Ask to Join [GATHERS UNDER NIGHT]

[RhythmThief]

(Link to discussion thread ----> https://pokecharms.com/threads/gathers-under-night.28029/
In there you can find plot details, current characters, a map of the RP location, the character sheet and much more.)
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For the first time in a while, Ren was exhausted.

Always one to take care of his own wellbeing, he made it his policy to always get at least 8 hours of sleep each night, just as his parents taught him. Yet, last night he just couldn't bring himself to sleep. He had spent what felt like the longest stretches of eternity tossing and turning in the darkness, his eyes droopy and mind frayed. It wasn't long before morning came, and he had to find the strength to drag himself out of his failed slumber.

Why exactly couldn't he sleep properly? What had changed in his daily routine to cause this change? Ever the mathematician, these were the thoughts that plagued his tired mind as he trudged into the hustling, bustling atmosphere of the Scramble Crossing. The cold Tokyo daylight assaulted his dreary eyes as he fought to keep them open and find his way.

I really ought to solve for that s variable when I find the time. He thought to himself, using the little brain capacity he had left.

As he stood on the crosswalk, his black schoolbag slung over his left shoulder, he pulled out his smartphone, lazily scrolling to the built-in navigation app.

"So...take a left at the crossing into the 104 Building, then another left into Dogenzaka...then there's a little backstreet just before A-East, and that's where Tenshi High is? Tokyo really is a maze." He grumbled to himself, slowly making his way to his new school.

"The assembly's today, right....? Tardiness isn't an option. Better change my co-ordinates." He concluded, now making his way at a much brisker pace. On his way he saw many other people his age, some with the same uniform, but many who looked like they came from different schools in the surrounding area. He documented the different uniforms, badges, and colors he saw, making it a point to get as familiar with his new surroundings as soon as possible.

Yet, even with a new goal to focus on, Ren couldn't get last night's failed attempt at sleep out of his mind.

My habits are calculated and routine refined to consistently follow the line of best fit and achieve the best results. Is it nervousness? Anticipation? But of what? and who? I've never been like this before, so why....?

Still lost in thought and rumination, Ren almost didn't react when he hit what felt like something, or someone, and found himself on the hard, concrete floor of the busy sidewalk.

When he looked up, he saw a tall, well-dressed man with short dark black hair, flattened neatly down wearing a glasses and a brown suit, standing before the entrance to massive building, with the letters TENSHI HIGH SCHOOL printed in solid grey letters.

"Apologies, sir!" Ren courteously replied, scampering to his feet.

It was here that he noticed he wasn't alone ; there were several groups of students around the entrance, who had all bore witness to his blunder. As you might expect, the entrance soon became a cacophony of sniggers, whispers, and recording phones.

The man who Ren had bumped into snapped into action, almost suddenly commanding:

"That's enough! Collect your pins and make your way to the gymnasium! Assembly is about to commence!"

As if they were a group of marines given an order, the students crowded at the entrance began timidly shuffling into the main hall, any semblances of discussion cut short by the man's commanding presence.

"...That includes you." He finished, his attention now directed at the humiliated-feeling Ren.

"O-Of course, sir...." He quietly replied, picking up his bag and making a move.

"And call me Mr. Inui." the man added, not looking in Ren's direction but clearly addressing him.

"Yes, Mr. Inui." Ren repeated, before skulking into the Main Hall.

After having collected his pin and reached the gymnasium, he was once again greeted to a hustling and bustling atmosphere, with snippets of laughter, conversation, and shuffling chairs careening around the space. He even noticed frequent stares and giggles aimed at his direction.

Of all the....hmph. I suppose there's nothing that can be done now. I have no interest in these zeptograms either way. I've got my own equation to solve...

With his newfound focus, Ren noticed that a group of seats in the rightmost corner were left completely empty.

Surprised but pleased at such an opportunity for isolation, he picked the last chair on the back row of that corner, folding his arms and putting his head down.

Though from the outside he looked as though he was asleep, in reality his head was racing with calculations and figures.

He wanted as much time as he could get before the assembly began.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Inja sighed when her footsteps took her to the same highschool she’d been going to for a year. She hadn’t been on campus two minutes and was tired of it already. Although it didn’t help she was mentally and physically exhausted, her sleep schedule even worse than usual recently. The shy girl shrunk further into her hoodie as a boy she didn’t know the name of ran into a teacher, turning away and hiking her bag higher on her shoulder. Inja’s feet were a little sore from the long walk, but she’d learned last year that you didn’t skateboard to school unless you wanted to talk tricks with the popular kids—which she most certainly did not.

After a few minutes of fruitlessly looking around from where she was half-hidden by a tree, Inja came to the depressing conclusion that her usually not-crowded back entrances to the school were either blocked by teachers or surrounded by other students. First years stood around gawking at the facade of the school, and Inja desperately hoped she was small enough to pass as one of them so none of them asked her directions. With a sense of resignation, Inja braced herself before speedwalking through the front gates, snatching a pin as she went, looking as though she would rather be anywhere else. Which was accurate.

When Inja had made it to the Main Hall, she didn’t look for a seat; she found the emptiest corner she could and turned around, facing the junction between the two walls and resting her forehead between them. She was sure she was getting some curious looks, but as long as she couldn’t see them, she could imagine the other people weren’t there. With her earbuds in, she couldn’t hear them either, and she promptly drew her phone out and started playing Geometry Dash.

 

[Gamingfan]

"Take me with you!"
Otoko sighed, currently crouched down and debating with his brother.
"Y'know I can't do that bud. I'm sure school isn't that scary."
The kid's voice went higher. "But what if the other kids make fun of me?"
Otoko gave a reassuring grin in response.
Well, it was supposed to be. Non-Family members would unfortunately see a more....dangerous looking kind of grin. "Then just tell me. I'll make sure to help you out."
"You'll scare them for me?"
"What? No! I'm mean I'll-"
His mother's voice suddenly sounded from his home's entrance.
"OTOKO! We're you supposed to be gone half an hour ago?"
"Hm?" Otoko took out his phone, his eyes promptly bugging out.
"OH-"
His eyes flicked to his younger brother.
"Fudge....I gotta go."
"Wa-" but his brothers words could barely be heard as Otoko dashed off.
And boy did he. Having gone through rigorous training at the local gym, Otoko dashed at speeds that would make a cross country runner proud. His form was all over the place however, which is probably why, while he managed to barely make it to the assembly on time, he failed to stop cleanly and fell face first into the floor. Lucky the adrenaline kept the pain ignorable as Otoko got up, grabbed his appropriate pin, and went inside. He failed to notice a faint trail of blood appearing from the fall.
A lot of other students did, however, and wherever he neared, they appeared to lean away, some even changing seats. Otoko, of course, remained oblivious and, not wanting to bother anyone, sat in an area with only a few students. Some still appeared uncomfortable, and a few shifted away from him, which he then took note of.
And of course, came to the wrong conclusion
Huh....I'm not claustrophobic or anything, but I appreciate it.

 

[Cmeriwether]

Asuna had been training her martial arts, knowing her brother was away at University, Specifically as a foreign student at the University of Indiana. She finished her morning. She walked to school as someone had passed her on the way there. She looked around as she stopped at the door.

"Here it is, my final year." Asuna looked at the school, "This is the last first day of school."

Asuna stepped inside after the crowd had, she had been bumped into by various students, and slowly but surely, she had arrived at the pin station. She grabbed a third year pin and pinned it on. She then headed towards the assembly, when she arrived she saw a trail of blood, and naturally followed it. She found a boy about a foot taller than her, bleeding, she looked down then back at the boy, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Uhh, h-hello, b-by the way, y-you may want to see the n-nurse at some point." Asuna told the boy.

 

[Jayblade]

It was around 8 o'clock in the morning and, as per usual, Kazemi Fujiki lay dormant in his bed; caught up in a deep sleep and snoring his head off.

"Kazemi..." A soft voice beckoned. It was the voice of Kazemi's older sister, Hanako. She had been trying her best to get Kazemi out of bed for a while, never amounting to any success whatsoever. Next to Hayako, stood a short, very short tempered young boy who began to roll his eyes after witnessing her attempts to wake Kazemi.

"Tch, you're too easy on him Sis. You gotta put a little more into it if you plan on getting this lousy sop outta bed. Now lemme show ya how it's done." The boy flashed a confident grin back at his older sister, as he then pulled up right next to his brother's bed.

"Hey you, yeah i'm talkin' to you! Kazemi Fujiki! You better get that useless ass of your's up and outta bed, before I drag you out of this room by your hair!" The brash youngster threatened, as Hanako placed a hand on his shoulder, in an attempt to calm him down.

