2025-10-08: Kasugayama High School After Hours
- Log: Kasugayama High School After Hours
- Cast: Katsuya Suou, Yukari Takeba, Hitomi Mandai, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Kasugayama High School - Classroom Building
- OOC Date: October 08, 2025
- IC Date: July 23, 2012
- Summary: About a month ago, the Joker Killer attacked Kasugayama High School. The odds of any clues being left behind is slim, but Katsuya still would like to confirm it for himself. Joining his team are Yukari, Hitomi, and the mysterious Ogre, for supernatural zones are better not entered alone, and especially not after hours, when the school building is locked. Come for the breaking and entering, stay for the terrible, bad, awful puns. When the humans are away, the demons will play!
MONAD: A party led by Katsuya Suou has begun the event Clean Out Kasugayama High!.
(|==================== Monad - Clean Out Kasugayama High! ====================|)
-==== Round 1: Locked Out - Challenge Level 1 =================================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Charm |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, Curse - -1 to Group Roll (Per |
| Character), Scary - Guts Down L1, and Soft - Understanding Up L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Sometimes, in order to enter a delinquent's domain, you have to think like one.
Just round the corner and maybe find an open window or door, slip in, presto,
you're in. Usually, the students of this school would be exiting, but it's just
a matter of working backwards in order to get *in*, right?
"... AH, ExcusE SKeleTON." The polite(?) Gashadokuro's skeleton body is rather
large; thankfully, it's only the upper half. It's trying to reach up to the
second floor, but, unfortunately, the open window is rather small for its clumsy
large skeleton hands. "LoCKed OUt. PLEAse CLImB in AND UNlock For SKELeton?"
It thinks for a moment. "IF TOO haRD, Go IN SKeleTON MoUth? GoOD PlACe for
HuMAN."
It does not seem to realize the concept of it being just a little too big for
the human sized school building. Whatever you do, you can't really let the
skeleton in, but they're being polite, right?
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
GAME: Ichika Kawase sets her Casual Summer desc!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Not only has Kasugayama High School been recommended to Katsuya as a potential place to investigate in general if he's interested in obtaining certain supernatural materials which may be of use in his general mission of late these days (he's already encountered demons that can absolutely shrug off what he can bring to bear), but it's also a place that the Joker had attacked. True, it was an attack about a month ago (for various largely work-related reasons he's never been able to follow up directly) but that doesn't mean that it's not worth taking a closer look.
It's better not to be here when students are around, which is fair. However, given that he's not exactly doing this officially, and given that he's been moved to the night shift of late that means--
The front door is locked. This would have been an early end for this investigation. But, Katsuya is a detective, and a little survey around the side--
He's not the only one here. Only thing. Only thing here. "... AH, ExcusE SKeleTON," says a too large, too bleached ivory, too skeletal face as the Gashadokuro leans down to stare into the first floor classroom. Katsuya doesn't yell, or scream, or anything like that, but he does back up sharply. To be fair, most people (probably) would?
There's... a window up there. Is that the one way in? He's not sure how he feels about that, other than 'not great', admittedly.
"Er... can I help you?" he asks, before the skeleton demon indicates with one massive hand to, apparently, some window on the floor above them. "LoCKed OUt. PLEAse ClIMb in anD unLOCK foR sKelETOn?"
Or, it suggests, if that's too hard its mouth is always an option.
Katsuya considers his options.
"It seems that you want to get inside this school. You seem to be... a polite skeleton," he hazards, readjusting his sunglasses. "Might I ask you why? Is there something in there that you need that you can't get somewhere else? Surely, you can tell me about it." Perhaps the first step to dissuading it is to find out why it wants to go in, in the first place. And for that, he'll want to get on its good side. "I would be happy to help you out, but first I need to know more."
MONAD: Katsuya Suou has acted with Advise toward Locked Out! Friendliness and Diligence!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Why is she hereeeee? Well, it's because she decided any additional cram sessions for tomorrow would be absolutely fruitless.
"Well, I guess breaking into a school is fine if a police officer is supervising it..."
That is how it works right? She thinks? It's called 'deputizing!' She's a deputy. The front door didn't work, but then-!
"W-W-Wha-What is that!?" She says as the Skeleton reappears, but then falls silent as if processing their words, and Katsuya's diplomacy as the Skeleton suggests they get inside it's mouth.
"That's... gotta be a trick right?" She asks, quietly, "Well... he is pretty polite but, still..."
Holding her bow behind her back nervously, she eventually steps up... and...
"... You know, looking at you now..." Yukari seems to inspect him, "... have you considered painting your skull? I think they do that in other countries. You know, like... Guatamala or some... place. But I think it'll help show off how... unique you are!"
She nods quickly, "But given that though, I think riding in your mouth is just the wrong place for this? What happens if we damage your sparkling..."
Pause.
"... teeth?"
How would that happen other than him crunching his teeth against their own bones!?
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Mall Trawl toward Locked Out! Empathy and Friendliness!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
HITOMI MANDAI...
... is similarly studymaxxed, and whatever strange thing involving graph paper she's been working on is 'workably complete,' she had said, 'ready when I get a chance,' she had continued, and 'ohohohoho *cough* hoho' when or if pressed further.
She seems mildly pleased to be deputized, if you listen to how Yukari's talking, and she has mostly walked around on the way to Cuss High, remarking on the way, "I thought I was gonna end up going here, so it's sort of funny how it's happening like this"
UNTIL - SKELETON!!!
Hitomi flinches back, eyes widening to saucerlike size behind her glasses even as she lets out a 'gahhh' before-- before the skeleton speaks to them -- and makes a proposal. Hitomi pants shallowly for a few moments, one hand going to her chest, over her heart.
lub dub, lub dub, lub dub, lub dub
'Come on, stupid, if you can't improvise to a skeleton how are you ever going to be a G*me M*ster?' thinks Hitomi Mandai to her greatest enemy and hated foe, Hitomi Mandai. She clears her throat, and says then, "Yeah, we're really... full of acid and hard stuff and everything," she begins. "I think the painting would be a good idea but I actually want to ask you something."
