Butterflies Affect
Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 2:12 pm
One Halloween later, I finally got this out, and hopefully the other part will come soon. As usual, feedback is highly appreciated.
Emi braced herself against the wall, catching her breath. Thank God they weren't that fast, but they were relentless. If she didn't have her racing legs on, she would be done for already, just like everyone else.
Everybody... How could she have ended up all alone? She thought back on the last few hours, trying to find where everything went wrong.
It all began during class.
A warning through the PA system, telling everyone to evacuate, turned into a terrifying cacophony filled with screams and indescribable, gruesome sounds.
The teachers tried to control the panic setting in, to little avail. If Yamaku hadn't been designed with mobility in mind, many students would have died right there, trampled by their colleagues. Not that it saved them in the end.
Rin avoided the multitude that ran, limped or wheeled down stairs and elevators. Instead, she rushed to a window to assess the situation. Emi, worried and confused but sure of her own running capabilities, followed her.
From the third floor, they could see a car crashed against the gates. A handful of inert bodies laid strewn on the ground, that sported huge puddles of reddish-brown, with some of it trailing in their direction.
As the girls tried to piece together what was going on, one of the figures stood up unsteadily and begun to make way towards the building. Nurse's lab coat and purple hair were easily recognizable, even from a greater distance.
Emi let out a gasp and covered her mouth in horror as he turned around. His left arm was a bloody mess hanging limply from his side, connected to the shoulder by mere centimeters of muscle and sinew.
She turned to run down the stairs, but Rin stood in her way. "Rin! What are you doing? We need to get down there and help!"
Rin shook her head. "No. If we go out with everyone, we will end up like them." She turned towards the window.
The first groups of students had arrived on the site. A couple of them tried to help Nurse, but were promptly attacked by him, he was... biting them?!
"What the..." Emi couldn't believe, but she clearly saw Goro eating at the students. Her breakfast forced itself out of her, burning her throat and nostrils on the way. She coughed and gagged, but some instinct got her to recover and go back to observing the threat beside Rin, who stood unfazed.
The ones who tried to make a run for the gates quickly discovered that the corpses spread on the way were not as inert as they first seemed, and fell under their attack. Some of the students tried to run back, but they were blocked by the mass coming out of the building, and a frenzy rose by the minute. The whole group became easy prey as chaos ensued, and their screams could be heard across the campus. Other ones sounded closer by, probably caused by whatever made the trail of blood they had seen.
"Come, we need to find a safe spot to avoid them. Hmm... The roof, yes." Rin started walking contrary to the flow, leaving Emi to follow her.
"Wait, what about the others? We gotta find Hisao, Miki and the rest!"
That gave her a second of pause, but when she turned Emi could see no doubt in her expression, only some bitterness.
"No. If they went with everyone else, we would just get ourselves in the same mess. We can check the classrooms on the way. Come on."
By then, the third floor was empty, and the classrooms were populated only by abandoned objects, upturned chairs and desks. They reached the top of the building in a few minutes.
Shizune and Misha were already there, and after catching up, they tried to get a signal on their cellphones and call their families or the authorities. Emi tried too, but the cell network was overloaded and useless.
"Well, it's not like the police or the JSDF could reach us in time to help. Is that so, Shicchan?"
Meanwhile, Rin was closely checking Misha. Very closely.
"Oh, so they couldn't mobilize enough... Huuh... Whatcha doing, Richan?"
"Looking for bites. Or scratches. I mean, marks of those things, I would not be able to see a bite, only something biting another thing. You know, from them. But I guess you two came here before encountering them."
The other three looked at each other, then back at Rin. Almost at the same time, two voices and a pair of hands made the same question: "What?!"
Rin looked back at them all with calm and a bit of contempt.
"Well, they are clearly like that movie. The one where it was night and there were living dead people."
"The Night of The Living Dead?"
"Hm? No, I never watched that one, is it good?"
"Well, it's a class- Never mind that, Rin! You think those are... zombies?" Rin shrugged.
"Something like that." Shizune answered to that with sharp movements.
"Shicchan says that's ridiculous! Those are just works of fiction. There must be a rational explanation!" Rin shrugged again, annoyed.
"Well they are very real, and they eat people, and they are up when they should be down, one when they should be zero, and even if it is ridiculous or irrational, I'm gonna avoid their bites and scratches and I'm gonna aim for the head. Don't know what yet, but I will aim it for the head when I find something I can aim at their heads with."
