God.

Cafe Caffeination Contempation ll Rufina Open/ Motive Reaction

Suga had overheard Rufina talking to herself from the door of the café. He really wished he hadn’t. He’d been looking for something to do, or maybe thinking about what to do to help the group, or both, and since there was a big lack of choice and the café seemed most like his natural environment, he’d opted to come here. And he’d been glad to meet Rufina, until he heard her talk. Now, she could’ve been talking about anyone, right? Except none of them was in a hurry, so…. Well…. All their minds were on the people behind this weren’t they…? But Suga certainly didn’t want his to be.

He made sure to pointedly act like he hadn’t heard her at all when he stepped into the café.

“Ah! Toriuchi-san!”

He smiled brightly. He did like Rufina, she had her attitude going for her as much as she did, he had to admit this, the star factor. He still got giddy about there being a celebrity present.

He strolled over to her table, glancing in the direction she’d been staring at. A camera? Was she having a stare off with it? Ready to take on whoever was behind it head on? He barely doubted that if she encountered them in person she’d probably do so. Give them a good thrashing. He did not envy them, he certainly didn’t want to be in a position of being hated by this group.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?”

He sounded cheery, despite the hopeless situation. There was hardly any point in whining about it. Besides, he still wasn’t entirely convinced this was really happening.

#ic #shslflowersandmotorcycles #chapter one

Her narrowed eyes slowly move to stare at the open door, along with the white-haired blogger that casually passed through it. Suga looked like he was taking the news from the meeting well, though that could be easily explained by him faking it or how minor this “motive” seemed compared to what you heard about in the history books. Not even a day had passed for the reality of the situation to set in, and with the whole “sleep deprivation” thing, chances were not many people would be lucid enough to try anything when it finally did click in their minds. Course, she couldn’t base her decisions on chance.

“Yes.” She replied, though she doubted that would really keep him from taking a seat anyway. Without a word she uses the side of her arm to shove the plate of scones towards his direction -Kid pitched in, he gets what he’s earned. That’s how she saw it. Good for him to do better than the rest in the “not being a lazy fuck” department.

Not like she was going to eat them in the first place anyway. Instead she takes a long swig of her coffee, hardly reacting from the heat of the beverage pouring down her throat.. Placing her mug back on the table once half finished, she returns to her previous staring point, an even thinner line forming on her mouth than usual as thoughts began to fit into place.

“...What’s yer plan for this, kid. Thinkin’ realistically and not beatin’ around the bush.”

Cafe Caffeination Contempation ll Rufina Open/ Motive Reaction

So, they were trying to start things up quickly. Rufina wondered if the person behind this realized just how much information they had given them to decipher just from that crummy meeting.

Not that the implications actual motive didn’t help either. Rather than showing them things about the outside world, they were basing the motivation to kill entirely on their personal comfort inside the building. Meaning that whatever was going on, the culprit didn’t have as many resources available to them as their despair obsessed predecessor did, and chances were they didn’t have all the time in the world to mess with them.

“So what the fuck has them in such a hurry.” She says out loud, sitting in the cafe with a plate of freshly baked scones and holding a mug of strong, black coffee. Though looking as if she was staring into space, her gaze actually is set intensely upon the lens of the surveillance camera. She wasn’t expecting anyone who would happen to enter the room to answer her, and could honestly care less if they did, but for whoever was watching her on the other side of that thing...They might as well know from the get go that she was seeing through their crap.

#ic #chapter 1 #drmmopen

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

Yes! Finally, an approach that seemed to work!! Not that it had really taken long at all, but Suga had worried, slightly, that after his fan slip up (he still did not really understand why she didn’t seem to like fans) he might’ve doomed his relationship with her. That would have been a shame, it was so cool to hang out with someone he’d seen on TV. SO cool.

Even though his enthusiasm mixed with a little bit of shame. No, no he didn’t know how to make scones. His meals usually came pre-prepared, either by his nanny, whatever café he chose to eat at, or very rarely his mother, who left him lunchboxes with small notes occasionally. He himself couldn’t cook, that was painfully clear. He just hadn’t been planning to really have it picked up on by a celebrity.

But on the other hand, it lead to her wanting to teach him. Like a hang out! With an additional bonus teaching him how to cook, but the important part was the hangout, right? It sounded fun if he ignored the very real risk of him ruining everything including the food! Which he chose to do for the moment. It wasn’t really like he could reasonably turn her down anyway. And he WAS happy about this opportunity to hang out.