"You guys play dice, games, or anything?" As she says this, Hitomi reaches into her utility pockets and brings out what looks to all the world like a deck of playing cards, one clearly purchased from some combini somewhere, but with its wrapper already removed. She pops it open and taps out two of the jokers as well as the little pamphlet full of fun games you can play when it's raining, and sticks it forwards into the door jamb of the --
Is she trying to jimmy the lock? She pivots her arm around, to pivot the card around, biting her lower lip as she lines up one eye and squints. "I mean, like, Kasugayama students," she adds, having already, to all appearances, gotten over the skeleton.
(In her heart, Hitomi Mandai thinks: aaaaaaaaaaa talking skeletooooooon but it's sort of a background roar).
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Youthful Fun With Card Games toward Locked Out! Diligence and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika Kawase has theoretically had more than enough of Kasugayama High School for the day, considering that she was in finals all day. But that isn't quite so. She's investigating, too. ...She heard there were some students disappearing at night, and it's not like she's going to be getting more studying in today. She wasn't going to go in, but--
There are other people going in. Ichika thinks about it...
And finds that thanks to the big skeleton, she can transform into her Rebellion outfit. So, Ichika is not here:
The Ogre is here.
She steps up, striding into the group and looking up at the giant skeleton. "Sorry," she says. "I'm not feeling it on the first date."
A grin, and she tilts her head. Ogre is a tall girl in riot armor over samurai type clothes, with a big horned mask over the upper part of her face.
"True, you are pretty unique," the Ogre agrees, "But I'm not letting you in. I decide who stays and goes, and you haven't impressed me yet. Maybe if you get your skull painted and wait for it to try, I'll let you in."
Games, dice... Hmmmm.
"But right now?"
"You're not gonna fit in at all. You'll just get laughed at. You might cry. It'll be bad."
Ichika notices Hitomi jimmying the lock...
And crosses her arms. "You have got to learn to be cool, Mr. Skeleton."
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Charm toward Locked Out! Base!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Locked Out - Round 1 ====================================================- Katsuya Suou Charm Success Advise Friendliness and Diligence Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yukari Takeba Charm Success Mall Trawl Empathy and Friendliness Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hitomi Mandai Proficiency Success Youthful Fun With Ca Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-2, Curse-0, Scary-2, and Soft-2 Final Conditions: Clumsy-1, Scary-1, and Soft-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | =====================================================- (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Well, he didn't come here alone, of course.
"U-under the circumstances," Katsuya tries to argue (more for his own morale than for any real attempt to sway Yukari), "perhaps it's allowable. Since I'm no longer assigned to the case, I have no reason to be in here otherwise..." He could lie, though. What are they going to do, call the police? Well, maybe they would, and then he'd be in a whole lot of trouble. Arguably not as much trouble as if he got caught trespassing (that is what this is) but technically speaking, trespassing is a crime they've all ended up committing regularly these days.
Maybe it's the lesser problem, though, given that there's a giant skeleton out here, trying to get into the school building.
Katsuya glances back over one shoulder, noticing that others have gathered here. That one with the ogre motif... didn't he see her at Aoba? She was another friend of Tsubasa's, he thinks. But with the skeleton right here, being so polite... it seems rude to press about that here and now. Besides, it would be bad to get caught outside.
...Does that other girl (Hitomi) have a Persona? She seems somewhat rattled, though she rallies enough to make her own offer to the skeleton--
Why is it trying to get inside anyway?
"InSIIIDe. HuMaNS pLAyINg siTTIng! SkELetOn. WaNTS. PlaY tOO!!"
Maybe it should try painting its face. After all, that Ogre there agrees with Yukari and says it's a little too plain as it stands.
"Myyy SkULl? PlAIN?? NoT waNT LauGHeD aT! SkelEToN go. CoLoR fACe! BrIGHt cOLoRs GooD! ThEn cOme BAck! PlaY gAAAAmes!"
ENCYCLOPEDIA: In ancient times, dice were often made from sheep knucklebones.
...Somehow, Katsuya thinks this might be rude to mention. "Well, you heard them all. Once you go and paint your, er, skull, you'll be presentable to come and play. Perhaps we'll meet again then," he says, trying not to think about how... how, something. This all is.
Click! Hitomi, meanwhile, has jimmied the window open. As the skeleton trundles away, Katsuya considers the window, and considers the locked front door.
"...So this is the only way in..."
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has drawn a new Challenge!
(|==================== Monad - Clean Out Kasugayama High! ====================|)
-==== Round 2: Stop Harping On About It! - Challenge Level 2 ==================-
| Approach Options: Charm or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, Ineptitude - Proficiency Down L2, |
| Scary - Guts Down L1, Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana., Soft - Understanding |
| Up L1, and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Pressing past this darkened hallway into the gymnasium, there's a rush of air
and a kiss of claws and feathers.
The winged woman of Greek myth, the Harpy, swoops by, settling one claw on a
basketball goal with the other holding something that may seem familiar to
someone in the party; likely something picked up recently, or something likewise
easily accessible to a winged pickpocket.
"Hohoho~ I hope you won't be missing that~"
"Oh please, sister, let me join in as well!"
"Me too! Ueheheheh!"
Another Harpy swoops by as the first throws the item to them, in turn throwing
it to a third Harpy in a cruel game of keep away.
You'll need to get the item down by force or by other means if you want it back.
Considering the other trinkets they wear, you might get something back and then
some, if you play your cards right.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"You thought you were gonna end up at the school for delinquents?" Yukari seems taken aback, "Were you running... an illegal gambling ring, Mandai-chan?"
Not a question to ask in front of a cop, YUKARI!
THEN SKELETON!
"... Y-Yeah, bone melting... acid blood."
There's no way that one will work, she thinks, as she tries to back them up before she asks about them playing dice and games!? "Why do you think a skeleton would!?" She whispers harshly. Then, the Ogre arrives...! And... "W-Wha...?" Yukari looks a little red, before, "... You think you can just say things like that?"
And then Hitomi has managed to get the window opened, and Yukari sighs in relief as it leaves to paint it's skull. "I'm so glad that actually worked."
As they climb in, they find themselves in a Dark Hallway, and they wander down the hallway towards the Gymnasium. And as they do! There's a blur from above that descends upon-!
HITOMI!
-before fluttering away! "Hohoho~ I hope you won't be missing that~" And in it's claws, it waggles something holographic! A Super Rare Card!
Before another descends upon Yukari! And with a slip of a claw, takes her heart choker away before flying on up! "Oh please, sister, let me join in as well!" "HEY!" Yukari shouts in alarm and rage.