And she did, she kicked at their heads to the very end. Even got rid of some that way, but there were too many for them. Emi would never forget her face as Rin told her to escape, tears sprouting from her eyes and her gritted teeth holding back the pain as they tore her flesh. It was as engraved in her brain as the agonizing screams she finally let out when Emi was already far away.
But Shizune had been the first one to die.
Their plan was simple, as all good plans are, and mostly drawn by Shizune. They would go through the empty classrooms to grab hammers, pieces of wood, whatever they might use to defend themselves, and check for survivors on their way out of the school.
The main gate was clearly not an option. Even if they could drive a vehicle to get try and through the crowd of them, the crashed car would block their path. Only a handful of people ever used the rear gate, so they had agreed to go out through it, circle through the woods and go to the town below.
Like most plans, good and bad, it didn't last long. A group of them came unnoticed to the classroom they were searching, and Shizune was the only one to spot them. Unable to warn the other girls in time and with no hope of taking a dozen of them down with a mere hammer, she grabbed a desk and threw herself at them.
Her blocking the main entrance with her life bought enough time for the group to leave through the back door. Without her sacrifice, they would not have made it out of that room, much less the building. Misha had not seen anyone die in front of her - they were already cutting class on the roof before the whole mess started - and seeing Shizune delivered to them to save her was too much. Her mental state quickly deteriorated and she soon fell to a group of them, crying out and uselessly batting at them with a 2 by 4.
Rin had been the only one to make it out of the building with her, but now Emi was all alone. Well, not quite. A rustling sound from the other side of the bushes was signal enough that her breather was over. She wiped her tears and held on tight to her baseball bat. She didn't want to risk a fight, but losing it right on the final stretch of her escape was just as bad.
As Emi approached her destination, she saw a familiar trenchcoat. Mutou was loosely holding a metal pipe that dripped blood with his back to her, turned towards a student-- no, to one of them. It wasn't a threat anymore, its head smashed into bits and spread out on the pavement, and Emi couldn't see any more of them, so she made a run to the teacher.
"Teacher! Thank god I found you, I--"
"No!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Terrified, I cover my mouth, but it's too late.
Oh my God, ohmygod what have I done they're all looking at me. I can't make myself small enough, I can't hide enough behind my hair, I need to go.
"I... I--"As I'm about to stand up and run away, Hisao clears his throat, commanding the attention of the room. The other four girls turn to him, with some delay from Shizune.
Trying to get my breathing back in control, I settle down a bit. I can't be this weak, and if i ran now, I'd only bring that attention back to myself. I close my eyes and take deep breaths as Hisao continues.
"'No!' says Hanako, watching helpless as Emi runs towards Mutou. From her vantage point on the second floor, she could see what Emi failed to notice: the blood on the pipe wasn't just from the student. Mutou was bit on that arm and had turned already."
Emi lets out a small gasp.
“You are caught by surprise as it attacks you. Roll for evasion." The only sound in the room is the die hitting the table. "Even surprised, you are too agile and it fails to grab you. Your turn."
"Ha! Watch me run laps around the old corpse. I'll bypass it and make a run for the woods." Curiosity takes the better of me and I open my eyes as Emi launches the icosahedron, and her confident grin becomes a pout. She rolled a 1. "Damn!"
"Wow. So... As you launch into running, you slip on a bit of gore from the smashed student aand..." A die rolls behind his open notebook. "...hit your head on the concrete. Not hard enough to go unconscious, but almost." Another die. "In your nearly defenseless state, the thing formerly known as Mutou jumps you and bites into your neck, giving you a painful, but quick death."
"No fair! I made it this far just to get screwed over by luck." Emi huffs and crosses her arms. I can't help but giggle over her adorable pouty face, which earns me a glare. "What about her?" I freeze in place as she points at me. Oh, please don't, I'm sorry.
Everyone but Rin turns, and I reflexively hide behind my hair and fix my gaze on the table.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, Hicchan~! You introduced Hanacchan in the story, what happens to her? Shicchan is asking about you too~."
"Oh, and Miki? I bet she'd manage to run, she's almost as fast as me."
Is my hair in place? I pat it down to make sure. Can I get out? But I'm curious too. I should go. No! Stay still, be strong.
