icqcq

Um, this isn't my school...[[Affilliated with Asphodel Valley. ]]

[symmetricson]

come, sweet death || av open

To find himself in such a place was odd, but not uncomfortable.

This strange seaside town to which he’d been transported to…Asphodel Valley. The air was heavy with the stench of death and every soul here cried out for answers to the phrase that had been presented to them upon their arrival. You are dead.

But such wasn’t the case for Kid. He was a death god, a shinigami. He couldn’t die. So why was he here? It both made sense and it didn’t, but he wasn’t going to work himself up about it. Surely, he’d either find a way home or his friends would find him. All in due time. One had to be patient. Gather information. Consider all options and—Kid stopped in his tracks, staring at on object which hung above his head.

It was a simple, round lamp. The stained glass on it, was another story. Intricate designs woven together in a very specific pattern. The colors matched up perfectly on each side, and if you drew a line down the middle…

“Beautiful…it’s so beautiful! The symmetry, precise and neat…absolutely perfect!”

He beamed at it as he walked past, glad to see that something so aesthetically pleasing was present in such a dreadful place. Mere seconds later, and only a few steps forward, Kid heard a loud shattering sound, and he shattered too. Oh no. He turned his head slowly to find but mere fragments of the beautiful symmetrical object on the ground. Somehow, it’d fallen and broken into pieces. Right as he’d walked past.

Kid sunk to his knees in front of it, tears welling up in his eyes as he bent over, elbows and fists on the ground, forehead pressing against the concrete.

“It’s over. It’s gone. Such beauty gone in a matter of seconds. How. Why. Why did this happen. It’s me. It was my fault.”

“I deserve to die!”

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

They would be an odd pair, she observed, coming to a slow stop in front of the bundle of limbs and self-loathing that made up this strange boy. He was, ah, um, what was the word? She hated using it, what if she made a mistake -- prostrate. (Once she'd used the wrong one online, and Alter Ego had only told her afterwards, and she'd had to hide under her blankets for a full day.) Anyway, this boy was sprawled out on the ground, wailing to himself, and...

He reminded her of a dog that had done something wrong. With the horrible, self-pitying, too-easily-sympathized-with look, and the head ducked down to the floor ... Something that had broken something it shouldn't have, or eaten something it shouldn't have. She had this almost visceral urge to duck down next to him and stroke his hair and tell him it'd be all right --

Um, but he was a person. So, she wouldn't.

Instead, Chihiro glanced at the shattered glass and the shattered boy and touched fingers to her lips in worry. "Um," she said, to announce her presence. "Are-- are you all right?

"I'm sorry," she added, preemptively. Because one just never knew what one might have to apologize for.  

[tenuniforms]

however strong the storm may get [open//01]

Ishimaru Kiyotaka was dead.

So far, there was little evidence to prove it, but it wasn’t like he could summon the energy to try disputing it yet either. It was hard enough already just trying to pull his eyelids open and gasp harshly at the cold air as it rushed into his lungs; seizing in pain while his mind grappled with the burden of awareness before he even understood how long he’d been without it.

Just a few minutes earlier, Ishimaru Kiyotaka found himself awake and seated stiffly atop a cold bench under the first open sky he’d seen in ages, head throbbing and body tensed in leftover remnants of dreadful apprehension. Considering what little he could recall of his last moments before everything went black, and after what felt like a lifetime of the deepest sleep imaginable between now and the waking nightmare of his days at Hope’s Peak Academy- what else could have happened to him? But somehow, the drastic change in scenery and the sudden onset of consciousness managed to be altogether more disturbing to him at the moment than the instinctual knowing that he really must have been murdered by another one of his fellow students. If it were true, Ishimaru thought, he would try not to take it too personally- if the residual heavy ache held in his chest was any indication, it was quite possible that he had expected it and had been anticipating it for some time anyway.