"Ah...come on...how's a few more minutes sound?" Kazemi dazedly replied; ever so slightly lifting his head up and just barely opening his eyes.

"So, you're telling me that after THAT, he's still barely even awake?" The boy then clenched his fists, just one small push away from slipping into a complete fit of rage, and watching his brother doze off yet again was all he needed to give him that push. "THAT'S IT!" Whilst leaning over Kazemi's bed, he grasped at a bunch of his hair, and began to tug, with a fair bit of force. Kazemi promptly shot right up, recoiling in pain.

"Ugh...Shoya, what's your problem?" Kazemi grumbled, after escaping the clutches of his fearsome younger brother.

"MY problem? You're seriously asking me what my problem is? Hanako and I have been standing here, for about 20 minutes, trying to get you up. And we've only just managed to."

"Yeah, so? Am I not allowed to just enjoy some good r&r once in a while?" Kazemi rhetorically questioned, whilst he stretched a little, before reluctantly getting out of bed.

"Yeahhh, Kazemi you do realise what day it is today, right?" Hanako asked, as she gestured towards Shoya, who was already dressed head to toe in his school uniform.

Upon catching on, Kazemi let out, what could only be described as, a sigh of pure despair. "Ugh, back to that place again? Well, it's whatever, I guess. I suppose it's best I get ready now. After all, I just wanna get this day outta the way as quickly as possible."

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After going through all the 'tedium' of getting ready, cooking up some breakfast, and the much dreaded task of walking, Kazemi eventually found himself standing at the front gates of Tenshi High School; the same school that he'd already been attending for a year, and the school at which he'd now be entering into his second year. "Awww man, we've got an assembly today too, haven't we?" Kazemi complained, after just remembering about it. "This is shaping up to be a drag-and a half."

Upon grabbing himself a pin, Kazemi began to drag his feet through the corridors, sluggishly making his way through all of the bypassers on his way to the gymnasium; met with an occasional upwards glance off of some first years, to which he responded with a dismissive glare, in hopes of warding them off.

Not long after, Kazemi was welcomed by all the chatter of the gymnasium. "I seriously wonder how people have this much energy in the
morning." Immediately knowing that he wouldn't want to sit in a heavily crowded area, Kazemi locked his eyes onto an empty seat on the back row, towards the right corner, where there was only one other guy; who, at least from what Kazemi could tell, seemed to be asleep. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind shutting off for a bit myself." He thought, as slumped himself on his chair. Already beginning to get fed up with all the commotion going on around him, he decided it was time to listen to some tunes, so he simply placed his earphones in, and then plugged them into his phone, as he started listening to his 'morning playlist'.

 

[DevVoid]

" Let's see here.. Sweater, check.. Pants, check... then, this here, and.. eh, good enough. "
Kin Takeda had just finished his morning routine and went to pick out what clothing to wear. He decided to go with the usual - torn jeans and a big, long sweater. Takeda had come downstairs to the kitchen where his parents and two siblings already waited, his parents giving him a look of confusion and his siblings holding back giggles from the outfit he wore: white torn jeans with a brown belt and a lime-green sweater with a purple, long-sleeved shirt underneath. Not at all colours that would match together. In response, the hunched teen just blew at his hair strain hanging over his left eye, clearing it out of the way so he could at least see out of that eye since the other was still covered by his hair.

Kin had bags under his eyes, typically from being used to staying up late, but was particularly tired from not getting enough sleep today. A bit unusual for him to not get enough sleep - typically, he'd have his average 5-6 hours in, but now, he got barely any hours in at all. Since Breakfast was already ready and served, the boy sat at the table quietly, whispering a tired 'good morning' to his relatives and begun eating, completely ignoring the laughter of his brothers.

When Takeda was finally done with breakfast, his siblings had already left the house to go do their own things. Getting things ready, Kin waved to his parents as he left the house, going on his way to Tenshi High. It was the beginning of his second year there and although he didn't necessarily enjoy going to High School, he didn't hate it either. He was just kind of indifferent to it, like with most things. It was a bother, but it was also a necessary chore.

As the long-haired teen approached the school grounds, his peers already begun pointing at him, snickering, giggling and whispering over his strange fashion choices. This just made Kin hang his head lower than before and hunch over more as he remained walking on, attempting to ignore the others around him by imagining a song in his head, trying to block out the sound of mockery around him. This included whatever the school staff were saying to people around him, but the boy did take notice of people taking pins and heading to the gymnasium, so he just followed suit and ended up at his location with a slow march, finding some random spot in a lonesome corner to sit down at an empty seat. There, Kin simply sat in silence, eyes closed as he listened to an imaginary song in his head.

 

[| Korutesu |]

It was very early im the morning, Kenjiro was already set for the school day ahead of him, and wanted to be early so that he wouldn't need to talk with anyone or anything. It was maybe five or six am, though he wasn't sure.

He'd arrive at Tenshi High School, a school that he had enrolled at, for his first year. He didn't know if he'd stay in Shibuya, but due to his parents working there, they'd probably stay in Shibuya for a while.


Soon enough, lots of students had arrived at the gate, only a few minutes after, a voice spoke up to take a pin. Kenjiro took the pin for the first years, then entered the school into the main hall.

He sat down on a chair, somewhere around the middle, so that he was close enough to hear, but far enough to not get noticed. Now, the only thing he needed was to wait..

 

[Red Gallade]

Taiyo slept like a log in his bed, although there was an occasional discomforting toss and turn as if something happened while he was asleep, next thing he knew, he felt a few pairs of small hands lightly pat him with some strange noises heard near him, as he went to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was his cats lightly paw at him to try and wake him up... and succeed. Taiyo couldn't help but smile as he tried to sit up and pet his cats, he gave Rui a tickle behind her ear, he gave Ruka a little stroke under her chin and gave Yuki a pat on the head before he went to try and get up to get dressed, Rui and Ruka left the room while Yuki remained sat on the bed as Taiyo got out of his pajamas and in to his school uniform, although he didn't bother to make himself look nice, he didn't start since the last year he was at school and he certainly didn't plan to start now.

Once he was dressed, he walked downstairs with Yuki close behind and went to put some bread in the toaster. "Mornin' Taiyo." His father greeted, his father roughly resembled Taiyo, although mainly his very short hair color and eye color seemed to show who Taiyo inherited those from, he was rather chubby while his goatee seemed to have a few drips of coffee stuck within some of the hairs, something his son silently pointed out. "Hey dad." Taiyo replied as he went to pour himself some coffee. "Did you sleep well?" His father asked as he grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth clean, careful not to ruin what he wore.

"Kinda, dunno why but something felt strange when I was asleep, I can't exactly put my finger on it though." He said as he went to take a sip of his coffee and let out a relaxing sigh just in time for his toast to be ready, he set his coffee aside and went to go and butter it while his father prepared three bowls of food for his cats, Yuki was the first to her food while Rui and Ruka took a bit of time to run down and claim their food, Taiyo's father went to pet Rui as she ate before he stood back up to grab his coffee.

"Eh, I'm sure it was just one of those weird dreams you can't remember, believe me, I know all too well." He said as he drank the last of his coffee, Taiyo thought there might have been more to his trouble with sleeping than his father's theory, although it did make some sense at least. Taiyo merely decided to shrug it off as he ate his breakfast while he was aware of the time, slight frustration entered his mind as he knew it was the first day of his second year at school, as much as he wanted to see his friends, he preferred seeing them either over his video games or down the street to plan where to go, but school was the next best place to meet them, so he didn't complain too much.

------

Taiyo arrived at the entrance to his school with his bag over his shoulder, he looked around to see the many other students both new and old who waited for the gates to open... and get their school day over with. Before Taiyo could think about how he slept last night, he noticed one student bump in to what seemed like a teacher and merely smiled. "Not the best way to present yourself." He thought to himself and laughed lightly at his joke before he realized that the man he bumped in to turned out to indeed be one of the teachers who told everyone to go to the main hall.

Taiyo walked down just as everyone else did, when he went to find a chair, he decided to find one in the very back row and placed his bag in front of it, he sat down with his legs either side of the bag and one arm slumped over the back of the chair, this wasn't his way on trying to act cool, but rather the fact that he really didn't enjoy the concept of being formal.

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Pressing their way through the morning smog and around the behemoth buildings, the first rays of dawn lit Shinko's desk. The golden natural light formed a stark contrast to the blue flickering of her LED bulb as if it were trying to assert its dominance over artificial simulacrums. A clutter of odd, symbolic paraphernalia littered the surface around the head of the dozing girl. As the morning sunlight made its way steadily closer to the girl, she began to stir. A small, fresh blood stain, overshadowed by a drooping with a scabbing cut wound, blemished the carpet. A knife glinted keenly in the unconscious grasp of the opposite hand. A terrible feeling of looming dread had plagued Shinko Reihai's mind the entire night and prevented her from resting fully. She had been instead reading the majority of the night, and a page of Leviticus - left open only 45 minutes ago - fluttered in the gentle, window breeze. In the centre of the page, a phrase had been underlined in something that looked similar in pigment to blood: "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."

