day three

[guestcontrol]

dreamland day three 34 players remaining. There are no clocks in your dorm room to help you mark the passing of time, but at a certain point, in the early hours of the morning, a cheerful chime tune plays over the loudspeaker. Whether you're awake or asleep, the door to your dorm room is now unlocked. You'll have about a forty five minutes, in which you can get ready or grab some breakfast, before the door that allows you into the park unlocks. By this time, you may or may not have noticed that one of your number is missing. The chimes play again, to announce that the park is open, and the rides and music begin to come back to life as a voice plays over the loudspeaker. "Rise and shine! Let's have a lot of fun and look for the bodies, too!" You will have until 4 PM to explore the park and talk amongst yourselves. Somewhere in the park, you'll find the bodies of Dipper Pines and Mahiru Koizumi. rulebook character statuses private conversations graveyard Voting will close at 10 PM EST on September 30. Though a special post for discussion will go up shortly before voting, you are encouraged to discuss who to vote for throughout the day. Voting

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Mahiru Koizumi

[guestcontrol]

[Take your time getting ready in the morning, but eventually you won't have any choice but to look for a body. As you wander around the park, you're likely to see a body slumped over inside one of the teacups

You can look at the bracelet on the corpse - it flashes Mahiru Koizumi's name and dorm mascot, but shows nothing else. Mahiru is slumped over in the teacup, lying down on the seat. There's a bullet wound to her head that looks as though it was shot from a distance.

Mahiru Koizumi is no longer among us.]

[photoshot]

[ oh. damn.

Aya doesn't actually take a photo immediately, just stares at the body for a moment. ]

[glasshole]

...Miss Shameimaru. Will you be all right?

[He actually looks a little troubled, too.]

[photoshot]

Of course. She isn--she wasn't actually a close friend. [ but probably close enough. ]

But she helped me with the paper.

[glasshole]

I see. Yes, she'd told me she had been helping you.

I wonder what the purpose of this was.

[photoshot]

Miss Mahiru and Mr. Pines... if there's a reason at all to targeting them, I really can't understand it at all.

[glasshole]

[Someone is actually up early today, walking around the park. When he finally runs into a body, he's looking over it carefully, expression a little hard to make out.]

[billows]

[ After coming from Dipper's body: ]

Is this what happens to buddies, do you think?

[glasshole]

...Yes, I think that must be so.

[billows]

I had thought the bomb would go off, but—well, things are distinguishable now. [ Not that he sounds particularly pleased about it. ] Are you alright?

[glasshole]

I am. I had found Miss Koizumi pleasant company, but I suppose I can't claim to have really known her.

1/2

[cheats]

[ Really, he should know better by this point. Nothing good will come of searching for the bodies, but he can't help but be drawn to look, since even though he'd be loathe to admit it, there were kind people here, and he was worried every morning now that they would be the ones to turn up.

He runs up to the teacups ride, and at first, he's ready to keep moving on, since it seems there no one there, but... A flash of red catches his eye. ]

Ah...

[ Ciel stops in his tracks, since the look of red hair is far too familiar to him, and it doesn't immediately occur to him that this is Mahiru. He's imagining someone else at first, someone more important to him, because that shade of red was more familiar than he'd ever realized before. His steps start again, and he walks to the edge of the cup until he sees Mahiru sitting inside. He stares down in shock, since she had been actually.... very kind to him. Kinder than he'd wanted to think about until now, since he only realizes it when he sees the red of her hair mixed with red blood.

He realizes, too late again, that he should have thanked her more. ]

[cheats]

[ It's not Mahiru herself that causes what happens next, as a result. It's something older than that, when he'd seen his caring, doting aunt so famous for wearing red with a chainsaw plunged into her chest. He hadn't wanted to dwell on it before, but the memory comes back viciously, and Ciel's knees give way until he crumples by the teacup Mahiru is in and then vomits.

This is too much for him. It's too familiar, and at the same time, not at all. ]

[harepiece]

[Oz also hasn't yet learned that looking for bodies is just a Bad Idea in general, as he's out and about in the morning, trying to find them regardless - especially when "Mahiru Koizumi" is announced. It's a shock to find her, even though he more or less knows what to expect by now.

...But Ciel is clearly having a rough time of it, too. He shakes himself from the temporary stupor that he'd tripped into and quickly heads over, but keeps his distance physically-speaking. He's seen this sort of thing before; he knows that being touched can only make a situation worse in some cases, and he's not willing to take the gamble to find out.]

Ciel? Can you hear me—? [His voice, too, is loud enough to be heard but not overly-loud so as not to be a shock. He fishes around in his pocket at the same time and withdraws a handkerchief, which he holds between his hands, waiting.]

[cheats]

[ He coughs, reaching up to wipe at his mouth with his hand at first, since this was a reaction of shock, and Ciel is a frail child, ultimately. At first, when he looks at Oz, his expression is near angry and defiant, as if he's saying how dare you pity me, but it's also quick to soften. He hesitates, but reaches out to grab the handkerchief before bringing it too his mouth with a muffled apology for doubtlessly ruining it.

