2025-07-03: Move-in Day

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(|============================ Iwatodai Dormitory ============================|)
-================================================== Iwatodai City/Iwatodai ====-
A large four-story dormitory used by the Specialized Extracurricular Execution  
Squad, only five minutes from Iwatodai Station. Upon entering, one passes a desk
with a sign-in book for guests to find a large carpeted common room that's well 
appointed for co-ed gatherings.                                                 
                                                                                
A TV is usually on with the local news or a movie that's been loaded into the   
DVD player for a student to enjoy. A table for shared dinners, or more often    
study sessions, takes up the other half of the dorm, as well as a kitchen should
one dare to show off their skills to their fellow students.                     
                                                                                
There are two winding staircases on either side. The one on the left simply says
'Boys' while the other on the right states 'No Boys Except By Invitation.' The  
implicit threat of execution need not be written down for those who violate     
these rules. The second and third stories are living spaces divided by gender   
with common spaces that have study areas and bookshelves available.             
                                                                                
The fourth story is the command center with surveillance capabilities for not   
just different parts of the city but each room within the dorms. The Chairman   
has assured all who live here that this capability is strictly necessary.       
                                                                                
BGM - Dormitory Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-FrFI0qnM             
(|============================================================================|)

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

6/04 -- EVENING
Iwatodai Dormitory

It has been a busy weekend for Suzume. It feels like only yesterday she was trapped in Mementos and -

Oh wait. It was.

Suzume did not go to class today, nor did Jiro Yamamoto. Both of them spent an overnight in the Kijiro-operated Tatsumi Memorial Hospital and were released in the morning - in Jiro's case, to his own dorms, though with someone asked to keep an eye on him just in case. His ankle meant he still wasn't exactly moving fast.

But Suzume went back to her house and got chewed out by her parents. Or that's what was going to happen until SEES stepped in, anyway...

She's not talking about exactly what got said and to who. But the net result is that she packed a bag and is making what might be the second fastest move-in to the dorm, after Junpei.

Suzume shoves the door open to the dorms with one foot as she tries to get an old rolling suitcase through that has mostly lost its roll; one of the wheels is jammed so it's more like a slightly inconvenient suitcase you can drag. She presumably has other stuff for her room coming in the future, because that suitcase isn't big enough for more than a few days of clothes and some other odds and ends, even combined with the overstuffed backpack on one shoulder.

The ground floor of the Iwatodai Dorm has a green-and-yellow carpet. To the left as you enter is a guest sign-in book and a little office zone. To the right is a nice common room; two couches, two chairs, a television with a DVD. Further back is a table with chairs, a small kitchen, and stairs leading up to the actual rooms in the back corner.

"Damn," Suzume says, as she drags her suitcase past the door. "This place looks like a hotel." 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Suzume will hear the ringing of a desk bell as a mousy girl with brown hair leans over the sign-in book with a smile on her face. "That's because it used to be! Now how long is your stay going to be?"
 
      Shizuka chuckles and walks out of the office area to meet Suzume. "Hey there! Suzume Fukura-san, right? I'm Shizuka Kuroki, and I'll be your bellhop for tonight!" She walks over to Suzume's suitcase and helps to pull it further in, giving the jammed wheel a momentary futile kick as she does. "Anyway, welcome to the dorm! Home sweet home! Trust me, you're really gonna like it here." 

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
"RIGHT?" says Hitomi Mandai, who had been loitering at one of the couches. She has a glass holding what looks like something cold and brown, which would, in appropriate situations, bring suspicion of liquor. But in fact--

It's oolong tea.

She straightens upwards and walks over, not in any particular rush it would seem, as she looks over at the luggage. "Oh good, thanks Kuroki," she tells Shizuka, who has volunteered herself to do labor. With that, Hitomi raises her glass and takes a ssssip.

Hitomi is not in her uniform. Her casual outfit is a storm-blue T-shirt that looks very Light and Breezy along with a pair of black jogger pants with a single magenta stripe up the sides. She is also wearing a pair of battered-looking sandals, which may be a little marginal for the inside/outside thing, but hey, it's a lobby, it's public.

"If we aren't going to rush upstairs, we have some cookies over here," she informs Suzume. Tilting her glass, she continues, "I also got some tea out, if you're thirsty... we get dinner and everything down here, sometimes. Do you like to cook?" It's genial, really, despite the Circumstances.

Huh? (Type "help" for help.) 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka, by contrast to Suzume's experience, did not go to Mementos. Instead, she found out, the hard way, about the Dark Hour. Her skateboard kept her ahead of the Shadows... at least for a while, but it might've been a losing battle in the long run. Thankfully, SEES had been on hand to rescue her and then explain. There'd been a faint hope she might forget this in the morning, but...

