#im rotating (rolling... if u will..) in my mind about it. it might be a tad repetitive but dmc is cylical in nature so 🍻 i think it is ok | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

plantfeed · 4 years

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ok turns out i am 100% that dumbass bitch who still aint posted my intro on main....... so for reference..... hello! im nora ( she / her ). im a 24 year old creative writing graduate currently residing in sheffield, south yorkshire. when i’m not hunched over a keyboard writing, i enjoy independent cinema, chinese food, and big nights out that i’ll remember only in fleeting snapshots. i currently work as a barmaid and a tutor for a filmmaking project.

without further ado, here is my interpretation on the skeleton ‘ophelia’, a development of a character who’s been brewing at the back of my mind for absolutely AGES now so thank u for giving me the push to actually flesh her out.

ive included a full biography, but please feel free 2 skip to bullet points if TLDR because it is LOOONG..... and im so happy 2 be here.... new home.... chefs kiss.... yes lov u all

IN CHARACTER.

skeleton: ophelia name: theresa rigby. (goes by diminutives tess, tessa, tea or thea. the only time she’s theresa is when she’s in trouble.) age: 21, born july 10 (cancer) faceclaim: diana silvers. gender: cis-female. pronouns: she/her degree: comparative literature & ancient history (joint honours)

INTRO.

trigger warnings.

loss of a parent. missing person / disappearance. drugs and alcohol reliance. death.

BIOGRAPHY.

i. narragansett, rhode island.

1999, an Austrian sunrise, it is the year of the Water Monkey. A water baby, first screams under the surface, the catch of it gargled in your throat. A birth mark the size and shape of a door handle pressed into your pelvis like a lover’s badge. Born like a clenched fist. Annie always wished you’d be more like an open palm. You still carry that tension with you, an unreadable kind of silence when you slink around the edge of a room or perch on an arm rest like a bird about to startle and fly off. Nobody knows a thing about you and you like it that way. Conceived in the winter, some of that coldness still lingers in you.

The only perfect girl is a dead girl. That’s what you learned, last-born runt of the litter growing up in the bedroom of a girl who would be forever cold, young and pretty. In the beginning, they thought you were a blessing — Bet’s soul reincarnate, the same pale face they’d seen as they’d signed her into the pick ‘n’ mix family. You were given her clothes, her room, even her middle name, stripped and rebranded like a toy doll bought after the last one’s head was chewed off by the dog. Four boys, a dead sister, and you who — with your birdlike features and unrelenting eyes — was merely a walking ghost. Tennis skirts, nail varnish, a shag rug, a rotten corsage; these were the staple reminders that you were living in a shrine, the room never quite your own lest you disturb the lingering presence of Bet. Soon, you began to see it as not a room but rather a prison cell caging you in the imprint of a sister you never met.

Your mothers met at an undergraduate socialist meeting when the fall semester fell into winter, Kath in a mustard coloured beret, Annie in a blood-orange duffle coat, a philosophy major and an art historian respectively. Your childhood was a montage of potato printing eels onto the walls of a Rhode Island boarding house next to the sea. Five children — some adopted, some surrogate — a permanent rotation of rooms and always a handful of lodgers to foot the bill. Travelling salesmen, students on gap years and tinkers in search of odd-jobs became a flipbook of faces etched into your memories like fleeting figures in the wings of a theatre; you sketch them into the body of your work. They become the characters to haunt the pages of your notebooks, stashed beneath floorboards lest they fall into too-hungry flour-caked fingers, scones baking in the oven two floors below. A house that seemed to physically inhale every time a new body entered it, tall and thin, too small to house all that weight. The gaps beneath the floorboards are the only spaces that feel like your own, untouched by a girl who’s shadow you were born in. In your diary, you scribble her name until it tears through the pages thinking that if you wish hard enough, you’ll make yourself her. It’s never enough.

At twelve, you lose Annie to a boating accident. You lose a piece of yourself with her and stop wearing yellow. Grief makes a better writer out of you though it sounds selfish to admit it. Kath remarries the following spring, a man named Peter. He is ordinary in all the ways Annie was magical and when he sits in your mother’s chair you feel yourself slip out of your skin and into the body of a raven cawing in the woods, scratching at the dustmites. You try to teach yourself how to be a girl, though you’ve always felt more like a wild thing crouched in the attic window of the lighthouse, screaming at the crash of the waves. You wanted to love the sea as closely as it owned you. In the sea you were rewritten into a tide, into a shell, into the swell of a rockpool around the body of a crab. You wanted to be like the ocean —a tangible, changeling thing —making paper boats and setting them out to sea, wishing you could shrink yourself into one, sail away. For a while, you toy with the idea of starving yourself into something the size and shape of an eel; of growing gills in the night and darting into the ebbing current. They’d think you crazy if you told them.

ii. concord, massachusetts.

You butt heads with Kath on a daily basis. She tells you you resent her for moving on with her life when you seem unable to move on with yours. That maybe a clean break would be best for all the family. A fresh start. A change of scene. You lock yourself in the bathroom and cry for an hour until your mouth feels raw, like running a cheesegrater down the inside of your throat. The following September, they send you to boarding school, two suitcases and an armful of Annie’s jumpers. Kath has decided they don’t compliment her skin tone, and she’s not twenty-five or studying philosophy any more. New England becomes the best decision for you that your family have ever made. You thrive on the independence of living in a dormitory on a corridor of Alison’s and Margaret’s and Ruth’s. From the names on their doors, you paint them into people in your head, red-haired Ruth who collects birth stones and can count to twenty in Mandarin. They turn out to be nothing like the versions of them you’ve spun. You love them anyway, their rough-softness, the scuffed knee thrill of growing up half-wild. There’s a brightness in their girlhood that you try to capture in your words.

Though you never quite find yourself settling into a group, Dr. Franklin becomes the anchor to which you tether yourself to, a little girl leeching onto her Literature professor for a sense of stability in a tempestuous world. The others might think it sad, but she sees something in you — an inner restlessness, a need to analyse and observe and contain everything within poetry and prose — that reminds her of herself at your age. You begin one-to-one sessions after the school day has closed, whisper about Proust and O’Hara over frothed lattes in a campus-run coffee shop, ink blots on the pages of dog-eared copies she’s gifted to you on an indefinite loan. Sometimes, you think you love her. You run your fingers over the buttons of her typewriter, close your eyes, and imagine yourself pulling on her skin like a new coat.

The woods become your saviour. In Narragansett you never knew woods, only harboursides, seafood restaurants, the smell of the ocean breeze and a lighthouse calling you home. You learn to love the smell of the earth after rain. The feeling of soil between your toes. The sense of belonging you feel trailing through the woods in stark white nightgown, twigs catching on the mud-stained hem. Massachusetts becomes a place of revision. You remake yourself as a fawn, elegance in your limbs and hunger in your heart. You learn how to write yourself into being. There’s a violence in your grace — simultaneously glass and the hammer that shatters it — and despite the ethereal way you move it’s the leonine stature of a tigress, claws bared, teeth sharpened into fangs, but a smile like butter wouldn’t melt. Lady Macbeth was always your favourite of Shakespeare’s heroines. There’s something dark in her that resonates with you, the way when a pimple appears you have to squeeze it until it bleeds. You tell yourself that everybody has a morbid fascination.

Each night you take a torch, a book and a bottle of Merlot, and you wile away the hours reading in the woods. At home, sleep never came easy to you. You’d pace the floorboards counting sheep and wake having barely slept a blink. This, on the other hand, seems useful, though when you’re never asleep, you’re never quite awake, floating through the school day like a ghost, part removed, the dark circles pulling your eyes to a close. It’s a tiredness you carry in every aspect of your life, limbs heavier than usual, pen slower when it grazes the page. Soon you start taking tablets each night. Two white ones, no bigger than a baby’s fingernail. For the first time, you begin to dream.

When February rolls around you take your exams. Pass with the grace of a swan in everything except AP Calculus. You say you’ll try again next semester, but you don’t. You apply for Yale, Cambridge, Harvard, Columbia, Ashcroft. You wait. And wait. And wait until it feels like your skin has shed itself since the letters left your hands, before an envelope comes marked Theresa. No one ever calls you that name. Right from the start it’s been Tea, Tess, Thea, common names in your house as fickle as the tide that swallows it. Billy’s never been a William, and Sebastian sounds all wrong. You can scarcely remember what Brodie’s short for. Rejection after rejection until Ashcroft answers the call, a cawing in the dark of a wasteland you’ve not yet walked. You’ll read literature, follow in the footsteps of Ginsberg who you clumsily try to quote as you bid the girls goodbye, a bonfire and the smell of cinnamon whiskey.

iii. ashcroft university, edinburgh.

You’d read of a boy who went missing there. It happened in the woods. Seventy years and all they’d found was an emptied bottle of wine and one shoe. Newspapers claimed involvement in an elite society, perhaps a hazing gone wrong, and you imagine them burrowed in underground tunnels wearing wellington boots and tweed. This is what draws you to Ashcroft ; to Imperium. It’s not so much the mystery of it —you’ve never seen yourself as a Nancy Drew — but more the idea of living in a place where people can disappear. That’s always been an idle fantasy of yours. One day, you wonder if you’ll write yourself out of the world and into the pages of a book, nestled between a title and contents page.

From Concord to Boston, then a ten-hour flight ; for the first time in months, you sleep through the night. A line break cancels your train and you have to take a replacement bus service instead. By the time you reach the school, the open day is almost over. You feel it at the gates, like a tingle on the back of your neck, something crawling down your spine. It only grows as you close in on it. It feels like it knows your own heartbeat. You’ve never known a building to have so much soul. You imagine yourself walking the cobblestones on the quad each day, climbing the steps to a dormitory, sprawled on a library table, scribbling frantically, willing the clock hands backwards. It’s a life you want to lead.

In a matter of months, Ashcroft has become not only your home but your life. You are utterly consumed by it. You meet Lysander at a poetry reading. You recite Shelley. He recites Keats. He compliments you on the steadiness of your voice, clear as a bell. A voice for the stage. You tell him your father had a powerful voice. It’s a lie. You’ve never had a father, but it’s fun to imagine one slouched on the couch, wire-rimmed glasses on the end of his nose. He invites you to dinner the following week. Grilled sea bass and risotto. You don’t have the heart to tell him you’ve become a vegetarian, swallow each mouthful with your pride. You try out for the orchestra, though your hands shake a little too much and you hear more from the inside of your own head than the keys. You leave without waiting on an answer. It’s too contained for you, anyway. You need something more chaotic, like jazz. You wish for chaos, so Imperium opens it jaws and swallows you whole. They like you because of your voice, a voice that speaks scarcely more than a low whisper in life, but when written wins you a Bysshe-Shelley Prize. In poetry, you give that voice to the voiceless ; bring dead girls buried in the woods out of the ground and into being, like soil in your hands. A voice like that is a powerful thing to have in your ranks. It becomes every page in your diary, every catch of your skirt on a tree branch, every rap of your fingertips against the desktop, imperium, imperium, imperium.

You’ve never been able to do things by halves — you always let them consume you. One glass becomes a bottle. One paragraph becomes scrawling until sunrise. Obsession takes its form in Hamlet, strong in all the ways you appear weak. You like the smell of his breath when he tells you to stub out your cigarette. That’ll kill you one day, he says. I know, you reply, and your pretty lips curl upwards. One drunken night, you fall into his bed and imagine stitching yourself into his sheets so you can sleep with him every night. Tongues on your thighs like a voice in your throat. Touch me, touch me, touch me. Never been held like this before. Like you’re not glass, but something material and robust. You like the way his hands feel under your skin. Perhaps you’ll keep him there like a splinter. Tall for your age but thin as a rail, he makes you feel like more than an eel of a girl. You like the way he catches on your spindly elbows where others have snagged leaving trails of cotton. At first, it’s only physical, but you get greedy and want more. You’re not sure when a love of beauty became something more than skin deep. You’re not sure if you even loved him until he’d stopped loving you. In October, you find the body. The day all the clocks stop ticking. The day something inside of you snaps like the branch of an elm.

You become a cocoon, velvet ribbons in your hair and rope around your throat. Or maybe it’s lace, and you’re only imagining it that way. You drink wine, stumble blind-drunk through the woods, lose textbooks to nature and curse when you can’t find them the following morning. Most nights, you appear like a ghost in the wood, a linen nightdress with mud clinging to it’s hem and feet laden in soil. You’re not sure if it’s conscious at this point, or mindless sleepwalking. Everything you do feels like sleepwalking these days. Shadows move in the corners of your eyes at night and you turn to the tarot cards for answers. They tell you only of that which you already know. Death. The Hanged Man. High Priestess. You think of Octavia, of Lysander, and of you pulled like a ragdoll between them, with the intuition that comes from living by the sea but without the evidence to execute it. The pills have stopped working. You wake in sweats, guilt swelling in the pit of your stomach. In a therapist’s waiting room, you watch as a girl scratches the skin off her own arm.

Soon news of your occultist proclivities becomes gossip on everyone’s tongue. Witch becomes a synonym for your name, and one you’ll happily wear like a noose until you’ve stolen Lysander from the drop. Finding the truth becomes the only thing keeping you sane, runes scrawled on the walls of a dormitory where pages of novels are tacked up like wallpaper. And still, you can’t shake the fact that she hasn’t come to you when the others who scarcely believe in such phantomed are rattled by her ghost on a nightly basis. Competing and girlhood go hand in hand, but the longer it gets, the more it feels like she knows your desperation to absolve Lysander isn’t entirely selfless. Perhaps she saw you lingering in doorways, waiting in the wings for him to change his mind and tell you it was you all along. Or maybe the sight of her corpse is making you search for answers in places they don’t exist. You’re hanging on my a single thread, one glimpse away from fleeing to the woods to plant yourself into the earth.

The snow is crisp on the November ground when you learn to love melancholy like a dance you were taught as a child. You think it adds depth to being a writer. How can a person write about pain if they live in a state of blissful oblivion? You tell yourself that all of the best writers were depressed; Plath, Fitzgerald, Dickinson, Rice. If you say their names each morning, followed by your own, perhaps you’ll become one of them.

BULLET POINT SUMMARY.

here is a bullet point summary of theresa, as i understand my writing can get a little dense.

Mother always said that people who grow up near water are different to other people. That there’s something more primal in their bones. A kind of knowing.

In Theresa, the knowing is a kind of silence. She’s always struggled with verbal communication, and it’s rare that she can ever let herself go in a conversation. She’s the one on the outskirts of the group, only speaking up to deliver a poignant metaphor, before fading off again. On a good day she’ll ramble, perhaps, on morbid longings and fascinations, but it’s like she’s always skipping around words she can’t quite pinpoint.

Writing’s different. When she’s writing, she feels like all the dead souls of Emily Bronte and Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath are all rising up from their graves to possess her. It is, perhaps, a rather egotistical thought -- but it makes her feel less alone. Like writing isn’t so much a solitary pursuit as it is a reigniting of what’s been lost, a way of listening to the dead. She’s militant in the way she writes, has been for as long as she can remember -- every night when the clock strikes twelve. Even if she’s rolling on mandy in an abandoned warehouse or dropping acid in a shipyard with her toes in the sand, she’ll start scribbling at twilight, for as long as she can. Back home, there weren’t too many bars that allowed underage kids, and the ones that did would nail your phone to the wall like you’re living in the eighties, so they made their own fun getting high in places long since infested with rats on baggies bought cheap in the back of the dry-cleaners shop.

Theresa’s always felt more able to relate to dead people than to living ones. That might sound depressing, but she doesn’t think so. Death has never been far from her. She grew up in the room of a foster sister who had died the previous winter. She lost her mother to a boating accident at twelve years old. She lost Octavia last year, found her body in the woods, and was thankful that she -- and not someone else -- had seen her crumpled like a fawn. Because even though it clings to her and burrows under her skin, she knows how to drown it out now. In words. In wine. In pills crushed against the veneer of a sink and snorted through a twenty-dollar bill. She’s getting good at losing herself completely. Theresa herself feels like a girl half-dead, like something ghostly, trapped between two planes. Which is why it hurts so much that she still hasn’t seen Octavia’s ghost. She’s supposed to be the special one. The one who’s vision isn’t clouded by idle dogmatism. The one who believes in all that fate, juju, third eye stuff that the others seem to scoff at. It feels like a personal attack. Like somehow, in keeping hidden, she’s blaming Theresa for her death.

Theresa is the month of November. There’s something mysterious about it, something cold. It’s on the cusp of the end of the year, but it doesn’t quite reach it. I feel like that’s what Theresa’s like. Always reaching for the apples that are just out of her grasp, or perhaps, reaching for apples which aren’t even there.

She knows grief like an old friend, but somehow, she still doesn’t trust it. When she was twelve years old she lost one of her mothers. Annie was always the brighter of her parents, and Tessa never really believed that someone so full of life could just disappear. Her soul had to be somewhere. When Kath remarried, Theresa never forgave her. Between grief and anger, their relationship became fractious, and Kath decided to send her to boarding school. She went to a New England college where she learned art, history, literature, english, athletics, the sciences and the classics. Boarding school was probably the best decision for Theresa that Kath had ever made. She became fascinated with the girls around her, so feral and wild in their girlhood. She fell in love with another girl more than once. She fell in love with the freedom of New England, of being in the woods, of a gaggle of girls with bottles of wine sat around a campfire, scared half to death that the matron would find them.

