"Then, let's continue to survive."
With that, some of us nodded while some immediately began to walk in the direction of the scrapyard or the garden itself. I dunno who was going where, but it was a big chunk of them.
Scrapyard…
Why did Hope's Peak have a scrapyard? The walls I could understand to a degree, it was a prestigious school and offered protection, though for us, it was now one of entrapment. The fact that the school had a giant scrapyard off to the side was just odd. It was puzzling to say the least.
Not to mention whenever that bear calls us scrap metal.
It sort of made me itch for some reason.
Either way, it was the only way for them, no us, to get monocoins to buy food. The question was, was this the bear's plan from the start? The way he said that we should work for our food like actual human beings...
No, I shouldn't question it.
There were more pressing matters at hand. Now assuming that everyone went to either the scrapyard or the garden, asides from the ones having a look for our missing allies, there wouldn't be much I could do unless either side needed a helping hand in some way. I didn't want to overcrowd it nor did I want to break character by giving them a hand.
Guess I'm in the same boat as Hudson then...wait a second. Hudson. I wonder where he went?
With a new distraction in mind, I began my search for wherever the split singer had wandered off to. At least I could narrow things down to where he could be. The cafeteria was off limits and so was the scrapyard and garden thanks to him not wanting to lower himself to commoner standards.
I stalked away from the cafeteria, heading for his room. It was probably the most obvious spot, of course, but it was probably the one place where he could be with the way he was acting.
Arriving in front of his room and giving it a knock (though it was more of a bang) on the door, I called out. "Open up!" I continued to wait and wait for Hudson to open the door. I at first hoped that he was just ignoring me, but if it wasn't here, I could waste even more time! I would probably be doing something else if it wasn't for these forced roles.
After banging on the door a second time, it was time to accept the fate that Hudson wasn't home. Seems the obvious spot was a bit too obvious.
Come on Suisei, think!
Now where else could he be? Someone like Tadakatsu or Fumi would probably come and try to force him to work at some point. So his room would be the obvious spot to hide away from others trying to find him. The banging would get annoying depending on who was persistent enough.
So should I head towards the music room and hope he was there or should I search around this floor some more and perhaps check out the gym? As I pondered my options a sudden thought interrupted me.
Wait...gym?
Why did that spring to mind? Well it was a thought, might as well check to see if he was there or not. It was like a hunch, a hunch that somehow guided me to the gym like I was possessed by one of Sunako's spirits.
On second thought, I hope that wasn't the case. I don't think I'm prepared to accept the fact that I can be possessed!
As I arrived at the gym I felt like an idiot. No wonder I thought about the gym. The stage was right there after all. A stage where someone like Hudson could take the spotlight, a spot reserved for a talented individual above commoners, especially with the height.
Well at least with his role of course.
But as I looked around the gym, Hudson was nowhere to be seen. Guess my hunch was wrong, but I still took the time to look around as I got up onto the stage as a sudden image flashed in my mind, a memory of when I found Seiren once.
Maybe I would find him there? There was nowhere else to really look in here anyway. Walking around towards the back of the stage, I saw my current target leaning against a large crate.
I immediately made myself known, "so this was where you've been?"
Hudson just rolled his eyes. "Great, and just when I thought I found a place to avoid any commoners trying to bring me down to their level."
"As much I would like to see you fall off your ivory tower, I don't want to even waste my time on that shit."
"Then why are you here, peasant? If not to force me to work, then why?"
Ah fuck me. Almost forgot about the whole role thing. I don't even have a reason to be here besides trying to find him. Time to wing it. Spirits, I take back what I said, help!
"I came here because it was quiet, dumbass." I scoffed, walking past as I sat up on a different crate. "I doubt people would think to check the gym to find me."
To my surprise, Hudson chuckled. "It seems even peasants don't want to work."
"Shut the hell-"
"I suppose it's only natural," he shrugged, walking over to some cardboard props that were stacked away. As I watched the long named singer pull out one of the larger bits which looked quite similar to the walls that surrounded us in the halls, but before I could even ask, he just handed the prop wall to me, or at least he tried. "Since you have plenty of free time, put this up."
"Fuck no. You do it."
A small frown appeared on his face. It barely lasted a second. "No, I insist. It's a perfect job for a commoner. If you're going to stay here, you can at least put this up in case more of you turn up."
Oh. So that's what they're there for? Well, it looked like a stage prop after all. "The stage is your area of expertise so you fucking do it. I didn't think you'd want a commoner dirtying something that's related to your prestigious talent."
"Tch."
He placed the prop back down. My eyes stayed on the singer while he went back to the crate he had been leaning against before, now it seemed like he was ignoring me...I think? He didn't really spare a glance in my direction since then.
Rolling my eyes, in case of a nearby camera focusing its attention on us, I asked, "the silent treatment ever since I briefly mentioned your talent? What the hell made you think that becoming a singer would not make you work, why did you even become a singer again?"
