...

W-what are you... doing here?! You're... going to hurt m-me! I won't let you! Oh... well then w-whatever... it is... make it fast! I d-don't want you... here...

[emimurakami17]

I hope we find a kitchen (Exploration - Emi, Chino, Nao, Kohaku)

[kohakumizushima]

Emi’s gesture was enough to stir Kohaku back into her uneasiness. She was just beginning to get used to the interaction, but the closeness of Emi’s face made it difficult.

"W-Whooooa, there, Murakami-san, I’m not ready f—" Kohaku’s face reddened, but her expression quickly softened at the mention of butter.

"Oh that’s what you wanted to ask me.” She exhaled, clamming—er, calming down some. “Um… I saw something with Mondo Oowada’s face on it, but… I’m not sure if that means it’s good.” This thought puzzled her. Exactly why did the gang leader have a brand of butter?

Shrugging it off, Kohaku looked back around for the others. It had been surprisingly quiet behind her, and she didn’t take Chino for the quiet type.

"…Eh? Where is everyone?" Kohaku blinked, scanning the area. "Murakami-chan, didn’t you see Koyama-kun…? He was right behind me just a moment ago." She put her hand on her chin. It was her idea to tell everyone to stay together, but now it just seemed like everyone was even more scattered than before.

[shslproductions-blog]

     Seeing Nao dart quietly around an aisle made Chino cringe at first. The one who goes off on their own is always the first to die after all. He thought it over quickly and decided to sneakily follow him.Best case scenario; the killer backs off fearing their numbers. Worst case; he kills them both and Chino would get to film it. This decision was looking up.

     He centered the unsuspecting Nao on the screen as he peered around the corner. It seemed like he was watching the girls throw some fit over butter. Chino quickly angled the camcorder to get a shot of them as well. 

"You shouldn’t go off on your own koyama-san." He said abruptly hoping to get a good scare out of him. 

[naokoyama]

"Urrraaawwaaaahhh!" Nao shouted, his voice echoing around the deserted supermarket. He hadn't been paying enough attention behind him and had allowed himself to be crept up on. Not that it was his fault.

"What d-do you... think you're d-doing?! Why are y-you... filming m-me?!" This guy was strange, something about having a camera between himself and the world made him kind of irritating to be around. The stuff he'd said would have been reasonable advice, but it's not like he was wandering off on his own: he'd done the right thing sticking to the group and was fuming at the injustice of his advice. He turned back to the two girls, trying to calm his nerves by biting into his sleeve again.

[emimurakami17]

I hope we find a kitchen (Exploration - Emi, Chino, Nao, Kohaku)

[kohakumizushima]

Kohaku glanced back over her shoulder, wondering how her other companions were faring. Upon seeing Nao, a smile lit up her face.

Ah, that’s good… He’s following along. The gesture was small, but still lightened her heart. She slowed to a walk.

The change from extremely dusty to unsettlingly clean disturbed her, but Kohaku knew it was never a good idea to act shaken by it. After all, everyone else’s happiness depended on hers. That’s what she thought, at least.

Soon enough, the angler found herself reunited with her missing companion. Her mouth opened slightly, then closed. Emi seemed very focused on something, but Kohaku wasn’t sure what. She glanced over at the stocked shelves nearby in attempt to gain more knowledge of the situation.

"H….uh. So this is why she left…?” Kohaku muttered to herself.

[emimurakami17]

Emi became aware of the angler standing nearby and gestured for her to look at the shelves.

"Look - just LOOK at all this! Little John brand flour and Chrysanthemum condensed milk and Mr Buddha brand sugar and - just - EVERYTHING! And it’s all fresh, look at the expiry dates! So there must be someone around here restocking the shelves… Did you see anybody?"

Her eyes widened as something occurred to her and she turned to Kohaku, reaching out to grip her shoulders and stare deep into her eyes.

"Did you see…" She paused, continuing to stare at an uncomfortably short distance from the angler’s face, "Did you see if they have a good brand of butter?”

[naokoyama]

Nao caught up to the pair to find them stood bizarrely close together. He felt like he was interrupting something and shuffled to the side, placing himself in an aisle out of their view. There was still no sign of anyone working here despite the abundance of resources lining the shelves. By now they had passed a fair way into the shop but it was quite clearly huge.

It would be easy to lose people in a place like this, so he peered back round the end of the aisle, keeping the pair in view while they finished whatever was going on there.

[emimurakami17]

I hope we find a kitchen (Exploration - Emi, Chino, Nao, Kohaku)

[shslproductions-blog]

"Eh? Where’d she go in such a hurry?"

Chino glanced around the store quickly. The atmosphere was regular looking and bored him. There was a strange smell in the air as well. Still, he felt it odd for such a neat and maintained place to exist in such an environment. He pondered this only briefly before taking his camera out and documenting the scene. 

"Heh! Bizarre locations, bizarrer situations, and to make matters worse, one of our group has gone missing. A B-Horror Movie, as I suspected."

[kohakumizushima]

The angler blinked a few times, glancing back and forth between her remaining companions and the path Emi ran off in. W..hat’s gotten into her? she thought. Kohaku wasn’t really sure about the reasons for this sudden absence, so she didn’t know whether to feel worried or amused.

"Uhhhh…" The mixed feelings tangled up and cancelled each other out. A blank expression formed on Kohaku’s face as she searched for her train of thought.

"Ah!" she finally exclaimed. Kohaku began clumsily running after the missing member. Staying in one spot for too long was unlike her. Additionally, it wasn’t good enough for her to just sit and wonder about what was going on, after all. She turned her head back and cried out to the others.

"Come on, guys, we have to stick together!"

[emimurakami17]

Emi paused ever-so-briefly at the end of the isle she had bolted to in order to confirm her suspicions - yes, it was what she thought! - before sprinting down the aisle.

Skidding to a halt halfway down the aisle, she stood breathlessly staring at the items on the shelf, making a mental inventory of them. She was vaguely aware of her companions’ voices behind her somewhere.

"There’s everything,” She muttered under her breath, walking down the aisle and continuing her mental inventory, even running her hand lovingly over some of the packages, “All the highest quality… the best brands…”

Now, if only there was a kitchen…

[naokoyama]

It was certainly weird, this supermarket was clearly not run down at all. It had an awful sterility to it, the air feeling lifeless around them. No visible staff here either, it seemed.

He was aware that he was no longer being guided around. Emi had vanished, the other guy had a camera out and Kohaku looked extremely confused. None of these reactions seemed to make much sense, so Nao focused his attention on the nearest aisle. The shelves were well stocked with an assortment of goods, seemingly completely untouched. It was beginning to feel like something was guiding them around, providing this bizarre path for them.

Kohaku's voice made him spin around. She was right, it was probably best to stay together for now, in case anyone found help. He marched over to where she had been then began to trail her, shuffling his feet across the supermarket floor.

[emimurakami17]

I hope we find a kitchen (Exploration - Emi, Chino, Nao, Kohaku)

[kohakumizushima]

"That’d be great!" After chatting it up with a variety of people, Kohaku thought it was about time to get a look around. Knowing one’s peers was important, but it was equally as important to know one’s environment as well. Although… She was absolutely sick of the dusty, dusty air. This was a good chance to see if other air was more breathable.

Shifting glances a few times, the angler leaned over towards Emi and whispered.

"Sorry about making you worry earlier… My face gets red hot sometimes when I’m embarrassed." Kohaku patted her cheeks, squishing them a little. "Thanks for taking care of me though!" Finishing up her thought, Kohaku turned to face the others.

"Are we all set then? ‘Cause I’m itching to look around with you guys!"

[emimurakami17]

"Ooookaaaaay," Emi said, not quite believing Kohaku’s explanation of her strange behaviour. Yeah, people blushed when embarrassed, but that didn’t explain all the falling down and such. She silently determined to keep an eye on this girl.

"So! Guys!" She turned abruptly to Nao and Chino, walking between them and grabbing a hold of one of each boy’s sleeves, "Let’s get going, shall we?"

Fully confident that Kohaku would be at her side despite not being able to hold on to her, too, Emi strode through the hospital doors and started down the path towards the supermarket. It wasn’t far, but the overgrown and ruined road made the going difficult.

Of course… if she stumbled, maybe Chino would catch her, or she’d end up leaning on him… She giggled to herself quietly at the thought.

Soon they were at the entrance to the supermarket. 

"Oh!" She exclaimed, looking about and seeing a few other groups of students headed to the same building, "Looks like we weren’t the only ones with the idea to come here… Oh well, let’s have a quick look, anyway!"

[naokoyama]

Nao had nodded briefly at the introduction to Chino, but was still wary of him. Really, he thought, he should still be wary of everyone. Kohaku's startling arrival jolted him out of his inward thinking. At least he now knew two people in the group who seemed to be alright, or at least might scare off any danger.

