Zaiga Yukimura

SHSL mákina DJ

[shsl-mortician]

Tomoe | This Doesn’t Bode Anywhere Near As Poorly, To Be Quite Honest | Theatre Mode | Open

All of the very few people who knew Tomoe prior would likely have told you that a “summer school of theatre” would be the last place they expected to see her. Though, despite her lack of real experience with it, some fourth-wall breaking and even slightly meta events pointed to having something of a flair for the dramatic. Even if it was a long shot, it didn’t specify “for the talented who have previous theatre experience” at the very least. Maybe getting her entry in early had helped. Maybe it was nothing but luck. But still, whatever happened happened, and she actually. Got in. So that was all cool, and fun, and stuff.

The whole ‘waking up disoriented in a chair’ thing was marginally less fun, but if you’ll throw back to the introductory post of the actual murder game prologue and the fact that it’s been specified to be a recurring thing in other places, waking up in a chair was nothing short of the usual for Tomoe. This time, as well, she actually had some idea of what was going on as opposed to being completely in the dark. The woman on stage was a considerably more welcoming figure than some weird mouse hologram AI thing- but who’d have even thought of something like that being here? Preposterous. And on top of that, she could definitely appreciate the sense of style. Definitely not her colours, but the frills and ribbons were a PRETTY SOLID FASHION DECISION. 

Naturally, considering everything has been retconned, her recognition of everyone else present was a fairly solid ‘nope’ out of ten. But they would all know why they were here, and they would all be able to get along well. Rather than apprehensiveness and concern, she appeared to be almost giddy and considerably excited - they’d all be working together, they’d have time to get to know each other, surely, this would be a delightful experience! For fear of coming on too strongly or otherwise being perceived as excessively excited, Tomoe opted to force herself to appear at least a little bit less overexcited as she glanced about, contemplating her options of who seemed most open to conversation initially.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga was making her rounds going around introducing herself and getting to know everyone. Eventually, she walked over Tomoe, intent on introducing herself, and getting to know her. Oh boy, incoming. 

“Hiya!” Zaiga greeted enthusiastically. “Oh man, I’m super excited to start! This is gonna be be great!.” Zaiga could barely contain her excitement. The chance to try something new and make some new friends along the way. What’s there to not like? “My name’s Zaiga Yukimura! What’s yours?” She asked.

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

Time to feel... less anxious | Otone | Theatre Mode | Open

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

shsl-makina:

Zaiga smiled. She could see that Otone seemed a little nervous, but she hoped that she’d be able to get them to open up more by talking to them. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Otone-chan! SHSLs are pretty simple aren’t they? They just get assigned to you when you’re the best at something and you get scouted right?” Zaiga shrugged. 

“Oh yeah, I guess I am. I mean, I’m not entirely sure what a sound engineer does, but I can guess at least! I’m sure I’d be familiar with some of it. The DJ setup I use can’t be too different from what you work with.” Well, there’s one thing you have in common, kinda.

Zaiga leaned over toward Otone. “What are you most excited about? For this theatre performance I thing, I mean. I can’t wait to see what sorts of costumes we get to wear!” Zaiga wasn’t sure what sort of stuff they were going to be doing, but as long as she could make some friends on the way, it wouldn’t matter.

Zagia was a literally ray of sunshine jesus. How could you possibly be so nice…. it blew Otone’s mind. 

And then she used -chan after their name…. gosh that was so sweet. Although, they weren’t used to it in the slightest, and immediately became very red and very flustered, as if they weren’t awkward enough already, they held their hands up defensively as they spoke, “A-ah, w-well, I-I mean when you put it l-like that it’s simple e-enough…” a nervous chuckle, “I-I just thought that there were… way better people t-to scout, y’know?”

Deep breath, Otone. They’re still a ball of anxiety but they kept listening. They took a while to actually recover and just let Zaiga talk, even when she posed the question they still hesitated, before finally answering. “Um…” Another brief, awkward laugh. “If I’m honest..? I’m really just excited to see the technology… since I won’t be acting, th-that’s for sure… I… wanna do a good enough job with sound and stuff to… well… make it a good show, really. Y-you always need people in the background for a production to go smoothly, the technicians are half the… um…” they choked. “I-I forgot the word…” 

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga hoped that she wasn’t making Otone too nervous, but she was sure they’d become more relaxed if she talked to him more. “Better people to scout?” Zaiga shook her finger. “Remember what I said before? To get scouted, you have to the the best! I’m sure you’re great at what you do, whatever it is. Don’t worry!”

Zaiga seemed disappointed when Otone said they weren’t going to act. “Aww, I’m sure you’d be fine at acting if you really tried.” Zaiga shrugged. “Buuut I guess making sure all the tech stuff goes smoothly is an important job. Sticking to your strengths is a pretty good strat.”

[alicetheshsldrummajor]

Wait, Am I Dead or Alive? [Theatre Mode - Open]

Waking up in those comfy auditorium seats brought back good band memories. Though this all seemed like Deja-Vu. It was as if he had gone through this same scenario before…Probably nothing.

Being greeted by the older woman known as Minnie Squeakers, he scratched his cheek lightly. It reminded him of the Disney character in the Americas. He loved theatre back home from when he had time off from the marching band and other band related activities, though this was the only time he could do it full-on, even if it meant temporarily leaving.

