sevenhorrors | [goal reached!!]

Who: the student body
When: the afternoon of October 5
Where: the gymnasium, and elsewhere
What: the end of the fundraiser
Warnings: nothing you don't bring yourself!

[boy, has it been a busy week and some change! the fundraising activities seems to have excited more than just the mortal student body. if you've been paying attention to the table adorned with spider lilies throughout the event, you would have noticed that some of the school haunts have been dropping pieces of ghostly yen into the jars scattered on top of it. each jar is now overflowing with glowing golden coins. they're intangible, unfortunately-- no one is going to strike it rich while stuck in this school-- but! they're pretty to look at!]

[and eventually, on October 5, the voice that started the whole affair speaks to you again]

Ah, quite wonderful! This has been such a rousing success. Thank you, my dear students, for working so hard to enrich your educational lives within these hallowed walls!

And a special congratulations to the members of the Outdoors Club, the Occult Investigations Club and the Food Tasting Club. Your efforts specifically have born fruit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm completely fine! And you? Your tail's going crazy!

[ Casually reaching behind him and just grabbing it with one hand, holding it to his side and clearing his throat like that's not embarrassing to be called out like that. ]

I'm fine as well, but I wasn't the one to disappear for several weeks.

[ A not-small part of her wants to call him out further for now trying to hide the aforementioned tail, but... ]

...But it wasn't several weeks for me. Just a few hours. It's not like I wanted to be gone for that long!

[ Rin please! His tail isn't the concerning thing right now!!

His brow furrows at her explanation. ]

Like you stepped out of synch with the rest of us?

[ He doesn't know a lot about time anomalies, but if anywhere was going to have them, this would be the place... ]

[ She's no expert on such things, either, but there's no other explanation... ]

I know what I saw. I didn't see the day turn to night, and I'd feel it if that much time had passed. So, while I was there, I might have been... somewhere else, or something. Apparently, it happened to Koromaru from Shiawase, too!

It would explain why none of us in Katsumori saw you at all when we entered the shed ourselves...

[ Though he is curious... ]

What happened to you during those few hours?

[ wait. Suddenly what happened to her isn't as important. Nei reaches over to try to grab Zuo Le by his shoulders. ]

You entered the shed?!

[ He'll drop his tail at that, which had calmed down all on its own, but starts to flick again as she latches onto him. ]

Yes? Briefly at least, before something sent us back to those caves near the beach.

All the way back there...?!

[ Her grip tightens. ]

We couldn't even get inside, when we tried. All it did was open its doors and pull me in. I saw everyone else as the doors closed, so I was the only one, too. I ended up in a maze of hallways...

So an entirely different location altogether. It's no wonder we saw no sign of you in those tunnels then...

[ Had he been looking...? Maybe. There was a lot of running for their lives, so his ability to search was pretty hindered admittedly. ]

It seems like the shed and the gym both act as portals to other places then, and time in these places doesn't always flow at the same speed.

Portals. And not always to the same places, either. Something similar must have happened to the other teams when they uncovered other rooms, right? Like Anzen and Kenkou...

[ It's then that she finally lets go of him and steps back, giving him an appraising once-over. ]

...But you look fine, now. So your class must have made it through all right.

[ As far as he can tell from what he's heard, it seems so. It would match up with the experience his team had when they entered the shed as well.

As for the comment, Zuo Le immediately looks down, shame-faced, like it's his personal failing what he's about to admit to. ]

We all made it out alive, but I can't say it was all right. I was luckier than most.

[ Literally despite his best effort. Literally despite his attempt to throw himself in harm's way to keep the rest of them safe, because they all stepped up to protect him when he did that. ]

Hmm...

[ and if there's one thing Nei has come to realize about Zuo Le, it's that he probably hates that he was luckier than most. ]

It bothered you, didn't it? That you were lucky.

[ because based on how he acted after he gave his name, how he was after that test of courage, and how shamefully he answers her question... he probably tried his best to shoulder the kind of burden that would've rendered him as unlucky as his classmates. And wasn't able to. ]

[ He looks back up at her in surprise, mouth falling open and ready to deny the accusation, but... ]

Yes...

[ Thanks, Katsumori curse...

He winces at his own confession, before deciding to press forward since it's already out in the air. ]

My job has always been to protect people from these kind of dangers. If they're getting hurt while I'm walking away without a scratch on me, then...

[ The need to be honest is still sitting hard and heavy on him right now. ]

Then what am I even doing? What is the point in everything I trained for? All of my claims and boasts are entirely empty.

[ If he can't keep his team from being hurt after promising he would take all the physical challenges, isn't he a liar? If he can't do anything to find the girl who has gone missing even when entering the building she went missing in, then isn't he useless? ]

They do feel empty, don't they? And everything feels like it was pointless when you trained just for this, doesn't it?

[ And despite her usual personality, when Nei says this to Zuo Le, it's clear that it comes from a place of understanding; she doesn't mean to bring him down, but to express that she has felt those feelings, herself.

She sighs, folding her arms and clicking her tongue. ]

I'm annoyed, too, you know. I was right there with my classmates looking at the shed, ready to protect them from anything that might come out at us, and instead I got spirited away and chased a tanuki while they were without me for weeks.

[ He looks genuinely startled by that for a second, though his expression smooths out as he thinks about her complaint for a moment longer. It makes sense. She was unharmed in the end, and while she was wrapped up dealing with the inconveniences of being dragged to this strange pocket of space she couldn't escape, her team could have potentially been in danger for all she knew. ]

I think they were more worried about getting you back than anything else.

[ He remembers seeing the reaction of some of her team when Katsumori left the shed, and everyone found them there bleeding or poisoned.

Or... entirely unharmed, depending on which member of the team it was. ]

[goal reached!!]

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