[atsukotengan]

v; Otome Life Information

Name:  Atsuko Tengan   天顔 敦子

Grade: First Year

Age: 15

Gender/pronouns: Cis Female, She/Her

Height: 4’11/150 cm

Weight: 105 lb/48 Kg

Likes: Suzu-sama, Sweets, Making friends, /PINK/, Helping others, Dogs, Baking, Cute Things, Stained Glass Dislikes: Cold Environments,Getting Sick, Having to stay still, People who say bad things about Suzu-sama’s music, [REDACTED], Doctors Clubs: Suzu Fan Club (President), Cooking Club (Member) If you hear the sound of a jingling bell making it's way across campus, then you've without a doubt managed to catch the unmistakable sound at Atsuko Tengan hard at work! Atsuko nature is that of a sweet and positive young lady, always ready to lend a helping hand and not afraid to give a compliment! 

Though her girly appearance and sugar sweet behavior cause many to underestimate her, Atsuko actually holds a fair amount of fame from being the founder and president of the Suzu Fan Club, an elite fan organization for a previously obscure retired singer that has skyrocketed into several dedicated branches across the country in the past few years. Being an extremely hard and ambitious worker, Atsuko manages to juggle the  duties of running her club, the local branch she runs in the school, and the tasks of her daily life with a scary level of competency.It is through efforts like this that Atsuko seems like a shoe-in for eventually leaving the school to attend Hope’s Peak Academy...

 ...Yet despite everything, something seems /off/ about her. There's no way that someone could be this nice all the time, right?  

[heliotropicnightmare-blog]

Wake Up Call [Atsuko]

Yasu had taken to taking naps when the withdrawal got too bad, preferring to face potential horrors in their dreams rather than very real pain. However, when they woke from their nap, they felt great. They hadn’t had a nightmare, which was a rare occurrence, and everything seemed to hurt less, in fact they felt better than they had in a long time! They were positively cheerful as they got dressed and it wasn’t until they were about to head to the cafeteria for a snack that they remembered what feeling better meant. Feeling better meant someone was dead.

The realization hit them like the metaphorical ton of bricks and their cheerful mood dissipated almost as quickly as it’d appeared. Their little group had dropped from seven to six and was likely to drop again soon in the future. They brought their ID card out to see if anyone had discovered the body, only to see that it was still dead and occasionally making a quiet static sound. There was no doubt someone had died, but they’d have to find the corpse the the hard way.

After a lot of searching and ducking into various rooms, they finally located the scene of the crime, slipping in beside the rest of the living to look at the corpse of Niki Ikutano. It….It almost didn’t feel real. Seeing someone so strong as Niki, sitting slumped in a chair like that,  dead. They couldn’t actually tell why she had died though, not at first glance, so they eventually broke from the pack of people standing near the entrance to the Nursery and approached the body.

Yasu took a moment to wipe their eyes of tears before gently reaching out to tilt Niki’s head up, noticing the marks on her neck and examining them closer. After giving them a good look they lightly pressed their fingers into the marks, tilting their head a little before letting go of her.  

“Hrmm….”

[atsukotengan]

Atsuko is still as she stares into the nursery, eyes locked onto the lone figure slumped onto the chair. She would not call her “it”, or “the corpse”, or “the body”. No. This was Ikutano-san (or perhaps Kawashiro, but was not something to pry into for now.) and despite all of their best efforts to keep this from happening again, she was dead. But this will be the last time, she thought to herself as she moved closer to the body. This death was not the result of anyone acting in their right mind, just like Shimamoto-san and Chuichi-kun LISE had to force things by having them all act differently than they usually did. No one had the  true will to kill anymore, and they all knew that. Atsuko couldn’t stop this from happening, and in doing so she knew she failed Ikutano-san. But as a leader she would learn from her mistakes, and before she died make sure that this will never happen again. First thing of course would be to look around the Nursery for anything out of place, considering Mori-san was already hard at work with his usual role in investigations.  Though when her eyes do fall on Yasu and Niki again she does decide to ask her own question out of curiosity.

“...Anything of note about her hands, Mori-san?”

[atsukotengan]

 “All right, if you could just sit here for a moment!”

Revelations of her talent had given Atsuko a rather renewed sense of vigor, both in resolving the mysteries of the hospital and tending to the well being of her classmates. At the moment she found herself fully focused upon the latter, having lead Izo to the break room of the fourth floor in order to get a proper sense of perspective. It bore no question that he and Yasu had been hurt terribly by what had happened when they were split off from the group, So it was certainly important that they received both physical and emotional support for it! 