The atmosphere was nice and fairly simple. It seemed they had lots of downtime, and the drum major looked around at all of the faces. He picked up his trombone, lying in wait inside it’s dull-wood case, and clicked his tongue as he stood up.

“Okay then! It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Squeakers. I look forward to being with everyone and creating wonderful memories.” He beamed, performing an elegant yet strong salute, looking at it makes you know it’s definitely band related.

He seems rather jumpy. “Oh boy! Who wants to play a game of ‘get to know me’?”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga overheard Alice’s proposal from across the room. “Oh! I do! I do!” Exclaimed Zaiga, raising her hand, and jumping up from her seat. She bounded over to Alice. 

“So, how do we play this game?” Asked Zaiga with a giggle.

[alicetheshsldrummajor]

Immediately seeing the positive reaction, he spun over with a delighted smile and folded his hands behind his back, tipping his head slightly to the side.

“Ahah..for now we can use vocals alone. Presentation will probably be later.” He replied a bit awkwardly. This girl definitely had an interesting appearance. Before he could continue his game, something caught his eye. “Are those headphones? If so, they are sick! Where did you get them?” Alice’s eyes sparkled at the mere mention of them.

Containing his excitement, he cleared his throat after giving the gal the time to answer. “Hehe….I apologize, I got off-topic, didn’t I? I’m Alice, the Super High School Level Drum Major!”

[shsl-makina]

“These things?” Asked Zaiga, tilting her head and pointing at them. “Yeah, they’re headphones! You can’t just buy these anywhere ya know. I got them custom made! And I will admit, they are pretty swanky.” She said, grinning mischievously. Zaiga pressed a button on one of the headphone cans and it made a mechanical clack. “I can em switch between open and closed configurations, and…” Zaiga pressed another button, and the green and yellow LEDs fitted to her heaphones lit up. “On-demand light show!” 

“Alice? Isn’t that usually a girl’s na–oh whatever.” Said Zaiga with a shrug. “It’s nice to meet you Alice!” Zaiga smiled brightly, before introducing herself. “I’m Zaiga Yukimura! But you can call me whatever the heck you want. I’m the SHSL mákina DJ!”

[alicetheshsldrummajor]

“Custom-made, eh? That’s wicked!” He’s totally psyched about this. All the settings on the headphones made it better. “Man, it must have cost a fortune. I can only imagine. Of course they must be very useful and fun!” He grinned, placing his hands on his hips.

He chuckled, catching onto her first phrase after introducing himself. “I don’t know myself. It just is.” He smiled with delight, not even in the slightest annoyed or angry. “Zaiga!” He repeated the name a few times. It was fun to say. I guess it’s all fun and games until one of us accidentally pushes the other off the cliff. Oops.

“Mákina DJ? As a musician, I’ve heard of it alright. We should totally collaborate sometime!” Alice declares happily. “How long have you been in the industry? You must have lots of fans.”

[shsl-makina]

“Yeah, these headphones are great.” Said Zaiga, pressing a button to return them to their default configuration. “I actually can’t remember how much these cost. Maybe that’s for the best...” Said Zaiga with a nervous chuckle.

“Ooh! A collaboration would be really cool!” Said Zaiga with a giggle. “Not sure what a mákina DJ and a drum major could come up with, but it’s sure as heck worth a try!”

Zaiga tilted her head. “Hmm, I started making music around three years ago, and I started DJing not long after that, but I compared to a lot of DJs, I haven’t been around for that long. I’m still not as popular as all those DJs making more mainstream stuff, but I know really helped mákina get more popular again!”

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

Time to feel... less anxious | Otone | Theatre Mode | Open

Well, Otone knew exactly why they agreed to come here over the summer. They… really, really wanted to break out of the house. Just once. And in theatre, you still need sound people… right? It would still feel close to home, maybe.

And it did. Albeit, a much, much larger home. The way the teacher’s voice echoed around the room was comforting in a way, the place had really nice acoustics and it made their heart swell with glee. That was oddly positive for them, but a welcome change. The atmosphere in general was really welcoming, even for an extreme introvert like them.

Keeping their phone to hand, just in case, they got to their feet, looking around at all the new faces. Oh dear… maybe this would be a little more overwhelming than they first anticipated. Approaching people first wasn’t exactly something they could do well, so them and their tangled mess retreated a bit further back into the room. 

Maybe someone would notice? Who knows? 

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga was going around meeting all of her peers, when she noticed someone still in their seat, looking a little reclusive. That person, was Otone. She thought they seemed rather lonely, so she decided it were best if she approached them first. She sidled over to the sound engineer. “Hey dude, are you excited for this? ‘Cause I know I sure am!” Said Zaiga enthusiastically. 

“My name’s Zaiga Yukimura, SHSL mákina DJ!” She said, pointing to herself. “What’s your name?” She asked, hands on her hips.

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

A short gasp left Otone as they were suddenly approached. Oh boy, oh boy, they were not anticipating this.  

As they listened to her introduction, Otone could sense a electrifying personality behind the girl, her voice as excited and her body movements screamed energetic. They’d have to try very, very hard to even dream of matching that kind of enthusiasm. So they didn’t, and just stayed themselves.

