hippocarnival | Daybreak Academy

I think Toki has more to say than me. [He looks at him, slight expectation for Toki to take the lead if he wants to talk about it.]

[Oh. Okay, then. This can't be done properly sitting down, so he leaves the triangle for more room to be overly-theatrical and dramatic. Tsuyukusa deserves the best send-off; a heartfelt goodbye reflecting the impact he made in his short time among them.]

Alas, poor Tsuyukusa! I knew you for such a fleeting moment, the months come and gone so quickly~! An unexpected friendship that I will treasure in my heart for eternity~! You were a sympathetic ear for my struggles, a confidant for my most hidden fears and aspirations alike, and a truly remarkable example of a bond of friendship that transcends the need for communication~! So many times, you would float patiently in silence, while providing unconditional companionship~! You bore witness to the most terrible events in my young life as well as to my lowest moments of desperation, distress, and hopelessness! There will never again be a friend so intertwined with my very being as you were~! I will remember you fondly and find solace in the notion you have ascended to an existence I cannot perceive at present, but that one day we shall be reunited and once again bare our very souls in fellowship~!

[Toki's crying by the end, despite all attempts not to. He was a jellyfish. Get it together.]

[ He was a jellyfish, but after hearing all of that, there can't be doubt in anybody's mind that Tsuyukusa wasn't something more- somebody who was always there for Toki (because he can't run) and listened to all his troubles (though it might've been better if Toki talked to a real person who could talk back...) and -oh boy, Toki's crying now.

don't cry don't cry don't cry goddamnit Shuuya come on

Kano ducks his head, then sends a sharp glance Yuya's way as if to say, "Alright, your turn, you have to top that." ]

[Yuya's already crying again when Kano looks at him, wringing his hands tightly in his lap while he bites his lip. He was a jellyfish to Toki, but also a source of comfort. Yuya took something precious from Toki and killed a man being careless, he feels like the worst.

Yuya sniffs loudly, trying to wipe his eyes.] Ts-Tsuyukusa was really... I didn't know him long, but I liked watching his tank and I think if he could speak, he'd have a lot to say about it. Toki was probably important to him, too, taking care of him until...

[Jellyfish can't speak and no one can prove him wrong.]

[Toki sits back down while Yuya tries to get out his feelings. He didn't expect Yuya to be so upset by Tsuyukusa's death; maybe he had been having long talks with the jellyfish too, when Toki wasn't there.]

You help take care of him, too, Yuya. I'm sure he enjoyed your company. K-kano, do have something to say?

[He's still crying a little and staring at the candle flames. This hurt more than it should have. He doesn't move at all for a time, but he can't see the candles anymore...

He's standing in the middle of the street; it's deserted, there's no cars or pedestrians. It's evening, the sky darkening and the street lamps bathing the pale stone of the buildings in soft yellow light. He doesn't recognize the one he's looking at; there's columns and carvings of medallions or circular flowers. Lots of windows. Closer, there are statues in robes with crowns and lion shields, above are the carved words 'DEPARTS'. Underneath one of the statues 'COMPEIGNE' is carved into the stone. Low echoey bells chime and he looks up to the clock in the center of the building, surrounded by giant glass windows. Before he can read the time, the clock had melted into a moon; huge and bright and full, the craters visible and clear. No longer deserted, people chatter and walk around him. Surrounding buildings boast assorted red and pink decorations and hearts, signs still advertising specials and holiday inventory. At the edges of the crowd is something dark and ominous, void of shape like a thick mist, tendrils almost finger-like emerge from it, touching people who don't take any notice. The colors mute into a palette of grays except for her. Minako. She's in the middle of the throng of people, shouting something he can't hear and holding a gun to her head. Shadows blanket everything as a gunshot rings out, followed by stark silence.

... jumping up quickly, and upsetting the shrine, he reaches out for Minako.]

NO! DON'T!

[She's gone. He's outside the dorm, doing... something... with Kano and Yuya. It doesn't matter what at this point.]

[ Does he have something to say? Yes, but not out loud, nothing he wants to voice, whether it's to Toki or Yuya or even Tsuyukusa if he were here, so he stalls, rolling the candlestick in between his palms until it starts to soften, pre-writing something in his mind that might be suitable for a funeral and opens his mouth to--

Toki jumping to his feet and Kano does as well, candle flame snuffed out when he drops his to the ground and grabs at the one he'd stupidly given Toki before the shrine catches on fire and/or Toki accidentally steps on it. ]

—hey! Toki! Alright, alright, I won't say anything, okay!!?

[ This reaction to him wanting to say a couple of words... Another pleading glance gets thrown Yuya's way to get Toki to calm down please. ]

Yuya...!

Whoa! [Yuya moves up more gently, reaching to put his hands on Toki's arms so he doesn't disrupt the shrine further.] Hey... you had another vision, right?

[That's what the far off look before the screaming is, he's pretty sure. The non-traumatized screaming.]

[Toki shakes Yuya off to start typing rapidly into his phone, trying to get all the details down. He's freaking out a little, because he's never seen anyone he knows in a vision before. It's worse somehow, even if it's clearer and less frightening in general.]

