♬ 002. The more I think, the less I see.

[idolizer]

Characters: Sayaka Maizono and you. Yes, you!
Setting: Dorms, room 1-05 -> Floor 25 -> Floor 48 -> Floor 14
Format: Actionspamming all the way, but I can match yo.
Summary: It's cold, but the idol won't let it get to her much - that only means more training is a go! It's when she visits the graveyard that something hits her in the feelings...
Warnings: Aside some DR spoilers and sadness, nothing else.




[ Dorms, 1-05 ]

[ It's been less than a month since Sayaka arrived to the Tower, and had to adapt to things rather quickly. Though nothing too terrifying happened, except listening to those audio files, she's got all the more motivation to learn to fight by herself and continue singing even in a place like this. It's a slow process, but she's progressing finely. Whether she's going to actually change her... weapon of choice or not, it's still early to tell.

The cold, however, took her by surprise. Other than her idol outfit and another set of clothes, she doesn't have much she could wear to deal with it. It's unnerving her day by day, along with the nutrition bars being the only damn food available around. Even so, she still tries to keep her pokerface and smile at whoever she meets. It won't be different when her roomates walk in, as they'll find her armed with knitting needles and some wool that she found in the workshop, sitting on her bed and working on this scarf she's doing. There's no way she's going to beg for a spare sweater when she can attempt to make a scarf by herself. ]


[ Floor 25 ]

[ The meadow has easily become her favourite spot, both for training or just chilling. Except that chilly now is more literal, and hanging out there is more ardous because of the cold temperature. But what Sayaka learned with years of showbiz is that if you have to defeat the cold during a concert in the open, you've got to move. And so she'll move, for a couple hours of non-stop powerwalking through the area. This is still part of the training after all. ]


[ Floor 48 ]

[ ... It's a sudden rush of curiosity that pushed her to get to this floor. Call it macabre curiosity, rather, but before we know it, she's in the graveyard, going past each headstone and reading the names on it. Basically they're all names she never heard of... they must be people who disappeared from the tower, but why make a graveyard of them? Are they really all dead, or...?

...

She freezes to a halt when her eyes fall onto perhaps the first and only name she recognizes among those faceless ones. Eyes widen as she read that name over and over.

Leon Kuwata

...

It hits her like a punch in the gut. No, it's not that, it shouldn't feel like that. She should be happy of the discovery! Finally she won't have to deal with him anymore! No more risking to cross paths with him, no more threatening, no more of that stupid loudmouthed redhead who hurt her so much and never regretted it--

...

She should be happy about it, but... even the grudge can't overtake the pity she feels for having him die a second time, and- and she can't bring herself to such a low level. Pity seems to be a fine sentiment in this moment. She can give him that at the very least.

Everyone that passes by will see her stand in front of that headstone for quite the long time, an undescribable expression on her face... like she's got no emotions at all written in it. ]


[ Floor 14 ]

[ After all that walking, the best thing to do is to... well, move some more. And dancing just happens to be one of her favourite activities, a great help when it comes to forget all about whatever bad feelings she had during the day. The music's up, so would you like to join her? ]

Comments

[chainsawn]

It's not really their grave. [ Apparently she thinks that is what must be bothering the other girl, since she's explaining it so calmly, as if she's hoping that will make it better. ]

Yuuto dug one up. There wasn't anything in the coffin.

[idolizer]

[ ... that's definitely not what bothered her, nope, not at all. All the same, she frowns deeply at that. ]

What kind of... sick joke is that?

[chainsawn]

I'm not sure. [ But Urotsuki sure seems much more calm about this than a person should be. Although honestly, you'd get it if you saw her dreams, compared to the disturbing stuff in there this is still pretty normal and factual.. ]

Maybe they wanted to make a graveyard but didn't have enough corpses for it. So they had to improvise.

[idolizer]

But why would they choose random names for it? [ She feels sick to the stomach now... and this girl doesn't seem affected at all. It's disturbing. ] Is it to scare us all?

[chainsawn]

.. Yeah, maybe that's it.. [ She hums, still as calm as before. ]

Someone I met here before said that they want to break us. So.. this is maybe for that too..?

[idolizer]

[ Break them...

"But aren't they supposed to protect us", she wanted to ask. Then, everything she was told about this place resurfaces to her mind- and she bites her lip, the chill that she fought so much all day long returning at once. ]

What on earth do they want from us... are they just a bunch of sadistic criminals that aim to use us as playthings?