I raise my eyes just enough to see Hisao rub the back of his neck, then look up for a bit, weaving his thoughts.
"Well... You girls didn't figure this out in game, but this kind of zombie uses mostly sound to find prey. Since the room Hanako was skipping class in is pretty isolated, as long as she stays quiet and manages her food and water until someone comes, she should be ok."
As long as I don't panic and ruin everything, that is. Even me being the center of attention just now was my fault, I should have kept my mouth shut. Stupid immersion, stupid cute pouty face.
"Miki could have escaped somewhat easily, but she stayed behind and she, Suzu and Taro ended up dying together, fighting to defend a few other students who could not escape."
I can definitely see that happening, Miura is pretty strong and reliable. Everyone is nodding too.
"As for me, I had the same idea as you all, to escape through the woods, but I got scratched on the way. Mutou helped me to the back gate where I turned, bit him and later Emi found us. It was my brains she slipped on." To my dismay, he says this with a smile, as if proud of his participation in the story, however grisly.
Before most of us can react to his neutral report on the gruesome events, Misha's booming laughter startles us. Well, most of us. Rin seems fixated on Hisao, I think she barely faltered throughout the last hour.
"WAHAHA! We always knew you were a scatterbrain, Hicchan, but not like that!"
Everyone but Rin and me shares a laugh. I can't help but smile a little, Hisao facepalms at the pun, and Shizune adjusts her glasses proudly. That was clearly her idea.
Only the redhead is still looking at Hisao in a near trance state, like a child listening to a bed time story. One full of death and gore and zombies, so more of a bad time story, I guess. Hisao claps his hands a bit loudly, which startles me, and starts getting up, which finally breaks Rin's trance. She looks around, pushes her dice away and rests her head on the table.
"Well, that's it for this session. Again, Kanna apologizes for her absence, but we all know health comes first."
"If it did, you'd be running more." Emi mumbles somewhat audibly.
"What was that, miss Ibarazaki?" Hisao sounds every bit like a scolding teacher, and she salutes rather quickly and mockingly.
"Nothing at all, captain DM teacher sir." If he notices her tone, he doesn't comment on it.
"Good. As I was saying, next week she should be back and we can resume our campaign. As thanks for helping me out with this experiment, your characters will receive some extra XP and maaybe some items."
"Wahaha! Such generosity! You love doing experiments, don't you, Hicchan?"
Hisao is still stacking his notes, looking down, so I catch a expression the others don't. I've never it seen before and I feel blood rushing to my cheeks, don't know why. I pat my hair again
"Yep, sure do." It goes away like it was never there, and he snaps back to a normal smile. "I'm in the Science Club, after all."
"Snacks! Whatcha got for tonight?" Emi seems a bit worked up too, did she see what I did? Maybe she's just hungry.
"Oh, yeah. Since we have been getting some chilly nights, I made chocolate fondue with assorted fruits. Yes, Rin, there are oranges, and I peeled them in advance. Hmm... I think there's some castella left too, I wonder..."
Rin stands up tall to face Hisao and shakes her head, all seriousness. "Don't. Some experiments are too dire."
"Hmph. Fine, just the fondue and fruits, then. Everyone cool with it?" The girls nod.
"Sure, Hicchan! Your snacks are aal~ways delec- delecta... very tasty~!"
"So you guys can clear up the table while I finish preparing everything. Can you give me a hand, Hanako?" I jump a bit in my seat at the mention of my name, but everyone's attention is on their tasks. I nod meekly and follow Hisao out of his room.
"Hey, how did you know people were going to get attacked when they went to help?"
"I had no idea, it just sounded like something my character would say."
"So. What did you think of the RPG? Did you manage to grasp what it's about?"
"I... enjoyed watching. It was like a... play or, or a novel being written right in front of me."
"Yeah, except there isn't a single author, the story is built by the whole group, so things are less predictable. Sorry about using you as a character there, by the way."
"It was my fault, I- I couldn't keep quiet when I realized... what was gonna happen." It happens sometimes when I'm reading, to my horror when somebody sees.
"Huh. Was it that obvious?" He sounds a little dejected, like I was criticizing him. I hurry to deny it.
"No, no. I... don't think so, but when you read... as much as I do, some patterns become... noticeable."
We arrive at the boy's dorm kitchen, which is blessedly empty save for a kid sleeping on the couch.