“Yes! Yes, I can handle that!!”

He said with a bit more enthusiasm than what would have been necessary to talk about getting simple ingredients.

They would be in the fridge, right? So that was where he headed, and while he opened it and took a look inside, decided to keep the conversation going. He was somewhat excited. Getting taught by Rufina was really exciting!!

“So how did you end up on a cooking show anyway?”

He’d be lying if he’d say he was asking just out of interest. He’d been trying for years to get a hold in the entertainment industry- acting didn’t work out for him, sadly, he couldn’t dance, and his voice was all right, but not that special, so he’d been hoping to maybe be somewhat more successful as a model- but apart from a few smaller jobs, nothing. Nothing had worked out. He didn’t get it, he had publicity so why was it so hard??

Of course though, he was still very much interested in how Rufina had actually ended up on a cooking show for reasons aside from his own career. He was curious about it, she didn’t seem to be celebrity material to him at first glance.

#ic #chapter one #shslflowersandmotorcycles

And that left her in charge of getting the dry ingredients. Moving towards the various cabinets, Rufina begins to open each of them in search of sugar and flour. The enthusiasm Suga had shown to being a helping hand in the kitchen had briefly brought to mind memories of home life for the baker, though that fact that his reaction had similarities to that of eleven year olds was probably not something he would be proud of. It was kind of sad, actually.

“Look for fruit too. Or cream. The good stuff, we’re not half assing it.” Which means they’ll nee some wooden spoons, a whisk, a pastry blender, some biscuit cutters-

She pauses for only a second in response to the blogger’s question, before immediately continuing her search for baking essentials. What was this, Spout Out Random Facts About Yourself to a Stranger Day? Would he be expecting her to ask about childhood pets or something?

“Producers were lookin’ fer girls that they thought would fit the archetypes they wanted fer the first season.” she starts roughly. “Real basic shit, the ordinary schoolgirl, the haughty rich kid, the delinquent with a hidden soft side, anythin’ that safe enough to guarantee a moderate of merch sales. they were scouting all round the country fer amateurs to give it more “realism”. The one lookin’ around Kansai saw me in the paper and decided I could work for their “rural country girl” angle. Been winning festival baking contests around the area fer a few years by then, so they knew I wouldn’t be completely fuckin’ up on national television. Gave me an offer, mentioned the cash prize, decided to give it a shot.”

After all, it was a really damn huge cash prize.No reason for her to beat around the bush with her motivation like the rest of the people she worked with would have done.

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

Well, on the one hand the knife was gone now. But on the other he’d gotten scolded. He could imagine getting tired of over eager fans, but he’d never tell one to not be happy about seeing him, it may be a little awkward in timing or kind but it was always flattering that someone liked him enough to follow his work. He had trouble grasping why she’d react differently until he remembered that, right, it was just her personality, right? He knew that. From… from the show. It was pretty cool to see it happen in person, really. But despite that he curbed his enthusiasm a bit.

“Right, sorry.”

At least now that the knife was gone he wasn’t even half as nervous about talking to her. He knew she likely wouldn’t have done anything to him, but well, if she had it wouldn’t exactly be helpful to him to philosophize about the chances of it happening being so low. Still, he should probably have trusted her more. No one would kill anyone here after all.

Still smiling brightly and excitedly (it was all but impossible to really stop being enthusiastic when faced with a star, he found), he stepped forwards finally, so that they could have a normal conversation without shouting throughout the kitchen. Much more comfortable and much less awkward.

“It’s just that, wow, I mean you were really cool on that show.”

He swiftly ignored any mention of their situation in favour of talking about things that really actually interested him.

“I tried to make that pastry you made in episode 24 but….”

He gave a somewhat awkward laugh.

“I guess I’m just not good in the kitchen.”

He wouldn’t really tell her about the fate of that pastry. He’d…. to be honest he wasn’t sure WHERE he’d gone wrong, or maybe it was more a matter of where had he gone right?? It had turned out baking powder and breadcrumbs LOOKED alike, but were not in fact the same, though at least he could claim ignorance there, neither of them had been labelled. Worse was perhaps that he’d gotten too lost in editing a blog post, and had only been alarmed to something being wrong by the smoke coming from the kitchen. In his defence, no one had stopped him, though this was quickly evened out because no one had been there to. He was just glad he hadn’t burned the house down. That would have been awkward.

