大野若子 @shslkneebrace - Tumblr Blog

[Challenge 9] Two's a crowd- YOSHIE

Where had Yoshie Watanabe gone off to? It was as if the girl had been idling, merely floating along as things quickly took its course. It was as if she were waiting for it to all be over. This couldn’t go on forever, could it? “Hmn…” She was content to simply mind her own business, happy to allow the others to step past her as they went through their daily lives. Yoshie didn’t have to be a part of that. If anything, she just wanted to go at her own pace. The Marine Biologist wasn’t really digging all this murder business and could definitely do without the dead bodies.

Oh wait, speaking of bodies… She approached the two slowly, leaning her head to the side. Someone really let them have it this time.

“Oh, so we’re still doing this…?” Yoshie murmered, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Geez-… this is killing my vibes…”

The girl shook her head before turning away involuntarily. She was not yet accustomed to the stench of blood- though, it appeared that she’d eventually have to learn. Her classmates were dying far too often. And to think she thought it would end a long time ago.

She let out a sigh, scuffing her shoe on the floor. This wouldn’t happen at the beach.

“Eh, well time to get investigating, huh?” She asked before checking the time. “Oh, it’s 12:00 am-…. so, good morning.”

shslkneebrace

Where had Yoshie Watanabe's mind gone off to?

Surely she had a brain somewhere in that mess of pastel locks, as cute as they were. Surely she at least had a heart and cared about the fact that her family or friends had been in trouble. In all honesty the goth wouldn't fault the girl for feeling relief after the murders since it meant the security of those that were closest to her but what Wakako witnessed was not relief. It felt like... distant annoyance.

Having been confronted with the fear of her sister dying, coupled with the death of two boys who did not deserve their lives to be taken, the sight of an unsympathetic and only vaguely discontented marine biologist brought out the worst in the track star.

Wakako was holding her breath as her temperature sky rocketed, just brewing in anger without a clue of where to even begin.

"Did you really just say that?"

The cold air of the room threatened to freeze the beads of sweat that rested against her face. She felt as if she were floating, so light headed and so livid. Wanting to relinquish all of her anger, she tried to think of the most hurtful thing she could think to say.

"You know what... that should've been you," the girl stated with one of her fingers pointing straight toward the two dead boys.

"It should've been you and it fucking wasn't. Six people are dead. Dead, got it?! They aren't coming back! And you're over here mourning your 'vibes?' What kind of heartless bitch are you?"

#slurs tw #ic only #shslcnidology

stop pretending | REACTION

The television went off and the announcements were made as usual. Wakako didn't know whether to feel relieved or not. There was so much anxiety running through her veins. All she wanted was Izumi to be safe and sound in one piece, preferably with her brain unscrambled by a bullet. It was effort putting her makeup on this morning knowing that it may just be dribbling off her chin in a few minutes. No, she had been putting the waterproofs on since her first day here as if she knew that she didn't have the strength from the start. It was a badly, unpolished facade.

All of her usual morning rituals when it came to getting ready were done impeccably slow. The girl was in no rush to see any dead bodies this morning. It was bittersweet knowing that more than likely the murderer this time around had a good reason for it. All of them were in a hard place knowing that their family and friends were on the chopping block. One sacrifice to save the rest was noble. It was still murder but it was much more understandable than someone as despicable as Hatagami-san.

These thoughts marinated before the goth stepped out and swallowed saliva down hard, searching for signs of life. Anyone she saw walking down the same halls and rooms as her left rock after rock in her belly as the names narrowed themselves down. Not everyone was up and about yet though. Wakako had no way of knowing who had bit the dust until she stepped through that door and observed it for her own eyes, and when she had there was so much pain that hit her all at once.

"N... n-n-nagamasa-kun?"

It was sickening and bizarre. Just like when she had seen Tokaji's dead body she couldn't help but feel incredibly vulnerable. She had never seen the counter-terrorist as being dangerous, which was incredible considering exactly his talent and what he was involved in, but just the sheer idea that he could be threatening meant he was taken out. A man of the military had been taken out seemingly so easily. Nagamasa who had beaten the tar out of Setsuko had made it to the top of her 'unsinkable' list by a landslide and now he lay dead before her.

There was something so prolific about seeing the supposed strong ones die and there was a shiver in her heart that questioned whether she'd really be able to live through this whole ordeal. It wasn't until her eyes focused onto the body beside Nagamasa that tears began to well up and spill over, along with bountiful anger.

"Bor... Buh..."

Wakako couldn't even remember what this fucker's last name was and that made her hate herself. He wasn't an angel but he didn't deserve to die. Why were there two bodies anyways? This was no sacrifice for their families, this was a serial killer. Seeing the way their bodies were arranged dug the knife in further. Was it supposed to look elegant or artful? What the fuck was this?

#ic only

shslkneebrace

in this moment | michiru

shslchoujin-blog

No, of course Michiru didn’t think she looked funny. She looked awesome, right, awesome with the yellow shutter shades and the… not-awesome tears running down her pale cheeks. Michiru was filled with dread for her Uncle, dread so terrible she hadn’t felt, and she didn’t question why Wakako was crying, too: she must’ve felt just the same. Wakako pressed her palms against her face and Michiru was silent for once, pressing her lips together as not to cry more, Wakako’s arms started to shake, so Michiru reached out to them, holding the girls’ arms in place to the best of her ability.

"Stabilization imminent, help structures comin’ up-"

Was about all she could say before Wakako started shouting, and as sudden it was, Michiru somewhat mirrored her emotion, opening her mouth to shout out herself, not meaning anything bad by it either. She could tell Wakako was perhaps irritated, but not why, and for her anger was a strange, hard emotion to handle. She only adjusted her volume to louder.