Waking up confused and stranded in a strange place he had never seen before was a situation which, unfortunately, should not have felt so unfamiliar to Ishimaru. Memories of that time were trickling back to him steadily enough that he could remember bits and pieces of it quite vividly now- he remembered the demented robotic bear for a headmaster, the terrible rules, the bodies, the trials, the blood. He remembered trying to fix it all, trying as hard as he could to understand what was happening to them and why. He remembered his first successful friendship, and his first successful friendship’s end.

He remembered not sleeping, and blinking back vacantly at everyone’s worried faces, and the sound of Naegi’s shaky fingers clicking at the laptop that shone bright with the pixelated portraits of the programmer and the biker whose deaths he could only blame himself for.

He remembered forgiveness.

But nothing else. 

Several moments passed as he stared solemnly from the platform and contemplated this, allowing the full impact of what he witnessed to finally reach him now that he had been whisked away from it all. Sitting straight and sturdy as he could (considering that various halves of his body were still unresponsive and numb and that he was halfway through something like an anxiety attack), Ishimaru studied the environment around him; memorizing the train tracks that slashed through the foreign landscape like he might be tested on them, waiting patiently for breathing to come naturally again. Some of the water collecting on his face felt stickier and warmer than the rainfall, and it was only when he reached to smear a damp sleeve over his ruddy cheeks did he realize how hard he had been crying this entire time. 

Ishimaru could’ve sat there all afternoon in the rain, trying desperately to focus and organize what he needed to know between accidentally letting his thoughts drift from painful replays of his short time with Mondo and Chihiro and the rest of them to the increasing paranoia that this was just another setup; but none of his questions would be answered if he continued to let the past haunt him this way, and he knew it. Even the classmates he watched die could be here, probably not being forced to murder each other, maybe even in need of his assistance! He wouldn’t even know it just from sitting here feeling sorry for himself!

With a furrow in his brow and chewing his bottom lip in determination, Ishimaru decided that he could function well enough by now to get to his feet and find out what was going on for himself. Readjusting the laces on his boots and dusting off his (strangely, yet appropriately and pridefully immaculate) uniform trousers, he stood and marched inside with guarded .

It appeared that he’d found himself in a train station far older than most he had visited in person, yet not so outdated that it felt unfamiliar. Worn and peeled signs lining the walls and hanging from the ceiling welcomed him to a place called Asphodel Valley; various symbology sprinkled here and there lent to his theory that he must be somewhere near the ocean, but hardly anything relevant to why he was here could be gathered from the vague information detailed on them.

Eventually Ishimaru made his way to the entrance and found himself in awe of the amount of people he could see outside. Did all of them end up here the same way as he did? Some surely looked more out of place than others- and maybe even just as confused as he was. 

The rain did not cease, and yet the clouds parted just barely enough to let some sunlight illuminate the glittery pavement as the former hall monitor walked into the streets towards the center of town, ready to discuss his arrival with anyone who would approach him.

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

She'd taken to wandering, lately. The streets and paths always seemed to curl in on themselves, turn her back to where she'd been, but all the same, she wanted to map out the corners of this place so she would never be lost on her own. (On her own: a state of being she had once been so used to, but in such little time had grown unfamiliar with again. She missed them.) Chihiro found some kind of solace in taking her small paces across the town, fingers trailing on brick walls and wooden siding, the little clicks of her shoes as they settled heel-to-toe. It reminded her -- sickly, fondly? no, disturbingly -- of the doors opening up back at school and the class easing out into new-found territory, exploring with caution the tiled floors and unlocked doors...

She tried not to think about that. Or the way she could so easily imagine every room being stained with blood. Oh. 

The rain had opened up after she'd gone out, dampening her sleeves and weighing down her skirt (which always made her nervous, when her skirt fell a little too flat for comfort). Well, she didn't mind entirely, not the rain at least; it sent droplets down the curls of her hair and eyelashes, sure, but it wasn't so bad. 

What was bad was the flash of white uniform that caught her eye.

No, she must have made it up, must have -- maybe someone else was -- there was red around the arm, Familiar lettering. She couldn't have seen that, couldn't have, because he wasn't here and he couldn't be here and oh, oh, shouldn't be, not for what that would mean but she focused her eyes to squint through the crowd and it was a straight back and creased white cloth and dark hair. And that was him.