#ic #chapter one #shslflowersandmotorcycles

Yeah, this guys type was clear enough from his behavior at least. A social butterfly who’s out to make friends with everyone, whether they liked it or not. Compared to Rufina’s own demeanor, you could say it was like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. She could at least hand it to him that he knew when not to push it.

“...Episode twenty-four...What, the scones?” she questions, crossing her arms in disbelief. “ Shit kid, seriously? I was just doing something basic to serve with the jam I had to make for that one. You legit don’t know how how to make a damn scone?”

Unbelievable. so much focus on instant meals these days that you’re hard-pressed to find someone who can handle a kitchen appliance other than a microwave. Exactly how many of her classmates were like him? Because if it was more than half she sure as fuck wasn’t going to stand for it. Teach a man to fish, and all of that crap.

She mutters something that definitely sounds like cursing in a foreign language under her breath, before she sticks her arm into the deepest reaches of the worn duffle bag and pulls out a metal bowl.

“Gonna damn well learn then. Eggs, milk, butter, think you can handle gettin’ ‘em? You better, ‘cause we ain’t leavin’ until you get damn educated.”

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

Did… did that many of them really only go by one name…? Suga tried to count in his head, but gave up very, very quickly. He hadn’t noticed at all. He felt sort of sheepish at that. Like he should apologize. Or give an explanation. The latter was out of the question though, so if anything the former would have to do. But he realized it would be sort of awkward, so he decided to go for a more confident route this time, even though the knife in her hand did not exactly inspire that. Still he managed a laugh, one that sounded as dry as it felt.

“I… did not notice that.”

It felt awkward now. The knife made things awkward. He really wished she’d drop it. Really. Really wished that.

Of course she did not though, and so Suga stood around for a few seconds thinking of their next topic. It was hard to not stare at the knife, but that was when it hit him.

“Ah, Toriuchi?!”

That was such an exciting development!

“Toriuchi Rufina!?!”

He took an excited step forward, but stopped very quickly and shuffled half of it back again when he remembered the knife, giving it a cautious look to make sure she hadn’t moved it. His voice was not as loud anymore when he spoke again, though his excitement could barely be contained even by the vague threat of being stabbed, possibly.

“Oh, oh I watched all the episodes of BnT- I mean Bēkingu no Tetsuotome, I mean….”

He tried to structure his thoughts more.

“You’re a STAR!”

Technically she wasn’t, he knew that, but she’d been on TV that one time and that made her a star in his world.

#ic #chapter one #shslflowersandmotorcycles

Three six months periods of time over the course of three years, if anyone was counting. Which one tended to do when it was a major part of their life. It still didn’t give the kid reason to act so weird about it. Or to do a 180 from nervous as all hell to adoringly rambling while still keeping a safe radius at least arms length away from herp

...He was looking at the knife, wasn’t he. She probably should have guessed that half the class would be paranoid as hell, but she at least thought they’d be smart enough to realize that someone trying to kill someone else within the first few hours of being trapped would not only be stupid, but pathetic. What, they thought she couldn’t even handle a few hours under lock-down?

She sighs, placing the knife back into it’s travel case as she places her free hand on her hip. “Kid, I’m gonna have to ask that you calm the hell down, I’ve seen enough fan freak outs from the meet and greets they drag me into, okay. ‘Sides, it’s not like it’s important while we’re in the middle of this.” Or during any other point in time, really.

the-iron-higanbana-deactivated2

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

After spending who-knew-how-long unconscious, and then starting to stress over the fact that they’d been kidnapped for a mutual-killing game, anyone would be hungry. Kanon had made her way to the kitchen behind the Remembrance café, planning to have a small snack and tide herself over until later.

A series of shuffling and clanking noises met her ears as she entered. She froze on the threshold, wondering if someone was already searching for a weapon…

I’m getting paranoid, she thought, squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath. One of the other students had a cooking talent of some sort according to the roster, didn’t they? (That is, if they were telling the truth.) There hadn’t even been a motive announcement yet; it was more likely that whoever was already in the kitchen was trying to throw a larger meal together, or just making a mess in their search for a way to escape. If she went around expecting everyone to try plunging a knife into her, it’d solve nothing.