But death’s never far from her. She’s been searching for Annie in the linebreaks between poems, in the chaos of clutter under her bed, under lace and linen in her underwear drawer, but somehow she can never quite find her and never give up. Finding Annie was perhaps the reason she came to Ashcroft at all. She intended to go to Columbia, read Literature, and clumsily follow in the footsteps of Ginsberg. But Annie had spoken of Edinburgh with such a childlike awe.

Lysander was the first of the society she met, at a poetry reading in the autumn of her first semester. He brought her into the club because he saw something in her, an otherworldliness, a still but powerful voice. Her eyes saw more than they let on, always glinting at something more. She thinks her closeness with Lysander is the reason she still hasn’t seen Octavia’s ghost, and now Hamlet’s out of the picture she’s starting to think she might love Lysander. Or maybe she just needs to be loved by someone, and absolving him of blame is the key.

She was never really sure how she felt about Octavia. One moment they were friends, the next they were rivals. It was something like love and hate combined, but perhaps that’s just the curse of being a woman. A fierce sense of competition in everything you do, even if it’s just competing for air.

She likes old French music, European cinema, art that doesn’t come in her mother tongue. She’s always thought English pointless. The French say things so much better.

Her favourite TV show is Twin Peaks. She likes the absurdist truth in it, the style, the colour, the oddness. She likes the mystery of it all. She loved the woods in New England and it reminds her of that. A kind of home away from home. Tea brings a pocked dictaphone out with her, for she’s so often absent-minded that she misses half the day. That way, she can replay conversations, the sound of a bird in flight, the particular inflection in the voice of someone she loves. She’s obsessive when it comes to lovers. She doesn’t want to be loved -- she wants to be respected, understood, devoured. She thinks love is a kind of mutual lying.

She finds truth in the unusual. In tarot cards and horoscopes, in the position of the planets through a thrifted telescope. She’s a night owl, never in bed before 3 or 4 in the morning. She visits the woods each night to write until her fingers ache. Sometimes with wine, sometimes with mushrooms, sometimes with a tab against the flat of her tongue, imagining herself to be Alice in Wonderland. She feels like she’s getting close to the truth, but maybe she’s just closer to losing her mind.

LETTER TO OCTAVIA.

My dearest O,

I wish I could find an adequate way to write you an epitaph. You saw a poet where everyone else saw a foolish dreamer and yet you’re the only one I can’t put into words. But in truth, there is no word large enough to contain you. You were the ellipsis I was always looking to conclude, and it’s so like you to steal even that from me. Some days, I think I could love you.

Please know that death cannot touch girls like us. That you’re more than just skin, teeth and bone. Death itself has you only on a short-term loan. As Thomas puts so eloquently, Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thank you for filling me with life. I’ll see you in the next one.

Tea.

anything else?

mock blog.

wanted plots.

someone who theresa knows purely from seeing them at the library. recently, she hasn’t been visiting as often. she’s less in the world and more in her head. her schoolwork is suffering. someone who feels this absence like a missing tooth.

unlikely bc ashcroft is in scotland but if they’re from rhode island maybe distant relatives.... ophelia / theresa is adopted so could work regardless of heritage. her family lived in narragansett, but she went to boarding school in vermont. could have met if ur character is new england based??? maybe

give me fellow wanky pretentious art-lovers and poets and historians who will go to museums and galleries with her and listen to the velvet underground on vinyl

people she gets mortally fucked off her tits with at parties bcos this baby is not alright. she drinks at least one glass of wine every night. sometimes a bottle. she’s always a little bit high or a little bit weary with a comedown. she can’t seem to keep her feet on the ground.

theresa was pretty numb after finding the body, as you would be. she stayed in her room listening to enya for three days straight and just eating cereal straight out the box. then thalia broke up with her and that fuckin shook her too, and now she just thinks she’s unlovable. she’s always been pretty bad at sleeping but now she just wanders about in her white nightdress looking for a door with light spilling beneath it so that maybe she can find someone who’ll hold her for the night and make her feel like she’s still alive

she’s currently hooking up with a lot of people. a lot of very detached sex, so if she has any sort of close connection with your character this might not work. could be good for angst or awkwardness though, or she cld get like.... super attached after a one night stand and complicate the shit out of everything. theresa’s kind of obsessive when it comes to her affections, she loves with her whole heart or not at all

people she used to date or unrequitedly likes, but to them it’s just a physical thing, give me all the thirsty angst plots, and maybe some softness too, i need some religion in this girls life jesus

honestly everything just give me all the plots

#stands on the rooftop and screams like a banshee as i fling this into the woods #spectreintro #very late and personally i think that's incredibly sexy of me x

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elliotthezubat · 6 years

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DEATH CITY DAYS 105

oh goody, more vampires!

Lucy: "...Well, um...If you didn't get any sign of them when you were asleep, maybe our look in the alley earlier this afternoon will help..." *looks over notes she took* "Ranpo found some faint marks along the wall, but you didn't hear someone hitting it?"

Katai: *shrugs* "M-Maybe? It sounded like an argument--They may have threatened someone. I heard 'bleed'?"

sylvia: *gulp*

Kyoka: "We also noticed a receipt nearby from earlier that day at a nearby thrift store--which is half-way across town."

Ranpo: "And of course, this..." *holds up a big shiny coin* "Foreign!"

aya: neato! where's it from?

Ranpo: "Not sure...It looks Japanese, yet it has this ram's head and says...I can't read it. 'Chinom'-something?"

aya: maybe it's a game token?

Lucy: "We can check arcades in the morning..."

-morning-

shiori: zzz

Yumi: "???" ("She's not in her room...") *notices Kid and Stocking's door open a crack* "???" *peeks*

shiori: zzzz

Kid: "Zzz..."

stocking: *asleep*

Yumi: "... ... ... ..." QwQ ("D'AWWWWWW!") *waves to Lord Death*

lord death: *peeks* QwQ *snaps a pic*

Yumi: TwT *hug*

-elsewhere-

miyuri: *snoring, asleep on top of chuuya*

Chuuya: "Zzz..." *tries to move--* "UMPH!" O_O; *looks* "..." *strokes her head*

miyuri: mm...papa...=w= zzzz....

Chuuya: *sighs* *keeps stroking while he sits up*

miyuri: *yaaaaaawn* morniiiing *sniff* *still half-asleep*

Chuuya: "Sleep okay?"

miyuri: *nods and rubs her eyes* *yaaaawn* *STOMACH GROWL*

Chuuya: "Aaaaaand hungry..."

sonia: *in the bathroom, brushing her teeth*

Chuuya: "Come on--let's get something to eat."

-elsewhere-

amelia: *doing morning stretches*

Kanin: *finishing packed lunch* "Last night was so fun..."

amelia: mmhmm.....arent you gonna do stretches too?

Kanin: "Oh! Um, sure!" *closes bento boxes* ^^; "I guess a lot on my mind..." *rotates his shoulders first*

-elsewhere-

Saria: "Then they were like--BOOM! SPARKLE! SHINE SHINE SHINE!--and so pretty!"

greg: that sounds wonderful, bug-bear!

Saria: "Yeah! It's been so fun getting to hang out with friends..."

-elsewhere-

Ranpo: *spread out* *snoring*

Katai: O_______O; ("I couldn't sleep all night...")

Kyoka: *huddled with Sylvia*

atsushi: *getting a head start on breakfast*

Lucy: =w= *yawns* *sits up* "???" *walks to the kitchen*

atsushi: morning lucy, im making eggs. you want yours sunny side up, scrambled, or omelette?

Lucy: "Oh...Um, omelette?" *sits* "...You're good at that..."

atsushi: thanks, i've been practicing.

Lucy: *smiles* "It's paying off--smells delicious!"

(Odasaku: >_>; )

atsushi: *smiles*

Kyoka: *yawns, wakes up...looks out the window--* "!!!"

sylvia: ??

Kyoka: "...Sylvia?" *smiles* "Could you help Atsushi set the table?"

sylvia: o-ok *goes to do that*

Kyoka: *keeps the smile on...until she looks back at the alley...where there is a spear of blood along the wall only now visible in the daylight...*

-elsewhere-

Takehisa: *cooking* "Good morning, Sister."

Relan: *signing* <Morning!>

rita: <good morning>

tamaki: mornin'! so what's today's game plan?

Akitaru: *sighs* "Viktor is still on leave for 'family' and work he was called in to consult on at Haijima...A few of you will be sent to try to find him around town."

karin: i volunteer.

Akitaru: "Sounds good...but you'll need a disguise."

-elsewhere-

chie: here comes the airplane~

toru: ga!

chie: *feeding him*

toru: *nom* ^u^

Yohei: *filming* "What a good boy..."

chie: *chuckle*

mono:....hmph...i guess he's _kinda_ cute... 7.7

Assi: >w< "Incredibly cute!"

Emine: -_-; "So he can eat--big deal. I am not complimented for every last thing I do--"

Shotaro: "VROOM! Here comes the oatmeal train to Emine's mouthy-wouthy!"

Emine: "I do not have a 'mouthy-wouthy'..." *nom* >_>;

setsuna: ^^;

io: =3=;

Tool: "Still hungry, Io?" *fills up the bowl with more cereal-O's*

-elsewhere-

tsuyu: *yaaaawn*

ochako: *waves* morning!

tsuyu: morning...*yaaawn* late night last night...

Izuku: "??? Working?"

tsuyu: we were looking at old baby pictures last night. then the topic got to how our tails dropped off, and since satsuki still has hers yet, she got scared and started crying. it took a while for us to calm her down.

Izuku: "Oh no--I'm sorry. That must've been challenging..."

tsuyu: it's fine. one of the many things that comes with younger siblings, haha.

ochako: i guess.

Izuku: "Yeah, this is new to me without siblings..."

Todoroki: "..."

Iida: "..."

jirou: *cough*

Izuku: ^^;

Iida: "...CHERISH ONE'S SIBLINGS!"

Todoroki: *covers his ears* >~<

-elsewhere-

edouard: *knocks* <sis? it's breakfast time!>

Valentine: *curled up in bed...staring at the floor*

edouard: *knocks* <we're having waffles!>

Valentine: *sobbing*

edouard:....<papa! i think valentine might be sick!>

Villefort: *opening his door, limping* "???" *opens the door* <Valentine?>

Valentine: *hugging herself, sobbing*

Villefort: <?! What's wrong?>

Valentine: <Th-They're dead! Grandma, Grandpa...>

Villefort: "..." <What? How-->

Valentine: *hugging him*

Heloise: *exits Villefort's room* "..." *smile*

edouard: ?? <mama?>

Heloise: <Eddy? Where's Daddy?>

edouard: <in val's room. she seems upset>

Heloise: <???> *adjusts her robe, follows* <Valentine?>

valentine: <what do _you_ want?>

Heloise: <?! Well, someone is in a grouchy mood-->

Villefort: <Not now!> *holds Valentine*

Heloise: <?!!> "..." *frowns, exits*

valentine: *sniff* <j-just leave me alone...>

Villefort: "..." <Okay. I'll check with...I'll take care of funeral preparations. When you're ready...> *exits*

valentine: *crying into her pillow*

*there's a small pearl left on her nightstand...*

edouard:... <papa, will she fell better soon?>

Villefort: "..." *smiles* <Of course...But it needs time...>

-elsewhere-

Dumas: *smiling widely, humming to himself*

marquis: *making breakfast*

Cervantes: *reading the newspaper* "..." <So sad...>

marquis: <what is it?>

Cervantes: <An elderly couple died in a gas leak...>

marquis: <oh no!>

Cervantes: <'The Saint Merands had already lost their daughter at a young age...Survived by Valentine Villefort-->

*CRASH*

*a teacup falls*

marquis: !!!

Dumas: *falls back, shocked*

marquis: <are you alright??> D8>

Dumas: <...It-It was supposed to be the judge...It was supposed to be the judge...>

marquis:....*hug*

{Lord Wilmore: <--a medicine that is poisonous-->}

Dumas: *shaking, trying to pull loose*

marquis: <dumas, please, pull yourself together! it was an honest mistake!>

Cervantes: "..." *frowns, rolls up the newspaper*

Dumas:

*WHAP!*

Dumas: O_O "...YOU HIT ME! WITH A NEWSPAPER--"

Cervantes: *WHAP WHAP WHAP* <Get a hold of yourself, darn it!>

benedetto: ._.

Dumas: >_< *slap-fighting*

Cervantes: <Well, who did kill them?!>

Dumas: "... ... ..."

benedetto: ..... <i'll just...go back to bed for a bit.>

Dumas: *collapses onto the floor in the fetal position*

-elsewhere-

Minoura: *looking at the blood splatter against the alley wall* "Jesus..." -_-; "And why am I not surprised you're all somehow involved..."

Ranpo: *waves* "Good morning!"

atsushi: um. hello.

Katai: Q_Q "As-As we said, we heard nothing last night--but the night before, there was some argument..."

Minoura: -_-; "Okay, Detective, what do you think? Which ability user did this--"

Ranpo: "They didn't."

atsushi: ??

Minoura: "What? Look, kid, I don't see any evidence here: we got blood on the wall, no prints, no footprint--nothing. It's like there was a body, and not even tissue left, so--"

Ranpo: "I don't think it was an ability user...I think it was another type of creature..."

aya: we did find this. *holds up the coin*

Minoura: "...Officer, bag the coin."

cop-chan: *takes the coin*

Minoura: *looks at the coin* "Hmm...'Chinom'? The arcade?"

aya: AHA!

Ranpo: =3= "I still say it looks foreign--probably some group from overseas who--?!!!!!!!!!!!! AH HA!"

atsushi: you figured it out?

Ranpo: "Indeed! Blood splatter. Game token with Japanese beginning with 'Chinom.' Foreign people sneaking in...It's happening again, just as it did years ago..."

atsushi: years ago?

Ranpo: "Yes...It is not ability users--it's more vampires!!!"

atsushi:....*FACEPLANT*

Katai: Q_Q *faints* "I-I'm gonna have to move again..."

Minoura: =_= "I picked a bad day to stop eating donuts..."

aya: but the question is, what _kind_ of vampires are we dealing with. naomi mentioned there's different vampire types.

Minoura: "WE'RE NOT SERIOUSLY ENTERTAINING THIS, ARE WE?!"

Ranpo: "That is the next order of research, Aya. Procure the tomes of vampire lore!"

Lucy: -_-; "This'll just be an excuse for Naomi to read her 'sexy books' again..."

cop-chan: to be fair, there are vampire residents. i'll get to the interviews.

Minoura: -_-# "Fine..."

-elsewhere-

*a tabloid web site already says 'Vampire Attack'*

Black Star: -^-; "...I promise not to get mad...I just want to know whether any of you did this."

naho:....*looks at belkia*

Belkia: OwO "...I don't remember?"

Black Star: "SO IT WAS YOU!" *strangles Belkia*

otogiri: he's innocent this time. i was helping him get gum out of his hair. again.

Belkia: XWX "SING MY SONG TO THE TINY VAMPS THAT COME AFTER ME!" *KO*

Black Star: "...Oh. Okay." *lets him go*

Belkia: XwX

naho:...he's fine.

Higan: "We've been feeding the way you told us to, so it must be someone else..."

Sakuya: "...What if it's _him_? We haven't heard from Mr. Tsubaki in a bit..."

lavender: unless he has an eve, i doubt it.

Black Star: >_>;

lilac: w-what if it's...t-true ancestors? i-i heard rumors about them from the others....

Shamrock: "...That would be worrisome...I suggest we all be on high alert--as now they will be investigating vampires again, and we can't afford police attention..."

-sakuya's phone goes off, and has a very cute ringtone-

Sakuya: .\\\.; "Th-That's me...Totally not my intentional ringtone--It's ironic--Shut up." *answers* "Y-Yeah?"

naomi: hey sakuya, is naho there?

Sakuya: "Sure...Naho, it's Naomi."

naho: oh cool! *takes the phone* hi naomin~ whats up?......oh really?....i see....we just heard ourselves.....actually, i think i know someone who can help you out! ever heard of 'the land of nod'? yeah, they have vampire experts...ok...call you back~ *hangs up*

Sakuya: "??? Why'd she want to know?"

naho: her agency is investigating into the case!

Sakuya: ._.;;;

-elsewhere-

*someone wipes his mouth*

Mikaela: "..."

lacus: whew, what a feast! ^^

chess: where should we strike next?

Crowley: "I think we should ask our scout..." *smiles at Mikaela* "You told us such wonderful locations--"

Mikaela: "Just go wherever."

chess: =3= you're so boooooriiiiing.

lacus: you're as bad as those....'things' we've read in some books. *shudder* whoever this 'meyer' is, i hope to slaughter them horribly.

Crowley: "Patience...We still have to map out locations..." *marking the map on the wall, circling spots in the slums, with giant x's crossing out True Cross and the DWMA*

-elsewhere-

hyakuya: *staring up at the ceiling* ....

Guren: *knocks* "Akane? We're finishing prelims..."

hyakuya: *responsive grunt*

Guren: "You should see the reinforcements...So, um, get up?"

hyakuya: *grumbles and sits up* give me about a minute, im getting changed now...

-girls getting ready, please be patient-

Guren: *opening a box*

hyakuya: *looks*

shinoa: ??

mitsuba: *looks around*

Yoichi: *humming, polishing some daggers*

Kimizuki: *packing meals* "And don't touch them until lunch!"

hyakuya: so what are we doing today?

Guren: "Looks like the vamps showed themselves here--two suspected feedings in a part of town."

hyakuya: ....

Kimizuki: "!!!"

Yoichi: "So, we're on patrol? Okay!"

mitsuba: tch- about time we started doing something.

Guren: *nods* "So let's use that training on our off-time to put a stop to these attacks...The recent attacks were at night, so we'll be using daylight to find vantage points for observation and attack..."

shinoa: right.