She hadn't. And if she was being honest with herself, Ririka kind of suspected she wouldn't. The next day after sleeping in and meeting up with her sister, she'd texted Minato that she remembered, which had gotten the ball rolling.

The conversation with her parents had been tense but for different resons. They were concerned about her, but Ririka had assured them that she could handle the move. She'd framed it as an opporunity and that seemed to sell them on it.

Ririka got dropped off with several nice, large (and not broken) rolling suitcases, her backpack, and, most importantly to her, a guitar case. She wasn't going to be in a strange, unfamiliar space without some way to make music.

She herself is put together, in her school uniform, hair brushed out, and everything in its proper place. She's out to make a good first impression. A leather bracelet sneaks under the right sleeve of her uniform, and she's wearing a pair of laced up boots. She's also prety dang tall, to boot.

She does try to hold the door for Suzume, though. "Oh, here, let me." She waits for Suzume to get her stuff in, and then pulls her own bags inside the door. "Hello, Kuroki-senpai, Mandai-san," she greets with a pleasant, if slightly reserved smile. She's not exactly putting on airs, but she is trying to be on her Best Behavior.

"Oh, some tea and cookies would be nice, ahh..." Ririka blushes a little as she goes to her suitcases, opening one up to pull out a nicely wrapped box. She offers it to Shizuka and Hitomi, along with a slight bow. "I also brought something, to say thank you for everything." It's... more snacks and a selection of nice teas. 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

"What - hey," Suzume objects, "that's my suitcase - "

At first, Suzume does not let go of her suitcase even when Shizuka pulls on it, which means they end up working at cross purposes a bit. Eventually Suzume gives up. The suitcase isn't super heavy; it really does have mostly, though not exclusively, clothes. (The wheel remains balky. It rolls once or twice but mostly just sticks in place; the carpet pile isn't helping any. Since one of the wheels unsticks and the other doesn't, it also tends to want to turn left.)

Suzume leans over to look at the sign-in book, since Shizuka drew her attention to it. After a moment, she signs in with a flourish... and proceeds to put the time of entry as '25:00'. Liar. There are only 24 hours in a day.

(There's not, but one, she doesn't know if everybody in this room knows about the Dark Hour - until either last night or this morning, depending on which end of the day you consider the Dark Hour to be on, she did not! - and in any case that's not when she got here.)

Suzume is also not in her uniform. Unfortunately she came from home, which means her mother forced her to wear a skirt, and the skirt does have pretty much the exact same cut as the Gekkoukan choice. Her loose-fit top is... slightly nicer than usual and not rumpled, because she is going here for the first time.

Turning away from the sign-in, she looks up (way up) at Ririka, frowns, and then switches over toward Hitomi, who she at least knows. "I've only got this for now," she says, hefting the backpack. "Here, give me that back - "

Suzume grabs at her suitcase again. She's not wheeling it upstairs, though; she just puts it against the wall where it's unlikely to get in anyone's way, and still carrying her backpack, heads toward the little lounge area. Since Hitomi has invited her.

"Yeah," she says, after a moment. "I'm Suzume Fukura. I've never been in these dorms before." She has been in the common area of some of the others, but never lived in one. So maybe that explains her curious look around.

Then she focuses on the tea. Tea sounds... good. She's a little overwhelmed. "I don't know how to cook," she says, to Hitomi. "Hey, Mandai." A pause, then: "Thanks."

It's not for the cookies. 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka, for her part, is still in her uniform, with sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She hadn't gotten around to changing yet, it seems. After a bit of resistance from Suzume, she relents and lets the new arrival take care of her own bags. "The customer is always right."
 
      "And here's the second guest of the night, Ririka Kawase-san!" Enjoy being addressed by your full names exactly once, girls. "Ooh, you shouldn't have!" She smiles and takes the box from Ririka, putting it down on the table in the lounge.
 
      She flops herself down in the chair at the head of the table, inviting the two to sit. "You two must be tired from lugging those suitcases over here. We'll get you up to your rooms whenever you're ready to, no rush." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka looks down at Suzume and offers her a polite smile, which subsides a little at that frown. "Is there something wrong...?"

She smiles to Shizuka. "It was the least I could do, considering how you all helped me." When Shizuka takes the box she goes to the desk to sign in herself. She writes her name and the time in neat handwriting, but pauses as she looks at the time Suzume's listed.

""Oh, Fukura-san, did they rescue you from the Dark Hour, too?" It's... such a weird topic to try and be politely conversational about, but she is trying her best to say it in the same tone as one might ask after another's family.