A glare came from the half and half singer, "it was just a hobby," he huffed, "didn't we talk about this before? Well, regardless, all you need to know is that I was just scouted for my greatness, honing my skills that allowed me to ascend the ranks of you commoners."
Sending me a quick look to see if I was satisfied, he turned as I pried a little, "so you half assed your way here."
Did he twitch? I had no idea, I barely caught it if anything. "Let this sink in your thick skull you dirty peasant," despite the tone in his voice now sounding like I brought dishonour on his family name, his eyes didn't hold the same feelings. Perhaps this was his sign of telling me how he really felt? "I practised my craft, I endured trials to reach my level of skill you commoners could only dream of. We are on different levels despite holding the same title of an ultimate."
"Trials? And here I thought his lordship was born greater than us all."
Hudson fixed his hair, keeping his stare on me. "And why did you become a writer?"
"..." I didn't know whether to talk or just continue to frown. So I did the latter, probably did more for me anyway.
"Hmph. Then you should understand the pursuit, even if yours could barely touch the edge of the heavens. People with the drive are always hindered by those who lack it, even try to bring greatness down."
How many days were left for this week? I wanted the old Hudson back...and the others too. Tadakatsu pending. "And how does this relate to your shitty trials? Just sounds like a bunch of complaining to me."
"You poor, poor fool. Commoners with nothing would do anything to bring me down, they failed of course, but idiots can be persistent."
I didn't say a word after that. It was more like I couldn't, like I was holding myself back for some reason. I wanted to agree, but would agreeing be more in character or not? The way he gripped his fist caught my attention, but alas, it wasn't my place to point out.
"It seems you finally understand."
"Don't lump me in with you, I understand how people can be shitty," I found myself already moving, jumping down off the box. "I don't need someone to tell me if I understand or not."
A smirk appeared on the interestingly dressed teen's face. "Who knows, keep this up and maybe I just might tell you more, for a commoner at least."
"Okaaay, whatever." As I was about to move on my way, hopefully wasting enough time, I looked back to the split singer, noticing one of the bits of cardboard wall had been moved. Whatever I was about to ask, I held onto it and left. It would be better to ask when we no longer had these roles forced onto us.
The first thing I heard when I left the gym was, "pst!"
Looking around, I looked around for the source, but the only thing I could see...was a witch holding their witch's hat, gesturing me to walk over to him, like he was about to sell me some drugs.
Actually, since he's a chem-
"Pst! Suisei! SUISEI!" Give the witch props, he was really trying. A little too hard, but trying nonetheless.
"Fine, I'm coming..." giving in a bit too easily, I glared the cheeky witch down. "What do you want now?"
All I got in return was a big smile, "Nothing!" That cheeky little! "Hey now, no need to walk off! Haha!" Fox had a grip on my wrist, already predicting my intentions of walking away, and from the look on his face, I braced myself for whatever might come.
"I see you have no time, wanna spend it here with-" he spun around, for some reason, "what do you say?"
It didn't matter if I said yes or no at this point, he still had a firm grip on me. "It's a worthless waste of time."
"Just because it's worthless doesn't devalue it." the grip got a little bit tighter. "Hard work was done today, might as well waste time to skip ahead a day."
True, there were still many hours in the day left, "what did you have in mind you little-"
"Great! Let's take this time to chat. Shame the cafeteria is blocked, you could have tried some green tea..." as Fox was lost in his own little world, I took the time to inspect the surrounding area for a potential escape route. I'd rather not try out any new 'potions' of his.
"Oi. You can get your dirty hands off me now."
Pouting, the witch stared into my eyes, trying to reach the core of my soul. "You'll just run, but no worries! There are new spells to try out!" Oh god no. Not again. "Fooooortunately, you'll love these ones!"
Doubt it.
"You gonna make me drink poison again?" well, I lived whatever the hell he forced down my throat last time.
"Not poison," once again I witnessed the fluffy, brown haired boy pout. "All potions are safe thanks to testing."
Yeah, with me as one of the test subjects. Actually, probably the only test subject here unless he was also downing these things. Speaking of which, "hey, last time, what the hell did I drink?"
"Potions!" he beamed, without missing a beat.
I noticed that he had still had his grip on me. I made another request for him to let me go, but that was tossed out of the window like a drunkard causing a ruckus in some lively night club or pub.
The potion maker dragged me around for a bit, only letting go once we got closer to his dorm room. "Only one potion today."
I rolled my eyes, highly doubting it. "How generous..."
The feminine, red eyed witch got to work on providing me his latest creation. Some potion of course. I could only hope that it goes over well without any sort of ulterior motive behind it.
Probably wasn't the smartest thing to think about that now just when he was about to pour me a flask.
Maybe I could delay this inevitable fate somehow? "Oi, witch," I started, trying to think of something, anything, "how long have you've been making these puny excuses for potions?"