So Kanon entered the kitchen - albeit still somewhat cautiously, in case of flying cookware - and made her way around until she was close to the humming of the fridge. The other person was apparently too absorbed in their pursuit to notice her, but now she raised her voice to try and get their attention.

“Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know if there’s any fruit in here, would you? This refrigerator seems pretty large.”

#ic #theironhiganbana #chapter one

...Interruptions, interruptions, and more interruptions. At least this one had the decency to stay quiet longer than most. Even if it was only a matter of time before they were bothered with a pointless question.

Rufina makes a momentary glance toward the fridge to confirm the other’s identity before focusing back on her utensils. So it was that chick with the ridiculous amount of hair. Those drill things had to be clip-ons, right? It wouldn’t surprise the baker if the very next day she would be seen without them, maybe in jeans and a t-shirt too. It would be some pretty damn skewed priorities if they continued to keep up with that level of dress...

“Check it yourself if yer’ so concerned. What kind of pseudo-Cosmobucks cafe would this be if there weren’t any fruit. They gotta fake not being a glorified fast food joint somehow.”

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) || Pan || Chapter 1 || Open

Pan paused, turning around with a rather offended look on their face.

“Kid??”

What was with this grouchy baker? Pan would think baking stuff like sweets would make you like. Sweet yourself or something. Did she not read their ID? It clearly said they were at least 1337 years old, that’s no kid at all. Duuuh. A meme, yes. But no kid.

“I’m no kid, I’m 1337 years old. Respect your elders kiddo. Hue hue hue hue."

They actually say that out loud. Thanks Pan.

"I’ll have you know I am both light enough and small enough to maneuver through the air vents with like. No problem.”

What was with everyone telling them this was dangerous? They might just be really stubborn about this, but Pan believes they would totally be fine. Totally.

#ic #chapter one #shslpan

Even if Rufina wasn’t facing towards the door and could see the emotions Pan was displaying through their mask, she sure didn’t give any bit of a crap about their feelings.

“The fact that you used the number 1337 in the first place gives me enough reason to suspect that yer’ twelve or less.” Something she knew about very well, for the information of the omnipresent observers beyond the fourth wall. “And the laugh makes me think yer’ on some level a chuuni. So, kid.”

She leans back from her examination. So it was a regular door, with a regular handle, with a regular lock...Yeah, there was no way this thing wasn’t booby trapped somehow.

“If ya really wanna help ta save everyone, touch this door fer a second with yer hand.”

Someone needed to check if it was electrified, after all.

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

Suga wasn’t sure what had brought him to the kitchen- he wasn’t hungry. Maybe he’d just wanted to go SOMEWHERE. Everyone else seemed to have scattered and gone on their own explorative adventures. Suga wasn’t very keen on exploring this place. He could see the use in it, of course, but he’d still much rather sit down somewhere and wait until he’d sorted himself out. He knew that that wasn’t that great an idea though. And he needed something to do.

When he stepped into the room the first thing he noticed were the assortment of knives. Too many. Very uncomfortable with that. For a good amount of time he just stared at them, then his eyes were drawn to the next thing- a person standing there. He took a small step back when he noticed that they too held a knife, but then reminded himself that this fear was childish and straightened his back.

Though still alert, he put a smile on his face. It was almost believable, though the stress behind it clearly shone through.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know there was someone else here.”

He hoped he wouldn’t have to explain what he was doing here. He wasn’t sure he could answer. Usually he might’ve stepped towards his new acquaintance, but… well, maybe not while they were in a tense situation and one of them was holding a knife. So he instead stayed in the doorway.

“I’m Suga.”

He gave a short bow. He didn’t…. he didn’t remember this person. Maybe it was that he had other things on his mind right now, but simply introducing himself would have to suffice.

#the or less being mr bird #ic #chapter one #shslflowersandmotorcycles

Христос. Just when you think you’re done with introduction, another person comes to bug the hell out of you. She tilts her head to look at the source of the voice, still keeping a firm and experienced grip upon the large blade in her hand. Oh. So it was the one who had a blog...a fashion blog. If he turned out to be an Enoshima part two the baker would definitely be mad about that.

...This kid really wasn’t fooling anyone with that smile, was he. Unless he was pulling some sort of double play he quite possibly had the most obvious poker face Rufina had ever seen. Made sens at least, there had to be someone in the group trying to pretend things were okay, even if they knew they weren’t. It’d keep them from going feral at least.

