he doesn't recognize. ]

Everything's fine, we were just, uh, talking about some stuff. About the game.

[The new arrivals are possibly unfortunate. They don't distract him, though. After a brief flick to see who those were--the guy from the hallway the other day, and one he hadn't met but who seemed to also want to know what this was all about--his eyes are fixed back on Daisuke.]

I think you were about to answer a question. That one about "next time."

[Niko noted the guy who entered right after him. However, he seemed as clueless as Niko was so Niko turned his attention back to the other two. The mention of 'the game' makes Niko's heart skip and his eyes narrow further. There'd only been one notable 'game' or ritual that stuck out. Niko's voice becomes flatter, lower.]

....You mean Hide-And-Seek-Alone?

Edited 2015-08-24 01:15 (UTC)

There's going to be another game?

[Now, he really doesn't know what to do. That game can't happen again, but he still doesn't believe Daisuke was trying to hurt anyone. Still, he's pretty sure Souji's more likely to.]

And what are you trying to do? If you wanted answers, you'd just call, right?

Y-Yes. [ He answers simply, quietly, at first, and there's a long pause of consideration(?) as he glances off to the side before continuing. ]

He texted but this seemed easier... [ He trails off, looking at Souji uncertainly - those had been his words, not Daisuke's. ] I'm gonna try to do the ritual again, and this time it'll go right. People might not wanna join at first but I gotta do this, so I hope some'll still come.

[Souji's eyes flick to Eiji for a split second at that question. He's smart, he'll give him that. Souji had wanted answers, but those answers would decide what he'd do. Now, that possibility has just become a certainty. There's going to be another game, and Daisuke isn't going to be talked out of it. So there's only one solution--one Eiji may have predicted, so Souji needs to act now, before he has a chance to get in the way.

There's a practiced flick at the hilt of his sword.]

Sorry, but I can't let you do that.

[No sooner are the words out of his mouth than his sword is unsheathed and coming at Daisuke. It's not Saitou's single strike; there's time to see, and time to react. But not much.]

[It was multiple confirmations: first, that this really was fucking Hide-and-Seek-Alone; second, the 'next time' was really trying to do it all over again; third, this guy was infamous Daisuke, the guy who might've been related to the kid in the courtyard and but had definitely been the person responsible for what happened last month.

[Niko's eyes widened at first from the realization but then narrowed into a sheer, rage-filled glare. He'd told Narumiya he would 'try' to listen and he would 'try' not to 'harass' the guy if he met him but now that he'd actually come across him all of Niko's instincts were saying otherwise. His body trembled from what Daisuke said and he unconsciously, quickly stepped closer, not fully sure of what he was going to do. He had intended to say something, his mouth starting to open, when the other guy said something first.

[Niko's head turned in time to see a the flick of the hilt (and now finally registered the sword) and the sword unsheathing. Any words he was about to say died, his heart stopped, his eyes were no longer locked on Daisuke but the sword, and the words 'I can't let you do that' stuck out in Niko's mind, spelling clear firmly what was happening. If this'd been another time in another place, Niko might've had time to think about things, such as what exactly Daisuke deserved (even him and Narumiya had talked about it), why this guy had a fucking sword, and if this guy was just going crazy like a lot of other people right now.

[In that moment, though, Niko simply registered 'sword' and 'someone in danger', regardless of the target. On sheer impulse, he threw himself at the guy to tackle or push the guy - anything to redirect the coming strike.]

Edited 2015-08-24 02:26 (UTC)

[Eiji had the same impulse at the same time--don't think, just go. At the same time Niko moved, he did too, leaping to tackle Souji before that sword could hit. If it put himself in danger, he didn't even notice anymore--he just reacted.]

[ Daisuke's reaction is belated, perhaps due in part to both his naivety and how quick and skilled Souji obviously is. He barely has time to move, only managing a half-step backwards, where his heel connects with the lowest step leading into the study hall.

He stumbles, wincing as he falls back onto the upper level, and then stares up at the unfolding scene before him with unadulterated shock and panic on his features.

Someone's going to get hurt. That's all he can think about with how inevitable it seems, the four of them moving near simultaneously in different reactions, and he can barely manage a shout to all of them. ]

S-Stop-!

[Souji is good at reading motion around him, and more than once has he succeeded in taking down several people all attacking him with swords. Two wildly attempting to tackle him constitutes a minor distraction at most. He dodges easily, leaving them more likely to run into each other than into him, and continues as if there had been nothing blocking his way.

