View source for Logs: Waking Up in St. Hermelin

 /===================( - Mikage-cho W - St. Hermelin??? - )===================\ 
|      St. Hermelin, on the surface, is identical in Mikage-cho. This notion   |
| would be discarded somewhere along the way of witnessing people not being    |
| quite what they were! Between the feared Dean Harding becoming a caring      |
| individual and a popular educator turning into a mute - among other things   |
| - it's not long until any sense of familiarity goes to the wayside.          |
|      The school appears as it was in the 2008 school year. The old           |
| gymnasium hasn't been expanded as it was early in 2009, and there's no hole  |
| in the wall. Most of the classrooms do not even see use, the school          |
| population notably smaller. The library has undergone the most peculiar      |
| change - a foreboding black doorway sits near the back, the whole room       |
| coated in butterfly markings. Nobody is sure as to its purpose, or even how  |
| to open it. A loud heartbeat can be heard if you stand close to it.          |
|      People here live in fear of a girl in black, whose influence sometimes  |
| rearranges the school into a twisted set of corridors and dead-ends full of  |
| demons. Even a trip to the bathroom, in the best of times, can spell         |
| disaster.                                                                    |
|===============================( - Players - )================================|
| Minato Arisato [SEES] <Orpheus>        	A-ko [U] <None>		       |
|===============================( - Objects - )================================|
|================================( - Exits - )=================================|
| Out <O>:                 Mikage-cho - West Side                              |
 \============================================================================/


A-ko(#717PnAC)
A teenage girl, maybe around her second year of high school, wearing a St. Hermelin school uniform. Her long, light auburn hair is pinned up, she has headphones around her neck, and her smile is pretty and vivacious. She may also be carrying a broom around.
A-ko just checked out your sexy body~


/Girl, you lived your life like a sleeping swan
 Your time has come to go deeper/
        
The English lyrics pound through her headphones as the girl stirs and pushes her head up from her desk, blinking blearily around at her homeroom, class 2-B. The first thing that registers to her is confusion, mainly for the fact that when she went to bed last--last night, or at least she *thinks* it's last night, and pretty late after clubs and such so she conked out without bothering to change out of her uniform, which she's still wearing now--she was in her dorm room. Why in the world is she at St. Hermelin?
        
/Girl, your final journey has just begun
 Your destiny chose the reaper/
        
Oh well, she figures; it'll come to her eventually, and she likes this song, so she'll lean back, shut her eyes for a moment, and enjoy the music with a slight smile as she ponders this over. It doesn't take long for her to come to a conclusion, in that beam of faded light as she's smiling slightly, eyelashes kissing, bass pounding in her ears as she splays fingers over one headphone.
        
/No fear: destination darkness
 No fear: destination darkness
 No fear.../
        
Oho! Of *course*! She grins as she thumps a fist into an open palm, then swishes up from her seat. Someone must be playing a prank on her~ Well, two can play at that game! Hopping over her desk and paying no heed to the fact that it doesn't seem as if this classroom has been used... ever, she strides on over to a broom that's been left lying against the wall, picks it up, heaves it onto one shoulder, and gives an appraising look around the room as she sets her other hand on her hip. Her back is to the open sliding door, so if anyone's there, or anyone shows up there, she is oblivious.



Headphones on in a strange place you weren't in the other night.
Two, it seems, play at that game, too.
        I can't wait to do my thing
        But the school bell won't ring
        It's time to make my escape o/`
St. Hermelin is a place that the boy roaming the halls is unfamiliar with. He's obviously not from around here--not that anyone has noticed, since he hasn't seen anyone /to/ notice. Here and there, he finds little signs of civilization: trailed dirt from someone not changing shoes, doors left open, the occasional flicker of movement. Nothing concrete, though... and nothing that seems to actually make sense.
        First I crawl across the hardwood floor
        Sneakin' out the back door
        Feed my Walkman another mixtape o/`
It's quiet. A good kind of quiet. Minato can practically sense sound that isn't from his headphones when he tries to, like right now. Of course, since there isn't any to 'sense' (to use the word as loosely as Shiki does), he loses track of that sort of talent pretty much immediately. He keeps walking, footsteps echoing in empty hallways.
        I feel no danger
        Ah, no Macarena
        Who let the dogs out
        Of the container?
        So feel the rhythm call
        Have a disco ball
        With me--Hey DJ!
        Come on and play a song
        And it'll set me free! o/`
Minato finds the sliding door of 2-B. He tests it like the rest without looking, having found an uncanny number of them locked or otherwise inaccessible. This one is... open? He turns and actually looks, spotting the back of a student he doesn't recognize. His expression immediately turns to surprise; he's found someone else that isn't some kind of demon! So...
...now what?
        (I!)
        Don't wanna dance alone
        Don't wanna dance alone
        (No I!)
        Don't wanna dance alone
        Don't wanna dance alone
        (I!)
        Don't wanna dance alone
        Don't wanna dance alone
        (No I!)
        Don't wanna dance alone
        Don't wanna dance alone o/`
"Hey, are you alright?" He doesn't quite know what else to say.