On her way to school, the looming dread failed to pass; it clung to her like a perfunctory odour of imminent doom. She had avoided conversing with anyone on her way out of the house, and maintained the silent solitary attitude on the way to school. This was the norm for Shinko Reihai - she was an outcast, too spiritually clairvoyant for anyone else to fathom (or at least that's what she thought). The bustling Tokyo streets failed to pierce her resolute solitude and unflinching demeanour. Even the congregation of students, pushing their way into the school, only made her shrink away in ambivalence.

After following the flow of adolescents into a large gymnasium, she found a seat next to an unassuming boy who she preceded to ignore. As the students intermingled, socialised, sat or hovered aimlessly, she pulled out a heavy book from her bag. It was entitled, "Signs of the Devil: How to Defend Against Sin, Witchcraft, Demons and Devilry".

 

[DragonFlye]

Akari huffed as she squeezed around the other students trying to enter the school. The first day was the worst, but once everyone settled into their classes and routines, she knew she would enjoy this place a lot more. For now, though, she'd have to try not to lose her mind sitting still through the assembly.

After she grabbed her pin and began fastening it to her clothing, she heard the hurried sounds of a scuffle. She looked up to see a pair of older boys getting into the personal space of a third, sneering. The third was looking down, obviously trying to ignore his tormentors, but they didn't seem to be backing off. She vaguely recognized him as a 3rd year student, Asahi...something. Regardless of his full name, it wasn't the first time she'd seen him pushed around by someone bigger than him, and it pissed her off.

"Hey, cut it out," she snapped. She was only tall enough to grab the lower bicep of one of them, but she dug her fingers in as hard as she could, feeling the tendons strain under her fingertips and shoved as hard as she could. The bully stumbled back, cursing, and his friend swung around and looked ready to hit her. Before he could make another move, however, Akari said, "the first day of school and you can't keep your hands to yourself?" It was just loud enough to draw a few eyes, and the bullies knew it, giving Akari and Asahi a nasty look before leaving.

Asahi refused to meet Akari's eyes, and instead of acknowledging her, turned and walked away, toward the auditorium seating.

"You're welcome," Akari muttered sourly as she watched him weave towards the back of the seating area, a little peeved that the boy had shrugged her off without even thanking her. She figured he was probably just embarrassed, but she still allowed herself to feel a little anger. She followed suit, choosing to sit neither in the front or back, but rather in the middle.

 

[Cmeriwether]

Mizuko had been looking over her stuff for school when her older siblings Ryu and Yukari got her up.

"I'm going to take it slowly,"

Mizuko had left before most others, but got lost in Downtown Tokyo twice. She knew Junko was preparing for her first day of high school, as Ryu and Yukari had to prepare for university. She walked alone, it took her more than an hour to get there and she was later than most. She walked towards the assembly and found a seat near a boy who seemed to be making calculations.

 

[RhythmThief]

When Ren opened up his eyes again, he noticed the atmosphere had gotten a tad more lively, and to his disappointment, two others had sat in somewhat near proximity to him ; a tall, pale boy with messy crimson red hair, followed by a shorter girl with long dark hair and deep blue eyes.

He sighed.

Suppose it can't be helped. Though if I witness one more teasing glare or a giggle from a passerby, you can bet your boxplot I'll -

"Attention! The assembly shall now commence!" The microphone blare echoed violently across the space, causing the tiny embers of conversation scattered across the gymnasium to slowly fade away. In a flash, silence had befallen the entire room. The bright, almost intrusive strobe lighting of the gym slowly faded to bring about a soft darkness upon the vicinity, before a gentle spotlight rested on the brown, creaky oak wood stage at the far end. Standing there was another middle-aged, well dressed man in front of a lectern.

"On behalf of all the teaching staff at Tenshi High School, we'd like to offer you all a warm welcome into the academic new year. Our principal, Mr. Inui, would like to say a few words..."

As the man stepped off to welcome Mr. Inui onto the stage, Ren's mouth was agape in visible shock.

...Barely an hour into the first day of school and I've already assaulted the principal. Definitely not a variable I had integrated, but very well.

These thoughts continued as the assembly progressed.

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By the time the assembly had finally concluded, the teachers who were positioned at different corners of the hall began to exit to their respective classrooms. It wasn't long before students were also instructed to head to their different classrooms for their first homeroom classes. As the room once again ballooned with idle chatter and the scrape of chairs, Ren picked up his pin.

Embroidered in bright red letters on the rather mundane, black badge read '2-D'.

..And Ren simply couldn't resist.

Why, yes, I do consider myself quite the 2-dimensional polygon, thank you. I'll have you know I'm quite fond of rectangles and hexagons myself.

With a wry chuckle, he slowly arose from his seat and exited the gymnasium, buried in the sea of students who followed suit. Once he emerged, he looked around.

The way this building's structured...the 1st year classrooms are on the 1st floor, 2nd on the next, and 3rd on the following...niiiice arithmetic sequence.

And with that, Ren made his way up to the 2nd floor, and eventually located a classroom with a wooden sign that read '2-D'.

He noticed his heart racing and grip on the doorknob weakening as he pushed open the door, observing his new classroom.

The material was the same old-fashioned oak wood used throughout the school, decorated with a plethora of desks, cupboards, shelves, and other miscellaneous items such as a globe, some books, and a skeleton dummy, all gathered around a massive chalkboard on the front wall. It looked like something out of a sitcom.

Nevertheless, it seemed as though some things never change. Many of the students who had already sat down at their desks recognized Ren for his earlier blunder, and the barrage of giggles and whispers that met him as soon as he entered the room had all but confirmed it. As he walked further in, he even heard someone he didn't recognize say something.

"Careful now, we don't want you falling into someone again!" The voice exclaimed.

The classroom erupted in laughter, much to Ren's dismay. In a room where the desks were arranged in a 5x5 grid, he chose the desk furthest to the back and closest to the windows, located on the leftmost wall of the room. He dropped his bag and sat in his chair, his head resting on the window.

He tried his best to tune out the smirks, giggles, and whispers, and focused instead on the sky.

The soft, cloudy white sky.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Inja cringed as microphone feedback sliced through her earbuds, ruining her previously perfect Geometry Dash run. She glared petulantly at the floor as she let her phone drop into her pocket and her earbuds slither down her neck to hang beside her hoodie’s drawstrings. She tried to tune out the principal’s monotone voice and the giggles of a group of first-year girls beside and behind her, pressing herself closer into the crevice between the two walls.

Unfortunately, as small as Inja was, she couldn’t get any smaller, and so endured the rest of the speech with a pinched, pained expression on her pale face, strands of pink and cyan flopping in front of her eyes.

When it was finally over, Inja’s sigh of relief was probably audible on the other side of the auditorium—or at least, it would have been if there weren’t around a thousand other students making their own various sounds of gratefulness that the tirade had ended. She shuffled out of the auditorium with the rest of the students, crammed between two baseball players around twice her size who didn’t seem to notice her. The girl managed to slip away once they emptied out into the hall, and speedwalked, head down, towards class 2-D, stopping abruptly when she heard teenage voices burst into raucous laughter. She steeled herself and entered, shrinking into herself in an attempt to go unnoticed.

The classroom Inja walked into looked like something out of a murder-mystery movie. Taxidermied animals, the whole thing or just heads, birds, fish, and deer, covered the walls. A classic cream-colored wallpaper peeked through in the scarce spaces where there weren’t any creatures. Inja looked up, and a duck suspended from the ceiling seemed to turn to stare directly at her. The girl shuddered and took a seat in the second-to-last row, furthest from the windows. Fur from a massive moose head tickled her shoulder through the fleece-lined fabric of her hoodie, and a counter on the back housed a stand of very realistic piranha replicas—which may or may not be replicas, now that Inja thought about it.

The girl turned her attention to the desk in front of her to avoid as many gazes, dead animal or human, as possible, focusing instead on writing lines of code on her hand.

 

[| Korutesu |]

Kenjiro sat there, listening to the words of the principal.. Soon enough, it ended. He took a look at his pin, there was a number and a letter placed on it, 1-A. It was probably his classroom, He thought. soon enough, he walked out and soon went to the building where their classes were being held. He went to the first floor, which was the floor for the first years, all of the students there were definitely new, and didn't know eachother, so he sat somewhere near the middle, third row, second column.

