2025-10-17: tHe GaRdEn GnOmE iS YoUr FrIeNd :)

From Velvet Room MUSH Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search 
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

It is Friday, and there is one last day of finals. At this point, most students' fate is decided. There is a single test left. And this evening...

Chairman Ikutsuki has called students at the dormitory to the roof -- unless they have studying -- and stands there, with a proud smile on his face. "Hello, everyone! I hope your exams are... growing well."

Amongst the crowd of SEES students, Minako Arisato blinks. She looks to the left, at her brother; she makes a confused expression. Normally, Ikutsuki's puns are obvious. But today, the Chairman seems off.

Well.

More off than usual.

"I've sown the seeds of something exciting!" Ikutsuki continues. Then, he steps aside -- and there's a row of a half-dozen planters. Filled with dirt and frames, there isn't anything growing in them. But there are bags of seeds and fertilizers, along with a few watering cans. "I thought it would help build team spirit -- and make delicious ingredients -- if we did some rooftop gardening."

He grins. "I can't wait to see what blooms from your efforts!"

"He did this for the puns," Minako says flatly. "He bought all of this just for the puns."

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro is not... technically a real student. Yet(?). But, he is a member of the dorm, so he invited himself upstairs anyways. He's in his nice wolf-furred coat, and he's scowling at the puns as they're shared.

"We could throw him off the roof and say he fell," he asides towards Minako, though it's clearly a joke. Though, after a moment, he nods to Ikutsuki as he glances over the seeds, appreciative. "Cool. What herbs do we got in there?"

Yes, he's thinking about cooking! That's always his default. At the least, he's in a good mood. 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume probably *should* be studying, but once again she has taken in as much knowledge as her brain can handle. If she reads any more her head will explode or something, and nobody, least of all her wants that.

(More likely she'd just get a headache.)

But the worst classes for her are done with, she's pretty sure she can manage, and reading any more will not help, so here she is.

If it was a class she'd be at the back of the group, but amongst a group of SEES students she needs to stand near the front or she'll never see anything but people's backs and shoulders, so she's up front, wearing a pair of jeans, the Hanshin Tigers T-shirt she likes with the mascot, and a scowl.

The scowl was for the final pun. She was okay before that.

"Herbs? I figured it was vegetables," Suzume says, though honestly she has no idea; what can you grow on a roof? She's never tried. "I guess herbs probably grow faster. And you don't need as many of them to be useful."
Yukari Takeba has arrived from Historia: The White Chronicle.
GRID: Yukari Takeba has joined Minako Arisato. 

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    "I think you mean this all stems from his desire to make a pun," Minato says, stabbing his sister effortlessly in the back.

    Without even ACKNOWLEDGING that he just BETRAYED HER, Minato hoists up a bag of fertiliser. "Yamagishi-san taught me about pH levels, earlier. I think this helps bring that back into balance. Let's dig it in." He gets a trowel, and gets to tossing earth!

    Better to focus on this than exams, which Minato thinks he might be doing better in than he feared but don't jinx it, Minato.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
BEHOLD: Hitomi.

Hitomi looks kind of tired and frazzled but she sort of does that anyway, and she has cause now. She is clutching a reasonably cold bottle of oolong tea as if it were going to save her from the perilous promise of Ikutsuki. She stands behind at least one person more authoritative than her - Shinjiro! - and awaits their fate.

Which is work.

Hitomi lets out a sigh that might represent her soul escaping her body.

"I mean that's not actually very funny," Hitomi says, after Shinjiro's comment, though whether she's talking about Ikutsuki or the immediate counterargument is ambiguous. Rather than speak further, she guzzles her drink.

"... Yeah," she answers Minato. "They just keep sprouting up. So what are we growing, anyway...?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka is looking a little tired as she trudges up the stairs to the rooftop garden. She's been hitting the books pretty hard, since, mysteriously, she's had a lot of extra things on her plate for the past few months.

Funny how that works.

She just looks confused at the first pun and decides to just ignore it. "Good afternoon, Ikutsuki-san."

And then... the plan is revealed. Ririka stares at the planters, blinking. In a quiet voice she says, "... did we have to do this during finals week...?"

She looks to Shinjiro. "We should wait until after tomorrow, Aragaki-senpai. So it doesn't interrupt our last test."

She pauses, and then groans. "Arisato-san, don't encourage him." 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko is running a lot later than she'd like to be, getting to the roof. She looks... less than thrilled. She's still wearing her biker leathers, she's a bit tired looking and she's got a vibe about her that suggests it had been anger not too long before this.
 
 Though with the others present, she slaps her hands to her face. Rubbing up and down with the gloves, then quickly stashes the gloves away and peels the coat off to wrap it around her waist before taking her seat. Looking neutral at the worst.
 
 She at least missed the pun. "Sorry I'm late." Is her only excuse. 

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

"Why are we even up here?" Is Yukari's question, as she makes a face at the Chairman's question. She looks tired? Then again all of them are suffering some degree of mental exhaustion.
 