And a third-!!!! Snatches Katsuya's red sunglasses! That's like marring the smile on the Mona Lisa! "Me too! Ueheheheh!"
These are Harpys, Greek Demons who are now, gleefully capering from basketball goal to basketball goal in aerial stunts, tossing up the objects, as another sister swoops down to catch them.
Now, how does Yukari resolve the theft of a precious object? She nocks an arrow and- let's it fly, trying to pin a Harpy Wing to a basketball goal.
"You birdbrains. You think we're just going to stand here and let you STEAL from us? Now give it back or I'll have Aragaki-senpai turn what's left of you into Karaage."
Well, that's one way to negotiate.
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Mean Girl toward Stop Harping On About It!! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Despite being the tallest of Team SEES, Hitomi has a discernibly lessened presence compared to the others, as if she's been beaten down somehow by life. Then, after a click (and an adjustment to make sure it doesn't just latch shut again,) Hitomi says, "Tada~" and puts her cards in her pocket again. Ichika gets a somewhat watery smile.
"I guess so," Hitomi says. She leans in to try and shove the window further up and open. It moves a few more centimeters. She grumbles, but... she can make it.
"What? No!" she says then to Yukari, with obvious and honest indignation. "What the hell. Do you think I'd just go around organizing some kind of illegal game ring at my school? Do I look like I'm missing any fingers? Did you see my giant irezumi on my back that shows how much of a hardass I am?!"
"No! I didn't do anything like that!" Hitomi continues. She lets out a huff of breath. "Sorry," she says afterwards, mumbling a little. She has to wedge herself through the window; she goes last, being the one with the biggest cross section as *well* as the tallest SEESite.
"Anyway, it's stupidly easy if they don't have an electric lock," Hitomi continues in her more normal tone of voice once they're inside. "I can show you sometime but you do kind of need the touch with the cards, since part of it is that they're flexible? But they're stiff at the same time, so it's kind of a dynamic surface. So are we going to find a particular point in here or is it more of a -"
SWOOP
*This* time Hitomi loses her shit. She topples over with a 'gwah!?' of dismay and defeat before the harpy slips away. She slaps at her hips and the pockets in her jacket and while it takes the latter to find it, she feels something. Hitomi takes out the pack of cards and looks into it. Her eyes are wide again with horror.
And then anger.
Hitomi gets the deck of cards back out. She doesn't speak until after she's flicked two of them up at the harpy's face, expertly drawing them off. Nine of hearts! Four of spades! Jack of spades!
"Maybe we should tell her the procedure," Hitomi answers Yukari, "but *backwards.*." Flick! (Queen of Diamonds.) "Just so there's no *spoilers.* And if you're thinking you can just fly off, this guy here," flick! (2 of clubs) as Hitomi tilts her head at Katsuya, "was just telling us he got taken off the case... for what he did to a suspect who wouldn't co-op--" flick! (5 of hearts) "erate."
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Youthful Fun With Card Games toward Stop Harping On About It!! Diligence and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
The Ogre shrugs expansively to Yukari. "I can say what I want," she says. Then she pauses. "But I lied. I probably would on a first date."
She smirks as she walks away from Yukari.
"It's cool," Ogre says to Katsuya as she stops with the others. "You can be here. I give you permission."
But the Skeleton just wanted to play... hmmm. It's fine.
Ichika--the Ogre--is not as tall as Hitomi without the horns, but she certainly does have a presence. She considers Hitomi. "I've thought about getting into card games. Any tips?"
But illegal gambling rings...
Hmmm.
"I don't think Kasu High has a gambling ring," she reflects.
Electric lock... hmmm. "Oh that's cool," she says of the lock. "I can't pick locks, I'm no good at it. I break nails."
But Ogre looks over at the Harpies as they throw their objects and start their stunts. Yukari lets fly with an arrow, and the Ogre grins at her. "You're cool after all," she says. Then, she straightens her back and starts to say, "You know guys, I'm pretty hungry. You ever had fresh bird, roast on a campfire?"
"It's the best. You have to pluck the feathers first if you want to avoid burnt bird, but the plucking makes the meat really tender, too."
"Cards!!!
"You know, a bullet hole probably doesn't ruin the flavor," she points out on Hitomi's note about Katsuya.
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Nature Talk toward Stop Harping On About It!! Diligence and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"You-- what? I was not aware that..." he starts, then trails off. Technically speaking he does need someone to give him permission to be here, it's just that it should be coming through official channels rather than...
But maybe he should take this as a 'win' and stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. "Right... I see." So long as 'Ogre' gives him permission, it's fine. ...This is not actually doing anything to quell his guilty conscience, but he'll have to grin and bear it.
"An illegal-- what??"
Yukari really shouldn't have mentioned it in front of Katsuya, of all people. At least there's a skeleton here to keep him from getting too fixated on the subject! Also, noticing (until the deed is done) that she's jimmied open the window. Probably, he should lecture her about that, too, but...
...wasn't he planning on doing something like that anyway...? Nobody likes a hypocrite, Suou-kun.
Speaking of being here in general as a member of the powers that be, though!
But then it's through the window (this takes some doing for someone Katsuya's size, but he does it without mussing up his nice suit too much) and into the building.
Ogre remarks, by the by, that she doesn't think that Kasu has a gambling ring.
"...Oh, I see," says Katsuya, who thought that was the case apparently?
They're not alone in here, though.
Swoop!
Just like that, his sunglasses have been stolen right off his face. "What--" cue some reaching for a pair of sunglasses that just aren't there anymore, "--Those are prescription! Return those, at once!"
This is not working on the Harpies. At all. Katsuya takes a breath: slowly, now, act angrily, and he might have to go through with this with impaired vision and pay the fees for a new pair of sunglasses come tomorrow. Which won't even be available for weeks. "Now-- surely, this isn't what you wish to do with your life! There is more to be had than commiting petty theft! Whatever concerns or, even dreams, you might have, I'm willing to listen--"
He looks sidelong at Hitomi, faintly horrified at she's implying he did,
"--just, give me back my sunglasses, please."
Someone should tell him that was a cue to play along.
MONAD: Katsuya Suou has acted with Advise toward Stop Harping On About It!! Friendliness and Diligence!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Ogre keeps her looking REAL scandalized, "On the first date!? What kind of girl are you???"
