(no subject)

[magiciansempress]

Characters: Saki and YOU
Setting: All around the tower! Starting in Room 2-05
Format: I'll match you!
Summary: Saki has woken up in the tower, and she is relieved to be alive.
Warnings: There will probably be Adachi in here, being a creeper

[When Saki wakes up in the bed, it's like everything before with the other her, in that hell that resembled her own liquor store--the incident with the detective--everything--it's all just a bad dream. After lying there for a few good minutes, even after the sleep paralysis wears off, she sits up and looks around. And then she cries for a few more minutes, pure relief washing over her. She's alive. She's alive and safe, even if she doesn't recognize here. And that's what matters.

After a good cry, she changes into her casual clothing and starts to explore. The cafeteria for her oatmeal, the meadow, anywhere. Anything to learn what this place is and maybe find a familiar face.]

Comments

Floor 14

[pitythefool]

[What was that about pure relief washing over you? Because that could very well give way to pure unadulterated terror in a matter of seconds.

Because, you know. Running into Detective Adachi in a room full of televisions surely won't cause some sort of panic reaction, will it?

But hey, once it clicks in his head and he realizes exactly who you are, he looks just as surprised to see you as you will be to see him.]

N-No way... That's...

FINALLY GOT ME SOME ICONS.

[magiciansempress]

[Running into him alone would have terrified her. However, there are many TVs around, and she hasn't forgotten what he did. She actively takes a few steps back, visibly shaking--trying to remain even remotely calm. She doesn't say anything at all, though.]

HERE WE GO

[pitythefool]

[Crap. Crap.

The last time he saw her outside of the TV world, she was dangling upside-down from some TV antennae. She was dead. She was supposed to stay dead.

After a moment of scrutiny, Adachi regards her with a dark look, keeping his voice as level as he can.]

...You shouldn't be here.

SOBBING

[magiciansempress]

[Adachi should be familiar enough with how the Tower works on time shenanigans. Of course it would pull her here. When that dark look settles on her, she finds herself backing up much quicker and looking for the stairs at the same time. She definitely doesn't want to deal with him.]

Meadow floor I forget the number

[princeofjunes]

[Yosuke's found himself spending more time here than normal lately - between the comparatively peaceful scenery and the music blasting through his headphones, he's been hoping for a bit of clarity, something to clear his mind after the last month]

[It also doesn't hurt that it's not the media room, so he's far less likely to run into anyone looking for him]

[His peaceful melancholy is broken when he sees someone else on the floor. It's hard to tell at a distance, but it's someone who looks vaguely familiar, but he doesn't remember seeing them around the tower before-]

[- and then his heart stopped, his mouth hanging open in realization, disbelief, and a thousand other emotions he can't even identify. He can't even think straight, and the only word he can manage comes involuntarily]

... Saki?

Floor 25!

[magiciansempress]

[Peace is something Saki likes right now. Especially after that hell that is the Midnight Channel. She hadn't expected, though, to run into Yosuke of all people. He had noticed her first, but when she responds to the name, that confirms that it is indeed her.]

...Hana-chan? Is that--?

[Is it really you?]

That's the one!

[princeofjunes]

[No]

[No no no no no no no no no]

[This can't be real. It can't be. It's some way for the tower to play tricks on him, or some cruel illusion, or maybe he's just gone crazy or maybe he secretly died and this is the afterlife. There has to be some explanation. Some reason Saki-senpai is standing in front of him, in those familiar clothes, with that voice that haunted his dreams for so many nights]

[It can't be... but he finds himself getting to his feet, taking a few hesitant steps towards her, his voice sounding much weaker than it ever has]

It... it's really you?

And then Yosuke's life was even more suffering.

[magiciansempress]

[She gives a bit of a shaky laugh. It's obvious she's not too sure of where she is, or even who's in front of her.]

Depends. Is it really you?

[Her body language is nervous and hopeful all at once. He's right here, right in front of her... But is it him? If not, she may have to run. She doesn't want to be right where she was before she suddenly woke up here. She doesn't want to be standing right in front of something that wants to kill her.]

SEEMS LEGIT

[princeofjunes]

I...

[Now there's a question he wasn't prepared to answer as he slides his headphones off. It throws enough of a wrench at his brain that he actually starts thinking for a moment now that he has a question to answer that's more than just what the hell is going on?]

I... I'd offer my headphones? But if I gave you those then you'd for sure not think it's me...

[WHAT DO OH GOD]

[magiciansempress]

[It's him. There's no doubt about it. He's actually here and it's Yosuke and she's safe and not actually about to die. And that's all that really matters.

She's not sure when she manages to unfreeze, to move, but next thing she knows, she's buried her face in his chest and is crying. She can't stop crying, because she's relieved and alive and nothing bad is happening.

Everything is all right now.]