The room wasn't filled with much stuff, the teacher's desk, a blackboard, almost everything in a normal high school.. He heard some whispers here and there, probably talking about some student, a second year, who'd bumped into Mr. Inui only an hour ago. Instead of doing nothing in his seat, he kept looking around the room, probably to look for someone, well.. it's what it looked like to others, the real reason that Kenjiro was looking around for because he wanted to be alert when the teacher ever came into the room. He took a look at his watch, and looked at the time. It was only a few minutes before 8 am, the teacher might come around soon..

 

[Jayblade]

Much like always, Kazemi was beginning to get a little carried away with his relaxing. As he leaned back, continuing to listen to his chill tunes, he began to slip into his own little world; blocking out all the racket of the gymnasium.

Huh, this ain't too bad. While i'm here, I could even get a little more shut ey-

Unfortunately, the state of peace and quiet came to an abrupt halt as a microphone-enhanced voice rang throughout the room, projecting itself all the way to the back row. Aaaaand, looks like I spoke too soon. He certainly found it quite irksome that his serenity ended up being so short-lived, but he still decided that it'd probably be best if he tuned into what was being said; opting to pause his playlist, as he unplugged his earphones, proceeding to stash them away his pocket.

I mean, at least that managed to shut everyone else up. Thanks for killing the atmosphere dude...like, for real.

Once the assembly eventually reached it's conclusion, it was required that all students, along with their teachers, head off to their respective homerooms, which appeared to be labelled on the pins that were handed out to them upon entry.

"Hm, looks like i've gotta head up to 2-D." Kazemi muttered under his breath, after checking his badge. Heh, 2-D, I guess that's kinda funny.
He then proceeded to follow the swarm of students making their way to class; intentionally hanging back in order to try and avoid the absolute nightmare that would've been being stuck in the middle of the crowd and getting squashed. Well it was that, and the fact that Kazemi really didn't wanna have to listen to more of their chatter.

------------------------

"Hmmm, looks like this is the one." Kazemi mumbled as he pulled up to a classroom on the second floor, one with a sign outside that read '2-D', which lead him to the assumption that he must've been at the right place.

Upon stepping just one foot into the classroom, Kazemi almost immediately wanted out; as, once again, he was greeted by the constant babbling of other students. On top of that there seemed to be quite a lot of giggling, strangely enough. And, at least from what he could see, the laughter was seemingly directed towards a boy sitting nearest to window, on the back row. Due to the spiky grey hair, Kazemi recognised him as the boy he sat near to during the assembly, the one who appeared to be sleeping.

Given that his favourite spot, back row nearest to the window, was taken up by the apparent laughing stock of the class, Kazemi decided to settle for the seat just ahead of it; that being to the far left of the second-to-last row. The reason he particularly enjoyed sitting near to windows is because it allowed him to take part in one of his favourite pass times; cloud watching. So, with his desired seat in sight, he strolled over to it, proceeding to dump his backpack underneath his desk, whilst then going on to slouch himself down on the chair; preparing to kick back and watch some clouds. However with the the constant snickering, and just all around gossip surrounding him , such a simple activity proved itself to be quite the challenge.

Maaan, I don't even know why everyone's laughing at this guy. But it sure is getting on my nerves, Kazemi sighed. He once again averted his gaze towards the window, continuing to watch the clouds pass overhead, trying his absolute best to ignore his migraine-inducing classmates. Thankfully though, it didn't take him too long to get lost in thought, as he began to daydream.

Y'know, a part of me envies those clouds. Up there in the sky, no responsibilities, no hassle, not a care in the world. Just following the wind. Must be reeeal nice...

 

[Gamingfan]

