2025-08-11: Promise Me You Won't Go Alone
- Log: Promise Me You Won't Go Alone
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Ayame Watanabe
- Where: Seven Sisters High School Courtyard, Rengedai Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: August 11, 2025
- IC Date: June 23, 2012
- Summary: Shinjiro, investigating Joker Killer rumors outside Seven Sisters during school hours, is approached by math teacher Ikkaku Watanabe. After a coughing fit and sharing his motives, Shinjiro receives Ikkaku's school emblem to ward him against the serial killer.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
There is a nuisance currently at Seven Sisters High School. Someone has been asked to talk to them.
Shinjiro Aragaki, Gekkoukan High's truant of the year, has been poking around the school, ever since Julian Marlowe advised him to stop poking around Kasugayama during school hours. He's currently outside in the courtyard, hanging near the statue, waiting for Good Students to stop by so he can ask them some questions.
Questions about the Joker Killer, of course, trying to probe into what people know, what the feeling is, and how dangerous and scary he is. He's come off as brusque and a little intimidating in the process.
So far he has the name Anna Yoshizaka as a potential clue, but is loathe to actually bug her right away. If she killed someone via proxy... that'll be awkward. And if she didn't? It'll be traumatizing for her.
He's got a small sandwich wrapped up and is taking a bite. It smells really good, different meats and cheeses. He's been sleeping a little better, so he's got some energy.
Even so, he doesn't look healthy, a little gaunt with tired eyes, and his clothes (winter clothes, clearly, not the kind you'd wear in this heat) are clearly the mark of someone who only wears one outfit all the damn time. But even then...
It's not like he has a choice. His conscience wouldn't let him choose anything different as a path.
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
Ikkaku Watanabe has gotten a lot of jobs nobody else particularly wants since the Principal died, and he has done most of them without complaint. ...But this one is especially without complaint. He doesn't mind dealing with mysterious Youths.
So it is that a math teacher is the one who has been sent out to see to Shinjiro Aragaki. Ikkaku is a man of about 5'8", with shaggy brown hair and deep purple eyes. He wears a nice brown suit and tie. And...
Well, he at least is aware that Anna tends to skip school a lot these days anyway.
"Oh, good choice," Ikkaku says as he approaches Shinjiro. "That's a nice combination. My wife made me one of those the other day..."
A nod, then. "Good day, young man," he says more formally.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As the math teacher arrives, Shinjiro glances over. A little bit unassuming, shorter than him... probably not a threat by any real definition, except for the 'calls the cops' version.
But Shinjiro has work to do. And... the teacher starts by complimenting his sandwich? Huh.
"It's pretty good. Didn't have anyone to make it for me, though," he says, dry joking at the end. He shuffles, but doesn't leave, looking around. Just one teacher, huh?
"I'll be gone once I get some information," Shinjiro decides on saying. He's not going to bug Yoshizaka either way... the deed was done. He needs something more actionable, like an idea of who and how he's gonna strike next. Maybe he can save somebody this time, and Sevens is a big school. Kids probably *hate* each other there.
That matters more than having the cops called on him, in this moment.
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
Ikkaku could just tell him to pound sand, but where would that get him? An angry teenager and no closer to solving whatever problem there is.
"Heh. I'm a lucky man that way," he says freely of having a wife to make him a sandwich. Ikkaku notices him looking around... And indeed, it's just him.
"Information?" Ikkaku wonders. "Well, I happen to be in the business of giving young people information, as it happens!"
A beat, "But I assume you're not here looking for the Pythagorean Theorem." A pause.
"Jokes aside, I might be able to help, in that case. The student body has a strong handle on rumors... But that's not always reliable information. Especially not for an outsider."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Is that the triangle?" Shinjiro asks about MATH QUESTIONS. He was a gym kid.
As Ikkaku offers to help, Shinjiro squints. Normally, he'd brush off a teacher, but JUST THE OTHER DAY a teacher offered him private information about the Joker Killer so he's kinda at a loss about teacher motives now. Are they perhaps... individual people? (Yes, Shinjiro.)