Fox's lips twitched a little before growing into a large smile. "Young. Very young- Oh! An ingredient is missing! Stay there!" With a burst of speed, he shot out of the room like a bat out of hell.
Looking around the room immediately, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to at least scope out my surroundings, the first thing that caught my interest was the book shelf. On said shelf, there were a ton of books (obviously) about chemistry yet just as many books about magic and alchemy. Some books on both sides that I have read through before for research purposes.
Very useful stuff, though among these conflicting books were a bunch of fairy tales. Snow White, Billy Goats Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, etc etc. A few of these books, especially one of the grand collection of tales, seemed to have been read through recently judging by the pages. It was then that I spied his 'spellbook'.
I remember Fox adding notes to it back when I was testing his potions...or I could be dead wrong and only assumed that after drinking who knows what. In the end, curiosity won me over and I had a need to know if what I was about to drink was safe or not.
Sorry Fox. You'll understand, maybe.
Flipping through the pages, it was full of jargon and formulas that I couldn't understand. A few questions were asked like: 'will this jog a patient's memory?' or 'will this provide a surge of physical strength without the threat of addiction to the consumer?' or whatever else. It was stuff like that. There were also multiple pages that were focused on a single question, having tons of formulas, some crossed out and others circled. It was very serious in some parts, but then again, one page I just read talked about creating a potion that allowed one to briefly go invisible...
I closed the book. "This is stupid." It didn't really feel right to continue reading through this book full of worn pages with various scribbles in blue, red and black.
Putting the book back and making sure (or hoping) that Fox wouldn't notice, the said chemist burst through the door, almost giving me a heart-attack. "Back! Time to mix!" he immediately went back to his creation, totally focused on the result of who knows what. Because of what I did, I still had no clue what this potion was.
Watching him mix those 'potions' together and then being his personal test subject, downing this latest potion he had just handed to me, just reminded me of the last time we did this. "Are you going to tell me what I drank? Or are you just gonna ignore me?" Of course, I was ignored...
"The result was ineffective with..." mumbled Fox, already jotting something down in his notepad, still ignoring me by the way.
So he wasn't going to tell me anything...I should have figured, but hey, at least I'm still alive. Now it was time for me to move on, but of course, he latched on again. It was like some sixth sense at this point. Looser than before though.
"Before you go, beware the slit-mouth woman!"
Shooting him a look, I couldn't help but ask, "why are you so bloody cautious about her?" when Fox shook his head, I withheld a sigh. "What's the point. If I ask, you can't even tell me. Worthless."
Noticing the concerned look on his face almost made me drop my guard. "Remember, please. Just stay cautious." it was just as weird to see Fox concerned this much, much like Tadakatsu's role. I still couldn't pin down whatever was on Fox's role. Was it this concern? Was it something else? No clue.
Quite a mystery role that witch. He did escort me outside of his room though for some reason, but since he was so cautious about the billiards player's role...
"Right, whatever. I'll keep it in mind if it makes you shut up."
"Thanks. Now Foooor now, gotta go. BYE!" The fuck?! He really bolted out of here...
Now that he was gone, I took off in the opposite direction and with some unknown drug in my body with no idea on what it could do to me, I sat on one of the benches that were scattered around the ground floor.
A chill rolled down my spine as I glanced next to me.
"..." What was I seeing?
Sitting next to me was a ghost with long, black hair and a creepy smile which brought up a question: how did I miss that?
"Sitting next to a ghost, I didn't know ghosts needed rest. I thought that was a luxury for the living." thanks to my rude tone, the ghostly Sunako placed her hand firmly onto my shoulder. It was cold. Way colder than what I was expecting.
She didn't really say anything, just kept her hand on me. With no clue what to do, I turned to say something, but any words died in my throat.
She was looking at me, unblinking. Staring into my soul. Creepy.
"Let go of me." alas, she didn't. Even a nasty frown didn't deter her from her task. She leaned closer, looking around me while making a low, crackling sound like from some haunted VHS ghost or similar equivalent.
"Clear..."
Huh?
"You're clear...alive...not possessed..." she removed her hand from my shoulder, she still kept her wide, open eyes on me of course, but she backed off now, giving me some room to breathe.
What the hell is happening here? Sunako stood and was already shuffling off somewhere. Perhaps going to go torment someone like Kyogen or someone.
"And where the hell do you think you're going?"
"There's another spirit among us. This is my haunting grounds..." she wandered off, vanishing like a ghost. Another spirit? Maybe I shouldn't be too worried about that...I'm not the supernatural expert here after all.
I didn't even have much time to even process what the hell happened after that when I heard something coming from down the halls.
"Sorry, Isabi needs to go, but thanks for keeping Isabi company!" Oh, a familiar voice! Seems Isabi was wandering around. Turning the corner, I of course saw Isabi, but tagging along with her was none other than Seno, silently nodding and walking along with her. "Um…" she rubbed her arm, looking elsewhere as they walked who knows where.
