[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

[ordimame]

[THEY ARE VIBING. . .]

[. . .]

[quietly]

. . . it's a little too much, isn't it?

[selfportraiture]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[She says, arms crossed, hunched small, voice trembling as it is all Too Much.]

[ordimame]

[. . . . . . .]

. . . then maybe it's just me, and you're just a lot tougher than I am.

[a tiny, self-deprecating laugh]

Because it is a little much. A little. . . too much. Waking up in a strange place, surrounded by people I've never met. . . being told that things like magic and ghosts are real, when they're nothing more than fairy tales where I came from.

. . . being shown that first hand in the most terrifying way imaginable.

[a small exhale. he watches her as he speaks, features soft]

It's so overwhelming that all I want to do is find a quiet room and scream. Any one of those things on it's own would be scary, but all of it put together. . .?

[it's fucking terrifying. he won't press her so hard that her brave facade cracks-- not this early in the game. but. . . maybe it'll help, for her to know that she is not alone. . .?]

[selfportraiture]

[... She draws her knees up to her chest, burying her face into her thighs.

Just as she was starting to get better at not going to her room and screaming and throwing things and breaking things. Just when she was finally starting to get her temper and emotions under control.

Now this.

...]

Yeah. It sucks. I get it.

[A shaky breath in.]

And I didn't even have it as bad as you did, and I still--!

[... Just... A sigh.]

... Never mind. It's fine. We're getting out of here and I'm going home.

[ordimame]

[. . . he had a feeling. . .]

Don't compare your experiences to other people's. Who had it worse. . . that doesn't matter.

[he shakes his head]

We're all still entitled to the way that we feel.

[selfportraiture]

[A sniffle.

And then, irritably:]

I don't even know you.

[ordimame]

Haha. . . yeah, you're right. You don't. And I don't even know you!

[. . .]

But with so many people here who come from places I can't even fathom, it's kind of nice to meet someone else who understands-- [what I'm feeling] -- what it's like to be normal.

[selfportraiture]

[Well.

She can understand that much. Everyone here is so weird, and everything that's happening is so weird, and she's already shown more vulnerability to this dude than she wanted to.

She lifts her face, resting her chin on her knees to frown at him.]

So what's your deal, then? Just a regular guy? Where are you from?

[ordimame]

Juuuust a regular guy.

[drawing one knee up as well, slinging his arm across it as he sighs]

I'm from Japan, but I've been doing a lot of traveling lately. Seeing the world, sampling local coffees as I go. . .

[and it was a VERY WELL-DESERVED VACATION and he is MORE THAN A BIT PUT OUT THAT IT WAS CUT SHORT BY. . . THIS??]

[selfportraiture]

Oh. Huh. Yeah, that's pretty normal.

[... and kind of hoity-toity???

She sounds sincerely surprised, though.]

[ordimame]

[a little hoity-toity!]

Why do you sound so surprised about it?

[selfportraiture]

Because almost everyone here really has been weird.

...

I guess you do look pretty average, though.

[ordimame]

[god he'd be offended if it were coming from literally anyone else]

That's because I am. I don't stand out at all, do I?

It's probably for the best.

[selfportraiture]

... I guess.

[She doesn't really want to come across as ordinary herself, generally, but this place has absolutely put things in a new light.]



Hey, I have a weird question for you.

Did anything strange happen for you guys whenever you touched each other?

[ordimame]

[blinks a few times? clearly perplexed by the question]

No? What do you mean by "something strange"

[selfportraiture]

[She just scowls.

Heaves out a sigh.

And beckons for his hand. Give.]

[ordimame]

[. . . ???]

[holds out his hand, but he sure does look bemused about it]

[selfportraiture]

Don't freak out.

[That's all the warning she gives before she reaches out to take his hand in hers. And the emotion share isn't too intense this time--maybe because she's exhausted--but nonetheless he'll immediately feel it: her latent anger at the situation, her confusion, her frustration, those faint twinges of hysteria she's mostly managed to beat back.

Then she lets go.]

1/3

[ordimame]

D--

[. . . he doesn't even have time to ask about it, because she grabs his hand before he can make confused noises in her direction. his entire body stiffens when he feels that rush of confusion, frustration, and hysteria, the waterfall of foreign emotions nearly drowning out his own bemusement. those feelings mirror his own, and yet. . . they aren't his at all, are they. . .? not in the way they feel so distinctly other]

[his eyes widen, mouth falling open]

[ordimame]

[WHAT THE FUUUUUUUCK]

[ordimame]

[okay. no. he doesn't freak out. just as asked!]

[but he draws back a little too quickly when she lets go]

I.

No.

. . . no, nothing like that happened for us at all??

[and of course. . . she may notice she felt nothing from him in return]

[selfportraiture]

Figures.

[She just scoffs at that, arms crossed as she rolls her eyes, every inch the "LIFE'S NOT FAAAAIR" teenager.]

[ordimame]

[TO BE FAIR TO HER THIS IS A PRETTY AWFUL THING!! LIFE ISN'T FAIR!!!]

Does this happen every time you touch someone? And is it everyone in your. . . class?

[selfportraiture]

Not every time, but more or less. It's pretty often, anyway, not that I've been testing it.

[She's been trying to avoid touching people, and she gets why everyone else would, though she has to admit that Mizuki avoiding touching her stings a little.]

I don't know if it's all of us, but... at least some of us in my class have it happening.

[ordimame]

[NOOOO MY CUTE LESBIANS]

That's-- [hackles raising a bit] Pretty messed up! Why is it even happening in the first place?

[he is not actually expecting her to know; someone has yet to key in on the classroom curses]