Yoichi: "We'll do our best!"

-elsewhere-

Noirtier: *bandaged, struggling to dial* "..." <Answer already, you stupid brat...> *shaking*

-...-

Noirtier: *growls, tosses the phone* <Damn it, Gerard!>

-elsewhere-

Valentine: *staring at her phone...'No new messages'...'No new calls'...*

-elsewhere-

Vulcan: *has on a panda hoodie and sunglasses* "All set?"

karin: yep!

Iris: "All set." *wearing a baseball cap, basketball jersey--and tattoos*

Vulcan: O_O; "Um, Sister? Wh-What's with the new look--"

Iris: *punk face* "WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY LOOK, PUNK?! YOU WANT TO THROW DOWN?!"

karin: easy now. *she's in what looks to be a business suit*

Iris: ^^; "Sorry--just getting into character by modeling myself on people in disguise--Sister Hibana, Shinra's smile, Patty Thompson--"

Vulcan: *hiding behind Karin* Q_Q

karin: ^^; it's pretty well done. well, shall we be off?

Iris: "LET'S DO THIS!"

-elsewhere-

Blair: "I'm heading out, Sachiko! Could you let Dr. John know?"

sachiko: already on it.

Blair: "...How's she holding up?"

sachiko: still stressed...maybe she should take a vacation...

Blair: *nods* "She had gone out to Tombstone...Maybe there or somewhere more, you know, vacationy?" *snaps her fingers, is now in a Hawaiian shirt, hula skirt, and with a coconut drink*

sachiko: *sweatdrop*

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: "Okay, we got our juice boxes, we got crayons, we got Kajii's homework...Ready to draw?"

miyuri: ready!

Chuuya: *takes out a worksheet* "Okay, so this one is a maze..."

miyuri: *looks*

Chuuya: " 'These are the Canadian geese...Help them fly to the South for the winter'..."

miyuri: *doodling*

-little geese pop up from the picture and fly around the room-

Chuuya: ^^; "That's one way to do it..."

Goose: *honks, steals Chuuya's bread*

Chuuya: ._.;

miyuri: *giggles*

Chuuya: "Leeeeeeet's check the maze again..." *a goose lands on his hat*

miyuri: ^^;

Chuuya: "So, there are many paths to take...I used to do these by starting at the goal and working backwards..."

Goose on Hat: =^=

miyuri: hmm...

Chuuya: "So, if I take a pencil at the goal..." *traces back--mock concern* "Oh, no--I hit a dead end! Ah!"

miyuri: oh no! D8

Chuuya: "But that's why a maze usually has another path..." *follows a new one* "So far, so good, right?"

miyuri: mmhmm.

Chuuya: "Now we go left, then right, then right, and waaaaaaay up..."

miyuri: hehe ^^

Chuuya: "And--BOOM! We've made the path!"

-the lines float up-

Chuuya: .____.;;;

-suddenly they're in a maze?-

Chuuya: *looks around...tries to leap up to the top of the wall--and falls*

miyuri: ._.;;;

Chuuya: =_=; "...Let's start walking. Don't get separated..." *holds her hand*

miyuri: ok.

-elsewhere-

Katai: *sips* "Th-Thank you for the tea, Nagisa..."

nagisa: any time, mr katai. ^^

Blair: "I'm home! Oh, Katai! Nagisa let you in?"

Katai: Q\\\\Q

Blair: OwO "~?"

nagisa: welcome home! ^^

Blair: "Thanks..." *yawn* "Busy morning...What're you two up to this afternoon?"

-nagisa explains what all katai told her-

Blair: "Oooooo--vampires! That's no good. But at least it's not the Rats again, right?"

Katai: >~< "Please, don't remind me..."

Blair: *strokes his head* "There, there..."

Katai: =///////=

nagisa: *sweatdrop*

Blair: "Besides, vampires tend not to stay in one place for long--and if they do, it's only until they can pick off every victim they can or farm them for their blood--"

Katai: *protective hug*

Blair: *stroke stroke* ^^; "Do you want to stay for the night?"

-elsewhere-

sonia: *in class*

Teacher: "--and you'll have your test in two weeks, so we'll be reviewing the biology section..."

sonia: *taking notes*

Teacher: "Let's begin with the different organs in the typical humanoid body. Sonia, which organ takes in oxygen?"

sonia: the lungs.

Teacher: "Correct! And which bodily fluid transports that oxygen to the rest of the body?"

sonia: the blood.

Teacher: *smiles* "Right! Very good."

-one student glares at sonia-

sonia: ....

Teacher: "Let me type some keywords for you to review..." *typing on the projector's computer, not looking at the class*

sonia:....

-elsewhere-

Danglars: *sips his bubbly drink, pulls up his stock portfolio on his tablet and--spits out his drink, coughing*

lucian: ...*wipes his face* <sir?>

Danglars: <H-How?!> *pulls up news--* "?!? <WHO DARE PUBLISHED THIS DRECK CLAIMING MY AIRSHIPS ARE NOT FEASIBLE?! IT JUST TANKED MY STOCKS! WHO WROTE THIS?!>

-elsewhere-

Daisy: "Yes, your check is in the mail. ...Yes, he's happy to support thriving young reporters. Let us know what other dirt you dig up. Yes...Goodbye." *hangs up*

Fitzgerald: *sips his drink*

-elsewhere-

Vulcan: *on bat incom* "Target spotted, exiting clothing store...He's going into--?! A toy store? Huh. Must be getting new action figures..."

karin: hmm.

Iris: *inhale* "Okay...I can do this..." *swaggers into the store* "Yo, boss. I'm here for the new mad fresh figurines to power up my game system, bro!"

Hyde: ._.;

Viktor: "Excuse me, sir? Do you sell dolls? Like, for little girls?"

Iris: *whispers into incom* "Oh, that's nice--Viktor is buying dolls!"

karin: ?? *imagining--* D8 (now now, be rational, maybe he has a relative?)

Viktor: "And candy. Little girls like candy, right? How much could I fit into my mode of transportation of just candy?"

Hyde: O_____O "...This isn't a white van, is it...?" *reaching under the desk for the 'police' button...*

Iris: "YO, MAC, JUST ANSWER THE MAN'S QUESTION! THIS IS SIMPLE CALCULUS, YOU DIG?!"

karin: D8 !!!! (SON OF A FUCKING FUCK!!)

Vulcan: "...I'm going to fucking cut his balls off."

Viktor: *spots someone outside the shop* "!!!" *waves at her*

misora: *walking along in a rather cute dress* hello~<3

Vulcan: O_________________O

karin: isnt she from squad 0?

Iris: "???" ("Oh, Misora's here, too! How nice.") ^^

Vulcan: *whispers* "Yeah, with a creepy little-girl idol fixation! This is sick!"

Viktor: "Hi! I'm almost done. Anything else I should get you?"

karin: YOU!

Viktor: OwO "...Um, me?"

karin: so this is your little secret, huh?

Hyde: *pressing the button frantically* "Why is nothing happening?! Wait--this isn't even connected?!!"

Viktor: OwO;;; "Secret? What secret? I have no idea what you mean...HA HA HA?"

misora: OwO;;;;;;;;

Iris: "We know exactly what you're up to! ..." *whispers* "What are they up to?"

Vulcan: -_- "This is sick. You are nasty, Viktor..."

karin: viktor licht, misora hina, you two.....HAVE SOME CREEPY SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP DONT YOU?!

misora: ......

Iris: "... ... ..." *brains snaps* D8

Viktor: "...If I say 'yes,' is that better or worse than the alternative?"

misora: ...............*LAUGHING OUT LOUD* AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!! AS IF! LIKE I'D EVER WANT A CREEPY LOSER LIKE HIM! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Viktor: QwQ "Ha ha ha...No. I'm shopping for my baby cousin, and Misora offered to help deliver while I get back to work." TwT;

karin:....*raises a brow*

Iris: "Oh, well, you're always visiting your family, so this checks out. Good day!" *turns--*

Vulcan: *grabs her by the sleeve* "Why the big secret, you two?"

misora: as it so happens, his cousin is my manager! ^^

Vulcan: "And this never came up why...?"

Viktor: "I don't like to brag. I got where I am without nepotism..." ^^;

misora: =3= and besides, no one ever asked!

Iris: "Oh, I'm sorry for not asking! So, what's your manager like?"

misora: very busy, i actually have to meet up with him now, so bye bye~ *exits*

Viktor: *empty handed* QwQ "...This is mortifying."

Hyde: "And you owe me $141.67 for the stuff. And I'm calling the cops on all of you..."

karin: ._.;;;

Viktor: "OH, LIKE KIDS SHOP AT TOY STORES ANYMORE! IT'S JUST OLD PEOPLE!"

Walter: "..." *punches Viktor in the jaw*

karin: *grabs him by the arm and runs* BAIL! FUCKIN BAIL!

Viktor: XwX

Hyde: "GET BACK WITH MY MONEY!"

Iris: *praying* "Forgive me for what I've done--"

Vulcan: *picks up Iris, runs*

-elsewhere-

miyuri: *following chuuya*

Chuuya: "Darn--dead end...Miyuri, you got markers or string or something?"

miyuri: *shakes head*....miyuri's sorry.

Chuuya: "Hey, it's okay..." *rubs her head* "These things happen. It's like Theseus and the Minotaur...only no Minotaur."

miyuri: miyuri didnt mean to get us lost *sniff* i...*hic* i was only t-trying to-

Chuuya: "..." *hug* "It's okay. You'll learn from this. And we get to make this a game."

miyuri: a game? *shiny eyes*

Chuuya: ^^; "Sure! Mazes can be games. We can even make up sayings or songs to follow our path..."

miyuri: yay! ^o^

Chuuya: *stands up, takes her hand* "Now, let's count the steps to the corner...1, 2..."

-elsewhere-

Akutagawa: *sitting in the motorcycle side-car with a helmet* "Where are we going?"

naoya: just out for a drive. and maybe to do some shopping to get you some new digs.

Akutagawa: "..." *nods* "I'll need a new jacket, too..."

naoya: that's what i meant by 'digs'.

Akutagawa: ._.; "...I know. I was...just emphasizing..."

naoya: well, let's get a move on then.

-elsewhere-

Asako: *frowning...petting Goldie*

goldie: ^w^

Asako: *small smile* *picks up Goldie into her lap* "Keep me company while I review the hospital records?"

goldie: *bark* ^^

Asako: *smiles...then turns back to file* "Okay...Admitted after the Slums attack...Now at Haijima..." *sighs* "What are they doing..."

-elsewhere-

Yumi: "Okay, Christa--which one do you want?" *holds out donuts*

christa: that one!

Yumi: "Good choice..." *hands her the one with sprinkles* "Careful not to drop them..."

christa: ok!

Yumi: *picks up Shiori* "Want one, Shiori?"

shiori: ah.

Yumi: "Let's try a donut hole--don't swallow it all at once..."

-elsewhere-

Rin: "Hey, you two--how was the slumber party?"

shiemi: it was fun.

Izumo: >_>; "...It was nice. Educational. Lovely garden..."

Shima: *opens his mouth--*

Izumo: *slams his head face-first into the desk*

Rin: O.O; "..." *sniffs* "Ugh! What's that stench?!"

shiemi: ??

Bon: =_= "Hey..."

Izumo: *covers her nose* "Good lord!"

konekomaru: bon! are you alright?!

Bon: "I've been researching for days...No sleep...Little food..."

Rin: *holds his nose* "No soap, no water..."

konekomaru: (he almost rivals the queen of stink...)

Izumo: "GO TO THE SHOWER!"

Shima: *opens his mouth--*

Bon: *slams his head face-first into the desk* "I know..."

-elsewhere-

Kunikida: "...Vampires? ..." *takes off his glasses, rubs his eyes* "You have to be kidding me..."

atsushi: weirder things have happened.

Kunikida: "Weird, yes. But usually within our knowledge set--"

Dazai: =w= *listening to his headphones*

Kunikida: "...Most of our knowledge set." *hands a book to Atsushi* "Read it on your way to Naomi's informant."

atsushi: um...ok? *looks*

*It's a book titles 'Vampyr'*

atsushi: hmm...

Kyoka: "We'll also be checking the arcade mentioned..."

-elsewhere-

hyakuya: why do we have to do these tests again?

shinoa: to refresh our knowledge.

Kimizuki: "You gonna complain the entire time?"

hyakuya: =~=

Kimizuki: "We'll get through this more quickly if everyone is prepared."

hyakuya: =~= fiiine.

Mitsuba: "So try to remember the terms..."

Guren: "Okay, okay, settle down and take your seats. You'll need a number 2 pencil, closed book, no notes, cell phones under your table, spit out any gum--"

hyakuya: =,= *looks out the window*.... (huh, brings back memories....)

{hyakuya: *looking out the window, tapping her foot in annoyance*}

{*tap tap*}

{hyakuya: *looks back* ??}

{*a girl holds up a notepad with a message: "Hello. I am Shinoa. I will be your handler."}

{hyakuya: ??? (handler?)}

{Shinoa: *notepad: "Cooperate, or I will report you for additional punishment."*}

{hyakuya: D8}

{-...-}

{hyakuya: =~= what the hell is your deal anyway?}

{Shinoa: "I was told how vampires killed your family, that you were abandoned, lost...So, you're afraid to make friends." *smiles* "So how about some ice cream, champ~?"}

{hyakuya: ...what do you _really_ want from me?}

{Shinoa: *sighs* "The lieutenant colonel wants you to read this message." *hands her a paper*}

{hyakuya: of course he does.... *looks*}

{Note: "The army has no use for some shut-in who doesn't know about the value of cooperation within a military system. Usually, such cooperation starts when you make friends in school. But since you're at the obvious disadvantage due to arrested development and slow maturation, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a friend--and introduce them to me. And a real friend, not someone you pay, bribe, or do anything else to fake it. Granted, I think you're not going to go through with this, so, enjoy being a failure."}

{hyakuya: WHY THAT MOTHER-....*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* i dont have a choice in this, do i?}

{Shinoa: *shakes her head--*}

{*THUD*}

{hyakuya: ?! *turns*}

{*a student is knocked through the door to the floor*}

{Student: "P-Please...Don't--"}

{hyakuya: ??!!!}

{Bully: "Don't what? I was just asking to borrow some cash, that's all--" *STOMP*}

{Student: "OW!"}

{hyakuya: hey! what the heck are you doing?!}

{Bully: "?! Bitch, mind your own business! Unless you want something else from me..." *puts a foot on top of the Student's head*}

{hyakuya: actually yes, i want you to stop doing that to the poor kid.}

{Bully: "Then I think you'll need to convince me~"}

{hyakuya: ok ^^ *PUNCH*}

{Bully: X_X *knocked down*}

{Shinoa: "...Oh, that's bad news...I forgot to mention..."}

{hyakuya: yeah! that's what you get for being an asshole, shit for brains! *looks at the student* hey, you ok?}

{Student: Q_Q "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to get you involved in this!"}

{hyakuya: it's fine. that prick was asking for it anyway. i swear, there's some really annoying assholes in this place. *helps him up* you seem ok, though.}

{Student: "Aside from the head injury. Ha ha ha...But seriously, no, that really hurt..." TwT }

{hyakuya: jeez...come on, let's get to the nurse...what's your name, kid?}

{Student: "Yoichi."}

{hyakuya: got it. 'name's akane.}

{Yoichi: ^^}

{Shinoa: "And that adds more punishment to your account."}

{hyakuya: 0_0 well shit.}

{Shinoa: " 'Well shit' indeed." *smiles*}

{Yoichi: "...Is she your friend, or punishment?"}

{hyakuya: at this point, im going to go with yes.}

{Yoichi: " 'Kay...So...You're another student here? Are you hoping to join the military?"}

{hyakuya: pretty much. i want to fight vamps as soon as possible.}

{Yoichi: "..." *nods* "Yeah, same..."}

{hyakuya:...say, shinoa and i were gonna get ice cream, you...wanna come with?}

{Yoichi: "Oh! Um...Yes! Thank you!"}

{Shinoa: "Hang on--I didn't say I'm paying for 3!"}

???: akane!

hyakuya: !!! im paying attention!

Shinoa: "Really? What was just said?"

hyakuya:.... ._.;;;;

Guren: -_-; "That'll be a punishment later."

hyakuya: ... *grumbles*

mitsuba: *facepalm*

Yoichi: ^^;

Kimizuki: "How embarrassing..."

hyakuya: get stuffed, kimizuki.

Kimizuki: "Pay attention in class instead of zoning out! You'll get yourself killed like that!"

hyakuya: >Xp

mitsuba: so immature...

Guren: *chops* "Enough, both of you."

-elsewhere-

naho: well, this is the place!

atsushi: looks kind of shady....

Kyoka: "Like something Dazai would go to..."

sylvia: *gulps*

Ranpo: "There's nothing to fear once you understand it! And I understand the rules of the Agency--NEWBIE OPENS THE DOOR TO SCARY PLACES FIRST!"

Lucy: -.- "Wimp..." *moves to the door--*

*the door blasts open*

atsushi: !!!

*a tall man exits*

atsushi: *notices something in the man's hand* ._________.

Tall Man: "Mikuni! I found the secret ingredient for the best banana split ever! I'm just going to need to behead your dolly!"

sylvia: *SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER*

*The Tall Man is holding a decapitated head*

Lucy: "?!!! YOU MONSTER!" *punches him in the jaw*

*The Tall Man is down--KO!*

metsu: ._. *sweatdrop*

atsushi: D8

Lucy: "WHAT HAVE I TOLD PEOPLE LIKE YOU ABOUT HARMING INNOCENT DOLLS?!"

metsu: um....welcome to the shop?

