y'all ready for this?

[shslpan-blog]

Boi Howdy || Pan || CH 2 || Open

The very second Pan had gotten a room and collapsed on their bed they were out like a light. They didn’t even bother bringing their luggage in, Pan was just too extenuated to even care. With how many days they went without sleep it was a blessing when Makeinu finally allowed them to actually get some sleep.

Although after a day or two it seemed like Pan hadn’t left their room at all. Were they still sleeping in there…? With how tired they were it’d be understandable to sleep for a while, but this was a really long time to be sleeping. They haven’t even come outside to eat or even talk to the others. To some who cared it may have been concerning, not even knocking on the door would get Pan to wake up. 

Eventually, and possibly a relief to some, the dancer finally came stumbling out of their room late in the afternoon. Clothes all messy and wrinkled and hair a mess, it was obvious that Pan didn’t even bother to change clothes before they passed out. Incredible.

Deciding to wander over to the cafeteria in hopes of actually eating something for once, they noticed another student there as well. Not even bothering to see who it was, Pan approached them with wave. Yawning tiredly, they rubbed their eyes groggily as they tried to wake up.

“Yooo… What’s happenin’ what day is it…”

God this kid is a mess.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru had taken a good amount of time for himself after everything that had happened. He’d gotten his sleep, gotten his shoulder fixed, gotten back into a decent day-night rhythm, now all that was left was getting his friend back. Wishful thinking, of course, no one recovers from their...tumor being executed? That had been a weird day indeed.

After a day of wandering, Haru had retreated back to the dining room, idly wondering if he’d have to make himself another omelette. Boy, he’d get sick of them quick... Too bad they were all he knew how to make.

His trip to the kitchen was interrupted by none other than Pan! Oh man, Haru braced himself slightly, remembering with startling clarity the last time they met.

“Heyyy,” he started cautiously. “Wish I could tell ya. We don’t exactly have calendars in here, y’know.”

[shsl-r0gue]

chapter 1 motive: insomni-wha?? (open)

Having just received yet another injury (the third or fourth since he’d gotten there only hours before,) Haru had barely caught Makeinu’s announcement through his still pain-blurred mind. He was reluctant to move, let alone walk all the way back to the main hall, but he feared what else might possibly happen if he failed to comply. Clutching his shoulder, he stood and made his way over, thinking that whatever it was that the canine had to say couldn’t have been anything but trouble. The performer was upset to find that he was right. 

No one could sleep until someone was killed. 

Haru found it bitterly ironic, given that many murders are carried out with the victim asleep an unaware. Along that train of thought, Haru realized that privacy would also be necessary to commit such a crime, unless the culprit literally wanted to be caught. That would be ridiculous, given the circumstances. Makeinu really didn’t do a good job with planning this whole motive thing, as they’d pretty much made it so that successfully murdering someone without getting caught would be near impossible.

Haru stopped himself from thinking about it any further. He was shocked at himself for being so impersonal in his thoughts. It was as if he still believed their captors were bluffing. Or perhaps some part of him was still holding out for the increasingly improbable rescue, preventing him from taking any of this with a grain of salt. He didn’t know. He felt tired.

Though he’d only just had an unintentional nap no more than perhaps four or five hours ago (it was hard to tell,) his body was starting to feel heavy, and his mind was starting to go fuzzy. He wondered if the other students were doing any better. 

A gnawing pain erupted from his shoulder once more, promptly waking him up. Biting his lip, he realized this was probably his body’s way of telling him to get his priorities straight. Medical attention now, despair later.

[shsl-r0gue]

chapter 1: nightmare (drmm open)

[shslflowersandmotorcycles-blog]

It felt slightly like déjà vu what was happening now. Hadn’t they been at this point before? Suga being humble, Haru trying to make him admit his job was hard, Suga deflecting with pointing out that Harus work was much harder than his…

Suga liked when people pointed out that his work was hard and he was admirable for doing it. He liked being complimented and hearing good things about himself. But he also really, really liked keeping up appearances. It wasn’t like he didn’t value his own work, he knew he was doing good, but being humble and modest was as much part of his image and his style as his haircolor was, and even more importantly it was just what he felt comfortable with. Good manners and sweetness were sort of his thing, and so he found himself at a loss when faced with someone who seemed to really want him to drop them for a moment.

He gave a shy laugh and tried to figure out how to reply to Haru without sounding arrogant or dismissing him. He WAS flattered after all.

“Thank you, it means a lot to hear you think that way, Haru-kun.”

He still had to remind himself that it was “Haru” and not “Hideyoshi”. It did mean a lot to him to know Haru thought well of his work, even if he hadn’t seen it. And that Haru seemed concerned for his feelings enough to attempt and boost his self-esteem was nice as well. He seemed to be a very agreeable person overall, Suga really couldn’t find anything unlikeable about him. Apart from his fashion choices.

“But I do like keeping up appearances.”

He revealed, then immediately wondered if he’d been right to do so. It was just a small hint: don’t worry too much about me. I’m fine the way I am. As he usually did when he was unsure about something he’d said, he quickly decided to talk about something else instead.

“Besides, it really isn’t that hard to edit things. I’m not bad with computers, and the reward outweighs the work i put into it!”

Good, now it was most definitely time to stop talking about himself.