[princeofjunes]

[Nothing is alright. She's real and here and nothing is alright and everything is wrong and-]

[... and she's pressed against him, crying into his chest]

[That's a thing]

[There is almost nothing clear about this situation, least of all what he should be feeling. But the one thing he can make out is that Saki-senpai needs him. He's not sure when his arms wrapped around her, but Yosuke is content to stand there and simply hold her as she sobs into his chest, giving her whatever comfort he can offer. He couldn't save her then, but now... he can do this for her now, for however long she needs.]

[magiciansempress]

[She doesn't know what to say. Would he even believe her? Not that she can talk clearly right now. She'll just cry for a few moments more, digging fingers into his shirt like it's some kind of anchor and she could disappear any second. But finally, finally, she calms enough to speak.]

I was scared.

[princeofjunes]

[Scared? Now there's an emotion he knows, and a word that helps him put a name to some of those emotions whirling around in the pit of his stomach, because now that she's here he's terrified of each and every thing that could happen to her. What if she wanders off on the wrong floor? What if she runs into the wrong person? What if a monster comes across her?]

[... what if he's too late again?]

[But he pushes those thoughts away as he tries to comfort her]

It's okay. This tower is a scary place. Anyone would be scared.

Aquarium

[theresnosuchthing]

[Kafuka is standing by one of the water walls, leaning in and peering curiously at the various colorful things that swim about. She looks up when she sees Saki by the stairs, waving cheerfully at her as she does. Because that's totally how you greet strangers in a place like this. Obviously. Plus, she looks like a nice girl, right?]

Hi!

[magiciansempress]

[Saki can't believe exactly what she's seeing. There's seriously no glass between them and the water? It's really just staying up on its own? But then someone's speaking to her. Right?]

Uh... Hey...?

[theresnosuchthing]

[Kafuka chuckles a little.]

You have the look of someone who just got here.

[Mostly because people tend to have this expression on their face when they see the Aquarium for the first time. I mean, it's just laws of physics being grossly ignored, people get used to that. Eventually.]

Cafeteria | After all them shenanigans...

[pitiedthefool]

[It hadn't taken long after Yosuke fled from the others to be alone that he'd followed suit with little to no explanation. He doesn't know how long it will be before a certain someone else finds her (if they haven't already), and after the second time of going up or down the staircase and checking each floor, he just... stops on the first. No luck...

The thoughts he'd been blocking out as he searched come to mind as he pauses, taking a breather and sitting at a table in plain sight. First Adachi, then his uncle, and now Konishi-senpai was here, too? Damn... Why does it feel like he's always one step behind?

Yu sighs. Maybe he should keep looking. That is... if she didn't find him there, first.]

[magiciansempress]

[It doesn't take long for her to arrive in the cafeteria, thankfully. She'd spent a lot of time in her room after Adachi, because maybe he couldn't get to her there. So she may seem a little tired. It's been an emotional roller coaster ride since she arrived, after all. But when she sees Yu, she perks up and a b and walks over.]

...You're Hana-chan's friend, right?

[pitiedthefool]

[Thankfully, because he was just about to get up and leave when he heard a voice he hadn't since he first met her or when Yosuke faced his Shadow. Yu blinks, turning his head to see her. Right there. ...Well. This would be more of a shock had it not been for someone having freaked out on him earlier...]

Yeah. [At least she's from after they briefly met, but that means... well, crap.] Yu Narukami.

[magiciansempress]

It's nice to finally get the chance to talk to you for more than a few minutes, Narukami-san.

[She's not on break this time, she doesn't have a time limit. So she'll take a seat across from him at the table. There... Might very well be a lot to talk about.]

[pitiedthefool]

[Yu nods in agreement, glad she decided to join him. After all... the cafeteria is probably one of the few safe places right now. Though right now, he isn't as sure about 'nice' since he... No. Not going to dwell on that, especially since there was plenty to speak of that did not involve plans concerning a certain sign and a murderer's face.]

That it is. [He smiles faintly. She probably already knows about the different times, so he adds:] Konishi-kun always spoke highly of you.

[When not complaining about the cream puffs, anyway. There's a faint hint of a tease somewhere.]

[magiciansempress]

[That's surprising, really. To know that he met her brother.]

You've talked to Naoki?

[...Here's hoping Yu was a good friend after... Yeah.]

[pitiedthefool]

[It seemed like a more neutral topic than others, especially considering he saw enough of the others' Shadows to know better.]

Yeah. [...] King Moron signed me up to help with the student health association.

[magiciansempress]

...Was he doing okay?

[She's perfectly aware that she dies. Died. Whatever. Naoki must have... Taken it pretty hard, and now she's worried about him.]

[pitiedthefool]

[He had taken it hard, and he can't sugarcoat that fact. But one thing he could say? Was the truth, and it was good...despite what caused it to happen in the first place.]

...He took it hard, but yes. When I left Inaba, he was able to look forward with his head held high. [Though, there was something else to ask...] Are you alright, though?