"Uh... huh?" She says, at his explanation, before sighing and agreeing with Minako.
 
"He totally did." Before she groans at Minato's pun, "Not you too... this is too much, the night before our last day of finals."
 
Before side eyeing Shinjiro. "... Maybe not that far. You could always just, dislocate his jaw or something." She's definitely joking right?
 
...
...
...
 
Well she's not clarifying that.
 
"Fine... though I feel like I should go down and get my notes first."
 
She's thinking of going over more English Vocab before tomorrow.

AS: That armor (S.E.E.S.) doesn't match one on the list.
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

Finals... Fuuka's have been going better than she thought they would. She's cautiously optimistic! She's also a little tired... but it looks like she's going to have to get a little work in tonight, as they've all been called to the roof!

Fuuka does her best to smile politely, but she does look toward Minako.

"...Yes. It seems that way. Unfortunately, I'm not detecting any escape routes..." She says. It's mostly a joke.

Minato mentions pH levels, and Fuuka nods.

"Yes, it's very important. They can be pretty delicate." She says. She actually enjoys gardening - which is why she's soon up there and helping to prepare the pots. And on the subject of herbs and vegetables. "We could probably do both, depending on what we have..."

She politely declines to comment on inflicting harm onto the chairman. 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"Arisato-chan, I'm wounded," Ikutsuki says. "Your remark has /thorns."

Minako groans, putting her hand over her face. "We could plead self defense," she sighs to Shinjiro.

Then, she whirls around to look at Minato. And then at Hitomi, her eyebrow twitching -- and with daggers in her eyes. "D-Don't encourage him!"

She looks at Yukari, then she sighs. "I feel like we've been betrayed, Takeba-chan."

She looks sideways at Fuuka, then. She smiles a little. "Yeah, that makes sense... we'll have to proceed carefully, then!"

That, too, might be a joke.

"We have an assortment!" Ikutsuki answers Shinjiro, with a smile. Then, he sighs. "As in, we have an assortment of herbs and vegetables--" A glance at Suzume. "--that we got as a bulk discount from the gardening section at a department store."

Then, he looks at Ririka. "You can wait if you'd prefer!" he says. "By all means, if you need to study..."

Then, he looks at Moriko, and smiles. "Not a problem!"

Minako looks after her brother. She sighs, then she rolls up her sleeves. She glances sideways at Fuuka, and then she nods. "So be careful of the pH," she says. "And... plant herbs and veggies?"

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro waves a hand in apology to Hitomi, "Sorry." Though, he's definitely smiling at Ririka, Yukari, and Minako's followups.

As Minato encourages them to approach, though... Shinjiro closes in on the herbs and veggies to take a closer look, before moving over to help with the dirt. "I've got nothing better to do, so sure."

Though, there's a turn of the head back to Moriko. "You alright?" Did she get into a fight or something?

A pause, then he speaks again, generally. "I used to garden back at the orphanage with Aki. Been a while, though." 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Everybody looks tired. That actually makes Suzume feel a bit better; it's not her underachieving, it sucks for everyone!

The fact that she had decided to try doesn't matter; you can't cram for exams entirely on the last week. Part of it's down to how much she was actually paying attention when she couldn't make herself care in class...

Suzume isn't going to encourage the puns but she hates them less than a lot of people do. She actually uses them herself to annoy people, but she's long ago decided that Ikutsuki overdoes them. You have to sneak them in when nobody is expecting one...

...so she doesn't join in with Minato and Hitomi, but over time there's a hint of amusement even if it never really comes all the way to the forefront. Minako's reaction is kind of funny, anyway.

"You can't study all night," Suzume says to Ririka and Yukari, "unless you want your brain to shut down. Plus, it stresses you out. I like to exercise in the middle to kinda reset everything... I guess this isn't really a workout, but maybe doing something with your hands does the same kinda thing?" She walks over to pick up one of the bags of seed, looking it over thoughtfully.

"I don't know anything about growing plants though," she admits, as she tosses it gently back onto the pile of seed packets and bags. "I guess we just read the instructions, unless someone already knows more about it." Which it sounds like some of them do, if they're talking about pH, something Suzume only remembers from chemistry.

She glances over when Shinjiro addresses Moriko. "Not that late," she says, in response to her. 

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

Minato silently lifts his hand to Hitomi for a high-five. "Sorry, sis. You left yourself wide open." And to Yukari, he says, quite dry: "Enduring trials will make us stronger on the road ahead." As if that excuses this behaviour during finals week!!

    He looks at Shinjiro, though, thoughtfully. "So that's how you handle things..." ... Minato, don't take the threat seriously!

    "If Yamagishi-san's encouraging both, we'll proceed forward with that insight," he decides. "Besides, if the herbs grow faster, we won't have to harvest it all at once. Fukura-san is right," he adds. "It won't disrupt the last day of finals to take a short break."