She pushes her suitcases against the wall once that's done, and sets her backpack down as well, then moves to join the others at the table. To tired, she says, "Oh, not at all. I got some help." It was her mother who helped her and dropped her off, in fact. "But I'll have some more things to bring over tomorrow."

Like, for instance, her keyboard.

"I cook a little, but... my older sister's much better than I am," she says to answer Hitomi's question. She busies herself with getting some cookies and some tea. 

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
"Heh," Hitomi answers Suzume, with a weak smile. Then she looks over towards Ririka and Shizuka, and the box. "Do you want us to like open that up and let people get at it with your compliments? We should definitely put something on it so Iori doesn't just like, stuff all the teabags in his mouth. Hold on, I'll go find some sticky notes..."

* Hitomi has entered a Solo Monad: Find the Kirijo Group Sticky Notes! (Almost 80% as good as the actual ones!) 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

"I'll have to make another trip later this week to bring some other things," Suzume says. She's brought *far* fewer things with her than Ririka has, so that's not especially unexpected - certainly she can't have brought an entire room's full of stuff in the bag. "Not a keyboard, though."

Ririka asks her a question, and Suzume immediately decides to be a little bit of a jerk.

"The what?" she asks Ririka, looking as guileless as she can. "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is." She has a pretty good poker face, as it turns out. But though Suzume isn't 100% sure that everybody here knows about the Dark Hour, Shizuka ought to - nobody lives here who isn't in SEES, after all.

And Suzume breaks it after a moment with a slight grin, because she hasn't got any reason to be particularly cruel. "No, they didn't. It's a joke. But even signing it's a joke, isn't it? It's not like residents need to sign in, that's for visitors. What do you mean, 'too'?"

Suzume snorts back a snicker at Hitomi's comment. She knows Iori only vaguely - they're not in the same class but she's seen him once or twice. The image of him eating a teabag is funny, okay? 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka chuckles at Suzume's joke. "Hehe, good one, Zume-chan." See, what did I tell you? You get the full name once. Senpai privileges, I don't make the rules. "If I remember what they said, you were in Mementos, weren't you? Feels like almost the same thing."
 
      She cranes her head over to where Hitomi ran off to, calling out to her. "Not a bad idea, Tomi-chan. Though honestly, I'd kinda like to see Pei-kun try. Maybe he could go for a world record!"
 
      Shizuka turns back to Suzume and Ririka, abstaining from cookies and tea until they've both had a chance, she has to be a generous host, after all. "We'll get the basics all set up for you first, let you plan out where you wanna put everything. The rooms are really nice, you'll have your own sink, mirror, TV, and minifridge." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka nods to Hitomi. "Please do, Mandai-san. I hope everyone enjoys it." She doesn't know who this Iori is, but she hopes they don't do that.

"Oh, yes, a keyboard is one of the things I still need to bring over." She's not teribly surprised. She's known for her piano playing, after all. "But also there's my skateboarding gear, my electric guitar, some other things..."

She does blink a little, as Suzume LIES TO HER FACE. "--Oh. I'm sorry, I just assumed, since you put 23 o'clock..." She tries to smile politely. "I must have been mistaken." She's got no reason to call Suzume out on that right now, there's plenty of other innocent explanations.

But then she grins, and Ririka relaxes, for a moment. "Oh, I see." But a joke. "Oh, well... yes, I suppose so. I just wanted to play along." Except her cheeks are faintly red. Her poker face isn't as great in the moment.

To 'too', she says, "Kuroki-senpai and Mandai-san helped rescue me, Saturday night, along with two others."

She looks between Suzume and Shizuka. "Mementos? Like in that mirror challenge...?" She frowns a little. "Is that real?"

A world record. Ririka laughs faintly, politely. "That might be amusing, but it might also be nice if everyone could enjoy them..."

She does perk up at the mention of amenities. "Really? I'd expected them to be nice, but I wasn't expecting all that..." 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume freezes a moment when Shizuka shortens her name.

She raises one hand and counts, very deliberately, on her fingers: "Su." Second finger: "Zu." Third finger: "Me. Or Fukura." Whether Shizuka's her senpai or not, Suzume doesn't like to have her name shortened that way, apparently. Just because it happens to everybody doesn't mean she has to like it!

Skateboarding gear, electric guitar, a keyboard... "You've just got all sorts of stuff, don't you," Suzume says. By this point she's turned to get herself some of that tea, because frankly she could use it. "Two others, huh? I didn't think there'd be that many."

Suzume had her first Dark Hour in the hospital. At least she was somewhere safe for it, unlike Ririka, apparently. And in her (extremely brief) exploration she had found that almost nobody was awake in it.