"I guess so. Well, I just need to heat up the fondue, and set everything up. Could I bother you to make us tea?"
Well, that's something I'm good at. I nod and he responds with a smile.
"Great, thanks. The tea is in the green box, inside that cupboard. We can use the set by the sink."
I find the container, but it has two compartments. I reflexively take a whiff.
"Ah, the herbal one, please. It's the one on your--"
"Right, yes. Chamomile, citrus and... rosemary?" What an odd combination. "And green on the left." I look up for confirmation and Hisao's mouth is hanging slightly open. Oh my god, I just cut him off.
"I... I'm s-sorry, I..." I stagger, but he just gives me a smile and a quick pat on the shoulder. The left one, fortunately.
"Hey, no problem. You just demonstrated I chose the right person for the job." I feel my cheeks burning up from embarrassment, but I'm also a bit proud. Better focus on the tea so I don't screw it up.
"All... done here. A couple minutes brewing and it's ready to drink."
"Good, I am nearly done too." I was so nervous and focused on not screwing up, I didn't even see what he was doing at the stove. The silence is awkward, so I ask something that has been on my mind for a bit.
"Is... Is it common for everyone to... die like that?" Doesn't look like a lot of fun.
"Hm? No, party wipes like this are pretty rare. On our usual campaign, everyone has had the same characters from the start. Emi's had to be revived once, though."
"Re... revived? The... d-deaths the girls suffered in the game, and... yours too, seemed... very definitive."
"Like I said, tonight was an experiment, just because Kanna was away. The ongoing story is on a fantasy setting, much more forgiving. Though it took nearly all the money the party had, and a lot of pouting."
"I... I see." Some of my favourite books take place on fantasy settings, so I can see the allure of being part of those worlds. What I wouldn't give to be transported to worlds like Middle Earth, Narnia, Asgard, Camelot... My musing is cut short when I realize Hisao has finished his part and is just regarding me, with an amused smile.
"Piqued your interest? Because that's one of the reasons I asked you to come help me." Oh, great. Now that I was settling down.
"O- one of..." I choke on the words, unable to finish the question.
"First is your mastery of the tea, of course." He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. I'm still nervously waiting. "Second, I wanted to talk to you alone, to ask if you would like to play with us."
"Why..." My voice dies, and I catch myself fidgeting. Why would he need me to leave the room?
"I thought the added pressure of four girls watching and waiting for you to answer would be uncomfortable." Oh, that's... considerate. A bit patronizing too. "No need to answer me right now either. I'll send you some links if you want and, if you are interested, we can talk about it after class or in the library."
His 'no pressure' spiel is having an opposite effect. Why is he being so considerate? I thought he was already dating someone. No, he actually told me so when he invited me for tonight, otherwise I wouldn't accept. Did he know that and lie?
My head is spinning, and the only thing I know for sure is my escape route.
"I... III--"
"You'vegottadosomething?" Hisao takes the words right out of my mouth, and I just choke and stand, a deer in the headlights. "Too bad, the girls and I wanted to chat, get to know you better. Oh well. Here, take this."
He hands me a small, two-part bento box, and I take it on reflex. "The fruits are on top and the molten chocolate is on the bottom, so it should keep your hands warm on the way to the girl's dorm. It should be microwavable, if you decide to eat later. Though I have not tested yet, so no guarantees."
I just stay there, stunned. No one has ever stopped me like that before. And when did he prepare this? I wasn't looking but how did he know to?
"I gotta go too, otherwise Misha and Emi will end up eating my books or something." He starts to fill a tray with the tea set, the fondue and half a dozen small bowls with fruits.
"Shizune would find a way to make a competition out of it, I'm sure." He mumbles while he grabs the last items.
"See you tomorrow in class?" My brain is overloaded, but I manage to nod and make my way out of the boy's dorm building. At half of the panicky speed I initially intended.
I don't even know how I reach my room, considering how stupefied I am by the whole experience. If Lilly was here, I would be in her room right now. I can't deal with all these doubts and suppositions and she always knows what to tell me when I feel this lost. Why did she have to go now, of all times? And what time is it in Scotland? I make the calculations and decide I should wait an hour or two before calling her.
On the meantime, I might as well try this fondue out, before it goes cold. By the way Hisao talked, I should eat while it's warm. But how am I supposed to eat it? Sounds like something Lilly would know too. Oh, Lilly, how I miss you...
I guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own. Maybe eating will calm the butterflies on my stomach.
Emi braced herself against the wall, catching her breath. Thank God they weren't that fast, but they were relentless. If she didn't have her racing legs on, she would be done for already, just like everyone else.
Everybody... How could she have ended up all alone? She thought back on the last few hours, trying to find where everything went wrong.
It all began during class.
A warning through the PA system, telling everyone to evacuate, turned into a terrifying cacophony filled with screams and indescribable, gruesome sounds.
The teachers tried to control the panic setting in, to little avail. If Yamaku hadn't been designed with mobility in mind, many students would have died right there, trampled by their colleagues. Not that it saved them in the end.
Rin avoided the multitude that ran, limped or wheeled down stairs and elevators. Instead, she rushed to a window to assess the situation. Emi, worried and confused but sure of her own running capabilities, followed her.
From the third floor, they could see a car crashed against the gates. A handful of inert bodies laid strewn on the ground, that sported huge puddles of reddish-brown, with some of it trailing in their direction.
As the girls tried to piece together what was going on, one of the figures stood up unsteadily and begun to make way towards the building. Nurse's lab coat and purple hair were easily recognizable, even from a greater distance.
Emi let out a gasp and covered her mouth in horror as he turned around. His left arm was a bloody mess hanging limply from his side, connected to the shoulder by mere centimeters of muscle and sinew.
She turned to run down the stairs, but Rin stood in her way. "Rin! What are you doing? We need to get down there and help!"
Rin shook her head. "No. If we go out with everyone, we will end up like them." She turned towards the window.
The first groups of students had arrived on the site. A couple of them tried to help Nurse, but were promptly attacked by him, he was... biting them?!
"What the..." Emi couldn't believe, but she clearly saw Goro eating at the students. Her breakfast forced itself out of her, burning her throat and nostrils on the way. She coughed and gagged, but some instinct got her to recover and go back to observing the threat beside Rin, who stood unfazed.
The ones who tried to make a run for the gates quickly discovered that the corpses spread on the way were not as inert as they first seemed, and fell under their attack. Some of the students tried to run back, but they were blocked by the mass coming out of the building, and a frenzy rose by the minute. The whole group became easy prey as chaos ensued, and their screams could be heard across the campus. Other ones sounded closer by, probably caused by whatever made the trail of blood they had seen.
"Come, we need to find a safe spot to avoid them. Hmm... The roof, yes." Rin started walking contrary to the flow, leaving Emi to follow her.
"Wait, what about the others? We gotta find Hisao, Miki and the rest!"
That gave her a second of pause, but when she turned Emi could see no doubt in her expression, only some bitterness.
"No. If they went with everyone else, we would just get ourselves in the same mess. We can check the classrooms on the way. Come on."
By then, the third floor was empty, and the classrooms were populated only by abandoned objects, upturned chairs and desks. They reached the top of the building in a few minutes.
Shizune and Misha were already there, and after catching up, they tried to get a signal on their cellphones and call their families or the authorities. Emi tried too, but the cell network was overloaded and useless.
"Well, it's not like the police or the JSDF could reach us in time to help. Is that so, Shicchan?"
Meanwhile, Rin was closely checking Misha. Very closely.
"Oh, so they couldn't mobilize enough... Huuh... Whatcha doing, Richan?"
"Looking for bites. Or scratches. I mean, marks of those things, I would not be able to see a bite, only something biting another thing. You know, from them. But I guess you two came here before encountering them."
The other three looked at each other, then back at Rin. Almost at the same time, two voices and a pair of hands made the same question: "What?!"
Rin looked back at them all with calm and a bit of contempt.
"Well, they are clearly like that movie. The one where it was night and there were living dead people."
"The Night of The Living Dead?"
"Hm? No, I never watched that one, is it good?"
"Well, it's a class- Never mind that, Rin! You think those are... zombies?" Rin shrugged.
"Something like that." Shizune answered to that with sharp movements.
"Shicchan says that's ridiculous! Those are just works of fiction. There must be a rational explanation!" Rin shrugged again, annoyed.
"Well they are very real, and they eat people, and they are up when they should be down, one when they should be zero, and even if it is ridiculous or irrational, I'm gonna avoid their bites and scratches and I'm gonna aim for the head. Don't know what yet, but I will aim it for the head when I find something I can aim at their heads with."