    He does spare a long look to Moriko, though. "Can you help me with these beads?" He asks her, rather than directly asking what happened. They're... garden beads. They do something important, he's sure.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Hitomi's answer to Minako is wordless, but can best be rendered as a moment of ':3' in reply. She finishes off the rest of her tea and closes it up, even as she exhales when it is revealed that these aren't like special organic french herbs that Mitsuru ordered from abroad, where they were delicately carried in velveteen cloths and gently serenaded by Aegean priestesses.

(Hitomi's impression of the religious situation in Europe is not very accurate.)

After this, though, she looks to Moriko. "... you're going to broil if you don't take some of that off, if you're not going fifty kilometers an hour or something," she says to her, before -- Minato is raising his hand?! After a second of clear dithering with a seasoning of panic, Hitomi brings her hand up.

*pap*

Well, it's a start. "I never did anything fancier than watering the garden with a hose, so I'm gonna need some direction if you don't want to just make all the gardener people do all the work," which, to Hitomi, seems like a reasonable thing to do, but this is School, so it probably isn't.

"How are we supposed to change the pH of dirt?" she asks... mostly-Suzume, but also-the-general-area.

Yukari Takeba (yukari) pages Minako Arisato and Minato Arisato: What if, Shuji bought a Gardening Gnome as part of the supplies? X)
Minato Arisato (minato) pages Yukari Takeba and Minako Arisato: absolutely 

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

"... That is an option." She agrees with Minako on pleading self-defense, before the betrayal! There's an aggrieved sigh and a nod at Minako, "... Are these the Ides of July or something? Does July have Ides?"
 
She definitely doesn't remember that reference beyond the Ides of March. But Fuuka seems... into it? "You did strike me as a girl who'd be very into gardening."
 
Oddly, it sounds kind of complimentary? It's just Yukari isn't really that herself.
 
Suzume though offers her own take on studying, and... "... Maybe you and Sanada-senpai should study together. Sounds like you'd get along."
 
Does it sound like she's shipping it? Well, kinda, but she's not really. She just realizes he's big on working out.
 
But as others start to get into it, including Minako, who's soliciting advice from Fuuka... "Well I guess it can be considered a study break. Just, so long as we're not spending too much time."
 
Shinjiro though notes he's into gardening, and Yukari blinks, then thinks on it, "Huh... yeah I can picture it." Shinjiro just seems very... domestic!
 
And then rolling up her sleeves herself, "I think I'd better leave the actual planting part to you and Fuuka, Arisato-chan." As she then goes over to carry...
 
... Yukari's eyes linger on the pile of gardening supplies... before she then looks, around the corner of the landing where the supplies are, stops. Stares.
 
Stares longer.
 
"Actually you know what, I think I'd be better off joining in on the planting after all, make some space you two."
 
And swivels around to go back to the planters by Fuuka and Minako.
 
WHAT DID SHE SEE?

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka lifts a hand to wave to Moriko as she comes in. "Hey, Kumamoto-san. We're just getting started. How's the bike today?"

She blinks at Yukari's suggestion. "... You know you're kind of hardcore sometimes, Takba-san?" Does Ririka sound impressed? ... Nah, must be a trick of the light.

She looks to Fuuka next. "Do you know a lot about gardening, Yamagishi-san?"

Ririka looks mighty tempted by the Chairman's offer to leave. "Welll..." But Suzume makes a good point, and she nods. "Yeaaaah, I guess the fresh air will do me some good." But that gets a curious look. "You exercise, huh...? That's cool. If I want to do something with my hands, it's usually piano or guitar." Shock of shocks, there.

Ririka rolls up her own sleeves next, looking over the materials. "So, where do we get started?" she asks, as an open question. "I'm with Fukura-san, I haven't really done this before. Though I bet my sister would like it." There is a cactus in her dorm now, after all. 

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

"Yes. I'll keep you informed." Fuuka replies to Minako - and then she laughs, just a little. Ikutsuki explains, then, that they have an assortment of herbs and vegetables. Fuuka nods thoughtfully, considering what they have.

She looks back to Minako, then - and Minato, too, as he comments on it.

"Yes. Growing a variety is actually healthy for a garden. It's good for the soil." Fuuka explains. "And, yes. It's important to maintain a healthy pH level... There are things we can add to the garden if it becomes uneven, though."

Yukari comments that she did seem like someone who would like gardening... and Ririka asks if she knows a lot about it. Fuuka feels just a little self-conscious all of a sudden - but the complimentary tone helps her power through it.

"Oh, yes. I like flowers, so... I did a lot of research to learn how to grow them." She explains. She made the flower arrangements displayed in her room herself! She nods to Suzume, too. "...I haven't had any opportunity to put that research to use until moving here, though. But... yes, I do know a little about it."

Shinjiro has some experience too, though! She looks his way.

