[physical education 101]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: transfer students
When: July 1̷̝̤̳̙̫̭̻̝͓̄̇̾̀̕͝9̸̙̱̹͍̮̈́́̀̅͛̐̔̋ 20
Where: the. . . gymnasium?
What: an ice breaker
Warnings: moderate physical injury (not debilitating), psychological horror (absolutely debilitating)

[The school is empty. The school is quiet. The only sound that cuts through the silence is the soft ticking of the hallway clocks that mark the passing of each second.]

[. . .]

[At least. . . until a stiff breeze whips through the classrooms, scattering dirty papers and jerking the curtains aside. The clock strikes 6:00 a.m.]

[The school bell chimes.]

[ Team rooms | Endgame | Rewards ]

Comments

[titlecard]

[ Botan! Mark perks up at her name, because yeah, maybe they've only just met, but of course he adores her already. And it's not at all a surprise that she helped Hanabi figure out her name; she did the same for him, but—

What did they do to you guys, and Mark turns to stare down at his hands. ]

I... don't know. I didn't feel any different when I woke up, and it still doesn't feel any different, even if I touch someone. I didn't even think about anyone doing anything to me, except for this.

[ He holds up the back of his right hand so his curse marking is fully visible to her, red cactus flower design encompassing the whole of it. ]

I definitely didn't have any tattoos before. I have no idea why it's even there, let alone how it got there.

[parttimesoldier]

[That's one of the other mysteries, isn't it. She eyes that flower adorning his hand for a moment before she tugs the makeshift bandages on her left forearm down a little. Doing so more properly reveals the tattoo she'd also awoken with, a pair of blackthorn flowers edged in yellow curling delicately at the inner part of her wrist.]

Same here. They must have marked us for a reason. Maybe to keep track of what they've done to us. Or what they plan to do.

[She figures it all must be related in some way; there's too much going on for coincidence to be at play here. But it's spelling bad news for them either way.]

[titlecard]

[ He sucks in a breath at seeing her own tattoo, things really starting to sink in. If they're both marked like this then probably everyone here is, even if it's not immediately obvious. And it just feels so... odd.

He brings his hand back down, moving to wring his hands at the idea. ]

Well, that's encouraging. [ A completely joyless, self-deprecating laugh. ] So they put flowers on us for some terrifying reason, make it so that I can't even touch people, try to kill us, and it's been what, a few hours? Things are going great.

[ ... A beat, and he smiles for real, because what else can they even do right now? ]

At least we're still alive.

[ Genuinely. At least they still have that much. ]

[parttimesoldier]

Hey, that counts for something.

[Rubbing at the back of her neck, she forces a smile in return.]

A pretty big something, really. As long as we're alive, we've got a chance. To get out of here, to make this right.

[It's gotten her this far in life. Hell, it might be a different flavor of danger than she's used to, but it isn't new.]

[titlecard]

[ His smile widens at her sentiments, actually. ]

You're right. They've already failed on multiple fronts — I doubt they got anyone's name, and we're still here.

[ This is where normally he'd playfully bump her shoulder or something, but... nope. That's off the table. He's just going to have to grin at her like a bit of an idiot, but actually, genuinely happy all the same. ]

We'll get out of here. We'll make this right. And they're going to regret ever messing with us.

[ He is on board!! ]

[parttimesoldier]

[Well, that enthusiasm and grin of his proves to be infectious, because the smile she'd had to force moments ago now feels a lot more effortless, broadening a bit as she laughs.]

Yeah. [A little pump of her fist in the air.] Yeah! They missed their chance to catch us by surprise at the start, and now we'll be ready for whatever they throw at us. We'll get to the other side of it, easy.

[So easy!!]