OO5 >> December sucked for many of us, but otherwise no commentary will be offered on it

[altitonant_emperor]

Characters: Hidetoshi, and everyone.
Setting: The hallways of the jail on the 45th floor, and the floating island on the 35th floor.
Format: Either actionspam or prose is perfectly fine by me, but as always, remember I'll be slower to reply to prose.
Summary: Now that December's over, Hidetoshi decides that the start of a new month would be an excellent time to explore more of the Tower for himself before the next events hits. Of course, this means any other Tower residents (new and old) are free to bug him or join him in exploration.
Warnings: None so far. Unless Monomaru turns up, he's a warning unto himself.


[ SCENARIO A || FLOOR FORTY-THREE ]

December had been not been kind to Hidetoshi. As the days had worn on, his hallucinations had grown worse and worse, advancing from simple audio delusions of hearing things to visual hallucinations. It gotten to the point where the high school student had been truly convinced that the entire tower was collapsing around him, falling into chaos as beams splintered down the middle, metal crumbled, and walls groaned painfully as they fell down, and he couldn't prevent it from occurring which had been a special favor of infuriating. He had awaited the end of the month with relief, and found the Christmas Eve party to be a welcome change from the dismal atmosphere of the prior cold weeks. Granted, the commercial western holiday was not his favorite, but there had been respectable food and a warm place to seat down. That had placated him, and he had refined from any disdain.

And now the indoor heating was back on, his mood had changed for the better. It was over. He found it disquieting he had counted it a minor triumph that no one he knew had perished during the month. With free time on his hands between refining his knife-wielding abilities, Hidetoshi had opted to familiarize himself with the relatively safer floors of the Tower while there was no more pressing matters to demand his attention.

The cloak Enoch had given him when they were both suffering from the illnesses that been running rampant that month, was wrapped securely around his shoulders (since it was still winter and an unwelcome chill still lingered in the air) as he strode calmly through the jail hallways, occasionally pausing in front of one of the cells to peer inside before continuing on his way. Feel free to run into him.



[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR THIRTY-FIVE ]

The island was quiet, an inhabited, barren chunk of rocks and dirt suspended in the air over a lake with seemingly no bottom. (The setup made very little logical sense but by now Hidetoshi had sulkily resigned himself to the fact he was living a science fiction novel.) He had explored it, and found no life which was pleasant considering that if he had encountered any life, it probably would have attempted to kill him messily and Hidetoshi didn't particularly want to be forced to vacant the premises in a rush if he was outmatched, or clean any gore off of his knives. The only sound was that of the bottomless lake far under his feet, rumbling in a deep watery growl. The yellow armband that signified his connection to a high school disciple community on his arm was hidden under the warm cloak.

He stood a healthy distance away from the edge, one hand on his hip and the other hand holding a basic lighter which his dark gray eyes were glaring down at like its very existence personally and deeply offended him. Whatever reason you yourself have for being on the island, do you want to approach him or leave him be?

[ SCENARIO B || ANYWHERE YOU CHOSE, ANYTIME YOU CHOSE ]

Perhaps you run into Hidetoshi in the dormitory hallways, or on the way out of the library. If you're one of his roommates, maybe you crossed paths with him in the morning, as he was peeling himself out of bed and stumbling to the bedroom. Or is there something pressing you feel the need to tell him? Are you a newbie and want to ask a couple questions regarding your new home? Go ahead.

Comments

floor 35

[fuhgeddaboudit]

"What's goin' on with you...?!"

Labrys was muttering to herself in frustration, axe detached from her back as she examined it closely. The thrusters didn't seem to respond at all, though scanning revealed absolutely no problems. She recalled having this problem a lot today, but the fact that it only happened on certain floors hadn't quite clicked yet.

As it was, she seemed incredibly focused on inspecting her weapon carefully and muttering vague confusion under her breath.

floor 35

[altitonant_emperor]

That vaguely confused muttering is enough to catch Hidetoshi's attention and he looks up, to see Labrys standing awhiles from him. He blinked, then pocketed the lighter and walked towards her. The surface of the island was just as rocky and barren as he had observed; the only things scattered over the dirt were rocks of varying size and shape.

"... Labrys-san? Is something the matter?"

She seemed to be focused on checking over her over-sized axe, but from what he could see, there didn't seem to be any visible damage to the weapon.

floor 35 (and hoping that it isn't Lancer's lighter)

[terreifying]

Heee~ey. What'cha doin'?

[Rei was skipping rocks into the water below. To her disappointment, none of them would skip.]

floor 35 (nah it's from Hidetoshi's world)

[altitonant_emperor]

[Okay, he jumps a little before recovering. Someone had been tossing rocks into the lake, but Hidetoshi had paid them no mind and the sudden voice speaking up was startling.]