“You must be quite an impressive performer to have people record you and get into Hopes Peak just based on that!”

He was actually really impressed by that. That was talent, he guessed. Some people just had it.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru pouted only slightly, perhaps too slightly for Suga to notice. He didn’t understand why anyone would enjoy keeping up appearances, especially when Suga has to do so on the internet as well as in person. It was a stressful yet dull job, as Haru remembered it. All throughout his childhood he’d had to stand up straight, make sure the hem of his dresses fell in just the right way, make sure to stay still as his mother or a maid fixed his hair. His father insisted that the “children must be seen, not heard” rule should apply at all times. Just the memory of that life made Haru cringe. 

“I don’t really understand where you’re coming from, honestly,” Haru stated plainly, “but if it’s what makes you happy then, hey.”

It seemed there was nothing he could do to make the other boy drop his guard. It’d be unfair for him to keep insisting anyway, if it really was what made him happy. If there was one thing Haru vowed never to do, it was making any new friend unhappy. Even if he didn’t understand Suga’s reasons, he wouldn’t disrespect them. 

Mentally shaking off the previous conversation, Haru decided to let the sudden change of subject slide. Usual he hated when people did that, but he figured he’d probably made Suga uncomfortable or something. He had a good reason for the abrupt conversation switch. 

“Anyway, I never really aimed to get into this school.” He’d hardly even studied about it when it came up in history class. 

“I thought the whole people-recording-me thing was so they could like turn me into the cops or something. Never expected to be big on the internet. One thing led to another and I ended up on some variety show for like one episode. I guess that was my ‘big break,’ though.” Haru made sure to punctuate his sentence with a set of air quotes. 

“Everything else just kinda happened. I actually feel kinda bad that it was pretty effortless. Like maybe I stole someone’s place or something.” 

He smiled bitterly. 

“Y’know, I’m starting to think this whole thing might be karma for that.”

[shsl-r0gue]

chapter 1: nightmare (drmm open)

[shslflowersandmotorcycles-blog]

Apparently there’d been no problem with “Haru-kun”, which was a relief. Suga was indeed able to drop the honorifics, but he’d prefer not to, and so he was almost a bit grateful Haru hadn’t insisted he would.

When he took over the lead, Suga followed readily, glad that at least one of them had plans that made it look like he wasn’t just  forcing them to hang out and be friends. Which he was, but it would be awkward if it looked the part.

Though the remark about them having lots of time on their hands stung a little. Yeah… yeah he supposed that they’d be here for a while. A long while. Unless someone came to save them. Or they found a way to escape. Or….. No, no those were the only two options they really had.

Following Haru he was almost sulking about their fate, almost, though not quite. At least not on the outside, where the only signs of his discomfort were his slightly knitted brows. And even that passed quickly, his mood immediately picked up again as soon as he was addressed. He knew to smile when talking to people after all. Especially now. Getting along with people was of literally vital importance. And thankfully it was a good topic for him to talk about too.

“Oh, it’s not that hard, really!”

It was hard. It was stressful too, more so than he’d thought it would be. It was just some clothes after all, right? Wrong. There was an exhausting lot to learn, especially if you tried to cover as many styles as he did in his blog. Decora was very different from gothic or Lolita after all, but they were all valid subcultures in the fashion scene. And even after putting the content together and making sure he did it well, he still needed to edit it. Music was to be added, text, things needed to be cut… Still he preferred videos to writing entries. Some things worked better if you had a voice to listen to.

“I mean, getting into it may be difficult at first.”

He didn’t want to imply that Haru couldn’t even do something as EASY as be on top of fashion.

“But as soon as you have some contacts and know the basics it’s really fun!”

His favourite part was the shopping. He might feel a bit bad about spending too much money, but it felt like such a success to go home with new things to wear and coordinate, whether they were for him or someone else. Maybe someday he could take Haru shopping and help him end his suffering.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru led Suga through the building, passing other rooms that other students were investigating. There were a few places that were open, but a few students were milling about the odd, walled-in space sitting in the center of the room. Such odd architecture was suspicious enough, and Haru felt a tugging urge to investigate that as well. Perhaps he could convince his companion to explore the other areas with him at another time. However, for now, the stairs were the juggler’s top priority. 

Also in the meantime, Haru meant to get to know the fashionista. Despite already speaking once, they didn’t know the first thing about each other, not including their talents. 

Suga’s claim that fashion wasn’t difficult to keep up with felt like a lie. Haru knew better than to believe that an industry that large and that fickle would be “not that hard” to keep up with. Just thinking of the amount of time and money that would have to go into keeping up with trends made Haru’s head spin. He couldn’t stand the way Suga was selling himself short. 

“C’mon, Suga-chan, you don’t have to be so modest,” Haru said offhandedly. “People care a ton about appearance here. S’not anything that can be changed, and you either go along with it or you don’t, but actually staying ahead of it has to be really hard.”

Haru turned to the blogger, determined to make him admit that his job was tough.

“Now, I’ve never seen any of your videos or posts or whatever, but I’m lucky enough that I don’t have to do all that editing stuff on the videos of me that show up. Hell, I don’t even record my performances. I just show up and do what I do, that’s that, but you have to put sooooo much work into it. It really is impressive.”

