WEEK ZERO: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK ZERO: MINGLE (43 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. Speaking of new, if participants turn on their PHS, they'll notice another section available. There's also an alert for a new message, titled TEAM ASSIGNMENT. Opening it will reveal which Leader they have been assigned to. Furthermore, at the corner of the PHS screen is an icon of an animal, depending on who their Leader is. It is visible only to them and no one else. That's not the only change, though. Participants may not notice at first—or perhaps they will?—but sooner or later, they may realize that they're... missing something? Strange. Three Leaders can be found around the area, open (?) to approach. If participants want to speak to them more privately, or to an absent Leader, it looks like they'll have to go through another channel. Which is to say, the Planetarium is now open! Finally, for the rest of the week, the participants will inexplicably have the urge to be physically affectionate. That person you just met days ago? Time to cuddle! This complete stranger you ran into? It sure is tempting to hold their hand. This urge can range anywhere from minor to impossible to ignore, depending on the situation. Enjoy your bonding!

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

Comments

golden clam.... 2....... (Hikaru/Alex/Yoshizawa)

[heartablaze]

Yoshizawa-chan!!!!

[Oh! She recognizes one of these! She's instantly zooming straight to Kasumi in a similar fashion to their first meeting and taking her by the hand before immediately beelining to find their third party member.]

This is gonna be an easy list, right?

I dunno where we'll find a talisman, but it's gotta be around here somewhere, you know?

[chanteuser]

[ oh my god there she gooooes ]

Is the river better left for last, or first...? We know we're going to find something there but we might have to go into the water and that won't be comfortable if we're trailing around for ages afterwards looking for--

[ uhhhh. ]

Leggings. And the talisman.

[siblingless]

[looks in direction of the river

AND SWEATS.

Hi, girls. She's here, wearing her glasses, sporting some healing scratches and bite marks, holding Hikaru's hand like it's nbd. What's up.]

Perhaps we should leave the river for last, Benedetto-san. If we're really lucky, we'll find all three without having to get wet.

[Narrator voice: But they will not, in fact, find the items without having some finny fun first.]

[heartablaze]

[Handholding between friends is fine, it's not like there's a pandemic out here or anything!!!!]

Oh good, you two know each other! That makes this way better.

[She'll give a clumsy little bow at her waist, though she's practically bouncing back up, eager to get going.] It's nice to meet you, Benedetto-san! My name's Hikaru! Shidou Hikaru. But just Hikaru is fine, okay?

Maybe we don't have to look in the river? It doesn't say if the clam's a live one or if it's one you eat, so maybe it's in the kitchen!

[chanteuser]

Nice to meet you too. You can just me Alex -- [ she nods at Yoshizawa as well ]-- both of you.

We could always check both, but it's pretty specific about the type of clam. And from the picture... [ because the mods are kind and apparently we have pictures now ]

I know what leggings are. I haven't seen a talisman before but I have seen a clam and this-- [ she taps the picture of the clam ]-- looks kinda similar... ish?

[siblingless]

[She leans over to look at Alex's PHS when she taps the image. The talisman and lace leggings are normal enough, but the clams... She makes a bit of a face at them.]

Is that mud...? [BAD?? That seems bad.] I hope they're somewhere outside and not the kitchen. Though, I suppose we won't know until we start searching.

[Looks... in any direction... that is not the same direction of the river... and then at her two companions.]

Ought we get going?

[heartablaze]

Yeah! There's not a lot of buildings to check, so we could try outside first, like, um... start by the castle, then try inside the buildings if we can't find stuff outside? That way, we can look at the river on our way back to the town! Like a big circle.

[She has no idea why leggings or a talisman would be outside, especially since she hasn't seen a clothes shop or any kind of shrine anywhere, but maybe the Realm's rules are funny????]

[chanteuser]

Doing a circle of the area's a good idea. If something's in a really obvious place we'll have more chance of grabbing it.

[ yea! positive thinking. she squints at the picture a little closer and wrinkles her nose. ]

It doesn't look very appetising, does it?

[siblingless]

Oh, good thinking! And with three pairs of eyes, I'm certain we'll be done in no time.

[WILL THEY... The south is their first destination, apparently, so time to start heading in that direction. But as they walk and talk:]

... These are made from nova, aren't they? I don't mean to imply I'm disappointed, but... How do I put this? I'm surprised these are the forms it took. I mean, "unappetizing" is one way to describe it.

[heartablaze]

Nova's just the stuff that makes up memories, right? So maybe this is just what someone somewhere remembers a clam looking like?

...Maybe it looks better if you cook it?

[She might be hungry.]

[chanteuser]

I hope they didn't eat one of these if they did...

But it sounds sort of... mysterious, and beautiful. "Nova". I didn't think that leggings fell in that category.

[ she's squinting at the list again, but tears her eyes away to start looking around the area, keeping an eye out for uh... interesting strips of paper or leggings anywhere. ]

If something like this clam is significant to someone here, I wonder if the other items are as well...

[siblingless]

... I hope so as well. These don't seem particularly good for you. [Eating dirt clams sounds sad. Please save this hypothetical person.] Should we ask around after we're done? If these items are significant someone else, maybe that will help us get a better idea of what to expect in the future.

[Leggings and talisman, where are thou?? Heading south brings them closer to the forest, however. And forests mean trees. It's been 10 comments, they can hear a little bird chirping as a treat...]

[heartablaze]

Maybe if you washed them really well? Regular clams live in really funny places too, right? I don't think that's too weird.