Contemplating things, I suppose.

[terreifying]

Like what things? Tower life?

[altitonant_emperor]

[He turned the lighter over in his hand, the plastic cool against his skin.]

No, like my... original dimension in general. The management gave me a reminder.

[terreifying]

[She peers over at the lighter.]

You smoke?

Floor 43

[nonacquiescent]

[Waver's doing much the same, actually. He's finally taking a full inspection of the floor to see if it really is suitable to lock Ryuunosuke up in, should the need arise. He checks the locks - though he doesn't dare go in any of them himself, in case the door should close on him and lock itself, as he was told it could do.

When he spots Hidetoshi, he's suddenly quite wary of the other boy - why should anyone else be inspecting the cells? That doesn't seem like a good sign. If he could read that armband, he might be put at ease, but, well, Japanese. Not wanting to call attention to himself in case the other is dangerous, he stands at the door to a cell, watching.]

Floor 43

[altitonant_emperor]

Hidetoshi's inspection was along similar lines, though for a different reason. He had decided to familiarize himself with this floor of the Tower because he assumed at some point, it was likely the administration would lock residents of this place into the cells as punishment for one slight or another. The form vice president of the student council wanted to discover if there were any avenues of escape from these cells, and take note of them if there were.

And if a lawbreaker had to be placed in here instead of them, it was preferable to know if they would harbor any chance of getting out and put a stop to that. He was standing in front of one of the cells, examining it when he noticed Waver standing in another cell door himself, watching him warily. He blinks, then raises one hand.

"Pardon me, but what are you doing here?"

wow I'm sorry this is so late OTL

[nonacquiescent]

I could ask you the same thing, why do you need to check the cells?

[But he's totally not going to give his own reason first, having been asked first and all, no, no.]

nah s'alright :3

[altitonant_emperor]

[That sure was passive-agressive, so this person was definitively his age and not yet another one of those ageless, I-look-like-a-teenager-but-I'm-really-as-old-as-balls beings that seemed so abundant within the Tower and he was a little annoyed with running into. That was a nice change of pace.

He dropped his hand and folded his arms across his chest.]

I am attempting to discover if there is any possible route of escape from these cells. Now, allow me to repeat myself; what are your own reasons doing here?

floor 43 SORRY I'M LATE

[hallmonotor]

[Ishimaru had only just arrived, but he'd already set off to explore the tower. He's equipped for it, at least, with a sword at his side. He's looking around, peering inside the jail cells with a mild interest. In fact, he seems far too cheery, considering his surroundings. He waves as he passes by Hidetoshi.]

Good afternoon!

floor 43 NO IT'S GOOD

[altitonant_emperor]

[Hidetoshi hadn't been expecting to run into many people, if any, in the hallways of the floor that harbored the Tower's jail cells but it seemed his assumption had been proven incorrect when... Oh. It was the male that he had met in the observatory. Well, at least he wasn't yelling and sweating this time.]

Thank you. Good afternoon to you as well.

[Polite nod of greeting to Ishimaru!]

[hallmonotor]

[If that what you think, Hidetoshi, you're about to be very confused.]

Ah! I don't think we've met before! [He hold out his hand.] My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru.

[altitonant_emperor]

[He's only met one pair of alternates before okay, give him a break. The change in the colour of his uniform is minor. His forehead crinkles for a moment as the other teenager fails to remember their last (admittingly short) encounter. Bemusedly;]

Actually, I do believe we have. [But he's not rude, so shaking Ishimaru's offered hand and introducing himself as well.] I'm Hidetoshi Odagiri. It's a pleasure.

Hallways

[imperialsun]

As with most mornings, Hidetoshi might have spotted Noaya in the hallways going down to practice his training. The other teenager offered him a polite wave as he stopped his running.

"Good morning, Odagiri-kun." Despite how the tower was, it seemed Naoya's disposition never changed.

Hallways

[altitonant_emperor]

It wasn't anything out of the norm to witness Naoya walking down the hallways to go train in the mornings for Hidetoshi, so he returned the greeting with a polite nod and came to a stop when the other teenager did.

"And same to you, Toudou-kun." Naoya's unchanging demeanor was pleasant, if nothing else.

[fish_or_die]

Jungo has been awake pretty early since arriving to the tower. His cat, also named Jungo, sleeps just fine through the day but demands to be let out in the morning. He doesn't make a noise, he just swats at the human Jungo's face until he wakes up and lets him out to roam the tower. So far, he's come back before night falls. It could end up working out well for them.