Finishing with a smile, Haru hoped he had at least boosted Suga’s confidence at least a little bit.

“Not only all of that, but you gotta be careful with your actual public image and stuff. I don’t know what it’s like for you, but when I perform, it’s just me. Not a character or anything, just me. It’s exhausting to try to keep up appearances, so like I said, you shouldn’t sell yourself short.”

[shslpan-blog]

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

[shslpan-blog]

For a good couple of seconds Pan thought things were going perfectly. They had managed to successfully jump up and grab on to the vent (even if it hurt their fingers to hang from it) and with a few yanks Pan suspected it would be off in no time.

Although they sure as hell weren’t excepting it to swing down like a hatch.

Instead of dropped down like they excepted, the odorite was suddenly coming face firt into the wall. Along with the pain in their their hands from holding on to the grate for so long, when they finally collided with the wall Pan let go with a yelp. To make matters worse it didn’t help they crash landed into Haru. They couldn’t help but curse as they hit the ground roughly, feeling some limb dig into their back.

Pan noticed a certain mascott approach the two of them but they weren’t even paying attention to what Makeinu was saying, they were too busy rolling off Haru and hissing in pain. After they were off the juggler they sat up a bit, groaning and putting their hand over their fingers. So much for Pan’s daring escape plan.

“그 상처 를 빌어 먹을 지옥 !”

They hissed out, saying it to no one in particular. Not like Pan expectedanyone to know what the heck they were saying anyway. After rolling their shoulders around and putting a hand on their back, the dancer turned to look over at Haru.

“Augh… You okay?”

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru groaned as his head, stomach, back, and basically everything else grew sore. This was exactly what he had been afraid of when the dancer clambered onto him. He had done his best to keep everything balanced but he wasn’t prepared to fail quite as miserably as this. 

He didn’t want to move in fear of something cracking or breaking but he also didn’t want to lay on the floor for the rest of his time here. When Pan rolled off of him he braced himself for whatever pain might flare up and hoisted himself up. Surprisingly, he didn’t shatter into ten million pieces. Instead, only one thing seemed amiss. A sudden, tearing pain was washed over him the moment he moved his left shoulder. 

His arm had been at an odd angle when the dancer fell on him, so it was entirely possible that...

Haru had known shoulder dislocation was a thing but he didn’t think it would hurt quite this much. Tears sprang forth as he moved his right arm to feel around the injury. Yep. That was a bone that wasn’t supposed to be out. 

Wincing, he only barely caught what the odorite had asked him. 

“Well,” he swallowed, trying to keep his voice steady as he held himself back from crying, “not really?”

Sucking in a breath, he tried to find the words to explain what happened. 

“My shoulder’s pretty far gone.” He laughed bitterly. 

“What about you?” 

The odorite looked rather unharmed, but it would be hard to be certain. 

[the-iron-higanbana-deactivated2]

[Open] Chamber Music

[the-iron-higanbana-deactivated2]

“Haru?”  She went over the roster again in her head - that had been one of the first names, hadn’t it?  “Ah, the juggler.”

Help is coming.  Those words had been repeated countless times in the beginning of the first mutual-killing game, but it wasn’t as though they were just as hopeless this time; the element of surprise might just be the deciding factor.  Even if the mastermind wasn’t televising this, surely someone would notice when none of the 100th class arrived at Hope’s Peak.  And people always talked about what could be done differently, how they could’ve stopped the tragedy…

She found herself smiling.  Something about Haru just seemed intrinsically cheerful.

“Well, what would you like to talk about in the meantime, then?” she asked, a bit awkwardly.  Their talents might seem like the obvious answer, considering how much of their lives revolved around them, but right now they also like a double-edged sword.  So ‘music’ might be out of the question on her end, too.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru returned her smile twice over. Kanon had thus far been so much nicer than a good majority of the students he had already interacted with, even if she seemed un-used to socializing. He decided that he should probably lead the next phase of their conversation, seeing how lost the violinist looked. 

“What song was that?”

He had perked up a considerable amount just before he asked. Whatever that was, it was beautiful. Haru wondered if it was something Kanon had written herself. It may have been unlikely, because if she had written it she might as well have been SHSL Composer on top of her current title, but he didn’t want to assume. Besides, he was at least eighty percent sure they already had a composer in their class. 

“You know, I tried violin for a little bit but it was waaaaay to hard to get my limbs in the right position and all. I couldn’t even dream of playing as well as you do!”

[shslhighc-blog]

||Act 1|| Goodbye Lil Dream

[shslhighc-blog]

  Prying herself from the unreality of the situation, she grounded herself immediately once Haru was within range.

“H- - Haru !”

   Steering herself forward, she faced him, almost as if she were to apologize.

“I’m certainly imprinting the brand of a klutz onto myself, aren’t I.. ?”

  In pathetic stride, her hand brushes the remainder of her bangs behind her ear, gauging out a chuckle in vain. She felt.. .. helpless under the weight of his gaze. A tad bit self-conscious, even. But.. wouldn’t you be too, had you not fallen 1 ½ times in front of the same person?

“I-I’m.. I’m just confused, really. Surprised… . ? Scared, ah, actually, nevermind! None of those answers are reliable to my state of mind, but I’ll manage, I promise.. !”