"My lil’ sis’ in danger ‘cos ‘m here, an’ my Uncle- Yer, yer lil’ sis’, I don’t have one, right, like- Nah, nah, only Uncle. I can run kinda fast- I DON’T EVEN FUCKIN’ LIKE RUNNIN’, I wanna go flyin’ always instead, y’know, my lil’ sis’ likes that, too."

Her attempt at yelling her thoughts out wasn’t as good at Wakako’s, and she got confused whether she had a little sibling or not, but she didn’t stop, still holding Wakako’s arms with a stern, stable grip.

"WHY! WHY, HOW, WHEN! Y’should do yer dreams an’ not anyone else’s, ‘m sure- Sure my dream ‘s becomin’ a mecha pilot an’ not runnin’, not my brother’s dream, nah, nah- Ain’t got a bro’ or a sis’ or a ma’ or a fa’ so ain’t possible to have their dreams, right? Dreamin’, dreams, drummin’, rum, reality- Jes’ do yer reality an’ nobody else’s, thas’ what Uncle says, fly on yer own wings, like, metaphorically an’ literally- " Michiru reached to touch her back with one hand like looking for wings. "Like wings an’ thas’ his name, Stu, Tsu, Tsubasa! Volume’s so high now!"

The birdman paused again to draw in a shaky breath, holding onto Wakako’s arms which had moved to the sides of her head, and Michiru let go of her arms to put her own hands on the sides of her head, unable to stop the inconvenient leaking from her own eyes or the other’s eyes. Her eyes flew open again and she looked at Wakako, her bright eyes dim underneath the tinted shades and the fog that had formed on the surface from her tears and breath, and Michiru felt a little better, distracted from the imagery of her Uncle on the screen, feeling like an important mecha pilot giving a speech to her troops rather than a terrified person crying on the floor and holding her head. It was a much easier feeling, a better feeling, to be a little more like someone else.

"DON’T DO OTHER PEOPLE’S DREAMS, DO YER REALITY, LIKE- ‘S, ‘S SUPA IMPORTANT."

With an audible clack, Michiru snapped her mouth shut and gazed warily at Wakako, producing the Sailor Neptune figure she always carried with her some way on another, this time carried inside her onesie like the pill bottle she had earlier gotten, taking Wakako’s hand in hers and pushing the figurine against Wakako’s chest to prompt her to take it. Galactic Soldier Neptune Annihilator always helped.

shslkneebrace

Good thing Wakako liked Michiru a great bit or else the feeling of someone grabbing her arms would've likely set her off. She knew that the other was only trying to help her cope though in their own strange way. She didn't like this shivering that her body was doing right now anyways. Some stabilization would be wonderful. The words that came barreling out of the birdman's mouth really didn't make much sense to her but in her current state it didn't properly matter.

Wakako just held her eyes closed with her arms held in stasis. Even when Michiru started to reach around for some wings that Wakako was pretty damn sure she didn't have she remained still as ever and merely began to sniffle beneath the glasses. Michiru's words were making sense to her though. She should obviously chase her own dream and not someone else's. She's been running for so long and she's never forgotten who it is that she's running for but perhaps she never stopped to wonder if he'd want her to or not.

How long had she been doing this without asking herself that simple question?

It was comforting to listen to someone else talk as Wakako severely lacked the ability to with her thoughts all jumbled and out of order. Especially when the words that came out also sounded a bit jumbled. It gave her hope that even without wording it properly, her emotions still made sense.

Michiru presented her with a Sailor Neptune figure, something that Wakako knew by now that they carried with them a lot of the time. A few sniffles later she took it into her hands and glanced up at the mecha pilot with a knowing expression. She knew that she couldn't leave her friend in the darkness though. There was far more to it than that.

"My brother died," she blurted out, really not knowing how else to bring up something like this.

As she began to speak, she held the figure to her chest, thinking hard on the words Michiru had offered her.

"Car accident. Drunk driver. He loved to run and he was damn good at it but everything was taken by one careless guy. I didn't... I didn't just lose him, I lost... a part of myself. I've thought for so long that this is what he would've wanted me to do, to run for him, and I enjoyed it for a while but even with the most noble of reasons sometimes you just get bored and fed up with doing something you don't have any interest in yourself."

Pulling the glasses off of her face, a small smile had transfixed itself in its place.

"You know where it's at though, yeah? No sense in following someone else's dream. God, I feel so silly and so stupid. When I get out of here the first thing I'm gonna do is something I want for a change."

Of course, Wakako wasn't able to change her mind about the whole idea in one single moment but for right now she thought Michiru was right. She had her own dream and that was what she should focus on. Thinking of this, she continued to hold the figure to her heart.

"When we get out of here and see that your uncle is safe, and my sister is safe, we should... chill together, Michiru-kun."

#ic only #shslchoujin

shslkneebrace

in this moment | michiru

shslchoujin-blog

The birdman had lost her sense of direction, stumbling like her legs were made of lead, and she wasn’t quite sure where she was trying to go, but ended up in the Luck and Skills Minigames room just as the mallet skid along the ground and bounced at a wall. Michiru paused to look at it with big eyes, tears still falling down her cheeks, the situation awfully confusing, until she spotted a somewhat familiar black ghostly spot in her vision and pulled on the hood of her onesie to wipe away her tears, at least for a moment, her hopes up for something entirely different.

"U-uncle?" Of course it wasn’t, and Michiru continued after managing to breathe in. "Wakako?"