Ranpo: *peeks* "Oh, soda! Excuse me--investigation in progress. I'll need to inspect these--all of these--" *piling them into his arms*

metsu: um... ._.;;

atsushi: *steps in* um....i-is the owner here?

Lucy: *dragging Johannes by his ankles* "I'M NOT DONE WITH THIS ONE YET! HE HAS INFORMATION!" *pulls him into the backroom, as punches are heard*

metsu: at the moment, no. he should be here in about 25 minutes. would you like some tea and cake in the meantime?

Ranpo: "Yes, please."

Kyoka: *nods*

-and so-

atsushi: thanks for the food! ^^

metsu: so, you're investigating vampire attacks, you say?

Kyoka: *mouth stuffed* *nods*

Ranpo: "We found blood splatters consistent with most vampire attacks, along with a few other clues that indicate itinerant individuals who travel around seeking new victims."

metsu: what a coincidence, our boss actually went out to investigate as well.

Kyoka: *muffled* "Oh? How long has he investigated these kinds of things?"

metsu: it's one of the businesses he offers here. we do research on the supernatural, particularly vampires.

Ranpo: "Then this should be the best place! We can't wait to meet him!"

-the door opens-

Lucy: *exits the backroom* >_< *sits...angry cake nom*

metsu: speak of the devil- here he is now.

atsushi: *looks*

Mikuni: *enters* "Hello, Metsu! I see the business is still standing and--Oh, we even have customers! Excellent! Howdy!"

sylvia: ._.;;;

Ranpo: *waves* "Hello, proprietor!"

Lucy: "...Oh!"

Mikuni: "...Hey! You!"

atsushi: oh, you know him?

Lucy: *nods* "We bonded over a common appreciation in the fine art of dolls."

atsushi: (wait, i think i might have been here once before myself...)

Mikuni: "HIGH FIVE!"

Lucy: *high five*

Johannes: *his head pops out of the backroom* "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HELP ME!"

sylvia: eep! *hides behind kyouka*

Kyoka: "It's okay--the bad man will be taken care of in good time." *hands a taser to Mikuni*

Mikuni: "..." QwQ "Yay! New friends!"

Ranpo: "But first, we had some questions about your recent vampire investigation--...Huh. You look familiar to me, too. I think Poe mentioned you--"

Mikuni: "... ... ..." *slow head turn, voice changes* "Who did you say...?"

atsushi: miss metsu, more tea please? ^^;;;;

Mikuni: *inhale* "NO SWEETS FOR THIS CAPE-WEARING TRAITOR!"

Ranpo: D:<

metsu: *chop* dont be rude to customers, sir.

Mikuni: T~T "He's going to hurt me again..."

atsushi: ??

-elsewhere-

Poe: *reading the newspaper* "... ... ...!!! Karl! Hand me the telephone!"

karl: *chitter*

Poe: *dials* "...Yes? I am interested in more information about the recent vampire attacks. ... No, I am not a crank caller. ... Criminal record? ...Uuuuuum..." *hangs up* .____.;

karl: *chitter*

Poe: "I think maybe I need a new plan...I'll ask Rowena."

-elsewhere-

Minoura: *sets down the cup of water* "Here."

bram: -~- sir...how many times do i have to tell you? i'm _not_ a vampire- *VOMITS BLOOD*....*cough* s-sorry....

Minoura: -_- "We'll need to decontaminate later...If you're not a vampire, what's with the blood?"

bram: it's my ability! plus im sickly.

Minoura: "And your ability is...?"

bram: creation and manipulation of blood, but that doesnt make me a vampire!

Minoura: "I think that's what a vampire would say...Let's administer the tests..." *picks up the cup of water--and tosses it into Bram's face*

bram: >~< why would you do that?!

Minoura: "It's holy water. Are you melting yet?"

bram: NO! i'm just wet! im probably going to get a cold now...

Minoura: *sighs* *presses a button on the intercom* "Bring the silver washcloth."

bram: is it just silver in color, or made of silver? if it's the latter that's highly useless in cleaning or drying!

Minoura: "Hey! I'm the one trying to test this out every which way I can, even if that means force-feeding you garlic!"

Bram: TT~TT im going to die for sure…

-elsewhere-

Akitaru: .____.

Takehisa: *facepalm*

Vulcan: >_>; "So, yeah...We may be criminals now."

Iris: T~T

shinra: technically it's your _disguises_ that are the criminals.

Akitaru: "I'll handle this--not the first time someone here broke the law."

Iris: "I didn't even realize Viktor's cousin was in music..."

-elsewhere-

Joker: "How you like the new dress, Nana?"

nana: *look of seething, unbridled hatred and fury*

Joker: "...So, yes?"

nana: you think this is some kind of sick game? WHO WEARS SOMETHING SO FRILLY AND STUPID LOOKING?!

misora: =3= rude.

Joker: "I agree. Your Uncle Viktor and Aunt Misora went to a lot of work to get you that dress. Do you think dresses grow on trees?"

scarlet: technically, depending on what material the dress is made of, if it's cotton, then it does come from a plant.

Joker: "Please don't upset my metaphor in front of the child, darling."

scarlet: just keeping things in perspective. also dont call me that unless you seriously want to get punched out a fucking window.

Joker: "..." *shrugs* "Maybe later. Also, language in front of the kid. Now, Nana, if you keep the dress on today, you'll get to play with your new dolly!"

nana: *excalibur face* (what did i do to deserve this?)

Joker: "Look, we're trying our best. What do you want to play?"

nana: can i go back to bed now?

Joker: "...But it's afternoon..."

nana: whatever! im going to bed anyway!

Joker: "..." Q_X *humming* " 'When you coming home, kid--I don't know when...'"

scarlet: *concerned look*

-elsewhere-

Kuro: =_= " 'Hello. We are selling baked goods to help support our school and charities. Would you like a free sample?' *forced smile*

suzuhara: um...thanks?

Kuro: "You're welcome...Our strawberry cupcakes are quite affordable..." *yawns*

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: "--So Theseus would mark where he went to know where not to go back..."

miyuri: ooooh! ....!!! miyuri sees something!

-it's the exit-

Chuuya: "Oh, good!" *follows*

-successful escape!-

-the lines return to the page-

Chuuya: =w= "That's good..." *collapses onto his back*

-the door opens-

sonia: im home....

Chuuya: =w= "Zzz..."

miyuri: *looks* sonia? whats that on your cheek?

Chuuya: *yawns, sits up* "...?!"

-sonia seems to have a bruise on the left side of her face and has trash on her and her schoolbag-

Chuuya: "What happened? Who did this?!"

sonia:....it's nothing...im going to go to bed now....

Chuuya: "Sonia, this is not nothing--you were attacked?"

sonia:....i think my classmates might hate me.

Chuuya: "..." *hug*

sonia: ......

Chuuya: "It's okay...It's going to be okay, Sonia."

miyuri: ??

Chuuya: *strokes her head* "Come on--let's get you cleaned and patched up..."

sonia:....ok....

-elsewhere-

Villefort: *staring at brochures* <Okay, so they'll be buried with...with her. I am confirming dates for the church...>

valentine: ......

Villefort: <...I think it would be good for you to say something at the memorial...>

valentine:....<o-ok...>

Villefort: <...> *nods*

valentine:...*nods*....*checks phone*

*no calls or texts from Francesca...*

valentine:....*sigh*

-elsewhere-

Cervantes: *in disguise--as best as he can--walking to a pharmacy...*

pharmacist: <can i help you?>

Cervantes: <Hello. What would you recommend for a friend with a fever?>

pharmacist: *checks a book*

Cervantes: *looks around, picks out some candy...looks out the window...*

dulcenia: *exiting a shop. seems she's off duty*

Cervantes: OwO *steps outside, waves*

dulcenia: ??

Cervantes: <Hello! How are you?>

dulcenia: <im fine? and you are?>

Cervantes: <Me! You know! Your favorite father!>

dulcenia: .....*confused look*

Cervantes: ^w^; <May I bless you?> *starts imitating complicated signs--before somehow getting his arm stuck behind his head*

dulcenia:.....(what the fresh fuck?)

Cervantes:

dulcenia: ...*blink*

Cervantes: <You strike me as a connoisseur. Proprietor! Your finest Three Musketeers candy bar!>

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: "...Feel better?"

sonia: ...*small nod*

Chuuya: "Okay...Hungry? We can make dinner or just something small..."

sonia:...im not hungry...

Chuuya: "...Alright...You know you can tell me if something is wrong."

sonia:....can i stay home tomorrow?

Chuuya: *nods* "Sure."

miyuri: *peeks in*

Chuuya: "Want to watch a movie?"

sonia:...*hides under the covers*

miyuri: papa? is sonia ok?

Chuuya: "...She will need some time to rest."

-elsewhere-

Lucy: "I hope this information is helpful..." *brushing a doll's hair*

Mikuni: ^w^ "I think so~"

atsushi: anything we should know about these vampires?

Mikuni: "There are others who are also hunting them, so be careful not to get in their way...Also, there are some vampires that take the form of animals, so I'd be suspicious of them."

atsushi:... >->

*knock knock*

atsushi: YEEP!

*the door's bell jingles as it's opened*

atsushi: oh, poe, rowena, fancy seeing you guys here.

Lucy: "Hi!" *smiles*

Mikuni: Q___Q;;;;

rowena: hello mikuni ^////^ is johannes in?

Poe: *frightening stare*

Mikuni: O_____O;;;; "I think Lucy knocked him unconscious and dragged him into the back..."

Lucy: *proud nod*

rowena: oh no!

Poe: "Perhaps some smelling salts would work..." *towers over Mikuni, who falls deeper into his seat*

Mikuni: "A-Allow me!" *runs into the back--slapping sounds are heard*

Johannes: "AH! THE CATFISHES ARE SLAPPING ME AGAIN!"

atsushi: ._.;

Lucy: ._.; "...Edgar? What did you do to that poor man?"

Poe: "Nothing...yet."

rowena: ^^;

Johannes: *walking stiffly into the shop, his face full of hand-marks* "Greetings, happy paranormal investigators! How may I help you?"

-atsushi and rowena explain-

Johannes: "I see...Well, there is one thing you must do before you head out."

atsushi: what's that?

Johannes: "You've heard the old stories how vampires can't see their reflection in the mirror, making them easy to sneak around right behind you..." *walks behind Atsushi and Rowena* "Worrisome, isn't it..."

atsushi: *SCREAMS*

Lucy: >_O *covering her ears*

sylvia: eep! *hides*

Johannes: "Unlike the vampire...you must not lose sight of yourself in the mirror!" *seizes Atsushi and Rowena, his hands cupping their foreheads*

atsushi:....right.

rowena: *nods*

Johannes: *smiles* "And to help you..." *pulls back his hands* "TAH-DAH!"

*he's put something on them...their foreheads say 'IHSUSTA' and 'ANEWOR'...except he put each one onto the wrong person...*

atsushi:....what the heck..

rowena: ._.;

Johannes: OwO; "...See, I once did this to some guy by shoving him into his cat's brain, but I had to draw onto his forehead his name backwards so he could--You know what, you had to be there."

Poe: Q_____Q "...A cat?"

atsushi:.....eh, i'll take it.

Lucy: ^^; "In any case, aside from mirrors and name recognition, we may need more help than just knowledge..."

Mikuni: "Hence why not to get in the way of the vampire experts...Although..."

atsushi: ??

Mikuni: "Hang on--let me whip my snake out..."

atsushi: NO NEED TO DO THAT HERE!

Lucy: "EEEK!" *covers her eyes*

Poe: "Pervert!" *slaps Mikuni*

Mikuni: *KOed*

*a snake pops up behind Rowena*

rowena: oh!

ranpo: dang poe! i didnt think you had it in ya. im impressed.

Poe: -^- "Hmph. I will not tolerate improper men...Now, could someone please get me ice for my wrist!" T~T

Snake: "...Hi."

atsushi: aaand it talks.

Lucy: ._.;

Snake: "Yes. Hi. I'm Jeje."

atsushi: nice to meet you.

Jeje: "Same. And the guy on the floor is my, um, handler."

-elsewhere-

miyuri: *sniff sniff* mmm smells yummy!

Chuuya: "I hope so--Sonia likes it."

miyuri: *nods* are we gonna take some of it up to her?

Chuuya: "I think so--it might help her appetite..."

-phone rings-

Chuuya: "??? Miyuri, keep an eye on it?"

miyuri: ok!

Chuuya: *answers* "Hello?"

teacher: yes, is this mr nakahara?

Chuuya: "Oh, good. You're calling to schedule?" *looking through a calendar...*

teacher: yes, it's this weekend.

Chuuya: "Okay, I'm available around 11 Saturday?"

teacher: excellent!

Chuuya: "I'll have to watch Sonia's sister that day, too."

teacher: well im sure we'd love to meet her!

Chuuya: "Thank you. We'll see you this Saturday."

miyuri: it looks ready, papa!

Chuuya: "?! Sorry, we're making dinner, I have to hang up. Goodbye!"

sonia:....*pokes her head out of her room*

Chuuya: *plating the food, then setting it onto a tray* "Miyuri, can you pour a glass of water?"

miyuri: ok!

Chuuya: *scoops out pasta onto a plate...*

sonia:....*gingerly walks over, wearing a blanket around her*

Chuuya: *smiles* "Hi, Sonia."

sonia: *nods and sits at the dinner table*

Chuuya: *smiles* "Want some cheese or tomato sauce?"

sonia: ...cheese....

Chuuya: "You got it..." *dusts a bit of cheese onto the pasta* "Dig in."

sonia: *nom*

Chuuya: "...Hey, want to do something this weekend?"

sonia: like what?

Chuuya: "Well...Would you like to visit your grandmother while I go to a parent-teacher conference?"

sonia:....i'll go to.

Chuuya: "You're okay to do so?"

sonia: i probably should...

Chuuya: "Okay...Miyuri, you can go with Grandma if you want."

miyuri: miyuri wants to see school!

Chuuya: ^^; "Okay, you can come, too--if you'll stay with Sonia."

miyuri: *nods*

Chuuya: "Great..." *sets plates for himself and Miyuri* "Let's eat..."

miyuri: *nom* mmmm! yummy!

Chuuya: "That's good--try some of the sauce."

miyuri: *slurp*

Chuuya: ^^ *slurp*

-elsewhere-

Kimizuki: "That was an informative lesson."

hyakuya: *reviewing notes* =3= ok, ''beast virus', a rare disease that mutates living things into vicious mutants. it's effects on humans remains as of yet, unknown.'

Kimizuki: "Yes, that is what it is..."

hyakuya: ...do you think that's what has your sister sick?

Kimizuki: "..." *sighs* "I don't know." *holds his head, stares at his notes*

hyakuya:....just a thought...

Kimizuki: "I know. It's been a thought I've had. But we don't know the effects the virus has on humans, now do we?"

hyakuya: well, you did say the doctors werent able to determine what's causing her sickness.

Kimizuki: "I know, okay? Could you... *sighs* Could we talk about something else?"

hyakuya: alright fine.....is that your natural hair? *smug grin*

Kimizuki: >_<# "Ha ha. Do you practice that scary face, or is natural?"

hyakuya: >XP

Kimizuki: "How immature..." *sticks out his tongue, pulls down his under-eyelids*

shinoa: ....when's the baby due?

hyakuya: AS IF!

Kimizuki: "Never!" *slams his book shut--onto his hand* "..." Q_____Q

shinoa: suuure. ^^

Mitsuba: "Is this a private conversation, or can anyone join in with critical remarks about how far behind Hyakuya is on her studies?"

hyakuya: what is this, pick on akane hour?

Yoichi: "I just wanted to fit in." Q_Q

hyakuya: *hug* i am so sorry i didnt mean to upset you you precious bean.

Yoichi: T~T "I'm sorry, too." *hug*

Kimizuki: "..." >_>;

Yoichi: "Let's have ice cream--with sprinkles and chocolate syrup!" TwT;

yumikage: *sips drink* look at them, enjoying their youths as best they can. brings back memories

Tsurugi: *whispers to Yumikage* "You're not young anymore, old man..."

yumikage: you wanna go? -_-#

-elsewhere-

marquis: *knocks* dumas? feeling better yet?

Dumas: *turned over in bed*

marquis: im making pudding~

Dumas: =~= "Pudding doesn't help..."

Dumas: <...I was nothing more than an 'acceptable loss,' 'collateral damage.' I lost 6 years of my life...and just killed 2 people.>

count: *chop* <oh stop your moping. beethoven didnt create his masterpieces by moping about his deafness. human beings are unpredictable, that's part of how we are.>

Dumas: "..." *chops her on the head* <Music is not killing people! What is your problem?!>

Dumas: <I'm not interested in killing other people on this task--just the ones who ruined my life! Don't you get that?!!>

count: *sigh* <look, the world can be an unforgiving place sometimes. in some circumstances, you have to do some shitty things. 'sides, it's not like _you_ killed them directly, it was that crazy old hag that did it. if anything, blame her for fucking up and being an asshat>

Dumas: <...> *nods* <She will pay for this...>

-morning-

Katai: *yawns* =w= ("What good sleep...") *turns in bed*

blair: *snuggling him to her chest*

Katai: "?!" *opens his eyes* O\\\\\\\\\o; *small muffle*

blair: *yaaawn* morning~<3

Katai: .\\\\\\\. "...Hi? Um...What?"

blair: ~? want some waffles?

Katai: "...Yes. So much yes."