He was feeling slightly better when Emi grabbed his sleeve and began to guide both him and Chino out into the city. His body tensed as she did so and he started to resist, contemplating running away, when the doors opened on the city around them. It was clearly abandoned and yet it felt so alive. Nao breathed in the fresh air and began to calm.

They were outside the supermarket before he noticed, his head spinning to take in all the sights. By comparison, the supermarket seemed rather dull and generic, but at least it seemed to still have stuff inside. There were other people again, putting him on edge, but hopefully a quick look would mean not talking to anyone else. He nodded in response to Emi's suggestion and waited to be guided inside.

[emimurakami17]

I hope we find a kitchen (Exploration - OPEN)

[shslproductions-blog]

As Chino got some establishing shots of the hospital front, his attention was slowly drawn to Murakami lingering at the doors, hesitantly. After their conversation earlier he recognized her reluctance and decided to give her a little push.

"Hey! Murakami-san! Why don’t you come help me check out the convention center! It’s right by the supermarket so we can go there right after." He took into consideration her talent and was sure the supermarket would comfort her to some degree. At the same time the convention center sounded interesting from what he had overheard. A wide open space oddly maintained? He couldn’t help but go there first. 

[emimurakami17]

Emi jumped a bit, startled by Chino’s voice.

"Ch-Chino-kun," She said softly. That’s right, he had offered to stick by her, hadn’t he? And now, he was keeping that promise. Her eyes lit up and a rosy blush rose on her cheeks.

"Y-yes, I’d love to!" She cried, "Eh? Did you say there’s a supermarket?? I wonder if they have good quality ingredients…"

She walked over to his side and looked out over the ruinous landscape again. She felt an overwhelming mix of excitement and anxiety, and took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Okay! Let’s go."

[naokoyama]

Nao had fallen back a little as Emi had begun to leave the building entirely. Perhaps she didn't really want him around. After all, she was talking to someone else already. He debated running back to the bed he'd woken up in when he realised he had to go outside and find out what had happened, whatever that took. He nervously wandered over to the pair by the door and attempted to attract Emi's attention.

"M-M-Murakami-san?" he asked, his eyes drifting over the other person who he didn't recognise. "Can I... still come with you...?" He didn't like how defenceless he felt, but standing up had revealed just how small and weak he was in comparison to everyone else. Now seemed to not be the time for making enemies.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[shslfirefighter]

Kazuko frowned. This guy was being a real downer. “Whatever, I tried to be friendly, now I’m just gonna be mean.”

"CHEER THE HELL UP YOU DEPRESSED ASSHOLE! THE SITUATION’S NOT PERFECT, BUT IT ISN’T GOING TO GET BETTER WITH YOU MOPING!" 

[naokoyama]

At least he was admitting he had no intent of remaining nice. The hothead started yelling but at this point Nao zoned out. He didn't have the patience to deal with someone yelling at him, not in this situation. He leapt off the bed, running out into the corridor and hiding, waiting for Kazuko to leave his bedside.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[emimurakami17]

"Yeah, maybe!" She cried excitedly, "That makes sense! I’ve heard of that kind of thing happening."

Her face darkened again as another thought occurred to her.

"That doesn’t explain where everyone else went though… or how we all got here if there’s no sign of medical staff or adults of any kind…"

Her voice caught in her throat as she thought over the possible fates of the flight crew and teachers who had accompanied them on the plane. Were they dead? Had they abandoned the students here to go look for help?

Tears began to well up in her eyes at the thought of being left behind.

"Could they… could they have left us here?"

[naokoyama]

Someone had to have brought them from the plane to the hospital, so there was obviously someone still around.

"I don't think they... would have left... if they could help it..." Which meant there was a reason the adults couldn't have stayed, right?

"Maybe we c-crashed... near an abandoned city... and they went for help..." But then, why was no-one injured, why had no-one stayed to tell them what was going on, why could no-one remember anything. They were unlikely to find answers sitting in here guessing. Maybe...

"Should we... take a look... outside? See what's... out there?"

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[adrenaline-starling-blog]

"A botanist huh?" Abigail looked him over once again. Originally she thought of him as an injured corner animal, but now that he mentioned botany he was reminding Abigail more and more of sleeping grass. Like the thorny patch behind her old home, the one that her father despised so much…

Abigail shook off the old memories. There was no use for any of that now. She was an independent young woman and had been for years. There were very few memories to recall from her past life, and the memories she did wish to keep were even more scarce. 