Whereas Hitomi's response actually takes her off-guard between the ferocity of it and her giving Katsuya a nervous look upon realizing she said it in front of him, she looks awkward for a moment, before, "Hey... I'm sorry, I just couldn't imagine you doing anything else that could cause you to end up in a school like this?"
And then, the harpies! Yukari's arrow strikes a wing, as one Harpy squawks and begins to try and flap pathetically to try and get their wing free.
"Oh, uh, thanks?" She says to Ichika calling her cool after all. "They just need to know we mean business."
The other two harpy's play slows at Hitomi backing up her threat, like 'wait are they serious about this plucking and frying us thing' before they begin to hover in place at Ichika's addendum making it worse.
Their eyes as wide as saucers.
And then-!!!!
'You know, a bullet hole probably doesn't ruin the flavor,'
Their eyes flit over to Katsuya. Poor vision-impaired Katsuya, who did not see the cue.
'--just, give me back my sunglasses, please.'
"Orrrrr he'll fill you full of lead." Yukari adds quickly! As if finishing Katsuya's sentence and the Harpys suddenly drop their purloined items, and fly off through a skylight window.
"Whew." Yukari says as she picks up her Choker, "Luckily they just undid the clasp, no damage."
Most surprising of all, the same is true for the card and the glasses, which is remarkable really given those Harpy talons.
(Someone may have to hand poor Katsuya his prescription sunglasses at night back.)
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Stop Harping On About It! - Round 2 =====================================- Katsuya Suou Charm Failure Advise Friendliness and Diligence Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yukari Takeba Proficiency Success Mean Girl Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Proficiency Success Nature Talk Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hitomi Mandai Proficiency Failure Youthful Fun With Ca Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 1 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-1, Ineptitude-2, Scary-1, Shuffle: Cup-0, Soft-1, and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Ineptitude-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | =====================================================- (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has drawn a new Challenge!
(|==================== Monad - Clean Out Kasugayama High! ====================|)
-==== Round 3: A Midsummer's Night's Disaster - Challenge Level 2 =============-
| Approach Options: Academics or Understanding |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Fairy - Subtract 1 Fatigue on |
| success., Ineptitude - Proficiency Down L2, and Mindnumbing - Academics Down |
| L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
After hearing a voice coming from a classroom nearby, your party opens the door,
revealing a mischievous-looking fairy sitting on the podium, in the middle of
exchanging lines to another.
"Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand;
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover's fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
Puck looks up from his reading with Robin Goodfellow with a raised eyebrow, and
stage whispers, "Your line, say your line!"
Do you oblige these merry wanderers of the night?
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"Yeah," says Hitomi about the bullet hole. The light gleams on her glasses as she says it. Ominous...!
And then they drop everything. Hitomi bolts forwards, securing the card and holding it up to the light, checking the sides, and carefully replacing it in her pocket as she exhales, before reaching down and picking up the glasses, handing them out to Katsuya.
After all, she knows what it's like.
As the group moves along, they manage to make it through the gym, and without even having to brave a locker room after hours. That would require either splitting the party, or for an ancient sacred oath to be violated, one way or another... the oath of an AGGRESSIVELY ENFORCED GENDER BINARY...
there probably is some value in keeping teenagers separated though
"I think there's voices over here..." says Hitomi, after some of the ominous ambiance resolves into a specific sound of muffled voices having what sounds like a normal conversation instead of 'hee-ho, I live for the thrill of crime!' or 'gurgle gurgle i'M a lItErAl ToIlEt...'
Hitomi pauses, perhaps to let people gather, and then - being in the front - she pushes open the door with her hip...
TO FIND A MISERABLE LITTLE PILE OF THESPIANS!
She is momentarily frozen as the Pixie invokes those lines, staring forwards. Captain of our fairy band, thinks Hitomi. That's something foreign. Right? Helena is here at hand, this is... whatever, it's a play, that's what they're doing, thinks Hitomi further, her head turning to look at Puck with an expression of once more wide eyes and a thin, tense little mouth that isn't quite frowning but is more frown that smile.
Hitomi feels sweat down the small of her back.
Oh no, she thinks, they finished.
What do they want me to say.
"Fools they are, and more besides," Hitomi finds herself saying, "cast adrift on time and tide," and she steps forwards with both hands forming little fists and pressing knuckles into her hips.
"And yet, your grace, your boon I'd pray;
their lives are short, and soon away,
would you then wish their errand spoil?
Thus sit back; enjoy their toil."
After this Hitomi looks at the others. That same face - wide eyes, nervous sweat, mouth formed into an intense :I!!! of absolute tension being held in check by the sheer power of Persona or inertia alone - but now it's THEIR turn!?
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with It's Time For Some Game Theory toward A Midsummer's Night's Disaster! Smarts and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
He wasn't aware, but Katsuya seems willing enough to take it. "It's cool," she says. "The Death Boss wouldn't mind. You helped one of us."
No gambling ring! At least, not one that Ichika knows about. It's fine. But Yukari... A school like this? "Kasu High's not so bad," the Ogre says. "People assume it sucks, that everybody's dead-end. But we take care of ourselves, even if nobody else will."
But what kind of girl is she? The Ogre just laughs. "I'm the Ogre. I do what I want."
But Yukari adds quickly, and they leave. Everything's fine... "Cool," Ogre says. "Glad there's no damage."
She looks over Katsuya. "...Can demons get like, honest jobs?" she wonders. "I'm pretty sure they're like, crime all the way."
Ichika follows along with Hitomi. And there are voices...
Except, uh--
The Ogre pauses in place. She hears the lines. They're kind of pleasant, and fun. And Hitomi continues!! She rhymes!! Except--
Their turn!?
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh," the Ogre says.
"Um."
"Wow!" She claps for the demons and for Hitomi. "You're all really good!! Super cool!"
"Do it again!"
...She's supportive?
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"'Death Boss'? That sounds familiar. Ah, Serizawa-san had mentioned that name before. That's the..."
Katsuya remembers that there are a lot of student 'gangs' in Kasugayama. "Yes. I see."
Someone does have to hand the sunglasses back. His eyesight's of course good enough to work as a cop, but in lighting like this, and that far away, his slight nearsighted defect is in full force. But it could be worse. There could have been bright lights on in here too.