He's also irritated, because as he remembers how Mahiru had gently scolded both Oz and Ciel yesterday for nearly burning down the kitchen, it mixes with childhood memories of Madame Red in a way that makes the corners of his eyes burn. ]

Dammit...

[ He still looks angry, though, partially out of embarrassment at showing this weak side of himself, but also, of course, at the injustice of what's happened. ]

How— How can this keep happening?

[harepiece]

[That is something that Oz doesn't have an answer to. While his walls of defense are built quite high, having to deal with this sort of thing for three days in a row, being faced with this same question over and over again, trying to sort through the "whys" to find reason in this pointless slaughter - it's definitely enough to start wearing them down. He simply sits in silence for a few seconds, still knelt next to Ciel, hands folding in his lap once the handkerchief is taken from them.

How can this keep happening? Because the killers choose to continue killing? Because none of the roles have been able to stop them from lynching innocents? Because they were all unfortunate enough to trip into this mess to begin with?]

...I don't— know. I don't know. [Which isn't very comforting, but. There's a body in a teacup.]

[perfectstrike]

[For Peko, the red hair means something completely different. A similar memory, of a girl slumped over from a blow to the head -- but the face matches the body this time, and she stops moving, stops even breathing for a moment.

God, Peko, you're a shitty leader considering all your classmates keep getting picked off one after another.

And then there's the Kuzuryuu-like kid on his knees. She hadn't thought he and Koizumi were close, not at all, but she tears her gaze away from the body and crouches to get nearer to his level.]

Phantomhive?

[cheats]

[ waves hand vaguely at timelines tbh ]

[ When Peko approaches, Ciel is doubled over on his knees and forearms with his head bowed forward in a way that even his short hair covers his face, or most of it. He coughs, since it's just a reaction of shock to seeing Mahiru's body and having it so closely associated with someone he held dear and never properly grieved for in the first place. As such, what he coughs out hoarsely at first won't make much sense to Peko. ]

Aunt Ann...

[ He had never allowed himself this, so it was only natural that it would come all at once, and violently. He had gone to her funeral, but rather than truly let himself grieve, Ciel Phantomhive had wanted to be the elegant, graceful noble, even in mourning, so he had given her a picturesque send-off. But he had never shed a single tear, until now. The corners of his eyes feel hot, and he sits up with an expression of disgust as he wipes at his mouth, ashamed at his own weakness. Ciel had known Peko was there, so he glances at her, but then it's also quickly back away. ]

Sorry— [ It's ridiculous, he thinks. He'd only known the girl for a few days, so seeing him this upset had to look ridiculous to one of her classmates. Of course, Ciel isn't allowing himself the idea that this is a totally reasonable reaction for a young boy either. ]

[godwhisperer]

...

[Doesn't really have anything to say about this.]

[perfectstrike]

[Peko's cautious about approaching Gundam. Less because it's Gundam himself, and more because she's fully aware that she is failing as a leader.

If she seems less upset about Koizumi's murder than coldly furious, Gundam should be the only one to really understand why.]

I had thought I could make amends by keeping her safe, this time. If we again fail to catch whomever did this...

[What, Peko. You'll feel twice as guilty? That's selfish. Maybe she just means to finish that sentence with then there will be even fewer of us. That's also kind of selfish. Maybe that's why she's not finishing that sentence.]

[godwhisperer]

[He's similar, though. With Kuzuryuu, he had reacted with shock and obvious upset, but now he's only quietly simmering. He doesn't seem to bear her any grudge, though.]

We will not fail this time.

[perfectstrike]

We cannot afford to.

[THEIR NUMBERS ARE DECREASING RAPIDLY.]

Dipper Pines was killed in the same way, in a separate location. Perhaps the fact that though they were buddies, their bodies were not left together, is important.

[Ding dong, classmate's body means clue hunting.

Not that it's probably of any help at all. It didn't really help last time.]

[chronic]

[ ...Oh no. Mysterion pulls down his hood as he approaches the body. He opens the side of the teacup, stepping carefully into it. He reaches down to try to clear some of the blood from her face with his glove.

This is the first time this all sort of hurts. She'd been so kind to him. The fact that this confirms an active detonator from yesterday and shows how buddies die is cold comfort. ]

I'm sorry. Mahiru.

[flatview]

....huh?

[ Nui appears to be....mildly upset upon this discovery. For once, she's not facetiously shocked and sort of impressed to find a body, just. Unusually quiet.

There weren't many humans she could say that she liked, and maybe Mahiru didn't quite fit that description either. And yet, there's an weird feeling of disappointment and resentment welling up in her chest. ]

Mahiru-chan is...

[royalizing]

[ Even at first glance, there's no missing Mahiru's red hair and her figure slumped over in the teacup. As soon as Natalia sees her... ] Mahiru!

[ She'll go running over, and shake Mahiru's shoulder to try and wake her. She hasn't known the girl that long, but all she did was try to help everyone out.... Whether it was cooking while people were too shaken up to do it for themselves, or helping out with laundry for those less technology-acquainted (like her). ]

Who would do such a thing...? [ How could they murder someone so kind-hearted and someone so young all in one stroke? If there was any doubt left in her about the circumstances of these VIPs, it's gone now. ]