She's Horrid

SHSL Sociologist / Mr Monty's Neighborhood Affiliate / Alive

[lentluck-blog]

late train | open

[teenieterror]

[x]

“I’m Rachel Aberle, as long as we’re getting names out of the way,” Rachel adds, following behind the other girls, her mind busy putting every detail into any possible place she could in her mind. 

In the clinic, she hopped up onto one of the counters and sat there, her legs dangling.

“I suppose the good news is that this place does have about everything you’d need to survive,” Rachel admitted, crossing her arms. “Except for... I dunno, the need to not be killed. But that was obvious.”

It’s been awhile since she was last able to crack a good joke. That wasn’t a good one either. Her eyes flick to Yuki.

“The last thing we can remember before arriving here was leaving on a bus, next thing we knew, we were waking up on the same bus as it was barreling straight for this town.” Rachel explained. “So, can we assume that we’re still in Japan? I mean, not that knowing that this was an international despair project would soothe my nerves any better.”

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Shark Tank - MMN Chapter 4 Open

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[x]

“This isn’t going to sound any better but, really, it wasn’t what I thought would happen,” Rachel insisted. “I thought that worst-case scenario, I’d get some old white guys fired. The rumors were about the faculty not allowing certain students in because of prejudice. Something that might as well be true- It was a hard college to get into, only about a fourth of the students who applied got in, and that’s being generous. It’s easy to believe a rumor like that if you’re bitter about a missed opportunity.”

She flinches when Tadao’s fist hits the glass, immediately scrambling up to her feet again. She balled her hands into fists.

“I know plenty about a lot of things, okay!? I’m an honor student, I have a reading level that would put university professors to shame, and-” She shouts, feeling her face get hot. “It’s not the same as what you’re talking about. The one thing I don’t know how to do is stop myself! That’s why I keep trying to learn about why people act the way they do and how to use it, that’s why I keep burning bridges behind me, and hurting the few people I manage to make a connection with. I’m a genius at most things, but an idiot- and yes, I will absolutely agree with you on it- an absolute imbecile at the one thing humans are supposed to be good at!”

She rubs her face with both of her hands- half to burn the energy welling up inside her tiny frustrated body, half to wipe away the angry tears welling up on her eyes.

“I’m sick of myself, I’ve been sick since that riot ever happened.” She bites her lip, bringing down her hands so she could brace them at her sides again. “I’ve been hating myself, knowing that this game happened despite all my work, and knowing that I can’t stop everyone from killing each other despite everything I know about people! I’m useless in here, and it’s fucking killing me!”

She hasn’t felt like this since that riot. She knows there wasn’t anything she could say, not when they were both this flared up. She didn’t care that she broke the swearing rule- Shutting up was probably the best thing she could do in this situation. Lord knows she couldn’t shut herself up, either.

[lentluck-blog]

late train | open

[teenieterror]

[x]

Rachel doesn’t meet Kazae’s gaze, but follows her lead.

“I suppose it would be better to explain inside,” She agrees, but she can’t help but ask a question reflexively. “But is it really winter already in the outside world?”

She looks at the newcomer.

“The Mayor-” She stops, then shakes her head. “The people that have us trapped here have been influencing the weather- Or at least, that’s what it seems like. How long were you wandering in that forest?”

She stops again. She was hungry for any information on what was going on outside of here, any hints that could help her piece everything together, but she realized that it could wait. Hopefully, when the new person had a chance to rest, she could get those answers.

[lentluck-blog]

late train | open

She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, exactly. She wasn’t even sure if she’d actually fallen asleep or just passed out as soon as she’d gotten someplace remotely not freezing.

But the feeling of the train stopping, the sounds of voices outside and the door sliding open are enough to rouse her from the dreamless sleep. It meant that she was somewhere, at least, and not dead - and if she was somewhere and not dead, she needed to… something. It’s hard to focus on anything besides how cold she feels, but she forces herself to blink herself awake and get to her feet.