“All right Omori-kun, if you could recall the injuries that you received back in the maze, I’ll try my best to see if we can find supplies to prepare for them reopening, okay?” 

Of course, it would be unlikely for her to find that many proper items to tend to him in this section of the hospital, but if the lockers belonged to the doctors she may be able to find some band-aids for minor injuries until she could go and look for ways to attend to the major ones.

[atsukotengan]

Atsuko left the maze with complicated feelings. A sense that they had finally managed to move forward, another that they were still right where they started. The knowledge that she was far from the worst off when it came to the maze’s after effects, relatively lucky even...Feelings that had to be worked out on her own time,  with the discovery of the late Dr. Midou.

She kneels down in front of the body, her movements slow and carefully considered as her eyes gaze upon the older woman’s loss of life. She’s hesitant, yet her behavior here is miles beyond the weeping girl who had first caught sight of Yasu’s body. The ID card is taken, and held softly against her chest with the other information she had collected within the maze. Something to remember her by? To use as a tool? ...Atsuko honestly wasn’t sure. That would just be something she had to find out.

There were a lot of things she had to find out, for everyone’s sake. From what she understood from her talent- As silly as some may find her reasoning-she was a leader. It was the duty of every leader to go above and beyond what you believed yourself capable of to ensure the well-being of your charges, and she would be no exception. It was what her life was meant for, after all.

“...What’s important right now is that we need to prepare for when wounds start reappearing. If we get to them ahead of time then we’ll be able to lessen the pain, or maybe even start to heal them.  Mori-san, we should get the pressure off your leg as soon as possible, and locate some crutches, or, maybe even a wheelchair since we don’t know when exactly the reversion will start happening. Kikkawa-san, we definitely need bandages to cover your burns, disinfectants for everyone’s cuts and stings, really it would be best that we all list our injuries right now so that we’re clear on things-”

She stops, the silence that suddenly permeates from her previously hurried planning feeling almost like a pause button has her troubled face tries to find the right words to say.

“..But..also...we all remember Midou-san, right? It wasn’t just me? ...I feel it would be best to honor her memory by holding a funeral. Or maybe even a joint funeral, for everyone who’s been lost...I don’t think we’ll be forced to have a trial for this, so we might as well use the free time given to us to do something good for a change. If we place her in the air tent, then we wouldn’t have to worry about the smell.”

[atsukotengan]

Writing on the Wall (And Decisions Made After Reading)ll Closed for Katashi

[shslfoureyes]

Well, like one one expect, being dead is pretty boring.

He had his talk with Sachi after his passing, which went far less smoothly than he would have hoped it to go. What was he even supposed to say? Sorry I killed three people, I love you, please don’t kick the shit out of me? For having such a wide vocabulary and eloquence, he certainly ran out of things to say then. Great, now he’s dead and pathetic. What else could go wrong for him? Well, a lot. He probably jinxed it by now. Just dandy, he thought.

Suddenly, he was brought over mentally to another ID Card- the buffering of a new view could definitely confirm that. Who wanted to talk to him this time? He doubted it would be Yuichi, Izo, or Niki, mostly because. Well, none of them quite felt sympathetic towards him. Maybe Izo, but. Tfw dead love interest feels, he supposed. Sachi he had spoken with, leaving… The two small technicolor ones, Atsuko, Nijino and Yasu. Which, wasn’t too bad in the end.

His application was opened, showing the familiar face of the dead boy- minus the fluffy coat he wore in life. Perhaps it was because he mentally didn’t have it at death, or maybe it was because he knew he didn’t deserve it. Nonetheless, he was still here in the virtual flesh.

“You called, Tengan-san?” he looked away from her at first, before looking at the face he had briefly spoken with before. “An investigation… Dear god, don’t tell me someone’s dead already. There wasn’t even a motive yet- that’s…” He felt sick. He might have been indirectly responsible for this. Who was it this time? Sachi had to be alive, their conversation wasn’t too long ago. He hoped no one was dead, but there was never such something so easy.

“I’ll do my best to help nonetheless. It’s the best I can do to assist those still alive. So, lead me to it.”

[atsukotengan]

“No, no! That’s not what I mean at all! Don’t worry, everyone is alive and accounted for...maybe even one more than what everyone suspects!