"Hm? Oh, hello." Otoko turned and grinned towards Asuna. Upon hearing the suggestion, his head cocked in confusion. What does a nurse have to do with him?
"Why would I?" he checked himself out. Arms, legs, chest, and somehow not head. Sadly, he remained completely ignorant, all the way through the assembly.
Once it ended, Otoko made his way towards his class, still confused over the stuttering girl's offer.
~~~

...Oh.

Now sitting in class 2-D, Otoko finally noticed the wound...once the blood finally dripped on his ear. He attempted to wipe it away aaaaand...now had blood on his hands.
The situation was getting worse, and Otoko tried to remedy it with a wipe of his shirt. Finally the blood was gone, and Otoko was sure the problem was solved.
Well, now he looked like he just came out of a knife fight, so whether it was really a win is likely subjective. In true Otoko fashion, he didn't put much thought into it as he waited for class to start, oblivious to a few students staring at his wound.

 

[Cmeriwether]

Asuna had understood as he left, she facepalmed when he didn't realize what happened as she listened to the speech given by Mr. Inui, who turned out to be the principal of Tenshi High. As the speech wrapped up, both Asuna and Mizuko had left for class, the two going different ways.

Mizuko had been looking for 2-D, wandering around the second floor as she finally found the room. There were students everywhere, and they were talking about something that had happened earlier, which she missed due to two heart conditions and the fact she took an hour and a half to walk to school because of said heart conditions. She took a seat in front of a boy who seemed to be looking at the sky.

Asuna went looking for class 3-C, when she found the class, she sat down, oddly enough, there was no one in the room, and she could see books all around. She took a seat in the middle of the room.

 

[Red Gallade]

Taiyo groaned when he heard the vexing sound of a megaphone that demanded everyone's attention, this only meant he had to sit through the same boring assembly that he barely bothered to listen to last year, he remained sat in his chair while he waited for the principal to finish talking, his ears were only ready to hear when they could leave so he could explore the school grounds or go to his assigned classroom. When the assembly was finally over, Taiyo along with the many other students made their way out, he was careful not to get in anyone's way or have anyone get in his.

He learned that his assigned class was 2-D and immediately made his way over, he thought that if his class was on the second floor, then the views must be nice. As Taiyo walked down the school halls, he only made out his room by the sound of distant laughter, he curiously walked inside and noticed the same individual who bumped in to the man that happened to be the principal... certainly not the best first impression, but he didn't feel like drawing any attention to himself other than greet his class with a simple "Sup." before he went to sit at any unoccupied desk that was close to the door as he always preferred, that way he was in and out of the boring classes a little bit faster.

 

[DevVoid]

When the assembly was finally over, Kin stood up, eyes half-closed as always, looking like he was dead-tired or bored out of his mind. While the latter rung more true, he just couldn't really bother to show any emotion. Even while his ears rung a bit from the loud noises that came from the microphone earlier, he just couldn't be bothered expressing it. Not like anyone would actually care about it, anyway. Kin followed the mass of students out of the area, taking a glance at his pin. 2-D. Well, Gorillaz always was one of the bands he liked the music of.

Taking a blind guess, Kin took a flight of stairs to the second floor. He's been to schools before.. heck, even just tall buildings in general, and they ALWAYS had their floors going up above and not down into the ground. Looking around while walking along, Kin soon spotted the door to his classroom and just opened it nonchalantly, the sound of giggling and whispering following him into the classroom, where his 'fellow' classmates also followed suit in laughter at his fashion choice. Kin, blowing at a strand of hair to uncover his other eye, simply looked around the classroom with a hollow, careless look plastered on his face before taking a seat on a random chair in the furthest row back and remaining as quiet as ever.

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

Shinko didn't even pretend to listen to the introductory speeches. In fact, she was so absorbed by her reading that by the time everyone else had messily filed their way out of the hall, she was left with a squinty old woman who kept blinking so persistently that it seemed she was trying to blink Shinko out of existence. As Shinko flicker her way through another page, the woman shuffled over like a meat puppet pulled by worn strings, and stood before Shinko with her glasses sitting precariously on the precipice of her nose. Shinko took no notice of her. The woman muttered something along the lines of, "First that brat walking into the headmaster, and now this little..." Shinko pulled a pen out of her bag and began underlining a phrase.

"Get up." She grunted, clearly frustrated even more by Shinko's perfunctory, unresponsive attitude to her cues. "Get up and go to your classroom before I have you sitting in the principal's office!"

Carefully, Shinko returned her items to the depths of her bag and stood up. She stared at the woman distastefully before proceeding to exit the gym. She wandered uncertainly through the empty corridors in search of the classroom 1-A of which she had seen read her pin. When, at last, she found the room on the first floor of the building, the teacher had fortunately not yet arrived. She pushed open the door to meet a sudden silence and a flurry of inquisitive, staring gazes. She pushed her way past them and found a seat at the back of the room, allowing for conversation to return from its brief absence.

 

[DragonFlye]

Akari had bounced from her seat the moment the students had been dismissed, relieved to have at least a few moments before she needed to plant herself in yet another chair. She peeled off from the crowd of students also beginning to gather their things and dipped into the hallways, wanting to stretch her legs before going to class.

She wandered the hallways to look at the bare walls, many of which she knew would later be covered in posters, advertisements, exam scores, and the like that would give the place a more lively, colorful atmosphere. That was how Akari liked it, rather than the washed out, monotonous vibe it had going for it for now.

Glancing up at a clock on the wall, she realized that class would be starting before too long. The only people left wandering the halls now were those that were either lost or purposefully taking their time to prolong the break, like herself. As such, she ran into little resistance as she took the stairs two at a time, breathing picking up as she did so. As she finally entered class 2-D and took an empty seat near the center, she resolved to intensify her cardio workouts later; a simple staircase shouldn't take her breath away the way it did. She flashed a grin to one of her classmates before retrieving a bottle of water from her bag and taking a drink.

--

Asahi, on the other hand, wasn't one to waste time; as soon as the assembly was dismissed, he headed for the third floor, careful not to be bowled down by students bigger than him. He wasn't short by any means, but his father always told him that he was built like a birch tree. That was to say, he was skinny as hell and could be knocked down by too strong of a wind despite his height.

When he arrived to the the room, he was one of the first, with the other being a shorter girl with long, dark hair. He decided to take a seat two to her right, closer to the door.

 

[RhythmThief]

As if the whole day were but a fleeting moment, or a passing mirage, Ren found himself sat up in his seat, his paper schedule on the desk before him. It detailed exactly what his weekly classes would look like. It seemed that all the classes would take place within his homeroom, and the teachers themselves would shuffle between classrooms.

In other words, he'd be stuck with the same classmates all day long.

He sighed, glancing over his timetable.

If this is my lot for this year, so be it. Perhaps this experience will lend itself well to me in the future. For now, all I can do is continue to follow the line of best fit... to approach infinity!

As he began to rise from his seat, a girl two seats toward the front from him, on the same leftmost row closest to the window, caught his eye. He recognized her from the assembly, a brief sensation of being hypnotized by her long dark hair and deep blue eyes washing over him. Before long, he noticed his absent staring and quickly turned away, stuffing his belongings in his bag before swiftly exiting the classroom.

---------------

Now in the hustling and bustling hallways of the academy, Ren pondered how best to use his time. He noticed multiple club reps haggling passersby, eager to recruit new members for the new school year. As tempting as it was to browse and see what Tenshi High had to offer, the young man seemed to have his sights set much bigger.

Now would be a good time to walk around the area, and see what facilities are available to me. Maybe nail down a regular restaurant, a park, a gym.... a cinema would also be good too! Time to change my co-ordinates.

Having left the building, Ren picked a random direction to walk in and strolled down it, trying his best to take in all the different stimuli bombarding him. The clouds had opened up, and were now spread out across a bright blue sky. Even after such an eventful school day, he couldn't help but smile at the weather, almost to his own embarrassment.

By the time his expedition had concluded, Ren had a good feel for the place. He came across many standout places, such as Towa Records, a music store housed by a massive tower that can be seen from anywhere in Shibuya, as well as other noteworthy locations such as Spain Hill, Miyashita Park, and Cat Street, a small alleyway with a massive wall dedicated to street art, graffiti, and the like. He made a mental note to return especially to that last one soon.

And with that, a feeling of satisfaction washed over Ren. His new territory now charted, he began to make his way back home.

---------------
Upon arrival home he kept it brief with his parents and siblings ; he never had been one to be talkative around his family. After eating dinner alone in his room with only his thoughts for company, he washed up before spending some time reading. Once it hit 9PM, he began bedtime preparations, ironing his uniform and making sure his bag was packed and ready for the next day.

Now ready for bed, he lay down gazing at the plain white ceiling above him, reflecting upon the day. He took a glance at his phone, tapping on a video.

"It has been nearly two weeks since the first incident," Began the reporter.

"And already, the lives of 5 perfectly healthy, bright, young teenagers have been stolen from their families, friends, and loved ones."

The pictures of 5 people subsequently flashed before him on the screen, all of them young enough to be his classmates.

The report continued.

"In what medical professionals are comparing to the early stages of an epidemic, more and more teenagers have begun mysteriously passing away in their sleep, with no underlying symptoms or causes to explain these deaths. Just what is happening to our youths...?"

Ren turned off his phone promptly, setting it on the bedside table.

...So, it would appear I'm a laughing stock at school. No matter; there'll probably be some jokes about it for the next week, and then they'll move on to the next person to make fun of. These people are like goldfish.