…If it had led up to this, she honestly couldn’t help but regret every decision she’d ever made. Something had to have gone horribly wrong at some point, for her to end up here, half frozen to death on a mystery train in the middle of nowhere. Something had to have gone right for her to have not actually frozen to death out there in the woods, too, but she’s less concerned with that part right now.

More concerning is that she’s here at all, in front of a bunch of people she doesn’t even recogn-oh no, wait, no, she definitely recognizes these people, she thinks. Which was… she’s not… totally sure how she feels about this right now.

One step off of the train is as far as she seems willing to go after she’s on her feet, crossing her arms for warmth. She spends a long moment looking from face to face, not quite meeting anyone’s eyes, before settling on a point on the floor somewhere between her and the group.

“You’re the…” she says, faintly, and then shakes her head. “He’s – that thing is right, I’ve been looking for my brother.” She suddenly stands up straighter as if startled, looks up at them all. “Wait, you’re – if you’re here, have you seen him, he’s – Takehiko Saito, he’s my brother, I came here to find him, find everyone, I just –“ She squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head again, hair fanning out with the force of it. “Where is this? What’s happening?” More quietly, “…Where is he?”

[teenieterror]

Rachel was completely silent, something that was new to her, but something she’s found herself doing a lot lately as she was pushed to her limits. She wasn’t even aware that she had limits. She didn’t want to know what would happen when she went past it.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, snow was falling, everyone was on a train, and they were face to face with someone new. It had been a long time since they had seen another person, Rachel realized. And even the people they could see was dwindling in number every day. She couldn’t say it was a good thing, however. She stared passively as the newcomer spoke to them, knowing that, most certainly, she would be forced to kill or be killed, or, like Rachel, be forced with the burden of keeping what this place called justice.

Takehito Saito. Like a spark her mind raced back to the reporter, knowing that he had already perished. She hadn’t been there to see it, but she knew he was dead.

Quietly, she stepped forward from the others, giving the newcomer a somber look.

“I’m sorry,” She said, glancing down. She immediately realized she couldn’t do this, but she pushed that aside because- fuck, someone had to say it. This girl had been waiting god-knows-how long to learn about her brother, no use making her wait longer.

“I’m sorry,” She began again. She tightened her hands into weak fists at her sides, trying to concentrate more on her cold fingertips than on the words she was saying. “But your brother is dead. Has been dead. There was a storm and...”

Rachel trailed off. Would it really be a comfort to tell her ‘but at least he wasn’t killed by someone else’? No, it really wouldn’t.

[teenieterror]

Shark Tank - MMN Chapter 4 Open

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[x]

“Personification,” Rachel chuckles as Tadao looks at the sharks. “Giving something a name makes it relatable, giving you a bias to be sympathetic towards it. That’s why you shouldn’t let your kids name the local strays. Having a personality to relate to makes it harder to let go.”

She stops when Tadao brings up her own dirty laundry again, her mouth dropping into that neutral state again. She sighs deeply, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“You have every right to hate me, and I know it. I’ve known it from the moment everything boiled over on that campus. That’s why I came here,” She says, staring at her own shoes as she picks her words carefully. “I’m a jerk, I always have been cause I’ve never had the opportunity to be anything else. Or maybe I’ve never given myself that opportunity. It didn’t hit me that the flames I was fanning would grow into a bonfire until it was too late. I don’t know when to back off.”

Her lip curls up, mad at herself.

“That’s why I ever came to Japan in the first place. That first despair incident, I saw myself in the perpetrators. I don’t like that there’s more people like me that can cause that kind of stuff, on such a large scale,” Rachel looks up at Tadao again. “I wanted to stop anyone else going that far again.”

She raises an arm and gestures around at their general situation.

“And apparently I’ve failed.”

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Shark Tank - MMN Chapter 4 Open

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[x]

“Well, I was gonna hole myself up in my room, but unfortunately, I’m not that kind of scientist. That and I wanted some chips.” Rachel felt the snark reflexively coming out of her mouth. She wasn’t even in the mood for chips. Maybe the British kind, but not proper American chips.