Call Minako right now! I think something's going to happen to her! Make sure she's okay!

[There were still Valentine's decorations up in the windows. It's soon, or already underway.]

I don't know where she was, or is, but it's- she was-

[She was going to kill herself? He can't be sure because nothing is exact with what he sees.]

There was some building like here, France, European type things, with a big clock and lots of windows and there were shadows! The moon! It was a full moon!? Maybe?

Okay, okay, I'm calling her right now!!

[ And he does, dialing Minako's number in and letting it ring even as he tries to make sense of what'd happened. ]

What was the vision about?! What happened to her— is going to happen- maybe it won't happen—- can we stop it!?!? On the full moon- it's almost that, isn't it!?! How many days do we have left!!?!

[ Three. But he wouldn't know. Maybe Yuya would, with his best friend being a werebear? ]

Minako? [Yuya's eyes widen--KAno's already on calling her of course, and Yuya's prays that she answers.]

The next one's in three days, but... Toki, what else did you see? [Can they be sure it's that full moon? What's going to happen? They need more than that!]

[Scanning his notes, he's going to try and explain it as much as it can be explained.]

It was night and I was standing in front of this building with a big clock and some statues with shields and columns and flowers maybe, and there's no one else there! There's some words on the building; "departs" and "compeigne" and uh, the clock chimes, but I can't read the time because it's a moon now and there's suddenly people everywhere and it's loud and there's still Valentine's decorations up and there's a shadow mist with like finger-type things touching people and then everything's all black and white almost except for Minako and she's in the middle of the crowd and yelling and she's- she's- she h-has a gun and she was- it's- she was going to shoot herself in the head! But it might not be what really happens, okay!?

[ What the fuck is a compeigne, is that French, why isn't it auto-translating, what's this mist thing groping people and draining people's color and why does Minako have a gun and putting it to her head and—-

it might not be what really happens, but it might also be, and Kano's not going to stand around waiting for her to pick up the phone, he's pulling away and running back to the dorms to hunt her down and make sure she's not doing anything of the sort, not here, not later, she shouldn't ever need to have a reason to do anything like that, ever ever ever.

Bye guys, Kano can't be here, sorry Tsuyukusa, Minako means more to him. ]

[Yuya's actually witnessed how she summons, as a Tamer, so the gun to her head fills him with less alarm.] Toki, breathe. If--[He cuts off when he sees Kano just bolt of.] W--wait, Kano!

[Yuya grabs for Toki's arm to try and drag him along as he pursues.]

[Breathing is hard. And so is running on ice and snow barefoot, but he lets Yuya drag him anyway.]

Kano! What if she's not even there!? What if it's already happening somewhere!?

[That's probably not the thing to be shouting at him to make him stop, though.]

[ oh my god ]

HEY TOKI, PLEASE SHUT UP!!!!

[ You're not helping!! And no way in hell he's waiting, even if Yuya asks ]

[Yuya cringes. Toki is super not helping but also, Kano's already told him to shut up so it doesn't bear repeating.

So he's just gonna keep running full speed after Kano, only being weighed down by Toki but at least he's pretty sure about where he's going.]

[Yuya should have left him behind.]

What's if she's already... and it's IN THERE AND NOT AT THE CLOCK BUILDING! It's not always right! IT'S NEVER RIGHT! You don't want to walk in on that!

[Yuya breaks the order because he basically immediately stops to turn and cover Toki's mouth.] Stop, that's not helping at all!

[ not slowing down ]

I HEARD THAT.

[ Yeah, Yuya, why are you bringing Toki along?? Why is Yuya coming along, too, leaving all those candles unsupervised, watch them come back to Tsuyukusa's shrine on fire. ]

[He just made it worse, didn't he? But Kano really doesn't need to see... that. Nobody does! They shouldn't be going in there! What if something happened to Nana too?! Or like the whole floor while they were outside doing... whatever they were doing!? ...And he definitely would have said all that out loud.]

[It's candles in snow, they're probably not going to have to worry about a fire.

But he still braces his hand on Toki's shoulder and decides to use exactly that as a distraction.] Hey--can you go get the candles from the shrine? I'll follow Kano and make sure he's okay.

[Yuya's pretty sure he's going up to where Minako's room is, and if she's there then everything's fine--if she's not and not picking up Kano just might have a damn heart attack.

He pats Toki's shoulder, like that's that before turning to pursue Kano.]

[He watches Kano and Yuya run off, and yes, he shouldn't go, but...]

What shine?

[He'll find it, he supposes. And text Yuya the vision notes on his way just in case they need them.]

[ By now, Kano's finally gotten a hold of Minako, who reports that she's in his room and what the fuck's going on Kano?? but while he's relieved to hear that, he only speeds up instead of slowing down, because he can't rest until he sees her with his own eyes that she's okay. ]

[Yuya misses the speakerphone conversation when he's trying to catch up, bounding up the stairs two at a time. He peeks from the top of them on the third floor, staring down the hall after Kano.]

[ I guess at this point, he's at Minako's door, pounding on it and screaming, like an ex who's been kicked out of the house and is begging to be let back in. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

RNG mandated mood whiplash, cw: suicide imagery

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject