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Makoto Itsuna

"Good evening to you too."

0 · 2,223 views · located in Unnamed City

a character in “Arc 4”, as played by SkyCladSaya06

Description

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Name || Makoto Itsuna

Age || 19

Gender || Male

Sexuality || Heterosexual

Appearance || Makoto stands at 5'7" with a slight athletic build. He has brown hair and brown eyes; attributes that run strongly among the males in the family. As Kurogane doesn't mandate their students to wear a uniform, Makoto often lounges around in shirt and jeans. He often goes for dark and earthy colors in his attire.

Face Claim || Kouichi Sakakibara from Another

Personality || Makoto possesses quite a steadfast and inquisitive personality. He is quite diligent with his school work and hobby, allowing him to maintain a good standing despite not being the sharpest tool in the shed. He harbors some slight insecurity towards his older sister yet they still get on along well.

He tends to stay on the cautious side of things; something which put him at odds with his old roommate once. He can be a bit confrontational at times as well. Apart from that, Makoto is quite amiable towards everyone and isn't really known for getting into trouble.

Room Number || Room 503

Roommate || Asagi Arakawa





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Likes:
Horror || Primarily an influence of his older sister, Makoto has grown a fondness for the genre and he strives to be as prominent as his older sister as a writer in this field. His favorite stories are often works of Stephen King and Yvette Tan.

Action Films || He finds action films a good way to break the monotony of scares and spooks. He often keeps an eye out for any superhero and sci-fi action as these are his favorite genres.

Dolls || Makoto has quite a fascination with dolls. Not Barbie or anything but dolls that resemble human models that could easily be mistaken for a horror prop.

Dislikes:
Rap Music || When it comes to music, Makoto prefers songs he can easily sing along to. Which is why he generally steers clear of this genre though his old roommate would often blast songs like these at high volumes.

Chick Flicks || Makoto often finds such films boring and uninteresting, which some people attributed to his rather dense character.

Coffee || Makoto tends to swear off the stuff, finding it to be too bitter for his taste. He's not one to turn away a free sample given to him though.

History || From the get-go, Makoto had always been a strapping, city boy. Growing up in the typical urban community, Makoto is the middle child of their family which consists of him, his older sisters, a younger sister and their parents. His father works abroad and is away for a good duration of the year, leaving Makoto alone in a house of women.

He had always looked up to Haruto Itsuna, his older sister and strives to become a prominent horror writer like her. He studies at Kurogane Institute and has taken up residency in Blue Lotus in order to avoid the hassle of commuting to and fro the school and his house. He often goes home on Friday nights and returns Sunday afternoon.

During the first year, he was roommates with Aziz Harumi but certain differences in tastes and conduct often put the two at odds with each other. Diligent and rule-abiding Makoto normally couldn't stand Aziz's troublesome habits and antics so he got him transferred out of the room, leaving 503 all to himself.

Colors || Speech = Brown / Thought = Sienna




So begins...

Makoto Itsuna's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Aziz Harumi Character Portrait: Laeticia "Cel" Concepcion Character Portrait: Kazuya Tamashiro
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(OOC: Timeskip courtesy of Saya XD)
Wednesday - 6:00 AM

Both Sora and Makoto headed out to school prior to Cel taking up her position at the desk. Aziz decided not to go to school for today but instead, head to his friend Wakaba's vigil at her house outside Castle City. He left Kujo a note, asking him to take care of some things in his absence.

"I'll be back by tonight. Just tell the teachers about the vigil. I'm sure they'll understand." Aziz asks of his friend before heading out, taking nothing of any real value with him just to be safe.

As per the usual motions, Cel opened up the desk and the dorm, taking care not to wake the others up on the first floor. She debated whether she should shop for supplies to take on the ship for next week here or back in Shikoku though if she chose to do it in Shikoku, there'd be less variety of things to choose from.

"Hmm...decisions, decisions." Cel pondered a bit while waiting for the others to wake up. She reckoned if she can drag someone to go out and shop with her, she'll most likely do her shopping in Castle City.



Kurogane Technical - 7:00 AM

Makoto arrived early as per usual only to find out his professor for the day is absent, leaving them with only library research work to do. As it was something he can easily do later in the dorm, he decided to lounge around the place a bit. His classmates in that subject aren't even around, making him realize that they probably neglected to call him up about it.

"Seki...why didn't you even call or message me about this..." Sighing as he walked, Makoto wandered aimlessly at Kurogane's clean yet empty halls resounding with faint echoes from the other classes underway.

"Itsuna-kun? I guess Kirihara didn't pass you the message?" Turning around, Makoto came face to face with Taichi, the Student Council Vice President.

"Nope, she didn't. Just came over only to find Nakazawa-sensei absent." Makoto explained.

"I see." Taichi's eyes seemed to gaze at the empty classroom for a moment. "Hey, Itsuna-kun? What do you think about the President's plan? You know? The one where we talk to the west and east gangs?"

"Not so loud!" Makoto immediately scolds Taichi, glancing up at the security camera at the corner of the hall. "The school mustn't know about this remember? There's no way they'll approve!"

"I feel bad though--breaking the rules like this." Taichi replied with a laugh. "Think a bunch of brainless brutes can stop that guy? I mean, not even the police could do it."

"You may be right but, I suppose it would serve as a good deterrent. No one would want to mess with the gangs of the east and west."

"I don't know though..." Taichi interjects. "Personally, I don't think we can stop him. Especially in cases where "smart and independent women" are involved."

"What are you getting at?" Makoto perks up.

"What I'm saying is...quite peculiar of this guy to be targeting only Kurogane students no? I mean, it's not like Partisan Rose or St. Gabriel's short of beauties. From that perspective, that leaves the other trait."

"You don't say--?"

"Itsuna-kun? Do you know how many students are overlooked during the entrance exams for people who get higher scores--superficial standard as it may be?"

"That's preposterous! No one would be that heartless to kill people over not getting into a school you like!" Makoto firmly protests.

"We don't know that. Besides, it's dangerous to assume things all happen according to your perspective." Taichi counters back.

"But if this is out of vengeance or envy over the application process then why have there been only four victims as of now? Besides, just because someone dies, doesn't mean slots in the school will open up."

Taichi flinched a little upon Makoto discovering a small hole in his theory.

"And why all girls--?"

"Okay! Would you believe me if I show you some proof?" Taichi suddenly cuts in. "Proof which would cement this theory firmly in stone.

"You have something like that?"

Just as Taichi was about to take out his phone, his professor for the day shows up, informing him to head on to class. Sighing, he puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Well...duty calls. Kazenari has asked for a meeting later so I'll show it to you there." With that, Taichi vanishes to his classroom, leaving Makoto alone in the hallway again.

"Does he really have proof though? Well--it's probably just another one of his ramblings..." Makoto heads down to the cafeteria in the meantime, opting to waste time there instead.



Partisan Rose - 8:00 AM

"Akeno-chan! Good morning! You won't believe what I just saw last night! So I was on my way back, cutting corners and losing my sense of directions when I thought I saw Kirika-san walk towards a dark alley. So of course, I followed her to ask what she's doing there but when I got there, she was gone! Never mind it being Kirika-san, it wasn't even a person that looked like her! As in, there was nobody there! Urgh... I still get goosebumps when I think about it...

