After School Detention ([personal profile] detentionroom) wrote2025-07-15 01:33 pm

[KATSUMORI]

[You needed an escape.

For a moment– however brief, or however not– you longed to get away. Perhaps you envisioned a vacation upon sunny, beachy shores, palm trees at your back and seagulls floating in the air. Perhaps you envisioned nothing at all, and merely accepted that anywhere but here would do. Either way. . .?

You blink. . . and you wake up slouched on a school desk, arms folded with head resting between. You lift your gaze and realize that you've woken up in the middle of a classroom, seated in one of the. . . uh, very few functional desks that remain. The others have been broken into pieces, with legs and splinters of wood scattered across the floor. Deep claw marks decorate the walls, having gouged the sheetrock with jagged, violent gashes. The window curtains are closed, but they too have been torn and ripped to shreds, with holes showing a dark and unidentifiable landscape beyond the four walls which trap you.

And written on the blackboard, in large, white letters that seem to glow in the midst of the dim room lighting, is a warning]


DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR NAME.

[. . . you are not alone]

[Each and every new arrival awakens dressed in a high school-issued track uniform. The design is up to the players, but each uniform is already color-coded to match the group at large. Somewhere on your body is a new marking: a mysterious floral design shaded the same color as your track uniform. It is glowing very gently. And in your pocket you feel. . . something warm. Further investigation reveals a tiny little omamri, tucked away in your outfit, for safe keeping. Huh! What a nice gift!]

[For now, the front door to the classroom is locked. No matter how hard you try– with physical prowess or otherwise– the door cannot be opened.]

[But hey! You can poke around the area, if you'd like! Maybe get to know your new classmates. . . ? Try not to panic. For now, everything is. . . calm]
candlestick: (let the darkness lead us)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He'll lean forward just a little to take a look at the cover, though he can't see much else. ]

What does it say?
candlestick: (Default)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Zuo Le's expression tightens up. It could a single person's predicament, but given they've been left in here with so little else, that doesn't exactly feel good to hear. ]

I see...
presgarddihellis: (40)

[personal profile] presgarddihellis 2025-07-19 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
... so we should be careful with the words we use.
candlestick: (let the darkness lead us)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I will keep that in mind as well.

[ And hopefully won't need a second warning for that, given he's already used to having to be careful with is words. ]
presgarddihellis: (05)

[personal profile] presgarddihellis 2025-07-19 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Please do.

I've already found that sometimes words just... slip out.
candlestick: (a million little pieces)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ His tail, which has been swishing in mild agitation this entire time, goes entirely still for a moment. ]

What do you mean?

[ As if this man isn't being fairly upfront about things he intended not to say have come out against his will. ]
presgarddihellis: (^ 01)

[personal profile] presgarddihellis 2025-07-19 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
What I mean is... there are some things I'd rather not speak about, but I've found myself saying things dangerously close to them without intending it.
candlestick: (baby tell me one beautiful lie)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alright, the tail is moving again in renewed frantic agitation. ]

So what was in that book may not just apply to the person who wrote it?
presgarddihellis: (14)

[personal profile] presgarddihellis 2025-07-19 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Correct.

It could be everyone in this room has been cursed like that.
candlestick: (a million little pieces)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I hope that's not the case...

[ Though he does have the shame to look apologetic a moment later. ]

Not to say that I want you cursed on your own, sir, it's just...

[ Misery doesn't need company in this case, right? ]
presgarddihellis: (50)

[personal profile] presgarddihellis 2025-07-19 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[it's okay. leave him alone to his fate--no, you're stuck with him, unfortunately.]

I understand.
candlestick: (let the darkness lead us)

[personal profile] candlestick 2025-07-19 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The look and nod are both still a little sheepish and apologetic regardless. ]