She could choke. 

Chihiro pushed between people, breathing picking up, little eyes blinking because could it really be him and oh no, it shouldn't be, that would mean -- she murmured half-hearted 'excuse me's and 'pardon me's as she went, getting closer to this wisp of a dream that turned out to be ever so real. 

It was Ishimaru. It really was.

She got within speaking distance of him and breathed, high and nervous, his name. "Ishimaru-kun?" Didn't say the litany of oh my goodness it's really you, oh no, it's really you, what are you doing here, go home, go home. There's only room enough here for one of us and it should be none of us. He was crying already and that broke her, somewhere, got her crying too, eyes prickling with tears and face twisting up.

"Ishimaru-kun?" she asked again, sniffling.

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

((oops

time to get active again *cracks my Fucking knuckles*))

[lumioseity]

"Ah, so you’re a more electronic kind of inventor, like the creators of the PC storage system, huh? That’s really interesting! I know I’m better with my hands than with stuff you make purely on mind and progamming alone, so you must be a very good inventor, too, to be able to make that sort of stuff. I know I couldn’t do it…" Well, given that the physical inventions he made sometimes BLEW UP, he didn’t really think making programs or trying to make them was the bets of ideas in his case. Literal Blue screen of death, right there: and this place having a fair amount of people in it already was clear indication that MORE death was not needed nope.

"So your program knows all kinds of useful information, like…say, a Pokedex? …But I suppose I’m not…making much sense with saying all these things from where I’m from. You might be from a different place as me…" It would explain why those Pokemon-related terms seemed to cause a bit of pause in the conversation, now that he actually stopped to think of it. Oops. "That’s…the third time I’ve had to apologize already. I’m sorry, I’m really not doing a good job of this, am I? Haha…"

Then again, he wasn’t all too used to letting that guard of wanting to be taken seriously down long enough to talk at length with someone other than his sister, so.

However, his apologies were cut short at the other musing that her inventions were probably nothing compared to his own, and how would they help here? 

"Ah, but not all inventions work right away, mademoiselle! For example, some scientists work months, if not years, to try and fine-tune technological advances…but they keep trying nonetheless! Therefore, I’m sure your program is incredibly useful, too. Just have faith in yourself, and your work, okay?"

Despite his serious expression…the intention of trying to support the fellow ‘science lover’ was quite clear. After all, if he gave up every time his inventions didn’t work right away or broke…erm…well…let’s just say he wouldn’t be a famous inventor now and leave it at that.

"Oh, that reminds me. Do you…know of the dangers of this town, yet? I could help inform you of that, if you wanted. It’s an important thing any new person should know, I think."

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

"W-well..." All this talk of things she'd never even heard about... she was dreadfully susceptible to self-doubt as it was, and it all just ended with this dripping feeling of dread and foolishness going from her throat to the pit of her stomach. Chihiro's shoulders shrugged up shamefully. 

Clemont, though... he was so nice, it was nearly baffling, it was baffling and bewildering and befuddling. The easiest way to navigate life, Chihiro had found, was to make the solid and safe assumption that people were not going to like her. Clemont kept breaking that down, maybe slicing pieces out surgical and scientific, to go with the theme. Chihiro bit her lip nervously but went on.

"I don't know what a pokedex is, no..." And something told her Clemont wouldn't mind. Clemont wasn't the sort of person who burst out -- oh how couldn't you know! That's so silly! You're so pathetic, Fujisaki-san. No, he would get excited, educational if anything, and... that was strange. "B-but... you're fine, I promise. A-and, um! Thank you."

She sounded foolish, she was sure of it. 

The conversation turned to where she'd found herself. To be honest, she didn't know any about it at all; she'd barely dragged herself out of the train station, really, found herself stranded somewhere and responded by crying and no, Chihiro, don't you dare get started up on that again. She looked off to the side and sort of half-shrugged, one shoulder tipping up towards her ear. "I.. dangers? I don't know where I even am, really. I-I mean, I know where? The station had a sign in it... but... I've never even heard of this place."