"Oi, Isabi!" I shouted, stomping forward, making sure I looked mean enough. "We need to talk."
"Huh?!" pure confusion spread not only her face, but Seno's as well. As I grabbed her shoulder, beginning to drag her away, I noticed that Seno began to walk behind us. I could hear his footsteps, so I turned around and raised a fist.
"I need to talk to her alone." my glare caused the silent Seno to just raise his hands into the air defensively, backing away as I dragged the puzzle solver elsewhere. "The hell was that?"
"Hm? Oh, Seno was just accompanying Isabi around the school!" she smiled, swaying from side to side.
I scoffed, "and what was that pathetic display just now?"
"Display...?" she asked, rubbing her arm again. I waved my arm back to where Seno used to be. "Oh! It just reminded Isabi of something similar!"
"It did?"
She nodded her head vigorously. "Yep! Someone followed Isabi too! Isabi gave him a metal puzzle though...he didn't seem to like it at all! Isabi thought it was fine to put it in his face."
"And Seno reminded you of that?"
"Isabi guesses, but hey! Isabi is free to do whatever Isabi wants to do now! See ya Sui Sui!" Isabi skipped off to who knows where, leaving me alone once more. Ah an, she was gone. I was gonna ask if she even saw Takeo like she said. Though, with the way he popped out in the corner of our eyes (I mean, who else could it really be?) he would have known about the situation already.
Well, I suppose it's time to lend a hand with the scrapyard, or more accurately, just pop in and have a look for a bit while I refuse to help in any sort of way.
Heading outside, it barely took anything for me to reach the scrapyard and from the sounds of it, it was definitely in use. I wonder how many monocoins they built up today? Hopefully enough for a snack or two.
Working diligently in the scrapyard were none other than the diligent Fumi and Charlotte putting scrap on the conveyor belt...with Yozora trying to stay awake as she shuffled through some scrap. Nanako was busy drinking from a bottle while on top of a pile of scrap (ain't that uncomfortable) and lastly Renji, happy (not really) to be there, crying on the conveyor belt-
WHAT?!
As Renji, curled up in a tight little ball, travelled down the conveyor belt among the piles of scrap Yozora tiredly threw on and like passing by a car crash, I couldn't stop watching as he travelled down with the scrap pieces.
"You're not getting out of this that easily." Fumi grabbed the mixologist by the collar and dragged him off the conveyor belt. Thank god.
Ignoring the crying Renji for now, Fumi turned her attention on to me. "Suisei, you're here," her tone was like a teacher catching a truanting student, "since you're here, you can help us work to sort out this scrap. It would be better than some people here." She not so subtly glared at both Renji and the drinking fireworks expert. The only two working, besides her, were the previously mentioned Yozora and Charlotte.
"How many coins did you fools manage to rack up?" Taking over the conversation, Fumi fell silent, only the sniffling from the orange haired mixologist and the gulps from the pyrotechnician could be heard. Even the two scrapyard workers paused briefly. That didn't bode well.
"Not good," Yozora turned to me, ignoring the pile of scrap that was building up on the conveyor belt. "We've been working since this morning, ever since we left...but..."
Fumi stepped in now. "It barely gave us anything. You'd think we'd build up a decent amount and reach a thousand before the day ends, but we barely managed to scrounge up past a simple hundred."
I blinked. That didn't seem right. "Really?"
"Really."
"You have to be kidding..." I couldn't believe it, just past a hundred? I could have sworn when I was here last time that it gave me that amount for less scrap... "Did that fucking bear mess with the scrap exchanges rates?!"
"It could be the case, but it doesn't help when more and more junk just appears on top of the pile," sighed Charlie as she fixed up the dam of scrap that Yozora had ignored, "but it's good to see you, Suisei." she said with a wide smile.
The words from Fox repeated in my mind. "Remember, please. Just stay cautious..." the words repeated in my mind. I still didn't really understand nor did Fox really have the time to explain.
"Now come and help us out, Suisei!" the promoter tossed me some scrap to get started. "See, Renji's finally searching for the better quality scrap." Looking over, Renji was digging through piles and piles of scrap. Not really collecting it, it looked more like he was on a mission.
"Hey, Suisei..." Nanako dropped a bottle as she stretched. "Good luck, you'd need it."
"I ain't doing shit."
Charlie just snickered. "Standing there providing support is just as good."
"No. It's not." seethed the normally joking girl as she too contributed to the task at hand. "Get to work, all of you."
And poor Yozora, in the middle of all this just sighed. "I wanna sleep..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a bloodcurdling scream made us all turn around, looking back at Renji crawling on the conveyor belt...right after the portrait of that bloody roach. While Nanako just drank away, Fumi and Charlotte immediately went after the idiot.
"Grab him, Charlotte. Suisei, get over here!"
Frowning like a broody teenager in their rebellious phase (well, I am a teenager...), I joined in to grab the desperately crawling Renji. "As much I would like to see you get squished, this is too pathetic. Get back here." Even though I got a firm grip on Renji, a cold wave ran through my body. Was it my wording?