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru sighed in relief upon seeing that the girl was in no immediate danger of faceplanting directly into the carpet. He relaxed, taking a step back. Before, it had seemed that she had been less than comfortable with him being close to her. Did his breath stink? He’d have to look for some mints later.

Keeping a safe distance, he offered her a smile.

“Nah, I think everyone’s kind of on edge. I know I get clumsier when I’m nervous.” He thought briefly. “Whiiiiich isn’t really good in my line of work, huh?”

Haru was trying to keep the conversation light in the hopes of easing the singer’s nerves. 

“Anyway, maybe moving around some will help take your mind off things. Should we look around a bit?”

[shslpan-blog]

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

[shslpan-blog]

The odorite shrugged and walked over to Haru.

“Pshhh, don’t worry I’m like as light as a feather. Now less talking more standing still.”

Before they even finished their sentence Pan was already starting to climb  all over Haru. While they were able to get to and sit on their shoulders with ease, trying to stand up on Haru’s shoulders was a bti of a problem.

Pan was a bit shaky when they started to stand up, a hand quickly moving to the wall to steady themselves as they regained their balance. The heels of their boots may have dug into Haru’s shoulder’s a bit too hard while they were climbing up. Sorry Haru, Pan really doesn’t want to fall off you right now.

After finally standing uprght in the jugglers shoulders without falling off, Pan looked down and gave Haru a thumbs up.

“Alright… This might hurt your shoulders a bit but catch me if I fall okay?”

Without even giving an explanation Pan’s boots dug into Haru’s shoulders roughly before they were suddenly trying to jump up in the air. Thanks Pan.

With Haru’s help and Pan pretty much jumping off him are they able to grab hold of the vent grate and maybe yank it off with their weight as they fall back down?

[drmelancholymemoirs-blog]

Pan’s jump, probably painful for Haru, ended up in success: Pan was hanging off the wall with their fingers interlaced with the ornate swirly grating. It’s really boring into their fingers, actually. More so, when it swings open like a hatch and slams Pan against the wall. Ouch, their fingers. Ouch, Haru’s whole body, when Pan falls somewhere down on them, if Haru doesn’t move.

“Wanwahahaha…. Aah…. Sad,” Makeinu comments, standing right next to the two teens, paws behind its back. “Sigh… You just had to do it, didn’t you?..”

Makeinu rubs its temple with a paw and looks more disappointed than sad for a while. 

“You can’t get out from there, you know… Unless you’re electricity proof, wahah…” Makeinu makes a show of leaning closer to the two students. “If you wanted to murder someone, however… And get out of the room, fast? They’re not such a bad choice… They’re lower in other rooms, you know…”

The mascot wrings its paws together.

“Or… You could spy on someone… Anything. Sighs…”

Makeinu turns around to leave.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru grunted in discomfort when Pan used his shoulders as their own personal springboard. That was definitely going to bruise. A loud smacking sound tore his attention from the pain in his shoulders, and he gasped when he saw what resulted of Pan’s plan. Had the dancer not been precariously hanging from the now-open vent, he would have a mind to yell at them. 

He didn’t have time to react when the singer fell down onto him, forcing the air from his lungs. His head throbbed where in hit the floor, but he was too busy getting his breath back to pay it much attention. He prayed that the dancer would get off of him soon. 

When the dog appeared next to him, he jumped, not expecting it to be back so soon. What it had to say unsettled him even more than his initial appearance.

Haru made a mental note to stay away from the vents whenever possible.

[drmelancholymemoirs-blog]

bubbles // chapter 1 // open

[shslsensuifu-blog]

There was hardly any noble in Souu’s attempts to not to show they were crying: rather, they were just trying to guard their image. Their image should not have any crying in it, certainly not. Souu had that certain kind of pride. Haru was much more kinder to himself and to everyone else, insisting that nobody was alright right now– But Souu didn’t reply to that, not knowing what to say. Wow, no people skills Souu much? All they were good at was helping out at the onsen, replying to rudimentary questions.

The hug was not bad. A little awkward, but Haru was great at hugs, unlike certain someone. 

“The last class in this kind of situation was not so lucky at first,” Souu started carefully, “but perhaps we can prevent anything… Bad happening in the first place. Perhaps.. This is merely a cruel joke.” Well, alright: Souu was crying again, but it was easier when Haru wouldn’t see. 

That continued on for a while, but Souu grew increasingly worried about someone seeing them like that– Souu crying? That just would not do. Souu started fidgeting nervously, eager to turn to the mirror and dab at their eyes with a paper towel, definitely not crying.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru didn’t really want to stop hugging the other student, awkward as it may have been for them. They were still crying, and he’d always been told by his mom that hugging was the best way to cheer someone up. It always worked on him when he was little, so he never really bothered to let go of the habit.

It was pathetic in his mind, but Haru had a sudden, intense need to see his mom again. He’d hoped he would reunite with her someday soon, but it was looking less and less like that was a possibility. That realization stung. 

Shaking off his grief, Haru let the other student go, finally. Their face was soaked with tears and they’d probably be wanting to wipe that off without him seeing, so he conveniently lifted his glasses to rub at his eyes at the same time that they would be doing so. 

Once they’d both were finished tidying themselves up, Haru thought it was high time to leave the small bathroom.