"It's hard to imagine Sanada-senpai gardening..." Fuuka considers. "What was that like?" 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"You did?" Minako asks, giving Shinjiro a glance. She blinks with surprise -- she hadn't quite expected him to have gardened before. But, he does like to cook -- and it would be a chance for the freshest ingredients, wouldn't it? "What sorts of things did all of you grow?"

Then, she looks at her brother. She makes a face for a second, and then she shakes her head sharply. "You could have my back instead of strike at my weak point," she says with a sigh.

She looks at Yukari, then puts a finger to her chin. "I'm not sure. But it's the ides of something. But sure, if you want--" She looks back at Fuuka, and she nods. "It sounds like you're the expert, Yamagishi-san! We'll be relying on your expert gardening skills! We--"

She blinks. Yukari is back.

"Su...ure?" she says. "Come on, Takeba-chan!"

Ikutsuki smiles -- and adjusts his collar. "Enjoy, everyone," he says. "I'll be downstairs!" he starts down the steps -- though he glances, then nods in the direction Yukari looked with such wide eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

"We were just kids," Shinjiro starts when asked about him and Aki. "Grew tomatoes, carrots, stuff like that. Aki'd get into fights when he got pissed at the older kids for stealing our crops."

He's allowed to tell embarrassing stories about him!

"I guess it was nice? It's been a long time," he continues as he moves to dig.

A pause, as he looks to Minato. "Don't get any weird ideas." It's not false but it's not true either! He's not going to kill the chairman!!! 

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

"Every month has Ides," Suzume says confidently (and correctly, this time). However, she cannot remember when in the month it is and so doesn't go so far as to agree that it is the Ides of July.

Which is good, because it's not. It's nearly the Kalends of August! You fool!! But Suzume's history notes do not include the ancient Roman calendar.

As for Akihiko? "He's third year," Suzume says, dismissively. "Different things to study. Anyway, I wouldn't want to bug him." She has absolutely studied with Junpei, though, once or twice - though she does a lot of her work by herself, or Hitomi, or otherwise with whoever is around. But even that's mostly quiet.

"And yeah." Suzume brightens, answering Ririka: "Doesn't have to be, like, a HARD workout. I don't go and practice with my tonfa every day or go out to the track or anything. Just get up and do something with something other than your brain for a bit. Like I said, it kind of resets things. Sometimes I play a game for a bit instead. Music would work too, I just don't play piano or anything."

For someone who doesn't like studying, is underachieving at school this year, and didn't seem to care about her exams much until she spoke to Mitsuru, she certainly seems to have opinions about studying...

Suzume looks over as Yukari decides to help plant. Huh, she thinks to herself. Did she see something? Is she expecting something? Or did she just decide that working with her hands would be good for her? But what she actually says is: "I'll go fill the watering cans. I don't want to get in anybody's way." And with Shinjiro and Minako and Fuuka, and now Yukari up there... well. She likes Fuuka, she likes Shinjiro and Minako quite a bit, but it's getting crowded up there.

She hefts four of the cans, two in a hand - they're easier to carry empty... wait, Hitomi asked her a question. "How would I know? Put something in it?" she guesses.
Yukari Takeba (yukari) pages Minako Arisato and Minato Arisato: Yukari realized she was in a horror film and decided she wanted to be the final girl. 

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    "How would you get better if I did that?" Minato wonders, blithely, to Minako. He listens carefully to Fuuka's sage advice, and to Hitomi, sagely replies: "With science." ... changing the pH levels, presumably. "Hmm... let's start by digging the compost into the soil. It's food for plants."

    With a light pause, he adds: "Going for a run clears my head, too." Suzume and Akihiko aren't the only one, apparently!!

    But Yukari piles in to help them, and Minato blinks, staring at her for a moment. "We're counting on you," he settles on, handing her a trowel too.

    Dig, dig, dig!!

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

"Uhhh thanks?" Yukari says, a little taken aback by Ririka's comment, and trying to decide what she means by 'Hard Core', "...Whatever that means."
 
Like she seems more confused by not understanding if it's a compliment or not in the moment.
 
"Huh. Like, looking stuff up online?" She asks of Fuuka's research, "Well, I hope you don't mind if we use you as a resource then."
 
Yukari does not indicate why she came back over to Minako and Fuuka to help with the gardening when she was about to help Minato.
 
Instead she takes a trowel from Minato- "Thanks. I won't let you down." And slowly joins in, digging, albeit more cautiously. Every so often, she looks back over her shoulder, to that same spot as earlier.
 
And there's absolutely no indication of what she saw. Though, given where she was standing, on the opposite side of the pile - with a view of the brick enclosure of the staircase back down...
 
... you'd kind of have to go over there, if you wanted to see it.
 
"So... what's our plan on, what to plant where?" She asks, casually.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Oh, Fuuka grew flowers. "Do... flowers have different needs from herbs?" asks Hitomi. She pushes her glasses up her nose, continuing to, as of yet, contribute zero useful work.