Squished...killed...
My mind was racing, images pouring in my head of the worst case scenario. Renji flying down the conveyor belt to who knows where, ending up in a pile of red giblets. The thought of which almost made me lose my grip. Thank fuck I held on tighter.
"Let me GO!" he screamed, clutching onto the conveyor belt and boy was he putting up a fight. Charlotte even had to duck under some scrap he threw. "Just let me go! I need to save it!"
"No you don't! Stop being so childish." Fumi scoffed, turning to the lazy drunk. "Nanako! Help! NOW!"
"You guys are doing great..." she immediately chugged down what seemed to be her third bottle. How supportive.
While Nanako didn't get up, Yozora did as she went over to a control panel or whatever it was called, couldn't care right now, as she got on her way to turn the scrap machine off.
"Who the fuck cares, it's just a picture of a bug!" I yelled, narrowly dodging a sharp bit of scrap. I could have swore I heard something smash on the ground.
The bug-'loving' mixologist just tearfully responded, "it's NOT just a picture! It means everything to me!" Great. Now he was starting to kick. Stop!
"I must agree with Suisei, if you were doing something different, perhaps I would have even let you continue being a childish brat, but this is different. You shall cease this childish game right now!" Fumi's cold, stern tone was enough to make Renji loosen his grip on the machinery.
With a mighty pull, just as the conveyor belt came to a raging halt, Renji flew back, taking the three of us down with him.
"See? I said you guys were doing great!" came the fake drunken tone.
It was followed by a yawn, "I don't think now's the best time, Nanako..."
A quick glance to the conveyor belt, the portrait of the roach was nowhere to be seen. It was gone, and Renji couldn't even move. It was like he personally saw someone he could have saved die before his eyes, or maybe, he was using this opportunity to thank whatever force managed to keep him alive.
These roles were way too dangerous. I see how it is.
"That was a close one," Charlie smiled, hands on the now frozen Renji's shoulders, giving them a rub.
Dusting herself off, Fumi addressed us all and honestly, with what she said, I agree. "I think we should avoid using the scrapyard for a while. Especially you, Renji."
It was clear with all of use, the silence that followed. For instance, Nanako who had been sitting there, bottle in hand, dropped the bottle, forgetting about it completely as it sat broken on the ground.
That at least explained what I heard, but the look in everyone's body language was the same, despite the way we acted. There was a chance that Renji could have died and if there were more people here with roles like Hudson or mine, roles that didn't give a shit about what was happening unless dragged into it by another like Fumi or people who had roles where they let others die…
It was awful to think about but, not only would Renji be dead, but would that count towards the murder Junkuma wanted? Ending our forced roles? If that was in character for Renji to chase the damn portrait to the point where it would kill him, what the hell would the roles were specifically tied to murder.
Were there roles that included murder?! That wasn't something I wanted to think about at all as my stomach turned. I wasn't surprised by the thoughts or anything, it was clear what would have happened, but still, I didn't feel right for multiple reasons.
Yet, despite what had just transpired, I found myself calm. Perhaps the weight of punishment (which was probably also death) squashed the feelings of almost seeing Renji die? "Now that this circus act is over, I'm out of here." I didn't look back as I marched on, nor did I plan on looking back.
Calm and sick, that's how I felt. It was weird but familiar and I hoped that the walk around the garden could do some good. Maybe I'd find something to eat? It might not be the best time to grab something to eat, but if it helped it helped. Would I even be able to grab something from the garden anyway with the whole rationing thing? If people were there, probably not.
"...What?" I frowned, if only for the camera that loomed above me. That was way too quick of a subject change...I was probably just trying to take my mind off it, was this common? Fumi seemed to quit with the scrapyard (as did the others) and who knows what happened after I left. Eh whatever, best not to think too hard on it now, I needed something light hearted now that the sick feeling got a tad stronger.
I'm definitely letting it get to my head. Calm down, Suisei. Calm down. Deep breaths. At least no one was harmed or died.
That was true, thank you, me.
Following my own advice, taking a deep breath, I made my way into the garden, fully prepared to refresh myself, I saw a group of people spread throughout.
Sitting in the garden was Tadakatsu, checking on the growing fruit and veg while the wolf-pelted Akahana laid nearby in the grass. Surprisingly, Maria herself was sitting next to the yanki as she rubbed her head a bit, though a devious grin had appeared on her face.
Astin was there too and by extension, so was Anju. I didn't expect them to be here. Well, I didn't expect Astin to be here, but seeing how Anju was helping Tadakatsu out...
I wonder if they heard Renji's scream?
God damn it, fuck off! Not now! Just ignore it.
A growl from Akahana caught the attention of the blonde haired yanki as he followed her gaze. "Oh! Suisei. Glad to see you here."
Yeah, the gaze ended up on me if you couldn't tell.