Unfortunately, this meant their slight hesitance before they spoke was present. Heck. “Ah… I guess excitement would describe how I feel… kinda bewildered too, if I’m honest.” A brief, airy chuckle left them. “Um, well, it’s nice to meet you, Yukimura-san, my name’s Otone Hibike… I’m a sound engineer, not sure about that super high school level stuff, though…” a smile was still faintly on their face despite the jab at themselves, as you do.

Their hand moved up to their face and they gently scratched their nose. Nervous body language is a gogo. How do you carry conversation???? man that’s hard. “A DJ, hm..? You’re um, probably pretty fond of sound stuff too then, right..?” Of course she was Otone, just look at those headphones. You know full well you can’t get ‘phones like that anywhere.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga smiled. She could see that Otone seemed a little nervous, but she hoped that she’d be able to get them to open up more by talking to them. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Otone-chan! SHSLs are pretty simple aren’t they? They just get assigned to you when you’re the best at something and you get scouted right?” Zaiga shrugged. 

“Oh yeah, I guess I am. I mean, I’m not entirely sure what a sound engineer does, but I can guess at least! I’m sure I’d be familiar with some of it. The DJ setup I use can’t be too different from what you work with.” Well, there’s one thing you have in common, kinda.

Zaiga leaned over toward Otone. “What are you most excited about? For this theatre performance I thing, I mean. I can’t wait to see what sorts of costumes we get to wear!” Zaiga wasn’t sure what sort of stuff they were going to be doing, but as long as she could make some friends on the way, it wouldn’t matter.

[small-shsl-bodyguard]

Off the Clock | Kaiya | Theatre Mode | Open

For the first time in awhile Kaiya didn’t dread waking up. Sure it wasn’t the best way to wake up but it beat not knowing where you were. Kaiya adjusted his askew hat as he listened to his new teacher. While a theatre school may seem very odd for a known ball of anger and very well known fighter he ended up signing up anyway. Part of it was urging from his sister who thought he could put his secret dancing skills to use and the other part was…well he wanted to make friends that weren’t just for fighting. Kaiya sat up in his chair and gave a little stretch. While he was a little…apprehensive about how everyone might feel about him given his short stature and sometimes intimidating glare he was more than ready to give this his all.  Kaiya looks from person to person with the softest expression he could muster…but that wasn’t much. “Well I guess we are all here to do some fucking sick stage stuff right?” Kaiya put his hands in his pockets. “Well I am Kaiya Nariko and I am known to beat the shit out of people, I hope we can all have fun and no one needs to get their ass kicked.” Nailed it. 

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga listened to the bodyguard’s introduction which was... interesting, to say the least. He might have looked intimidating had he been a bit taller. “Er, it’s nice to meet you Kaiya!” Said Zaiga, proficiently masking her slight unease. “Though, you probably don’t need to beat up anyone here. We should all try our best to get along after all.” 

Zaiga’s positive energy reemerged when she introduced herself. “I’m Zaiga Yukimura, SHSL mákina DJ! If ya don’t mind me askin’, what’s your talent?”

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

Time to feel... less anxious | Otone | Theatre Mode | Open

Well, Otone knew exactly why they agreed to come here over the summer. They… really, really wanted to break out of the house. Just once. And in theatre, you still need sound people… right? It would still feel close to home, maybe.

And it did. Albeit, a much, much larger home. The way the teacher’s voice echoed around the room was comforting in a way, the place had really nice acoustics and it made their heart swell with glee. That was oddly positive for them, but a welcome change. The atmosphere in general was really welcoming, even for an extreme introvert like them.

Keeping their phone to hand, just in case, they got to their feet, looking around at all the new faces. Oh dear… maybe this would be a little more overwhelming than they first anticipated. Approaching people first wasn’t exactly something they could do well, so them and their tangled mess retreated a bit further back into the room. 

Maybe someone would notice? Who knows? 

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga was going around meeting all of her peers, when she noticed someone still in their seat, looking a little reclusive. That person, was Otone. She thought they seemed rather lonely, so she decided it were best if she approached them first. She sidled over to the sound engineer. “Hey dude, are you excited for this? ‘Cause I know I sure am!” Said Zaiga enthusiastically. 

“My name’s Zaiga Yukimura, SHSL mákina DJ!” She said, pointing to herself. “What’s your name?” She asked, hands on her hips.

[alicetheshsldrummajor]

Wait, Am I Dead or Alive? [Theatre Mode - Open]

Waking up in those comfy auditorium seats brought back good band memories. Though this all seemed like Deja-Vu. It was as if he had gone through this same scenario before…Probably nothing.

Being greeted by the older woman known as Minnie Squeakers, he scratched his cheek lightly. It reminded him of the Disney character in the Americas. He loved theatre back home from when he had time off from the marching band and other band related activities, though this was the only time he could do it full-on, even if it meant temporarily leaving.

The atmosphere was nice and fairly simple. It seemed they had lots of downtime, and the drum major looked around at all of the faces. He picked up his trombone, lying in wait inside it’s dull-wood case, and clicked his tongue as he stood up.

“Okay then! It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Squeakers. I look forward to being with everyone and creating wonderful memories.” He beamed, performing an elegant yet strong salute, looking at it makes you know it’s definitely band related.