“ ...Toriuchi. Why does a fourth of this class only call themselves by one name or less. Pisses me off.”

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) || Pan || Chapter 1 || Open

The odorite turned to see who the heck was talking to them and looked down in the student in question. Ah this was…Hmm. They tried to recall who this was from the ID’s they saw. The baker right? The competitive one with the rather weak selfie game? Yeah, that sounds about right.

“Why, I’m looking for an escape. Duuuuh. See? look like, right up there on the wall.”

Pan points to the air vents up on the wall with their hand. It is pretty high up there, so Pan can understand the baker not seeing it.

“I figured if I can manage to get up there and pull the grate off, I can squeeze in and find an escape for all of us. Or at least get out and call for help.”

#ic #chapter one #shslpan

Rufina’s gaze turns momentarily from the door towards te direction they described. Yeah, she could see what they were pointing to all right, a small metal grate that lead it’s way into the air vents. But she honestly couldn’t believe they were stupid enough to think of that as an actual escape. Well, actually, she did. So far the good majority of other students she met were idiots, so why break the trend now?

With that momentary distraction done, her eyes snap back to the door, taking notice of it’s simple key hole and checking for a door handle while she replies. “What do you think this is kid, a movie? It’s called an air vent because it ain’t meant for anything heavier then air to pass through it. The second you get your full weight in it’ll crumple like a piece of paper.”

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

shsl-r0gue

Haru had appraised the map as one would a document written completely in gibberish. Shock had already set in by the time the dog finished up its speech. He had taken a look at the rules as well, but couldn’t focus enough on them to absorb them. All he understood was that there was a good chance he would be killed here if no one came to help.

He wanted to shake the ideas off, but they weighed heavily on his mind and caused a shiver to run its way up his spine.

Hands shaking, Haru looked back to the map on his phone. Nothing made sense. Nothing save for the fact that there was a clearly marked kitchen. That appeared to be a good place to gather, perhaps somewhere where everyone could deliberate. Willing his legs into motion, he made for the kitchen.

Approaching the kitchen, he’d noticed a familiar glimpse of red hair disappearing into the door. He followed, comforted by the fact that he wouldn’t be all alone in there.

It was Rufina. The grumpy girl he had spoken to earlier. She was the baker, it was natural that she’d set up in the kitchen.

Haru cleared his throat in an attempt to get her attention. “So,” he began “You were right. I’m sorry.”

shsl--speaker-blog

If there was one microscopic silver lining to be found after the announcement, it was that the ElectroID app had a map of the facility. A tiny map, but useful nonetheless. Miho’s eyes stayed glued to the screen as she meandered to the hall’s north exit, processing what she saw. A lecture hall, a restaurant, information desk, closet… this was a very small scale ground floor. (Nowhere to run to.)

Her first instinct was to check the info point. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything that could help there… or anything at all for that matter. Suspicious, but useless.

From there, the obvious destination was across from the info point; the cafe “Remembrance”. While Miho wasn’t quite sure what she’d expected to find there, the calming feel to the room was… okay, it really didn’t calm her down at all, but at least it wasn’t some over the top despair (melancholy?) shrine.

The door on the left wall was probably the kitchen, which her map confirmed. Mmm… that was probably the first place here that needed to be secured. From the kitchen and the cafe, order could spread through the rest of the building and ease everyone’s fears! Or something like that. Peering through the door, it looks like some of her classmates had seemingly already started the process. Perfect timing! Swiftly walking up to them, she gave a greeting.

“Excuse me.”

… and that was when she realized that the boy with the mask had been trying to strike up a conversation of his own, that she’d just barged right into.

“… Are either of you planning to make use of this area?”

That could have been phrased much better, surely… not to mention that anyone could reason that the girl with all the cooking utensils planned on using the kitchen. It at least allowed for broad answers, but still… embarrassing!

#ic #chapter one #what is writing idk #shslr0gue #shslspeaker

Rufina’s stare glances over to the boy in the doorway, looking only for a moment before she gets back to work, placing her knife down and muttering a “Damn right.” to him under her breath as she sorted inventory. It’s not like she cared about an apology in the first place. It was just her general duty as a human being to make sure the kid got his head out of his ass, if he thought she had her feelings her by something so pointless then that was his problem.