He yawned. An image of the black-haired girl two seats from him flashed briefly , before he shook his head, erasing the thought from his mind.

He yawned again, his eyes struggling to stay open.

...yeah, gold....fish....

It was only when he opened up his eyes once more, spread out on a concrete floor in a place that looked like Miyashita Park, towered over by an ominously red moon and pitch black sky, that Ren realized his dreams would never be the same again.

 

[Gamingfan]

Otoko stomped around the academy after class, on his way home. Predictably, someone of his figure was approached by a club rep, likely a sports related one.
"Hey! Hey kid..sir...dude?"
"Hm?" Otoko turned around, revealing the faintly red trail on his face, spooking the rep a bit.
"Whoah, nevermind. You look busy."
In fact, Otoko was. He needed to get out and pick up his brother, and take care of him once he got home. Since his mother- who was the sole breadwinner of the family for...certain reasons- worked so late, babysitting was his duty.
"Yeah, you know. Sometimes, people just disappear."
This obviously startled the rep. "I-uh...wha-"
But Otoko had already gone, running off in a hurry. He luckily managed to pick up his sibling without falling face first again, and the rest of the day was pretty average. They went home, vibed for a while, and once their mother was home, Otoko spent some time on his treadmill. After heavy workout, he collapsed on his bed, and was out like a light.

And then immediately woke up. Somehow everything changed, from the concrete floor he was dozing on, to the freakin sky. Still somewhat groggy, Otoko didn't appear to take this in at first. He did however, note the sudden changes in wardrobe. He had no idea why he only wore a jacket at the shoulders, but it felt weirdly natural. Otoko looked back up at the sky, when it hit him.
"Ooooooooh wait. I know what this is. I'm....uh...wazzit called?" he snapped his fingers in realization.
"Right! Lupid Dreaming. This is sooo cool! I've never been so....awake? Sure, let's go with that."
So, in almost childlike wonder unbefitting for a man his size, Otoko looked around, in awe from the blood red moon to the buildings around.

 

[Cmeriwether]

The day went by fast for Asuna, as she had been learning, but as the day ended, she had things to do. She ran some store trips, and ran into a girl from, a Mizuko Shirogetsu if she remembered correctly. The two made a nod as they passed by and headed home.

When she got home, she set the food down as she then turned on the news seeing that five teenagers had passed away unexpectedly. She kept the news running as she prepared dinner, her Dad, Bashira Ryugetsu, had been out pf town for a business meeting. She had finished dinner and ate her food, putting the leftovers away. She then did some homework and then went to bed.

When she fell asleep, she woke up on Concrete flooring and noted the change in area, including the sky. She also noticed a change in wardrobe, as she looked down. She then looked up and saw a blood colored moon.

-------

Mizuko's day went by rather uneventful, as she bumped into Asuna Ryugetsu on her way home, other than that, she went straight home, which she watched the news, recognizing one face as someone from her middle school. She then went off to bed after finishing her tasks.

When she fell asleep, she woke up somewhere else, on concrete and only recognizing one face in the whole group, that of the boy she sat in front in homeroom. Her outfit had changed as well, as she looked around, on a concrete floor, a sky as colorful as Yukari's hair, and a blood colored moon.

"Where are we?" Mizuko asked, hoping for anyone to respond.

 

[| Korutesu |]

Kenjiro's school day was pretty uneventful. If you had asked him how his day went, he'd probably say boring. Soon enough, his class ended, Kenjiro was still sitting down, while all the other students were shuffling out of the classroom, he didn't want to be first since he didn't want to be in sight of many people, which is why he decided that he'll go out last.

Soon enough, Kenjiro left the classroom and walked home. He entered the living room, waving hello to his parents, while he went upstairs and got ready. Soon enough, he went downstairs to eat dinner. After about thirty minutes, they finished up and Kenjiro went upstairs. He normally, Kenjiro sleeps pretty late but tonight, it felt different. Like.. The bed was pulling him closer, like a trap to make him sleep much earlier. Well, he soon went to his bed, closing his eyes... falling asleep..

Soon enough, he immediately woke up.. It was weird, he was no longer in his bed, and the sky was different. It was still night, and he was definitely still in Shibuya.. but.. it seemed so different. Standing up, he looked around, hoping to find something, or someone in this.. place.. Then he felt something different, his clothes.. They were very different than before.. That was very, very weird... The tower at the very end of Shibuya, Towa Records, was.. different.. Kenjiro didn't really notice before, but now he did.. Somewhere near the back of his mind, he knew that this isn't Shibuya, but something else.. Something had a deeper meaning to this place.. A Blood Moon was a big red flag, and he didn't feel safe in here..

 

[=Nightshade=]

Inja fell asleep in class three times before she finally decided coding a snake game variant on her hand wasn’t challenging enough. She switched her tactics to attempt to write on her other hand, using her left hand, and decided to write a backwards gravity script. By the time class was over, there were lines of code trailing up her wrists and forearms, overlapping in tiny, hardly readable print. Inja pulled her hoodie sleeves down over the ink to avoid any curious looks.

When Inja finally arrived back home, she called “I’m back!” into the dimly lit apartment. No answer, not that she was expecting one. It seemed her father was working late again. Without bothering to turn the lights on, Inja grabbed a slice of leftover pizza from the fridge and a can of soda from the mini fridge in her room before flopping down into her gaming chair and slipping her headset on. The bright white moon winked playfully outside her window through the sheer curtains.

“Oh, fuck you, asshole,” she hissed venomously into her mic, pizza and soda long gone. “Die, die, die die DIE— GOTCHA, HAHA! TAKE THAT, MASKEDMACHINE101!” Inja yawned, then immediately shut her mouth in mortification. It was only ten, there was no need for yawning until two. She chewed her lip and opened a new window, intent on working on her program for what she hoped would become a killer virtual reality game someday. But the window kept loading… and loading… and loading… “Agh,” Inja complained in frustration, but it turned into another yawn. “Stop yawning, dammit!” she scolded herself, though her usual fire wasn’t in it. “Stop… yawning…”

Inja’s eyes snapped open. “IM AWAKE!” she yelled, then looked around. “Huh. What the hell is this….?” It looked like her apartment, but the trash from the meal she’d just eaten was nowhere to be seen. The moon still glittered, but with a menacing red light. That’s strange… She turned, looking around her unfamiliarly familiar surroundings, then walked the deserted aisle and exited the building. Hmm. Even Mrs. Jones’s cat is nowhere to be seen… Usually Furball is around here at this hour.

It took a moment before Inja caught her reflection in a mirrored window. “Aah! Oh. What the…” She reached up to poke the antennae on her head. They sprung under her touch, bouncing slightly. “Ow. This has gotta be either the weirdest alternate universe or the coolest video game in existence,” she muttered to herself. She swept a hand through her cropped hair, barely registering the glove on it. “Video game. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Far out…”

 

[Red Gallade]

The whole school day seemed to drift on by, Taiyo looked like he listened and paid attention to what the teacher had to say, yet at the same time he didn't, lost in his own little world, despite that, he seemed to do pretty decent when it came to his lessons most of the time. His breaks were mainly just him stood by himself as he looked through his phone for anything interesting whether it was his mobile games or pictures of cats.

When it was finally time to go home, Taiyo wasted no time just like several other students, when he made it home, he was greeted by one of his pet cats, Yuki immediately walked up to greet him while Taiyo knelt down to pet her. "I'm home!" He called out in case his father was home, although there wasn't any response from him, but rather his other two cats, Rui and Ruka, Taiyo smiled and shrugged as he walked to the kitchen to hang his school bag on a chair and check a note left behind by his father. "Hey son, if you're reading this, it's most likely another busy day for me, so I'll most likely be back just before dinner, try not to get anything as I thought we could order something later. From Dad."

Taiyo smiled as he read the note, despite the fact he wanted to be with his father, the peace and quiet along with the thought on something special for dinner certainly wasn't unwelcome. He walked up to his room and decided to play a few video games... after he gave a treat or two to his cats. After a long while of video gaming, he heard the door open followed by a familiar voice. "Hello?" It called out, Taiyo smiled and stopped his game to go downstairs where he saw his father.

"Hey dad, another busy day, huh?" He asked while his father took off his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt a bit. "Oh yeah, but it's nothing I can't handle." He said with a smile as he went to sit on the couch. "So you mentioned something for dinner?" Taiyo asked, his father chuckled, it wasn't uncommon for his son to talk about dinner shortly after he was home. "Yeah, I was thinking to celebrate you starting another year of school, perhaps we could have some hot pot?" He asked with a smile, Taiyo eagerly smiled, clearly a fan of hot pot.

------

After a very filling and delicious hot pot, Taiyo and his father simultaneously let out a satisfied sigh while they rested on the couch, their cats already dug in to their cat food, Taiyo started to yawn before he looked at the time. "Damn, already?" He asked while his father looked at the clock with a sigh. "Another fast day, on the bright side, it means the weekend'll come much sooner." His father said while he patted Taiyo's back, normally Taiyo would complain and sneak in a few more video games, but lately he felt more tired a lot sooner, so he barely complained, he just went upstairs, changed in to his pajamas, left his uniform on an empty chair for tomorrow and went to sleep.

------

When Taiyo woke up, the atmosphere and area changed completely, rather than be in his bedroom, he looked as if he was in some strange other world similar to Miyashita Park, only with the sky still dark and the moon being an ominous red shade, he was no expert, but he knew tonight wasn't the night for a bloodmoon. And rather than be in his pajamas, he was in a... surprisingly stylish outfit, a black suit with claw like gloves and a crimson colored coat atop it all, Taiyo couldn't help but admire his new attire. "Wow, not bad." He said to himself, clearly impressed, when he was done admiring himself like a fashion critic, he looked around to see if there was anyone else.

 

[DevVoid]

When the first day was finally over, Kin had snuck his way into the crowd of students and left the building quietly, at last being able to leave the snickering and whispering behind for the next day of school. Takeda had immediately made his way back home, not really giving a care to hang out with people he met at school - not that he really could any way. No-one there really wanted to be friends, as far as he was aware.. yet.