Maybe even Miyashita-kun? In comparison to the other executions that have been done, getting shot out into space seemed rather..out there. Especially when the body wasn’t actually seen. There was chance it was some kind of special effects show...Well, they’ll be able to get back to Mori-san and what they found on that front after doing a comb-through of the rest of the area first!

“I need your help in order to investigate the new floor that has been opened. I feel like there is definitely a large amount of information hidden here, and since you were such a good detective I’m sure we’ll find something!”

Her tone seems confident in that fact as if she will not take any self-doubts or nos for an answer. But as she continues a pensive look crosses her face before she speaks in a more mature tone than her previous words of encouragement, though not lacking in any of her usual warmth.

“But...you have to absolutely promise to me that the investigation of the situation we’ve found ourselves in comes first. Nothing involving the identity of the mastermind unless a severe amount of what we discover here begins to make that the main topic of focus! Every murd- no, every death here other than Mizushima-kun has involved masterminds or killing to stop who they think is the mastermind, and quite frankly I’m rather tired of that situation! And I do not blame you because I know you were only trying to help all of us, but the fact we are perfectly able to ignore the motivations LISE places out for us, to instead fall because of our own poorly guided and improperly supported good intentions is very upsetting!”

“...Do you remember those files I received? I made them available for public viewing after the trial, and I can certainly show them to you as well. They’re very important in regards to our situation here, I feel. It seemed that we really did agree to do this, under the authority of something called the “New Hope Foundation”...”

[atsukotengan]

Writing on the Wall (And Decisions Made After Reading)ll Closed for Katashi

 ...Someone was alive. Against all odds one of the friends Atsuko thought they had lost had managed to defy life ending injuries to continue living on. They were meant to die, and yet they had done all they could to alert everyone to their presence. And despite macabre method of delivering the message, in the end it had helped them to learn something new about the situation they were in. They were helping them discover the truth.

So who was to say Atsuko couldn’t do the same?

She sat on a chair in the break room as she ruminated this,  hands rested on her lap as she stared down at her ID card on the table. She didn’t have long, she knew that. She didn’t even know how many days had passed since LISE had given them a 500 hour time limit to her death. But..what kind of excuse was that? If one of her friends was able to defy death itself to help them, then what excuse did she have to just dawdle around feeling sorry for herself when she could be doing all she can to help everyone find a way out!?  She had those files, and those scraps of paper she found in the help desk...LISE was allowing more and more information about the situation to be released, enough that the entire trove could be a treasure trove of information just waiting to be uncovered!

To help the people she cared about to escape...if that wasn’t a reason to keep on living, she didn’t know what was. Five hundred hours be danged! If she had a job to do, then her body would just have to keep on going until it was finished! No ifs, ands, or buts!

“And..And I’ll bake everyone a pie! A flavor they never would expect! Like plums! No one’s ever had a plum pie before! It will be a victory pie!”

The thought of baking her loved ones a warming pie after surviving arduous turmoil...it fills her with determination. Reaching out to her ID, she firmly selects a recently downloaded application she knows would be able to assist.

“Miyashita-kun! I need your help with an investigation!”

[unforgottenobservations]

Life and Death // Atsuko

[atsukotengan]

…

Thank god. I knew you’d answer. You were always a kind, charitable sort of soul, Tengan-san. Still stare…! Anyway, yeah, something’s wrong. Why else would I ring you up so urgently, anyway? You see….

The screen glows a bit and buffers with an almost intentionally dramatic second of silence, Chuichi’s unmoving face continuing to glimmer far more cheerfully at her than his expression had ever truly shown. A brief sort of crackle to the speakers brings things up to speed again, after a moment.

I’m so fucking bored, Tengan-san. 

God dammit man.

Not a single one of you asked me anything about that last case, you know. No one!! I could have had, like, gold mines of information, like last time, but noooo. Four whole people are dead and you didn’t think once that your good old lonely pal Genda-kun, father of your echinoderm, might have some new and important leads??

I’ve been  doing some serious investigating… in here, you know. Really working the tubes.

"Well, Genda-kun, you have to understand that there were a lot of things on our mind. We had to solve the deaths of three people at once...Half of us are currently suffering from a terminal disease...And I’m sorry, but I don’t think in your current...state at the moment, you would have been able to investigate to the fullest of your abilities.”

That’s really putting things lightly, Atsuko. Had he been helping people in previous cases? She can’t exactly remember if anyone ever mentioned it..and this time is wasn’t due to amnesia.

“I think...after all that’s happened this time...you certainly got lucky with just being bored.”