He seems rather jumpy. “Oh boy! Who wants to play a game of ‘get to know me’?”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga overheard Alice’s proposal from across the room. “Oh! I do! I do!” Exclaimed Zaiga, raising her hand, and jumping up from her seat. She bounded over to Alice. 

“So, how do we play this game?” Asked Zaiga with a giggle.

[alicetheshsldrummajor]

Immediately seeing the positive reaction, he spun over with a delighted smile and folded his hands behind his back, tipping his head slightly to the side.

“Ahah..for now we can use vocals alone. Presentation will probably be later.” He replied a bit awkwardly. This girl definitely had an interesting appearance. Before he could continue his game, something caught his eye. “Are those headphones? If so, they are sick! Where did you get them?” Alice’s eyes sparkled at the mere mention of them.

Containing his excitement, he cleared his throat after giving the gal the time to answer. “Hehe….I apologize, I got off-topic, didn’t I? I’m Alice, the Super High School Level Drum Major!”

[shsl-makina]

“These things?” Asked Zaiga, tilting her head and pointing at them. “Yeah, they’re headphones! You can’t just buy these anywhere ya know. I got them custom made! And I will admit, they are pretty swanky.” She said, grinning mischievously. Zaiga pressed a button on one of the headphone cans and it made a mechanical clack. “I can em switch between open and closed configurations, and...” Zaiga pressed another button, and the green and yellow LEDs fitted to her heaphones lit up. “On-demand light show!” 

“Alice? Isn’t that usually a girl’s na--oh whatever.” Said Zaiga with a shrug. “It’s nice to meet you Alice!” Zaiga smiled brightly, before introducing herself. “I’m Zaiga Yukimura! But you can call me whatever the heck you want. I’m the SHSL mákina DJ!”

[shslstreetboarding-blog]

Nori | Back Into The Fray!! | Theatre Mode | Open

At a first glance, nobody would have expected someone like Professional Streetboarder Noriko Miyazaki to be found somewhere like a theatre, participating in something like this. She was brash, she was loud, and even if she was coordinated, she wasn’t exactly anyone’s go-to for a backup singer. In short, Nori was more the get-out-and-go type, not a playbook-studying type. Or a practicing type. Or, um, a theatre type. But here she ended up.

In all honesty, she’d fallen asleep in a myriad of school-related places, so waking up disoriented in a theatre didn’t really worry her- groggy, the boarder figured that she’d fallen asleep during an especially boring briefing about music and the power of friendship or something. She gave a drowsy yawn, and glanced on the stage at WOW, AN ACTUAL HUMAN CARICATURE OF MINNIE MOUSE BUT AS A GRANDMOTHER. Okay. Her heart just kind of melted. She was adorably friend-shaped, and in all honesty, reminded Nori a lot of home. That dress definitely looked like something her mom might on occasion wear. And the entire idea of a random theatre group was, in honesty, very cute- it reminded her very suddenly and strikingly of a few close friends back home, and as much as the new student life was a fresh start, a small tight-knot friend circle was something she needed.

Speaking of fresh starts.

Here she was in a group, and she hadn’t made a peep yet from her one-and-a-half seat sleeping arrangement!

So she gave a huge yawn once more, and stretched as wide as she could, and kicked herself up into a standing position, fists firmly on her hips and chest puffed out as she made the only first impression she could. A brash one.

“‘Kay, so this is it, right?! We’re all a brand-new family, ain’t we?! So we’re gonna start this nice an’ clean an’ great! This is gonna be a brand-new start! I CAN’T WAIT TO BECOME BEST FRIEND WITH ALL'A YA!”

She stuck two fists in the air at her last triumphant cry, feeling a swelling cheer overtake her. Her thick Boston accent sticking out even in her fluent Japanese, she crossed her arms, suddenly feeling exposed but stubbornly refusing to back off.

“It’s just great t'meet all of you- Can’t wait to get t'know you, too! So learn the name, dudes- It’s Nori! Noriko Miyazaki!”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga’s attention was caught by the streetboarder as she loudly introduced herself. She hopped over to Noriko, eager to get to know one of her fellow peers. “It’s nice to meet you, Nori-chan!” Said Zaiga, smiling brightly. 

“My name’s Zaiga Yukimura! But you can just call me Zaiga!” Zaiga gave a cute little bow. “What’s your talent? Mine’s SHSL mákina DJ.”

[alicetheshsldrummajor]

Wait, Am I Dead or Alive? [Theatre Mode - Open]

Waking up in those comfy auditorium seats brought back good band memories. Though this all seemed like Deja-Vu. It was as if he had gone through this same scenario before…Probably nothing.

Being greeted by the older woman known as Minnie Squeakers, he scratched his cheek lightly. It reminded him of the Disney character in the Americas. He loved theatre back home from when he had time off from the marching band and other band related activities, though this was the only time he could do it full-on, even if it meant temporarily leaving.

The atmosphere was nice and fairly simple. It seemed they had lots of downtime, and the drum major looked around at all of the faces. He picked up his trombone, lying in wait inside it’s dull-wood case, and clicked his tongue as he stood up.

“Okay then! It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Squeakers. I look forward to being with everyone and creating wonderful memories.” He beamed, performing an elegant yet strong salute, looking at it makes you know it’s definitely band related.