The 'nice' approach isn't working very well on the Harpies. He's not picking up on this! He has no idea! Is it because he's vision-impaired at the moment or--
Or he'll fill them full of lead.
"Takeba-san, I would n--"
Oh. That worked, didn't it. Well then.
He doesn't look over at Yukari, or Hitomi, or Ogre. So that sort of approach is what girls these days come up with....
"Thank you," he says to Hitomi, as she hands over his sunglasses. He slips those back on. "Mandai-san... was it?"
From there, they more onwards through the still and (largely) darkened school, finding their way towards the gym (fortunately, no one suggests heading into the locker rooms. Katsuya would prefer to not go into the girls' locker room, even after hours...). "Now, where was it that the incident here took place," he mulls aloud. "Likely, there won't be any obvious signs remaining, but perhaps..."
He trails off as they enter into the gym proper and find themselves in the middle of a fairy production of a play that seems very familiar.
"...A Midsummer's Night Dream, wasn't it? If I recall correctly, this is... ah, is this when Demetrius falls asleep in the grove? Then, he must awaken soon, er," he hazards, glancing over at Hitomi as she extemporizes. He doesn't think those are the proper lines, but neither is he so well-read on Shakespeare to know what those lines are.
Or, the lines after that. Which are his.
"I, I," he says, trying to buy some time. "Then," he continues, his mind casting wildly for some way to end this. What happens next, isn't it the arrival of--
"But soft, Lysander and Helena come!" He points, for good measure.
...That's not how it goes. He's mixed up a line from a completely different play. Maybe it won't matter.
MONAD: Katsuya Suou has acted with Academics toward A Midsummer's Night's Disaster! Base! MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Understanding toward A Midsummer's Night's Disaster! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
The 'gurgle gurgle i'M a lItErAl ToIlEt...' causes Yukari to look askance, before deciding 'nope don't want to know'
Then-! Puck! And Robin Goodfella...
Yukari saw a Midsummer Night's Dream once upon a time. And Hitomi... are those the right lines!? Or did she just improvise?
Ogre claps supportively!?
"Uhhhhh..."
Context clues! Think Yukari think! How did the rest of that scene go? Then Katsuya outright says it!?
"Oh wow, you're right!"
She can't remember the exact lines? Definitely not but...
... she's skeptical that demons will even care?! And as Katsuya mixes it up, Yukari wonders if those are the lines - uncertain.
"... And... cut!" Do they say cut in the theater? Yukari says, as she shifts her pose, "Great work you two. We don't have Lysander and Helena's understudies on hand, so that'll have to do for the rehearsal today?"
A beat.
"And well we've recruited a fantastic Nick Bottom who's gonna knock it out of the park once we pick up tomorrow."
She says with a gesture towards Katsuya.
Sheeeee just mixed up Fairy King Oberon for the guy who had his head changed into a Donkey's, didn't she?
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Suspicion toward A Midsummer's Night's Disaster! Focus and Patra!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== A Midsummer's Night's Disaster - Round 3 ================================- Katsuya Suou Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yukari Takeba Academics Success Suspicion Focus and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Understanding Success Understanding Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hitomi Mandai Academics Success It's Time For Some G Smarts and Patra Fatigue: 1 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Bothersome-2, Fairy-0, Ineptitude-1, and Mindnumbing-2 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | =====================================================- (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"Yeah," Hitomi answers Katsuya, with a bit of a nervous laugh. "Hitomi Mandai." She doesn't elaborate more, as if perhaps there's a secret she fears... maybe Yukari's on to something. Maybe she was being Mandai-cious about that denial, or perhaps it's something worse than an illegal dice game.
BUT ANYWAY:
TIME FOR AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR PERFORMANCE, FOLKS!
Ichika Kawase... withdrawn coolly from the scene! Maybe it's alright to be on the sidelines some of the time, right?
The Demons look away from the Ogre. This does not relieve Hitomi's agita, not in the slightest. The mention of the death boss echoes in her mind's backrooms. Are they about to see the death boss? Either way, they look towards...
Katsuya Suou! The Pixie clap-claps her adorable little hands because Katsuya recognizes the play. The two of them nod along, with Puck making a sort of 'go on' gesture... then... making another go-on gesture, even as the Pixie covers her mouth to laugh. Maybe she got a joke Katsuya made, or took it as a joke, but Puck is starting to get up out of his
CUT!
"Oh, we're done?" says Puck.
"Guess so!" answers Pixie.
"Phew... I was beat anyway. Sniff you jerks later," says Puck, producing a towel from somewhere that he rubs over his horned head as he heads outside. "So, Pixie, do you want to get some drinks now that we've finished up...?"
"I told you for the last time," Pixie continues, "I'm MARRIED--"
A door shuts behind them.
Hitomi slumps against the wall.
"Great work... uhm... hold on, I need a minute, that was just really... Surprising..." Three deep breaths and she heaves herself back upright, sweeping her hair back with one hand as she slouches back in to keep moving along with the group.
Where next? Where next indeed.
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has drawn a new Challenge!
(|==================== Monad - Clean Out Kasugayama High! ====================|)
-==== Round 4: What a Bunch of Jokers - Challenge Level 1 =====================-
| Approach Options: Charm or Understanding |
| Conditions: Checkpoint - Cleanse all negative conditions., Fairy - Subtract |
| 1 Fatigue on success., Smooth - Charm Up L1, and Soft - Understanding Up L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
'Ba-bahh!'
The sound coming from behind the door is celebratory enough, but it also needs
investigating.
Opening the door onto a pitch-black room, any uneasy ideas of what threat(s) may
lie beyond is barely allowed to settle in before two spotlights click on, each
centered down on a Jack Frost and a Jack O' Lantern (otherwise known as his
stage name, Pyro Jack).
"That's our cue, heeho!"
"Okay~ Our special Jack Bros skit, like we practiced, heeho!"
What follows is a random 'Jack Bros' skit. It will likely involve a pun. Prepare
yourselves.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"It was down closer to the air raid shelter," Ogre says to Katsuya at his question. "There might be something down there, but there's a lot more demons down there, I hear."
Yeah Ichika doesn't know plays and literature at all. Shakespeare is pretty much outside her experience. And thus, the Ogre doesn't either. They don't pay much attention to her, and that stings a little, for some reason. But it's fine. She looks at Yukari and shrugs. But the Pixie--yes. ...Hmmm.