And she did, she kicked at their heads to the very end. Even got rid of some that way, but there were too many for them. Emi would never forget her face as Rin told her to escape, tears sprouting from her eyes and her gritted teeth holding back the pain as they tore her flesh. It was as engraved in her brain as the agonizing screams she finally let out when Emi was already far away.
But Shizune had been the first one to die.
Their plan was simple, as all good plans are, and mostly drawn by Shizune. They would go through the empty classrooms to grab hammers, pieces of wood, whatever they might use to defend themselves, and check for survivors on their way out of the school.
The main gate was clearly not an option. Even if they could drive a vehicle to get try and through the crowd of them, the crashed car would block their path. Only a handful of people ever used the rear gate, so they had agreed to go out through it, circle through the woods and go to the town below.
Like most plans, good and bad, it didn't last long. A group of them came unnoticed to the classroom they were searching, and Shizune was the only one to spot them. Unable to warn the other girls in time and with no hope of taking a dozen of them down with a mere hammer, she grabbed a desk and threw herself at them.
Her blocking the main entrance with her life bought enough time for the group to leave through the back door. Without her sacrifice, they would not have made it out of that room, much less the building. Misha had not seen anyone die in front of her - they were already cutting class on the roof before the whole mess started - and seeing Shizune delivered to them to save her was too much. Her mental state quickly deteriorated and she soon fell to a group of them, crying out and uselessly batting at them with a 2 by 4.
Rin had been the only one to make it out of the building with her, but now Emi was all alone. Well, not quite. A rustling sound from the other side of the bushes was signal enough that her breather was over. She wiped her tears and held on tight to her baseball bat. She didn't want to risk a fight, but losing it right on the final stretch of her escape was just as bad.
As Emi approached her destination, she saw a familiar trenchcoat. Mutou was loosely holding a metal pipe that dripped blood with his back to her, turned towards a student-- no, to one of them. It wasn't a threat anymore, its head smashed into bits and spread out on the pavement, and Emi couldn't see any more of them, so she made a run to the teacher.
"Teacher! Thank god I found you, I--"
"No!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Terrified, I cover my mouth, but it's too late.
Oh my God, ohmygod what have I done they're all looking at me. I can't make myself small enough, I can't hide enough behind my hair, I need to go.
"I... I--"As I'm about to stand up and run away, Hisao clears his throat, commanding the attention of the room. The other four girls turn to him, with some delay from Shizune.
Trying to get my breathing back in control, I settle down a bit. I can't be this weak, and if i ran now, I'd only bring that attention back to myself. I close my eyes and take deep breaths as Hisao continues.
"'No!' says Hanako, watching helpless as Emi runs towards Mutou. From her vantage point on the second floor, she could see what Emi failed to notice: the blood on the pipe wasn't just from the student. Mutou was bit on that arm and had turned already."
Emi lets out a small gasp.
“You are caught by surprise as it attacks you. Roll for evasion." The only sound in the room is the die hitting the table. "Even surprised, you are too agile and it fails to grab you. Your turn."
"Ha! Watch me run laps around the old corpse. I'll bypass it and make a run for the woods." Curiosity takes the better of me and I open my eyes as Emi launches the icosahedron, and her confident grin becomes a pout. She rolled a 1. "Damn!"
"Wow. So... As you launch into running, you slip on a bit of gore from the smashed student aand..." A die rolls behind his open notebook. "...hit your head on the concrete. Not hard enough to go unconscious, but almost." Another die. "In your nearly defenseless state, the thing formerly known as Mutou jumps you and bites into your neck, giving you a painful, but quick death."
"No fair! I made it this far just to get screwed over by luck." Emi huffs and crosses her arms. I can't help but giggle over her adorable pouty face, which earns me a glare. "What about her?" I freeze in place as she points at me. Oh, please don't, I'm sorry.
Everyone but Rin turns, and I reflexively hide behind my hair and fix my gaze on the table.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, Hicchan~! You introduced Hanacchan in the story, what happens to her? Shicchan is asking about you too~."
"Oh, and Miki? I bet she'd manage to run, she's almost as fast as me."
Is my hair in place? I pat it down to make sure. Can I get out? But I'm curious too. I should go. No! Stay still, be strong.
I raise my eyes just enough to see Hisao rub the back of his neck, then look up for a bit, weaving his thoughts.