“Souu-chan, how would you feel about some exploring?”

Haru smiled at them, trying to lift the mood.

[shsl-r0gue]

chapter 1: nightmare (drmm open)

[shslflowersandmotorcycles-blog]

Had Haru told him before to not use his last name? If he had, Suga had forgotten. Maybe just for the moment, but still just as much. Slipped back into the habit of being polite and comfortably distant. That just wouldn’t do, though, so he nodded. Haru it was, then.

He caught the discomfort in his smile out of the corner of his eye, and though it wasn’t clear to him why being adressed by his last name would bring him discomfort, he still felt vaguely bad about doing it. It might be much like his own discomfort with his first name- no, no probably not. Haru didn’t seem the type.

“Oh, right! Okay, Haru…”

He hesitated for a moment, thinking of honorifics- had Haru really meant JUST Haru?

“..-kun…?”

He tried, almost carefully, making it sound like a question. Was it all right? He would call him whatever Haru wanted to be called, but he didn’t want to presume.

At least the question of whether he wanted to look around was an easy one: Suga was far from enthusiastic about getting to know their prison. He didn’t even want to recognize that it was a prison. He didn’t want to know details of being stuck here. Even going to the stairs had only happened because that had been the condition for being with Haru, which was the only reason he was doing this. Not Haru specifically, maybe,  he did not know enough about him to really want his specific company, but any company was good right now. He was being watched, and he could try and get closer to people, in his mind the only real way he could stand a chance….. Though that it happened to be Haru who’d talked to him was not an unwelcome development. He did like the juggler.

Even though he knew perfectly well that he didn’t want to look around, he pretended to think for a moment. He didn’t want to seem too uneager. Even though his pretense was of the obviously showy kind, only one step away from putting a finger against his lips or chin thoughtfully.

“Hmm. No, no I don’t think so. I’ll follow you on this, Haru-kun.”

He smiled at the juggler, finding it got easier to do so the longer the conversation went on. He was still shaken, but he was quick to push things aside in favor of appearing friendly. No one wanted to hang out with a downer after all. He had also noted the way Haru adressed him, using -chan, but only did so halfheartedly. Lots of people did that. He was pretty much used to it. Still, it was a good sign, he thought.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru smiled when Suga corrected himself on his name. He’d been used to being called any and every variation of his name for a long while, so the technicality of honorifics wasn’t really an issue. Haru would accept being called Sir Chickenbutt XIV if it meant he didn’t have to be associated with his surname. Of course, people have suggested that he go ahead and change that last name, but that would be a lengthy process, and it was easier just to have people not call him that in the first place. 

“You’re sure you don’t wanna go anywhere? Well, alright then. Besides, if you wanted to later I’m sure we’d have tons of time.” 

People held captive never seemed to be short on time. Haru started walking, hoping it would prompt Suga to follow. 

“And it’s not like there’s a lot of space to explore anyway.”

Actual room-size aside, the building wasn’t actually all that explore-able. There were less than ten open areas, and two of them were just plain closets. Sure there was room to spread out in the main hall but everyone would have to get very friendly with each other, otherwise they’d be at each others throats in minutes in such a small space.

On the vein of getting friendly with people, Haru realized that he and Suga hadn’t really gotten a chance to complete their conversation from before. Despite their difference in clothing taste, the juggler enjoyed the other boy’s company. He was pleasant and kind, but he seemed oddly guarded. Haru hoped that somehow, some way, he could help Suga to open up a bit. Well, perhaps not open up, but at least relax a little. In a place like this, relaxing would be hard, but it would be beneficial to stay calm, as it would be easier for the other members of their class to do the same. 

Of course, wanting to stay calm wasn’t all for the sake of the greater good. Haru just likes making people smile for his own sake. It was validating, after all. With all that he had, he’d chase after that selfish need to make people happy. 

Conversation seemed to be what Suga liked, so Haru would make an effort to continue the one that had been so rudely cut short. What was it that they were talking about? Right, Suga’s talent. Or was it Haru’s talent? Could just be both. It’d be a nice, distracting conversation to pick back up on their journey. 

“Anyway, Suga-chan, what’s it like? The whole fashion thing. It seems like a lot of work to take on by yourself.”

[anzu1-blog]

Just Peachy - Anzu - Ch1 - Open

[anzu1-blog]

It was that person. The juggler person. Anzu remembered not being able to read his profile very well, which was kind of a weird thing to focus on seeing as she’d just hit him in the face with a heavy door. Assaulting a fellow student wasn’t probably wasn’t a good first impression - especially because the only thing she could think of to say to the guy was “Your Electro ID has spelling mistakes,”. Like, he probably knew, but that was the only thing that was coming to mind.

The boy seemed to not be too injured form his impact with the door, which was a bright spot, at least. And he had less chins than before, which was probably a good thing. Unless she killed his chins with the door or something? He was probably cold, Anzu noted, because he was wearing a weird blanket around his shoulders. It looked pretty comfortable, although she wasn’t a fan of the colour. Most importantly of all, his nose didn’t look broken. Too bad she couldn’t check for concussions at a glance…

“Your Electro ID was okay,” She said , which wasn’t what she had wanted to say at all. She’d meant to say ‘Are you okay?’ but the fuckin Electro ID thing was stuck in her head and it would not go away. Goddamn. Still, at least the resulting sentence made sense. That was a plus. Probably. She made a patting motion with her hand (although she obviously didn’t actually touch him) and hoped that conveyed concern effectively. 