Right now he had something more important to focus on, like where to put all of this crap. Though she looked around the kitchen for any storage place with a lock, she doubted that the dog would allow anything that kept them from having access to potential murder weapons. Keeping her shit in the regular drawers and cabinets would just be asking for for some asshole to take something and frame her for a death. Would she honestly have to put everything back in her bag and guard it every night? What a pain in the ass...

And of course, the second she gets everything organized someone else decides to butt in. Now it was that one girl who said she didn’t need to panic or whatever. Like she had been panicking in the first place.

“No,We’re planning on using peanut brittle to seal off the entrance so everyone on the outside starves. And after the food runs out me and the kid are going to engage in a lively game of “Who can cannibalize who first.”. What do you think I’m doing.”

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) || Pan || Chapter 1 || Open

What the fuck? Who the hell was this weird dog robot and why did it want to everyone to murder each other? Also why the hell did it have to look so sad? It was starting to make Pan feel bad, hmph!

Despite the whole ‘kill your fellow students’ thing, Pan looked pretty calm. They didn’t seem to be in a panic or anything. Then again it was a bit hard to tell with the mask and everything, but still. Maybe that’s because they still had hope that their rescurers would be here any moment now. Or that they just didn’t care in general. Who knows. Besides, as if anyone here would really kill someone! That was just silly.

Dumping their bag off by the other luggage by the fountain, because who would wanna steal the odorites luggage of all things anyway, Pan walked off in search of adventure! Or an exit. Or an actual dorm for once, because what the heck was up with that map.

Walking to the area the security room and the info point were in, Pan looked around, trying to see if they could spot any possibly air vents. They had a plan…. A bad plan, but still.

“This is frustrating, uuugh.”

They huffed, crossing their arms as they look around. Being stuck in a school and being possibly forced to murder sure was annoying, huh? The odorite seemed focused on their search and didn’t seem to notice anyone approaching them. Thanks Pan.

#ic #chapter one #shslpan

As far as Rufina could tell with the rules, breaking down locked doors wasn’t against any of them. Which came as some pretty good news, considering the only locked area on the floor was a room that was pretty vital to what had occurred in the previous incident. Of course, the annoying dog could try to make it a rule the second she said her plan out loud, so the baker sure as hell wasn’t going to tell anyone else of her intention until she actually put it into action.

Arriving at the area around the security room, the first thing she takes notice of is…P- Star-N, looking around at nothing. Or whatever the hell their name was, she didn’t care. As long as they weren’t bothering her she wouldn’t even care if they spontaneously combusted. Instead the baker decided to focus on what she came here for, turning to the security room door to examine both it’s lock and what it was made out of.

...Of course, with all of the noise and aimless movement they were making Rufina found focusing on said details to be a bit more difficult than expected.

“...What are you even doing.”

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

sadmoneymusic-blog

After the announcement, Mattie decided the first thing he should do is get something to defend himself with. He headed into the kitchen, hoping to maybe find a knife, or a sharp fork or something. He wasn’t one for cooking, so he didn’t really know what to expect. He dragged his suitcase along, and entering the kitchen, he noticed someone who was inspecting a knife carefully. Rufina, I think her name is… Is she going to kill me..? I’d better be on guard. Clutching his suitcase handle tighter, he slowly walked further into the kitchen, and stomped his foot on the ground to get her attention. He wrote something in his notebook and showed her, his hands trembling slightly.

[you’re rufina, correct? im matthieu. mattie. were you going to take the knives? i need one. or a couple. for defensive purposes.]

#ic #sadmoneymusic #chapter one

She only moves her head slightly as she hears a foot tapping on the tile, recognizing the source of the noise to be that one kid who kept writing what he was saying and decided to place all of his stuff in the middle of the floor. Her hard gaze is transferred from the knife to him as he begins to scrawl something down once again, the thin line of her mouth forming into a frown as she reads what was written. Great. Everyone’s already going to Paranoia-ville.

“Son, if you're under the impression that I'm going to allow any one of these utensils to be taken under my supervision and used for something other than their intended cooking purpose, even the crappy ones? I'm going to have to say that you'll be sorely disappointed.”

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

So it wasn’t a bear, but some sort of sloppily made dog. At least it wasn’t a complete knock off of the last incident......Even if “melancholy” just sounded a cheap store brand version of despair. Rufina was going to assume for the moment that it worked on the same principle. As for the canine, she wouldn’t be surprised to learn that whoever was controlling it was behind that so-called security room. They’ll have to test exactly how it works later.