He seems rather jumpy. “Oh boy! Who wants to play a game of ‘get to know me’?”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga overheard Alice’s proposal from across the room. “Oh! I do! I do!” Exclaimed Zaiga, raising her hand, and jumping up from her seat. She bounded over to Alice. 

“So, how do we play this game?” Asked Zaiga with a giggle.

[musical-despair]

Zaiga Yukimura | Reality TV™ | Chapter 5 Motive | OPEN

Zaiga knew that whatever it was that was going to be in her dorm. it wasn’t gonna be good. Stepping through the door, she saw all the screens covering the walls of her dorm. Finally, as Ms Squeaker’s announcement ended, Zaiga was just left with a sense of unease. What did Squeaks mean by “memories”? There couldn’t be a single good memory to–

The screens flickered to life, their sinister purpose revealed. On the screen she saw Amarente standing over over Kasai. As the knife was about to thrust into Kasai’s chest, Zaiga gasped in horror, and covered her eyes, but she could still hear Kasai’s screams. She tried to cover he ears, but it was impossible since she was wearing headphones. She bolted out of her room, but all the other rooms had screens in them too, all showing Kasai’s murder. Zaiga was hunched over, trying to block out the noise, tears running down her face. “G-god… make it… st-stop” She groaned, and at that moment, it did. Kasai was dead, and the video screens went dark again. 

It was over, for now. Zaiga heaved a sigh of relief, wiping away her tears. Uncovering her face, she saw that someone was standing before her. “Geez, is there nowhere to hide from those horrible videos…?” She asked, sounding exasperated. 

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

Otone had watched Zaiga’s reaction from their shared room… it was distressing and understandable considering the situation they were in. They held off on following after her until the video was over, it was hard to tear themselves away somehow… 

They clutched their head for a few moments, it throbbed as it tried to repress the sight… even though it was hard to do so with something so vile. After that they finally followed after the Makina DJ, just in time for her question. 

“I… well… it doesn’t seem like it, does it?” they gave a light sigh. What could they say, what could they do to help? They lightly scratched the back of their neck nervously.  “Yukimura-san… if there’s anything I can do to help… I promise I’ll do it. I-It’s not going to be a very pleasant day at this rate…” 

[shsl-makina]

“Ah, thanks Otone.” Said Zaiga, smiling faintly. “I’m not sure if there’s really much that can be done.” She tilted her head. “Maybe I can drown out the screaming by playing music through my headphones...” She said thoughtfully. “Can’t really tell when those things are gonna show someone else’s horrible demise...” Zaiga looked sullen. “Hey, do you know if there are screens in the bathrooms too...?” She asked.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga Yukimura | Plague inc. | Chapter 4 Motive | Closed (Otone)

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

shsl-makina:

Zaiga withdrew her hand. “Oh yeah… Well we don’t really know how this things spreads do we? Maybe if one of us slept in a dorm belonging to one of the dead stude-” Her voice trailed off, and she looked like she was going to cry, but she shook her hand and regained her composure. 

“Anyway, it’s probably best we don’t get too close to each other…” She looked at the hand she’d put on Otone’s shoulder just moments ago with vague concern. “If you don’t wanna sleep in someone else’s room, we could be fine in our dorm, but we gotta wash our hands and not really go on each other’s side of the room.” Zaiga looked around at everyone else briefly. “C’mon, let’s go, Otone.”

Otone thought about what Zaiga stopped herself from saying. Yeah… there certainly were a lot of… empty rooms. Yikes. 

They vaguely nodded. “The rooms are big enough for a divide, but I’m not going to promise anything. Fuck, I don’t care where I sleep, I hardly sleep as it is.” they shrugged. “D’ya think I could get away with lingering in the recording studio? Or are you personally going to see to the fact I get rest?” They wouldn’t put it past the lil’ DJ to do something like that. They crossed their arms, somewhat impatiently, waiting for a response. 

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga took a moment to think about it. “Last time I checked the rules, there wasn’t anything saying that you had to sleep in your dorm, so I think you’d be fine.” Zaiga pulled out her e-handbook and opened up the rules section. “Though, the public bathrooms are locked at night, so if ya need to go, you’re gonna be in a little bit of trouble...” She slid her e-handbook back into her pocket. 

Zaiga sighed. “I guess I can’t force you to rest, but it’s for your own good. I trust you to take care of yourself, and please do.” Zaiga seemed unusually weary. Her normal energetic self seemed absent. Considering the events which had occurred since she arrived here, it wasn’t surprising.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga Yukimura | Plague inc. | Chapter 4 Motive | Closed (Otone)

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

shsl-makina:

Zaiga recoiled slightly at Otone’s answer, letting go of Otone’s shoulder. She’d never seen them like this before. They didn’t seem to be themself at the moment. They clearly weren’t alright. Asking if they were would just be silly.

Zaiga was truly worried about Otone. She didn’t want them to end up doing anything rash. “Gee, ok. I should probably take you back to our dorm so you can just try to chill out.” She said empathetically. She offered them her hand. “C’mon bud, you need to have a rest.”

Seeing Zaiga back up like that had this weird sense of satisfaction to the illness stricken lad. In any other circumstance, Otone would’ve been completely submerged in guilt. Heck this disease. 