His keys jingled as he had unlocked the front door of his house, not a soul greeting him - his parents were at work and his brothers had likely gone to hang out with their own friend groups. This meant that, finally, Kin had a few hours of peace and quiet in his home. The boy had decided to spend this time by playing games on his own computer, heading up to his room and locking his own door behind him with his keychain. There, Kin played various kinds of single player games, from the moment he got home until it was time for him to get to bed, taking a few breaks in-between. When it was time to sleep, he happily did so by straight-up jumping into his bed after turning his computer off and getting ready for bed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

' ..d-do you think h-he'll wake up anytime soon..?'
'Yeah, what do you think? That he's dead or something?!'
'..I hope he wakes up soon..'
'Come on, Kin! You can do it! Wake up!'
'Please, calm down, everyone. Let him be.'
'He can sleep for longer if he really wants to, y'know.'
'..eh? What are these voices in my head.. Who are you..?'
'NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU IDIOTS DID!!'

Kin awoke with some loud, some quiet, but overall strange voices ringing in his head. Strangest part? They all sounded like.. his voice..? The teen had stood up to find that his surroundings were.. nothing like his room. An eerie blood-red moon loomed over him, darkness surrounding him, a few bits illuminated here and there by the moonlight. While the strangeness of the environment was one thing, those voices were more important to him right now.

'Ahem! We are your.. emotions, Kin! I'm Courage! Pleased to finally talk with you!'
'I'm Anger! I know I sound annoyed, but that's because you keep locking us away!'
'IM HATRED, AND I HATE YOU EVEN MORE FOR LOCKING US AWAY, YOU A-'
'Hatred! This is not the time! Anyway.. I'm Love. I'm.. also disappointed, but I understand your reasons.'
'Uh.. w-well.. I'm Anxiety.. a-and I understand why you'd want me gone..'
'..same here.. this is Sadness speaking.. no-one ever wants to feel me..'
'..I am Neutral. I don't care if you keep me around or not.'
'..uh, right. Talking emotions, got it.. now, where are we, exactly?'
'How the hell are we supposed to know?'
'Let's find out, shall we?'

With the voices introducing themselves and their conversation being done, Kin could finally walk around and really examine the area around him. That is, until he noticed his hands. And arms. And the rest of what he was wearing. Kin had briefly taken off his hat to examine it, then looked down his torso and legs as he put it on again.

'Woah.. I love this outfit!'
'Hell yeah, Witch-hunt it up in here!'
'We are SO gonna rock this costume!'
'A-are you sure it's not too s-small or anything?'
'I wouldn't look good at all in that..'
'FINALLY, AN OUTFIT BEFITTING OF MY INTENTIONS!'
'Ooh, this looks real good on you!'
'I guess it's ok.'
'Well, let's get going then, everyone!'

With that internal dialogue over, the boy went on his way, walking around without any goal, moreover to explore than to really go somewhere specific. After all, this was a new world - there was no way he had any clue where he was or what was going on, but so far, he was all for it.

 

[DragonFlye]

"Hey, you! Join a club yet? Judo's recruiting, at least take a flyer!"

The student blinked at Akari for a few moments before taking the colorful flyer she presented. She didn't know whether it was because they were surprised or intimidated, but she nodded in triumph anyway.

What she would give to actually be able to do their club activities, though, rather than this recruiting game early in the year. She wasn't always the friendly face that the club needed, but she understood the predicament they were in. After all, they were down several members after they'd either graduated or...passed away. Akari shook her head. It wouldn't be long before she'd be able to head home. She wasn't really in the mood for a workout this afternoon anyway; she'd suddenly become exhausted.

Sure enough, she was finally saying her goodbyes to her club members and heading home. She didn't live particularly far from the school, so she arrived before long and practically dove into the fridge. Her parents wouldn't be home for a few hours, so she had quite a bit of time to herself. She pulled several vegetables from the fridge that caught her eye that she knew she could work into a quick and healthy stir fry and set some rice to boil. As she cooked, she made sure that she made enough for her parents, and when it was done, she brought her portion upstairs to her room, figuring that she could eat while she did her homework.

She had a hard time focusing after around an hour, though. Her eyes felt heavy, and before she could either an assignment or her dinner, she had fallen asleep. The first thing she noticed as she began to stir was that she felt quite warm.

 

[Jayblade]

As the bells began to chime, signifying the end of the school day, Kazemi let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Now, finally time to blow this joint". And with that, Kazemi quickly gathered together all of his belongings, including his new timetable, and swiftly made his departure from the classroom.

Once up and out of class, Kazemi had yet again found himself wedged in-between the hordes of other students stampeding their way through the corridors. "Maaaaan this is a pain. And to make things worse, we've got these guys promoting clubs, ugh..." In an attempt to try and keep the club promoters at a distance, Kazemi plugged his earphones in; not actually listening to anything, as he thought that even trying to with all the noise surrounding him would be near enough impossible, thinking that the implication that he was doing so would be enough to stop people from bothering him.

"Hey hey hey! Softball's always open for new members! Whaddya say about joinin' up kid?" A rather energetic club reb insisted, getting reeeeal close up to Kazemi, and breaking all sorts of personal boundaries.

"And here I was thinking that wearing these would help." He sighed, taking his earphones out and taking a step forward. "Yeahh...uhhh, thanks for the offer, but i'm gonna have to pass. Later." Kazemi then held his hand up as a goodbye gesture, and then sauntered down the rest of the hallway. "Y'know, I could almost see myself feeling bad for rejecting the offer, if the guy wasn't all up in my face and stuff."

---------

After a long stroll through Shibuya's bustling streets, Kazemi had finally arrived back at his house. Upon swinging the front door open, he was welcomed by the sight of his brother and sister sitting around in the living room; both of their gazes fixed on the TV, neither of them even giving him a passing glance. "Surely whatever's on there can't be that captivating." He thought, as he then proceeded to kick his shoes off, promptly hovering over to the coat rack afterwards. Shortly before making his way upstairs, Kazemi caught a quick glimpse of what was on TV. "Just the news huh?" He thought to himself as the faces of 5 people, all around his age, popped up on the screen. This almost managed to garner his attention for a short moment, but he decided against staying down there any longer, as he really just wanted to get some rest.

So, with the thought of getting some rest lingering in the back of his mind, he entered his room; aiming straight for the bed. "Man school makes the day go by so slooow. Had me feeling like I was stranded out on Venus or somethin'. But whatever, at least now i've got the time to kick back and chill...yeahhhh."

---------

Apparently after getting too carried away with his chill time, Kazemi found himself waking back up again. But something was off. He seemed to have woken up on a really cold surface, definitely not his bed. "Wha- What the-" Kazemi was now more confused than ever, as he realised that he was in fact lying on the cold concrete floor of Miyashita Park, dressed in a pretty fancy outfit that he was adamant on not owning. And this was all whilst a blood-red moon beamed down upon the desolate streets; making the usually bustling city look like a ghost town. "Well this has gotta be a dream right? But it doesn't exactly feel like one..." Kazemi rubbed his head as he picked himself up off of the slabs of concrete. With many thoughts beginning to plague his mind, only succeeding in leaving things even more unclear.

"Oh man, what a bother."

 

[Havoc_The_Gandalf]

An unrelenting lack of attention and respect towards her teachers had left Shinko Reihai with a day's worth of reprimands. Of course, for her, this was purely trivial time – time wasted only half-listening to the blabbering of infidels. Fortunately, she had taken every opportunity possible to study her books for the answer to her questions: what is happening? What had forced her to such extreme measures last night so that she may sleep? Something entirely new and extraordinary had reached out to her– and perhaps, even, was trying to do it again. She was sure of it.

As she made her way nonchalantly through the bustling city streets, thoughts of exorcising unholy spirits or submitting herself to the will of a higher power floated around in her head. Certainly a contrast to the silly societal expectations of "school, work and life", she noted. If it wasn't for the unwieldy cluttering, pushing and sliding of the crowd around her she would have been checking over the information that she had found in her books. Alas, she made the arduous journey to her family's apartment without a single opportunity to read.

When she pushed her way through the door, she encountered the thing she was least looking forward to – her parents' greeting. A brief and uncomfortable dialogue – one which she had barely managed to worm her way out of – left her with the knowledge that she would be forced into a lengthy and "important" discussion the following day. Of course this "important" discussion would have something to do with her lack of interaction, her mental health, or her school life. It always did. How unfortunate that they don't understand like I do. The only thing that isn't "real" is their perception of reality in comparison to my enlightened one. Maybe some day...

After Shinko had eaten her meal silently, allowing for her brothers to provide conversation and distraction, she hurried to her room. She had little time to prepare and it would not be easy. While preparing the items needed, a quote came to her mind from a book that she had apparently misinterpreted: "Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty."

Finally, after a good five hours of labouring, she was exhausted, but ready. The set of notes, which she had failed to clear up, lay strewn on the carpet around her. She had been revising every lesson she had learnt, every line she could remember, every important story. She thought to herself: Some of it would be lost, yes. But the most important stuff will find its way to me.
Seated on the carpet, she dozed of quickly into a sleep that engulfed her like the darkness of her room.

Icy, sleek and hungry for the warmth of flesh, the wind slid over Shinko's now elongated hair and bit her cheeks with a numb pain. Her eyes flickered open. A red light shimmered on the curves of metal that clad her chest and the waves of lavender purple hair that hung behind her shoulders. Apart from her odd clothing, something seemed to be strapped to her waist. She pushed herself carefully up, eyes flickering like torches, and looked around. She laughed.

 

[RhythmThief]

Of all the dreams I've ever had, this one definitely takes the cake.

Ren slowly rose from the ground, his eyes darting and scanning the myriad details before him. It wasn't long before he also felt his difference in attire; he now found himself sporting a brand new costume entirely. As bizarre as it was, he couldn't help but feel admiration and a slight familiarity with the costume, as if it had been chosen specifically for him...