"Well... You girls didn't figure this out in game, but this kind of zombie uses mostly sound to find prey. Since the room Hanako was skipping class in is pretty isolated, as long as she stays quiet and manages her food and water until someone comes, she should be ok."
As long as I don't panic and ruin everything, that is. Even me being the center of attention just now was my fault, I should have kept my mouth shut. Stupid immersion, stupid cute pouty face.
"Miki could have escaped somewhat easily, but she stayed behind and she, Suzu and Taro ended up dying together, fighting to defend a few other students who could not escape."
I can definitely see that happening, Miura is pretty strong and reliable. Everyone is nodding too.
"As for me, I had the same idea as you all, to escape through the woods, but I got scratched on the way. Mutou helped me to the back gate where I turned, bit him and later Emi found us. It was my brains she slipped on." To my dismay, he says this with a smile, as if proud of his participation in the story, however grisly.
Before most of us can react to his neutral report on the gruesome events, Misha's booming laughter startles us. Well, most of us. Rin seems fixated on Hisao, I think she barely faltered throughout the last hour.
"WAHAHA! We always knew you were a scatterbrain, Hicchan, but not like that!"
Everyone but Rin and me shares a laugh. I can't help but smile a little, Hisao facepalms at the pun, and Shizune adjusts her glasses proudly. That was clearly her idea.
Only the redhead is still looking at Hisao in a near trance state, like a child listening to a bed time story. One full of death and gore and zombies, so more of a bad time story, I guess. Hisao claps his hands a bit loudly, which startles me, and starts getting up, which finally breaks Rin's trance. She looks around, pushes her dice away and rests her head on the table.
"Well, that's it for this session. Again, Kanna apologizes for her absence, but we all know health comes first."
"If it did, you'd be running more." Emi mumbles somewhat audibly.
"What was that, miss Ibarazaki?" Hisao sounds every bit like a scolding teacher, and she salutes rather quickly and mockingly.
"Nothing at all, captain DM teacher sir." If he notices her tone, he doesn't comment on it.
"Good. As I was saying, next week she should be back and we can resume our campaign. As thanks for helping me out with this experiment, your characters will receive some extra XP and maaybe some items."
"Wahaha! Such generosity! You love doing experiments, don't you, Hicchan?"
Hisao is still stacking his notes, looking down, so I catch a expression the others don't. I've never it seen before and I feel blood rushing to my cheeks, don't know why. I pat my hair again
"Yep, sure do." It goes away like it was never there, and he snaps back to a normal smile. "I'm in the Science Club, after all."
"Snacks! Whatcha got for tonight?" Emi seems a bit worked up too, did she see what I did? Maybe she's just hungry.
"Oh, yeah. Since we have been getting some chilly nights, I made chocolate fondue with assorted fruits. Yes, Rin, there are oranges, and I peeled them in advance. Hmm... I think there's some castella left too, I wonder..."
Rin stands up tall to face Hisao and shakes her head, all seriousness. "Don't. Some experiments are too dire."
"Hmph. Fine, just the fondue and fruits, then. Everyone cool with it?" The girls nod.
"Sure, Hicchan! Your snacks are aal~ways delec- delecta... very tasty~!"
"So you guys can clear up the table while I finish preparing everything. Can you give me a hand, Hanako?" I jump a bit in my seat at the mention of my name, but everyone's attention is on their tasks. I nod meekly and follow Hisao out of his room.
"Hey, how did you know people were going to get attacked when they went to help?"
"I had no idea, it just sounded like something my character would say."
"So. What did you think of the RPG? Did you manage to grasp what it's about?"
"I... enjoyed watching. It was like a... play or, or a novel being written right in front of me."
"Yeah, except there isn't a single author, the story is built by the whole group, so things are less predictable. Sorry about using you as a character there, by the way."
"It was my fault, I- I couldn't keep quiet when I realized... what was gonna happen." It happens sometimes when I'm reading, to my horror when somebody sees.
"Huh. Was it that obvious?" He sounds a little dejected, like I was criticizing him. I hurry to deny it.
"No, no. I... don't think so, but when you read... as much as I do, some patterns become... noticeable."
We arrive at the boy's dorm kitchen, which is blessedly empty save for a kid sleeping on the couch.
"I guess so. Well, I just need to heat up the fondue, and set everything up. Could I bother you to make us tea?"