Abigail shook her head, as if the bad thoughts would empty out of her ears. She returned her focus back to Koyama.

"I said it was smart to worry because I’m a dare devil. Risking my life and surviving the odds is second nature to me. But that doesn’t mean I’m worried. Worrying is healthy, you should always be worried. What if my equipment fails? What if I get injured? There are so many possibilities to keep track of. So when the unexpected happens it’s no use being confused. But if you worry about something it means you recognize it’s a problem, a threat. Only then can you overcome it."

[naokoyama]

Her words were definitely interesting; this situation did appear to be a threat. Perhaps someone accustomed to being in dangerous situations was someone whose instincts should be trusted. She must be extremely good at dealing with threats to have gotten into the school.

"Well then, have you g-got any suggestions... on what to do now?" He would at least see what her views were, even if he disagreed. Botany was unlikely to be a particularly useful skill for dealing with this.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[shslfirefighter]

"There we go!" Kazuko laughed. "There’s the fire I’m looking for! But, word to the wise, if you’re gonna fight back don’t stutter dude, get loud and get proud. Be confident in what you’re doing…you’ve got some courage yelling at me."

Kazuko straightened up. “Granted I don’t recommend it, but good on you.”

"In all seriousness what’s your name." 

[naokoyama]

Idiot, if he could have stopped himself stuttering he'd have done so. Nao was annoyed by himself for even listening to the rest of what this guy had to say. He felt his own intelligence dropping just for being in the vicinity of such a person. Making him leave was therefore top priority.

"Koyama, now g-get lost!" Great, he'd stuttered through that as well. It's like this guy was purposely trying to make him as miserable as possible.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[shslqueenbee-blog]

Minami shook her head and frowned, her expression turning hard and angry, and waved off the notion

We’re all absolutely useless in terms of information plant boy. We can only make inferences based on what we know, which is almost nothing. And for that matter no one has left this damn hospital to go outside to check on what’s happening elsewhere.

She crossed her arms and huffed loudly. The combonation of stress and moronic aditudes among them lead Minami to have enough. And now Koyama was getting the full brunt of it.

[naokoyama]

Plant boy. Great. Another stupid name. She was attacking others for things she couldn't do herself, his initial judgements seemed rather valid.

"Then why haven't you left? D-Don't... get mad at me!" He hugged his arms tightly around his legs again as he stared at her through his hair. So no-one knew anything, it seemed. The answers had to be outside the hospital then.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[emimurakami17]

"I’m Emi, Emi Murakami," She replied, "Nice to meet you, Koyama-san."

She gestured to the window again.

"If you look at the other buildings nearby… it all looks disused and overgrown, like no-one’s been in this city for decades. It’s… kind of really creepy…"

Her face fell and she hugged herself to combat the shudder that ran through her.

"Do you remember anything from the flight, or the time between then and now?" Emi asked, partially to distract herself from the dreary thoughts the landscape evoked.

[naokoyama]

She was right, it did look... empty outside.

"I remember... being on the plane. There was a v-voice... then we started to fall. I c-curled up... then I was in this bed..." It was strange, his memory seemed hazy even though he couldn't see why. Talking to others, it seemed there were some who knew even less than he did. This whole experience was deeply unsettling.

"M-Maybe the stress... of the crash... made us forget?"  He could hope, but he felt they both knew something more serious had taken place here.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[shslfirefighter]

"Why are you sitting down and moping? Get up mop top, we’ve got work to do and people to deal with. I’m Kazuko, you got a name or you just gonna sit around crying like a little girl?" 

[naokoyama]

Just what he needed, some idiotic loudmouth yelling at him. This "Kazuko" appeared as a sort of blur of useless emotion and insults on his radar. He clamped his mouth harder against his sleeve fabric and began to churn his teeth. He couldn't let this get to him, he had to overcome this.

"Shut up! W-What are you... even expecting me... to do?! You d-don't deserve... to know my name!" This guy was clearly not worth the effort, but looking weak was the way for this abuse to continue. Best to fight back early and get it over with.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[emimurakami17]

"That’s kind of… a hard subject," She admitted, putting great effort into staying calm for the boy’s sake, "As far as I can gather from our classmates I’ve spoken to thus far, it seems our plane went down. We all woke up here some time after, though it’s anyone’s guess where ‘here’ is. I mean, have a look for your self."