The problem with wearing headphones with the volume up is that, when someone tries to talk to you, you stand a strong chance of not hearing them.
        
/Girl, rain falls down from the northern skies
 Like poisoned knives with no mercy/
        
This girl, in particular, doesn't notice that there's anyone standing behind her in the slightest--someone with his own set of headphones, someone who's been wandering around a school harried by demons and struck with loneliness, someone who's glad beyond reason to find another human being. In fairness, she doesn't realize what's going on here either; she just thinks she's cottoned on to some big joke. She hums along to the song on her MP3 player, considering. Noww, if she were going to play a counter-trick on them, what would be the best thing to do...?
        
/Girl, close your eyes for the one last time
 Sleepless nights from here to eternit--/
        
First off is switching tracks, because while she likes this song, it's *so* not the right mood music. Smiling to herself as she clicks the NEXT button a couple times, her eyes brighten and sparkle as she finds *exactly* the right music. Her face is tilted such that, with her hair pinned back the way it is, Minato should be able to see her face clearly.
        
/On that day, you sowed in my heart a tiny seed of a tear
 Until the day, someday, when you make--/
        
"A giant flower of a smile bloom," she sings along, before giggling delightedly. Oh, this is going to be *awesome*! First things first, it doesn't look like anyone's in here--so she turns for the sliding door on the other side, opens it up, and jogs out of the room.
Did Minato just see a ghost...?



Minato has had similar problems with headphones. It's really a problem he has yet to rectify, since taking them off hasn't really occurred to him.
        Now I'm lookin' fine
        Takin' my time
        Waiting in line
        Inching forward some more o/`
He stares. He doesn't know why, but he just does. She has a sense of familiarity about her. She hums and looks in the other direction, he watches her. She turns her head...
Minato's heart, for just a second, stops.
        Oh, no, check the list
        Snap our wrist
        Now class is dismissed
        And I'm through the do--
He fumbles for the pause button. If he were thinking more clearly, he would've gone for the off switch on the side. Instead, his hand--it's shaking, he notes, why is it shaking--hits the forward button, depressing it and slipping off. He glances down and grabs it to pause it again, this time depressing the same button for a few seconds. He holds it tightly as his expression changes from surprise to shock, cycling back and forth between disbelief, hope, fear, and back to shock.
        'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass
        Don't know how much time has passed
        All I know is that it feels like forever
She's already a flicker at the corner of his eye when he looks back to her. He scrambles through the classroom, breaking into a run. He stumbles the first few steps, catching his foot on one of the desks. He recovers, bolting for the other door--
        But no one ever tells you that forever feels like home
        Sitting all alone inside your head
        How much is real? So much to question
        An epidemic of mannequins, contaminating everything
"Wait!" he blurts. He puts his hand on the corner of the door and practically pulls himself around the corner, looking both ways for any sign of her. He reaches up and tugs off one of his headphones, the other hand still clutching the MP3 player like he was clinging to life, listening for footsteps and moving to pursue them.
        We thought came from the heart
        But never did right from the start
        Just listen to the noises
        (Null and void instead of voices)



Even as Minato rushes back out into the hallway, chasing after the redheaded vision, he can see a girl--/that/ girl--turning a corner, hear her footsteps receding up a stairway, perhaps one leading to heaven. Even worse, perhaps, is the fact that he can *still* hear her voice, that voice that is both like and unlike one he might remember--this one, after all, has seen ten years of growth--singing a song full of life:
        
"Even when I'm inside a bustling city, sometimes I'm suddenly rewinding
"Back then, the future was full of ifs, like if we could be together forever..."
        
The girl, for her part, is already having fun. The hallways and stairways are empty so far, but this doesn't bother her; it's almost like a game of hide and seek! Come out, come out, wherever you are~ She probably shouldn't be singing so loudly, but in her defense, she doesn't think she is. It's hard to gauge your volume when you can barely hear yourself.
        