Well, that's something I'm good at. I nod and he responds with a smile.
"Great, thanks. The tea is in the green box, inside that cupboard. We can use the set by the sink."
I find the container, but it has two compartments. I reflexively take a whiff.
"Ah, the herbal one, please. It's the one on your--"
"Right, yes. Chamomile, citrus and... rosemary?" What an odd combination. "And green on the left." I look up for confirmation and Hisao's mouth is hanging slightly open. Oh my god, I just cut him off.
"I... I'm s-sorry, I..." I stagger, but he just gives me a smile and a quick pat on the shoulder. The left one, fortunately.
"Hey, no problem. You just demonstrated I chose the right person for the job." I feel my cheeks burning up from embarrassment, but I'm also a bit proud. Better focus on the tea so I don't screw it up.
"All... done here. A couple minutes brewing and it's ready to drink."
"Good, I am nearly done too." I was so nervous and focused on not screwing up, I didn't even see what he was doing at the stove. The silence is awkward, so I ask something that has been on my mind for a bit.
"Is... Is it common for everyone to... die like that?" Doesn't look like a lot of fun.
"Hm? No, party wipes like this are pretty rare. On our usual campaign, everyone has had the same characters from the start. Emi's had to be revived once, though."
"Re... revived? The... d-deaths the girls suffered in the game, and... yours too, seemed... very definitive."
"Like I said, tonight was an experiment, just because Kanna was away. The ongoing story is on a fantasy setting, much more forgiving. Though it took nearly all the money the party had, and a lot of pouting."
"I... I see." Some of my favourite books take place on fantasy settings, so I can see the allure of being part of those worlds. What I wouldn't give to be transported to worlds like Middle Earth, Narnia, Asgard, Camelot... My musing is cut short when I realize Hisao has finished his part and is just regarding me, with an amused smile.
"Piqued your interest? Because that's one of the reasons I asked you to come help me." Oh, great. Now that I was settling down.
"O- one of..." I choke on the words, unable to finish the question.
"First is your mastery of the tea, of course." He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. I'm still nervously waiting. "Second, I wanted to talk to you alone, to ask if you would like to play with us."
"Why..." My voice dies, and I catch myself fidgeting. Why would he need me to leave the room?
"I thought the added pressure of four girls watching and waiting for you to answer would be uncomfortable." Oh, that's... considerate. A bit patronizing too. "No need to answer me right now either. I'll send you some links if you want and, if you are interested, we can talk about it after class or in the library."
His 'no pressure' spiel is having an opposite effect. Why is he being so considerate? I thought he was already dating someone. No, he actually told me so when he invited me for tonight, otherwise I wouldn't accept. Did he know that and lie?
My head is spinning, and the only thing I know for sure is my escape route.
"I... III--"
"You'vegottadosomething?" Hisao takes the words right out of my mouth, and I just choke and stand, a deer in the headlights. "Too bad, the girls and I wanted to chat, get to know you better. Oh well. Here, take this."
He hands me a small, two-part bento box, and I take it on reflex. "The fruits are on top and the molten chocolate is on the bottom, so it should keep your hands warm on the way to the girl's dorm. It should be microwavable, if you decide to eat later. Though I have not tested yet, so no guarantees."
I just stay there, stunned. No one has ever stopped me like that before. And when did he prepare this? I wasn't looking but how did he know to?
"I gotta go too, otherwise Misha and Emi will end up eating my books or something." He starts to fill a tray with the tea set, the fondue and half a dozen small bowls with fruits.
"Shizune would find a way to make a competition out of it, I'm sure." He mumbles while he grabs the last items.
"See you tomorrow in class?" My brain is overloaded, but I manage to nod and make my way out of the boy's dorm building. At half of the panicky speed I initially intended.
I don't even know how I reach my room, considering how stupefied I am by the whole experience. If Lilly was here, I would be in her room right now. I can't deal with all these doubts and suppositions and she always knows what to tell me when I feel this lost. Why did she have to go now, of all times? And what time is it in Scotland? I make the calculations and decide I should wait an hour or two before calling her.
On the meantime, I might as well try this fondue out, before it goes cold. By the way Hisao talked, I should eat while it's warm. But how am I supposed to eat it? Sounds like something Lilly would know too. Oh, Lilly, how I miss you...
I guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own. Maybe eating will calm the butterflies on my stomach.