Hitomi looks back to the abruptly re-appearing Yukari. She then looks past Yukari - if Yukari is preferring this to whatever happened THAT way, it must be something bad. Runaway horror-show? Attack by evil mutants? An unusually rude and uncouth dog? Hitomi can only guess.

Finally with some level of grim understanding, she gets rid of the oolong bottle and moves over towards the planting. She is given a trowel, which she holds in a manner much like if Minato (or someone) handed her a dagger.

It kind of is a dagger, if u think about it. a dagger for the *ground*

Hitomi circles around as she considers the question. "I guess it's just weird to think of putting like... acids or bases on soil, you know? Like wouldn't it melt? I suppose it wouldn't, but that's definitely pretty close to pollution." 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko lifts her head and offers Ririka a wave, "Some weird otaku blew a tire out. Had to walk it home." She holds her hands up and mouths the word, 'Later' to Ririka before she goes any further. Whether it works or not, who knows.
 
 Shinjiro's met with a nod and a thumbs up, "Fine enough." There probably was a fight between her 'ambience' and the overall vibe. "Later though." It's supposed to be a group activity. And she does want to talk about the details with people before just stating it!
 
 She nods to Minato, pushing herself to her feet again with a bit of stiff movement, but it's fine. Looking at the beads. "I was.. not a gardner. What do we do with them?" She clearly doesn't know either. It's fine.
 
 There is a laugh at the comment from Hitomi though, "Yeah. Yeah. You should see it even after. I'm going to go change in a moment." She just wanted to show up first. Because it didn't occur to her to do this in the reverse order. Oh well. 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Fuuka mentions it's healthy to plant an assortment of things. "Oh yeah... didn't something like that come up once in class... crop rotation, or something?" Fuuka also explains she really likes flowers, and Ririka smiles a little despite being tired. "Hey, that's really cool. I'm glad you'll finally get to put it to good use, then."

Ririka pauses as Ikutsuki moves to just leave them to it. "Hey--" She looks to everyone else. "Did he just call us all up here to plant stuff and then ditch us? During finals week?"

But that moment of irritation is momentarily forgotten as she looks to Suzume and grins. "You know, that makes sense. Sometimes when I'm feeling antsy I go mess around with my skateboard for a bit and it helps." She'd be more embarrassed about admitting to the skateboarding, but... well, people have already seen her on it.

Suzume goes to get the watering cans. "Want a hand with those?" Ririka offers. They'll get heavy when they're loaded up with water, after all.

Yukari says thanks, and Ririka just says, "Welcome." And then she's moving to go help with the watering cans and does not clarify.

But she does pause, as Moriko explains. "That sucks... hope it's not too much of a hassle to replace." At least it wasn't a land mine this time. But Moriko motuhs 'later' and Ririka nods in agreement. 

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

As Suzume and Ririka head towards the stairs with the watering cans, they might catch something, partially obscured in their peripheral vision on the left side of the stairs, partially hidden.
 
Look closer.
 
Look closer.
 
Horror Violin Screech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TUeUL7EW9M
 
And you will see it there, watching. Watching. Turned just at a diagonal like it's meant to be watching.
 
Always watching.
 
It is the biggest, ugliest, garden gnome one has ever seen.
 
It's beady ceramic eyes full of malice, like it could be the monstrous villain of a horror film.

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

They were just kids, growing vegetables... Fuuka thinks about it and there's a small, good-natured laugh when Shinjiro mentions Akihiko getting into fights over their stolen crops.

"That I can imagine... I'm glad your plants had someone protecting them." Fuuka replies. Yukari gets a nod, too.

"Yes, that's right... There's a lot of resources online. And anything I can't find there, I can learn what books to look for." Fuuka replies with a nod. Yukari and Minako both seem to be counting on her research, though, so... "Y-Yes, of course!"

Ririka gets a nod.

"Yes, that's important, too." Fuuka confirms.

Yukari asks what their plan is, and Fuuka considers that. She hadn't gotten that far...

"I think for us, it's probably fine as long as we clearly mark which is which, and everything's getting enough sun..." Fuuka considers, then nods toward Hitomi. "To a degree. Every plant has different needs. That's why it's important to be mindful of them."

She pauses then, to clarify.

"Oh, um... It's not acid acid. We wouldn't want to pour any directly on the soil. But it's always going to be a little acidic or basic, and managing it is important." She explains. 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"It sounds nice," Minako tells Shinjiro, with a smile. "Gardening with friends... yeah, I think that's a memory I'd like." Which -- really -- they're doing now. Case in point, she is pushing seeds down into the dirt with her bare hands. She can just wash her hands later.

She looks sideways at her brother -- and then she sticks her tongue out at him. "I'm not shaving up skill beans or... whatever your games call it," she says, but that prompts a laugh from her.

Then, she looks back at Suzume. "That looks good, with the watering cans!" she says. Then, she looks at Yukari. She considers her question for a moment. Her eyes drift to Fuuka (an expert), Shinjiro (an expert), and Suzume (an expert, as per Hitomi Mandai). She starts to open her mouth.