-elsewhere-

Kyoka: *staring at Mii*

mii: *snoozing* *cat yawn*

Kyoka: "...Maybe Mii is a vampire cat."

atsushi: hmm...nah.

Kyoka: "Just a thought." *pours tea for Atsushi* "We have the arcades to check."

atsushi: right.

-elsewhere-

liz: *checking grocery list*

Patty: *grabbing apples* "What else?"

liz: we need more milk.

Patty: " 'Kay! And chocolate syrup?"

liz: yep

Patty: "I think the kids deserve something..." *holds up cereal*

liz: *nods*

Patty: "Cool!" *dumps an entire shelf into the cart*

liz: ._.

Patty: "Now for the rest! Wes ask for anything?"

-elsewhere-

Yumi: *pours a glass of orange juice* "Here you go."

shiori: ^o^ thank you mama

Yumi: "You're welcome, sweetie. Kirika, donut?"

kirika: bacon please.

Yumi: "Okay." *serves some* "What are your plans today?"

kirika: *shrug* might just check out the arcade or somethin'

Yumi: "Okay--be safe out there, and call if you're going to be late for dinner."

kirika: i got'cha.

Yumi: *nods* "Well, Liz and Patty are still out. Have you seen Kid?"

kirika: out back.

Kid: *watering flowers in the backyard* "Hey, there, little ones. Ready for the new day?"

-elsewhere-

Cervantes: =w= *swaying with glee...*

benedetto: ???? <is he ok?>

Dumas: =_= <He probably did something stupid--ignore him...> *shoves a waffle into his mouth--then guzzles pancake syrup straight from the bottle*

benedetto: ._.

Cervantes: <The world is such a shinier color! If I could make a crayon of it, I would name it...'Love'!>

benedetto: ._.;;;;

*Dumas is giving off a dark aura while Cervantes gives off a light aura...They are stuck in their moods*

Dumas: "OW!" <WHAT THE FUCK?!>

Cervantes: *shakes his head* <Sorry--what did I miss? Lunch?>

Cervantes: <Right! To help our friend get vengeance on his enemies--and avoid the plant woman from hurting us! And maybe having coffee with the pretty police officer...>

Dumas: =_= *grumbles* <Fine. My next disguise will be the smelly sad man. Happy, you recalcitrant jackass. Ugh. I'll go review Danglars's stock prices falling and see him. Boy, put on the dress.>

benedetto: =3=

Dumas: <...'Andrea.'>

benedetto: =_=#

-elsewhere-

edouard: <valentine?>

Valentine: *lying in bed* "..."

edouard:

Valentine: "..." <Thanks. Leave it on the nightstand, please.>

edouard:....

-elsewhere-

Kyoka: "Thank you for coming with us, Kenji."

kenji: anytime. ^^

Lucy: *checking the map on her phone* "Chinom is around the corner..."

atsushi: *looks*

*the arcade looks spooky--appropriate for Death City, with some coffins along the exterior and bats on the facade*

sylvia: ....

Lucy: -_-; "Gee, this totally doesn't look like a vampire den at all..."

kenji: it looks nice. ^^

Lucy: "?!!"

atsushi: *steps forward*

*inside are a few teenagers playing games*

Ranpo: "Hmm...Pale people inside who look like they've never seen the outside...Eyes tired as if they are not used to sunlight and daytime hours...I can't tell whether they are gamers or vampires...Oh well!" *pulls out a pouch of quarters* "I'm hitting up Donkey Kong..."

sylvia: .~.

Kyoka: "How shall we speak to the manager? Explain our interest, or pass ourselves as customers?"

atsushi: maybe just look around for now.

Kyoka: *nods...looks at the black lights inside* "Hmm...With the right posters, this would not be bad for the apartment."

Gamer: *playing Tetris...looks back at them...*

kenji: *humming*

Lucy: "Well, if we're playing, who's up for air hockey?"

???: *whispering to Kenji* "Hey. Hey, you, buddy?"

kenji: ??

*someone in baggy clothes and messy hair smiles at Kenji*

???: "You're here 'cause you like games, right?"

kenji: i guess so.

???: "You ever play virtual reality games? They're the latest thing we got in stock."

kenji: oooh, i've heard about those!

???: "They're really neat! I'm testing out the newest one from the manufacturer--real big city operation, first of its kind, hardly anyone has tried it. You should take a crack at it..."

kenji: how much?

???: "For you? If you help me test it out, I'll make it free..."

kenji: wow golly! thanks!

???: *smiles, showing shiny teeth* "No, thank you..." *leads Kenji to the storeroom...*

sylvia: *looking around, nervous*

Kyoka: "Want to try skeeball?"

sylvia: o-ok...

*there's a small child near them, clubbing the whack-a-mole really hard with the mallet while cackling*

sylvia: .~.;;;;;;

*in the food court, someone has dumped too much ketchup onto their fries, as they dig in voraciously*

*someone in a hoodie plays Space Invaders near the air hockey table*

Lucy: "KAH!" *knocks the puck*

Hoodie: =_= ("Too loud...")

atsushi: *bumps into someone* oh, so sorry-

???: whatever...

Ranpo: "Hey! This thing is busted!" *slams a fist against the side of the cabinet*

Employee: ^^; "Sir, please do not hit the machine..."

kenji: ^3^~♫

Manager: "Now, just have a seat...I'm going to secure you into the chair..." *lowers the VR headset onto Kenji*

kenji: oooh, neato.

Manager: *secures straps on Kenji's wrists and ankles* "This will keep you in place when you use the foot and hand controls on your vehicle..." *chuckling to themselves as they look at Kenji's neck...*

kenji: feels kinda tight.

Manager: "It's for your safety...I'm going to start the game..."

kenji: ok!

*the VR headset blinks on, showing a road passing through a peaceful field*

kenji: ooooh.

Manager: "Lightly tap your left foot for gas, and use your hands to turn the wheel..."

kenji: ok, like this?

*the vehicle starts moving along the road*

Manager: "There! What a pro..." *licks their lips, looking at Kenji's neck* ("Scrawny, but that neck looks to be full of it...") "You must play a lot of these games back home..."

kenji: not often.

Manager: *leans in* "I wouldn't know it from seeing you in action..."

*in the game, a cow blocks the vehicle*

kenji: *hits the breaks*

Manager: "?! What?"

VR Cow: O_O "...Moo..." *leans down its head to Kenji, as if it wanted to be petted*

kenji: there was a cow! i have to let them pass through...aww, nice cow! *pet pet*

*Kenji's "petting" breaks the restraint--and punched the Manager through the wall*

kenji: ^^

Manager: *tossed into the arcade, crashing atop the air hockey table*

sylvia: EEP! >~<

Lucy: "?!!! You jerk! You owe me a quarter!" *tosses the puck at the Manager's head*

Employee: D:< "Oh, come on!"

atsushi: ?!

*the Manager has some...sharp teeth*

atsushi: !!!!! um....guys?

Lucy: O_____O;; "Now, let's not jump to conclusions...Maybe they're just a weapon! Plenty of weapons have sharp...teeth..."

Customer: "...Well, cover's blown..." *grabs Atsushi by the shoulder--and bites into his neck*

atsushi: *yells out in pain*

Lucy: "Atsushi!" *picks up billiard stick, breaks it into the Customer's face*

atsushi: t-thanks. *tiger arms*

Customer: "GAH! FUCK!" *crashes into Space Invaders, pulling the plug on it*

Hoodie: "... ... ..." *sighs*

Employee: "You idiots! I'll show you how it's done--" *grabs Ranpo by the sleeve* "Come here, you!"

Ranpo: "??!" *smashes his roll of quarters into the Employee's eye*

Employee: "GAH!"

*vampires chase Sylvia*

???: *pulls out a pistol and shoots the vampires point blank*

sylvia: *ducks* *scream*

Ranpo: "...Nice aim!"

???: thanks.

Kyoka: *using Demon Snow, it's light scaring away vampires*

Ranpo: "And now for you!" *grabs Hoodie* "I've seen you here, and I know who you are!"

Hoodie: "...I just wanted some time away. 'Go out and have fun,' she said...I'm tired now..." *walks up to a vampire*

Ranpo: *smirks*

Vampire: *yells in Hoodie's face*

Hoodie: "..." *a tonfa pops out of their sleeve*

Vampire: "?!"

*POW*

Asher: =_= "I should've stayed home..."

Lucy: O_O; "...Vampires have tonfa?"

Ranpo: "They're a weapon, stupid."

Lucy: *GLARE*

atsushi: actually, i think that person goes to our school.

Asher: "First plant monsters, now vampires...I'm going to lie down in the back for a bit..."

kenji: hehe ^^

Asher: "...Weird." *sits in the manager's chair...* "Zzz..."

atsushi: is that all of them?

Manager: *sits up* "YOU STUPID LITTLE MEAT-BAGS! JUST DIE AND LET US FEAST ON YOUR BLOOD! I--"

sylvia: *throws something at them*

Manager: *KO'ed by a Rubix cube from the prize booth*

Kyoka: "Good work, Sylvia."

sylvia: t-thank you...

Employee: O_X; *tries to sneak out the front door--*

-BANG-

Employee: *SCREAMS, falls forward* "I-I'm sorry! Don't kill me!"

???: alright. i'll give you till tonight to leave this place.

Ranpo: "Before we even find out who they were working for? No way this operation was just these idiots..."

Employee: "I'll leave! I'll leave!"

???: good.

Lucy: *looks at the company name* "Chinom..." *wipes something off the counter--revealing "CHINOMIYAKO"* "???"

???: hmm...

Kyoka: "??? 'Chi No Miyako'? 'Blood City'?"

Ranpo: "..." ._____. "Oh."

Lucy: *smirks* "Now who's the idiot?"

Ranpo: >3< "I can't be expected to catch every bit of writing!"

???: alright, start checking around. there should be a passageway.

Lucy: *looks under the bar at the food court*

atsushi: wait, just who are you?

???: call me doctor belmont.

Ranpo: "..."

Lucy: *opens her mouth--then shuts it* "Too easy."

kenji: *slips the VR headset off* what i miss?

Kyoka: "They were all vampires."

Asher: *yawns* =_= "Too loud..."

kenji: oh.

Ranpo: "So, Doctor, you hunt vampires?" *checking behind cabinets*

belmont: sometimes. i'm more of a hunter for hire. a mercenary if you will.

Ranpo: "We've seen a few of those. We're the Armed Detective Agency of Death City."

belmont: ah, so i've figured, given the samurai ghost and were-tiger.

atsushi: ^^;

Demon Snow: *stare*

Ranpo: "Our reputation precedes us..." *pushes one more cabinet*

kenji: *opens a door that reads 'employee's only*

*stairs lead downward, with candles dotting the sides of the stairway*

belmont: huh, hidden in plain sight.

atsushi: the candles seem a bit cliche.

Asher: "Personally, I was hoping for a TRON reference."

Ranpo: "Well, after you, Doc."

-elsewhere-

Jordan: "I'll take the burger!"

Daisy: "Bloody mary."

louisa: a latte please.

Zuno: "Is the breakfast menu done?"

Assi: "Thanks for treating us, sir!"

Fitzgerald: "...I'm not paying for this."

louisa: ._.

Daisy: "Sir..."

Fitzgerald: "..." *sighs* "I'll pay for nachos--but that's it."

mary: *feeding toby under the table*

Toby: =w= *nom*

Waiter: ._.; <Is that fox a service animal?>

louisa: ...<yes?>

Waiter: <Okay...> ^^; <Not from around here?>

-elsewhere-

Iida: *jogging...then stops* "..." *turns quickly*

*no one is there*

Iida: "..."

mashirao: oh, iida, whats up?

Iida: "?! Oh...You startled me...I thought someone was nearby..."

mashirao: sorry. ^^;

Iida: *smiles* "Not at all. How is your day going?"

mashirao: just getting some groceries.

Iida: "Ah--hope it went well. And that you're dining well ahead of our training camp!"

???: BOO!

Iida: "!!!!" *leaps up*

hagakure: gotcha~

Iida: "Wh-What?! Hagakure?"

hagakure: hiya~ just me.

Iida: "I see your skill at staying hidden is only improving..."

hagakure: ^^

Iida: "Were you also out with Ojiro?"

hagakure: yep!

Iida: "..." *smiles* "Very good..." *looks behind them* "..."

hagakure:...what's up?

Iida: "Sorry...I keep having the sense someone is following me...And doing a poor job of it."

*some muttering is heard...*

hagakure: *looks*

Izuku: *hiding behind a corner* O_O;

hagakure: hey izuku!

Iida: -_-;

Izuku: ^^; "Hi...How is everyone?"

-elsewhere-

aya: booooored.

Kunikida: "I know a fun activity..."

aya: *looks up*

Kunikida: *drops a stack of papers in front of her* "Alphabetize and file." *goes back to typing*

Fukuzawa: *walking by*

aya: hey mr fukuzawa?

Fukuzawa: "Hmm?"

aya: do they have secretary uniforms in a size small?

Fukuzawa: "Yes--we try to keep them for all potential employees of all body types."

aya: do they come in like, kid sizes?

Fukuzawa: "Likely...I assume you want one?"

aya: well if im being expected to do paperwork, may as well fit in, eh? if i cant be on field, then im gonna make some stinkin' income.

Kunikida: "?! Now wait a second--"

Fukuzawa: "Naomi, could you show our newest secretary to her uniform?"

naomi: um....sure. ^^;

Kunikida: "B-But, sir--"

Fukuzawa: "??? Is it not one of our policies that our employees adhere to a dress code? A rule you wrote?"

Kunikida: "..." *sighs* "Yes, sir..."

aya: 737;

Tanizaki: ^^; ("Small miracles...Glad I'm not wearing one of those...again.") >_>;

-elsewhere-

Mori: "Please, Elise! Just try it on just once!"

elise: would you give it a rest already? -3- miura, how about you do it?

miura: i'll have to have a shrinking protocol installed first.

Mori: ._.; "You...You can do that?"

miura: not right now. i'll consider bringing it up with kajii at my next tuning-up.

Mori: "...Call him. Immediately. Now."

miura: *chop*

Mori: >3<

miura: behave yourself. your reputation is bad enough as it is.

Mori: "I was pardoned..."

miura: i meant amongst members of the mafia.

Mori: "...That reminds me. I want to have increased security."

miura: ..very well...

Mori: "Good. And I will be reviewing each member of security thoroughly..."

-elsewhere-

Akutagawa: =~= "This attire is...not my usual."

naoya: better than nothing, right?

Akutagawa: *grumbles* "Some of us lack a wide range of stylistic options..."

naoya: aw c'mon, the rock look is totally slick on you! ^^

Akutagawa: *sighs, looking at his shirt*

-seems to be a grey shirt with a black leather jacket and pants-

Akutagawa: "..." *knocks one of his boots against the wall* "...At least these look durable..."

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: "Want to help me fold laundry?"

miyuri: ok!

sonia: *nods*

Chuuya: "Okay. Miyuri, you can start with towels--fold them twice."

miyuri: ^^

Chuuya: "And Sonia, you can fold shirts..."

sonia: right.

Chuuya: *pulls out the laundry storage bins* "And I'll put some socks together..."

-elsewhere-

Lucy: =_= "Is this going to be a trend that our missions take us into dark underground locations against superpowered people?"

atsushi: at this point, im willing to put it on good authority.

Lucy: "...How is the bite healing?"

atsushi: getting better.

Lucy: "..." *holds his hand*

Ranpo: *whispers* "So, Doc, how do you take out vampires?"

belmont: your best bet is to aim for the heart or head. usually a wood stake or bullet infused with holy water does the trick on the weaker ones.

Kyoka: "Good for anyone with such materials..." *holds up a broken billiard stick*

Kyoka: "..." *rests a hand on Sylvia's shoulder*

belmont: sunlight also is shown to have an adverse effect on most vampires, depending on how strong they are, it's either an instant death or a slow and painful one.

Ranpo: "Hmm...We're a bit too low underground for that..."

belmont: then i suggest taking one of these. *hands him a spare pistol* hope you have good aim.

Ranpo: "..." *holds it*

Lucy: "If this gets too rough, I'm pulling us to Anne's room..."

kenji: *humming*

*some creaks...*

sylvia: EEK! >~<

Ranpo: "Just creaky steps--nothing to worry about--" *shines the candle, revealing multiple coffins littered throughout the cavernous room*

atsushi: ._.;;;

Lucy: O_O;

Kyoka: "..."

Ranpo: "...Yeah, I don't think we have enough for all of these, so let's quietly leave..."

-something lunges at them-

Lucy: "EEEK!"

Ranpo: "?!" *ducking, trying to get away*

Kyoka: "Don't get separated." *stabbing with the billiard stick*

kenji: huh?

*A vampire lunges at Kenji...They look emaciated...*

kenji: hello! ^^

Vampire: *SHRIEKS, grabbing Kenji by the arm, swinging him towards the wall--*

kenji: woah!

Vampire: *slams Kenji into the wall*

kenji: GRK-

atsushi: *swings tiger arm*

Vampire: *tries to dodge--but gets knocked down the stairs*

*the Vampire hits a coffin, knocking out...3 tinier vampires*

atsushi: any plans?

Kyoka: "Stab the heart."

Asher: =_= *still in the back* "Um..."

atsushi: *PUNCH*

Tiny Vampire 1: *punched through the heart*

-elsewhere-

Twice: "I keep digging, and nothing's happening!"

Muscular: "Because you keep shoveling into my hole!"

Twice: "Okay, I'll dig up, then!"

banshee: *checking the map*

Dabi: "Think about what you need down here to put this much dirt over it..." *wipes his brow*

-thunk-

Dabi: "??? Who went 'thunk'?"

himiko: i found something!

Dabi: "??? Is it a case?" *climbs up out of his tunnel*

himiko: looks like it!

Dabi: "Okay. Kirby hid that thing here because it was developed for construction--until it overpowered and knocked down Orion into a ghost town. So whatever you do, don't put it on, and don't use it--"

himiko: *wearing it and punches a rock, which sends her back flying* WAH!

Dabi: "?!" =_=

Twice: "Wow...She went 30 feet! NO, MORE LIKE 10 YARDS!"

banshee: are you alright?

himiko: @w@ awawawawa

Muscular: "Tiny glove, though..." *flexes his fist* "Still...I'd live to test out against it..." *sadistic grin*

-elsewhere-

Tanizaki: "--then put the reimbursement forms in the 'Reimbursement' box for the President's review..." *files some forms into the box*

aya: hmm...

Tanizaki: "It's not the most interesting work, but after the kind of things we've faced, it's nice to do something that is a little less fatal...Oh, that reminds me..." *fills out a form* "You have to fill out a form every time you are treated by Dr. Yosano."

aya: really?

Tanizaki: "Really, so that the reports, um...align with what Dr. Yosano reports happened...And to keep an eye on any weird side-effects..." >_>;

aya: ._.;

-elsewhere-

Lord Wilmore: <Don't fall behind, Andrea...>

andrea: *grunt*

???: <Lord Wilmore, wait!> *huffing and puffing is heard*

Lord Wilmore: "..." *small smile* <At least one good thing is going well...> *turns, smiles widely* <Monsieur Danglars! Good day!>

Danglars: *pushes Andrea out of the way*

*some bystanders look at Danglars, whispering about him...*

andrea: <ah!>

Lord Wilmore: <?!> *frowns* <Sir, I ask you not to push my child out of the way-->

Danglars: *grabs Lord Wilmore by his coat* <Don't tell me what to do to your brat, you bastard! I'm losing a fortune because of you!> *shakes him*

Lord Wilmore: *his eyes go dark* <Unhand me this instant, you ignorant swine!> *grabs his wrists, squeezing*

Danglars: <AH!> *screams, his wrists getting crushed*

eugenie: <papa!>

Lord Wilmore: *stops...lets go, letting Danglars fall onto him, as he supports him* *smiles* <Get ahold of yourself, old man...Now...> *pretends to hold him close in friendship--but is squeezing his shoulder rather hard* <What are you and your delightful family doing this fine day...?> *looks to Mrs. Danglars*

Danglars: Q~Q *squeaks*

hermine: <we were....getting crepes.>

eugenie: <hi andrea!>

andrea: *holding onto 'her' head*

Lord Wilmore: *smiles at Hermine* <I'm afraid Andrea had a nasty stumble--could you keep an eye on her while your husband and I chat about our continuing business?>

hermine: <r-right....come along girls...>

andrea:......

Danglars: *whispers* <That really hurt! Are you trying to kill me physically too now?!>

Lord Wilmore: <??? What's wrong?>

Danglars: <I've taken a beating in my stocks! Fallacious articles lying about my ships! Investors pulling out! But you--you're not suffering like me, you rich, sniveling little shit! Why are you ahead? Why are you always-->

{Dumas: *looking at his compass* <See? If we follow this path, we'll be home before we know it, sir!>}

{leclare: <excellent, alex. i can always count on you.> *smiles*>}

{Danglars: <B-But sir! I had that same idea yesterday--and you told me it was ridiculous!>}

{leclare: <you didnt account for a change in weather.>}

{Danglars: <WHO CAN PREDICT THE WEATHER?!>}

{Dumas: <Hey, it's alright--some of us aren't meant to be meteorologists...>}

{Danglars: <WHAT DO SPACEMEN HAVE TO DO WITH THIS?!>}

{Dumas: "... ..." <Wow. That's just sad...> *turns back to Leclare* <Sir, I think that bottle of Amontillado should've chilled by now--ready to taste it?>}

{leclare: <why yes, morrel, keep an eye on things up here.>}

{morrel: <yes sir.>}

{Danglars: *STARING DAGGERS AS DUMAS AND LECLARE WALK AWAY* <That stupid, stupid, ugly piece of putrid shit! Always getting every pretty face at every port! Getting all the praise for my hard work! He can't even tell right from left--is he stupid or something?!>}

Danglars: *has gotten pale* O_O

Lord Wilmore: "..." *blinks* <My good sir...You look like you've seen a ghost...>

Danglars: ("...No...No way...Just a trick of my mind...") *forced smile* <N-No...I just...came here to ask for some advancement on my investment in your company...A few thousand dollars...>

Lord Wilmore: "???"

Danglars: <DO I LOOK LIKE A MAN WHO IS IMPEDED BY LAWS?!>

Lord Wilmore: "..." *smiles* <Do tell...>

Danglars: <Hmph! I once made sure a man was sent to prison--so I could be the new golden child at our old shipping company! And I did it all with the man who wanted to fuck his fiancee!>

Lord Wilmore: *forced smile* "..." ("HE'S SERIOUSLY ADMITTING TO CRIMES IN PUBLIC--AND HE BRINGS UP MERCEDES NOW?! I'M GOING TO RIP HIS THROAT OUT--")

Bystanders: *walking by...*

Lord Wilmore: "..." *calms himself* *smiles, walking him back to Hermine and the children* <Of course...Now, I admire a man who is willing to do _anything_...but I will not break the law on this. Instead, I'll give you a loan--at a low interest rate, my friend...>

Danglars: *tears of joy* TwT

eugenie: <papa? are you ok?>

Danglars: *picks up Eugenie, tossing her into the air with glee* <We're saved!>

eugenie: *laughs* ^u^

hermine: ....

Lord Wilmore: *writes out the check* <Here you are, sir-->

Danglars: *hands Eugenie back to Hermine, snatches the check--* <Thank you, my lord!> *bows--then gives a wet kiss to Hermine's cheek* <I'll be home later!> *skips away with glee--almost running into Andrea again*

hermine: <ah->

Lord Wilmore: ^^; <He is rather spirited, isn't he?>

hermine: <....i suppose...>

Lord Wilmore: <...> *holds out an envelope with her name on it*

hermine: ??

Lord Wilmore: <Mrs. Danglars...Get out.>

hermine: ?!

Lord Wilmore: <Think. You know he is in trouble, right?>

hermine:....

Lord Wilmore: <These tickets are for you and Eugenie. They'll take you wherever you want to go. But please...don't get hurt in all of this. You can't afford to be collateral damage when he screws up.>

hermine: .......

-elsewhere-

peppino: *looks around*

*someone walks by...seems to be the person she seeks...*

peppino: <hello~>

Beauchamp: "???" *turns* <...Hi?>

peppino: *hands him something* ^w^

Beauchamp: <?!! Hey, I already got in a lot of trouble-->

peppino: <it's just a little audio recording i kept~ and you're probably scared about going to prison again, so maybe you could help me put someone else behind bars? that way, mr vampa and i can leave without problems.> ^^

Beauchamp: <...Okay...Who's Vampa?>

peppino: <...someone important.>

Beauchamp: <'Kay, nothing cryptic there...And if I throw this away?>

peppino: <at least give it a listen first.>

Beauchamp: <...If this audio recording blows up on me, I'm going to be very cross.>

peppino: =3= <it woooont.>

Beauchamp: <...Very well. And after I listen to it, how do I contact you if you _leave_?>

peppino: <you wont have to worry about me after you hear it...>

Beauchamp: O_O; <Oh, God, this is some suicide cult or 'The Ring,' isn't it?>

peppino: *chop* <you're too paranoid!>

Beauchamp: T~T <Okay, okay, fine--I'll look into it...>

-elsewhere-

Yohei: *sets up a mini basketball hoop* "Okay, kids..." *hands a tiny basketball*

toru: ba!

Yohei: "Yep--ball. Care to drop it into the basket?"

toru: ...*drops it*

Yohei: "Good work, big man!" *holds up his hand at Toru's level for a high-five*

toru: ^o^

Yohei: "Hee hee..." *bounces the ball*

-elsewhere-

Vampire: "STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"

atsushi: *WHACK*

Vampire 2: "AAH! MY FACE!"

Vampire 3: *trying to sneak away...*

kenji: *TOSS*

Vampire 3: "GAK!"

Kyoka: *picks up the head of one vampire* "I think this one is ready to talk..."

Vampire Head: Q____Q;

sylvia: *faints*

Lucy: *catches Sylvia*

Asher: *still clubbing a vampire...glances* "...Is that a head? Neat."

Vampire Head: T~T "Just kill me...What do you want?!"

belmont: first off, are you working for anyone?

Vampire Head: "I'm now missing the neck down--do I look like I'm doing this on my own?! Of course I work for someone!"

belmont: who is it?

Vampire Head: "...The Progenitors."

atsushi: progenitors?

Vampire Head: "Really powerful vampires who sire powerful vampires, and so on..."

belmont: why would they have business in death city?

Vampire Head: "..." *small laugh* "You know, for the 'City of Second Chances,' a lot of people sure go missing here, don't they?"

belmont:....

Ranpo: "And when they go missing, you all feed off them..."

atsushi:....

Lucy: "Who knows how many 'missing people reports' may lead right here..."

-elsewhere-

Kimizuki: *cooking lunch* "...Quiet around here..."

mitsuba: maybe everyone's out on missions?

Kimizuki: "...Likely...I think it would be worth asking..."

mitsuba: *looks out into the hall*

*looks like some equipment has been tossed into the hallway*

mitsuba: ugh, so sloppy. *picking it up*

Kimizuki: *not even looking back* "I wouldn't do that--she's busy tinkering again..."

mitsuba: ??

*a giant console is tossed out of the garage, almost hitting Mitsuba's foot*

mitsuba: *jumps back* HEY!

Tinker: *pops her head out, still wearing her mask* "Hmm? Oh, sorry! Could you scoot back a bit...?"

mitsuba: ._.

-elsewhere-

rowena:...edgar? are you sure you're alright?

Poe: =_=# "I'm fine..." *sips long on tea...*

rowena:....is this about mr mikuni?

Poe: >_<# "Who? You mean that lanky cowboy...?"

rowena: why does he upset you so much?

Poe: "I just think someone who is that lackadaisical requires extra vigilance, especially when fooling around with the occult..."

rowena: perhaps, but i think he does mean well. he did help save me from that man...

Poe: =^= "Just be careful around him--such men can be troublesome."

rowena: ^^; *hug* you worry a lot, you know?

Poe: "..." T~T "I don't want you hurt..."

-elsewhere-

Johannes: "Did I get them all?" *he's bandaging his bruises*

metsu: i believe so.

Jeje: "Was it really okay to let non-vampires and non-Eves to pursue those kind?"

Mikuni: *twirling a keychain on his finger* "Why not? Consider it a trial run..."

metsu:...you realize if they die, their blood is on your hands.

Mikuni: *smirks* "Do you honestly think I'd send sheep to the slaughter without considering whether a shepherd joined them? Or a dog to keep them on their path?"

metsu: ....

Mikuni: "Until then, we keep up our work--starting with inventorying the remaining goods--" *spots the dolls for sale* "...And returning the heads to the missing ones."

Johannes: *innocent whistling*

-elsewhere-

Cervantes: <?! What happened to you two?!> *looks at Dumas* <Why are you...smiling?>

benedetto:...*shrugs*

Dumas: *deep inhale*

-elsewhere-

Daisy: =_= "We're lost, and only one of us knows the language..."

mary: *looking around*

Jordan: *looks at a sign* " 'Circus Maximus'...Sounds fun!"

louisa: *checking the travel guide*

Fitzgerald: *holding his own umbrella* "It's where chariot races were held, before you start thinking of elephants and clowns..."

Jordan: "I-I wasn't..." >_>;;;

mary: ooooh.

Fitzgerald: "There's always the Coliseum for fights to the death and lions eating prisoners..." *sighs* "The olden times..." *looks wistfully*

louisa:...... riiiiight.... >->;;

Assi: "Well, there are fountains, the thermal baths, the Sistine Chapel..."

mary: *snapping pics*

Daisy: "Sending those to Bram?"

mary: yep!

Jordan: "Too bad he couldn't come along..."

-elsewhere-

atsushi: *outside, nervous*

Lucy: "...Hey."

atsushi: hey...

Lucy: "How are you holding up?" *puts a hand on his shoulder*

atsushi:...ok i guess. a bit shaken though…

Lucy: "Y-Yeah...If you didn't have your regeneration..." *shivers*

atsushi:...*hugs*

Lucy: *holds onto him, trying to steady herself* "That was goshdarn intense!"

kenji: yeah, let's get some food. we need to regain our energy.

Asher: =_= ("...Cassidy is going to kill me for this...")

Kyoka: "Good. Ranpo, how many quarters do you have left?"

Ranpo: >3< *holds them to himself*

belmont: *hands atsushi a card; a business card* just something to keep in touch.

Lucy: "???"

-elsewhere-

banshee: *calling on her phone*

Kurogiri: *answering* "Hello."

banshee: we found it.

Kurogiri: "Excellent. Ready for your return?"

banshee: yes.

*Warp Gates open up*

banshee: let's go.

Dabi: "Don't fire it, ever again."

Twice: "Do a dive into it, Muscular--it's fun! WHEE!" *dives in--and slams into a bar stool* "...Ow."

himiko: ^^;

Kurogiri: "Welcome back. How did the first mission for our newest recruit go?"

Muscular: "..." *crosses his arms, grunts*

banshee: it was successful, and we did find this. *hands him the gauntlet*

Kurogiri: "So, this was what was hidden in Orion. How powerful is it?"

himiko: very!

Dabi: =_=; "Reinforce it."

Kurogiri: "I already have storage ready..." *warps it* "But someone needs to deal with our prisoner."

-elsewhere-

Amaimon: "??? Teacher-Niece? Looks like someone is here for you."

stocking: hm?

Kid: *waves*

stocking: kid! *hugs* what a surprise!

students: awww!

girl: get a room!

Kid: ^^; "Hi! I thought I would stop by. I'm not interrupting, am I?"

stocking: we were just about to start class, actually.

Kid: "Then I won't interrupt--see you after?"

stocking: meet up for dinner?

Kid: *nods* "It's a date."

stocking: see you then~ *blows a kiss*

Kid: *blushes, waves*

stocking: ^///^ *ahem* alright, now where were we...

sonia: *stares out into the backyard*

Chuuya: *hammering*

sonia:...papa?

Chuuya: "Hmm? Yes, Sonia?"

sonia: can we put hydrangeas in the garden?

Chuuya: "Hmm...I don't see why not."

sonia: thanks. i think mommy liked them.

Chuuya: "..." *sighs* "Yes. She did. Aunt Ichiyo had said she mentioned them..."

sonia:...im a bit nervous for tomorrow.

Chuuya: *nods* "I know. It can be anxious...The important thing is to face that fear. After all, no one at your school is more important than anyone else."

sonia:...*nod*

Chuuya: "Would you feel better if I spoke to your teacher about anything?"

sonia:...i dont know.

Chuuya: "...Maybe you could show Miyuri some of your drawings? The hallway had really nice ones."

sonia: i'd like that.

Chuuya: *smiles* "You're a good sister."

-elsewhere-

Danglars: *counting his money* "Hee hee..."

hermine:...*sneaking downstairs*

Danglars: *not noticing, giggling like a madman*

hermine:....*steps outside to the car, packing luggage*

Lucian: *whispering* <How much more?>

hermine: <this should be the last of it...im scared, lucian. where do we go from here?>

Lucian: "..." *sighs, holds her hands* <Take the ticket--and get somewhere. Are there any relatives or friends you could visit?>

hermine: ...

Lucian: *nods* <...I know someone.>

hermine: ??

Lucian: *hands her a business card* <If you give my name, I know he will keep you safe. He is very good.>

hermine: ....<thank you, so much. you're a really good person.>

Lucian: *shakes his head* <No, I'm not. I just can't stand to see this happening to you two...> *looks at Eugenie, smiles* <You'll be a good girl until we see each other again?>

eugenie: *she nods* *hugs* <i'll miss you, uncle lucy>

Lucian: T~T *hug* <So will I...>

-elsewhere-

dulcenia: *examining case files*

Beauchamp: *throws open the door, panting*

dulcenia: ?! <what the->

Beauchamp: *exhales, pants* <Jeez, that was a long run...I-I am here with evidence that is going to shock you!>

dulcenia: <what the blazes are you talking about?>

Beauchamp: <Arson!>

dulcenia: ?!

Beauchamp: <Multiple fires! The criminals are on this tape planning it!>

dulcenia: ??

Beauchamp: *presses play on his phone*

Person 1: <--and now that their check cleared, you know what to do.>

dulcenia: *listening*

Person 2: <Hang on--I'm still confused. When someone 'burns for the insurance money,' since when does the _insurance company_ collect?>

Person 1:

dulcenia: !!! *in spanish* <son of a bitch..>

Beuchamp: <You recognize that voice? Can you check it?>

dulcenia: <provided this isnt some hoax. but yes, we'll take it to Ali to scan it.>

Beauchamp: *nods*

-elsewhere-

Kunikida: "Where are they..."