They stared down at her hand, with a slight grimace. “God, guess there’s nothing better to do with this shit, is there?” they didn’t take her hand just yet, though. “You sure you want me to sleep down there? What if you catch it? It’ll be pretty fuckin’ shitty, to say the least.”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga withdrew her hand. “Oh yeah... Well we don’t really know how this things spreads do we? Maybe if one of us slept in a dorm belonging to one of the dead stude-” Her voice trailed off, and she looked like she was going to cry, but she shook her hand and regained her composure. 

“Anyway, it’s probably best we don’t get too close to each other...” She looked at the hand she’d put on Otone’s shoulder just moments ago with vague concern. “If you don’t wanna sleep in someone else’s room, we could be fine in our dorm, but we gotta wash our hands and not really go on each other’s side of the room.” Zaiga looked around at everyone else briefly. “C’mon, let’s go, Otone.”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga Yukimura | Plague inc. | Chapter 4 Motive | Closed (Otone)

Zaiga had already had a bit of a look around the new floor, and no doubt, some of the rooms were a little bit… unusual. Now, she was lying on her bed in her dorm, staring blankly at her phone’s screen. Every day since she had arrived in this hellhole (Though a well equipped one at least), she’d checked for a signal, but alas, there still was none.

It was at that moment that the announcement for everyone to come to the congress room rang out. By now, she knew what was coming. ‘Oh boy, not again…’ She got up, and made her way out, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she left.

‘Geez, what a dumb looking costume’

Arriving in the congress room along with Tomoe, Kazuo, Baiko, and Kasai, she noticed that a few of them were missing. Then, she saw the missing students standing together, yet, something about them seemed a little different…

After hearing Ms Squeaker’s explanation, what was going on was clear. Wait, no, I meant to say that it isn’t really clear at all, but Ms Squeakers gave them all something called despair fever? It didn’t make a great deal of sense to Zaiga, but this was obviously something serious. “Heck you Ms Squeakers!” Said Zaiga, raising her fist as the hologram dissipated. Ms Squeakers and Monotone were the source of source of all the suffering that had happened here. Just thinking about them made her angry.

In that moment, something struck her. I mean, Squeaks was just a hologram, and Monotone… what even is Monotone? Anyway, the point was, they themselves couldn’t be the ones running this whole shit-show. But her train of thought was interrupted when her eyes locked with Otone’s. They clearly weren’t in their right mind at that point. ‘Must be that despair fever stuff or whatever.’ She thought to herself.

She walked over to them, and in the back of her mind, she remembered what Squeaks had said about it spreading, but that didn’t matter to her right now. She had to help Otone, her roommate, and her friend. She put her hand on their shoulder, and gave him a reassuring look. “Hey Otone, how are you feeling? Do you want me to get anything for you, or take you back to your dorm?” She asked.

@reverbresoundrepeat

[reverbresoundrepeat-blog]

Otone wasn’t feeling great in the slightest, this fever shit had hit them like a sledgehammer the moment they arrived on the floor and for once they were… irritated. Their usual patient self just was not there anymore.

When Zaiga approached and posed her question, the sound engineer glared at her for a second. “Yeah. I’m on top of the fucking world right now.” Rather than a murmur, as their voice usually was, it was more along the lines of a low growl, dripping with sarcasm. It was probably about as intimidating as that roar simba did at the start of The Lion King. So, not at all.

If they were in any other state, they’d have been immensely grateful of their roommate, half their current actions felt involuntary but that’s just part of what made this disease so fucking great. They held their head with one hand. “My head’s beating like crazy, I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do, Yukimura.” There goes the honourifics. Rude.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga recoiled slightly at Otone’s answer, letting go of Otone’s shoulder. She’d never seen them like this before. They didn’t seem to be themself at the moment. They clearly weren’t alright. Asking if they were would just be silly.

Zaiga was truly worried about Otone. She didn’t want them to end up doing anything rash. “Gee, ok. I should probably take you back to our dorm so you can just try to chill out.” She said empathetically. She offered them her hand. “C’mon bud, you need to have a rest.”

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga Yukimura | Plague inc. | Chapter 4 Motive | Closed (Otone)

Zaiga had already had a bit of a look around the new floor, and no doubt, some of the rooms were a little bit... unusual. Now, she was lying on her bed in her dorm, staring blankly at her phone’s screen. Every day since she had arrived in this hellhole (Though a well equipped one at least), she’d checked for a signal, but alas, there still was none.

It was at that moment that the announcement for everyone to come to the congress room rang out. By now, she knew what was coming. ‘Oh boy, not again...’ She got up, and made her way out, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she left.

‘Geez, what a dumb looking costume’

Arriving in the congress room along with Tomoe, Kazuo, Baiko, and Kasai, she noticed that a few of them were missing. Then, she saw the missing students standing together, yet, something about them seemed a little different...

After hearing Ms Squeaker’s explanation, what was going on was clear. Wait, no, I meant to say that it isn’t really clear at all, but Ms Squeakers gave them all something called despair fever? It didn’t make a great deal of sense to Zaiga, but this was obviously something serious. “Heck you Ms Squeakers!” Said Zaiga, raising her fist as the hologram dissipated. Ms Squeakers and Monotone were the source of source of all the suffering that had happened here. Just thinking about them made her angry.