“..Ah, wait, you have? You have access to information in whatever type of system you’re in? That’s fantastic! What have you managed to find? Actually...”

She places her card back on the table for a moment,  before lifting it up again to show Genda the collected scraps of paper she managed to find in the desk.

“I just found this in a drawer, do you think this matches up to anything you found? And..have you found anything about a...”New Hope Foundation”?”

[unforgottenobservations]

Life and Death // Atsuko

[atsukotengan]

In these trying times, one must wonder if it is wise to call upon the dead for guidance. In more trying times, the issue is keeping them from calling you. Block a ghost’s number, just fucking do it. Do it.

Atsuko’s ID, wherever it may be, brightens to life as a now familiarly unnatural voice rings out from its speakers. 

…

Tengan-san!

Didn’t this thing used to have a ringtone or something? Why is he just talking now?

Are you there? Hellloooo?? God, what could you possibly be doing? This is important, please, you have to pick up, before it’s too late….!

H...Huh?

When one is filled almost completely to the brim with no-good feelings, from the tragic deaths of nine-..maybe eight, or seven...no, she shouldn’t think like that, if they felt like classmates to her, then they were her classmates, no matter what a contract said- fellow students, to the fact that you are meant to die in less then twenty days, to the overwhelming guilt one feels when you discover you forced one of your friends to remember a time where she accidentally murdered a classmate when it served no point to the matter at hand- ...Well, it helped to have a shoulder of someone with a level head and sound mind to lean on.

Unfortunately for Atsuko, instead she got Genda.

She had been looking through the bookshelves behind the help desk when the AI copy of her passed friend had started to call, having already exhausted looking through the drawers of the desk already. She didn’t know why she planned to look so intently through the floor, when the last time she obtained any major information she caused Takajo-san to have a mental breakdown. But at the moment she needed something, absolutely anything to help her ignore the terrible, bad, stinky, no-good feelings she had bubbling inside her. So, as Genda tried to make contact with her, she was more than content to sit down on the roller chair for a brief moment to get her mind off things.

“Sorry about that, Genda-kun, I must have spac- ...zoned out for a moment. What is it that you needed to tell me, is something wrong?”

[atsukotengan]

The Reward

After correctly pressing the switches in order LISE promises Atsuko a reward. But... the difficult part is that LISE never said when they'd give her a reward. Later as she heads back to her room she notices her monitor is saying something different on it. 'Check the drawer for you reward. Congratulations' it reads in the usual light blue writing. Wrenching open the drawer Atsuko discovers several files and clippings all wrapped in a manila envelope.

The first piece is a bit of a newspaper, the date, torn off, most everything torn away apart from one article centering around Hanakago High School. 'Hanakago High School is a one of a kind experience, ask any student who goes there. Teachers are not respected and the authority has no say-so in the goings on and events. Instead, the school is run by a figure known as the 'Confidant'. Operating via a cellphone based chatroom what started out as a service to keep students happy and grant their wishes eventually turned into a sort of gang and rather than back the authorities the students picked the side of the Confidant who kept a variety of secrets on behalf of the students and was known as their only ally. The Confidant has been responsible for the cancellation of several school festivals, expulsions and the dismissings of teachers even. How they got to have so much power is unknown but the power they have over their classmates and the faculty. Hero or villain, it is unknown but what is the most impressive is how a mere student came to hold so much power.'

The next thing is an envelope containing 2 photographs of Hiro Morikawa one in a clean uniform looking the perfect gentleman. The other, him at a rally, a megaphone in his hand, shouting out to an agitated looking crowd. On the polie clean Hiro photo a scrap of paper with the name 'Hiro' is written on it. On the other, a similar scrap is attached by with the word 'Hero' on it instead. On the back of megaphone photo some words are scrawled: 'he will be a martyr. do not let him get arrested. whatever it takes.'

The last thing to be found is a document... what looks to be a contract. It... it's about their situation. Shiawase Hospital is written at the top in a fancy fashion. The entire thing has been printed out, all the words typed in a default font. It reads:

'I, Atsuko Tengan, hereby agree to the treatments to be performed at the Shiawase Hospital and I do not intend to ever press charges nor quit half-way. I agree that the treatments are for the betterment of Hope's Peak Academy and that this is the only way to combat the slanderous perceptions of Super High School Level students. I and the other 13 children of Class 1-A will undergo rigorous training to help the New Hope Foundation to prevent any further catastrophes.'

