After School Detention ([personal profile] detentionroom) wrote2025-07-15 01:31 pm

[KENKOU]

[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]
suplexer: (126)

[personal profile] suplexer 2025-07-20 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh no, that's a terrible thought. Tifa can't quite suppress the tremor that enters her voice as she hugs herself around the middle. ]

You don't think they're a... g-ghost now, do you?
brokenlance: (taken aback)

[personal profile] brokenlance 2025-07-20 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[the change in demeanor is so sudden???]

I'm-- sure it's nothing so dire! And even if they were, they're surely not a malevolent one...?
suplexer: (053)

[personal profile] suplexer 2025-07-20 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Guess who's scared of ghosts and is therefore going to have a terrible time here.

She shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath, and lets it out again. ]


I guess you're right. Not all ghosts are bad...

[ The ghosts of those kids in the train graveyard, they just wanted to play. ]
brokenlance: icons by <user name=nugnacious> https://nugnacious.dreamwidth.org/18921.html (polite)

[personal profile] brokenlance 2025-07-20 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed. If we have one to count as a friend, then we must not shy away from them. Though I understand your fear, they have suffered in this place far more than you or I.
suplexer: (074)

[personal profile] suplexer 2025-07-20 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
That's... probably true, it's just...

[ Breathe in, breathe out. She brushes some hair away from her face. ]

If they've suffered, it might affect how they act as ghosts too. I hope at least some of them want to help us, but we'll need to be careful too.
brokenlance: (speaking plain)

[personal profile] brokenlance 2025-07-20 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course. We should not recklessly obey if we cannot be sure of their intentions.

But I will put my trust in this charm for now, and our unseen ally.
suplexer: (129)

[personal profile] suplexer 2025-07-20 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
And in each other. [ She straightens her shoulders and nods, letting her arms fall to her sides. ] I think that, more than anything.