[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

[ratiocinations]

[IMMEDIATELY STANDS UP, casts around to look for the gym exit-]

Just as there's no excuse to sit and waste more time. Is the rest of the school open to exploration?

[selfportraiture]

[What the hell, guy.

He stands up and she cranes her neck back to squint at him.]

Well--I guess? Maybe? I don't know--

--are you sure you should be getting up?

[ratiocinations]

[Probably not. Will this stop him? Maybe eventually, but not right now.]

I can walk. I can observe. A few shallow cuts ["a few" "shallow"] is not enough to hinder either.

[selfportraiture]

[........... She closes her eyes, sighing heavily, and then slowly pushes herself up to her feet.]

I think you're really underestimating how bad you look. But fine. Let's go. Just don't keel over on me. You're too big to carry.

[ratiocinations]

[Gives that little "hmph!" of his, borderline amused and dismissive all at once.]

If I lose consciousness, find Ms Fairplay. She might be strong enough to drag me out of the way of foot traffic.

[Anyway, gym exit get! Even pushing past the double doors is an effort, but he manages.]

[selfportraiture]

[She just watches him struggle to get those doors open. Yeah. Okay. Great. She hates this, and follows anyway.]

And who's that supposed to be? Got a description for me?

[ratiocinations]

Horned. Blue. Russian.

[Russian-accented. She’ll learn this soon enough.]

A member of my team. We’re called “Kin’un”, by the by.

[selfportraiture]

[Opens mouth as if to argue with "horned" and "blue" and then just sighs. No, Hiro can fly, so of course there can be a blue Russian with horns.]

Fine. She sounds easy to find, at least.

I'm--what, we're doing teams now?

[A sigh, again.]

Then it's Shiawase for me, I guess. That was the name on the journal, anyway.

[... Kin'un?]

... Huh. Weird.

[ratiocinations]

[Hmm. More questions bubbling up, but first:]

Weird?

[selfportraiture]

Kin'un and Shiawase are both types of omamori.

[She digs into her pocket to produce hers, staring down at it with a frown.]

[ratiocinations]

[The way his interest sparks in his eyes, and his brow, is hard to miss.

Fishes his out, too, or at least begins to-]

If was suggested to me that these were-

[But when he flicks his eyes up, just beyond her, down the hall, he catches sight of… one of those awful dolls? He cuts himself off in surprise.]

[selfportraiture]

[...?

It's like a horror movie, the way dread immediately crawls down her spine when he freezes.

And slowly, she turns to look.



?

She spins back around with a scowl.]

Don't do that! Are you trying to scare me?!

[ratiocinations]

[Again, that lightning-quick flicker of his gaze from that awful doll to her, then back again.]

You don't see it?

[He is saying this quite seriously, not a hint of a jest in his question. A second later, and just like that, in his own vision: the doll is gone.]

[selfportraiture]

[Nnnnooooooooo she haaaates this.]

There's. Nothing. There.

[ratiocinations]

[He doesn’t like it much better!!

In fact, he rather hates it. To not be able to trust his own senses, so keenly relied on up until this point. What is this, then? A case of delusion?]

No. It was.

[He points, precisely, where it had been standing.]

One of those wretched dolls from before. It seems our failures are not fully behind us.

[selfportraiture]

[STOPPPPP.

She drags a sharp breath in--

And then lets it out again, closing her eyes.]

... Fine, then. You're cursed. Super cursed.

[ratiocinations]

“Super cursed.” Is that your official diagnosis, doctor?

[Okay, he should ease up on the sarcasm because this is just a teenage girl, but so much social politeness always feels thrown out the window on day one.

Pulls out his omamori. It’s pink! This seems a good segue...]

This is an amulet of sorts, isn’t it?

[selfportraiture]

You'd want a priest for curses.

[Smartass.]

But yeah, it's an omamori. A good luck charm. They sell them at shrines and different sorts are supposed to give different effects.

Yours is Kin'un, which is specifically for financial good luck and success.

[ratiocinations]

[WE'VE GOT A SMARTASS ON OUR HANDS HERE, HUH

But he will forgive her. He is far more interested in this new information that he is otherwise oblivious to, hailing from the wrong side of the globe.]

Financial good luck... [That's right, the journal. What was written there flashes across his memory again.] Well, now. There is an irony to that.

[selfportraiture]

[...?]

There is?

[ratiocinations]

[He says this, as though he were reciting from memory:]

"I've never been a very greedy person. After all, practicality suits me well. But lately I have found myself coveting the possessions of others. It feels a bit strange, to want for something other than what is logical! And yet, I also can't deny the thrill...."

[ ... ]

That was written in the journal we found. I'd say that relates very much to financial success, if one were to twist the blessing around into something more unflattering.

[surely this will not become relevant in a future thread]

[selfportraiture]

[Incredible foreshadowing.

Ena just blinks at that.]

Oh, I see. Yeah, I guess ours was pretty similar. I don't remember the exact wording, but Shiawase charms are happiness charms, and ours was about spreading happiness and warmth, or whatever.

[ratiocinations]

[Terrible foreshadowing.

Brow raising as he tucks his charm away.]

Spreading happiness and warmth. Were that the reality, I'd call you fortunate.

[But surely by now they realize it isn't going to be that.]

[selfportraiture]

[A heavy sigh.]

Yeah, we're definitely not that.

Anyway, all of these are for good fortune, so it's not like one's better than another. Unless someone here got Anzan or something.

[ratiocinations]

[what do you want to bet someone got anzen]

And why is that?