Oh, my classes also end at 3 so I'll wait for you in that place okay? See ya!!! :)"
Kazuya's message read as he sent it to Akeno while in the middle of class.

"Tamashiro-kun! Pay attention! Phones away!" His professor scolds him.

"Yes sir..." Kazuya groaned, defeated. Had his father been there, he was sure he would've felt disappointed as well.



St. Gabriel's - 8:30 AM

"And so you take X and use it to..." The rather dull professor went on, not minding that over half the class had already fallen asleep. Even those who managed to shake off the drowsiness were either on their way there or busying themselves with their phones and tablets. Sora, primarily belonged to the other half, her eyes closing every few minutes, only for her to snap them open again.

"God, this is a drag..." She thought as she stretched for the fifth time that day. A shrill vibration from her phone prompted her to look down and check who could be messaging her at this time.

"Tried to get permission for a leave but my boss wouldn't let me. Sorry. Let me know if you need anything else. Okay?" The message said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sora thought as she tucked her phone away, not even bothering to grace the person on the other end with a reply.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Menou Koizumi Character Portrait: Kazuya Tamashiro Character Portrait: Tadakatsu Fukui
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Kurogane - 8:30 AM

Hotaru wrapped up her first class with a rather heavy sigh.

"Emirsdottir-san?"

She turned to see her classmate with a happy smile. A rather petite and mousy looking girl with long black hair.

"Mikoto-chan! Hi, what's up?"

Mikoto fidgeted a bit.

"Can you please walk me home today...? I'm... I'm a bit scared with the murders going around..."

She hummed.

"Yeah, I can! But, it doesn't seem too smart if just us girls walk together alone. We should probably get more people involved like someone from the student council? Or a boy at least."

Mikoto flinched a bit but nodded.

"Y-Yeah, Emirsdottir-san... B-But who should we ask though...?"

She grinned and took Mikoto's hand while looking around before finding her guy.

"Makoto-kun!"

She was lucky to have caught him when she did. Hotaru gestured to Mikoto.

"Mikoto-chan is a bit worried about going home alone with all the murders happening so she wants to tag along to see if she can come with you."

Mikoto fidgeted a lot.

"I-I'm terribly sorry to trouble you, sir..."


Blue Lotus- 10:00 AM

Menou continued to take her notes as the teacher online told her specific details about world history.

"And we're done for the day."

Menou blinked as she looked at the computer screen. Normally her teacher would teach her something for at least another hour before dismissing her for the day to get some lunch. She blinked at the teacher on the screen.

"Um... Fujino-sensei...? Did I do something wrong in note taking...?"

The woman blinked and smiled, shaking her head.

"Not at all, Menou-chan. There's just something that I'm concerned about with you..."

Menou winced. Was it the last test? Did she fail it?

"Menou-chan, from what I've seen of your work, you're an excellent student. You put a lot of effort into your studies and it's clear that you have a bright future ahead of you."

Menou suppressed a small wince. There was no future for her. She was going to kill herself come her next birthday and the only reason she put effort into her classes was because she wanted to leave with at least a couple of decent memories.

"That said... I wish you would come to a regular class at least once. I understand that you have bad social anxiety but shutting yourself away all day isn't the proper solution. Also, I need to know what kind of major you're going for. Someone with such a bright mind shouldn't isolate herself in her dorm all day."

Menou just froze. This was absolutely not what she was expecting at all. Did the teacher really want her to get out and interact with more people...? Menou almost couldn't bear the thought of it.

"You don't need to answer me right away, Menou-chan. I understand completely if you need time to think this through. Just... please, at least consider it."

Menou took a deep breath.

"I-If it helps... I-I got asked to help work alongside someone in my dorm for a job..."

The brown haired woman's face lit up as she clapped her hands.

"Oh, Menou-chan, that's terrific! How do you feel about it?"

Menou sighed.

"Nervous... Really, really nervous... But... It's for the best, I think..."

The teacher smiled and nodded in approval.

"I'm absolutely positive that you can do it. Be sure to let me know how it goes for you. When does it start?"

"N-Next week... I'm helping out with clothing..."

The teacher seemed a bit surprised.

"Oh, I was unaware that you were into fashion. Well, good luck anyway, Menou-chan. Be sure to eat something healthy for a change."

Menou sighed as Fujino logged off.

"Why couldn't she have been my mom instead...?"

Shaking the thought aside, Menou grabbed some pieces of fabric, some thread and a needle to try and sew something together.


Partisan Rose- 12:00 PM
Akeno sat down at a lunch table eating some of the food Fuyumi made for everyone. She noticed Tadakatsu had sat down next to her, yawning.

"Classes were just as boring as I remember them being. Ah, your attire..."

Akeno looked over at him with a small smile. She ended up wearing the same clothes she bought yesterday in an attempt to try something new. She also had her hair free from the usual bun it was in and wore glasses.

"I decided to try and look a bit more natural today. You'd be surprised at how many compliments I got from girls."

Tadakatsu shook his head.

"Actually, that isn't surprising. That one lesbian really had a thing for you back in music club."

Akeno sighed as Tadakatsu chuckled.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that... Still, wish I could just get my hair short so that it all fit perfectly."

Tadakatsu shrugged.

"Eh, your hair looks fine to me though you always did like short hair better."

Akeno nodded.

"Yeah. For me, short hair just means I don't have to look so much like a doll and can actually exist as my own type of person."

Tadakatsu nodded.

"Gotcha, gotcha. In any case, is your teacher always a giant flirt?"

Akeno just hid her face in her arms while Tadakatsu stared at her.

"That's a yes, I take it. Jesus..."

Akeno just looked up to type away at her phone.

"You're gonna have to get used to it. I'm honestly surprised he didn't chew you out just for being a male."

Tadakatsu shook his head.

"I don't think he really cares about male students. He just favors females. In any case, you gonna walk back with that Kazuya guy?"

Akeno nodded.

"Yeah. He wants to find more detours and honestly, I'm the same. I had a lot of fun shopping yesterday. Plus, I'd like to get to know him more."

Tadakatsu shook his head with a small laugh.

"Yeah, well you kids better not have too much fun."

Akeno weakly but genuinely smiled at him.

"You dork, you're younger than us! Still, there's one thing that bugs me though..."

Tadakatsu raised an eyebrow but gave her his full attention. Akeno took the time to load up the text message from Kazuya and Tadakatsu read it to himself with a frown.

"Being stalked by someone who doesn't exist...? You think it's a ghost or something?"

He handed the phone back to Akeno so she could answer.

"I don't know... But whatever it is, it's really worrisome to me... I think it might have something to do with the murders going on to Kurogane students..."

Tadakatsu shook his head.

"That's probably a giant stretch. Still, you should be a bit on guard just in case someone jumps out at you two."

"Same here... I just got you back, Katsu. I don't want to lose you again..."

Tadakatsu smiled a bit and ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry. Now that I'm back, you won't get rid of me even if you want to."

Akeno pushed his hand off before smiling a bit at him.