((Do not post this! This information is all Atsuko's and she may share it, if she so chooses, IC with anyone. But you may not be able to trust everyone. Enjoy playing around with the info and congrats!))

[amnesiac-niki]

All Causes Shall Give Way [Atsuko/Others]

[atsukotengan]

amnesiac-niki:

“Sounds good to me.  We can start with the pharmacy, since it’s on this floor.”

Niki stood and headed over to the sink - she’d only gotten a bit of blood on her fingers from touching Hiro’s neck, but it’d still be awkward to explain if they ran into anyone else like that, not to mention the risk of getting it on other evidence.  As she did, she saw Atsuko opening the drawer that contained the backwards knives, and raised an eyebrow.

“Red herring, you called it?  Looks like we’re gonna have a fish dinner at this rate.  I didn’t see any knife wounds on Hiro…although that doesn’t mean these weren’t used somehow in the crime scene, I suppose.  Let me just give a few more places a once-over before we leave.”

Since Atsuko wasn’t tall enough to reach them, the first thing she did was open the cabinets.  Then, moving back around towards the sink, she checked inside the cupboards, fridge, and freezer, voicing her thoughts the entire time.

“Maybe he was killed somewhere else, and the noise you heard was the killer bringing him here - but your guess about any of this is as good as mine.  If we get too caught up on one idea, we could overlook evidence somewhere else.  So I’m really more comfortable leaving that stuff for the trial, with everyone else.”

“…I do appreciate you working so hard on that other thing, though.  Just don’t tire yourself out, okay?”

“That... might be  true, But I don’t understand how they could have completely vanished while I was using this room...It might have been early, but I think I would have noticed someone in here..”

And definitely someone with a body. ..Speaking of, Ikutano-san was right, it didn’t seem like there were any major wounds on his body.. So how was it there was so much blood to go around? She gingerly kneels down next to Hiro’s body, and after a moment of bracing herself starts to look for any other marks and injuries other than the needle mark. The file said there was also internal bleeding, so there had to be some indication of it, right?

“..You’re right, the best way for us to go about this would be to gather as much evidence as we can and remain non-partial until we’re able to talk about it with the others. It’s just..something like this...why would someone be so cruel as to kill two people? Even one is terrible, but to go deliberately out of the way to do two when Lise never even said there was any benefit for it- Ah, I’m sorry...I shouldn’t think about it when it’s more important to investigate..”

Morikawa-kun had to have been hidden somewhere..but it couldn’t have been anywhere that Atsuko could have planned to use, otherwise they would have gotten caught. So what would be something that she was guaranteed not to go towards?

...Her eyes slowly gravitate towards the ventway. She moves towards it, and with her small frame is easily able to move halfway inside to examine it’s contents. Her voice echos around the metal when she replies to Niki.

“..I..have to do it. While I’m still healthy enough to have the ability. ...I’ve decided though, I’m going to tell everyone at the trial. The things regarding Morikawa-kun during it because it might be important to the case, but anything else will have to wait until after, so it doesn’t cloud our judgement.”

[amnesiac-niki]

All Causes Shall Give Way [Atsuko/Others]

[amnesiac-niki]

Niki was momentarily confused by Atsuko’s behavior - she hadn’t spaced out like that at all when they investigated Felix’s death - until she realized that, in light of there being two victims, she’d forgotten the other part of LISE’s last announcement.  The ‘treatment’ that had infected some of them, Atsuko included, couldn’t be stopped by a killing; if LISE didn’t find a cure, they would die…and if she hadn’t known how to talk to Shiwa about it before, she definitely didn’t know how to talk to Atsuko about it now.  Maybe it was best to just leave it until after the trial, when everyone had a brief window of calm.

With Hiro’s scarf untied, she could see a small hole in his neck, but could only frown in confusion at this discovery.  What did it mean?  The autopsy said he’d died of heart failure from internal bleeding.  Hopefully her partner might have an idea.

“Huh, he’s got a tiny wound here - I’m talking the size of a tip of a pen or something.  It’s a bit of a funny color, too.”

She nodded her head at Atsuko’s comment about the framing attempt.  Hiro’s body hadn’t been discovered until six hours after he’d been killed; that was plenty of time for someone to set this up.  …And on that note, something that had been bugging her suddenly seemed clear.