-text message from ranpo-

Kunikida: *reads*

ranpo: [getting food @Ihop. pancakes r hella, will report l8er]

Kunikida: ._. "..." -_-; [we were worried]

ranpo: [had a lil trouble, but we cool]

Kunikida: [very well. submit your report upon your return]

-elsewhere-

???: *holding up a photo of 'Andrea'* <Found him. And the weirdos who took him.>

-inside-

marquis: <ok, so danglars is mostly taken care of, now we have to deal with mondego, right?>

Dumas: *sets his disguises onto mannequins...* <Yes...That's going to take more work...> *picks up a knife, checking its sharpness*

Cervantes: ^w^;

benedetto: ??

Dumas: <Who?>

Cervantes: <That angelic police officer! I spoke with her-->

Dumas: <?!!!! WHAT.>

marquis: <what all did you tell her?>

Cervantes: <How we should share a Three Musketeers bar-->

-something is thrown into the window-

Dumas: <?!>

Cervantes: O_O;;;

marquis: !!! *grabs onto benedetto*

Dumas: <Shit!> *smashes the lamp next to him--*

-from outside-

*BOOM*

???: <...> *smiles*

marquis: *lands in the bushes with benedetto* <are you alright?!>

benedetto: !!!!

???: <See? I knew you could survive that, kiddo.>

marquis: ?? <who-?>

???: *pushes Marquis away, grabs Benedetto by the arm* <Don't you have anything to say to me?>

benedetto: <ow! that hurts, uncle bert!>

Bertuccio: <Not as much as this will hurt you...> *pulls back his hand--*

marquis: *tackles bertuccio*

Bertuccio: <?!> *lets go of Benedetto* <Get off me, you bitch!>

marquis: <leave him alone! he doesnt deserve to be abused like that! no one does!>

Bertuccio: <That kid is mine! I made him who he is--a thief who can escape anything, steal from anyone--and has no time for flighty, ugly, weak-ass losers like you!> *swings his fist at Marquis*

marquis: AH! <how could you be so cruel to your own family?!>

Bertuccio: <Ha! Buddy, if you saw that boy's family, I did him a favor!> *kicks at Marquis*

marquis: ??

benedetto: <what do you mean?>

Bertuccio: <...Oh, so now I'm supposed to tell the runaway his origin story? How I found some infant in some treasure box--and the 'treasure' was this little urchin?!>

benedetto: ?!?!

Bertuccio: <So, Bene, which did you want: buried alive to die, or fight to live?>

marquis: ?!?!?!

Bertuccio:

marquis: <what man?>

Bertuccio: <That judge I always see putting thieves like me behind bars--Villefort.>

marquis: !!!!!!!!

Bertuccio:

benedetto: .....<what?>

Bertuccio: <??? 'What' what? He tried to bury you alive! Your dad didn't want you except dead! Who knows what mom wanted, burying you in some garden-->

marquis: *PUNCHES BERTUCCIO IN THE STOMACH*

Bertuccio: Q_____Q *collapses*

marquis: *glares at him*

*a groan is heard behind Marquis*

marquis: !! *looks*

Cervantes: *crawling out from wreckage--as Dumas holds up the debris*

Dumas: <Hurry...>

marquis: <are you two alright?!>

Cervantes:

Dumas:

marquis:.....<this man. have him arrested....>

Dumas: *tosses the debris* <...How are we supposed to do that?! And for what-->

Cervantes: <Hello? Police?> *on his phone* <Put on the angelic officer, please~>

benedetto:........*too stunned to say anything*

Dumas: *grunts, looks at Benedetto* <...You okay?>

marquis:....

Dumas: <... ... ...> *falls back* <You got to be kidding me.>

-elsewhere-

Asher: *unlocks the door to their apartment*

cassidy: there you are! do you have any idea how worried sick i was?!

Asher: "I know. I'm sorry. Something happened."

cassidy: *sighs* im just...i worry about you.

Asher: "..." *nods* "...This city is scary."

-elsewhere-

Kid: *pulls out a chair for Stocking*

stocking: *takes a seat*

Kid: *sits across from her* "I'm happy you're here."

stocking: *smiles* im happy you're here too.

Kid: ^\\\^ "Shall we order?" *opens his menu*

stocking: *nods*

-elsewhere-

yuu uraraka: *posing*

Mr. Uraraka: "Ballerina!"

ochako: flamingo!

Mrs. Uraraka: "A crane!"

Mr. Uraraka: "A Haijima Telescopic Crane 4200 with Hydraulic Extending/Retractable Boom!"

yuu uraraka: that's correct.

Mr. Uraraka: "Yes!"

-elsewhere-

Relan: "Hey." *nudge*

tamaki: ??

Relan: "I think it's my turn to keep watch by the phone..."

tamaki: ah.

Relan: "Going to bed or nap at least?" *sits by the phone, picks up a book*

tamaki: probably.

Relan: "Well, have a good night. I'll hit the alarm if there's anything..." *next to the phone is a camel-shaped alarm with the hump as a button*

-elsewhere-

Danglars: *yawns, walks into the dining room* <Good morning, wife, daughter, Lucian...> *looks* "..." <Lucian? Where are they?>

lucian: <errands>

Danglars: <Huh. Splendid! Glad to see Heloise getting an early start--and with the kid out for the day, I can finally concentrate on important things...> *pulls out his phone, starts scrolling through social media* <...Ha! Funny cat picture.>

-elsewhere-

*Mono's phone gets a text alert*

mono: ??

*It's a pic of Assi and Zuno, posing in front of the Leaning Tower--Zuno is "pushing" it down, Assi is trying to push it back up*

mono:....*small smile*

Yohei: "OOOOOOOOOooo..."

mono: *YELPS*

Yohei: "Looks like Assi and Zuno are having fun..."

-elsewhere-

valentine: ............

-there is various muttering amongst the funeral attendees-

Max: *walks into the Church, looking around* "..."

valentine: *biting her lip, looking down at the ground*

Minister: *shaking the hand of one guest* <Thank you for coming. Thank you...>

Max: "..." *walks up to her* <Valentine...I'm so sorry.>

valentine: *she doesnt say anything* ......

Max: "..." <If you need anything, Grandmother and I are here...>

valentine:.......

-elsewhere-

Cervantes: ^w^ <Thanks for putting us up for the night yesterday...>

Dumas: -_- <This bed is too cramped--move over.>

Dumas: T~T <Thank goodness...Do you know how hard it is to find the right wig to play Wilmore?>

Cervantes: <...How's Bene holding up?>

Dumas: *sighs* <Well, she's dead. Villefort remarried after his first wife died...>

count: <but what about _before_ he remarried? think about it. did bertuccio ever tell _where_ the child was buried?>

Cervantes: <Marquis had said the jerk forbade Bene to go back to that 'garden.' Maybe Bene knows that location?>

Cervantes: ^w^ <Thanks! And let's look on the bright side: we got that jerk locked up...> =\\\w\\\=

-elsewhere-

stocking: *snuggled in bed*

Kid: *smooch*

stocking: i do not want to get out of bed today. im way too comfortable.

Kid: "Well, if I get of bed, I worry you'll get uncomfortable...or lonely." *cuddle*

stocking: *purrs*

Kid: *rubs her arm* =w= "Just 8 more minutes...Then I'll bring you breakfast in bed..."

-elsewhere-

Kazue: "..." *lowers a rope down the side of a building*

Saria: *looking up* "...What was wrong with them taking the stairs?"

lukas: beats me...

Kazue: *lands, pulls out a scroll* <Okay. Where are we heading?>

-elsewhere-

miyuri: *shiny eyes* WOOOOOOOOW!!!

Chuuya: "Now, don't walk too far--I think this may be 30 minutes?"

miyuri: okay!

sonia: *holding onto miyuri's hand*

*the hallway has some other students waiting for their parents*

Student: *glares at Sonia*

miyuri: *peeking into classrooms* WOOOW!

*the lights are off in other rooms, with desks lined up and whiteboards on the walls*

*looks like markers on the whiteboards, too*

miyuri: *GASP* what's that?

sonia: those are the whiteboards.

sonia: ^-^; that's the janitor's closet.

Student: *whispers to another one* "Who's that? Her stupid sister or something?"

sonia:.....*turns*

miyuri: *waves* hiiii! ^w^

Student: "?! ...Weirdo. You stupid or something?"

-PUNCH-

miyuri: hm?

sonia: *shaking, her hand balled up into a fist*

Student: *knocked down, holding his eye* "Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?! Freak!"

sonia: *glaring at him*

mother: arnie!! *hugs him* are you ok, sweetie?!

Arnie: *sniffs* "She hit me! She's a freak!"

mother: *glares at sonia* how dare you! what do you have to say for yourself, you little ingrate?!

sonia:.....

Arnie: "She should be expelled!"

miyuri: sonia? are you ok?

Chuuya: *steps out* "?! Sonia? What's wrong?"

teacher: what on earth is happening here?

mother: this little brat struck my baby!

Chuuya: *glares at the mother* "Sonia?"

sonia:...apologize...

Chuuya: "..." *looks at the boy--glaring*

sonia:...i dont care what happens to me...but i want you to apologize to my sister right now...

Chuuya: "..." *pats Sonia and Miyuri's shoulders*

mother: you expect an apology after you assaulted my child?! i should take you to court for this! *points to chuuya* _you_ need to control your children's wild behavior before they end up in prison!

Chuuya: *narrows his eyes* "I am sorry Sonia hit your child. Now it's his turn to apologize for what he did to her so she couldn't even come to class without fearing getting garbage thrown at her again."

mother: WHAT?! how dare you accuse my baby of such nonsense!

Chuuya: "Your 'baby' comes after my kids, they're going to stand up for themselves. That's how any parent should raise their child. So take your kid out of here now."

mother: how DARE you speak to me like that! do you have any idea who i am?!

Chuuya: "Should I?"

mother: i'll have you know my husband is head of sales at the death city mall!

teacher: and yet you take the subway to work.

mother: !!!

Chuuya: *smirks* "Important work. Maybe your husband should focus on parenting, too."

mother: *speechless*

Chuuya: "...Sonia, Miyuri, the meeting is about done. Ready to head out?"

miyuri: ok!

sonia:......

Chuuya: "..." *pats her shoulder*

-elsewhere-

Fernand: *yawns* *opens his front door--* "?!"

dulcenia: <mr mondego, do you have a moment?>

Fernand: "..." *smiles* <Of course...> *closes the door behind him, stands on front steps* <How may I help you?>

-there are a few officers there as well-

Fernand: <...> *gulps*

dulcenia: <we'd like to ask a few questions of you, if you dont mind.>

Fernand: <Go ahead...>

dulcenia: <we're investigating a recent fire at one of the shops you ensure, and we're trying to determine the cause.>

Fernand: <Ah, I see. It's indeed unfortunate--I've had my investigators checking as well...>

dulcenia: <from what the owner told me, you made them an offer that morning before the fire. how curious.>

Fernand: <Hmm...You think someone is targeting locations that I've insured.>

dulcenia: <it's likely. seems you've been getting quite a lot of money from it, so that should be a bright side, right?>

Fernand: "..." *sighs* <It is a tragedy for my clients. However, also consider the costs for me: the money I receive goes into re-building these businesses, finding what happened and who is responsible...if someone is indeed responsible. After all, I have to make sure my clients weren't faking this so they could collect their share of the insurance money.>

dulcenia: <and how long do you suppose the investigation will take?>

Fernand: <These kinds of things are complicated. Could take a month, even a year.>

dulcenia: *whistles*

Fernand: "..." *narrows his eyes* <With police cooperation, yes...I think this could go more quickly...>

dulcenia: *plays the recording*

Fernand: <?!>

dulcenia: *smirks* <your expression says enough. cuff him.>

Fernand: "..." *narrows his eyes, holds out his wrists*

mercedes: <fernand? what's going on?>

Fernand: <?! Mercedes, I left numbers by the phone--call Robert!>

mercedes: ???

Fernand: <He's a lawyer--get him to the police station-->

Police Officer: <Come along.>

mercedes: <officer toboso?>

Fernand: <!!!>

dulcenia: *nods* <seems your husband here is suspected of fraud and arson conspiracy>

mercedes: !!!! <fernand? is that true?>

Fernand: <Call my lawyer!>

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: "Okay, girls--which flavors?"

miyuri: *face pressed against the glass case* oooooooooooooooooh! *shiny eyes*

sonia:....just vanilla....

Chuuya: "Okay, vanilla for Sonia. Miyuri, how about...You know what, Miyuri, just stick to one flavor for now--don't want to over-stimulate your taste buds..."

miyuri: *looking at them all* miyuri doesnt know which one to have first!

Chuuya: "Chocolate may not be bad."

miyuri: ooh! that one!

Chuuya: "Any toppings? Maybe sprinkles?"

miyuri: can we?

Chuuya: "Sure!"

-elsewhere-

*pallbearers carry the two coffins...*

valentine: ......

Villefort: *stone faced*

Heloise: *struggling to appear morose*

edouard: ...

*the pallbearers bring the coffins to the plots dug up...they are next to the grave of Valentine's mother*

Max: *watching Heloise's face* "..."

valentine: *shaking*

*the coffins are lowered...*

Minister: <Please take a handful of our Lord's earth, so that our friends may be returned to that Earth, until such time that we see them again in the next world...>

-elsewhere-

Asher: "Yo." *waves*

izumi: hey!

Asher: "What're you doing out?"

izumi: just taking a walk.

Asher: "Hmmm..." *walks with her* "Relaxing weekend?"

izumi: yeah.

Asher: *nods...rubs their arm*

izumi: ?? you ok?

Asher: "Yeah--just in pain from a beatdown--er, at the arcade, on a machine...Frogger." >_>;

izumi: ...

Asher: *awkward cough* "So, just recuperating...Making sure not to over-do it..."

izumi:...want to hang out?

Asher: "Hmm? Yeah, sure. Anywhere you heading?"

izumi: hmm, how about the park?

Asher: *nods* "Okay." *walks with her* "Hope it's not super-crowded..."

-elsewhere-

Akutagawa: "Okay, so 2 of them?"

gin: *nods*

Akutagawa: *holds up fingers to the crepe maker* "Two, please." *looks at Gin* "New sundress?"

gin: yeah.

Akutagawa: "It looks good."

-elsewhere-

Lucy: "Cute uniform, Aya."

aya: =3= thank you.

Kunikida: "Take seriously the responsibilities represented by that uniform."

aya: yes sir.

Lucy: "Yeah...I notice the boys here don't exactly have some uniform...Never had any non-female secretaries?"

kirako: a few, yes.

Lucy: "Huh...Do they all have to dress like Kunikida?"

Kunikida: -_-#

-elsewhere-

Kid: *reading*

stocking: *still snuggled up to him* =w=

Kid: =\\\\= *smooch*

-elsewhere-

Francesca: *holding papers to herself as she walks* "..."

valentine:.... !!!!

Francesca: *frowning, her lip quivering*

valentine: *runs over* <francesca!>

Francesca: *holds up her hands, stepping back, shaking her head*

valentine: <francesca, what's wrong? why havent you answered my calls?!>

Francesca: <...You knew about that bastard? Your fucking grandfather?>

valentine: !!??

Francesca: *shoves papers at Valentine* <Noirtier Villefort--member of Mimic--the man who killed countless soldiers, including my dad! Did you know this?!>

valentine: *too stunned to speak*

Francesca: <...You have to be kidding me...You knew your dad and his dad were involved in Mimic?! What the fuck, Val?!!>

valentine:

Francesca: "..." <How can I believe this? My dad is dead. Your grandfather just laughed at me-->

valentine:

Francesca: "..." *inhales, holds her forehead* <...Old man named Colby? Your dad has kept him hidden for about 6 years since your dad sentenced some guy to a slow death in prison. None of this rings a bell?>

valentine: ........

Francesca: "..." <Oh God...> *falls to her knees*

valentine: <francesca-> *reaches out to her*

Francesca: *shaking all over* <Don't! I can't!> *sobbing*

valentine: ah-....*hug*

Francesca: *shaking, struggling against the hug, but sobbing*

valentine: <it's going to be ok... we can get through this...>

Francesca: <I'm sorry...> *hug* <I'm so sorry...>

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: *opens the door* "Careful not to spill..."

miyuri: ok!

sonia:....*walking upstairs to her room*

Chuuya: "...Sonia? Could we talk?"

sonia:.....

Chuuya: "That was the boy who attacked you that day after school, huh?"

sonia:......*gets under the covers of her bed*

Chuuya: "Sonia, please...I really want to talk about this."

sonia:....yeah...one of them...

Chuuya: *sighs* "I'm so sorry...More than one? I tried asking your teacher about them..."

sonia:...they say im trying to make them look bad by getting answers right...but im not trying to do that. im just doing what im told to do...

Chuuya: *nods* "You're doing the right thing--it's not your fault that your classmates are being asses."

sonia: *sniff* i-im not trying to be better than anyone at all, but they think i am. *shaking* i never asked to be like this...

Chuuya: *hug* "I know...None of us ask to be how we are..."

sonia: *whimpering* i-im going to be an outcast forever, arent i?

Chuuya: "Sweetie, no...No. It takes time to find the people in your life you want to be with."

sonia: w-why couldnt i have been normal? *sobbing*

Chuuya: *strokes her back, holding her*

sonia: *crying into his chest*

Chuuya: "I'm so sorry, Sonia...But this is not your fault. You are you--and you are a beautiful, smart, imaginative, hardworking person who deserves so much..."

sonia: *hic*

Chuuya: *rubs her back* "Sonia...I'm so proud of you, especially for protecting Miyuri."

sonia:...*sniff* im sorry for getting her involved in this...

Chuuya: "I know you are...But there's no way to avoid getting involved in every problem--it's why we have to get stronger to face anything...and that means standing up for yourself and others."

sonia: ....

Chuuya: "...Sonia, are you not happy in your class?"

sonia:....can i be homeschooled for a while?