She reached into her pocket halfway, and then scowled. Goddamnit. Without so much of a glance at Haru, she put down the duffle bag full of her stuff and wordlessly started rummaging through it, throwing assorted clothing items carelessly onto the floor. Ripped jeans, black t-shirts and leather jackets soon were scattered around her - along with a few dresses and other such items that seemed incredibly out of place in their prim and properness. 

Finally, she pulled out her trophy - a small assorted pack of lollipops. Not her favourite brand, not her favourite flavours (she liked sour ones best) but it was more than good enough. She tossed one to Haru, not checking if he was ready to catch or not beforehand. He was a juggler, it was like, his job.

[shsl-r0gue]

“My ID...?” 

Haru’s throbbing headache from when he first woke up was back with a vengeance, which made it harder for the juggler to immediately comprehend whatever this new classmate of his was saying. He had barely remembered that the Electro IDs were a thing that they did, so he was hardly concerned with whether or not it was “okay,” as the girl said. The only thing he remembered imputing into that little questionnaire was that admittedly awful selfie, but perhaps that’s what she was referring to? Haru decided it probably didn’t matter much.

“Riiight, um. Thanks, I guess?” 

He wasn’t sure she had heard him because she was now rooting around in her luggage for something or other. Maybe she miraculously had some pain medicine? Or an ice pack? Or a helmet? Given her appearance, she probably has some kind of two-wheeled vehicle, motorized or otherwise, that she would need a helmet for. The leather jacket hinted as much. That, or she was just wearing it so she would look cool, and if Haru wasn’t so distracted by his head, he wouldn’t shy away from admitting that it did make her look pretty cool.

What the girl pulled out in lieu of any head healing/protection apparatus was a bag of lollipops. Before Haru had time to really wonder why she had them, one was already flying towards his face. Luckily, before further harm came to his already-achy head, he snatched it out of the air with a jolting swipe. He looked down at the small sucker briefly before looking back at his new acquaintance. Was this her way of saying she was sorry? Well, it was better than nothing.

“Thanks,” he offered a small smile, “I never knew lollipops could be cures for headaches.” He was going to try to be silly. The girl looked way too serious.

Haru tore the plastic off of the candy and popped it in his mouth without preamble, internally realizing that it’d be the first food-type substance he’d had since the ordeal began.

“My name’s Haru, by the way! And yours would be...?”

[the-iron-higanbana-deactivated2]

[Open] Chamber Music

[the-iron-higanbana-deactivated2]

Kanon couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image of herself stopping the mastermind with music, like some strange kind of Pied Piper.  It was probably the most genuine laugh she’d given since waking up in this place.

“Sure, if it was possible.  But I think it’s much likelier that our captor has set everything up with our talents in mind, so that might be constituted as an attack.  I’ll give you points for creativity, at least.”  She idly wondered if robots, even ones as advanced as Makeinu, could really sleep - and not in a ‘sleep mode’ sort of way.  That was probably subject matter for an SHSL Scifi Writer or Roboticist to tackle instead.

Perhaps most ordinary people would’ve guessed that the boy was nervous (how couldn’t you be in this situation?), but to Kanon’s highly-trained ears it was clear as day.  She folded her arms, tapping her chin with the violin bow.

“…If it helps calm your nerves, I think the mastermind is still operating at a huge disadvantage here.  No one’s forgotten the first time this happened, so they’ll be better-prepared to break us out.  And whoever’s behind this is either a remnant of Despair or trying to emulate them, right?  They wouldn’t let it end as quickly as ‘I’ll kill everyone if you try to rescue them’.”

Was that last part a good thing to mention, even if she’d been trying to see the bright side of things?  It wasn’t exactly her forte.  “Er.  Well, we won’t accomplish anything by sitting around and fretting.  Why not just act as normally as we can for now, to spite them a little?  I’m Kanon Hishiki.  It’s nice to meet you.”

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru swallowed nervously at the possibility of being held hostage, like, for real, at-risk-of-being-killed-if-they-don’t-cooperate hostage. He hadn’t considered that their captors would try to enact any violence on them. Instead, he was much more focused on the chance that he could be killed by one of his new classmates. Sure, the dog had mentioned that any violence towards it would result in something rather unpleasant, but, as Kanon said, it didn’t look as if anyone was about to hold a knife to his throat or a gun to his head. He hoped it would stay that way.

He cleared his throat, hoping to clear his mind along with it. The best thing to do would be to introduce himself first and panic later, when he was alone and didn’t have an self-made obligation to keep others from worrying. Forcing his fear back where it belongs in the recesses of his mind, Haru offered a kind smile.

“I’m Haru. It’s nice to meet you too.” 

She was nicer than he was expecting. Usually the goth-y type girls he’d met had the same cold, everything-sucks attitude. Not to say that that attitude was a problem, but Haru was relieved at this discovery nonetheless. Perhaps Kanon would be one of his classmates who was more willing to get along, unlike one or two others he could name.