“…This doesn’t smell like blood at all.  More like some kind of cleaner…”  As much as she found the idea of a dying message ridiculous, was it possible that Hiro had actually written the name of his killer, only for them to erase it and substitute Izo’s?  “I’m gonna wash my hands, and then I think we need to give this place a really thorough once-over.  Hopefully whoever murdered Hiro slipped up and left something behind.”

[atsukotengan]

“A pen?  That might mean Morikawa-kun was injected with something! In a needle I mean. Maybe we should check the Pharmacy or the Medical lab to see if anything is disturbed? If we find anything I might be able to identify it’s effects,actually. 

There was also a chance that he was injected with something from the kitchen, a theory Atsuko decides to check by examining the counters and shelves of the kitchen, while also checking under the sink for any cleaning supplies that might have been kept under there.

“But...the smell of cleaning instruments might possibly  be, well, a red herring. Or part of a larger plot...You see, last night I, well...I know it’s terrible for my health, especially with the illness, but I stayed up the entire night! I was trying to draft a plan of speech for the information I need to tell the others, and I couldn’t rest until I got it right!”

...Could this death have been prevented if she had been quicker? If she worked harder to try and prevent violence? ..When it came to peace keeping, she had been rather useless thus far...

“..But when it got to early morning, I needed something to get my energy up. I went out to the cafeteria to get some juice, when I heard the strangest noises from the kitchen! But when I arrived, there was no one there...and certainly not a body.”

“...That happened at around 5:20, just an hour before we found Morikawa-kun. Why would the culprit wait that long to make a crime scene?”

[amnesiac-niki]

All Causes Shall Give Way [Atsuko/Others]

Niki crouched beside the corpse of Hiro Morikawa, her expression unreadable.  Two people dead this time…Even LISE - or whoever was controlling LISE - had seemed somewhat appalled.  Since the majority of their group was investigating the crime scene around Shiwa’s body, she’d decided to stay down in the kitchen.

At least, that was part of her reasoning.  As soon as she’d learned that Hiro was one of the victims, a sense of suspicion had gripped her.  Was this just a coincidence, or had he been targeted for a reason?

Obviously, the bloody letters nearby had drawn her gaze, but she wanted to roll her eyes at them more than anything.  These obvious attempts at framing were such an annoyance.  What was more likely, at least in Niki’s opinion, was that Hiro’s killer had simply used his bloodied hand to write Izo’s name. 

If his cause of death was heart failure, then why’s there this much blood anyway?  All of the medical equipment like gloves and wipes was on the third floor, but she figured it’d be fine to handle his body so long as she washed her hands immediately afterwards.  She was planning to turn him over first, but the sight of what looked like a wound on his neck made her pause and then begin to untie his scarf instead.

It was at this point that she heard footsteps, and glanced up at the kitchen door.  She wasn’t at all surprised to see a pink-clad figure standing there.

“Figured you’d show up sooner or later, Atsuko.  Mind doing me a favor and making sure there’s plenty of soap and something to dry my hands with over by the sink before you start to help?  I’m trying not to get too messy here, but…well, you can see how that’s turned out.”

[atsukotengan]

For that treatment is… special. In other words. You cannot quit it; even if you want to.

The words spoken by the ever-glowing cube was, even after the horror of finding not one, but two bodies, felt like she was being punched in the face. No, even worse, punched a billion times in the face with a boxing glove. She...couldn’t quit the treatment. She was still going to get sick. She was going to get sicker and sicker and then she was going to...Why!? Why would someone be cruel enough to do that to them!? She didn’t do anything bad to be cursed to die! It wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair-! It wasn’t-

Ah...huh?

She...didn’t realized she had wandered into the kitchen until Niki started addressing her. Was she the type to move around when she worries? ...No, no that wasn’t important right now, and it took another sighting of Hiro’s body to realize that she didn’t matter right now.

O-Oh, right, s-sorry about that Ikutano-san. I’ll try to find some soap, but.. for the time being maybe we shouldn’t use the sink here, there’s a chance it could wash away evidence...

Wasn’t fair, wasn’t fair? Who was she to say what was fair or not when two people had to die over all of this? ...No, not even have to, no amount of passed on friends would have made the sickness go away, and to kill for family...she didn’t understand how it could even be an incentive, when worry about them had always been an ever present concern...

..But she was still being stupid. She should feel lucky she even had a chance to live out her little remaining hours...

“..I do have to make things clear though, I have reason to believe that the scene is most peculiar even with the attempt to frame Omori-kun! The time this scene was arranged was hours after Morikawa-kun died!”