"Huh," Ogre says. "Married?" she wonders. "...Wonder who married the Pixie?"
But Hitomi needs a minute. "...Sure," Ogre says, "That's fine."
But the next door has a cheerful sound coming from it. Ogre says, "Maybe it's not as bad?"
Still. It might be as bad. The room is pitch-black, as it turns out, and Ogre goes '!'.
Then-_
Spotlights.
"That's our hee-cue, ho!"
"Okay~ Our special Jack Bros skit, like we practiced, hee-ho!"
Ogre blinks, staring. Then, they begin.
Pyro Jack speaks up, "That last typhoon was pretty fierce, ho?"
Jack Frost replies, "Oh, hee-yeah! But I'm not a fan of spicy food!"
Then, Pyro Jack finishes, "Wh--I hee-didn't say Thai food, ho!"
Ichika opens her mouth and closes it, before looking around to the others and--She shrugs, gesturing at the treasure chest behind them.
"...Ahahahahah," Ogre laughs then, and it might even be convincing. "You're so funny!" she says. "Can I expect this kind of hot and cold later, too?"
But--they might have to hurry. Because as Ogre talks, the Jack Frost suddenly squints at her before she finishes talking!
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Flirt toward What a Bunch of Jokers! Friendliness and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Or maybe, she's a teenage girl out of bounds in a school after hours, wandering around to encounter demons. Or maybe it's both. ...She would have to have a Persona to be here and interact with the demons at all, wouldn't she?
He's not doing this right. In other realms, he has confidence, but certainly not on the stage -- well, in the rehearsal room, that is. He wasn't in the theatre club at school, it perhaps shows.
But just as he starts to think that everything is about to go wrong, it doesn't! It is, after all, just rehearsal. And even demons must respect the grace afforded rehearsal.
"Nick Bottom? But he doesn't show up in this act," Katsuya says, only realizing on the back foot that she must mean Oberon. ...Hopefully, she means Oberon. He wouldn't like to think he could play a role like 'Nick Bottom' well.
Slowly, carefully, Katsuya releases a breath he didn't even really know he was holding. "That was unexpected," he remarks. Hitomi isn't the only one taken aback by that situation.
"Do... demons get married?" He pauses. "I suppose there isn't any reason they wouldn't. So, the old air raid shelter? I recall someone saying something like that. Yet, where is that from where we are now?"
Is it behind that door?
No, it is not. He glances between the two demons as they perform their skit, then again in the aftermath.
He glances then at Ichika.
This time, he gets the memo.
"The two of you have a lively understanding of humor, it seems," says Katsuya, who looks like he's never laughed, once, in his life. "But I am a police officer, you see, and I often find myself wondering after the nature of justice." He pauses, as if for effect, and gestures broadly with his hands, "Or perhaps, you would say... 'just-ice'?"
There have been better puns.
There has been better delivery. He's trying!
MONAD: Katsuya Suou has acted with What is Justice? toward What a Bunch of Jokers! Patra and Empathy!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
'... Wonder who married the Pixie?'
Yukari checks her extra special Lovers Tarot Card, with Shinjiro Aragaki on it, "Uhhhhhhh... probably another Demon." Were the two MARRIED? What the heck!?
They come into another room and spotlights, "Ah!?" Then...
... Uhhh...
There's a sigh like 'Why me' at the Manzai act between two demons.
"Haha... good one." She agrees as Katsuya does just-ice.
There have to be better puns, there has to be better delivery, "Uhhhh good one Officer... that reminds me of a joke myself. Why can't fashion designers play card games?" Yukari dies a little inside, "... Beeeecause they have to draw a cardigan."
Actually she dies a lot inside.
You've won this round, Ikutsuki.
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Charm toward What a Bunch of Jokers! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"I dunno," Hitomi grunts about Pixie Marriage. "The unicorn?" At least the next room sounds less terrifying.
And in a sense, Hitomi IS right about that.
They are treated not to war, or horror, or demonic extortion, but to a skit. It's something like a skit. It is something that meets the legal requirements to be defined as a skit, in that there are two characters who interact with each other, and there is in fact wordplay, diagrammed in Hitomi's brain thus:
'Typhoon -> Tai Fun, two distinct two-vowel sounds'
'Thai Food -> english of thai no ryoori -> homoprobe'
(Hitomi doesn't quite get that one right.)
'homoprobe -> soundalike -> pun'
Her external expression is sufficiently strained to make her look 27 years old instead of 17, and not a healthy or easy wearing 27, either. She is, in fact, frowning now.
More like grimacing?
Her head slumps forwards, as if she has just died, when Katsuya offers his repartee. "... Kawase... Takeba... are they all like this? Was I... did I just get unlucky," she continues, bringing up her hands to gently grasp either side of her head. "Because this isn't..."
"It's not..."
Hitomi slowly raises her eyes.
"Unbelievable," she says.
A deep huge breath; she heaves it backwards. She straightens up. "According to opinion polls... what's the most popular candy in the adventurous world of Foldelia?"
A beat passes.
Hitomi throws the ball: "DEEDOlit."
"Can we leave?" Hitomi asks Yukari directly after that.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Charm toward What a Bunch of Jokers! Base!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== What a Bunch of Jokers - Round 4 ========================================- Katsuya Suou Understanding Success What is Justice? Patra and Empathy Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yukari Takeba Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Charm Success Flirt Friendliness and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hitomi Mandai Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 1 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Checkpoint-0, Fairy-0, Smooth-2, and Soft-2 Final Conditions: Smooth-1 and Soft-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | =====================================================- (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
The Ogre is used to demons being weird by now. Peacocks talk. Life is like that. But Katsuya questions the demons' marriage, and they all seem to have opinions on it. "Unicorn? Huh. I mean..." She tilts her head. "Would that work?" she wonders. "Isn't a unicorn a little... big for her?"
Oh well. Demons probably do get married. But the shelter, "It's that way, and much lower," the Ogre answers Katsuya. "If there's not a bunch of demons in the way maybe we can reach it, but... maybe not."
A lively understanding of humor.Just-ice. "Hee-ho! Hee-ho! Hee did it!"
A CARDIGAN.
"Ho ho ho!"
DEEDOLIT.