In that moment, something struck her. I mean, Squeaks was just a hologram, and Monotone... what even is Monotone? Anyway, the point was, they themselves couldn’t be the ones running this whole shit-show. But her train of thought was interrupted when her eyes locked with Otone’s. They clearly weren’t in their right mind at that point. ‘Must be that despair fever stuff or whatever.’ She thought to herself.

She walked over to them, and in the back of her mind, she remembered what Squeaks had said about it spreading, but that didn’t matter to her right now. She had to help Otone, her roommate, and her friend. She put her hand on their shoulder, and gave him a reassuring look. “Hey Otone, how are you feeling? Do you want me to get anything for you, or take you back to your dorm?” She asked.

@reverbresoundrepeat

[musical-despair]

Baiko Kazehaya | End Game | Chapter 4 | Open

Zaiga Yukimura. Alice Soyokaze. Kazuo Oshiro. Amarante Murasakino. Kasai Onanoko. Tomoe Umezawa. Otone Hibike.

these names were written on individual pieces of paper in front of him, along with each and every thing he knew about each of them, fanned in front of him in a semi circle pattern from were he was sitting down. One of these people was a liar, a traitor, a murderer. But who?

after a few seconds, he started to add some data he remembered vaguely from newspapers and news reports he had been half paying attention to. Who among these seven would be willing to assist in something like this?

Baiko almost didn’t notice when someone approached. “What’s up?” He asked, not looking up at the new arrival.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga saw Baiko, who seemed to be brooding over something. She approached him slightly apprehensively. Something about Baiko made Zaiga feel a little skittish, and she herself was still recovering from the nightmare that was the third murder in this sick killing game. 

Just as Zaiga was about to open her mouth to speak, Baiko beat her to it. “I was just checking to see if you were okay. You seem a little preoccupied. If you feel like you need to talk about something,” Zaiga gave Baiko the best smile she could manage. “you’re always welcome to talk to me!”

Zaiga leaned in to get a squiz at the papers he was holding. “Umm, what’s this?” Asked Zaiga.

[bonebreakerbaiko]

He looked up at her. “I’m using every scrap of knowledge, memory, and intuition I have to determine which of you 7 is the traitor, and thus needs to learn the price of their decisions.” He said calmly. “Do you have any information or instincts to add? Because I’m honestly not getting very far on my own.” He said, shrugging.

[shsl-makina]

“A t-traitor?” Said Zaiga, shocked. Truth be told, the thought that one of them was a traitor had never crossed her mind. Zaiga felt nervous, and was slightly worried that Baiko might do something rash. 

Zaiga didn’t really feel like expanding the section on herself. “Ehehe, I uh, don’t think I have anything to add. What makes you think one of us is a traitor?”

[musical-despair]

Baiko Kazehaya | End Game | Chapter 4 | Open

Zaiga Yukimura. Alice Soyokaze. Kazuo Oshiro. Amarante Murasakino. Kasai Onanoko. Tomoe Umezawa. Otone Hibike.

these names were written on individual pieces of paper in front of him, along with each and every thing he knew about each of them, fanned in front of him in a semi circle pattern from were he was sitting down. One of these people was a liar, a traitor, a murderer. But who?

after a few seconds, he started to add some data he remembered vaguely from newspapers and news reports he had been half paying attention to. Who among these seven would be willing to assist in something like this?

Baiko almost didn’t notice when someone approached. “What’s up?” He asked, not looking up at the new arrival.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga saw Baiko, who seemed to be brooding over something. She approached him slightly apprehensively. Something about Baiko made Zaiga feel a little skittish, and she herself was still recovering from the nightmare that was the third murder in this sick killing game. 

Just as Zaiga was about to open her mouth to speak, Baiko beat her to it. “I was just checking to see if you were okay. You seem a little preoccupied. If you feel like you need to talk about something,” Zaiga gave Baiko the best smile she could manage. “you’re always welcome to talk to me!”

Zaiga leaned in to get a squiz at the papers he was holding. “Umm, what’s this?” Asked Zaiga.

[musical-despair]

Zaiga Yukimura | Asleep Among the Pumpkins | Chapter 3 | OPEN

Zaiga had looked at the new floor, but didn’t find anything there particularly interesting. Of all the places Zaiga could find some solace among the terrible events which had occurred, she didn’t expect it to be the spooky ol’ pumpkin patch. She sat cross-legged in the middle of the patch, surrounded by jack ‘o lanterns which were objectively, cute. 

Zaiga was exhausted, both mentally and physically. She tried to take her mind off the death of yet another friend, and Norio… even though she didn’t really know him, she found the way he’d died… disturbing. She found it hard not to cry just thinking about all of it…

But she knew she had to stay strong, to stay positive, no matter how bad things got. 

But all she wanted to do in that moment was just let the darkness consume her. It felt like everyone she became friends with would die. She lay down on the dirt, and let sleep consume her. 

She had no idea how long she was asleep, but she woke up with a start when she realized someone was standing right next to her. “HWHAA-” She yelped as she quickly sat up and shuffled backwards away from them. Her head collided with one of the jack ‘o lanterns with a clunk. “Ow… ah, frick.” She muttered. Her vision was still blurry and she couldn’t tell who it was. 