"Why don't you come lend a hand for a short while?" while I would have probably taken the offer, now wasn't the time sadly. With a quick glare, Tadakatsu stepped down. "Another time then..."
Maria wasted no time as she stood tall, hands on her hips and everything. "Another lost soul has arrived! The dark lord shall be pleased with another offering to help plant the seeds of the man-eating Yateveo!"
Oh boy here we go again.
The teen idol however was a bit of an odd appearance. While still in her new getup, it seemed that Tadakatsu forced her along, or maybe she went because of Anju? Last time, she was just looking at herself, posing for Anju and whatnot, but now she just sat there, arms crossed as she refused to look anyone in the eye. "First sacrifices for Satan and now this. Is this really what satanists do?"
"Does it even really matter? That version fits the vision of whatever the hell that bear wants rather than being something safer or being true to what it's supposed to be or whatever." Oh, she avoided eye contact with me yet again. She made no move to agree or disagree, but it seems my thoughts resonated with another.
Speaking of Maria, seems Tadakatsu dragged her along too.
"It...it is a lot more dangerous..." the reporter joined in, but shrunk once my eyes turned to her.
"Grr..." That only belonged to one person here. You probably figured it out.
"Sorry...Akahana," Anju mumbled as the wolf pelt girl put more distance between us all. She spared one last odd 'glare' at us and began to ignore us by turning her attention elsewhere.
"Ow!" We turned around to see the red-headed bishop shaking her finger, a red dot on the tip of said finger.
"Are you okay, Maria?" Tadakatsu wasted no time heading over to the dark lord worshipper. Still kind of weird to see him being so...friendly and helpful.
Inhaling longer than I expected, her words were almost nonexistent. "I'm fine. Just...blood for the blood god..."
"Do...you need a band-aid...?" the snow haired girl offered, pulling out a plain coloured bandage.
"Oh! You had some on you, Anju?"
She nodded at the yanki's question. "I have...a few."
While Anju gave Maria the bandage, I looked at the two slackers, Akahana and Astin and then turned to the most responsible person here currently. "What's with those two?"
"What do you mean, Suisei?" the ruthless street brawler raised an eyebrow, sending a looked at both of the previously mentioned slackers.
"The hell do you think I mean you arse. Look at them. That wolf would normally bite other people if they got close, yet she's not. Then there's that vain Narcissus over there who would be looking at herself or something."
Tadakatsu only chuckled. Fuck you. "Ah. For Astin, I simply confiscated any means in which to slack off, though it seems to be effective. Akahana, I was just making some ground rules with her."
"So you're basically taming the wild wolf, huh?"
He winced. "I wouldn't say that."
"Hey. I want that stuff back later," groaned Astin as Akahana snapped along with a fake bark.
"You'll get it back soon!" he promised, turning to Anju with a watering can in hand, though she was definitely shaky.
The bleach blonde delinquent placed his hand on the timid reporter's shoulder. "Thank you, Anju. You're doing great."
A small smile appeared on the white-eyed girl's face while the thought of asking if they heard Renji's scream came back again.
Well, it wouldn't matter if they heard it or not. If they did, an announcement informing them about the 'murder' would have gone off, especially when there were five other people at the scene of the crime.
Definitely thinking too hard. As I zoned back in, I noticed that they were inspecting the potential harvest.
Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to get a bite to eat right now.
I also...had no idea which Tadakatsu I'd rather be stuck with. Tadakatsu the Mad Dog of Shibuya or Tadakatsu the friendly peace keeper? One was way, way weirder than the other. Maybe it was because of the way he moved now. It was less stiff than before.
As I watched Tadakatsu check around the soil with Anju watering some of the other plants, the feeling from before came back along with noticing the fact that I had a bit more saliva than usual, or I guess my body was now focusing on it specifically. Not a good sign from past experiences.
Forcing myself away from the others, my body decided to fight me as my last meal came back up to greet me. It did make me feel better, but thankfully I put some distance between me and the others when I did, though it caught their attention.
I...felt a little embarrassed. I hope this wasn't a side effect of Fox's potion...
"Are...you okay, Suisei?" I heard Anju, before the vain teen idol scoffed, not even bothering to spare me a glance. How rude.
"Didn't you hear him?"
The laughter from the devilish bishop almost managed to drown Astin out completely. "Seems like the spirits were trying to leave his body."
"Stop, Maria." This time Tadakatsu stood up, heading towards me while flicking the bishop's forehead. "Are you okay, Suisei?"
I scoffed, "what do you think?"
As I wiped my mouth, I could hear the low mimicked wolf whines of Akahana from the long grass as I stood back on my feet.
"I'll take you to the infirmary," the yanki said, putting a hand on my shoulder. The grip wasn't as tight as I thought it could have been.
Guess I had no choice.
"Whatever." It didn't matter what I said, accepted or declined, 'cause he was already guiding me back inside.