“Nah. That’s not it. I just wanted to check out the new area,” Rachel admitted, crossing her legs were she sat. “I should have figured that people would want to check this place out first. Or at least someone besides me.”

She looks up at the fish drifting by again.

“Watching animals is something that typically calms most people- Kind of an obvious fact, but,” Rachel sighs. “After last night, I’ve been needing something like that.”

She pauses again, looking over at Hotaru. No one should have been able to know her secret. How did the mayor know? This boy was an Information Broker, sure, but could he have possibly figured out something that happened an entire continent away...?

She scowled a little.

“What about you?” She asked, tensely. “You like fish, or is that nose of yours just good at sniffing out trouble?”

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Shark Tank - MMN Chapter 4 Open

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[x]

Rachel sighs, pushing back her thoughts just enough to put her usual snarky facade up.

“This may just be a hunch on my part, but something is telling me you’re in the market for a shark tooth necklace,” Rachel says, pointing a thumb at the tank behind her.  “And if you are, I’d say you’re best off taking them from my friends here. They can grow ‘em back.”

She looks up at the tiny sharks again, and, remembering Hotaru’s lack of glasses as of late, quickly takes off her glasses and tucks them away. Not that she knew that Tadao crushed them, but he seems the type. And she can barely see without them.

“You know, Georgie, Brillo, Methuselah, Lil’ Stripey,” Rachel names them at random, pointing at the one with a little stripe-mark on it’s back last. “They got more teeth than they know what to do with, probably just waiting to give those bad boys away.”

She pauses.

“What I’m saying is. I’m pretty sure you feel like punching my face in given the whole riot thing. And I’m giving you an option since actual shark punching is gonna sound better on your resume than metaphorical shark punching.”

[teenieterror]

Shark Tank - MMN Chapter 4 Open

No one was supposed to know that. That fact had resounded in her head all through the night, all through the morning, and all during the train ride to the next area.  Rachel’s mind was in a haze- Like the part of a dream when you fall into waking yourself up. But this was a jarring awakeness that left her feeling beside herself.

She knew she had to at least try to scope out the newest area- While avoiding the small amount of people that were still here.  Her thoughts were still dizzy, but she still knew that she should be wary- The Mayor had revealed the target on her back that she could no longer hide.

“Everyone here had witnessed the previous despair event,” She was mumbling to herself in English as she walked through the aquarium. “And- except for Agatha, perhaps Sumino- The rioting brought by that left an emotional chip that strikes a deep chord with all of them. Not everyone left is prone to violent reactions- But. Tadao. Definitely. Agatha, possibly. However, everyone has a snapping point.”

She stopped, gazing up at a small cloud of angelfish as they flittered by in the glass across from her.

“It’d be best if I kept my distance from everyone,” She agreed to herself, before continuing on.

She became quiet then, wandering along until she came to a tank that stood in the middle of it’s room, a cylinder that housed a few small sharks. Rachel stopped here, following one that she picked at random with her eyes as it swam about. It was possibly the quietest she had ever been, watching the little hunter circling with it’s compatriots.

Rachel sensed movement, and tore her gaze to look through the tank at the other person who had just entered. She locked eyes with them for several seconds, before inhaling sharply and ducking down below the tank, pressing her back against the wall. Maybe they would leave. Maybe they wouldn’t.

The little shark would just have to wait.

[mrmontysneighbourhood-blog]

Collective Effervescence

Your blood runs cold when the speakers come back to life almost as soon as you step into your houses for the night. No, this isn’t right, the bracelets are gone, who…? 

This time, the Mayor doesn’t bother with frivolities. After all, he’s talked honey to them enough tonight; this is simply business.

“You thought you were going to get off scot-free, didn’t you, Aberle? The bracelets were gone, surely your secret was safe? I’m afraid not. Perhaps another murder was inevitable. I don’t like to think that way. As the mayor, I want to believe that everyone is good… But someone was murdered and so I must, with a heavy heart, let your classmates know the truth. 