No honorifics or strange nicknames, and Michiru was sure her name was Wakako, she could remember, and she liked her. A couple of steps closer and fumbling with the two pairs of shades she was holding, managing to slip on the star shades as she shot forward, more or less tripping over Wakako’s legs and managing to land somewhat smoothly, her spindly legs over Wakako’s legs and her palms against the ground. Michiru didn’t say anything about her rough landing, instead fixing her gaze on Wakako as if seeking for some sort of confirmation or an explanation. The girl was crying, too, and Michiru felt lost and confused, not knowing what to do.

"Yer- Yer leaking from yer visual input ports. ‘M, not so sure-"

An accurate observation as a similar thing continued to be her reality, headache hammering at the edges of her mind before she reached to put the yellow shutter shades clutched in her hand over Wakako’s eyes instead, not knowing words she should say, feeling only worse from seeing someone else she trusted with such a sad expression.

“‘S fixed.”

She was helping, she thought, being mindful in a way she assumed was good. At the very least she wasn’t alone anymore, alone in the big empty rooms with music playing from the speakers.

shslkneebrace

Speaking to someone right now was typically not something that Wakako wanted to do. When she was overcome with emotion like this there was no part of her that wanted other people to know what she was going through or how she was feeling. It was useless to try to connect with others for the most part. Not like it was a cynical view, just a view she'd garnered from her past experience on the matter.

Michiru was an exception though for whatever reason. Maybe it was because when the birdman appeared on the scene, Wakako could see the tears streaming down their face. This was the second time now that she'd bore witness to their tears and it wasn't anymore bearable the second time than it was the first. There was something dramatically, profoundly sad about seeing Michiru Inoue crying.

When they tripped over Waka's legs, the girl made a slight wince and held her hands over her right leg instinctively. Immediately after though, she adjusted the way she was sitting to accommodate for her friend, holding her hands out to help Michiru get their bearings again. Instead of taking those fingerless gloved hands, they brought the yellow shutter shades they had been carrying up to her face and fitted them to her eyes.

It was... a strange gesture that Wakako understood.

"Yeah... I am," Wakako murmured out in response to the comment about her visual input ports.

She didn't bother to touch them or move them, leaving the shades where they lay. It didn't occur to her that she might look funny as Michiru more than likely didn't think she did and no one else was around. Pushing her face into her palms, sandwiching the glasses between her hands and head, Wakako tried to get her thoughts in order but the only thing she could recall feeling was regret, so much of it.

Everything in her head, every little bubble of emotion and sensation of sorrow seemed to peak in a single moment and her arms began to shake as if she just didn't know what to do with herself.

"I shouldn't even be here! M-My little sister is in danger all because I'm here, here in this shitty place I can't get out of. And why? Why? Because I was invited to go to this shitty school? Because I can run kinda fast?"

Wakako's fists blanched as more tears came down.

"I don't even fucking like running. I don't even like sports. I don't even wanna do this shit anymore! It's my fucking brother who ran track, it's his dream not mine! Why?!"

Of course, she wasn't upset at Michiru and she was merely yelling at herself. Her hands rested on either side of her head with her lip trembling and quaking in anger.

#ic only #shslchoujin

shslchoujin-blog

false peace || michiru

shslchoujin-blog

For a moment, Wakako looked nearly sad, and Michiru stood in place perfectly still, her thick yellow lips pursing and nonexistent eyebrows frowning in unison under her yellow shutter shades. Wakako lighted up, however, and Michiru went on without commenting on the fact, her face turning into the neutral mask it usually stayed as when she didn’t emote exaggeratedly. Michiru was quick to point out that Wakako was going somewhere when she started walking, even if it was just to the bathroom:

"Yer goin’ somewhere. Everyone’s always goin’, y’know, travellin’, ‘s nice, once went to th’moon an’ once went to th’land with th’Wurst, like- Like a million times. Flyin’ with a spaceship in th’athmosphere an’ outta it an’ landin’ in th’Moomba roomba. Zumba. Vrr vrr."

She followed Wakako around for those few steps there was to take, managing to sputter the German word for sausage, surprisingly adept at pronouncing it, and then referencing the mostly silly Australian birdman competition. She looked around the bathroom herself, all things you should and should have not kept in the bathroom strewn around. There was the brush, an assortment of shampoos and other things with brightly coloured packaging, mostly arranged by colour or some more obscure method. Michiru liked assembling, is all. Her vrrming died down when she spotted Wakako seemingly reaching for the tap.

"Nah- Nah, nah. ‘S th’counter-disruptor- NO!"

It was her only response, reaching to put her hand on the tap so Wakako couldn’t turn it off so swiftly she turned it off herself, letting out a loud, surprised AH and then freezing in place. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem to affect anything. Maybe Wakako was a counter-disruptor beam emitter, because she still felt better.

"Surprisin’. ‘M surprised, ‘m wearin’ my surprised face plate." Her face looked as stoic as ever. "Yer a counter-disruptor against th’noise- Whas’- What’s happenin’-" Michiru got distracted by the brush, too. "Th’thing was CAMOUFLAGIN’ an’ was impossible to see ‘cos my heat sensors weren’t on. Yeah, yeah, fix up th’frazzle, frazzled. Razzled. Give ‘em th’good ol’ razzle dazzle. Awesome."

More about her mecha army? Why, anytime, and Michiru withdrew the hand she had almost used to snatch the brush for herself.