Unfortunately, that sidestep gave Daisuke time to react, clumsily dodging, and telling him to stop, as if that would do any good at all. As confused as he's been the past couple days, maybe it would have, except he's already thought this through. The only thing that needs to be stopped here is a threat.

Daisuke won't be able to dodge this time. It's almost too easy.]

[ "Too easy" is always the great deceiver. Perceptive as one might be, the quiet and subtle movements from overhead go completely unnoticed. One of the tiles has been moved slowly, opening up a dark and unsafe place. If any of them have noticed anything, it might be a sound in their ear, easily passed off as one's ear ringing, as one might hear after listening to something loud for too long. Something was preparing; and its participation lasts no more than a second.

When Niko and Eiji's efforts have clearly failed, they'll both find that the ground below them has inexplicably changed, and together lose their balance and fall back, away from Souji and Daisuke. From the opening ceiling tile, something drops down, heavy and fast, breaking the frame of the ceiling. As it drops, the air breaks -WOOMP- and the Thing crashes down over Souji, crushing him just a foot away from Daisuke, before any damage could be done to the boy. Only Daisuke would have glimpsed the scene in its entirety.

By the time Eiji and Niko are able to turn back and see what had happened, all that is left are the results. Souji lays on the ground, his sword arm pulled off from the pressure while the rest of his corpse has been flattened out. Bones stick out. His head is crushed. Blood covers the now heavily indented floor, and splatters of it may be found on all three of the boys. If any of them think to look up, it seems the frame of the ceiling has broken and buckles downward. One of the nearest lights has shattered completely, and sparks flare up inside of the plastic cover. From the once open ceiling tile, they'll have just enough time to glimpse Souji's sword disappearing into the shadows of a half closed tile, which closes completely the instant it's gone.

A low rumble can be heard in the ceiling for a few moments longer, and then disappears. When Souji wakes up from death his sword will be missing, but a letter in his locker indicates it has been temporarily confiscated and can be picked up already by the time he has come back from the dead. Eiji and Niko will receive a new, clean white shirt each. Daisuke will continue to be protected. ]

[It happened too fast. Niko remembered things in a blur: Niko had good reflexes but the guy with the sword dodged with barely a blink; the other guy had also jumped in and Niko smacked right into him as he turned to try again (his ears were ringing - had he collided that hard or was that just the adrenalin?); he'd lost his balance, partially because of prior smacking, but mostly because the ground suddenly felt it'd been pulled out from under him and he fell sideways, elbows first, onto one of the nearby tables.

[He didn't see what happened but he heard the heavy, fast, crashing 'WOMP' and felt something splash against him. Before thinking or even being consciously aware of what happened, his heart stopped and his entire body went rigid: he knew exactly what that smell was; he'd been smelling it occasionally for weeks now. He looked up, half-expecting and half-dreading to see Daisuke's slashed up body.

[The sight promptly freeze in place save his laboured breathing, made worse by his unwanted gagging and his painfully, pounding heart. He stumbled back against the table, knuckles white as he clutched the edges, eyes still locked on what he was seeing but refusing to process the details. He dimly registered something in the ceiling and the sword disappearing but all the stuff (stuff, not blood, not bones, not whatever the fuck else) was everywhere. And in the middle of it was Daisuke, covered with more stuff. Niko's eyes locks on him instead and he starts, voice ragged, and tinged with a hint of hysteria]

T-the fu-

[Niko slapped a hand over his mouth - that smell making his stomach churn threateningly. He tries again, breathing shallowly, voice still tinged with hysteria] -the fuck was that!?

Edited 2015-08-27 05:54 (UTC)

[Eiji doesn't speak, once he's turned around. He'd tried to turn around quicker, but the floor had slipped underneath him--not his feet slipping on the floor, definitely the other way around--and then felt it splash all over him. And knew immediately what it was.

It was bad when he was able to turn around. Horrific. Crushed. Blood. Bones. Flat. In the war, he'd been spared from seeing that, if only because there was usually rubble on top, and he'd never been on the recovery line.

Nothing had fallen, perse, but that was the only thing his mind could register--something from the ceiling, it was going to fall again, he had to get them out of the way. He looked up, but there was nothing to have fallen to be seen. It's broken, yes, but nothing fell.

But he saw the sword retreating into the ceiling tile and it closing up.]

Another... There's another...

[Another creature? But it seems pacified now, only interested in taking out the threat to Daisuke.

He rushes over to Souji and puts his fingers against his one remaining, crushed, flattened arm, numbly feeling for a pulse. It's equal relief and horror when he can't find one--Souji's not alive to feel this, but there's absolutely nothing Eiji can do to help.]