She gestured towards the windows.

[naokoyama]

Taking up her offer, he crawled over to the nearest window. There was a street outside, but nothing particularly recognisable. This hospital could be anywhere. He faced back towards the girl before him. She seemed alright, perhaps he should volunteer some information himself.

"My name's Koyama... by the way." He stood, looking at her expectantly. This is how conversation went, right?

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[shslqueenbee-blog]

Exactly. It’s way too strange to be a real. Unless we all simply blacked out because of the g-forces or whatever and the pilot managed to land the plane.

Crossing her arms she narrowed her eyes slightly, the gears turning inside her head.

But if the adults on the plane aren’t here but alive, one of them would have stayed here to watch over us after brining us here. It’s strange no one but the students are here

She looked back to the boy and stared down at him. Psh, hair covering his eyes and a rat tail. Probably has never seen a shower. But…he’s not an idiot, I’ll give him that.

So introduction time? May as well, since it seems to be the normal now. I’m Minami Nyotei. SHSL Queen Bee. Spare me any comments on my talent.

Perhaps treating this one as an equal, or at least a slightler smarter than average moron would entice him.

[naokoyama]

Further confirmation that something weird was going on. This was all very strange.

"Koyama. I'm a... botanist..." He was obviously interested as to what on earth Queen Bee could mean, but pestering her after she said not to was likely to end badly.

"Have you spoken... to anyone else... who m-may know anything?" She looked like the sort of person who would have quickly gotten to know anyone else, so maybe she would be the best source of information. Perhaps that's even what Queen Bee meant.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[kohakumizushima]

The air’s tension slowly loosened up as he spoke. It made relief wash over her. She even managed that characteristic smile of hers.

"Boring? Not even close." Kohaku reassured, "If anything you’re pretty interesting, Koyama-kun. The others are just cramping my style." She cut herself off with that statement, not wanting to seem too "friendly" and consequently scaring him away.

Still, something was nagging at her, and she couldn’t help but address it.

"So, um… Sorry if this sounds rude, but… Could I stay here with you?" It was hard fitting in when so many people’s personalities clashed with hers. Of course, Kohaku would never admit to being an outcast, even though her desire to stay with Nao hinted at that.

[naokoyama]

Interesting? He began to feel a little guilty that he'd behaved so mean to her. There was no guarantee of her intentions, sure, but he felt comfortable like this.

"S-Stay... with me?" She must be a very strange person, whoever she was. Still, there was no need to be alone at the moment.

"Fine, Mizushima-san. Just don't try anything f-funny!" He tried to remain stoic, but he couldn't help smiling a little. Someone wanted to be around him.

[naokoyama]

Crash (Open)

[adrenaline-starling-blog]

Keeping her distance, Abigail watched the timid boy attempt to maintain his composure. It was obvious he was aware of how strange things were, but he wasn’t relishing the thought of danger the way she was. 

Trying to lighten things up, Abigail took a few steps towards him, still maintaining some space between them. 

"Sort of creepy isn’t it?" Abigail asked, looking around the room. "None of us are even hurt. Makes the whole thing seem like a hoax. If I ever came out unscathed from a performance I’d be called a sham." 

Abigail took one more step closer and extended a hand to shake. She had a feeling she would get ignored, but it didn’t matter. At this point Abigail was trying her best to familiarize herself with her fellow hospital patients. The longer she stayed in this building the more she began to classify people as friend, foe, or unknown. Too many people were in the unknown category for her to feel satisfied. 

"I’m Abby, a dare devil." She chose to allow him to call her by her nickname right off the bat, in hopes it would provide a more pleasant atmosphere. "And considering you’re worried instead of confused, you must be on the smart ones."

[naokoyama]

Someone else was coming up to his bed. She stood back and mentioned the weirdness of the situation, backing up his beliefs.

"Hmm..." She stepped closer and held out a hand, which Nao recoiled from, but he stayed looking vaguely at her. She didn't seem to mean much harm, but they had only just met and he was already on edge. Still, perhaps it was worth being pleasant.

"A... bee..." The words sounded strange in his mouth. "K-Koyama, botanist," he replied. But the later sentence was worrying him...

"It's smart... to be worried?! What d-does that mean?!" She was obviously hiding how much she knew.

[emimurakami17]

Character doodles ~

Just trying my hand at some of y’all