The trip to the infirmary wasn't too bad, it was just a silent walk inside and upstairs until we reached our destination. Once we entered the infirmary, Tadakatsu immediately dug through the drawers and cabinets.
"I don't need medicine."
"It's better to be safe than sorry."
Our tones clashed, though it was like a reverse. Instead of the Mad Dog being an angry, barking mess, I was the one who was seething in my seat while he just calmly went about the whole ordeal, holding a small bottle.
"And what if you give me poison? I ain't taking any shit you hand out."
The red eyed bastard slapped his hand into his forehead. "That's right. I didn't think about the possibility of the medicine being tampered with," and without missing a beat, he instantly downed a tablet.
"The fuck are you doing you idiot?!" It was like I was on autopilot. "Are you stupid?!"
"Is there a problem?" I think so! "This way, if these tablets were in any way tampered with, I would be the first to fall victim to it."
"..." That doesn't mean that it's still not tampered with. That one tablet could have been safe for all I know. "Still not going to touch it."
A sigh escaped his lips, barely showing his fangs to the world. I wonder if I was starting to piss him off? "I see, well. I suppose if it's nothing too serious, I suppose rest should provide the same result."
While he put the bottle away, back for when others needed it, I couldn't help myself when I brought up his actions over the past few days.
"It's surprising how friendly and kind someone with a dangerous title like yanki can be nowadays."
"Are you saying that my actions aren't genuine?" a slight frown appeared on his face. Not the scary sort of frown, but the sad one when you hear some awful news.
I shrugged, "probably, but I don't really give a shit. Seeing you be all nice and friendly was weird as hell. Helping that little witch when she pricked her finger, keeping Akahana from being totally wild, not to mention the camera crew."
Tadakatsu crossed his arms, still calm. His body language was way different than the previous days, like he realised that if he acted like this the faster it would end. I wasn't too sure though, he seemed very relaxed. It was almost comforting. "I'm sorry, but if it's still on the whole tampered medicine thing, I'd rather we'd not come to murder and just wait out the following days until the week is done."
"It's not about that anymore dumbass, keep up."
"Then what is it about Suisei? The way my talent contradicts with the way I act?" I had to applaud how calm he was. It was amazing. "Would you rather that I'd act the same way as you are now?"
"Fuck no!" Not only did that come to a surprise to Tadakatsu, but me too. Both of us blinked while only my mouth continued to run its course. "I don't want to fucking deal with that shit. All I said was that you acted weird, never said it was god damn awful like that idiot crying over a roach." You know what they say, what's said is done. Can't take anything I say back now.
Blinking rapidly, Tadakatsu's arms dropped in shock. "Are… are you saying that...?"
"Shut it," I warned, walking back to the door. "I told you didn't I? I don't care. I just prefer this version of you is all."
The delinquent staggered forward. "Really?"
"...yeah sure."
He asked again, "truly?" Do you want me to pinch you? You're not dreaming.
"Don't push it." It was true though. I did prefer a helpful Tadakatsu then the one we've spent time with.
"Then I shall continue to be myself then, if that's okay with you."
My head started to throb, the feeling of puking returned to say hi once more. I needed to lay down for a while. "As long as you're not acting like a shithead." We shared a look for a moment.
A smile then popped up onto his face, "I'm here to help."
Man, he was getting better at these smiles. It was nothing compared to the wide grins that seethed pain and possible death for the one on the receiving end. It was nice actually (in comparison to the previous ones of course). Still, a nice change from before. I definitely prefer this kind of Tadakatsu, but now I had to go.
Saying my goodbyes to the yanki, I staggered downstairs back to my room to rest whatever off my body decided to hit me with.
Stumbling back to my room like some aimless drunk (I wasn't walking that badly), I threw the door open and dropped onto my bed while I heard the door close (slam) behind me. I should probably lock it but fuck it. Junkuma, Tadakatsu if he followed or whoever can deal with that as I closed my eyes, ending the day earlier than expected as my stomach groaned.
Waking up the next morning, I was hit by a wave of freshness. It was a lot better than what I was feeling like yesterday. Seems sleep was really what I needed.
Soaking it in, I started to get ready for whatever the day may bring. To greet me this fine morning was for my stomach, telling me to eat something. Morning to you too.
Thanks to the cafeteria being closed now, that didn't leave me with much hope on what to do. The only thing I could do was go to the garden and hope for the best. Maybe a grape at this point or whatever we had growing there.
Approaching the door, I made a mental reminder to thank Tadakatsu later. Knowing his role, he probably followed me back. It was really nice for a change to have him be so helpful. Sadly, while that was helpful, it wasn't enough for me to want this motive to continue beyond its time limit.
Passing by the cafeteria first thing in the morning after the morning announcements was odd, but hopefully it wouldn't go on for too long. I even checked the door but it was still locked.
Darn.
Might be an idea to stop wasting time and go to the garden, just in case of first come first serve rules.
...