"Thank you... In any case, we should get back to class..."

Tadakatsu nodded.

"Yeah. Wouldn't want you to be late and keep your boyfriend waiting."

He laughed as Akeno berated him as they walked back to class.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Genji Yukitora
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Wednesday - 8:45 AM

As Makoto wandered around aimlessly, Hotaru approached him with a friend, asking him if he can accompany them out of school. The whole incident has left the school in a state of shock, taking quite a toll on most of the student body--particularly the female population.

"Mikoto-chan huh? Hmm..." Makoto made a quick mental calculation of the time. His next class doesn't start until 1 and the student council meeting doesn't start until 6. "Okay. But I have to be back around 11, is that alright?"

They ran into Kazenari Tohsaka a little shortly after they started walking.

"Ara? You heading home already? We still have a meeting at 6." Kazenari reminded him. She wasn't in her uniform today which struck Makoto a bit odd given that she is basically obligated to wear it every day. Might be in preparation for the plan.

"No, I'm not heading home. I'm just accompanying Hotaru-chan and Mikoto-chan on their way home since it's a little dangerous nowadays." Makoto explained.

"I see. Well, the 14th is closed down since cops are looking into the matter. I suggest you avoid that entire area of the street if you don't want to have to answer any questions they might throw your way. I mean...classes have barely started and then they'll see you walking around out of school--"

"Yup. I'll keep it in mind." Makoto assured her and the two parted ways. "Tohsaka-san? Shirazumi-san said he has something to show us later. I guess you should also talk things over with him after class."

Kazenari looked back but Makoto had already gone ahead with the two girls, leaving Kazenari to wonder what it was Taichi wanted to show them.

"So are both of your classes done? You seem to be heading home early today." Makoto made small talk with the two as he walked with them.



"Yes. But first, I need to ask you something." Kirika leaned close to Gecky when he arrived from the dorm and into the shop where she waited. "Do you have a license? I need a driver for today." Kirika explained.

"Normally I would have asked my brother but he just referred me to you so I figured I'd wait and ask you here myself. It's going to be quite a nasty ride as I need to head to the warehouse to finalize the furniture and fittings. Then I need to check the other essentials as well. So, are you up for it?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Menou Koizumi Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa
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Hotaru shook her head with a happy grin.

"It's more like Mikoto-chan is too ill to really continue her classes. Stress and her don't really mix together..."

This caused the mousier girl to blush heavily.

"E-Emirsdottir-san, please don't say that so casually..."

Hotaru laughed a bit as Mikoto spoke up.

"Sorry, Mikoto-chan. Still, I'm not done with my classes yet. I just had a large break due to finishing up a test really early and I thought I would do a favor for a classmate. Thanks a lot for helping us, Makoto-kun!"


Kurogane Institute

Fuyumi happily hummed as she walked to Kurogane. She had heard that her friends mostly resided there and wanted to give them their boxed lunches so that they were able to get through the day with plenty of nutrition. Her day at St. Gabriels was rather short as it was mostly spent on introductions. Her classmates didn't seem to discriminate her due to her condition which to her was fantastic. She could become a successful chef despite her blindness and that ultimately cheered Fuyumi up more than anything.

"In any case, I should definitely see if Mr. Harumi is around. He'll need support now more than ever. Still, I hope Mr. Nobuyuki and Miss Makinami enjoy their nice surprises too..."

Fuyumi didn't pay attention so she bumped into someone on the way over. She felt the coat first and it felt really coarse, like it had been worn constantly. She then felt how warm the person was underneath the coat. Were they just naturally hot? In any case, Fuyumi was just grateful not to have fallen over.

"Ah! Forgive me! I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was going and I'm blind so I didn't exactly see you. U-Um, is there any chance that I could make it up to you if I damaged anything...?"

She wanted to feel to see who this person was but that was going to be extremely difficult since she didn't quite know if they were a male, female or even trans. All she knew was the coarse coat that they were wearing and that wasn't enough to pinpoint what this person looked like so she could make up the accident to them.


Menou sighed in relief as she finished. She had sewn together multiple spare patches of cloth and it turned out decently enough.

"Hopefully Asagi will be okay with my basic skills..."

She still felt tired and yawned.

"That really took a lot out of me... I'm not quite used to doing this much physical work... Ugh, I really should develop better sleeping habits..."

As that last thought crossed her mind, she fell asleep.


When classes ended at 2:30 PM, Akeno stretched.

"Great... Classes are over and done with."

She genuinely smiled to herself as she picked up her phone and bookbag to walk over to the meeting spot. She felt happy that their classes didn't end at too far apart a time. She only had to wait 30 minutes for her friend. At least, that's what the text said. When she made it over to the tree near the guardhouse and sat down underneath it. She was honestly surprised with how comforting it felt and leaned against the trunk of the tree while waiting.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa Character Portrait: Kazuya Tamashiro
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"Don't worry about the vehicle." Kirika assured Genji. "We'll be taking my car. Well, Mitsuru's to be exact."

Kirika led Genji to where her brother's Celica was parked. She handed him the keys while she sat herself on the passenger's seat on the side, taking out a small list of itineraries as she put on her seatbelt.

"First is the warehouse along the table warehouse along the seventh. It's right near Partisan Rose. You know how to get there right? In that case, let's get going."



Kurogane Technical - 9:00 AM

"Hmm? Hirabayashi-san?" Makoto wondered what Fuyumi was doing all the way out here around class time. She wasn't alone however. A rather shifty looking man stood beside her. He didn't seem to be a student of the school though. He reckons it was probably a visitor.

As they passed, he supposed he should bring the matter up. Turning to Hotaru and her friend, he asked.

"That was Hirabayashi-san wasn't it? Did you recognize the man she was with?" Makoto asked, feeling slightly concerned about this visitor.



Partisan Rose - 3:15 PM

"Akeno-chan! Sorry if I was a bit late!" From how he panted upon arriving at their meetup place, it was pretty apparent Kazuya had ran all the way there. "It's kind of a long story but the gist of it was--"

Apparently, they had a small laboratory work done by group when a girl in Kazuya's group accidentally smashed a couple of flasks and beakers. The professor got really mad which forced him to yell at the girl. Kazuya spoke up and yelled back, redirecting his professor's wrath to him and--

"...and now he wants me to buy and replace all the shattered flasks and beakers. It will only take a moment, I promise! We just need to make a couple of stops near the specialty goods shop three blocks from here and back and off we got to Blue Lotus!" Kazuya asked. Had his father been around, he was sure he would've grounded him for a week for talking back to authority and dragging others into his mess.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Menou Koizumi Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa
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Hotaru heard Makoto's concerns about the strange man in a beanie and coat. Though he looked intimidating, there was a small puppy barking up at Fuyumi and Hotaru thought a bit before clapping her hands.

"It's obviously a secret boyfriend!"

"E-Eh...?"

Mikoto was confused as Hotaru grinned to herself.

"The two of them are forbidden lovers drawn apart by bad circumstances. He's a bad boy, she's a good girl and the two of them are brought together by coincidence after coincidence~ They can't deny the pull of each other and thus a star crossed lovers relationship is born!"