"I don't have the leverage I need to get in with them. They're preppy, the 'good kid' kind of people. I'm not. ...I'm looking for information on the Joker Killer." A beat, since that was probably obvious. "Some way to prevent him from hurting anyone else, you know? Heard about your boss. Sorry."
Woah, that's pretty heavy for a teenager. But his eyes are determined. The topic might be steerable by an experienced adult, as long as it involves that determination, perhaps.
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
"It is not," Ikkaku confirms, his voice letting Shinjiro down easy about it. "But if you do end up looking for math questions, I have some good study guides..."
He doubts it, though. Shinjiro is a boy on a mission. From the way he squints that much is clear. And the way he talks about leverage...
"I see," Ikkaku answers, looking more serious now that Shinjiro has revealed his aim. "No, they're likely to remain suspicious of you. The 'cool delinquent' may be a stereotype at Sevens, but if they don't know you they're as likely to assume you're from Kasugayama--which isn't ideal, if you want to get anything out of them."
The Joker Killer.. hmm.
"You remind me of some students I had once," he admits. "I'm not going to dissuade you by mentioning how dangerous he is, am I?" A shake of his head. "No, I assume not."
"...Thank you, though. It scared the student body quite a bit, when it happened. They say it looked like he'd been attacked by dogs, not by something human..." A serious look at Shinjiro. "That's the kind of thing you're dealing with here."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Oh," Shinjiro says as he gets MATH WRONG. He is okay with this. He shrugs at the math questions, since, that is indeed not why he's here.
"That feud is really a lot. Gekkoukan doesn't have shit like that." To be fair, it's like, the only school on its island and they're all rich. Which begs the question of why a kid is here instead of going to school.
"No," Shinjiro confirms. "A lot of people are dangerous. More than you'd know. Can't live in fear of that."
Though, as Ikkaku seemingly tries to dissuade him with the dogs, instead, his brain is working. "Dogs... dogs..." Tatsuya Sudou, how did you get dogs at an insane asylum? No, maybe they're not dogs. It is Sumaru, after all. But that's all conjecture... he has no idea how the Joker Killer works.
"I know. You hear about Kasugayama? Big gang raid? They have a policy to dissuade any mention of the Joker Killer, clamp down on it. Why the hell do that if he didn't do it? Rumors are Sumaru's lifeblood."
A pause, though. "You seem like a good teacher. Is this really worth your time?" He means 'talking to me' in general, clearly, as he shifts when he says that again, taking a bite of his sandwich.
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
It's related to triangles at least. Math likes shapes!
Gekkoukan... is that where he goes, then? Ikkaku files that tidbit away.
More than he'd know. "You'd be surprised," Ikkaku reflects seriously, his gaze turning distant for a moment. Just a moment, though.
"Some say 'demons'," Ikkaku says, "But that's obviously impossible. Demons don't exist."
But the big gang raid? A policy... "That doesn't surprise me," he admits with a sigh. "Are they trying not to worry the students, or just to maintain their image? ...Ah, I shouldn't speculate on the latter. It gives students the wrong idea."
A good teacher. "Well, thank you," Ikkaku says. "But I think it is. Besides, if I don't do it they'll get one of the gym teachers to come out and try to run you off. I'd rather attend to your concerns than treat you like a nuisance."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Ikkaku's gaze turns distant, and Shinjiro watches. As he mentions demons, and impossibility... "That's what they say," as if he doesn't believe it himself that they don't exist. "That'd explain..." The explosion at Kasugayama, wouldn't it? Demons. It makes a lot of sense, actually. (It's not actually why there was an explosion. That was just a landmine.)
Though, as he trails off, Ikkaku thanks him. His concerns, huh... that causes Shinjiro to react. "Tch, I'm fine." He says, stressing out. Is this teacher just pitying some delinquent? He takes a step to the side, and...
Suddenly, it comes on. He's clearly under more stress than he's showing.