[atsukotengan]

A Talk Over Teatime (Closed for Niki)

[amnesiac-niki]

Niki was only too glad to accept the invitation.  Ever since finding that piece of newspaper, she’d spent all her time - with the exception of going to try her hand at LISE’s puzzle - in bed, and was starting to feel a little stir-crazy as a result.  She definitely couldn’t talk about what she’d learned to Kimiko’s AI, but Atsuko was one of the few remaining students who A) she could tolerate and B) seemed to have their head on straight.

Hopefully, she didn’t plan on feeding Niki poisoned refreshments, either.

She lingered in the doorway for a few seconds, looking over the scene inside.  All dressed up in pink and making cookies; it was a miracle that someone like Atsuko hadn’t already buckled under the stress of the hospital.  Then again, she had demonstrated enough backbone during the investigations to prove there was an iron core beneath all the fluff.  Niki personally didn’t feel like having sweets, but she figured she could just stick to coffee without insulting her host, and took a seat once her entrance had been acknowledged.

“You didn’t have to do so much for me…Anyway, I take it this ‘very important’ thing you need to speak to me about isn’t a new recipe?”  It didn’t look like she’d been expecting others, either, so presumably this was something Atsuko wanted to keep a secret.  “…Let me guess: LISE’s reward wasn’t something good.  Nice job on figuring that out, by the way - I thought way too hard about it myself.”

[atsukotengan]

“I insist,truly! With all of the tension in the air, and another one of the experiments around the corner...we all deserve something nice before it happens, even if it’s only a little bit. Would you like coffee or tea?”

The cookies are slid off the metal sheet and onto the cooling tray, their sweet scent wafting through the air and for the moment replacing the room’s usual sterile atmosphere with the smell of fresh home baking, even if only for a moment. She gives a slightly nervous laugh at the compliment. “Aha, it’s nothing really. It took me a few tries even after LISE gave the clues, so it’s nothing to be praised for.

“But..you’re right. When I returned to my room, LISE had left me some...slightly concerning documents.” That was an understatement at the very least, but there wasn’t much of a way to put  it otherwise politely. “Now I understand that they were likely left there in order to breed suspicion and doubt...to keep what was given to me as a secret to only a select few....but...when I think of the secrets that were kept, and lead to someone dying...how Shimamoto-san found that hidden room..Krier-kun not telling us of the letters from Genkaku-san....I do not wish for this trend of information in exchange for a human life to continue, Ikutano-san. 

She removes the files from one of the drawers, previously stashed there for safe keeping while baking, which she now carefully slides in front of Niki. “Which is why I plan to share the documents to the entire group. But some of what has has been given to me... are not things that can be taken easily, at least not without the right words. We can not have someone die because of what is written here...And that is why I asked you here, Ikutano-san Can you help me find a proper way to break the news civilly?”

[atsukotengan]

A Talk Over Teatime (Closed for Niki)

With a promise of another test being right over the horizon, Atsuko was, briefly, at a loss of what to do. There was only a few hours before the climate of the hospital was once again changed for the worse, and with that sort of time frame, the only thing she could think of to do was to just wait out the inevitable in her bedroom.

But when she arrived, the documents that were left there had suddenly thrust upon her quite a bit too much to do.

The presents the LISE  had given to her were…alarming. Yes, alarming was the polite way to term it. It was obvious some very important information that needed to be shared, to the entire group, in fact! But some of the information there..could not just be spouted willy nilly. Without careful consideration, what was said could possibly tear the group apart with distrust and paranoia. She needed to run through what was to be said with someone she knew was capable of keeping a level head.

A pink piece of paper was soon slipped under Niki’s door, carefully folded and a few splashes of glitter tastefully applied for good measure.

Dear Ikutano-san

Please come meet me in the kitchens of the cafeteria as soon as you find this! There is something very important I need to speak to you about! Refreshments will be provided.

Sincerely,

Atsuko

The cookie dough was simple, one half a plain vanilla, the other half chocolate, formed together in squares to make a checkerboard pattern. Placing the leftover logs in the freezer for later use, she alternated between checking the oven for the currently baking batch, and the stove and countertop for the brewing batches of tea and coffee. She didn't know what Ikutano-san preferred, so better to be prepared!

She heard footsteps behind her just as the oven timer beeped, quickly hurrying over to retrieve the cookies as she gave her greeting.

"Ikutano-san! Thank you for coming! If you could take a seat I'll be with you in just a moment!"