“‘M th’capt’n. Nah- Jinsei’s that one, y’know, ‘cos he’s AkioOOOOH NO! NAH! Nah, nah, jes’ Jinsei. Only Jinsei-senpai here, like- He’s that one, J-I-N—Y-M-C-A.” A pause, during which Michiru turned around and retreated from the bathroom, crouching down to pick at a t-shirt like contemplating changing her wet clothes, but she just rolled it up and then set it down next to the wall of her room so it was nicely adjacent to the wall. Pleased with this configuration of things and the distraction more than the shirt messily on the floor and her slipping secrets, she spoke up again, nonchalant. “Dunno, ‘m like. Like jes’ a supa member, now. An’ Jinsei’s th’ultimate hero capt’n.”

Michiru looked at Wakako, the star shades falling from her forehead and onto her shutter shades, and she made no move to fix it.

shslkneebrace

If Waka were to pick someone to narrate the rest of her life, Michiru would definitely be at the top of her list. Listening to the way that they always had some comment on whatever was going on could be annoying to some people but no, she thought it was quite the quirk (even if she had no idea what was being said).

These thoughts ran through the goth's brain as she entered the bathroom, not quite paying attention when she had directed herself toward the running water. This nonchalance nearly cost them their lives! Thank God Michiru alerted Wakako that she were a counter-disruptor or shit would've clearly gone south. Blinking a few times incredulously, Wakako awaited the glorious explanation for why she happened to be some counter-disruptor toward the bath water but ended up interrupting Michiru inadvertently by merely holding the hair brush apparently. It diverted their attention enough to render it all a moot point.

"Th’thing was CAMOUFLAGIN’ an’ was impossible to see ‘cos my heat sensors weren’t on. Yeah, yeah, fix up th’frazzle, frazzled. Razzled. Give ‘em th’good ol’ razzle dazzle. Awesome."

A laugh came barreling out of the girl's mouth, pondering to herself how it was that she'd give their hair the ol' razzle dazzle exactly.

"I will surely try," she murmured out with her hands finding a bottle of conditioner and plucking it up.

Before Wakako could begin her adventures in the birdman's hair, she had the pleasure of learning more about this mecha army of Michiru's. While the other was speaking, Waka tried to gently nudge them toward the bed where the two of them could sit and it'd be easier for her to play with the other ones hair. God, how long had it been since Wakako had brushed someone else's hair like a sleepover? Too long, just like Michiru's locks. This was going to take a while.

"Yuuhara-kun's the captain, huh?" said Wakako, letting the other know that she was indeed listening.

Watching Michiru neglect to put on new clothes in favor of simply organizing them better, the track star thought to herself that she could worry about getting Michiru into some dry clothes after dealing with their hair. Plopping down on the bed, Wakako would motion for Michiru to sit down with her.

With the star shades having fallen down onto their shutter shades, Waka didn't have to move them in order to start messing around with Michiru's hair. Hopefully the mecha pilot would allow Wakako to put some conditioner in and gently begin brushing the knots out of it. Michiru would talk on about anything they wanted to talk on about and Wakako would listen. By the end of the night, Michiru was also sporting the goth girl's goggles to make for the ultimate triforce facial defense system.

All in all, a better night from the ones they'd had before.

#ic only #shslchoujin

in this moment | OPEN

After Setsuko had given her the answer to the puzzle, she took no time at all hurrying back and trying it for herself. It still took a few tries to remember the combination perfectly as it had been relayed to her but in no time at all she had a boring pill bottle sitting between her fingers and thumb. Shaking it brought the gentle rattle of a single pill. So... Setsuko was right, they all received whatever this was.

Wakako walked back toward her dorm feeling a bit defeated at this boring revelation. Passing through the bowling alley and then into the luck and skill game room, her body paused when the sound of a familiar voice echoed all around her from every television. Spotting EDO making an appearance once more, her eyes rolled with annoyance.

"Ugh, fucks this thing want?"

It wasn't long before that indignant attitude faded into grief. It was only for a few seconds, not nearly long enough for Wakako. She was certain she knew what she saw though: a young, pale girl with bright grey eyes and a choppy black bob. A handkerchief had been tied around her head to keep her mouth shut and her body was bound with tight rope. All the while, a look of absolute fear was clear in her face as a gun sat juxtaposed beside her brain.

And then the machine had the audacity to say that they weren't showing it again. Tears began to bubble at the sides of her eyes. For only a brief second, what felt like milliseconds in hindsight, she'd seen hell. Izumi was in trouble and if she didn't do something then...

"N-No, I can't... I can't lose you too," she whispered to only herself.

"What the fuck is happening? Why is this happening?!"

"Kill one person, and save your friends and family! It does seem rather tempting, does it not? Bye-bye!"

These words shot Wakako so far over the edge, there was nothing stopping her from grabbing the heavy mallet adjacent to the strength game and hoisting it over her head. Sheer adrenaline was the only thing guiding her and with one swift movement she swung the mallet with all her might at the television screen.

...And completely fucking missed.

The mallet connects with the ground as it flies from her hands, carrying far too much momentum for her to keep hold of it. The most damage it does is make some loud noises and eventually bump into the wall. EDO's screen seems to sway a bit as if the air around it jostled momentarily.

In this moment, all of the energy in her body left her and only sadness and exhaustion remained.

"Fuck me..."

Wakako plopped onto her ass in front of the television and cried.

#this is more of a reaction but someone can reply to it so i guess its an open ??#drdopen #ic only

shsl-drum-major-001-deactivated

Decrescendo for… what? | [Challenge 7][Setsuko]

shsl-drum-major-001-deactivated

That was definitely a yes or no question. This girl always wanted information and specifically answers to “why” type questions but then again- Setsuko was already demanding information. A trade would only be naturally fair.