She starts to say 'Vibes?'

But Fuuka comes to the rescue. Minako nods, quickly, after she explains the plan. "What Yamagishi-san said!"

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

One day I'll get a bike like that, Suzume thinks to herself. Her pedal bike really isn't in the same class as Moriko's and she knows it. "Is that better or worse than having to walk it home during the Dark Hour?" she asks, before deciding, "No, it's definitely worse." You have to get a new tire after that!

But see, Minato gets it! She knew SOMEONE would. Admittedly, she expected it to be Shinjiro, but she's not objecting. "It's really just getting off your butt for a bit," she agrees. "Around the block or whatever helps."

And then... "Be right back," Suzume says, as she heads toward the stairs. Why?

Because there's no faucet on this floor, obviously. She can't fill the watering cans HERE. But she may as well lug them up; it's not like she knows anything about actually planting beyond what's on the seed packets - and it sounds like the actual gardeners all beat her there.

But Ririka offers to help... "I was just gonna make two trips back up if I had to, but if you want to, be my guest." Suzume passes over two of the cans, keeping the other two - right now they're pretty easy to carry, though as Ririka points out they will be a lot heavier when they're filled.

She gets partway there before -

"Gah!"

Suzume's voice gets squeaky when she gets surprised even though that's not her usual vocal tone at all. In a situation like this - where there's no actual danger, though it might take a moment to realize - it's more a funny quirk than anything else, as she visibly recoils from whatever she just saw as she reflexively brings up clenched fists, still clinging to watering cans like really, really awkward clubs to protect herself from...

From...

...

"What the crap is that," Suzume says, slowly lowering one of her hands. Her face reddens slightly as she realizes she has been jump-scared by statuary. 

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    "Slay the earth," Minato advises Moriko, with a straight face, as Hitomi demonstrates with a brandish.

    He proceeds to demonstrate... digging the compost and everything through the soil! Hey! That's not slaying anyone!!

    "Yamagishi-san advised a mixture," Minato says, to Yukari, "so let's alternate the types." He pauses, looking between Hitomi, Moriko, and Yukari, as he adds: "... I wonder if the Chairman really brought all the supplies we'll need."

    LIKE A HAUNTED HORROR GNOME?!

    He proceeds to fix Minako with a serious expression, as he informs her: "You don't shave skill beans. You plant them." This is very important!!!

    Minato is halfway through troweling a planter when he looks up, blinking. "... did you hear that?" Surely Suzume wouldn't make a sound like 'gah!'...

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
On the matter of Ikutsuki leaving them to do work: "Probably," Hitomi answers Ririka with a real 'what can you do?' kind of tone. She looks towards Moriko, who is also on team 'doesn't know what the hell to do with a plant,' and nods. This is the liberation of the hard working young women of the new Japan! (Terms and conditions apply.)

anyway:

"Oh... I mean I suppose you'd want to like mix it in with sand or something," Hitomi tells Fuuka. "So it's like one part acid and twenty part sand, and you'd want to mix it up really good. Is that the kind of thing you mean? Is that why -" Hitomi was ABOUT to ask something, but seems to have pulled up short.

*strange*. or perhaps worse... *teenaged.*

Then! A shout, an alarum! "What is it?" Hitomi shouts in the general direction of Suzume; she, perhaps, had no doubts even for a moment after she heard that horrified 'gah,' strangled like the hopes of the future!

After this she shrinks back down -- "So do I just make a hole and put the whole little block of dirt in it...?" 

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

If Minako had said 'vibes' Yukari might have turned and gone, '... Yeah I figured.' But instead, Fuuka to the rescue! And she has an actual plan!
 
And she knows you don't actually pour ACID on plants! Look, this is why she's the navigator.
 
"Alright, well, whatever you want in this planter, I'll get the job done."
 
And then Suzume gets jump-scared by a gardening gnome.
 
Yukari sighs in that moment, "And there it is. I was trying to act like it didn't exist..."
 
She waves a trowel in that direction vaguely as Minato asks, "... Yeah, I heard it. You should uh, go save them or something."
 
A beat.
 
"They're definitely doomed without you." She deadpans, before turning back to her Planter.

She just can't get Shuji's knowing stare out of her mind.
 
"... I can't believe he actually spent money on that..." She murmurs.

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko's not the most garden-y sort, but she does know a little bit about baking alive in the sun, replying to Fuuka, "We should find out if any need to get some shade too."
 
 "Worse. I just had to wait for it to end to ride it out after. This one is going to have me riding trains again for a bit." She sounds less than thrilled.
 
 "Slay the earth?" She sounds genuinely confused at this. "I guess I can shower later." She mostly states to herself, taking the beads. There might be some self-consciousness about moving in close. Oh well.
 
 Hitomi is given a vaguely confused shrug as she gets that look and returns it. She's trying at least!
 