[The wind's picking up a little, whipping Hikaru's braid like a cow's tail so that it probably smacks someone in the face when she's not looking. RIP whichever of you got that. Hikaru squints up towards the louder sound of a bird so close by. The urge to just jump straight up into another tree is strong, but wasting time is a bad idea!]

I haven't heard if anyone is from China yet, but that could be easy to figure out, right?

[...Wait a minute.

She tugs Alex by the hem of her shirt, pointing up as she squints harder.]

Um... hey, do you see that? That flappy thing.

[chanteuser]

You're meant to wash them anyway, but... this seems really caked in. [ alex pauses to flinch against the sudden breeze, but it doesn't delay her for long. ] Besides, someone might be missing one of these items. For all we know.

[ she blinks when her hand is grabbed, and follows hikaru's pointing hand to see what she's looking at. ]

... Is it some kind of scarf?

[siblingless]

[Flappy... thing... Like Alex, she follows Hikaru's finger to see where she's pointing, adjusting her glasses as she does. Is it a bird? It is a plane? It's—]

—Lace? [SQUINTING A LOT.] Is that lace?

[heartablaze]

Huh-- wait, wait, the leggings!! The leggings were supposed to be lace, right??

[Parts of it have made their way into the poor bird's nest, but loose portions have wound their way around the branches, one leg now catching the wind like a tattered flag.]

How did it get all the way up there?! A little bird couldn't have carried that, could it?

[chanteuser]

It's just material... if the bird was big enough, or determined enough it might have managed it. Or maybe the wind blew it up there...

[ hmm. ]

Although the bigger issue is how to get it down.

[ she. uh. isn't really clothed to be climbing a tree, in... short dress and heels but maybe she can get a branch and try and hook it down? she's gonna try and look for one hold up. ]

[siblingless]

Could it have manifested up there? We wouldn't be searching for the nova if it were somewhere easy to reach. [...] I think.

[While Alex searched for a branch, she busies herself examining the distance from the ground to the piece that's fluttering in the wind. It's definitely stuck up there, but...]

I can jump and pull it down. It's just a hop, a skip and— oh. [Wait. Shit.] No... nevermind. That wouldn't work. The lace would tear on its way down. Did Wolf-san or Fox-san say what would happen if we damaged the items?

[heartablaze]

...Then we gotta get up there.

Okay!

[did someone say jump

because Hikaru is backing up just enough to get a running start without even asking her teammates, leaping up rather impressively to use the trunk as a push point, enough to reach out and get a hold of the lowest limb. She's dangling for a bit, but that doesn't stop her from hoisting herself up.

She is also not dressed for this, but when have clothes ever stopped someone from trying???

The bird does not look happy and has started chirping much louder.]

[chanteuser]

[ well.

alex found a stick?

which means she turns around to see hikaru hanging from the tree branch precariously and panics slightly. ]

Are you okay?!

[ nice hustle team. ]

-- How are you going to get down from there again?

[siblingless]

[WELL. THAT'S ONE WAY TO DO IT.]

—Shidou-san?!

[SHE REALLY DID YEET... And didn't she tell her to call her by her given name? Oh, well. She runs over to stand by the tree, close enough to hopefully catch Hikaru if she falls.]

I-If you jump, I'll catch you! Just, please, be careful and don't get hurt!

[The birds sure are not happy about this development. But now that Hikaru is up there, she will see that the lace leggings are, uh, partly intertwined and flopping in the tree and partly intertwined in a bird's nest. Like, one leggy going in each direction. Hm.]

[heartablaze]

[Her legs are a little scraped up from getting herself all the way onto the limb, but she doesn't seem to mind, blowing some stray hair out of her face.]

Yeah, I'm fine! This isn't my first time climbing a tree! Don't worry about me!

[And up she goes like a little monkey, only stopping when she's close enough that the bird hops out of the nest and starts to advance on her, angrily chattering. She knows an angry animal when she sees one!!!!!! She halts with a squint, making sure her footing is secure.]

Mmm... the bird's got some of it in its nest... I can't tell if there's eggs or not, but I'm gonna try to get it loose, okay? Yoshizawa-chan, I'm trusting you to catch it if it falls down!

Alex-san, can you reach the part where it's stuck on that other branch with that stick you found?? I don't think I can get that far!

[chanteuser]

Sure, I can do that.

[ hold she's got to heft the stick up first -- once it's fully in her arms, she extends it out as far as she can to nudge at one side of a nest. Hikaru's words about there maybe being eggs inside makes her motions slower, and more careful though. The last thing she wants to do is accidentally send the bird's eggs flying... ]

It's shifting, but it's going to take a little time. I don't want to jerk it off balance. Are you going to be okay for a little longer?

[ she's still nudging and loosening the nest as she talks. ]

[siblingless]

Understood! You can rely on me.

[She's watching Hikaru with concern still, but she will be on standby in case anything falls. Godspeed, girls.]

Is the bird okay? It's making a lot of noise.

1/2

[heartablaze]

I'll be okay! I just think she's mad...

[Who wouldn't be if a giant beast showed up next to their house????

Hikaru slowly scoots herself closer to the nest, keeping her hands close to her and lowering her voice as she talks to the bird.]

It's okay. It's okay, I know you don't want me to touch your home... but there's something important we gotta get. I'll only touch it for just a second, okay??? I promise.

[Okay. Okay, she should be able to reach it from here. Keeping herself close to the trunk and bracing her legs, Hikaru reaches out to slowly unravel the lace from the collection of twigs and branches--]