Mikoto weakly laughed.

"I-I don't think real life works like that..."

Hotaru laughed a bit.

"Nah, it really doesn't. I just felt like being silly. But, I don't really know who the guy is but we shouldn't really bother him."

She hummed.

"Mikoto-chan needs to get home quickly so that she doesn't have to worry so much anymore. If he's here when we come back, we can talk to him then, Makoto-kun~"

With that, Hotaru pushed Makoto and Mikoto away from the scene to get them out of there. Fuyumi had heard the commotion and was honestly a little embarrassed. The two had just met, how did Hotaru get so far ahead from just one glance at the two? Still, she supposed it had to do with Hotaru really liking romance. Shaking it aside, she heard the barking puppy and smiled gently.

"I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you, puppy... Here's a small gift."

She presented the puppy with a bone cut from a ribeye she had made. She was going to find a local pound to give the bone to but decided that she wanted to get on this puppy's good side. So, she gave him the bone instead. She heard the new man's question and sheepishly laughed.

"Honestly...? I don't. I didn't necessarily wish to trouble others around me by asking for help. I would have liked to have a guide dog."

She sighed heavily.

"But unfortunately, I don't quite know all the policies of the dorm I'm living in nor do I have any idea which type of dog I should adopt since all of them are great..."


Akeno listened to his story and sighed a little bit. It was nice that he defended a girl from being yelled at by her professor but the professor was a really awful man for him to dump all responsibilities on Kazuya. Still, the message did technically say that they would take some detours so...

"Yeah, I don't mind. Really sucks about what happened with the professor. Hopefully he'll be less of a jerk in the future."


Blue Lotus- 9:45 AM

Menou tossed and turned, groaning. Despite wanting to sleep, she just couldn't. Too much was on her mind at the moment and she just wanted to take a small break from her own mind. She sat up from bed and sighed, thinking about what Asagi had told her about the idol industry. She could do it, if she practiced... She peered over at her laptop and decided to practice right away. She remembered the opening to one of her favorite anime, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and decided to try to sing that.

"Nothing gets done when I'm a shut in, right...? I'll try to do something to get the strength in my hands back."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa Character Portrait: Genji Yukitora
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(OOC: Kurogane Time Skip. I'll assume both Hotaru and Makoto already made it back to school since Makoto has a class at 1.)

Kurogane Technical Institute - 11:30 AM

"Perhaps because it's still morning, we managed to make it back without much incident." Makoto sighed in relief as he re-enters the gates of the school after dropping Mikoto off with Hotaru. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the stranger was still there along with Fuyumi with a dog? He wasn't sure but he did recall Kurogane having a policy on bringing pets inside.

"Well, I do have a class at 1 so I think I'll take a quick lunch at the cafeteria first. Do you want to come along?" He invites Hotaru for a quick break before they head back to their respective classes.



9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Kirika kept quiet throughout the drive, passively leaning her head on the backrest and occasionally dozing off whenever the vehicle would stop at a red light or traffic. To her, driving was a very monotonous exercise and the sooner they finish the errands, the better.

She glanced at her assigned driver for the day. He didn't seem to be much of talker as he kept quiet and his mouth covered throughout the trip. Momentarily, she wondered if he had something contagious and if she should be riding with him. However, it was a request from Mitsuru and Kirika was obviously obliged to take up his offer.

After around half an hour of driving, Kirika espied a familiar warehouse on her peripheral. It wasn't their intended destination--but they would arrive here sooner or later so she motioned for Genji to stop the car in the establishment. Bag in hand, she got out and headed inside where she stayed for another half hour checking light fixtures. Finally, she walked back to the car not to the passenger's seat but to the driver's seat.

"Do you mind doing some lifting? I've got some heavy decorative pieces I need help with. We just have to pop it in the trunk real quick." She asks her temporary employee. "I understand if you can't or don't want to but think of it as an added task with a bonus on your paycheck."



Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Menou Koizumi Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa
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Hotaru energetically nodded at Makoto's offer.

"Oh, yeah! That sounds great, Makoto-kun."

She grinned at him.

"I got a bit of a paycheck for helping out with Black Rose so I'll buy some more bread~ It'll almost be like a celebration of sorts."

She stretched as they walked.

"What kind of bread do you want, Makoto-kun? I don't want to be stingy and keep the bread all to myself."



Fuyumi listened to the man's offer while kneeling down to feel for the puppy's head. Once she felt it, she gently pet the puppy in small and careful strokes.

"Hm..."

She stood up and smiled.

"I'd definitely be grateful for all the help. However, I'd like to know your name first. That way, we won't necessarily be strangers."

She extended a hand out to him. There were a couple of bandages on her fingers from cooking accidents today but she was alright with them.

"I'll go first. My name is Fuyumi Hirabayashi. Who might you be?"


Menou took a couple of deep breaths and sighed. It took her a couple of hours but she finally got together a product that she could like. She looked over at Google to see where she could upload her cover.

"StarStruck...?"

It was supposedly a new streaming site where up and comung singers upload covers or original songs to the world. People could view them and the more views a person's song got, the more money they would recieve. Getting certain numbers would include other bonuses as well, including having your cover play on the radio, a potential critique from a popular music critic and even a chance to perform live. Though, Menou took a closer look at the site. It had only been up for about a month ago and the amount of money you recieved for a cover of a song was cut down to about 3/4 of the amount of money you would get if you had chosen to upload a new song of your creation. Plus, the amount of numbers it took for you to get rewards is doubled. Menou winced.

"I guess people really don't want you to be unoriginal... Maybe next time I can try to make my own song. For now..."

She uploaded the song and sighed in relief.

"I just want to take my first step..."

She closed her laptop and yawned, feeling drained.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Nagisa Makinami Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa Character Portrait: Kazuya Tamashiro
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Orange Blossom - 12:00 PM

With Genji's help, most of the lifting was over with though by the time they were able to finish, it was nearing lunchtime. As the warehouse wasn't exactly a place where they can grab some grub, Kirika had him pull over into one of the more popular cafes in that side of town.

"Feel free to order anything you want. Don't worry, it's not coming out of your pay." Kirika offers as part of the compensation to Genji. Besides, their expenses are to be deducted from Mitsuru anyway and somehow, she felt that it was her own little way of getting back at him.



Kurogane Technical Institute - 11:30 PM

"Hmm? Well if you insist..." Makoto cycled through the sandwich selections offered in the shop. "I'll have the mushroom cheese melt then. Thanks, Hotaru-san~" He opted for something rather light and inexpensive since he didn't want to feel too full that he becomes sleepy later on.

"Then I'll buy drinks instead. So everything's fair. Do you have any preferences?" As Makoto asked though, he espied Kujo and Nagisa leaving the building together. "It's quite rare I see those two together in school...Is something up?"

Makoto wondered about it. Considering Fuyumi was also outside earlier, it was clear something was going on. "Hotaru-chan, let's get our snacks to go and eat in the pavilion. I've got a feeling that I may have to do something there later on."



Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Makinami Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa
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"A-Ah!"