She starts to lean back and move like she's going to put her feet on the table - but she realizes she should not, and drops them flat back on the floor after a moment. She looks up at Ririka again, this time low because she's sitting and not because she's short. "Yeah," she says, after a long pause. "It's real. Don't do it, even if you've got the guts to finish it. And yes, I was in there."

A pause, then: "TV? *Minifridge*? That's better than my room at home." 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka lets out a half-sigh, half-chuckle at Suzume's protest. "Fine, fine, Suzume-chan. Gotcha." She knew better than to push at buttons needlessly.
 
      "Keyboard and an electric guitar? Way cool. Just try not to play too late, though. Kirijo-san'll have your head. The walls are pretty thick, but not THAT thick. I'd definitely like to hear it, though." She smiles at Ririka, deciding to finally take some tea and taking a sip. "Ooh, hot."
 
      "Seems like there's been a lot of these weird games popping up lately... Someone's gonna get really hurt one of these days... The Dark Hour is bad enough, really..." She lets out another sigh, shaking her head.
 
      "Minifridge! I said this place used to be a hotel. Though these fridges aren't gonna charge you an arm and a leg." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

She's got all that stuff, and her acoustic guitar case over on top of her bags, to boot. She just smiles politely to Suzume. "My music is very important to me." That's an understatement. She doesn't address the skateboarding though.

She looks to Suzume curiously, "What was it like?" Suzume hasn't copped to knowing what the Dark Hour is, so she doesn't ask her to compare, but she is curious. But the takes the warning seriously, and with a nod. "I think I'd rather avoid anything else too... dangerous, for the moment."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't. I mostly save the electric guitar for band practice." She blinks a little. "Kirijo-san? Like the Kirijo Group?" But there is a much more earnest and genuine smile that pops up on her face as Shizuka says she'd like to hear Ririka play. "I'd be delighted to."

That enthusiasm dies down a moment later. "It's scary enough thinking the Dark Hour exists..."

"I don't think I've ever had a minifridge... or even a TV. I wonder how much room there is to hook stuff up..." 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume would probably question the 'chan', but she's already got one victory tonight. She can wait on the rest of it.

"Apparently," Suzume says, "Kirijo Group is important around here. And Kirijo-san," she means Mitsuru of course, "is in third year. Apparently this is her dorm too. So yeah. Though if you're on the floor with the second-years you might be safe," she adds. "If that's how they sort them, anyway. I haven't been upstairs yet."

What was it like?

Suzume hunches slightly. Despite her bravery - bravado even - it's still awfully fresh in her mind. It's a raw memory that it isn't comfortable to turn over. "Weird," she says, "and yeah, I know that doesn't say much. It was like train tracks, under the subway, but not. We got lost in them, me and my friend Yamamoto." Jiro Yamamoto, also a second-year. "I did the dare, but he was watching so he could back me up when I said I finished it, and I guess that's enough. And there's monsters in there. Shambling things, flying things. He ran... tripped, twisted his ankle. I stuck with him. That's where I met - " She waves a hand, as if indicating the dorms, or someone in them.

"...he's not moving into these dorms." He, apparently, didn't have whatever SEES was looking for. He didn't pick up the Evoker. She doesn't know if he could. "He's okay, though. Or will be once his ankle's healed, he might be limping for a bit."

"So," she says, looking up at Ririka. "Spill. How'd they find you? Don't just say 'oh, they found me'." 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      "Kirijo-san's the SEES captain, so she's in charge. And she isn't THAT scary. Only a little scary. She's nice, she's nice. You'll be fine, really." Shizuka gives a small shrug of her shoulders.
 
      "Monsters... I wonder if they're anything like Shadows... Probably just as dangerous. Could be worth exploring at some point. Might be something to bring up to Ikutsuki-sensei. But I'm glad that you're safe. Trust me, I know what it's like getting caught in a situation like that."
 
      She chuckles and points over to Ririka. "We were on the trail, but it's more like she found us. Skateboarding in, pursued by Shadows. Happens every so often that a person finds themselves aware of the Dark Hour, and the Shadows won't hesitate to get on you." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka looks at Suzume. "Do you mean Mitsuru Kirijo?" That's really the only third year she knows who's a third year at their school. For some reason her cheeks are a little flushed. But she looks to Shizuka for confirmation. "I didn't think the Student Council President would be involved in something like this..." But Shizuka confirms she's the captain. "Amazing..."

"I only visited the lobby when I was here on Saturday," Ririka comments, of upstairs.

But she does see that discomfort. "Sorry, if it's too painful for you..." But she listens, dutifully. Train trakcs, well... you can do it at a train station, so that makes sense.