Shinjiro covers his mouth, as he begins coughing, starting with a few and then a full blown fit. Someone isn't very healthy, and clearly isn't taking care of it. He shivers, as if freezing cold, as he grabs a handkerchief, wiping what is clearly little bits of blood and phlegm off his hand and mouth.
"I'm fine," he lies, trying to push away someone new from caring whatsoever. He's a stranger. Ikkaku doesn't need to worry.
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
So Shinjiro doesn't believe in the impossibility. Is he superstitious, or like the others? ...Ikkaku isn't going to 'out' them regardless by comparing them aloud. But he does wonder.
He says he's fine, and Ikkaku lifts an eyebrow. But before he can argue--
It comes on, and Shinjiro is coughing. "Hey--"
"You are absolutely not fine," Ikkaku says, his voice taking on more authority. "And if you don't want me to call an ambulance, you're going to take a seat on that bench there until you recover."
For some reason, he assumes Shinjiro doesn't want to deal with hospitals... or cops.
He will lead Shinjiro over given the chance, and sit with him until he stops coughing.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro is going to refuse, as he keeps coughing. It's clear. But as he thinks about it... the ambulance statement suddenly becomes Alarming.
Less because of cops, more because of Mitsuru Kirijo finding out. That wouldn't be fun.
Therefore, he follows Ikakku to the bench, taking a seat. It takes about a minute, maybe, as his battered internals take their toll on him. "I'm fine," he says genuinely this time, knowing it cleared up. "My organs aren't good," he elides the explanation, since this guy's not going to care about him tomorrow.
It's even clear he thinks that, a little bit of dismissiveness to his voice, as if it's not worth the time. "But I have to stop this guy. He took someone important to me. So any information anyone could give... would be enough to make that difference."
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
Ikkaku can wait. He's outlasted children on matters before. He has had to be the firm authority where his wife was tempted to let her heart melt. ...So he can handle Shinjiro's stubbornness.
So when Shinjiro moves to follow, he doesn't rub it in; Ikkaku just moves and sits with him, and waits. He's fine, and this time he seems to mean it...
"I see," Ikkaku answers. So he's sick. That much is plain. He batters right through that dismissiveness to listen ahead to the next statement.
"So, it's personal..." Hmm. "Well," Ikkaku says, "I'd prefer if you left it to the authorities... But you won't. So I'll give you another piece of information."
"The rumors say that the Seven Sisters Emblem will protect you from the Joker." He reaches into his suit pocket and pulls--a Sevens emblem. "...If it gets too rough, maybe this will help you."
"If you think that sounds crazy, then abandon your hopes of finding the Killer. ...If you don't..."
"Then at least promise me you won't go alone. Information's all I can give, I'm afraid."
"...A man like me can't compete with serial killers."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"The authorities won't do shit," Shinjiro finally says brusquely. "They can't do shit." He sighs, not elaborating.
But as Ikkaku pulls out the emblem, his eyes widen. "I... can't take this. I know what it means."
But Ikkaku asks him to promise not to go alone, and Shinjiro swallows his pride and takes the emblem. Perhaps... it'll help. Julian Marlowe had one, too, so.
Shinjiro rises to his feet, looking towards the courtyard and entrance again, as if to start leaving. "Thanks. ...name's Shinjiro Aragaki. Wish Gekkoukan had a teacher like you, it'd be better off."
<Pose Tracker> Ayame Watanabe has posed.
They won't, and they can't. Ikkaku looks a little sad at that--but not like he disagrees.
He knows what it means. "Who's going to bother a math teacher?" Ikkaku says with a smile. "It's fine. I'm just another teacher."
Shinjiro accepts. And maybe it will help; maybe it won't. Eihther way...
"You're welcome," the teacher answers. "I'm Ikkaku Watanabe. Good to meet you, Aragaki-kun." A pause. "Gekkoukan... Hmmm."
"Well, I appreciate the compliment! But I hope I don't find out for myself! I want to stick around Sevens for a while."
A smile. "Take care."
He'll rise from the bench when he watches Shinjiro go, and go back to work.
...He probably won't mention this to Ayame. There's no need to worry her with talk of serial killers.