 "Wait who's doomed with what?" She seems distracted enough at the best of times. The uh, recent events and being out of her elements certainly aren't helping. She does at least try to help! 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

"Sure, why not?" Ririka says to Suzume. "Many hands, and all that, right?" She readily accepts two of the cans with a smile. She won't say it outright but she's also feeling a bit lost so far, but this is easy enough to do.

Surely, the walk downstairs to go refill some watering cans couldn't be fraught with any kind of peril, right? ... right??

And all it takes is a glimpse, a turn of the head, then a look-- and Ririka startles backwards away from it. "Waugh!" It is an entirely undignified sound. "What the--" She looks to Suzume. "... is... is that what I think it is?" She's kind of staring at it in disbelief.

Of all the... Ikutsuki invites them up to do all the work, then ditches them, and then... this.

After she's had a moment to compose herself she mutters. "... maybe we can get a tarp and cover it up...?" 

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

Gardening with friends... Fuuka smiles at that.

"It's a nice thought, isn't it? I'm" She agrees with Minako. ...Maybe the Chairman did do something good for them, after all. They wouldn't all be up here together if he hadn't called them up, and then they wouldn't have had this chance.

Minako agrees with her on the plan, and Minato suggests alternating them, and Fuuka nods.

"That's a good idea, yes." She agrees. She can provide some input on that - and Moriko suggests a good idea, too - checking to make sure which ones need shade. "Yes, that's true. Especially at this time of year..."

She considers Hitomi next, then. She's not really sure how to explain it.

"Um... Something like that - but it would already be in the soil... And not necessarily sand, it would depend on what you need..." She considers.

A scream! And then another! Fuuka pauses, looking up from the planter she's currently working on.

"...Is everything alright?" She asks. ...What did the Chairman do...? 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"...Seriously?" Minako asks her brother, on the topic of skill beans.

Then, she looks at Fuuka -- and Minako considers this for a second. "So it's... a property of the soil? Like its, um, chemistry?"

Suzume yelps in a squeaky way. Minako blinks and turns her head in their direction -- her eyebrows furrow for a moment -- and then she frowns as Ririka backs up like that. "Yeah, I wonder what that was about..." She raises her voice, calling out: "Fukura-chan, Kawase-san, are you two okay over there?"

Then, she looks at Yukari and Fuuka. "Okay, now I gotta see this," she says. She stands up -- wipes her hand off on her uniform's skirt -- and stalks over towards the stairway. "What is--"

She sees the garden gnome from hell.

"KYAAAH!!"

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume lets out a breath as her hands go all the way down. Her face is still red.

"Who put this here?" Suzume demands, raising her voice slightly.

Nobody up there sounds like they're laughing, which means it must be someone who isn't here today. Kirijo wouldn't be caught dead doing something so lowbrow, it's not Sanada or Aomori's style, Mori didn't strike her as the type, Gould would have put a Grim Reaper or a ghost or something, Amada is too polite and not really a member of SEES...

That leaves only three options: the Chairman, Shizuka, or Junpei. (Or her - it's a prank Suzume would think was hilarious if it happened to someone who wasn't her, and it's giving her ideas for later - but she knows she didn't do it.) Suzume knows which one she'd guess with no other information.

"IORI, if this your prank I'm going to get you back for it!" Suzume raises her voice enough to carry, in case he's hiding and watching and/or taking a picture of whoever found it. The Chairman has plenty of other ways to get on their nerves that she doesn't think leaving an anonymous garden gnome around is going to be his first pick (for starters, he's an adult!) She starts looking around as if she could catch someone at the SCENE OF THE CRIME.

To Ririka, she huffs, "If you want to tarp it, be my guest. I'm going to go get some water." And try to look less embarrassed! Especially as Minako comes over, her embarrassment rises. But at least Minako knows why now! 

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    "Dead serious," Minato insists, to Minako.

    "I think so," Minato assures Hitomi. "Trains... they're not as bad if you can travel with a friend." Minato has reasons beyond boredom to suggest a girl travel by train with company, of course. But Yukari suggests that that mysterious squeaky voice is doomed without Minato, and he nods, deeply serious. "Beginning rescue operation," he declares, handing his trowel off to Hitomi so she can dual wield. "I'll leave the shade quotients to you."

    With that, Minato picks himself up and walks over to the sound of the screech, right behind Minako --

    "Hold on!" Minato cries, as he rushes forward to protect his sister from --

    "EYAGH,"

    Oh no, it even got a boy...

    Minato creeps forward, after that initial shock. "Iori-kun..." He invokes, gravely. "You got me. But I'll put your sins to rest."

    He reaches out, and firmly grasps the gnome by the horrid little hat, turning it away from everyone.

    "Fixed it," he declares.

    You didn't fix anything, Minato! It's still RIGHT THERE!

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro pauses from his FERVENT DIGGING as there's screams over a garden gnome. Multiple.

Shinjiro sighs, pulls up, walks over right before Minato turns it around, and...