"...I don't get it." Pause. "Hee-ho, lady, you're too old for us," says Pyro Jack to Ogre. "But my friend doesn't--"
"Wowwww," Jack Frost says. "A hee-real girlfriend!" Ogre, who is currently looting the treasure chest and getting some status-clearing items, looks up sharply.
"Uh?" she says.
"Yeah! When's the hee-honeymoon?"
"...We can definitely leave," Ogre says to Hitomi, and fingerwaves at the demons. "later guys! Keep up the act!"
When everyone's out of the room she closes it and then pulls up a chair to bar the door.
"Anyway," she says. "They're not always like this," Ogre clarifies. "My first time running into demons, a nice green lady wanted to help my friend clean up for their date with death. By removing all their skin and washing it."
"So, uh."
"You kinda just hope you get the weirdos instead of the horror shows?"
Pause. "...What's Foldelia, anyway?"
MONAD: Katsuya Suou has drawn a new Challenge!
(|==================== Monad - Clean Out Kasugayama High! ====================|)
-==== Round 5: Escort Mission - Challenge Level 2 =============================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Understanding |
| Conditions: Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure., Box - Add 1 Item/Money/Gear., |
| Smooth - Charm Up L1, Soft - Understanding Up L1, Stupor - Academics Down |
| L1, and Terrifying - Guts Down L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
"Why's it's yew guys makin' such a racket?"
Present here is one of Kasugayama's finest, a member of the faculty that didn't
let themselves out of the school like a proper adult. Be they teaching,
administration, or janitorial staff, they'll need an escort out.
For better or worse, they don't seem all that concerned, either, whether due to
being sleep-deprived, tipsy, or otherwise unable to find it within themselves to
feel frightened or be in any rush to get out.
If there weren't a bunch of demons that have followed you here, maybe, this
mission'd be a lot easier. Alternatively, you can try to distract the demons
away, or just walk away and hope for the best. Kasugayama staff have to be tough
to survive during the day, so maybe, those demons may be leaving them alone for
a reason.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Katsuya... doesn't really know what makes a 'good' joke. But he knows one thing.
None of these are good jokes. It's not rude, it's just objective fact. But, so long as it's placating the demons--
Perhaps it's acceptable.
He's not in any hurry to hang around, and leaves when the Ogre indicates they should get.
"I see..." he remarks to Ogre, his expression pensive. "My own was similar. We were happened upon by demons, and if we had not been quite fortunate, it's possible we might have died there. As long as they can be placated... I agree. I think it's best, too."
Somewhere around here must be the air raid shelter. If he can get a good look in there, perhaps there's still some clue he can find about the Joker Killer. Perhaps he can even use that to stop Ulala from that desperate act she appears to have consigned herself to--
That is, before such things become absolutely the last thing on his mind. Hark, there at the end of the hallway has appeared one (1) somewhat sleep-drunk janitor! Did... did they lock up and forget that the janitor hadn't clocked out? That must be it, because he's there as large as life and he looks really cross.
"What's all this racket? ...Here, now, how many of you kids are there?"
Katsuya glances back over his shoulder. They've been followed. By all the demons they've met during their exploration. Hello again, Harpies!
His attention pivots right back to the janitor. Marching over to the member of the faculty, Katsuya begins to say, producing his badge briefly, "Actually, I was finishing an interview with these students. Perhaps I might speak to you as well? It's for an," he pauses, briefly, fishing for a story that might not get him in undue trouble, "an outreach program. For the youth. It's important that they understand justice while they are still young, you see... I am curious to know your own thoughts about such matters. For a school such at this, I would think that it would be paramount as a, ah, broadening experience..."
He's just going to keep talking and walking, hoping that the half-asleep janitor stays with him and doesn't look back at the rest of them (or the demons) and also, doesn't clock that it's way, way, way past time when anyone, let alone the students, should be in the building.
This does mean that he's sort of leaving the rest of them (unless they decide to pitch in on distracting the janitor and steering him towards the (locked) front door) to manage the demons, though.
MONAD: Katsuya Suou has acted with What is Justice? toward Escort Mission! Patra and Empathy!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"Thank god," complains Hitomi as they leave. Ah, Hitomi Mandai, still GRUMPING. But she does seem, somehow, disillusioned. But from what the others say, demons *can* be scary and threatening. She hugs herself loosely, eyes turning to the others.
She answers Ichika, though. "... It's the world of Blade World," she tells her. "The game. Like. There was an anime set there, but it was like... Whatever, this isn't the place." Edgier, perhaps, but tenser. Until suddenly:
JANITOR!
Hitomi's eyes bug out again. But fortunately - officer Suou, however questionably official, gives them an out. "That's right," she tells the Janitor. "I've been thinking of joining the yakuzas since I'm so tall, but I'm scared I'll get eaten by Pixies now." She gives Yukari a glare as if to say 'i am LYING or perhaps ACTING' after saying this, and then back at the Janitor.
Wait, Katsuya's leading him out?!
Understanding dawns, along with dismay, in Hitomi's heart.
"I hate these," complains Hitomi as she reaches into her hip pocket pouch and turns her head to look towards the demons who have probably started nozing around in their wake, what with the shenanigans and the goings-on. Something rattle-clacks in her hand.
Dice.
This may trouble the cognition of Katsuya, especially when a particularly tall-haired pixie peeks out of a doorway that's a little too close and Hitomi just kind of goes for it; she flicks the dice over towards the pixie, but they bounce on the ground -
Up in to the air -
CRACK! It's like each of them is an M80 firecracker! The noise is distinctive, and Hitomi crouches down, landing on one of those extra-cushiony but probably-not-very-breathable legging knees to scoop the rebounding dice up, first one then the other.
"We CAN open the front door from inside right," Hitomi continues. "You have the keys, right, Mister?!" The janitor, presumably.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Youthful Fun With Card Games toward Escort Mission! Diligence and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"What's a Deedolit?" Yukari asks Hitomi quietly, because she knows zero about anime.
Yukari spends absolutely zero time thinking about what a 'good joke' would be like when it comes to puns and punchlines. And it shows.
It's only when she's dragging someone that her sense of humor comes out.
'When's the hee-honeymoon?' 'We can definitely leave,
"... real fast. Not sure I can take much more of this."
...
"My first run in with demons, a Pixie threatened to steal my teeth."
And then... a Sleep-Drunk Janitor. "Whoa!? Uhh..."
Luckily Katsuya has this.