[chainsawn]

Who knows.. I didn't think they were like that. [ Mostly since she's gullible, so she just believed the letter.. ]

But.. I talked to someone. He said that they are probably lying about what they told us.. he says people always lie about the important things.

[idolizer]

About our worlds being destroyed? I have talked with someone about that, too.

[ She rubs her arm, the chill of the cold is not sparing this place either. Rather, it makes it worse. ] I'm rather new here, so I don't know many things yet.

[chainsawn]

I've been here for a while, but.. I don't know a lot of things either. Maybe I'm just not smart. [ Since she's met some people in this place who were much smarter..

But when she sees the girl shaking a little like that, she takes a moment to hold out her hand - and after another moment there's a lantern in it, coming out of nowhere, that radiates some heat. ]

.. Are you cold?

[idolizer]

[ It's not common to hear someone admit their own stupidity. Not at all, actually. But before Sayaka could answer to that, that girl extended her hand and-- huh?

Sahe blinks rapidly, staring at the lantern, then at the girl. ]

... How did you do that?

[chainsawn]

[ Urotsuki stares from the girl to the lantern and then back to the girl, blinking as if she doesn't even get the question. Isn't it obvious how she did that? (Well, it's normal to her..) ]

I made it appear. [ Yup. ] You mean you don't want to warm yourself..?

[idolizer]

[ No it's not obvious at all!! She's weirded out by the answer, but then she shakes her head. ]

I didn't mean that... just, how did you make it appear? Is that magic...?

[chainsawn]

I don't know.. maybe it's magic if you want to call it that way.

[ It's so normal to her that she doesn't even view it as 'magic', honestly. ]

It's just.. something I can do.

[idolizer]

[ Then she'll take it as magic. This girl seems so clueless about things, and it worries Sayaka a little. Even so, she can't refuse such kind gesture, no matter how weird it is. She takes a step forward, extending her hand towards the lantern, feeling the heat radiating from it. ]

... I see. Thank you, miss. This will do.

[chainsawn]

Don't go too far away from me with it. [ It's not a threat or anything, not even advice - if anything, she says it as plainly as a line from some instruction manual. ]

.. It'll disappear.

[idolizer]

I can hold it? [ Looks like that, as the lantern floats on her hand now. But she does keep the advice... it's not like she's going anywhere, now that she found out this graveyard is pretty much fake. ]

Sorry, I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Sayaka, Sayaka Maizono.

[chainsawn]

My name is Urotsuki. [ Apparently she's not offering a last name. Or maybe she doesn't have one to begin with, who knows. ]

It's nice to meet you, Sayaka-chan. .. Ah, it's okay for me to say that, right..?

[ at least she remembered to ask. ]

[idolizer]

It's nice to meet you as well, Urotsuki-san. [ She sure isn't one to pry too much into people's usage of their names. ]

It's alright, I really don't mind you calling me that. [ Her fans basically call her either that or Maizono-chan all the time... ] I'm used to it.

[chainsawn]

.. You must have a lot of friends then.

[ Completely wrong conclusion there, huh. But it's how Urotsuki figures it, only people who are close would call each other that, she's sure!! ]

That's nice.. I'm a little jealous.

[idolizer]

[ Fr...ien...ds... she's not sure if her classmates consider her a friend anymore. Ok, Chihiro surely is one, Naegi maybe, but the others... a-and it's still a few people she befriended in the tower, they're not fans following her everywhere- and it's definitely different. ]

I wouldn't put it that way... I don't have that many friends here.

[chainsawn]

It's easy to make them here though.. [ She probably views it the other way around, for her it was much more difficult back home than it ever was here, really. ] The people are really nice, even if the tower sometimes isn't.

[idolizer]

I kind of noticed most people here are definitely kind hearted. [ She can agree with that, but from that to having actual friends... she can only name a few. ] Have you been here a long time?

[chainsawn]

Since May. [ it takes her a moment to even remember what date it is now, give her a moment.. ... nope, she gives up. ] So.. that's been a while, hasn't it..?

[idolizer]

Er... about seven months, yes. [ That long... she wonders if the experience broke this girl somewhat. That Rei person she met the first day was a bit of the same, if not more disturbing with the way she said she can be torn apart and regenerate... ]

I suppose it wasn't a good experience for you...

[chainsawn]

Sometimes it was bad. [ She'll admit that much, she has some painful memories - mostly of the first experiment she got into when she first got here - but aside from that.. ] But.. I think there are a lot of good things too. They're what makes it worth to be here..