Originally Setsuko thought to get defensive and hide what she had received from completing the puzzle but she could see any good coming out of that. There was nothing bad about getting a weird prize anyway right? Just a single… ominously unlabeled… pill…

“Well…” she brought the pill bottle up into plain view. “I was wondering if you completed the puzzle and received something like this. There’s a single pill inside and it’s very plain looking… It could be anything I suppose.”

“If this is the same prize others’ received, I’m more than concerned.” She thought of the possible effects of this as well as the consequences for blind curiosity. Looking at the word ‘important’ again she continued doubting. “I can’t think of any positive outcome of these pills and I’m only hoping no one has taken one yet if there are others…”

shslkneebrace

Setsuko seemed willing to comply, which was good because Wakako didn't want to get into any sort of spat just for a little intel on what was going on around here. Upon lifting up the pill bottle, the goth sized it up with her irises carefully and took to trying to understand what it could be used for. The fact that there was only a single pill inside was definitely questionable and the question of whether other people had received the same prize was one that Wakako could not answer. It'd probably bug the band geek since Wakako would have been wasting her time but that couldn't be helped right now.

"I'm guessing there's no label on the bottle. I can't see any from where I'm standing," said Wakako as she proceeded to keep her stance at a slight distance out of pure laziness.

Wakako rubbed her chin curiously before pointing toward the bottle.

"Why would everyone receive individual bottles all containing a single pill? That seems a bit weird or wasteful. Why not just put it in a little baggie or just not put the pill in anything. If it were my guess, maybe you're the only one who got the pill. I could be wrong though. After all, I've never completed that dumb puzzle."

A small smirk washed over the goth's face as she came to a fantastic idea.

"Buuut, if you tell me the answer to the puzzle, I can let you know what I find, yeah?"

#shsldrummajor #ic only

shslkneebrace

pick-me-up | TONTON

shsltonton

Tonton giggled and blushed at the compliment, an action that didn’t embarrass him. Being cute wasn’t really all that personally rewarding for him, but it was nice to know his efforts to look adorable were not in vain.

"Oh, really? I don’t think i’ve had funnel cake before, ne. Probably because I’ve never been to a carnival before! Maybe I should actually have some fun here, before it goes away again…"

The little entrepreneur chewed on his doughnut as he observed the carousel. The dark red splatters produced gruesome images in his mind, of course, but… There was some kind of morbid curiosity within him. He wanted to ride that carousel…

Disturbed from his thoughts, he looked up at his fellow student again, taking a few seconds to adjust back into a more light-hearted persona. He smiled politely and nodded.

"You may go and get some food. I’m not going anywhere, ne."

The tone made it sound like he was giving her permission, oddly enough. If they were going to talk about whatever was on their minds, he would probably have to take a while to be pretty careful about what he said.

shslkneebrace

At least Tonton was looking on the bright side of things. Everyone else seemed to be bummed out by the fact that quite literally everything here was a reminder of Sachie Hatagami, the Super High School Level Theme Park Worker. The kid's approach to all of this wasn't too contrived to her though. It was good to try and keep morale in a situation like this. Enjoying the little things around this fucked up place was all you could really do sometimes.

Wakako had asked for permission since she always had with her younger sister. It was just a compulsion. Even though Tonton was close to her own age, perhaps it was just his size that caused her to view him much younger than he actually was. She had to remember he was quite the smarty pants after all. He was capable of so much more than he appeared on the outside.

After she'd returned with her funnel cake, the track star took a seat across from the boy with a plop and wiggled her fingers back and forth.

"Oooh, doesn't this look tasty?"

The funnel cake was complete with bits of fresh strawberry on top with enough powdered sugar sprinkled on top to make even the biggest sweet tooth cringe. There really was nothing like some deep fried batter to lift your spirits. Pulling off a piece between her thumb and forefinger, she stuffed it between her black lips and munched away. He'd notice that while eating Wakako had the habit of holding her hand over her mouth in some sort of oddly polite gesture to avoid offending others with her chewing. Strange for a girl who'd openly lean her chest over someone during a trial.

Upon swallowing she made a gun finger at Tonton.

"You oughta have a bite of this! Everyone should try some funnel cake at least once in their life."

As much as she wanted to cut to the chase and just ask Tonton about how he felt about everything that had happened, it surprisingly didn't feel right. The only motivation she had was knowing that Tonton was no dummy and he likely didn't care about beating around the bush. He had no problem being blunt when it came to how he felt at the trial, callously asking if she could just die now. It was with this in mind that her smile went weak and she averted her eyes, glancing straight at the carousel that she noticed he'd been eyeing..

"She uh... got what was coming to her, yeah?"

#ic only #shslkigyouka

shsl-drum-major-001-deactivated

Decrescendo for… what? | [Challenge 7][Setsuko]

Finishing that puzzle in the arcade took a little longer than expected without being able to block out noises from the senselessly violent and gore-y games in the room. She didn’t finish the puzzle to appease EDO or whoever set this up but rather to get rid of a suspicion. But now she had this pill bottle.

“Important huh…?” She wasn’t pleased with this sort of result. What the hell were these pills for? They could possibly kill someone considering there was no labeling. This kind of item would spark curiosity in most but this was the kind of thing Setsuko stayed far away from. No telling what could happen if someone were to take these…

She made her way to the auditorium. She wanted answers. But when she got there it wasn’t likely she’d get any. The room was dark and the TV screen seemed like it was off.