“Honestly, spiting them sounds amazing, but I bet they’re gonna get antsy eventually and try to make something happen.” Haru shuddered at the thought. “But I think we can hold out! Who knows, maybe help is coming through as we speak!”

[shslpan-blog]

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

[shslpan-blog]

Pan’s eyes practically light up when Haru said sure. If this were an anime you’d see stars in their eyes. Finally, someoneone who’d finally helping them out and wouldn’t call their plan dangerous!! At long last…

“Awesome!! Okay like go stand directly like under the vents. You wont need to give me a life or anything, I can just climb on you like easy!”

By climb up they mean probably scamper all over and accidentally kick and step the juggler. Sorry Haru. Well, at least they sounded enthusiastic about the whole plan. What could go wrong?

“I’m not gonna stand on you, I’m gonna sit on your shoulders. Duuuh.” Pan paused for a moment, tilting their head to think. “… Actually I may need to stand on your shoulders. Not sure yet.”

Thanks Pan.

[shsl-r0gue]

“Waaaait wait wait, like...okay if you have to stand on my shoulders please be gentle about it. I already had one person on my shoulders today ‘n’ it wasn’t fun.”

With his whining out of the way, Haru did what he was told and positioned himself next to the wall, underneath the vent. It was a considerable ways up, he realized, and he internally readied himself for whatever it was the odorite had to do.

“Despite my line of work, acrobatics isn’t my specialty so like I’m really sorry if I end up dropping you because...well I’m not that strong. I can’t even really do a pull-up.”

Haru wasn’t trying to discourage the dancer, but he felt it necessary to at least warn them beforehand.

[inxkamusume-blog]

Setting up Shop, Setting up Chop ll Rufina Open

[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!

[inxkamusume-blog]

 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.”

[shsl-r0gue]

The sudden appearance of the third student made Haru jump. That whole jumpiness thing would have to go away sometime soon, otherwise the entire ordeal would be made even worse. He didn’t want to be afraid of his own shadow the entire time he was here. Living in fear wasn’t something he was accustomed to, and he quickly decided that it sucked. Hard.

When Rufina snapped at the newcomer, Haru recoiled slightly, wincing at how harsh the redhead was being. Honestly, there wasn’t any use in being so mean to someone, especially not when she’d only just barely said ten words. 

Hoping to make up for Rufina’s venom, Haru spoke, keeping his tone friendly. His goal was to keep the peace among the entire class, and it seemed he’d have to start with these two. In his mind he realized that this could probably be some sort of practice for putting out fires.

“I’m not really planning on using it, but I thought maybe we could gather people here? Well, not here here, here like the cafe here. Since she was already going into kitchen, I thought...You know.” 

He hadn’t thought things out too well, a fact he was sure was made abundantly clear. Haru shrugged, hoping to convey the vague ideas that he had for getting everyone together.

[drmelancholymemoirs-blog]

bubbles // chapter 1 // open

[shslsensuifu-blog]

Feeling like a piece of kelp in a whirlpool, Souu dabbed at their face with a paper they took out of the dispenser. 

“Yes, I am quite alright,” they lied from between their teeth, and obviously so. Souu cleared their throat and turned back to Haru, studying the boy’s face with their deep brown eyes. Haru looked like tears would fall down his cheeks at any given moment. Souu pondered on this and opened their mouth: “Are you alright, Hideyoshi… Haru-san?”

Their voice reeled about like a wave drawing from a shore, getting quieter as their sentence went on. Souu hadn’t been in a situation like this many times so they wrung their hands before throwing the tissue in the trash and stepping forward, arms held in front of their body as if protecting themself or getting ready for a hug. 

A few heartbeats passed, and If Haru did nothing, Souu simply let their hands down to their sides, gazing interestedly at the floor.

[shsl-r0gue]

“C’mon, I don’t think anyone’s alright right now...” Haru laughed bitterly, trying to keep himself from crying. He found that harder to do when he spoke, but he wanted to stay strong, if only to comfort the other student. It would be clear to anyone that the diver was considerably upset, but he supposed it was noble of them to try to hide it in favor of caring for another. 

“I’m not really okay either, honestly, but I’m trying to like...hold it together, I guess? That’d probably be better for thinking, ‘n’ stuff.”

When Souu stepped closer and offered that hug, Haru found it nearly impossible to pass up. So he didn’t. Closing the distance, he wrapped both arms fully around his classmate, squeezing lightly. Haru would be the first to admit that he needed a hug at that moment, but they seemed like they needed the contact too, he thought. 

Not wanting the hug to be silent and awkward, Haru spoke, hoping his words would make the diver feel a bit better.

“Maybe if we think hard enough, we’ll find a way out, yeah?”

[anzu1-blog]

Just Peachy - Anzu - Ch1 - Open

The colour scheme of the building made Anzu’s stomach turn. All washed out blues and greys… it just had no appeal. Anzu didn’t think she was a colour expert or anything, but she knew what she liked and this wasn’t it. Where was the pop? The dullness of everything would be excusable if it was partnered with a more intense colour or something, anything to keep things interesting. But nah. Just a butt-ton of bad blue hues. It was enough to make a clown go so far into misery he came around, became happy again and worked so happily he changed societies impression of clowns. Soon clowns would be stereotyped as happy, jolly pranksters instead of miserable serial killers or whatever.  Clowns were so fucked up. 