Fuyumi was very confused as she got dragged away by Nagisa. She didn't quite understand what was going on. She was making friends with Hayato and he was going to recommend some places where she could get a seeing eye dog after she gave him her number. Then, Kujo called out her last name and started getting into an argument with Hayato. She felt upset for both of them. What happened to make them fight each other...?

"Ah, Makinami-san...? May I please ask what's going on? I just wanted to get a seeing eye dog..."

She was completely and utterly confused and just wanted some answers.



Hotaru happily grinned and bought a mushroom cheese melt, beef yakisoba and chocolate bread.

"No problem at all, Makoto-kun!"

When she heard he would buy the drinks, she felt really happy and decided to take him up on his offer.

"Hm... How about some green tea?"

Hotaru had been on a tea bender as of late. Mainly due to the recent brewing of a new type of tea flavor in her uncle's café. Supposedly, this tea would be a blend of white chocolate, strawberries and cinnamon. She heard Makoto ask about Kujo and Nagisa walking to school together. Hotaru hummed.

"I think they might have decided to walk to school together."

Even if she was a hopeless romantic, she'd be a dead person if she insinuated that Nagisa liked Kujo in any romantic sense. Still, it was curious to see the two of them together. It was even more curious to see Nagisa dragging Fuyumi away.

"Why is Nagisa-chan doing that to Fuyumi-chan?"

Shrugging it off for now, Hotaru nodded with a happy smile at Makoto's request.

"Yeah, the pavilion sounds nice~ Maybe you'll take a first step towards your destiny, Makoto-kun!"

She laughed a bit at her small joke and waited for Makoto to pay for the drinks.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Makinami
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Orange Blossom - 12:20 PM

Kirika nodded upon hearing Genji's reasons for wearing his mask. According to him, he didn't have an illness or anything and was just worn out of preference. Nonetheless, she did find it a little weird. And maybe a bit creepy.

"I see. Or is it the other way around then? You wear it so you don't catch other people's disease." Kirika assumed as she dug into her order of Sunburst Cake and chocolate.

"The food here is really good. Something to take note of when we open..." Kirika murmured to herself as she waited for her companion to finish. "Mitsuru said you were a regular at the old shop right?"

"If I were to ask, what did and didn't you like at the old shop? And what kept you coming back?"



Kurogane Technical - 12:00 PM

"This is bad..." Makoto thought as he witnessed what appears to be a scuffle between Kujo and the other visitor. It was no secret that among students that Kujo Nobuyuki runs with some rather...questionable folk so the other guy must be related to that--if not a part of a gang himself. Makoto had brought Hotaru in one of the pavilions outside, allowing them to witness the scene up close though it would appear that they weren't the only ones who had that idea.

Multiple students had gathered; some were whispering to themselves while pointing at the two and some kept their viewing a lot more low-key by pretending to eat at the pavilions. A handful had their cameras out and was taking pictures and videos of the scene.

"Ikeda's going to kill me if I let something bad happen to Hotaru-san here." Makoto glanced at the growing number of people gathering around. Duty was calling him but he did remember what he and Cel talked about last night.

He was only an observer. Not an actor.

"Doesn't matter." He thought as he stood up. "Hotaru-san, I think I need to step in here. It might take a while so you can head back to class without me."

"You don't need to do that, historian." Kazenari suddenly cuts in as she arrived. "Leave this to me."

"Are you sure? They might not listen to you."

"Maybe. Only one way to find out." Kazenari gave him a slight smirk before walking towards the two.

"Oh, for God's--urgh..." Groaning, Makoto followed after her.

"If you're going to argue like dogs then can you please do it outside? You're causing quite the commotion and disrupting classes." Kazenari addressed the two in her usual icy voice. She turned to face Kujo first. "You're from here right? May I ask why you're not in class right now?"

Turning to the other guy, she met his glare with her own. "Outsiders aren't normally allowed in here unless it's important business. Tell me, for what purpose did you come here? From the looks of it, you don't seem like you're here to enroll or shift schools."

She noticed the dog he brought with him. Pets aren't normally allowed in their school but Kazenari decided against bringing up the matter for now. Makoto turns his attention on Kujo.

"Hey, where's Hirabayashi-san? Isn't she with you? And I don't think I've seen Aziz anywhere." He asked though it was more of a starter rather than an actual question. Though he reckons Aziz might've done a better job at calming them down than either he or Kazenari can.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Makinami Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa
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Hotaru was somewhat afraid of the actions going on but decided to step in and offer some help of her own. She walked over to the two arguing males and the student council president to brightly smile.

"Hey, guys. I don't really think we should be fighting on school grounds. I can understand if it's stress or any grudges that you two might have but Kazenari-senpai is right. We shouldn't really do this on school grounds. You can settle your issues outside if need be. You might be scaring the little puppy here too."

She knelt down to gently pet Hudson, somewhat distracted with how cute he was but mainly to put emphasis on the tiny puppy being in the middle of the fight as well. She then heard footsteps and saw familiar grey locks and winced a bit. Noa Arai had entered the scene with a very deep frown on her face.

"Will all of you keep quiet? You're disrupting study hall, aggravating my already awful mood and just being general annoyances. Then again, I shouldn't have been surprised. The both of you have the general look of ruffians, so I should have expected you to have the intellect and temper to match."

Hotaru winced as she approached Noa.

"Noa-chan, they're already mad enough, I don't think you're helping them calm down by calling them all that..."

Noa focused her attention on Hotaru with her frown fading somewhat.

"If that was the case, then they'd shut up and leave the school when they're obviously not welcome here."

"But, Noa-chan, Kujo-kun goes to the school too-"

"Hah?"

She turned her glare towards the purple haired male.

"I cannot possibly believe that he would ever take school seriously with that unrefined image. Shouldn't he be ditching right about now? That's what foolish punks like him do after all."

Hotaru just whimpered a bit before regaining her confidence.

"Noa-chan, seriously. Calm down. Kazenari-senpai is working hard to stop this fight. I'm sure you're trying your best too but you don't know what you're getting into..."

Noa fell silent for a bit before huffing and walking away.

"Just get to class, mutt."

Hotaru shook her head.

"I don't know what's wrong with Noa-chan..."

She then turned her attention to Hayato and smiled a bit.

"Hi. You said you wanted some information, right?"

She wrote down her number and gave it to Hayato with a wide grin.

"I'm Hotaru Emirsdottir. I don't really know if I'll be able to help you out with whatever you need information on but I'm available as a listening ear."

Waving goodbye, she then turned her attention to Kujo.

"Kujo-kun, I don't think Fuyumi-chan knew about what was going on between you and that stranger. Please, don't get too mad at her..."


Fuyumi could hear a crowd suddenly chanting for a fight before hearing an unfamiliar woman's voice, Hotaru's voice and another unfamiliar woman's voice break it up. She sighed in relief.

"I believe someone already took care of that for you."

Fuyumi smiled a bit.

"In any case, I'm extremely grateful for your assistance in helping me with getting a seeing-eye dog, Miss Makinami."

She politely bowed in front of Nagisa and offered her a warm smile.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Hayato Morikawa Character Portrait: Noa Arai
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Kurogane Technical Institute - 12:45 PM

"Nobuyuki-san! Calm down!" Makoto immediately tells Kujo off when he started yelling loudly at Hotaru and Noa. "We won't get anything by being hot-headed about it! Why don't step back and walk if off?!"