“Hey, EDO.” She waited a few moments staring back and forth at the surveillance cameras in the room. “I know you’re there, answer me!” With a few more moments of stubborn rambling she gave up. She wasn’t going to talk to an empty room forever.

It was somewhat peaceful in there though despite the atmosphere. She turned away from the screen and cameras to think for a moment. What could these pills possibly be? Her mind had gone immediately to lethal consequences but what if it was something else? It was hard to think about them being any bit beneficial but that kind of thought crept into her head for a moment. She was interrupted mid-thought by someone else using the auditorium entrance.

“Oh-“ she didn’t care who it was, she needed to know. She gripped the pill bottle in one hand and pointed with the other. “Sorry to be blunt but did you happen to complete the puzzle that was in the arcade?”

shslkneebrace

Great. Just what Wakako needed, a reminder of that silly little puzzle that she had long since given up on. There was a chance that she could still try her hand at it again, if it was even worth it. She wasn't in the same distressed mood she had been immediately following the trial but for the most part the puzzle felt like a pointless venture unless the prize it yielded was something like a key out of here.

The moment that Wakako was passing through the auditorium after time spent in the minigame room, these thoughts began to preoccupy her mind as Setsuko brought an inquiry. It likely wasn't to her in particular but to whomever she could readily grasp to sate her curiosity. First and foremost though, Wakako wanted to know why she was asking?

Was she considering solving it and wanted to know if it was worth it? Had something strange happened upon figuring it out? Eager to sate her own curiosity, Wakako folded her arms as she so often did against her upraised bust and shifted her weight onto a single leg.

"Maybe. What's up?" she asked quite candidly with lofted brow.

One thing that would drive Wakako up a wall was if she admitted that no, she hadn't, only for the band geek to decide 'oh never mind' and leave her out of whatever happened. The goth was just too nosy to let that happen.

#ic only #shsldrummajor

shslchoujin-blog

false peace || michiru

shslchoujin-blog

A solemn nod of acknowledgment from Michiru as she agreed to the fact of teleporting. That was cool, and it was fitting for a cyber goth virus residing in the strange corners of the internet where everything was probably dark, save for her pale skin that probably glowed in the dark. Cool, also.

"Michiru-chan. Michiru-chan. Chan, chan, Genghis Khan- Michiru-khan, nah, nah- Nah, th’point is, ‘m not a chan, not near it, nowhere near it, more like. Like Michiru-michiru. Michiru-tsubasa. Thas’ not my name, tho, th’latter, thas’ someone else’s name- Michiru-kun. Ain’t that amazin’.”

Michiru-kun, like the amazing shounen protags!.. She was a shounen protag for all she knew true and factual-

"Look, Wakako-chan, thas’ th’stuff, better fittin’, way better, fits like a glove, a fittin’ one. Or one of those things y’can wear that are all tight, kinda like- Like a full-body glove except not lookin’ like a glove. Jes’ fittin’. Like plugsuits. Would be fittin’ on y’too, Wakako cyber virus-khan.”

Yeah, those were so nice to wear and everyone should convert into them. Tight onesies, that is. Michiru glanced down at what she was wearing and got disappointed at the wet loose fabric, wondering why someone hadn’t sewn a tight t-shirt into a pair of tight shorts instead. She only had herself to blame for that, but she didn’t really think about it enough to exactly remember. She probably should’ve changed out of her wet clothes, but that was of no priority at all in Michiru’s mind. Wakako asked if Michiru needed something and she replied instantly, her face still completely stoic, shutter shades covering her eyes and the star shades pushed up and caught in the mess that was her hair. Well, did she need something?

"More mechas- Fer th’army, y’know. Keep yerself here, tho. Ain’t good to leave fer me, Wakako-chan. ‘S dangerous."

The birdman stood up again from her sitting position on the floor and stood around uncomfortably in a brief display of anxiety, the shower and tap still running in the bathroom as she suddenly took up a pose, holding her hands over her ears as she spoke.

“‘S fuckin’ dangerous, th’wind an’ th’disruption beam sound, y’know. Makes yer audio files loop- ‘S VERY bad. Neva again. Can disrupt teleportin’ ‘round.”

Michiru slapped her hands down and beatboxed strange noises evidently meant to be mechanical sounds, looking very serious like usual.

shslkneebrace

Michiru seemed like a -chan to Wakako. Maybe it was just because she thought the other looked somewhat cute under that mass of seaweed hair and funky glasses. Waka liked though that were telling her what they were more comfortable with being called though so she could adjust accordingly. She wasn't so certain why she enjoyed that so much. Probably because it brought her a few steps closer to understanding them and what goes on in their head to an extent.

With a nod so abrupt and zealous that it almost took her goggles off, Wakako replied with a brief 'yes' as she took this information in. As Michiru continued to babble as she often did, the track star lifted her hands up and began to adjust her goggles back on her locks. Funny how they were literally only there to be a fashionable accessory and not even used to look through. They'd be similar to Michiru's shutter shades then huh? Considering you could see out of them but... everything was kinda hard to see with bars in front of your face.

Somehow when Michiru commented that Wakako shouldn't leave because it was 'dangerous,' the goth got the idea that maybe that was Michiru's way of saying they wanted some company. Or maybe Waka was just trying too hard to read into the things that the birdman did and said. Maybe Michiru wasn't some strange puzzle that needed to be figured out and they were just haphazard.

In between their usual displays of upbeatitude like their beatboxing for instance, was the way that they held their hands over their ears and described a painful sound to her. All around it felt like there was something profoundly sad about the girl just lying cleanly under the surface, embedded in words no one would think to decode.