Which leaves them to deal with the Demons. "Great." A wild Zombie Schoolgirl appears! And begins advancing towards the Janitor!
Yukari intercepts.
"Ehee... not on a diet, no brains worth eating on this bimbo." The School girl says, eyeing Katsuya and the Janitor as if they were more filling as she scoots on by.
"Bimbo?" Yukari bristles, "As if. And what like your name didn't show up in the O-Bitch-uary when you died?"
The Zombie Schoolgirl turns, "The hell you s-" and catches an arrow between the eyes as she asides to Ogre. "Huh. I almost feel bad for that one, but it was pretty satisfying actually."
She says, as she summons her Persona with a shot of the Evoker to the head, casting Magarula to smash a few more Demons back.
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Mean Girl toward Escort Mission! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I can scare a lot off looking like this," Ogre says of her mask, "But not all of them. ...Sucks." Pause. "Teeth, huh? That's uh... Yikes."
But Hitomi answers. She listens, and because she's RUDE, doesn't immediately answer. Instead she listens to the Janitor. "Whatever," she says--but theN katsuya starts a youth outreach program. "Uhhhhh," she says.
"Yeah," Ogre answers. "Real big. Youth outreach and stuff. I learned about..."
SHe pauses.
"Not... doing vandalism?"
She looks to Hitomi. "They don't take girls unless you marry in," Ogre offers helpfully to Hitomi.
Then, "A game though? That's cool. I'm no good at those."
"Holy SHIT look at those!" she says of Hitomi's dice.
A Jack Frost comes back, too. "I REMEMBER YOU NOW, HO!"
"Don't call me that!" Ogre swings her shield down at Jack Frost's head.
Then she looks at Yukari and grins. "Yeah," she says. "That one was good. I gotta admit."
Then she kicks the Frost before her, "I'm gonna use you to KEEP DRINKS COLD!"
It always relates back to camping. Though in this case it's more like she's camping the spawn point...
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Nature Talk toward Escort Mission! Diligence and Efficient!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== Escort Mission - Round 5 ================================================-
Katsuya Suou Understanding Success
What is Justice? Patra and Empathy Fatigue: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yukari Takeba Proficiency Success
Mean Girl Specialty Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ichika Kawase Proficiency Success
Nature Talk Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hitomi Mandai Proficiency Success
Youthful Fun With Ca Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 1
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
Starting Conditions: Boss-0, Box-0, Smooth-1, Soft-1, Stupor-2, and
Terrifying-2
Final Conditions: Stupor-1
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 6/6 |=====| =====================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ============================================================-
Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
(|==================== Monad - Clean Out Kasugayama High! ====================|)
-==== Round 6: It's an Entrance! - Challenge Level 1 ==========================-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
There were rumors about it being in the basement of Kasugayama High, and, as it
turns out, those rumors were right.
Located down some stairs and through a maze of stacked desks and chairs is a
door to an underground bunker type room, with concrete-enforced walls and metal
beams reinforcing the ceiling. On the opposite end are a pair of heavy metal
doors, leading to what is most likely the haunted Air Raid Shelter. Once someone
goes in, they can never get out, so the rumors say
Unfortunately for those that decide that they want to spend even more of their
time in Kasugayama High, the metal doors are locked tight and refuse to open.
Maybe someone can start a rumor about how to open them, or, at a later point,
something may change. For now, all you can do is go back.
Final Loot: 1 boxes of Money and 1 Pieces of Gear!
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
The janitor must leave the building. There's unfortunately no question about that. If he sticks around, he might become unlucky and get eaten by demons. During the day, most of the demons probably can't get much of a toehold for such a thing but in the evening hours, it's another story (and before much longer, it'll be night and another tale again).
"The yakuza? They take girls now, too? Can't have that," says the janitor, who may not be merely sleep-drunk (the perks of being the master of the keys?). He pauses, looking over Hitomi critically, "You are pretty tall for a girl..."
Katsuya looks askance at the man but considers that it's best to full speed ahead rather than get sidetracked (this time).
There's a crack of dice: a petulant Pixie is forced back into the shadows.
"Here, what was that?"
Katsuya hesitates. "The students." It's not technically incorrect, in that someone of Hitomi's age would be a student. The janitor appears to buy this and relaxes. "Oh, okay."
Somewhere behind them, violence is meted out. Is a Jack Frost about to leave this world for the great snowfield of the beyond? There's certainly one less zombie around to cause trouble. A professional, Katsuya remains stone-faced the entire time and doesn't glance back even once.
"Keys? Uh, got 'em right," and the janitor fumbles around his person before coming up with the keys in question. "Here! ...Why's the door locked, anyway?"
Katsuya pauses. He pauses for a long moment. "Because it's... finals week," he settles on, and hopefully that will past muster.
"Ah. Gotcha, gotcha..."
The long and short of it is, the janitor exits the building safely ('Hey, why's it so dark out?') and does not get eaten by demons.
Returning to the building, Katsuya is then able to locate the air raid shelter--
"Whoever locked this... hmm. I don't think this will open easily." His shoulders sag as he lets go of the lock and shakes his head. "Well, it doesn't seem as if I can proceed any further today. Perhaps we'll need to rely on the testimony of the people who were there."
You win some, you lose some.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Their investigation ends here, at these doors, as Katsuya says it's at an end.
"Okay... I'm just going to say it... building a school on an old Air Raid Shelter feels pretty... irresponsible?"
Yukari don't start this contest, Gekkoukan will win the award for 'Most irresponsible place to build a school.'
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Kasu High's main hangout is a prison," Ogre points out. "I don't think the adults who made our buildings happen give a shit about us."
Pause. "Uh, sorry," she says to Katsuya, because she was swearing in front of the cop. She seems genuinely chagrined. Or maybe just awkward.
"Anwyay I know some folks who were there, so... I can tell you about that later. I'll give you a number to call. ...I'm gonna stay down here a few."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"... Yeah." She agrees with Ogre, "That feels... likely." It's an uncomfortable admission, but she well knows, adults aren't really on their side.
"Well... Mandai-chan and I have gotta catch last train, because..." She sighs, "Finals... in the morning."
Pause.
"... Maybe Officer Suou can write us an excuse. We didn't get back until late because we were... assisting in an investigation."
...
Long sigh, "... Yeah like that would ever happen. At least it's just Japanese Lit and Composition tomorrow."