When Hidetoshi awakes, Jungo is sitting on his bed and looking through something on his cellphone. He looks up and notices his new roommate is awake, too, and smiles just slightly.

"Good morning."

[ooc; I'm sorry this is so late. orz It's nice to meet you, roommate person!]

[altitonant_emperor]

Hidetoshi muffled a yawn beyond his hand, blinking blearily at the person seated on one of the beds. One of his newer roommates. (Personally, he was glad this one didn't seem so creepy as the fat little blond kid.) They hadn't interacted since his arrival beyond noticing they shared a room. Sitting upright, he ran his fingers through his hair and attempted to fight off the gunkiness of sleep in his mind as to answer the greetings properly.

Too tired to return the smile however; "... Good morning."

With another yawn, he pulled off the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, bare feet meeting the cold floor.

[ooc: no, no, it's all good. Great to meet you as well, roommate person~!]

[fish_or_die]

Jungo wasn’t trying to avoid interacting with Hidetoshi, he’s just been so busy getting used to the tower and taking care of his cat that he hasn’t really come back to the room for anything other than sleeping...and he’s an especially sound sleeper. There isn’t much time to chat with him before he’s completely gone.

He continues to press a few buttons on his cellphone before setting it aside, remembering that it’s rude to use your cellphone while talking to someone. He yawned back before speaking again. "I'm sorry if I woke you up. Jungo wanted out."

[altitonant_emperor]

He noticed the cellphone as Jungo set it aside; so the Tower had allowed him to keep his own. Hidetoshi wondered it worked still in an entirely different dimension without internet connection beyond that of the network which was linked together by the terminals. Then the other teenager mentioned Jungo, and Hidetoshi assumed that to be the name of the cat that taken up residence with him. He nodded.

And after stretching out his arms slightly and pressing out the wrinkles in his clothes, he replied, still pushing off the wet cotton sensation of sleep. "It's fine. I was already half-awake anyway." And since the bathroom appeared to be open, it seemed to be his turn to clean up for the day.

Floor 35 (late tag is late)

[idol_support]

[She doesn't really want to approach him, because she's generally pretty shameless when it comes to flirting and such, but...what had happened when she was sick was kinda different. Enough so that she probably owed him an apology. So when she happened to see him standing there as she wandered past that floor, Rise steeled herself and made her approach.]

...Hey, Hidetoshi-senpai! Are you busy?

[She didn't quite sound like her usual super-chipper self, but she definitely wasn't gloomy or withdrawn either.]

Floor 35 (you said there is no such thing as lateness)

[altitonant_emperor]

[At the sound of her approach, Hidetoshi turned around and sent a pebble shuttering across the dead, lifeless ground. The expression on his face of uncertainty, not quite awkwardness, but more like someone who didn't know what she was going to say to him next and so felt ill-prepared.]

... Ah. Rise-san? [There's a pause. He glanced at the empty floating island, then shook his head.] Of course not.

[He didn't sense her usual perkiness, but her attitude wasn't depressed or negative, so he doesn't feel worried. He closed his hand over the lighter, and stowed it away.]

(...That rule is only for when other people are tagging me. |D Other people might have other rules.)

[idol_support]

[Her eyes followed that movement reflexively, but the way he'd so swiftly tucked it away hinted at there being something more to it for him than just a simple lighter, so Rise didn't comment on it.]

Well, I won't take up much of your time anyways.

[Part of her wanted to give in to that shyer self that had re-emerged last month, but her control was way too good for her to let herself slip back into that particular persona. This was where she was really thankful for her time as Risette, when she'd learned how to talk to people confidently and clearly. So without breaking eye contact or even blushing much if at all, Rise said the first part of what she'd come to say.]

I just wanted to apologise for how I acted last month, when I was sick. I mean, I couldn't really help some of it, but still.

＼(-___________-;)／

[altitonant_emperor]

[He removed his hand from his pocket and adjusted his posture, straight back and arms folded across his chest, dark gray eyes fixed on her, returning her eye contract levelly. And then she mentions what occurred during the last month when the sickness was still running rampant, and Hidetoshi twitched once in recollection of the metallic shrieks of collapsing beams, and crumbling walls he had heard at the beginning of his hallucinations as they had worsened, the descend of the Tower as it fell apart around him. And at the memory of her falling asleep on his shoulder when they gone looking for medicine.]

Mmm. That.

[He firmly resisted the urge to fidget. Well, at least she hadn't drooled on him? He couldn't quite see why Rise wanted to apologize to him, but if the female idol felt she owed that to him, he could at least accept it and help close the issue.]

I accept your apology. It's not as if you were in absolute control of yourself during that anyway, like you said.