"Itsuna-kun is right. This situation's under the jurisdiction of the Student Council now. Any more interference and we might as well get the Board involved." Kazenari warns the rest. The Board makes most of the decisions when it comes to several matters. Including suspending students caught breaking the rules.

"You too Arai-san." Makoto turns to Noa as well. "I don't know what went on with you two but you can always talk things over back at the dorm."

Kazenari nodded, satisfied with the efforts of her own members. "Itsuna-kun get Nobuyuki-kun back to class. Arai-kun, get all these people out of here. That includes you, Hotaru-san." Through her authority, Kazenari orders the crowd to disperse and stick to their own business.

"Nobuyuki-san, let's go." Makoto gestures to Kujo to get going.

"And as for you--" With most of the bystanders gone, Kazenari can now turn her attention to whom Kujo referred to as a Hound: one of the more prominent gangs around Castle West Side. "You said you wanted information. Uncanny timing, we have questions we're trying to answer as well."

A West Side Hound just has to show up right at their doorstep. As much as the commotiuon it caused was rather unwelcome, it did get the ball rolling for Kazenari to put her plan in motion. In a way, she saw it a stroke of luck.

But--

WAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

A shrill scream echoed throughout campus, catching everyone's attention, including Kazenari.

"That sounded like it came from the HRM side!" Makoto muttered before he took off running in that direction.

"We'll continue this later--!" Breaking away for a moment, Kazenari followed a little after, so she could see what had just transpired.

Upon arriving, a crowd had already gathered near the orchard with several students and faculty peering from the windows and hallways. Cries of panic echoed through the halls.

"Call an ambulance quick!"

"What's going on?!" Kazenari finally managed to force through the crowd just in time for Makoto to rise up from the grassy floor.

"Fifth death in this school. Tatara Isuko." He managed to mutter. Ahead, another victim lay sprawled on the ground, blood dyeing the recently mowed lawn red.

From the wound on her head, it was obvious she had fallen from a great height. Kazenari looked up at the windows, trying to see which one. The only open windows however, were the ones with students peering out of it.

"Itsuna-kun, head to the security buildings quick! Arai-kun, go around those floors and ask if anyone saw where she fell or jumped from! On the double!"

"I'm on it!" Makoto nodded and immediately ran to the security office to check the footage from the security cameras.

"This is getting way out of hand..." Kazenari mutters to herself as the nearby medics finally arrived and started dispersing the crowd away to get Tatara's body out of there.



Orange Blossom - 1:00 PM

Kirika took note of every detail Genji had just told her. Certain things like decor certainly needed an overhaul. However, she was sure it shouldn't be too big a factor in turning people away. Still--for this man to keep on staying despite that. Surely there was something the old Black Rose had?

"Thank you." Kirika managed to say as she stood up. "For sticking with it. I can't guarantee the new one would be as nice but we will try."

"Got a little sidetracked a little so we now head to our original destination. Near Partisan Rose. Shouldn't be too hard to miss."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Makinami Character Portrait: Noa Arai
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"Yes, ma'am."

Noa was about to walk away when she heard the screams of Tatara Isuko. She didn't know the girl personally but she was involved in her classes so Noa felt some form of connection towards her along with the human empathy one normally feels during someone's death. Still, while one would assume she was pushed out from a window, Noa had a small theory in her mind. Mainly, that someone could have led her up to the roof and pushed her off there. Regardless, she needed to get answers so she quickly ran to the fifth floor first, the one that had the most open windows. Part of her felt disgusted to see these students watching. Sure it was impossible to try and grab her and save her from the fall but the least amount of decency they could have was not make the death of someone innocent a media spectacle. Shaking off her disdain for now, she called out to the other students.

"Alright, back off. The Student Council is taking care of this situation as we speak. Before you go back to your classes, I've been appointed by the council to ask some questions. First, would anyone tell me what happened? Were there any witnesses to Tatara-san's untimely death outside of her falling? Was she pushed? Did she jump?"

She pulled out a notebook and pencil.

"I don't want anyone to lie about this. The justice of Tatara-san rests with all of you."


Hotaru winced a bit as Kujo had shoved her but hearing the scream of Tatara Isuko as she fell to her death caused her to briefly shut down for a moment. She had heard about the murders going on in this school and didn't want any more deaths to happen but one just did and it was one she could clearly hear. In any case, Hotaru stepped into action.

"Everyone, please get to class, right now! I know you're worried for Isuko-chan but we can't help her unless we let authorities try to do something. And, if any of you have any information regarding Isuko-chan, please tell the student council! I imagine they need a lot of information!"

Hotaru turned to Kujo with a worried look on her face.

"Kujo-kun, we need to find out what happened with Isuko-chan. I can't just let this guy get away with doing what he wants..."


Fuyumi smiled warmly at Nagisa.

"Thank you very much. I apologize for taking up your-"

She then could hear a faint scream and her face went completely pale. She picked up the boxed lunches and handed them to Nagisa.

"Forgive me, Miss Makinami but I'm afraid I heard something. These lunches are for you and Mr. Nobuyuki to enjoy at your leisure. That's the main reason why I came over here. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

She listened for some way to get to the rooftop but a lot of students talking greatly stunted her hearing.

"This isn't good... I have to rely on my touch to get to and from the school."

She felt across the hallway for a way to figure out where the rooftop was. Normally with a falling kind of scream, it came from high up. Fuyumi immediately suspected that the rooftop would be the highest place one could fall from. So, she had to look for any kind of clues or information there.

"I may not be going to this school but I can't just be an outsider and do nothing..."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi
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Kurogane Technical Institute - 1:00 PM

Kurogane's Security Building was located on a separate building from the actual institute. It was disguised as a small, bungalow type building on campus that also doubles as a supply room and guard's quarters. Security personnel do not really supervise the cameras 24/7 but one only needs to ask for the footage from certain rooms and timeframes and they will gladly provide it.

Especially in cases of emergency.

Makoto was scouring through footage after footage--a task that was very difficult considering he had to check several rooms, hallways and floors. To narrow down the times, he started checking footage starting at around 10:00, considering almost all of them heard Tatara Isuko scream as she fell.

The rooms in the HRM building didn't show anything out of the ordinary. Occupied rooms had classes, unoccupied ones only had a few people mingling and taking advantage of the airconditioning units. All Makoto saw was regular routine until one of the cameras snagged the falling body of Tatara Isuko and the rest of the class went into disarray.

"Then, she must've fallen from the roof..." Makoto thought.

The problem was that there was no cameras on the rooftop itself. There was one on the 12th floor hallway but it doesn't peer into the staircase itself. However, the blind spot here is a little small so it can somehow see who was coming and going. It caught both him and the vice-president Taichi, heading up then down earlier in the morning but both of these occurred before Tatara Isuko fell. Tatara Isuko herself only went up around 12:00 PM--both he, the vice president and three other male students have already gone down then.

"Damn! No luck..." Makoto cursed under his breath. He doesn't have the mental capacity to think about this incident. The security personnel asked him if that was all he needed to see.