Whatever, she was only thinking about the colour palette cause she didn’t really have anything better to think about. She’d been trying to figure out a good place to sleep. No where seemed particularly inviting. She wanted everyone to stick together, sleep together. Everyone splitting up would most definitely just make people more likely to kill each other. Planning to gather everyone together was all well and good, but it kind of required finding a place for them to all gather first. 

She’d considered the fountain room, but, petty as it was, she wasn’t super big on the sound of rushing rather while she slept. Like, it wasn’t something that would be an issue to her, persay, but she’d had enough experience waking up covered in someone else’s pee to know that she didn’t want to encourage a situation where that was likely, in any shape or form. Not to mention the floor was like, wicked hard.

The locked room was locked. The info room was too small. The cafe seemed nice enough but the lethal weapons everywhere didn’t exactly inspire confidence. The auditorium was a maybe, but way the room was laid out left blind spots. The clothes rooms might be decent, but she hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet. And that’s what she was on her way to doing, as she opened the doors outwards of the auditorium - and immediately hit someone with them. Oh shit.

“Oh,” She said, not sure who she’d even hit yet. She took a closer look at her accidental victim…

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru’s classmates were already scattered. They were exploring, talking to others, and there were even a couple who hadn’t yet moved since Makeinu’s little lecture had ended. Haru, however, couldn’t stay still. He had to move, think, find or do something. Staying still didn’t suit him anyway.

For the sake of not driving himself to a nervous breakdown, he had to act, move, find something to occupy his mind. He briefly considered juggling the pins from his newly-found luggage as a distraction, but that’d be way too silly and unproductive. Besides,he’d probably wouldn’t be able to focus and end up dropping everything everywhere, which could hurt someone. Shit, what would happen if someone did get hurt? What if a stray pin was enough to kill someone? What would happen then?

He came to the conclusion that now was not a good time for weighted pins to be flying through the air willy-nilly. 

Instead, he would look around, just as the others were. If he got a bit of a grasp on where they were he probably wouldn’t feel the need to be glancing around every corner for potential danger. Haru had spotted two sets of stairs at the far end of the building, and figured that’d be a good place to start. He didn’t want to be alone during his adventure, however. On his way over, he tried to find someone who might be willing to accompany him and be his protection. Of course, he would provide safety for them as well, he wasn’t so selfish as to run when someone else was in trouble. 

Passing by the auditorium, the performer spotted someone...rather tall. It was a girl he hadn’t yet met, and she was alone, unlike the majority of his classmates who were already engaged in conversations he felt it rude to interrupt. Perhaps she’d be willing to team up with him? He had to ask. Her more intimidating stature might ward off any potential wolves in sheep’s clothing, after all. He rushed over to propose his idea when...

Thunk!

The blunt sound echoed through his skull, and he recoiled with his hands coming up to cover his forehead.

“Ow ow ow, jeez...” He rubbed the spot where the door had hit.

A pout was already pulling his features tight. This wasn’t exactly how he planned this meeting to go.

[shsl-r0gue]

chapter 1: nightmare (drmm open)

[shslflowersandmotorcycles-blog]

Suga spent his time emptily staring at the spot where the dog had given them their introduction speech. This wasn’t how he’d imagined it. Of course it wasn’t: Who’d have gone to this school if they knew this would happen??

He might’ve gone through various emotional reactions to this, but really it all boiled down to feeling void. With a side of sickness.

He was so lost in this feeling that he didn’t even notice when someone talked to him. Or at least he didn’t until a few seconds later. He turned to the source of the voice. Haru Hideyoshi.  They’d talked before- briefly. He remembered, vaguely, that he was a juggler. Put on street performances, illegally. Wore a terrible… thing on his body. The mask was still awesome.

What had he said? Suga squinted as he tried to recollect the words. Squinted silently. Glared in deep thought, as he did. For just a few seconds, but surely enough to be awkward.

Then, it dawned on him, and he quickly switched gears. Social situations. Something he felt at ease with, even if it wasn’t as welcoming right now as it was usually.

He returned the smile, tense and a little forced but grateful. Thank you, thank you for talking to him. Thank you for wanting to keep him company. Company was safe, and the better he got to know people the more protected he’d be. That was his plan, simple as it seemed.

“Yes! Yes, I’d like that Hideyoshi-san!”

He felt intensely relieved all at once, though not quite enough so to not still have the sinking feeling of sickness sitting in his stomach.

[shsl-r0gue]

Haru sighed, incredible relief washing over him. This Suga person had this whole soothing aura thing going on, and it was honestly something that the performer probably couldn’t fare without at this point. He could tell that Suga was as terrified as he was, but having his company would help. 

But, he thought, the whole formality thing had to go. He hated that last name.

“Please, just Haru is fine.” He tried to smile, to mask his discomfort brought on by his surname being used, but he’d never been good at disguising his feelings. 

Haru led the way. The staircases were the furthest from where they currently were, but there wasn’t much use in looking around the other rooms if any opportunity to leave existed. But perhaps Suga needed to check out another room first? It’d be inconsiderate to leave his companion’s feelings out of the equation. 

As they walked, Haru spoke.

“Suga-chan, was there anywhere you needed to look around first?”