You study people, as a profession, Aberle. Perhaps you knew better than anyone that another death was coming regardless. And scientists, of course, perform experiments. You came over here to study the aftermath of the riots, correct? Because of your preexisting knowledge in the field. A college riot, brought about by rumors. Rumors that you yourself spread. You caused that riot, didn’t you, Aberle? All for the sake of science… Was it worth it, in the end? And how will you classmates see you now? Perhaps they’ll spark up a riot of their own…”

[teenieterror]

I Ride The Rails - [Ch 3 Open]

Two days ago, the storm had come. A storm that tore the town in two and took two of their number with it. Rachel and three of her fellows had just managed to survive the assault the weather had given to them, leaving them on the roof of a building to survey the architectural carnage around them. And yet.

And yet.

The train still took them back to the residential area.

And yet.

That scarecrow that fancied itself a mayor hopped up to sneer at them with it’s dopey, two-faced visage.

And yet.

Two days later, and it was almost as if the town hadn’t been torn to rubble at all. A window for escape closed before Rachel could even register that it was open. But then again, when she reflected, maybe it wasn’t a truly open window after all. Nowadays, most windows had screens to keep pests from coming in. Or out.

Rachel bit into an apple as she curled up at the back of the train, it’s juices dribbling between her fingers as the loud crunch was the only sound that would alert others that she was there. The American was uncharacteristically quiet, and glanced up when she saw the hand of another person on the seat in front of her. She was quiet, for once allowing the other person a chance to speak first.

[teenieterror]

Shooting The Breeze - [Ch3 Open]

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[x]

The beanie said MOIST, and so it was. Rachel shrugged and set it down beside her. Who knows, when it dried it might come in handy if Mr. Mayor decided to surprise them with a cold front.

“Roller coasters? Actually about the same principle, but I guess you can say the risk is the reward.” Rachel said, looking up at the rides around them. “Think of it. People actually pay to sit on what’s basically a bench with seat belts, and then get flung around on a few wires and poles at speeds that’ll get you a ticket on the highway- If it weren’t for engineers being such masters at what they’d do, nobody would go on these things! Well, maybe a few still would. Some thrill seekers have no sense of self-preservation. The thrill of being able to walk away is the reward.”

“It’s kinda why you do what you do, right?” She continued, looking at Tadao. “You know, the wingsuit stuff. I mean, you know the risks better than I do, but they basically boil down to you becoming a splatter on the sidewalk if you screw up.  But since you don’t, you enjoy the adrenaline rush of sailing over everyone and everything. It’s going against your instincts for the sake of fun- One of those weird little things that make us a lot different from everything else on the planet.”

[teenieterror]

Shooting The Breeze - [Ch3 Open]

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[x]

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” She smirked- that quickly fell when her shot missed the mark. “It’s the risk-versus-reward that’s been a staple of all levels of gambling- People are wired to be tempted by it like dogs smelling bacon grease.”

She leaned back, watching Tadao shoot as she explained. You ask a scientist about her field of choice, prepare to hear a spiel.

“It basically works like this: You present something with low odds of winning, a big prize, and a low fee to try. Say that these coins were about a dollar in real world currency- Er, or maybe about a 100 yen, whatever works.” Rachel said, pulling another coin from her pocket. “For 100 yen a pop, you have a chance to get something that’s probably worth more than that. If you don’t win, you don’t lose anything trying again but a bit of change. If you win? You’ll feel really proud of yourself- Not even noticing you probably spent half your grocery money for the week on a sock monkey.”

She swung her legs as she continued.

“And if you waste a bunch of cash and still don’t win? Then it’s just sour grapes,” She said, gesturing at a few of the sample prizes above them. “Like you’d say- ‘Oh, I wanted that cute stuffed crocodile, but it’s probably super cheap junk that’ll break soon anyways’ - And, granted, that’s probably true. But that feeling of maybe-winning beats out the risks.”