"Yeah. Ah, but can you prepare a copy of all the footage today? I'm sure the cops would want to see it as well."

His task done, Makoto leaves the Security Building.



Kurogane Technical Institute - 3:00 PM

Listening in to both gang members made Kazenari perk up. The ambulance had already arrived earlier along with the police. Regular classes were suspended for the day and the HRM students and faculty were all subjected to questioning and investigation.

After being questioned and redirecting the police to the Security Building, Kazenari was able to break away and approach both Kujo and Hayato.

"If it doesn't bother you, I would like to continue this conversation elsewhere. The Sagittarius. 3rd Floor in Emerald Gardens. I'll be there at 6 if you want to push through with your own investigation." Kazenari whispers to Hayato before disappearing among the crowd finished with questioning and headed home.

Just as Kazenari left, Makoto returned after his long absence. Tatara's body was already wheeled away and from the looks of it, the rest were allowed to head home. He saw Nagisa, Kujo and Hotaru and immediately went over to them.

"Anyone see Arai-san? Cops wants us to clear the place once questioning is done. We should all head home for now."

He noticed something peculiar upon seeing Nagisa and Kujo though.

"Nobuyuki-san, Makinami-san...where's Hirabayashi-san?" Makoto asks, looking for their visiting resident.



8th Street - 3:15 PM

"Yay! Glad that's all over with!" Kazuya breathed a sigh of relief as he and Akeno walked out of the school. The whole chore thankfully didn't take too long and they were soon walking on their way back to the dorm. En route, Kazuya espied an arcade that had recently opened near the edge of school.

"Whoah! Akeno-chan look!" Kazuya pointed at the arcade. "Bet there's a lot of cool prizes to win over there! Ah! That crane game looks like it has great offerings!" He took Akeno's hand and practically led her inside.

"Hey, do you have anything you want? Believe it or not, I'm quite handy with these kinds of consoles!" Kazuya proudly steps up to the machine.



8th Street - 3:00 PM

"I'm not that surprised at all considering this is the cheapest car among the five he owns. Technically, this was to be given to me but as you can see, I'm no driver." Kirika explains, unintentionally declaring a fraction of their wealth to their temporary helper.

They arrived at the warehouse Kirika pointed at. It wasn't hard to find considering the other establishments were all new and chic places while it remained looking rather old with some paint peeling off the gates and walls.

"Let's go. It shouldn't take too long."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Makinami
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Kurogane Institute- 3:00 PM

"Worthless. Absolutely worthless."

Noa returned with a loud and heavy sigh as she walked back to the group. Hotaru, Makoto, Nagisa and Kujo were there and she grunted a bit as she saw them.

"So many people didn't want to come out and say what happened, not even after I implied that they could be responsible due to fingerprints being all over the open windows along with other DNA. Those who did step forward with information only know that Tatara fell but they didn't quite know from where."

Hotaru frowned a little, rubbing her arm.

"In that case, then we really have no other choice than to let the police handle it. I'm really scared, everyone... Still, we can't just give up here. It'll make everyone's deaths for nothing. We have to catch whatever's doing this..."

Hotaru tilted her head after hearing Makoto ask about Fuyumi. Noa blinked.

"Hirabayashi? Who is that?"

Hotaru looked over at Noa.

"Ah, Fuyumi-chan never really met you, Noa-chan. Well, she has curly brown hair, is blind and wears a poofy pink sweater."

Noa nodded.

"Ah, I believe I saw her make her way up the rooftop-"

Noa stopped and then let out a frustrated groan.

"I didn't think the blind could even be this stupid! If she's going up to the rooftop, there's a good chance she'll get her fingerprints all over evidence and be incriminated for a crime she didn't even commit."

Hotaru flinched at how brutal her words were but Noa did have a point.

"We should get Fuyumi and get her out of the way so she doesn't get in trouble with the law."


Kurogane Institute Rooftop - 3:10 PM

Fuyumi sighed in relief. It took her long enough with the loud noises of gossip interfering with her hearing but she finally made it to the rooftop. The noise seemed to subside after 3 PM which meant getting to the rooftop was a lot easier after that. She felt a little silly gripping onto the railway of the stairs the entire time and stepping as carefully as she possibly could though. This was why she needed a seeing eye dog.

"In any case, I made it. Now... Let's see if there's anything I can find to give to the police..."


8th Street - 3:15 PM

Akeno sighed a bit in relief when they managed to get the chores done. She was happy that it didn't take too long and she then heard Kazuya talk about an arcade that had just opened up. As she was about to ask what they were going to do, she felt Kazuya grab her hand and lead her inside.

"Ah... My hand..."

Akeno was taken back to when she would hold her father's hand as they walked to the music club. A warm nostalgia filled her before Kazuya asked which one Akeno would prefer to get out of the crane machine. She was a bit surprised that he brushed off hand holding like it was nothing but she shrugged it off. Maybe it was nothing to people anymore...

"Hm..."

She peered inside the machine. She had heard rumors about it being completely rigged and a couple of times when her dad tried it, the rumors were proven true. Mainly that there was one bouncy ball that her father had gotten, but it bounced off of the winner's drop box and right back into the mass of other bouncy balls. She then noticed a cute white toy with a blue jester looking hat and blue shoes.

"That one looks cute."

She pointed to the white jester looking toy, hoping that Kazuya would get it but at the same time, ready to pat his back for comfort if the game was rigged.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Kanade Takamine Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi
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"Sagittarius. Women sure love fancy places."

Hayato mumbled as the student council president left. Kujo glanced over at him.

"You plan on going?"

"I need the info for the Hounds."

"Then I ain't."

Just as Kujo declined, Arai herself came to them. Nagisa noticed the furrow in Kujo's brow as he noticed her, and the moment someone brought up getting Fuyumi back, he immediately leapt at the chance.

"I'll get 'er."

Kujo spoke up gruffly, adjusting the jacket on his shoulders. Nagisa glanced over at his quickly retreating figure.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it'll be no sweat. Plus--"

Kujo raised a small boxed lunch in his hands. Nagisa glanced down at the ones she was carrying and was genuinely surprised that the rough man had managed to get his without her noticing.

"Gotta thank her for this."

"That, and he just wants to get away from Arai probably."

Hayato lightly tapped his coat and adjusted his beanie before turning away from the others.

"Nngh. If the rest of you are done, I'm getting out of here."

The moment he was out of school grounds, he immediately started walking away. Hudson followed at his heel.

Looking at her friend, Nagisa noticed Akame was still rather shaken. The black-haired girl lightly rubbed her neck again.

"Hey, uh...Ichinose. If it helps, we'll walk you back to your dorm."

"H-Huh? We?"

Nagisa nodded stiffly, cracking a wry smile and reaching for her phone. She quickly dialed a number she knew by heart.

"Yeah. We. I doubt you'd be going to be any comfortable without someone you're at least familiar with."

The answer came soon enough.

"Fuck off, I'm working."

The joking tone caused Akame to smile a little.

"I know you're not. Get over here, we need to get Akame home."

"The fuck am I, a bodyguard? I'm buying clothes."