[lumioseity]

"Ah, Chihiro is your name, mademoiselle? It’s nice to meet you, too." Alright, so the circumstances of meeting could be a whole lot better. Like, he would have much preferred meeting new people with both of them being still alive at the time because that would have made all parties a lot more chipper, but there was little point wishing about something that was a logical impossibility. However, his thoughts were cut short at his apologies for rambling being brushed off.

Oh, well….that was certainly new! Normally, people got annoyed at how long he tended to talk about his hobbies, but he couldn’t help it, so it was a pleasant surprise of sorts to have someone not really mind as much - ah, and the reason why made perfect sense, too! "You study the science of computers and astronomy, huh? I bet you’d get along really well with a really cool scientist in Unova! Apparently, she made a machine that allows people to see the dreams of Pokemon…that’s so cool! I love the science of inventing a lot! To make stuff with your own theories on science and what people need and to see if it works or not is so fun! Who knows, maybe my inventions might actually help people a whole lot when they come here…at least, I’d like to hope I can eventually make inventions here to help others more!"

A pause, before his excited expression flickered to a more sombre one. “I mean…it’s the least I can do while I try to search for answers here. I made a promise I’d try to find answers about all this to a friend also here, so…but gosh, that time I really DID talk too much. I’m gonna be apologizing all day at this rate. Have you invented anything, yourself?”

Maybe the talk of inventions would also assist in helping the other with this upsetting situation? He couldn’t and wouldn’t deny this whole talk was making him smile the most he probably had since coming here, honestly…talk about science always made him happy, despite his best efforts to be serious.

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

This 'pokemon' thing, it still skimmed straight over her head, but rather than say that she just smiled and nodded all the same. Sometimes one would rather not admit not knowing something than ask for an explanation, and Chihiro ... she was prone to that sort of shame. Instead:

She turned her mouth up warm but sad, the best she could do in this place with her own death ringing in her ears. Probably Clemont's, too, and the friends he'd made, and all of the people she would soon meet -- the way Clemont talked it didn't sound very good and oh, were they really all dead? It shuddered through her shoulders and Chihiro shook her head to clear her mind. 

"I'm not so good with, um, more tangible things," she said after a pause. "But, well, I sort of invented something... i-it's an information retrieval program based on voice recognition technology and audio input, coupled with a semirealistic artificial intelligence and given a visually familiar display..."

Oh, Chihiro. Clemont thought he went on babbling... she was just dreadful when she got onto topics like that. She bit her lip and smiled sheepishly. 

"I-it's probably not as good as anything you've invented! I c-can't imagine it helping in a situation like ... like this."

Really, Clemont was probably so much stronger than she was. (Stronger, strong, strong, her head echoed, with coppery-tasting blood and the thunk of metal on bone and she shook that out of her imagination too.) Already trying to, to help people, to find them a way to get out of this mystery place or at least make it more tolerable... Chihiro, she'd probably just end up crying in a corner, again, all alone and pathetic. 

[lumioseity]

His approach may have caught the Mademoiselle a little more off-guard than he might have thought, judging by how she gripped the edges of a computer (which he only noticed now, with being closer to the other to actually see it) she was holding as if quite ready to grab the device and make a runner: ack, this attempt at trying to help the other wasn’t going well so far at all!

Rubbing his face to try and get some of the saliva from Heliolisk’s tongue off before he resumed his efforts, his fervent arm movements were cut short at the silence being broken in the area, the mademoiselle halting her tears enough to ask what Heliolisk was. A lot of people seemed to ask that, actually, and Clemont paused to take a look at his Pokemon, who’s tail was sliding from side to side as he stood; in a clearly pleased manner that his encouragement for the ‘young master’ to try a different approach to cheering the unfamiliar human up had worked so well.

It was alright for Pokemon to be forward like that, but Clemont knew that he couldn’t be like that, because he wanted to be taken seriously! That was for another time, though. "This is my mon ami, Heliolisk.  He’s a little protective of me often, but he’s a good Pokemon, oui." Hopefully, the mademoiselle had at least a faint idea what a Pokemon was because having to explain it so often felt really weird. Professor Sycamore should be doing it, he wasn’t an official professor, though he was a gym leader!

Shaking his thoughts off, the motion of shaking his head worked very well indeed for the sentence the mademoiselle spoke next, too. How very lucky! 

"Non, I’m not mad. A lot of people find my companion curious. Isn’t it the basis of scientific discovery to ask questions and enquiries about that which one does not understand? This is how people learn things about the world - such is science’s infallible power and knowledge - ah. Now it’s my turn to apologize - I got quite carried away there, didn’t I? I really enjoy science, though, so it’s natural I like to chat about it, but that’s hardly important right now."

An awkward pause for a moment or two, before he spoke up again: "Well, you laughed, so that’s logically a victory in trying to halt how gloomy this place looks…but I am being a little rude myself, nattering on and not even introducing myself. You know my companion’s name already, but I’m Clemont. The circumstances could be better, but it’s always pleasant to talk to someone sensible anyway."

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

Chihiro found herself staring with wide eyes at the, what was it, Heliolisk? Was that his name? His species? Some odd combination of the two? Her eyelids felt heavy and sleepy from tears, but she turned her gaze over to the boy, who had gone bright and excited over the promise of science. 

And that, that she could relate to. The spark that struck up when she started talking about her own science, her special language with computers, she could see that in this boy -- he had this half a smile lingering on his mouth when he talked about science (she wondered, quietly, if there was a specific kind he meant? He was quite young, of course, but so was she -- maybe he was a Super High School Level Scientist! O-or maybe that was guessing too old...). Chihiro turned her lips up into a wobbly smile. 

"Hello, Clemont," she said. Her father used to tell her that a good way to remember peoples' names was to use them in conversation, but... she shouldn't think of her father, not now, not anymore. "Um, my name is Chihiro Fujisaki. It's nice to meet you." 

The last time she'd introduced herself to someone, it was... oh. She shook her head clear of that. 

"It's ok," she added, "t-to have talked about science like that, I mean. I'm sort of a scientist too, I guess, um, if you count computer science. Wh-which I do! I like astronomy, too, and that's definitely a science."

Maybe she could use the stars to figure out where they were. But, then, she wasn't that good.

[lumioseity]

With another new day passing in this strange spectral ‘gathering’ of a town, the young inventor had decided quite early on this morning to take a different approach to today - instead of investigating and observing possible new places in the city, he was going to try and get to work on an invention. However, it wasn’t an ‘invention’ more than something that was needed. He’d promised his mon ami Valerie that he was going to try and make sense of this place, and a good way to do that would be to organize a map of the area.

Of course, the blank-eyed, amicable smiling townfolk had been of little or no help when he enquired where one could find paper and writing utensils, so…drawing rough lines in the dirt with a stick to visualise in his head of how the map would be set up when he eventually found where one could GET paper and wiring utensils would have to do for the time being. Of course, he hadn’t explored everywhere just yet, but he wanted to get the base structure of the map down first, before doing anything else.

"Make sure to write that everyone so far seems to have woken up in the train station, and inform also on the map about those shadows…keep lines neat and precise so as to not be complicated…" His pensive mumbles to himself as he sketched carefully were halted, however, at a noise that made him snap the twig he was using in surprise.

Oh, mon dieu. Not like twigs were hard to get, but he’d been on a roll there - but the noise which had altered his attentions was that of crying, a fairly common noise here, it seemed - understandable, given the circumstances. This time, the source of the crying was a mademoiselle who appearances-wise, didn’t seem all that much older than himself, to be honest.

Alright, so he himself knew how appearances could be deceiving, but, it still served to remind him of his sister. …She was probably upset, still about…well….obvious things, and he couldn’t be there to help her when she most needed it…that really bothered him a lot, and made him frown. If he couldn’t help his sister, though - at least he could try to help others like he would help her, and so he went close to the stranger, despite his Pokemon’s disapproving glances in his general direction.

"It must be awfully cold, sitting there on your own, mademoiselle. This place is quite chilly. Do you need something…warm or of the like?"

He wouldn’t provide sympathy for the situation  after all, they were all dead, and no amount of support would make THAT okay, so to do that would be insulting. Instead, he tried to shift the attention to something else to try and take the other’s mind off the hurt at least a little. Logically, that should help…right?

Heliolisk didn’t seem to think so, though, the lizard opening his mouth and flicking his tongue across Clemont’s face like he often did in protest, leaving the gym leader sputtering as he tried to resume looking ‘properly serious’.

"H-heliolisk…honestly, one can’t come off as overly friendly to someone they just met in human society, no matter your objections!"

Wow, what a great start of conversation this was. A plus right there.

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

It wasn't that she was scared of people, per se. It wasn't that she was particularly frightened of someone talking to her -- she'd gained so much practice speaking to others, in... well, times she'd rather not think of -- but still, she heard this boy's voice and jumped, shoulders jerking up to her ears and eyes widening. Her fingers tightened around the edges of her laptop. 

Chihiro peered up slowly and saw --

not the boy, first, though he was there blurred at the edges of her vision, dressed in a way that pinged as oddly and vaguely familiar --

but a little creature, not small but shoulder-height to her were she standing, peering down at her and it was so strange, so strange, this bipedal lizard-like thing with its yellow skin and its big eyes. It lapped a tongue over the boy's face and she couldn't help but laugh, a little, through her lingering tears. 

"U-uhm." Chihiro blinked a few more tears down her cheeks and cleared her throat. Pitched it up a little higher, just for certainty. "What... what is that? Is it friendly?" 

Oh, rude, rude, Chihiro, she scolded herself, and straightened up suddenly to stutter out, "S-sorry! I should have answered you first, um, n-no thank you, b-but thank you for the offer, I'm sorry, I hope you're not mad!"

[idkmybffryuko]

[Clive feels himself reaching for words when she responds — still crying and obviously having trouble holding herself together. He chews on the inside of his cheek, looks away, then looks back and his eyes are momentarily caught on the object she gripped to so tightly. Now what was that?]

Well…

[He starts, bringing his gaze now up to her sniveling, snotty face. Ah, perhaps he should just shrug and smile and wave her off — she said she’d be fine, and he was never good at consoling small children. Or… whatever age this tiny human was. Instead, however, Clive feels himself slip into the slick ‘gentleman’ persona he’d used to trick hundreds before.

What was it that drove him to do so? Pity? A genuine change of heart? Not even Clive himself could discern it entirely as his lips tugged up and the words rolled from his tongue.]

…Come now, there’s no reason to apologize. Either way you won’t get anywhere sitting down in the dirt like that, will you?

[He extends a hand, now, hoping she’d accept it as he kept one eye on the object in her grip.]

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

He looked so friendly in this light, or maybe it wasn't the light but the pose he's assumed, with his face a smile and his hand outstretched. But it was an illusion, it must be an illusion, she supposed, because she had learned firsthand that people just weren't friendly as a default. They were, they were selfish and horrible and murderous and -- 

no, no, something in her head told her. You don't really believe that, not even after all that happened. Oh, Chihiro Fujisaki, you naive and trusting little girl. 

She wiped a sleeve over her mouth and nose and sniffed hard. Disgusting, she guessed, but so was her just sitting and bawling in public. 

"I," she began, then aborted that thought, coughing a little into the crook of her elbow. Her legs prickled with a chill and she pulled her laptop closer to her chest like it would warm her up, even off. "... I'm sorry. Um, th-- thank you." 

Chihiro reached up and took this man's hand, hers so small and chill in his grasp, and pulled herself upright. She blinked watery eyes, and tried a smile. 

[idkmybffryuko]

[Hadn’t he been here before?

Clive pauses to gloss over the familiar surroundings, hoping it wasn’t what he suspected — but much to his chagrin, it was. The young man had walked himself in a circle all around this enigmatic town, with his feet planted right in the spot he’d first stepped out on. Behind pursed lips his teeth grind together in annoyance. He thought himself much more directionally-oriented than this. Just… embarrassing. Shameful. Not that anyone he knew was around to ridicule him — but Clive held himself to better standards than this.