And despite saying that, she lays down another coin and tries again. Because, to be completely fair, she did kinda want a stuffed crocodile. What could she say, the smile was familiar.

[teenieterror]

Shooting The Breeze - [Ch3 Open]

The new area made Rachel sick. It was like a slap in the face, after the events that had transpired the night prior- No, it was a slap in the face. And just as hard as had stung in her mind, she slapped a coin down at the shooting gallery.  She leveled the toy rifle, keeping her eyeline level with it and the target.

Pop. Pop.

She wasn’t a marksman by any sense of the word, but she at least had an idea of what to do. She heard the sound of footsteps behind her, and the ginger sighed.

“If you’re hoping to get a giant teddy bear, I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” Rachel said. “If this is anything like America, this thing is rigged like a fishing boat. I’ll be lucky to get a rubber duck.”

[shslrockgod-blog]

Sobering | Chapter 2 | Closed Investigation with Rachel

[shslrockgod-blog]

If she’s already sure that it wasn’t his doing, then why even ask? Nobody sees him going around accusing others of murder- well, not in this state, at least. Even so, running around and accusing others wouldn’t yield any results, not when lives are on the line, if he learned even one thing from last time. As he’s musing on these thoughts, however, she mentions something about the hardware store, and… she’s off. The rock star groans, absolutely not in the mood to go on some sort of chase, and so he follows at his own leisure.

Upon arriving there, to find Rachel looking a bit worn out and him markedly less so, and he glances around, overwhelmed with all of their options. Where to start? The shovel aisle? What good would that do them… he looks at the front of the store, and he hurries quickly over to the robot cashier, slamming his hands down on the counter.

“Hey, uh, anyone come through here and buy a shovel recently?”

[teenieterror]

In the hardware store, it was as packed as her neighbor’s trailer back in the states- Well, maybe not as much. Far less newspapers for one. And not burnt down, for two.  She takes a moment to catch her breath as Hokori catches up, and watches as he tries to interrogate the robot.

“That’s how you interrogate?” Rachel asked, reaching into the pocket of her shorts and fishing for something. “I mean, I know you’re under the weather, but I’m sure you’re more charismatic than that.”

She rests an elbow on the counter, taking her opposite hand out of her pocket and sliding a coin towards the cashier.

“Hey, my buddy and I are on the hunt for some pretty important information,” She said. “So if you can tell us if anyone has bought something from this store- like, perhaps a shovel- that’d be doing us an awful big favor. After all, what are good neighbors for?”

She punctuates this with a wink, more towards Hokori than the shopkeep- Most robots probably didn’t understand the subtle gestures of human communication, but she still felt they were essential to communication. 

[shslrockgod-blog]

Sobering | Chapter 2 | Closed Investigation with Rachel

[shslrockgod-blog]

To Rachel’s accusation, he can only offer a deadpan stare, silver eyes cutting through the rain like daggers to reach her own. Hokori’s head is pounding, his stomach is turning over and over again… he has no time for this. Not to grieve, not to investigate, not to suffer through what is sure to be a long and loud trial, not to deal with any of this. Especially not to be accused of murder.

“Yeah, cause I, uh, got wasted, went out in this rain, committed murder, made it all the way back just in time to send my roomie out to find the evidence, and now I’m here, telling you about it.” Ever so slightly, he raises his voice. “Okay, guys, you can all go back to bed now, I’m ready to turn myself in!”

Huffing, he folds his arms across his chest. A fight sounds enticing right now, but not in this state of mind, not in this rain, and, oh yeah, he doesn’t exactly fit the criteria for who this chick wants to scrap with. The rock star looks down as she pulls the candy from Ene’s blazer.

“Oh, and, I left her some candy too, because I’m just soooo generous.”

With a phenomenal groan, he gently buries his knees into the ground before him. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he inspects the injury.

[teenieterror]

“Yeah, just fuck me for wanting to make sure I’m not losing two of the few people who can stand me, sure,” Rachel muttered under her breath. She heaved a sigh as she took off her glasses, only now thinking to wipe off the rainwater. She scanned around for a moment, picking up the details other people are discovering.