"You're not a fashion person. Come on, just hurry up and get here."

There was a sound of rifling on the other end.

"Can't find 'em."

"What do you mean you can't find them?"

"There's only soup."

"Kanade, stop fucking around. I can see you on the other side of the street."

She heard a laugh.

"Yeah, sure. I'm heading there."

"Thanks."

Nagisa hung up, gently gripping Akame's shoulder. She turned to Hotaru and the others.

"I'm just gonna escort Akame home now if you guys don't mind. If you could tell Fuyumi why I suddenly left that'd be nice. See you around."

She waved a bit before leaving to meet up with her cousin.




"Seems like a place out of a bad drama show. The place every protagonist needs to be kidnapped in."

Genji nodded as they arrived. He started to get out once they were parked.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Noa Arai Character Portrait: Kazuya Tamashiro
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Kurogane Technical Institute - 3:20 PM

"Well, Nobuyuki-san's dealing with Hirabyashi-san so there's nothing else we can do here. As much as we want to take matters into our own hands, the only thing we can do is leave this up to the authorities." Makoto addresses the group. Nagisa split off and went with Akame, leaving only him, Noa and Hotaru around.

"For now we should head back." Makoto suggested as more cops started barricading the scene of the crime. Like them, it seemed like they also thought the whole ordeal was not a suicide. "I've been running around all day--I think I need to lie down or something."

Makoto sighed loudly. For a day with no classes, everything had been very exhausting.



8th Street - 3:15PM

"Jack Frost eh? No sweat~" Inserting a three coins as requested by the machine, the timer started up and Kazuya moved the crane with precision using both controllers.

"My dad thinks this is a worthless talent--that I should have studied French instead. But you know, you don't need to know the meaning of Quand je m'endors contre ton corps to sing that song--!" Kazuya exclaimed in cheer when he pressed the button to release. For a moment, he thought he wouldn't be able to drop it as the plush toy struck the edge of the prize chute before falling and sliding down, allowing Kazuya to retrieve it.

"Ta-da! Not bad eh?" Kazuya hands the plush over to Akeno with pride as shown by him puffing out his chest with his arms on his waist, nodding in satisfaction. "So, you like your prize?"



8th Street - 3:15 PM

Kirika had left the furniture orders to be sorted by the man in charge as he loaded up the merchandise on their huge truck. As for herself, she simply waited outside by the car with their temporary helper. Had she been a smoker, she was sure, she would've lit up a stick by now. However, she wasn't and the only thing she contented herself with was watching the people inside the new establishments go about their business.

From the edge of the street, she watched Akeno and Kazuya enter a newly built arcade, with Kazuya laughing and smiling like a third grader. Part of her felt at ease for her old friend who's finally smiling again but the sight of him being happy with someone else struck something within her chest and reminded her of a sensation she's forgotten a long time ago.

"He always liked the meek and shy types..." Kirika muttered to herself as she watched the two play around for a little while longer, standing back a few meters away like she used to three years ago.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kujo Nobuyuki Character Portrait: Fuyumi Hirabayashi Character Portrait: Noa Arai
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Kurogane Institute - 3:20 PM

Hotaru sighed a bit in relief.

"Yeah... At least the authorities have an idea on what's going on... Hopefully nothing terrible happens after an investigation is conducted on the roof..."

Noa just stood up and walked away. Hotaru tilted her head.

"Noa-chan, you aren't coming home with us?"

Noa shook her head.

"Any time away from school can be better spent catching up on materials that I missed for two days straight."

Hotaru shrugged off Noa's blunt words with a small wave.

"Just be safe, Noa-chan."

Noa said nothing back as she continued forward. Hotaru then focused her attention on Makoto.

"You look really drained... You should definitely get some sleep."

She smiled.

"Want to walk back again?"


Fuyumi moved to feel for the doorknob before finally feeling it. She then realized something.

"Ah, I should probably wear some gloves so my fingerprints aren't everywhere."

She reached into her bag to start to put on her sanitary gloves so she could explore the roof.


Akeno was surprised. He figured out how to beat the rigged claw machine. She honestly never thought that type of thing was even possible so when she saw the Jack Frost fall down the prize chute, she smiled widely. This guy really was a lucky type of sorts. When Kazuya gave her the doll, she hugged it close to her and a small and mechanical voice came out.

"Hee-ho! I'm Jack Frost. Let's be friends, ho~"

Akeno blinked and smiled happily.

"It c-can t-ta-alk... C-Cute~!"

She hugged the doll closer, feeling incredibly happy.

"Tha-ank you, K-Kazu..."

She coughed a bit but still kept up her happy smile. She felt genuinely happy to be around this guy. She wasn't sure what it was about him that made her feel genuine happiness but she was glad that she did. She just kept the Jack Frost plush close to her in a warm hug.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kirika Katsuragi Character Portrait: Hotaru Emirsdottir Character Portrait: Akeno Furuya Character Portrait: Makoto Itsuna Character Portrait: Kazuya Tamashiro Character Portrait: Genji Yukitora
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Kurogane Technical Institute - 3:20 PM

"No way!" Makoto exclaimed at Hotaru's offer with a laugh, considering the distance between the school and the dorm. "We should grab the bus instead. Let's go Hotaru-san. I'm exhausted."



Blue Lotus - 4:00 PM

"Well, we're here. Thanks for the help Hotaru-san." Makoto thanked Hotaru upon arriving at the dorm. "But this incident's got me concerned. I think we should talk things over tomorrow with the rest of our schoolmates." Makoto refers to the Kurogane students within the dormitory.

"Never thought I'd wish for Aziz to be here. It'd be easier smoothing things out with Kujo if he was around."



8th Street - 3:30 PM

The order form arrived and Kirika gave the go signal to the retailer, sealing the deal and confirming the delivery date. Her temporary helper seems to be bored out of his mind as well. When everything was sorted out, she motioned for him to get in the car already.

"Here." Kirika hands him an envelope containing his compensation for the day--and for tomorrow. "Tomorrow--I don't think I'll have any work for you. I probably won't be around as well. It's nothing troubling though--just a few errands on my part."

Kirika sighed in exhaustion as she turned back on the two: Kazuya and the resident Akeno. "Take us home now. Thanks and good work. Call in again on Friday--maybe."



8th Street - 3:30

"Ah! W-well..." Admittedly, Kazuya felt a little flustered for being thanked for winning a small plush toy. However, Akeno's smile was very genuine that he couldn't help but grin as well--something he hadn't been able to do for quite some time. "Yes, of course! Some boys might say we can spare the effort by just buying one from the store but no! It's the hurdle you have to conquer in order to obtain the plush which makes it worth it! And of course, this would've been a lot more expensive at the store haha!" Kazuya beamed with pride upon saying that.

"Well, let's head back to Blue Lotus! This time, I've got a couple of brews and recipes I'm planning on testing out for the new menu!" Kazuya leads Akeno outside again.

"I've been toying with my dad's idea of taking a baked crust and stuffing it with stuff like ham and cheese into serious consideration. If it becomes a hit, I bet not even the competitors can--"

And just as they started back on the road, Kazuya had already started rambling again--about food recipe ideas this time.

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