"...is this... a joke?" He's not freaked out, at least, but he DOESN'T LIKE IT.

"We could throw it off the roof and say it fell," he says, in the exact same tone as earlier. 

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
"Spent money on what?" Hitomi verbally-nudges Yukari. Her eyes turn back towards the terrifying nook when Ririka also screams, even if her terror seems less existential. That's probably down to what amount of air was in their lungs when they saw >IT<.

To Fuuka, though, Hitomi says, "I'll take your word for it... Oh, is it nitrogen? I remember nitrogen." This seems to fill her with certainty as she plunks a plant into the ground. Agriculture has been performed; the chain of generations is appeased.

For uncertain reasons, Hitomi frowns. She plants her spade in the ground (stab) and gets up with a squint, walking after Minato. Which means:

"bwaagh?!?"

"What the hell! Is that some kind of --" Hitomi protests. "Are we cursed?! Is this a curse now?? Nobody get near the side of the roof!" The sound of panic is discernibly subsiding throughout these emphatic statements, but it isn't wholly gone, either. 

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

And then Minako screams-! And Minato undertakes his rescue operation and saves everyone! Then Hitomi yells about a curse! Then Shinjiro has a maybe existential crisis?

Listen to Yukari just hang her head, groan, take a deep breath, then...
 
"So Fuuka-chan... what herbs do you recommend for this one? I'm going to need your help to even figure out how many I can even plant..."
 
Yep, she's going to just try to ignore it. You see, Yukari Takeba...
 
... has realized she's in a horror film maybe.
 
And she wants to be the Final Girl.
 
And even if it's not that... she's doing her best to try and ignore it.

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

Minako understands! Fuuka nods with a smile.

"Yes, that's right!" She confirms. Hitomi asks about nitrogen, and that gets a nod, as well. "Nitrogen is something different, but... you're correct. Nitrogen is very important for plants, too."

She hesitates for a moment.

"This is probably more than we need to know, but... it's, um. A fun detail." She concludes.

One by one they leave. And then they scream. Fuuka looks over toward Yukari, then looks back.

She's so curious - but perhaps a similar thought has entered her head, that this is how people die in horror movies...

"W-well, umm... Let's see..." She focuses on the seeds as she tries not to consider whatever horrible fate has befallen everyone else, considering them thoughtfully next to what they've already planted before offering Yukari one of the packets. "How about these? They're complementary and they'll look nice together, too."

...Wait, are they talking about curses now...? 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka is also looking a bit embarassed as people are calling to check up on them. "Yeah, Yamasishi-san, Arisato-san. Uh, we were just... startled, is all." Is that a good thing to admit? What would be the dignified away to explain the lawn gnome?

"Everything's fine, just--" Too late, Minako came over to look, and Ririka winces as she yells. Well, at least she and Suzume aren't the only ones, now.

She's stil staring at it when she blinks. "Wait, did someone say 'rescue operation'...?" And another wince as the gnome from hell gets Minato, too. And another one as Hitomi shouts. Ririka shuffles the cans to one hand and rubs at her ear a little. "Alright, we've all seen it, let's stop shouting now..." she mutters.

She blinks as Suzume reaches her conclusion. "... you think Iori-san did this...?" That's not where her mind went, but... now she's considering it. "... but when woudl he have put it here? We all just got here..."

Minato has a solution, and Ririka can't help but shudder a little as she looks at the back of the gnome's head. "... I still can't stop thinking about its eyes."

She looks to Shinjiro as he repeats the suggestion. "... No I think this one might curse us or something."

"I'm... gonna go get water. And look for a spare tarp or a blanket or something for the gnome." Ririka turns and heads down the stairs, a little hurried because she just wants to get away from that thing. 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"We might be!" Minako wails in response to Hitomi's question about a curse. Even Shinjiro is spooked. And Yukari--Yukari is taking it in stride...

...and so is Fuuka. She looks at the two of them, and then back at her brother. Ririka heads down the stairs.

And the brave co-leader of SEES scoots over sideways, and hides behind Shinjiro. "Gaaaaaaaaah..."

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume has already gone downstairs, once she decided that she wasn't going to catch the culprit at the scene of the crime trying to take a picture of the people they caught or anything.

So when Ririka joins her, heading toward the sink: "I can't believe someone would do something like that!" Coming from her, who would probably be a prime suspect if she hadn't been the first one caught (Yukari wasn't caught), this is slightly rich. So she has to admit: "Props to them for getting it up here with nobody seeing, though." And that's true no matter WHO it was! They would have had to get it past every floor! And if SEES is now cursed, well, too bad.

...

"I wasn't afraid of it, though. Just startled. C'mon, let's get the water so they can actually plant things." Suzume figures you need water to plant a seed. That's how it works, right? Dirt, plant, water, go.

Retrieved from "https://www.velvetroom.wiki/index.php?title=2025-10-17:_tHe_GaRdEn_GnOmE_iS_YoUr_FrIeNd_:)&oldid=3247"