"That sounds like a terrible experience. I'm glad your friend wasn't injured too badly."

Suzume wants her to share her own story. Fair's fair, then. "Well, after the festival on Saturday I wanted to go out and clear my head. So I went out to this skateboarding spot I know to skateboard for a while. I'd already started heading home when... midnight hit." She shivers a little. "It was... disturbing. All the people vanished, everything turned green... and then Shadows started chasing me. If I hadn't had my skateboard, I might not have been able to outrun them."

"I didn't know where else to go, so I just headed for the train station nearby, and... thankfully SEES was able to reach me. They brought me back here to explain and wait out the Dark Hour, then escorted me back to the station." 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume notes that, of everybody, Kirijo gets her name un-mangled by Shizuka. She can't help but suppress a smirk at that. "If there's another one I don't know about her."

"I don't know much about Shadows," Suzume says, which means 'I don't know anything about Shadows'. "That's what they were doing, though. Exploring. It's not like any of you people knew we were in there. I explored a little, too - I mean, before Yamamoto got hurt."

Suzume swings her bag in front of her and digs. She pulls out - is that a tonfa? She tosses it, underhand, at Shizuka. "Catch." It's not hard to actually catch; just a baton with a side-bar grip. It looks a bit like something you'd see police use, a nightclub.

"I found this in Mementos. I'm keeping it," she adds. "Them. I kind of wish they were a wood pair, though. These make me look like I'm some American security guard." Suzume is a short Japanese girl. Not much will actually make her look like a security guard. "But I figure I deserve a souvenir."

And Ririka explains. "Huh," she says, thinking about it. Then: "I saw the Dark Hour last night, too. Got told to stay up. I figured it was because they were checking if I had a concussion. But I didn't see any Shadows." She sounds grudgingly impressed; if she outran Shadows on her board she managed as well as Suzume did. 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka yelps and grabs at the tonfa, turning it around in her hands and grabbing the handle. "Whoa, that's pretty cool. Just like Trial of the Dragon! Yeah, this'll definitely help ya during the Dark Hour. Whack those Shadows good!"
 
      "And yeah, you'll be experiencing a lot more of 'em. You don't even get the decency of an extra hour's sleep out of it. Talk about a rip-off. But Kirijo-san and Sanada-san will probably tell you more about all that when you're all settled in." She tosses the tonfa back over to Suzume and finishes off her tea.
 
      "We should probably think about gettin' your bags up before it gets too late. If you end up falling asleep before unpacking, you'll never end up getting around to it. I know that from experience." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

"All I know is they apparently chase anyone not in a coffin during the Dark Hour..." Ririka shivers again at that.

There is a frown of concern as Suzume brings out a weapon. "You found a weapon in a place like that...? Is it really okay to just take it? Doesn't it belong to someone?"

Souvenier. "... I do suppose it's nice to have something for your trouble..." Ririka concedes.

"They told you to stay up? Did they explain at all what would happen?" She doesn't bother pointing out the earlier BOLD-FACED LIE she saida bout the Dark Hour, though.

But she does perk up at Shizuka. "You've watched Trial of the Dragon?" She sighs a little. "I'm still getting used to the idea that those will happen whether I'm awake for it or not..."

But she nods and finishes off her tea and her current cookie. "That sounds like a great idea. I know I won't be able to be comfortable unless I have everything sorted out." She ets up and makes sure to rinse her dishes, then goes to her bags. 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

"Yeah," Suzume replies to Ririka, "it belongs to me. It was in a box. I don't know why the box was there. There was a locked one, too, but we couldn't get it open. That was before we saw any monsters, so it was creepy, but we didn't know what was going to happen after that..."

She trails off.

Suzume catches the tonfa when Shizuka tosses it back to her, snagging the handle. She shoves it back in her backpack. The other one's in there too, along with another set of clothes and some... electronics? There was definitely a cable in there...

"What, you can't sleep through it? Normally I'm not up at midnight," Suzume says. Surely SEES doesn't call them out EVERY night... "And they said something would happen to me, yeah. But they didn't know about Yamamoto." A pause. "He turned into a coffin." Since Ririka already explained that happened to most people.

She considers a moment, shoots back what's left of her tea, and bounds to her feet. "Sounds like a good plan to me," she agrees. "I don't have a lot tonight; unlike SOME people I travel light." She sounds a good deal more good-natured about Ririka's stuff than she did before. "I've got a few more things at home, though. Just, if I wanted to get here tonight - and they wanted me in as soon as possible, I guess so that I wasn't somewhere else during the Dark Hour - I just had to grab and go."

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