"As I sense, no matter where I am, your form, which isn't anywhere
"Today, too, I face tomorrow underneath the same sky..."
        
They'll probably be on the roof, she thinks--or at least, if nobody's there, she'll get a good look around! She's not, now that it occurs to her, even entirely sure what time of day it is, though she *assumes* it's morning. It doesn't occur to think that it even may be the day after she thinks it is--that it's her own birthday, November 2nd. She will be *pissed* later when she realizes she almost slept through it, and even more annoyed if she can't even find anyone to celebrate it with. For now, though, there is the joy of the search, and the joy of the song:
        
"Yes, just like how the words you repeat melt my heart,
"You're making a speech to me now in your beloved voice
"On that day, you sowed in my heart a tiny seed of a tear
"Until the day, someday, when you make a giant flower of a smile bloom
"Because you're right here..."



That song is so... happy. It sounds happy. It /feels/ happy. She practically radiates joy with every word, every syllable, every little sound she makes. In this nightmarish place, she is a bright light to the sky within a city of darkess.
And now she's gone.
Minato bounds up the stairs after her. He's tired. Too tired to do this. After the past couple of days, the fatigue is finally winning out over the adrenaline. She rounds another corner; he barely sees a glimpse of her a she goes. Her footsteps and her voice echo through the deserted halls, filling every nook and cranny with her song.
For all intents and purposes, she's disappeared. He's lost her.
Again.
Minato slumps against the wall and slides to the ground. He doesn't feel himself do it. He hardly notices the perception change; he just hears her voice, ringing clear, so familiar.
Spots of wetness appear on the front of his jacket.
He notices.
        Before you tell yourself
        It's just a different scene
        Remember it's just different from what you've seen o/`



She still doesn't know how close and how far away Minato is from her. She moves on. Before long, she truly is gone, ignorant of what she's lost.
        But perhaps, someday...



 /==========================( - Cutscenes, Etc. - )===========================\ 
/ Message: 27/38                     Posted        Author                      |
| No Fear-Flower of a Smile          Tue May 04    A-Ko                        |
|==============================================================================|
| /Girl, you lived your life like a sleeping swan                              |
|  Your time has come to go deeper                                             |
|  Girl, your final journey has just begun                                     |
|  Your destiny chose the reaper/                                              |
|                                                                              |
| The English lyrics pound through her headphones as the girl stirs and        |
| pushes her head up from her desk, blinking blearily around at her homeroom.  |
| The first thing that registers to her is confusion. When she went to bed     |
| last, she was in her dorm room, too conked out and lazy to change out of     |
| her uniform. Why in the world is she at St. Hermelin?                        |
| Oh well, she figures; it'll come to her eventually, and she likes this       |
| song, so she'll lean back, shut her eyes for a moment, and enjoy the music   |
| with a slight smile as she ponders this over.                                |
|                                                                              |
| /No fear: destination darkness                                               |
|  No fear: destination darkness                                               |
|  No fear.../                                                                 |
|                                                                              |
| Oho! Of *course*! She grins as she thumps a fist into an open palm, then     |
| swishes up from her seat. Someone must be playing a prank on her~ Well, two  |
| can play at that game! Hopping over her desk and paying no heed to the       |
| thick layer of dust in the room, she strides on over to a broom that's been  |
| left lying against the wall, heaves it onto one shoulder, and looks          |
| appraisingly around, her other hand on her hip as she hums along to her MP3  |
| player. Now, what would be best for a counter-trick...?                      |
| First off is switching tracks, though, because while she likes this song,    |
| it's *so* not the right mood music. Smiling to herself as she clicks the     |
| NEXT button a couple times, her eyes brighten and sparkle as she finds       |
| *exactly* the right song.                                                    |
|                                                                              |
| /On that day, you sowed in my heart a tiny seed of a tear                    |
|  Until the day, someday, when you make--/                                    |
|                                                                              |
| "A giant flower of a smile bloom," she sings along, before giggling          |
| delightedly. Oh, this is going to be *fantastic*! First things first, it     |
| doesn't look like anyone's in here--so she turns for the sliding door on     |
| the other side, opens it up, and jogs out of the room.                       |
| With the song she loves playing so loudly into her ears, she doesn't even    |
| notice that someone is following her.                                        |
|                                                                              |
|  MUSIC: "No Fear" - The Rasmus                                               |
|         "Seed of a Tear, Flower of a Smile" - Shoko Nakagawa                 |
|==============================================================================/
 \============================================================================/