“I was already sure you didn’t do it- I can’t imagine you know anyone on the outside who needs money. I just had to double check.” She said, her gaze settling on the shovel. “.... Hardware store.”

Almost as fast as her own thoughts, Rachel gets up and makes a beeline for the location she mentioned, slipping occasionally on the slicker parts of the ground in her haste.

[shslrockgod-blog]

Sobering | Chapter 2 | Closed Investigation with Rachel

What time was it? He’d fallen back asleep almost instantly, waking to the sounds of an emergency that he’d grown disgustingly familiar with. Groaning, the rock star drags his hands down his face, freezing in an instant when he makes a connection. 

Sung-min. His hungover ass sent Sung-min out there, the rapper isn’t back yet, and there’s a body. No. No no no. He jumps off of the couch with all the energy he can muster, having to take a detour to double over and gag. His head is ringing, but that isn’t so important right now. Throwing on an old, baggie hoodie in favor of dedicating effort to getting dressed up, he heads into town, braving the rain and his splitting headache.

It doesn’t take long before his eyes find Sung-min, and he can breathe a shaky sigh of relief, although he’s an absolute mess inside and out, and can’t bring himself to speak to him right now. Once he gets a good look at the body, he has a flickering twinge of secondhand guilt, but it passes quickly. If not selfishly indulging in his own crisis right now, he’d be swimming in a sea of existential thoughts such as it could have been me and it really happened again, and even why her?  but he’s not exactly holding himself together well with his own problems. Threading his fingers through his bangs, he groans loudly into his sleeves, pulling away to look around at the others. Rachel in particular stands out to him, and he makes his way over to the sociologist.

“Look, I feel… awful, right now, and you’re one of the only people around here I can actually stand. So, uh, you and me, figuring this out?”

It’s probably the least talkative that Hokori’s been since they got here, but a nasty hangover will do that to you.

[teenieterror]

Rachel had expected another murder to have taken place. But, some naive, hopeful part of her mind had blotted out the possibility that someone would target Ene as a victim. Now that possibility was an absolute, and Rachel crouched by the hologram of the fallen comedian, rainwater condensing on her glasses and dripping down into the mud.

Her knuckles are white as she clutches her knees, before Hokori’s voice draws her from her buzzing thoughts. She nods, talking to him as she checks Ene’s pockets and pats down her body for any clues left other than the main injury.

“Okay, I can do that. .... So, you promise you had nothing to do with this, right? Cause I have a punch in the fucking jaw for whatever creep did this. ... Or. Kidneys. Probably. Whatever I can reach. Since I’m short as shit.”

She could understand the temptation; she could understand why someone would be pressured to fall for the Mayor’s bait. It didn’t change the fact that she was furious, something that she could only barely restrain under her skin.

[tothefuckingmoon-blog]

do not ignore my veins! | closed for rachel

[teenieterror]

[x]

“Man, you really are a no-sell.” Rachel grumbled to herself as her smile dipped into a frown, and she rolled her eyes as Eita rolled on about ‘stupid this’ and ‘breathing that’. When they were done, she let the pause hang on for a minute longer.

“.... Ya done? Do you really think I actually believe any of that ridiculous stuff I was listing?” She asked, tilting her head. “It’s called sarcasm, my comet-chasing chum, and it’s something humans do to bond. You know how a dog wags its tail to say ‘I’m not a threat’, to other dogs? That’s the basic purpose humor serves for humans.”

She stepped back from the doorway to lean instead against the wall, an amazing change of pace.

“I’m a scientist too, you know, I’m not being ignorant because I’m a foolish human,” Rachel explained with a huff. “I’m being facetious. Cause I’m a jerk. And unless you want your green alien guts to get spilled by one of the other, dumber talking apes out here, I’d suggest that learning how to banter would be a big help.”

“But hey,” She said with a wink, her grin returning. “I’m just a stoopid wittle human who’s an accweditted soci-aw-wogist, what would I know~?”