[shsl-mortician]

Tomoe had just been doing her rounds of every room, checking in on everyone’s whereabouts and to see if they required anything. She hadn’t exactly anticipated anyone having taken up position in the pumpkin patch, but apparently dropping in paid off. Sort of. Lying in the dirt, oddly enough, was Zaiga. Obvious opportunity for an inappropriate dirt nap joke aside, considering what state she’d been in at the trial it seemed even more important to check up on her now that she’d been found. No sooner than had she approached, though, did Zaiga shoot up and scuttle backwards, hitting her head in the process. Yikes.

“I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” The apology could not be blurted out quickly enough, hurriedly rushing to kneel next to the recently-awoken DJ. “Are you alright? Really, I’m so sorry, oh goodness…” Yikes, yikes, yikes. Now she would definitely have to stay until she knew the other had recovered. Both in the sense of having just woken up, and hitting her head, and probably the whole ‘wishing to not exist’ thing. That was pretty god damn worrying too.

[shsl-makina]

Zaiga groaned, and rubbed the back of her head. “Euh, I’m fine. You have to hit your head harder to get a concussion right?” She hoisted herself up, and briskly dusted herself off. She could see clearly now, and saw that it was Tomoe. Zaiga had never really talked to Tomoe, but she saw her during the trial and of course, knew about her from when people’s secrets were revealed… but Zaiga put that at the back of her mind. 

“Ah, it’s just you. For a second I thought someone was gonna get me!” Suddenly, Zaiga was struck with déja vu. She remembered when Kiyoko had surprised her in the pumpkin patch in a similar way. She had said those exact same words to her too. Thinking about Kiyoko again, she felt tears welling up, but tried with all her effort to suppress it. She’d done enough crying already. “A-anyway, what are you doing here?” She asked tentatively.

[shsl-mortician]

That was true. It looked like quite a painful bump, but nothing that would result in being concussed. And in all fairness, fearing that someone was out to get you at this point was not an unrealistic fear. One could not take offense to such a remark, especially considering she’d very much so snuck up on Zaiga. “Well, after everything, I’m just checking in to make sure everyone’s holding up alright. I realize we haven’t really spoken much, but that does nothing to diminish my concern.” The state they’d all been in at the last trial didn’t need to be brought up again. “Again, I’m terribly sorry for startling you, I really should have thought better than to sneak up on you like that.”

After allowing a moment for the air to clear, “As I said, um, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Are you holding up alright? Did you sleep well?” Stupid question. Stupid stupid dumb. She was in the middle of the goddamn pumpkin patch and just got woken up with a start what do you think Tomoe of course she didn’t. “Er… do you need anything?” Sweet diversion. Hopefully the least thought out of all those questions would go overlooked after that.

[shsl-makina]

“Ah, I see.” Zaiga was worried Tomoe wouldn’t be a nice person, but she seemed pretty kind. She seemed to really care about other people’s feelings. “It’s ok Tomoe, I don’t think you meant to scare me!” 

“Ah! I’m doing great!” Said Zaiga, straightening her tube top. “I’m feeling a lot better than how I did during that gosh darn trial.” She smiled brightly, but her voice didn’t sound so convincing anymore. “My sleep pattern’s been really hecky but eh, it’s always like that.” She looked at the patch of dirt where she’d been lying. “I’ve got no idea how long I was asleep for…”

“Umm, I’m fine, I don’t need anything. Well, I could really do with a bottle of Powerade™ right now but I can get that myself. But how about you Tomoe? How are you feeling?”

[shsl-mortician]

Oh, thank goodness. Zaiga seemed to be bouncing back quite well… or at least, she was pretending to. The mismatched tone accompanying the expression on her face wasn’t entirely convincing, but rather than press the issue Tomoe opted to continue walking the path of Everything Is Fine, Really Guys, It’s Cool. Also, she silently wondering if had Zaiga actually said Trademark™ out loud, or if that was some sort of exhaustion induced auditory hallucination. “Well, I’m certain there’s plenty down on the first floor.” Not that she really knew what Powerade™ really was, but… it sounds like something you could find in a 7/11, right?

As for how she was holding up… well, she was just fine, of course! To think anything else would be downright preposterous. “Oh, I’m doing quite alright, all things considered. Even though all that which has transpired is rather dreadful, it won’t help anyone to focus on it too much rather than attempting to move forward. It’s sad, but unfortunately necessary.” That probably sounding convincing enough. She wasn’t super animated, or determined, or anything, but she didn’t sound like she was lying which for her purposes was good enough. “I appreciate your inquiry, though. It’s good to know that we’re all looking out for each other in here.”

[shsl-makina]

“I should totally just go and get a bottle myself.” Zaiga tilted her head. “It’s weird that they never seem to run out stuff. You’d think you’d see someone restocking it from time to time.” Zaiga put her hand on her chin and struck a pose. “Very suspicious...” ((Also she didn’t say ™ it was an illusion :v))

Zaiga was glad that Tomoe was holding up ok. “That’s good. It’s important to stay positive, especially with how many bad things have happened. We’ll never find a way out of here if we all become floppy fish!” What. “We have to watch out for each other, cuz after all,” 

Zaiga’s gave Tomoe a real, genuine smile. “that’s what friends do!”