[ It may, in fact, be obvious that Daisuke has witnessed the scene in its entirety, because the shock and horror on his face is pure and unadulterated. There is no confusion within his startled expression, but he looks alarmed to the point of panic as words bubble out of him, stumbling over themselves.

He crawls a few feet closer to Souji, or what used to be him, before he turns utterly pale and sickly looking, a clear warning that he might be vomiting any second now from the sight, the smell, everything, scrambling backwards until his back hits a table with a clatter of impact. ]

No, no, no- I-I didn't- This wasn't-

[ It had seemed like he'd been speaking to the other two living inhabitants of the room, though his gaze is solely fixed on the bloodied corpse before them all, at first at least.

Sharply, his head turns to one side, as if he's heard something or seen something in the corner of his vision. His voice is uncharacteristically frustrated, angry almost, as he talks to someone that doesn't seem to be there. ] He wasn't gonna- No, he wasn't!

[ And then he returns to mumbling to himself, words too quiet to be heard by the others from where they are as he shakes violently, too stunned to move for now. ]

[Niko saw the other guy approach the crushed...thing on the ground and reach forward to touch it. Without consciously thinking of it, Niko blurted, voice still ragged and sightly pitched from hysteria]

Don't-there's...no fucking point....Head's crushed...

[That admission threatened his stomach again and he couldn't breath for a moment.He hadn't thought about that detail until then, not consciously. He couldn't - he didn't want to think beyond the obvious: the guy had been dead in seconds and had been completely decimated. It was that reason, he managed to pry his hands away from the table, and pulled off his jacket. He gagged all over again when he felt it stick to his body, clinging from that stuff that had sprayed him, but he moved with a single-minded focus, forcing himself to approach the mess, breathing into his shoulder so he didn't start puking, and threw his jacket over the mess. He couldn't cover all of it, not with how far the stuff had sprayed, but he just wanted the absolute worst gone so he could stop thinking about bone, flesh, blood, tears and pops-

[He stepped back, retching again, and he firmly looked away. HIs hand clenched and unclenched, leaving furrows in his skin. It was taking every inch of control for his voice not to shake as he forced himself to say]

We...should leave the room. Now. That thing might decide to come back.

[That was one of the reasons. The other reason was the smell and sight and everything was reminding him of everything he was currently trying not to remember.]

[That warning is about the only thing Eiji manages to process right now. There's still possible danger. Niko and Daisuke might still be in danger.]

R-right.

[He needs to get them out of there. Niko seems ready to go on his own, but Daisuke not as much. He reaches over to him and hesitates for a moment--what if he triggers that thing again?

Calling out is safer.]

We need to go. We can come back for him when it's safer.

I-It won't, as long as... as long as you guys don't try to- Don't do anything to me.

[ The whisper he answers with is hard to hear, raspy and shaky as he tries to stand, slowly getting to his feet. He wobbles a little, but remains standing, hands balled into fists against his thighs. ]

I... I need to go. I didn't... I didn't want this to happen. [ It almost looks like... tears are in his eyes, burning at the edges and blurring his vision as he takes in a deep but quick inhale of air, trying to calm himself down. ]

I'm s-so sorry...

[ And if no one calls to him or tries to stop him, Daisuke will most likely try to flee the room on his own. ]

[And like that, a momentary burst of anger snapped through Niko again. His eyes narrowed back into a fine glare] That supposed to be a threat? Did you somehow sic that thing on that guy the same way the ritual got those other- [He stepped closer, hand about to reach out for Daisuke-]

[-when his body stops himself, as the consequences of what happened the last time someone tried doing something to Daisuke before squelched under his shoe. It sobered himself up enough he stops and really looks at Daisuke's face: Daisuke isn't just sick, he looks genuinely upset and maybe remorseful and, bafflingly, his accusation of 'threat' didn't feel quite accurate anymore. Without thinking about it, the anger drained off Niko's face, replaced by an unreadable expression.

[His hand hovered in the air before very slowly dropping. He looked away, right hand clenching and unclenching, and, after a long beat, he started walking towards the door.]

...People can apparently come back after a few days, most of the time. We're probably fine leaving him. Just...as long as we make note of it on the door or something.

Edited 2015-09-05 04:53 (UTC)

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powertotearer - 2015-09-05 23:53 (UTC) - Expand

IC Contact : Unable to be Reached

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Time to add in other people, I think. Niko -> Eiji -> Daisuke -> Souji?

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Mod post should be coming next, I think? And then you guys can have fun without me |D

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