He groans softly with annoyance and slips fingers under his cap to scratch at the matted rim of sweat it left in his hair. How long had he been walking?

It’s then that the man realizes he’s not alone, but with whom or what was around he couldn’t say. Small, rather shrill noises could be heard from around the corner, and Clive feels his shoulders stiffen as he moves forward to investigate. His anticipation turns out to be for nothing as he leans across the building’s corner to see just a girl. A sobbing girl. So he retreats back around the corner, not thinking much of the scene for several moments — a crying girl. How is that any of his business?

…A slight pang of guilt says otherwise. Her soft, sad noises continue to hit his ears and he releases a sigh. He almost wants to laugh as the Professor’s words echo through his mind: it’s what a gentleman would do. Of course, why not? Because he is just such a gentleman. No matter, he wipes his mind clear of these thoughts and fully turns the corner to approach the crumpled mess of human squatting there, pauses, clears his throat, and…]

…Is everything alright, Miss?

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

She had just been working herself up into a proper sob, breath catching and hitching and hysterics bubbling out of her like water through a crack in the concrete, when she heard the voice. And she jumped, laptop nearly falling of her tight grasp, head whipping up so fast it knocked a little against the outer wall of the station and bounced back forward with a thunk, with a yelp and another round of tears. Oh, you fool, she thought of herself, you complete waste. 

She put a hand on the back of her head where she'd hit it and looked up at the stranger with wary, watery eyes. Not a grown man, but smaller; like a child that had gotten overlarge and tried to mature. And he looked at her with reluctance and uncertainty and that made her want to cry more, for taking the time from his day to make him worry, and he asked if she was all right which did make her cry more, for a stranger being so nice. 

Chihiro sniffled and wiped at her eyes to try and get a clearer look at the man. "N-- I'm s--" A shuddering pull of air.

Again, she tried that again. "N-no, it's not, really, b-but I'll be fine, I'm sorry..."

She felt so small. She was so small. She listened to her own voice crack and hated herself a little bit more.

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

Well, she thought, her head didn't hurt anymore. At least there was that; at least her eyes didn't swim red with blood, at least the heavy ache had vanished. Oh, not that they were true memories, she had herself doubting her own mind; but there were snatches of senses, some feeling-reminders at the edges of her skin saying here should hurt, here should sting, here should be slick with the last drippings of your blood --

She had woken up sobbing and choking on her breath and shaking all through her shoulders and spine, but she was calm, now. Her head didn't hurt now, after all, and she could move her hands without the residual ache she'd woken up to, her muscles didn't burn so. Analytically, theoretically, scientifically (she peered at herself in the reflection of a window, spun halfway to see herself pristine clean) she was wholly all right, like new, perfect condition though with the folds of her sleeves pressed as lines into her cheek. She kept her laptop tucked to her chest as she stepped lightly out of the train station. All she could think was:

This wasn't --

Where? Where wasn't it, calm down, calm down little girl, this is no time to be weak and teary all over again, hush, Chihiro (and that was her name, wasn't it, she'd nearly forgotten). It wasn't school. It wasn't her school, the place with the tiled floors and the colorful dorms, it wasn't Hope's Peak. All she could think was, this wasn't Hope's Peak at all.

And then all she could think was, but Hope's Peak hadn't been school either, not with the murders, not with Kuwata-kun and Maizono-san dead, not with Oowada-kun raising that weight over his head and she just caught sight of it out of the corner of her eye before it came down and oh no, oh no, oh no.

Chihiro had to press herself against and outside wall of the train station, sink to the floor, and cry, because the concept of her own death was rolling heavily in her head and crying, crying was what she did. Pathetic, Fujisaki. Pathetic.

[starcrossedcircuitry-blog]

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Oh, probably, um... my friends! 

B-but... now they're... well, I guess I can't see them a-anymore, so... nevermind, this answer is wrong, I'm sorry...