Chuuya: "If you want, sure. But I think you should consider that offer your teacher had...about you skipping some grades.'

sonia:......

Chuuya: "Just think about it...I'll call Kajii in the morning."

sonia:...*sniff*

Chuuya: *pats her back* "Thank you for standing up for Miyuri."

sonia:....*nod*

Chuuya: "Want to rest a bit?"

sonia:........*nod*

Chuuya: "Okay. Sleep for a bit...Want anything? Water?" *hands her tissues*

-elsewhere-

Max: *walking home* "..." ("What is up with her stepmom...She was weird the entire time...")

???: <maxi!>

Max: "???" *turns* <Oh!> *waves*

-max's sister, julie, and her husband, are there-

Emmanuel: <Hey, Max.>

Max: "..." *nods* <H-Hey...>

julie: ?? <you ok?>

Max: <I-I just came from the funeral...>

julie: <oh...>

Max: *nods* <...Val's not doing well...Not talking...>

julie: <is there something we can do to help?>

Max: <I'm not sure...She needs time to heal, and, ugh, I'm already pressed for time...>

julie: <well we wont keep you long.>

Max: <S-Sorry, I didn't mean it like that...How are you feeling?>

julie: <alright. the little one's growing more and more.> *rubs her stomach*

Max: *smiles* <That's good...How much longer?>

julie: <about two months now...>

Max: <Still some time...> *sighs*

-elsewhere-

Fernand: *handcuffed to the table* "..."

???: <well, look how the mighty have fallen.>

Fernand: <?!> *looks*

-the count stands in a corner of the cell-

Fernand: <Who the hell are you?>

count: <you dont know me, but i believe you knew my father...does the name 'Edmond Dantes' ring any bells?>

Fernand: <?!>

Fernand: <Wh-What fate? I haven't seen Edmond in years...>

count: <perhaps i should introduce myself first. My name is Elena Dantes, my father died by your hand....>

Fernand: "..." *lets out a laugh*

elena: <and now....>

-SHRK-

Fernand: *coughs...looks down*

-there is a knife in his chest-

elena: <...you die by mine...>

Fernand: *gasps, struggling to call for help...*

elena: *takes the knife out and walks toward the small window, her body dissapating into a mist and escaping*

Fernand: *his throat constricts...he collapses onto the table*

-elsewhere-

Bakugo: "I came here, to this mall, one of many malls in this city, just to find socks. SOCKS. And you're still following me..."

eijiro: just thought we could hang out a little bit. ^^

Bakugo: -_-# "...If you delay my shopping, I'm going to put you through the wall." *walks with him*

-elsewhere-

Sakuya: *checking through closet* "You sure none of these are what you're looking for?"

tsubaki: i dont think so.

Sakuya: "Nuts...Maybe buy a new one?" *pulls out a dress tie, looking at it* "Huh. Gaudy..."

tsubaki: i guess. ^^;

-elsewhere-

*there's a mechanical blowfish staring at the 8th*

shinra: ._.

Akitaru: "This one isn't going to blow up, right?"

Vulcan: "Not if it works right..."

tamaki: and _it_ is...?

Vulcan: "It's an ultra wide-band device that can detect breathing even under 100 feet of debris."

shinra: woah!

Vulcan: *presses a button labeled 'Test'*

Blowfish Scanner: *eyes light up as it inflates*

Vulcan: "See? That's what it'll do when it detects breathing..."

nozomi: wow! that's incredible, vulcan!

Vulcan: ^^ "Thanks...I hope it'll help, not just for the next house fire but if we can scope the underground again--or if you encounter Chinese fire worms again..."

tamaki: *sweatdrop*

-elsewhere-

Wes: *rubs Ghost Dog's belly*

ghost dog: =w=

Wes: *smiles...checks his phone's calendar* "Few more weeks before practice..."

liz: got any events coming up?

Wes: "Yeah, a practice first--trying to get some replacements...Before the next concert."

liz: ah.

-elsewhere-

Tezca: "--so I said 'You think I'm under deep cover? No one has even seen Akane and Clay in months!'" *laughs loudly, slapping the table*

clay:....we're right here.

Tezca: "...Oooooooooo! Neat disguises!" *tugs on Clay's face* "I can't believe you disguised yourself as Clay, Akane!"

Akane: *sitting beside Tezca, sipping tea*

clay: >A< MR TLIPOCA!!

Akane: *chop* "Stop that."

Tezca: =3= "Not my fault the makeup is so thorough..."

clay: IT'S NOOOT! >3<

Tezca: "Oh, don't sell yourself short--"

Akane: *pulls Tezca loose, ripping his bear head off--and there's no head underneath*

Tezca: "..."

clay:....*SCREAMS AND FAINTS*

Akane: O_O;

Tezca: "..." *reaches into his dufflebag, pulls out another bear head, puts it on, screwing it in properly* "Ah, that's better..."

-elsewhere-

Anya: *brushing her hair*

ao: anya?

Anya: "Hmm? Yes?"

ao: miss misery is hosting a knitting group downstairs, care to join?

Anya: "Oh...Sure." *stands up* "That would help..."

-elsewhere-

mercedes: ....

Albert: <Papa?>

mercedes:...<papa will be home soon, baby.> *picks him up*

Albert: *sniffles, hugs her*

mercedes: *rocking him*

Albert: *closes his eyes, slowly falls asleep...*

mercedes:...*forehead kiss and puts him in his crib*

Albert: "Zzz..."

-elsewhere-

Hyde: *counting dollar bills* "Okay, where do we want to dine tonight, folks?"

romina: lets get pizza!

Hyde: "Okay! Toppings? Remember, pineapple is still a topping."

julian: =~=

licht: -_-#

Hyde: "??? Okay, fine--one plain cheese for the boring ones..."

-elsewhere-

Hibana: *reviewing child services paperwork* "..."

gabriella: is everything ok?

Hibana: "I'm not sure...Was looking into some kids that Rekka bastard kidnapped and where they went..." *pulls up another file: "Shinra Kusakabe"*

gabriella: hmm...

Hibana: "..." *rests her head on her shoulder*

gabriella:...*hugs*

Hibana: *hug* *rubs her back, quiet*

hanako: *peeks in* mama?

Hibana: "??? Hi, sweetie..."

hanako: can we watch movies?

Hibana: *smiles* "Sure. What you feeling?"

hanako: disney movies? *shiny eyes*

Hibana: "Heh heh...Sure!" *head rub*

hanako: ^^

Hibana: "Pick out the first one, okay?"

-elsewhere-

Assi: *flipping through posters of famous Italian paintings...*

Daisy: "What, finding something for your girlfriend?"

Assi: "?! N-No..."

mary: *snapping photos*

Fitzgerald: "Wait just a moment--you are missing something in that photo."

mary: ??

Fitzgerald: *poses*

mary: ooh! *snaps pics*

Fitzgerald: *more poses*

Daisy: =_=;

Zuno: "..." *whispers* "Who's that weirdo?"

louisa: *staring at an eagle that has landed on mary's head, pecking at her*

Assi: O_O; "...Sh-Should we warn her about this?"

louisa: i dont think she's bothered...

Daisy: "High tolerance for pain..."

-elsewhere-

Akutagawa: *sets down food in front of Q*

Q: thanks for the food! *nom*

Akutagawa: "..." *nods* "Hope it is sufficient."

higuchi: ^^

Gin: "It's good to see them getting along."

higuchi: yeah, it sure is.

Gin: "...How do you think Q is getting along? Seeing as there are few others around his age in the Mafia..."

higuchi: well, there is elise...technically.

Gin: *nods* "Both of them could use more acquaintances...technically."

higuchi: yeah....didnt hirotsu mention a gang of kids that were once scouts for the mafia? the 'sheep'?

Gin: *nods* "I do not know how willing they would be willing to work with the Mafia again after certain poor encounters."

higuchi: and considering how long ago it was, most of them are probably all grown up by now...

Gin: *nods* "Time flies...Q got along well enough with the Sturm kids."

higuchi: yeah....

Gin: "...Maybe something can be arranged for a playdate again."

-elsewhere-

valentine: .......

*looks to be messages from Max, her dad...and one text listed as "Unknown"*

valentine:...*checks*

Max: [<valentine i'm so sorry. please know you have friends and that you are not alone. if you need anything please ask>]

valentine:....[<thanks>]

Max: [<any time>]

valentine:.....*sigh*

*looks like her father's message was just asking when she was getting home...*

valentine:......*checks the unknown number*

Unknown Number: [<hello, child. you and i will talk now.>]

valentine:...[<who are you?>]

*suddenly, she hears wheels creaking behind her*

valentine: ?!?!?! *turns*

*a very old man in a wheelchair rolls up to her...a cell phone is in his lap*

valentine: *screams*

Old Man: "?!" <Shhh! You want to wake up the whole house?!>

valentine: <w-who are you?!>

Old Man: <Gerard's father, Valentine.>

valentine: .....<you....you killed francesca's father....>

Noirtier: <??? Who? ...Wait, was that the name of that 'nurse' who accosted me? Huh...Wait, how do you know her?>

valentine: <she's...._was_ my girlfriend...w-why are you here? what do you want?> *taking a fire poker to defend herself*

Noirtier: *frowns* <Well, this gets more complicated...Let's table the whole 'girlfriend' thing and focus on the fact that your stepmother is likely gunning for you.>

valentine: ?!

Noirtier: <Oh, come on--'gas leak'? That's low-level nonsense...> *takes a medical folder on his lap and drops it to his feet* <Pick it up.>

valentine:....*looks*

*it's a coroner's report, showing photos of her grandparents...*

valentine: *covers her mouth*

*the report lists 'brucine'*

Noirtier: <Shocking, I know...Except you're ignoring the big red flag that the anti-cancer medicine brucine was found in their systems...>

valentine: .....

Noirtier: <And neither of your grandparents had cancer...Now, where do you think the brucine came from?>

valentine:....

Noirtier: <This is why I went through their medical files. The answer? Nope. That brucine was used to poison them.>

valentine: <y-you dont think...>

Noirtier: <Now, you haven't asked me: why do I suspect your stepmother? Where did she visit last, Granddaughter?>

valentine:........<why should i trust anything you say?>

Noirtier: <You have no reason to. So, you can wait for the facts to present themselves--at which point, you'll be dead. Or you can be smart and think whether you have seen anything that proves she wants to get rid of you and your family to take your inheritance.>

valentine:........

Noirtier: <...I never got to talk to your mother. But I remember her jewelry...So exquisite.>

valentine:

Noirtier: <And where is it now?>

valentine: <it should be in...> *goes to look*

Noirtier: *still in his chair* <...No problem. I'll wait.>

-later, valentine runs back in-

valentine: *shaking* <it's-...it's gone!!>

Noirtier: "..." *small smirk*

valentine: <w-what do i do?>

Noirtier: <Do you remember seeing anything at the scene of the crime...I mean, at your grandparents' house?>

valentine: <i-i'm trying to think...>

Noirtier: <Trace your steps backwards, child...>

valentine: ......

Noirtier: "..." *pulls out a vial*

valentine: <w-what is that?>

Noirtier: <Your medicine...>

-elsewhere-

miyuri: zzzz...

Chuuya: "???" *checks the girls' room*

sonia: *still asleep*

Chuuya: "..." *checks on Sonia first, checking her temperature on her forehead*

-she's a slight bit warm-

Chuuya: "Oh no..."

miyuri: *yaaawn* =.=

Chuuya: *looks* "..." *checks on Miyuri*

miyuri: tacchan?

Chuuya: "..." *sighs*

miyuri: *opens eyes* oh, hi papa.

Chuuya: *smile* "Hey, kiddo..."

miyuri: is sonia ok?

Chuuya: "...I think she may be a little under the weather, so keep up your fluids and wash your hands so you don't get sick..."

miyuri: ok papa!

Chuuya: *smiles, strokes a hand over her head* "Now, get some more sleep. Sorry to wake you."

-morning-

Kid: *kitten yawn*

stocking: *making breakfast*

Kid: *walks into the kitchen* "Good morning..."

stocking: morning hunny~ anything you want?

Kid: *smiles* "Some pancakes with sugar?" *hugs her*

stocking: that sounds lovely~

Kid: "Hee hee..." *nuzzles* "Thanks, sweetie."

-elsewhere-

Danglars: -^- "..." <Do you really think I'm this stupid?>

lucian: .....

Danglars: *holds up an empty milk carton* <Hermine has not bought more! She never came home last night--where is she?!>

lucian: ...<staying with relatives?>

Danglars: <Why didn't she tell me?!>

lucian: <well to be fair, you would have just ignored her.>

Danglars: <?! How dare you!>

lucian: <i'm just being honest.>

Danglars: <Really? How's this for honest?!> *throws the empty milk carton at Lucian*

lucian:...<throwing trash at me isnt going to make your problems disappear.>

Danglars: <Then this will: YOU'RE FIRED!>

lucian: ....<with all due respect, the only reason i stayed is for your family's sake, so that your wife didnt lose her mind and kill herself and eugenie. but all i have to say is; kindly go fuck yourself and die.>

Danglars: <?!!! Y-You insubordinate traitor!> *reaches for Lucian* <Did you take my wife?!>

lucian: grk-

Danglars: <You probably had a thing with her, you thief! Give me back my money!>

lucian:

Danglars: <URK! Is that so?! That's just your cover!> *swings his fist--*

lucian: !!! *dodges*

Danglars: *screams--as he falls down the stairs*

lucian: <sir, if you dont calm down, i'm going to call the police!>

Danglars: <CALL THEM! I'LL TELL THEM YOU KIDNAPPED MY WIFE!>

lucian: *ignoring him*

Danglars: <I'll have your head! I'll make sure you get the guillotine! I'll--> *tries to stand, falls* <...Ow.>

lucian:.... <i'd get you help, but from what i recall, i'm out of a job, so i'm just going to pack my things and mosey on out of here. toodles~>

Danglars: *LOUD ANGRISH* <I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS! Ow...I need a doctor...>

-elsewhere-

mercedes: .....

-knocks-

mercedes: ??

Albert: <Papa?>

mercedes: <wait here, baby.> *opens the door* <yes?>

Police Officer: <Mrs. Mondego?>

mercedes: <yes?>

Police Officer: *takes off their hat* <We wanted to let you know something about your husband...Would you like to sit down?>

mercedes: <...please, do come in...>

Police Officer: *enters* <...> *looks at Albert* "..." *sighs deeply* <Ma'am...As you know, your husband was taken into police custody...>

mercedes: *nods*

Police Officer: <...Last night, an officer found your husband in his jail cell, unconscious.>

mercedes: !!!

Police Officer: <Medical attempted to resuscitate him...I'm sorry. They were not able to...>

mercedes: *covers her mouth in shock*

Police Officer: <...We are investigating the cause of death at this time...>

mercedes: ......

Police Officer: <...Do you need a moment?>

mercedes:...<y-yes..please...>

Police Officer: *nods* <I'll be outside...> *exits*

mercedes:...*hides her face in her hands, crying*

Albert: <??? Mama?>

mercedes:...*picks him up and hugs him*

Albert: "..." *holds onto her, looking contemplative*

mercedes:...<papa...papa's gone to heaven now...>

Albert: <Papa? Gone?>

mercedes:...*sniffs and kisses his head* <it's just you and me now...>

Albert: <...Mama...> *reaches for her face*

mercedes: <...we're gonna make things work out, i promise...>

Albert: <...> *sniffle*

mercedes *rocking him, humming*

Albert: *small baby cries before closing his eyes, calming down...*

-elsewhere-

Lucian's Friend: <Good morning, ma'am and young lady!> *smiles*

eugenie: *eating waffles*

hermine:...*nods* <g-good morning>

Lucian's Friend: ^w^ <Was the bed comfortable? I could get a different pillow until the new one comes in the mail...>

hermine: <i-it's fine, really.> *looks out the window*

*Forecast today in Rome looks to be sunny...*

hermine:...*small smile* <thank you again, erm->

Lucian's Friend: <Cavalcanti.>

hermine: <right, right. i really do appreciate this.>

Cavalcanti: <Well, when Lucian called, I was a bit anxious...I mean, not every day I have visitors...> ^^;;;

-elsewhere-

Chuuya: "Sonia? Breakfast..."

sonia: ....

Chuuya: "??? Sonia?" *checks on her*

sonia: *hiding under the covers*

Chuuya: "..." *sits on her bed* "Hey."

sonia:....

Chuuya: "...Need to sleep a bit longer?"

sonia:...*weak nod*

Chuuya: "Okay...Whenever you're ready, come out for something to eat--whatever you want. Need some water?"

sonia:...*nod*

Chuuya: *smiles* "Okay. Be right back..." *exits the bedroom*

miyuri: ~?

Chuuya: "Miyuri, hungry?"

miyuri: mmhmm!

Chuuya: "I'll cook up some breakfast after I get Sonia some water..."

miyuri: ok!

Chuuya: *pours a glass of orange juice for Miyuri* "You can start with that..." *pours a glass of water, grabs a warm washcloth, too, and goes back to Sonia* "Sonia? Here you go..." *holds out the glass*

sonia:...*small sips*

Chuuya: "Need a warm towel for your neck?"

sonia:...im ok....

Chuuya: *nods* "...Want to talk?"

sonia:...i dunno...

Chuuya: "..." *nods* "How about you read something after you wake up? Anything I can get you?"

sonia: ....

Chuuya: "...Would you like me to step out and let you sleep?"

sonia:...*nod*

Chuuya: "..." *nods...hugs her* "I love you, Sonia."

-elsewhere-

#death city days

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