She looks down at the map in her hand, eyes formed into a steely gaze as she leaned on one of the counters of the kitchen- a location she moved to the second the dog had finished it’s speech. So far? This was a building that wasn’t originally made for people to live in. No immediate dormitories available, meaning either the culprit wanted to mess with them or something had prevented them from taking control of a living area. If she had to guess, it was either some sort of institute or a part of the actual Hope’s Peak that didn’t have a direct connection to the dormitory building.

Wherever it was, their cooking utensils were absolute crap.

Good thing she had brought her own. Heaving her duffle bag onto the counter, she quickly starts to get to work removing various pots, pans, spoons and whisks from it’s contents. For all intents and purposes this was her room now, anyone who raised objection would just have to nut up or shut up.

Lifting up and peering closely at the large knife she used for chopping chocolates and fruits for any scratches from travel,she almost doesn’t even notice when someone else passes through the doorway.

#ic #chapter one #drmmopen

Preheat to a Degree of Despair ll Rufina Open

anzu1-blog

It seemed important to Anzu. Food was important. Good food was sometimes a scarcity. Having a baker in company would be a boon at best and worst of times. The competitive part was more hit and miss, though. She didn’t bother objecting, however. Rufina would know better than her the relevancy of her own talent.

Anzu shrugged. “Phrasing is unimportant. Clarity is key.” This was her own personal philosophy on such matters, although admittedly she did not doubt she sounded awkward. It was just the way sentences formed in her head. “Being attacked would be worse without a plan of defense. “

“Makes it sound like you think the bear’s gonna be the one attacking people. Assumin’ whoever’s doing this is gonna play by the same rules as the first time, the actual thing that you need to defend against is someone deciding to be the biggest idiot they can be and tryin’ to take the offered escape clause.”

She drums her fingers against her arm as her eyes once again stray from Anzu. “ Which would probably be keepin’ everyone in the same room together with supplies while only letting one pair at a time go off on their own. Won’t get us outta here or figure out who’s responsible. But we’d know who killed who.”

#ic #prologue #anzu1

Preheat to a Degree of Despair ll Rufina Open

shsl-r0gue

“Wouldn’t it be easier to ignore something if it never happened? I mean, if we put our heads together we could probably find a way out pretty quick.”

Haru looked around the room at the other students. He’d only just taken a quick glance at everyone’s IDs, so he didn’t quite remember what talents existed in this group, but collectively they had to be smart enough and skilled enough to get themselves out of the situation.

“Like, we should probably be rallying the others, y’know? Getting everyone together, trying to keep spirits up and brainstorm escape plans. Aaaaand it’d probably help if we looked around more, right?”

He offered her his hand, as an olive branch of sorts, hoping to calm her at least a bit.

“What d’ya say?”

“You really think it would be that easy, kid? That after someone goes through all the effort of putting this into motion that they didn’t specifically plan ways to prevent people from using their talents to immediately escape? It ain’t that simple.”

His offered hand remains completely untouched, other than the gaze of the completely dour look Rufina beats down upon it. Oh, she was calm. With a constant presence of complete disdain at their situation, but calm.

“A third of this class is a bunch of musicians. What are we gonna do, push down the walls with the power of rock? Gettin’ a bunch of teenagers to act as a cohesive group is like tryin’ to nail water to a tree. It ain’t gonna be as easy as having everyone meet up for breakfast every day.”

#ic #shslr0gue #prologue

Preheat to a Degree of Despair ll Rufina Open

shslnaotobe-blog

“Blackmailer, that’s cute,” Nao said, genuinely laughter bubbling from her lips. As if she were some kind of malevolent creeper in the night, presenting her findings to the very people she’d stolen them from. No, that wasn’t her style at all.

“You know every time you talk about something being ‘more important’ than what’s currently going on, I get more and more curious about your priorities,” she said, touching her own face curiously.

The spike of anger had passed, and the calculating, amused expression came in its wake. As a ten year old, her maid had once commented nervously that that expression had no place on a child’s face. Nao knew then that people feared her, sometimes. It suited her interests then as well as it did now, although she had a firm suspicion that this cookie would never crumble from such a simple thing as a change of face.

“I, for one, think that establishing who is a threat and who’s just hot air is, you know, fairly important,” Nao continued, talking almost as though she were simply speculating aloud, and didn’t care if the baker heard her. “I think you’re just hot air, though.”