His attention was then drawn to other people around him. They seemed just as confused as he was, and similarly dressed as if on the set of a Saturday morning cartoon. He heard the voice of a girl behind him and spun round to her direction, instantly recognizing her as the girl from the classroom. Upon meeting her eyes he felt something move in his chest, spreading a sensation of numbness throughout his body, before being drowned out by an overwhelming dread.

Panicked, he scanned the faces the others surrounding him. He recognized some among them too.

W-what the fractal? Why are we...Why are they here?! In my dream?! What could possi-

His agitated thoughts were promptly cut off by the ear-piercing static of a massive billboard video display above the park.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"....Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to the Hollow Night." Spoke the shadowed figure in the billboard display.

"Or, rather, your new nightmare. I suppose what we call it doesn't matter." The distorted voice continued.

"You may call me Juno. I can see from the looks on your faces you doubt what your senses are telling you. You think this is all a dream. A trivial figment of your imagination. I assure you, my dear players, that every bit of what you are experiencing is real. Tangible. Deadly. Each night, I will summon you back here to play a game for me, provided you're not already dead, of course. I will give you a mission. You will compete amongst each other to complete it and earn points. Simple enough, I assume? Then allow us to begin."

...."if you're not already dead"?!

Ren clenched his teeth. The more he tried to make sense of all this, the more confusing - no, the more terrifying it became. Under no circumstances could his mind be capable of a dream as material and lucid as this. Whatever this was, it wasn't a simple nightmare.

As he and the others would soon learn, it was much more than that. The nightmarish voice rang once more.

"In order to allow you to become accustomed to our game, consider tonight a practice round. There are - others, let's say - who call the Hollow Night their home, and aren't quite happy about your trespassing. They're on their way to Miyashita Park now. If you hope to stand a chance, pair up with another player. Join hands with them. Let your EX's become one heart. One weapon. Or face a brutal, grizzly death. The choice is yours."

Juno chuckled wryly.

"You have 5 minutes."

 

[=Nightshade=]

“Aw, damn, this game-dream thing doesn’t have a respawn?” Inja complained to no one in particular, not loudly. “That sucks… it’s like a one-try mission in Armada…” She blinked, then trailed off into a mutter to herself as she processed Juno’s other words. “Wonder if EXS is the currency, or power system maybe… wait, did he say we get to come back here every night? And if I’m dreaming, then I’m sleeping and I’ll wake up rested! Am I sure I’m not hallucinating all this? If I’m just dreaming this then there’s no way to know the shadow guy is even real, I mean I’ve dreamt I had a homework assignment due the next day but it wasn’t so for all I know—“ Inja cut her ramblings off abruptly with a hand running through her cropped hair, stopping in confusion for a moment when they touched the antennae. Oh, yeah… these things are still here…

The girl’s mind skipped a few more lines to the “hand-holding” bit. Even though it was a game, or a dream, Inja could feel her own movements which means she would feel another person if they held her hand… and she was quite touch-averse. The fact that it was only a dream was small consolation. So we gotta activate the power system to fight NPCs before they kill us. I don’t care who comes up to me, I recognize faces but don’t know anyone past that. Only reason I’ll do this is cause there’s no respawn and I’d never be able to have this cool dream again… that’d be a shame considering the content could make a kickass video game IRL. Although the “every night free respawn” thing could be hallucinatory too, just like the rest of this… maybe too much screen time and too little sleep finally got to me and I’m in a mental ward. Ha, that’d be ironic.

Or maybe — Inja refused to entertain the thought — maybe it was more than just another dream.

 

[DevVoid]

As Kin looked around, he noticed that some of these faces looked familiar to him, like he knew them from somewhere... but from where?
Well, there was no time to ponder this feeling of familiarity as another face appeared, this time taking place inside a billboard some distance away from him. Kin listened closely to what the figure had to say, holding an internal discussion with his emotions as the creature spoke on.

'So, we can die here.. great, like I didn't have enough problems.'
'Those missions sound dangerous.. why do we always have to suffer..'
'W-What?! O-Others are coming to kill us?!?'
'Hah! We'll show them who's gonna kill who!'
'You're damn right we will, Courage!'
'WE'RE GONNA RIP THEIR GUTS OUT!!!'
'Alright, calm down, everyone. Let's just find someone to team with first.'
'Choose whoever, I don't really care who.'
'Hmm.. let's go with that guy over there.'

Kin walked onward towards a person wearing a black coat lined with fur, a purple striped shirt and other various clothing, who seemed just as confused as the rest of everyone who had just arrived here. Kin waved towards the person and, when he got close, held a hand out for a handshake.

" Hey, I'm Kin. Kin Takeda. I don't know what's happening, but if that thing who calls itself 'Juno' is to be believed, it'd be in our best interest to team up. What do you think? "

 

[DragonFlye]

When she finally stirred, Akari felt something restricting the movement of her face, and for a moment thought that somebody was covering her mouth. Her hands flew to her face in panic, but she felt only the soft cloth of a mask.

"...what...?" her voice was breathy and muffled by the black cloth, and she felt around to find that it only covered her mouth and nose, her eyes being free to look around her. She sat up slowly, taking in the dark and red-hued cityscape around her. Had she been sleepwalking? No... she spotted many other people scattered around her, wearing various strange outfits. So, a dream, then.

When 'Juno' made his speech, she still had her doubts, but nonetheless her blood went cold in her veins. How could she prove to herself that it was a dream? Sure, she doubted Juno's claims, but not enough that she'd willingly throw herself into danger. She shivered and reached a hand out to the closest person she could find, which ended up being a taller guy. Her hands brushed the fur on the collar of his coat as she moved to grab his shoulder.

"Hey," she said, trying to catch his attention. "Did you hear everything he said? I figure it's best not to take any risks. What d'you think, wanna stick together?" She paused, trying to catch a look at his face. "Huh. Do I...know you?"

-------------------------------------​

Asahi was startled awake by a number of voices around him, and he jolted upwards to look around him. Disoriented, he noticed people murmuring, and he moved to brush his unruly hair away from his eyes. Except...his vision was completely clear, and his hair was tied neatly back. When he looked around and saw all of the people in masks or hoods pulled low, he felt exposed.

Then Juno began his speech, and Asahi's uneasiness became full-blown panic, his breathing picking up into near hyperventilation.

 

[Red Gallade]

Taiyo looked up when he heard the strange voice who called themself 'Juno' and explained how everything they saw was in fact as real as he was, his stylish coat, the people around him and the world they resided on. He showed a look of worry when he mentioned how this would involve death... and a grizzly one at that, before he could even move to look around, he felt someone hand on him and turned around to see a girl... someone he was sure he saw before.

Taiyo smiled when the girl asked if she wanted to team up with him for what happened next. "Yeah, I heard what he said and partnering up sounds good." He said before his eyes narrowed once he got a better look at the girl. "I think we do... aren't we classmates in school? Akari, right?" He asked, while he didn't pay too much attention on those he shared his class with, he seemed to remember their names every morning they were registered.

"Didn't the guy say something about... joining hands with them?" Taiyo asked as he went to reach his hand out as if expecting a handshake.

 

[Cmeriwether]

Asuna had looked around and seen someone, she thought it was one of the girls in first year, so she figured she'd introduce herself as best as she could.

"H-h-hi, I'm Kingyōso, you seem a little concerned," Asuna responded, "The voice suggested team ups, we need to hurry, any ideas on who to team up with?"

------

The Yūki no Yūrei got up and walked over to the boy that seemed to have heard her, and knelt down, feeling a little winded, she knew she needed to be careful as she had two heart conditions.

"H-h-hi, I-i th-th-think you heard me?" Mizuko responded.

She then waited for a response from Ren.

 

[=Nightshade=]

Inja heard a voice behind her and was about to disregard it before coming to the conclusion that it was addressing her. She started and turned. “I’m…” Shit, I can’t use my real name here. Think fast, Inja! “I’m Cypher,” she said, the first thing that came to mind. Well, I suppose there are worse names to choose. Though Cypher isn’t exactly believable. “And I don’t have a partner myself, so if you wanted to team up I’d be down.” Inja was sure that there were plenty of worse choices than this girl, though she did seem a bit older than her. She supposed the other girl looked a little familiar, but it didn’t matter where she knew her from. Inja never paid attention to anyone anyway. The girl awkwardly stuck out her hand, attempting to appear confident. It’s just a game. Or I’m hallucinating. Either way, it isn’t real. Let’s just get this over with. “Good to meetcha.”

 

[RhythmThief]

Ren's mind was racing, bouncing, swelling with all kinds of thoughts. He couldn't get them to stop. He felt his mind gradually sinking deeper and deeper into an abyss with no end, that is, until a helping hand was able to pull him out.

Or, in this case, a girl's voice.

Snapped out of his ravenous thoughts, he turned to find a girl before him. And not just any girl ; he could've sworn it was the same girl from class. But why was she here? Was this really not a dream? Or is she here simply because he'd been thinking about her before he nodded off? As terrifying as the former option was, he much preferred it over the rather embarrassing latter.

"Yeah, I heard you alright. I'm not sure what this 'Juno' plans to do with us, or what we're doing here at all...but what I do know is that our best chance of survival right now is to play along." He responded, looking Mizuko deep into her eyes. For whatever reason, Ren felt a protective instinct over her, even if they barely knew each other. He was filled with a mysterious, yet strong resolve to find a way out of this mess for the both of them.

"Once we've learned more about whatever it is that's going on here, we're going to throw this 'Juno' into a linear equation, and eliminate them like the improper fraction they are!" He exclaimed!

"But first thing's first." He concluded, reaching out his had to Mizuko, trying his hardest to stop shaking.

"Let's pact."

Without warning, a screeching howl erupted from what seemed like Spain Hill's direction. As if on cue, Juno appeared once more on the billboard screen.

"Did I say 5 minutes? My mistake." They began.

"Make that 2."

 

[Cmeriwether]

"That seems like a good idea," Asuna responded, "Take my hands and focus."

Asuna waited with her hands extended for the pact ritual.

@=Nightshade=

---------

Mizuko Shirogetsu looked at Ren, and nodded, figuring that making a pact is the only way to get out alive. She knew what he knew, teaming up is the best idea.

"Let's do this," Mizuko responded, "We need to hurry as well, This Juno said two minutes."