In the garden, not many people were here. Akahana was here, but by the looks of it, she was still sleeping in the long grass and no one bothered to wake her. Yozora was there, looking incredibly tired. Those two aside, the garden had the following people sprinkled throughout: Kyogen, Tadakatsu, Isabi, Maria, Anju and the last person to appear, me.
For now, it was probably best to avoid Akahana and Yozora. Let one sleep and give the other some space. "Morning, Suisei." Tadakatsu greeted me in a warm tone complete with a small smile on his face.
I barely acknowledged the yanki while Kyogen just sent me a glare and focused his attention elsewhere. I wonder where he was yesterday? Perhaps I just missed him.
Anju gave me a wave while Maria was too busy focusing on something. "When do we eat?"
"We'll wait for everyone, but Takeo, to be here and distribute food between us." the bleach blonde yanki informed me.
The sound of cawing quickly caught our attention. It was very, very close and loud...almost like... "The garden!" cried Anju, running towards the garden and without thinking, the rest of us followed.
By the time we got to the garden, a murder were having their feed. Chowing down on the free meal provided. Anju took a step forward which caused the crows to jump away before quickly taking to the skies as soon as Kyogen came running in, effectively scaring the birds off.
After the birds flew off, Anju immediately checked out the garden they had been working on. "We...we lost a lot..." her tone wasn't what anyone wanted to hear.
"Fuck!" Kyogen kicked the dirt. At least it wasn't someone else. "That's bullshit! What kind of luck is that?!"
"It seems the dark lord himself is punishing us. Is this because I couldn't give you any sacrifices recently? I apologise my lord, you shall have your drop of blood soon. I promise!" A few of us gave Maria looks as she suddenly took off, running back inside. Some gave concerned looks and others not so much as she almost went unnoticed due to the whole garden dilemma taking their attention. It was pretty much split down the middle.
The one with the most fighting experience and acting as the voice of reason, Tadakatsu bowed his head in thought, trying to hide a look of shame. "I didn't think we'd get birds that would eat out crops. This was unforeseen."
"No one could have predicted this…" squeaked the suit wearing reporter, "please don't take it too hard on yourself..."
Isabi poked around the garden, "we still got food though. Isabi is hungry. Let's eat!" As she went to grab a bite to eat, Kyogen pulled her back.
"What are we going to do now?" Yozora asked, walking over. "With the amount of food gone..."
A thought popped into my mind. Why didn't I think of it before? "Have you fools tried talking with Seiren? I believe she had or might have some snacks on her stashed away in her room. She is quite the gluttony so she probably had some stuffed away in her room, but knowing her, she probably ate it all the gluttonous-"
While a few people like Anju and Yozora showed interest, Tadakatsu just shook his head.
"Right now, we need to prioritise making the garden harder for wild animals to come and eat the rest the food than filling ourselves up or checking in with Seiren at the moment. Suisei, head to the laundry room, I believe we could use some spare blankets there as a makeshift cover to protect what's left." Tadakatsu gave a polite bow. "It might not be the best to protect the garden, but a temporary solution shall suffice for now before we all pool our coins together."
"Oh! We could also make a scarecrow!" Isabi jumped in, or at least tried too.
I spun around, instantly going inside. "Fine. I'm too hungry to care."
"Thank you. Yozora, you-"
I drowned them out as I made my way back inside, making my way to get some sheets. Perhaps I should drop in by the store instead, get some actual materials to build...wait. No. We needed those monocoins for the snacks there. Damn it.
"Time to get this shit over with."
As I turned the corner, about to enter the laundry room, I heard it.
"Sui...sei..." I paused as I heard a voice I haven't heard in for a long time. The way it spoke was like a ghost. I followed the voice around, yet around another corner and came to a halt. "Sui..."
I felt my blood run cold as I just stared, unable to tear my eyes away from the sight. My body refused to move but it shook. "The fuck?"
Leaning against the wall was the maskless individual that we witnessed stalk around in the shadows of the school. He was coated in a wave of red, it was like he was a completely other person. His face was covered in multiple slashes along with his body, having multiple stab wounds alongside it in his torso, but judging how he was breathing, if anything, it was either missed vitals or just shallow stabs that didn't break through. Seeing the multiple slashes over his body, seems the stabs were limited to only a couple. Multiple fingers were gone from his hands including a hand itself, but not too far as they remained beside him. Not to mention that one of his legs was completely twisted the wrong way around. It was clear that this was only just the start.
On top of the slashes and stabs, it looked like whatever or whoever got to him really put him through a beating. His face was also swollen and his body was bruised and on closer inspection on his mouth, it seems a slash went through his mouth down to his shoulder while another went over his eye, unconnected to the other. The other eye however...sat at the bottom of his shirt, among the chunks of flesh ripped or dug out from his arm. And to make it worse. He was still kicking!
How the hell was he even alive?!
"...Yozuru...help..."
It was none other than Takeo, and he was hanging by a thread!