...Wow, all of this was sounding so deep. Wakako just blinked a few times with her eyebrows digging down and did what she felt was best.

"I won't go anywhere, Michiru-kun. I don't really have shit else to do today anyways," began Wakako as she crossed her arms over her breast and glanced in the direction of the bathroom.

Without being prompted she marched inside prepared to turn it off when the first thing she spotted on the sink was Michiru's brush sitting on the edge. If Michiru had some conditioner, Wakako figured she could put some in their hair and it'd help get the tangles out a bit quicker with the brush. That sisterly instinct that she felt when dealing with Izami was coming into play and all the goth wanted to do was clean her friend up and get them into a nice, warm, safe bed where they felt a tad more comfortable.

Turning back toward Michiru, Wakako gave a gentle smile.

"You should let me fix your hair up. It's looking really frazzled. And then you can tell me more about your mecha army if you want."

#ic only #shslchoujin

shslkneebrace

pick-me-up | TONTON

shsltonton

Tonton had been sulking since leaving the trial. When he heard there was a food court, he had headed there immediately to get some treats and sit there to stuff his face, occasionally shedding tears at the memory of his fallen big brother. He felt far more lonely without the bomber’s company and care; he had felt safe before his death, but now he was uncertain.

Feeling a little paranoid for his life as he chewed on a battered doughnut, the little entrepreneur nearly screamed as a stranger came up from behind and interrupted his train of thought. Then something went over his head - a bag?! - and he whipped around to examine his assailant.

Well… It appeared that the bag was not a bag but a fabric hat of some sorts, and this was simply his fellow classmate Wakako, appearing surprisingly cheerful despite their circumstances. He didn’t really know enough about her to predict whether this was a strange attitude. Perhaps it was to encourage him…? Tonton let out a small sigh of relief and then gazed up at the other from his seat.

"You surprised me! What is this, ne? A hat…?"

"Hehehe. Does it look cute? Feel free to join me, onee-san. The snacks are quite tasty here. I’ve never had such unhealthy food! Did you come here to try some of it, perhaps?"

It seemed as though as soon as someone was witnessing his behaviour he changed it to a more uplifting and cutesy one. Hopefully, considering they were only acquaintances, she would not notice this.

Tonton then went back to chewing on his doughnut, eyes glazing over as he stared off absent-mindedly, already distracted from the conversation by his thoughts. He was started to wonder if maybe sweet things weren’t the answers to his inner turmoil.

shslkneebrace

The moment that Tonton turned around and glanced up at her, she had hoped to god that she was able to somehow brighten his mood and lift his spirits. Its not like there was anything profoundly inspirational about a frog hat but it was cute. Cute things had that effect on kids, even ones that were in charge of huge electronic corporations or what have you.

Watching as he flashed a smile at her, Wakako was under the impression that it had worked. Score! That stupid machine had done something worthwhile after all.

"Super cute."

She waited until he had turned back around before making a slow fist pump. Wakako wouldn't sit down just yet though as she was still deciding on what it is she wanted to stuff down her gullet.

"Yeah, I came to see if they had any funnel cake. That's something every carnival's got, even fucked up ones like this one. It's like... a part of carnival DNA."

Wakako rested her hands on the table beside Tonton as she observed the food stands from a distance. Part of her wanted to just sit down and chat immediately with no time in between and the other part of her desperately wanted to snatch up her food first. Hoping that Tonton wouldn't abandon her in the time it took to secure a plate, she pointed toward the stand of her choosing and smiled.

"I'm just gonna grab myself some food right quick and then I'll be right with ya. Is that okay? And then we can talk about... whatevers on our minds!" she inquired thoughtfully.

If Tonton wanted her to stay for whatever reason, she would. If she was allowed to get her chow first you'd see her nearly sprint in search of her fatty, cholesterol lifting goodness.

#ic only #shslkigyouka

shslchoujin-blog

false peace || michiru

As soon as Michiru reached her room, she closed the door and backed off in her room only narrowly avoiding stumbling on some clothes strewn about so she could lean against the wall, sliding down and then burying her face in her bent knees. She could make out the tune from outside her room, she could- Of course she couldn’t, but she thought she did for a moment at least.

The person sprung back on their feet and ran to the small bathroom that was part of her room, turning open the tap. It opened with a splutter, the noise of running water better than anything else she imagined herself hearing, the replay of the awful carnival tune and cracking and- She opened the shower, too, getting half of herself wet before she stepped out and promptly laid on the cold tiled floor. Water disappeared into the drains as quickly as it fell.

“‘S rainin’ on th’ocean, yeah, yeah- Yeah, thas’ nice, supa nice, ‘s appreciated, water IS appreciated. White noise, pink noise- Some noise ‘s like, black and pink, nah. Fuck th’noise, fuckin’ not-amazin’-“

She kept talking to herself and then she closed her eyes, only to be roused by someone knocking. She’d make her modified Sailor Neptune figurine open it, and only those who weren’t afraid of sudden shrieking at hearing carnival music emanating from everywhere and not phased by Michiru physically moving them into her room, while her clothes were half wet from water, and the constant sound of running water in the background. Then she stopped when the door was closed and holding the person’s arms.

“‘Sup, ‘sup, soup- SOUP, coulda go fer some. ‘S th’fuel, Super Overpower Über P-p-p-p-gasoline.” Yeah, soup totally was an acronym for gasoline, and Michiru let go to lift up one pair of glasses, so that the star shades were on her forehead and the shutter shades on her face, her stomach grumbling. “THUNDER. Awful weather outside, ‘s thunderin’ noises an’ shit, no good fer flyin’ ‘round. Ain’t gonna let y’endanger yerself by goin’ out THERE, how’d y’get here- Got here by teleportin’, yeah, makes sense, ‘m lovin’ th’company.”