[atsukotengan]

Idle Hands (Open)

[kikkawas]

One size fits all, right?

That appeared to be the case when Sachi put the white tiger onesie. It was good it fit her though, despite her height. Even then, if it didn’t fit her she would probably remain the same and have her cape protect her from anything. She pulled the hood over her head and buttoned up the rest of the outfit. Sachi was horribly tired from resisting sleep after the trial, she had attempted to stay awake and remain that way until it was “morning”. Exhaustion eventually overcame her and she fell asleep, then woke up in cold sweat due to her nightmare.

The question in mind was if she was the person she was in the point of view of or if her dream was remotely true. Weird dreams wasn’t a side effect of LISE’s many treatments, was it? She tried to forget about everything that strange dream– when it came to it, she wouldn’t have to tell anyone.

It was easier to forget without anything on your mind, so from what she saw, LISE gave them another floor. She traveled up her stairs until she couldn’t go up any further. She wondered how many floors this hopsital exactly had but the sudden closed spaces of the floor compared to the others made her a little nervous. She walked down the hall, peeking her head into the waiting room. 

She didn’t expect anyone to be in there, but she saw the familiar face of someone she had talked to before.

“O-oh, T-tengan-san?” She looked over, wondering what she was looking at. “I-Is that a phone..? D-do you think it works?” If so they could perhaps contact someone from the outside and get help! Hopefully Sachi wasn’t getting her hopes up. Sadly, she always did.

[atsukotengan]

...She didn’t think she would actually be getting an answer! Turning around, she sees in the doorway the figure of Sachi Kikkawa, who is currently dressed in what is quite possibly the cutest piece of clothing she has seen in the hospital by far. True, for some reason she found herself disappointed it was a cat, but it was still absolutely adorable, especially on Sachi. It was almost enough to make her squeal, but the question she had asked put a bit of a damper on the mood, with it’s disappointing answer.

“Ah, Kikkawa-san! ..No, I’m sorry, I don’t hear any noise on the other end, I think it might be disconnected somehow... It’s really rather mean, isn’t it? leaving it here to get our hopes up? We should really tell the others so it can get cleared up quickly.”

She carefully places the phone back on the hook, taking a closer look at the base of the phone before moving to explore other parts of the room. The plant took a good part of her interest. While the room was covered in portraits of flowers, nothing could really beat a real plant!. ...And she didn’t think LISE would allow her to hang anything up on her walls.

“I don’t think there’s really all that much else to check in this room, I imagine that the other places are certainly much more filled! But, at least it makes a clam place to relax, maybe look at some fine art, talk about things...Is there anything you need to talk about, Kikkawa-san? You looked a bit uneasy...”

[discordiastorm]

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  For Boxofocs

[atsukotengan]

Idle Hands (Open)

There were several things that  Atsuko wished to avoid at the moment, in the days following the trial. Genkaku-san’s behavior during it was one, yes, as well as her claims to ownership of the initial idea of these experiments.  But what was currently on the forefront of her mind, as egocentric and self centered as it was, was the flash of memory she had received right afterwards, and the vile, intense feeling that had started to form in the pit of her stomach.

What had come to her mind then was something she had never expected to think, but...could she really say it was a lie? In this kind of situation, what kind of reason would there be for God  not to help them?

....She didn’t want to think about what could be a justifiable answer. 

But she didn’t have to think about that, not when there were so many things that could distract her! A quick trip to the gift shop had rewarded her with items she knew she could put to good use (Though the yarn of the now glitter covered sweater did tend to chafe her arms a bit..), she had managed to download the voice editions of nearly all of her passed classmates to her ID card(...Genkaku-san had to wait. She didn’t want to see her so soon.), and after re-situating Hoshi into the garden fountain, a last minute decision led to her climbing the stairs to the next floor. 

Only a quick visit, really, until she could decide what kind of dish she could make for the meal previously offered to Takajo-san. And if she could find something helpful to the group as a whole in addition, the sudden exhaustion she felt from moving up two flights of stairs would certainly be worth it! 

...Perhaps it would be good for her to find somewhere to sit down. Until her head cleared.

 What luck it was then that the first room she entered happened to be the waiting room. Atsuko was quick to sit down on one of the available chairs, breathing heavily in and out until her eyes managed to focus on the paintings across from her and...a phone? Could it really be true? As soon as she could manage to stand on her own once more, she quickly hurries over to examine it closer.

“..Even if I can already suppose what will happen if I dial, it can’t hurt to at least try, right?”