She really didn’t like being alone, it was true even if it almost seemed like a sarcastic remark, even if she had currently holed up in her room. Her face was still puffy and red and her voice teary like it could crack at any moment, but her face was as stoic as ever. The mass of hair was all knotted up and in terrible shape, the half undone braid a terrible mess especially but Michiru paid it no mind as she moved to go to sit on the bathroom floor.

shslkneebrace

One person that Wakako knew she had to go pay a visit to after that trial was Michiru. They'd only actually ever spoken once when Wakako had presented them with a mecha figurine that she was sure Michiru would enjoy. It was right up their alley and all. Afterwards Wakako had watched them assemble it while they babbled on and wanted to brush that wild hair of theirs but didn't feel quite comfortable enough for that yet. The other girl, or boy, depending on how you viewed Michiru, was a mystery to Wakako and she was never certain if they'd openly voice feeling uncomfortable or not. Even then, Waka wasn't sure she'd understand it even if they did.

Mysteries were meant to be solved though, weren't they? Wakako felt that sounded like something out of a cheeky romance novel though and mentally chided herself over it. At the very least she could drop by the birdman's room and hope that they were okay after that disparaging display at the trial. The track star really wasn't proud of anything she'd said or done and wanted to bottle it up if possible. But first...

"Whaa!"

After knocking upon the door with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her shorts, Wakako nearly tripped over her own legs when Michiru sprang from their room to tug her inside.

Wet hands were clenching her arms. Had Michiru fallen into a goddamn well before coming to get the door? Holy shit. Wakako didn't necessarily dislike the contact though. It was just... curious. The moment that the green haired classmate began to go on about thunder, Waka could've sworn she heard a stomach growl. So many things were happening at once right now. Was the shower running in the bathroom? Whens the last time they ate or brushed their hair? Were they about to shower or just jumped out quickly and got their clothes on while still wet? Were they in there in their clothes?

"Y-Yeah, I teleported. Hey uhh... Michiru-chan?" the track star began slowly.

"Do you, um, need me to get anything for you?"

Wakako didn't even know how to breach the topic she was going for. It didn't matter. It's not like between them they'd find a shortage of things to talk about.

#ic only #shslchoujin

pick-me-up | TONTON

So far, all Wakako ever got out of that strange machine was a mecha figurine kit (which she gave to Michiru), a notebook she hasn't used yet, and now some frog hat. Huh, kinda cute. It really wasn't her thing and it wouldn't fit well over her cyberlox though. With a sigh, the girl shoved her last coin into the machine and watched as a book plopped out of it. Scrutinizing the cover, she read "101 Tales From Beyond" and groaned immediately after.

Not just because it was likely full of bullshit but because she was hungry and the groaning of her stomach soon came after. She could only ignore the food center for so long knowing what happened in the carousel there.

Carrying her new loot in tow, the goth took to walking through the circus arena and toward the food court seeking something nice and sweet. They weren't going to have her favorite food at a carnival but funnel cake was a nice second. It was the single best dessert at the very least and something that all carnivals had just as a prerequisite, she was certain.

Driven by her insatiable hunger, Wakako nearly stopped in a deadpan stupor the moment that the scent of all these fatty artery clogging foods entered her nostrils. Recalling what Jinsei had said at the trial, she gave a gentle scoff. No, it'd be easier to say that Tokaji died so that they could have food more so than Sachie killed so they could have food. She'd never thank a murderer but she'd sure as hell thank an unwilling martyr.

Speaking of Tokaji, she spotted possibly one of the people who likely missed him most, stuffing food into their face and appearing less chipper than usual. Of course, someone just died. Tonton was almost like the little brother and sister of their group of teenagers and seeing them look so dejected was something that definitely needed rectifying.

Without warning, Wakako snuck up behind them and took to pulling the frog hat over the kid's head, letting it snugly grip their skull.

"Boo!" she exclaimed, trying to appear happier than she likely was, for this kid's sake.

#opener for THE TON...#ic only #shslkigyouka

stagnant | OPEN

So far everything today was frustrating. After Wakako had stepped out of that trial they were granted with the one thing she really didn't need: constant reminders of that girl everywhere she went. Even if she ended up finding a good place to snag some funnel cake (that shit was her shit) it would likely be right next to the carousel she got her head chopped off on. Wakako was bitter but not that bitter. There's no way she could just casually enjoy a meal knowing what happened just a few feet away from her.

It wasn't long before Wakako strolled around and after taking a gander at her new arrangements, took to trying her hand at the puzzle in the arcade. Honestly it was within a minute or so that she realized it was a pointless venture and was a step away from chucking those stupid pegs at the wall.

Around and around she went until Wakako finally decided that despite all of the merriment of a carnival lingering about them from all sides, there was nothing to keep her attention off of the negative things clawing at her brain presently. Distractions weren't distracting enough and there were too many people she was trying to avoid for her own sanity, and possibly safety. Everything scared her: that big mallet for the strength game, the bats for the batting cage, the bowling balls, golf clubs-- knowing that anything could now be used as a weapon she felt so unsafe.

For the time being, the goth was going to hole herself up in her room until she found the energy to go out and be social with others. She had a few people in mind but firstly she wanted to be alone.

It wasn't often that Wakako felt like this. Hopefully she'd be able to pull herself out of this relative slump a little quicker if someone paid her a visit, but she wasn't holding her breath.

#ic only #drdopen