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[rottencactus]

[The voicemail greeting is just 20 seconds of breathing and a shriek at the end before it beeps]

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un: bunny-chan

[hundredpower]

[Hiiro did say he was fine, but Barnaby can't help but want to check in on 'clover' regardless, after not seeing him at the meeting.]

Mayoi, isn't it? This is Barnaby again.

I hope you're doing well. If it isn't too much trouble, may I come to see you?

un: clover

[rottencactus]

[A message! And it's not through the messaging app he uses from home, so it probably isn't from anyone in ES. Who... oh, it is bunny-chan. Why would-]

Eh!? A hero type wants to come see me?? I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I haven't done anything suspicious! I only broke into the residence halls a few weeks ago because we were looking for clues! I know I am an insignificant bug deserving of being squashed but I cannot leave Hiiro-san all alone!! Please spare meeeeeeeeeee!!!!

[hundredpower]

[oh dear.......]

I'm not contacting you to punish you for anything, please don't worry. I just wanted to meet you in person and check on your injuries.

sometime after the info meeting

[umurice]

[Leaving Mayoi defenseless and alone this whole time doesn't sit well for Hiiro, so as soon as he can he returns to check on him. He looks pretty dejected despite how productive(?) the meeting was, but at least he manages to bring snacks and drinks to him.]

Mayoi-senpai? Are you awake?

[rottencactus]

[Mayoi has been feeling better at least, and so today he's been sitting up in bed, reading a book. He hopes he can be back on his feet full time in a day or two. He's getting... antsy.]

[He is very glad to hear Hiiro's voice, so he will set his book down and greet him with a smile.]

I have been waiting for you Hiiro-saaaaan~ [He's in a good mood at least.] How did things go...? I-I'm sorry for making you go in my stead...

[umurice]

Umu. It's all right, there was a lot that happened, but I think the meeting went well. It's good to see your cheerful self again, Mayoi-senpai.

[Seeing a happy Mayoi eases up some of his own tension, especially because he had so much to think about now. It felt like it was so much that for Hiiro, it was hard to process. So he focuses on what he can right now.]

I can update you about everything, but let me check on your wounds first.

[They should mostly be healed up now, he thinks, but he wants to be sure.]

poppy hall arrival - later in the month sometime

[curriculumachine]

[It's jarring and disorienting, to open his eyes to the sudden appearance of fire. For a moment, Akira does nothing but stare at the firepit in confusion. What had he been doing before? Walking in the alley, thinking about... and then he'd been grabbed from behind, his balance shifted, and he should have hit the street hard. He hadn't, because his hand still aches and feels half-numb, half-throbbing where his clenched fist had struck the brick wall right before, but there's no indication he'd slammed his head on the concrete; the only logical conclusion he thought there to be. He can feel blood still trickling from his fingers into the pocket of his leather jacket, so it couldn't have been that long ago, but somehow he doesn't recall getting to this place. This...

Slowly, the rest of his surroundings filter through, and he's beyond lost as to where he is. There's nowhere in the city that looks like this; quaint rustic houses, trees in the distance, an overgrowth of weeds and grass in the near-frozen ground. Far more than could be managed from the irradiated soil of Toshima. There are no dilapidated and bombed-out skyscrapers, nothing smells like rotting bodies, and the only hint of blood and vomit is coming from himself. The dirty street he'd been on has been replaced with this strange yard between residences unlike any he's seen outside of rare photographs or weathered paintings. The cold of the ground seeps up through his sneakers and he pulls up his fur-trimmed hood to block out the chill in the air. It hadn't been that cold.

He steps closer to the fire, vacant eyes passing over what someone's seen fit to set alight as he briefly holds his hands too close to the licking flames; papers and some sort of fabric. They aren't even curious items to him, something a bum would burn in a barrel to keep warm, and that's all they're good for now. Looking at his left hand, the wound has opened again along the edge of his palm, blood soaking through the bandages. He should fix it, find something in one of the nearby houses, but for now, when no one seems to be in the immediate vicinity, he intends take refuge in this open space while he can; eventually sitting on the cold ground near the firepit because he's too tired to stand, but still gripping tightly to the blood-stained handle of a dagger-like knife, just in case. Akira hasn't been able to truly rest for days now, he'd lost count of how many, but he won't allow actual sleep while having no idea how to orient himself here.]

[rottencactus]

[Mayoi was a hypersensitive, paranoid sort of person and this place had kept him on edge constantly. He was the sort to double check their locked front door four times before retiring to his attic bedroom to sleep. He was the sort to keep appliances unplugged when not in use because why risk the entire house burning down, right? This place could make it happen. Mayoi is not someone who likes to take chances. That is why he is not a member of Crazy:B.]

[So, of course Mayoi catches the glow of a fire from the window. He pauses because ...he knows their neighbors, and to have the fire going at this time is a little strange. He grabs his coat and hood and decides that he will go investigate.]

[As he approaches, and realizes he does not recognize the person from behind, his hand slips into his pocket where he keeps Shinobu's kunai. He keeps it there for now.]

...U-Um. Hello...?

[curriculumachine]

[Akira hears Mayoi's footfalls too loudly, unused to such rural areas and the atmospheric quiet that comes with them. His instinct has never been fight or flight, but freeze, and as the footsteps get close, a cold chill runs through him even with his proximity to the fire. His palms are sweaty and he shifts his grip on his knife. The pulsing rush of blood in his ears soon overtakes everything else for what seems like minutes until Mayoi speaks. It's not anything like Akira expected, a hesitant and questioning voice if anything, oddly wavering, not someone obviously out for a fight, or worse. Still, he gets to his feet and turns in one quick movement that has his hood falling and revealing him to be none of Mayoi's neighbours. A vagrant looking type with unkempt and somewhat greasy grey hair falling in his eyes, clothes stained in places with blood both old and fresher. Akira holds his knife in a defensive manner with his injured hand, close to his body, blade angled downward. His eyes flicker to Mayoi's hand in his pocket before he fixes the other man with a preemptively defiant glare.]

What do you want.

[His voice is a little too quiet to be threatening; a low monotonous sigh of a question phrased as a statement.]

Post-Ala Search thread

[worldwise]

[ After the mess involving poor Tatsumi's arrival here, Rantaro led the way over to Mayoi's very full house in Poppy Hall. It's a bit of a walk from where the Train was parked in the center of town, but he'd given Tatsumi his jacket to keep him from freezing while they traveled. He does at least text Mayoi in advance to warn him that he's coming though. ]

Hey Mayoi-san, I'm on my way over to your house now. While we were out looking for Ala we instead found a new arrival and... Well apart from not being dressed for the weather, I think you might know him. He recognized your name.

[ Once the message is sent he looks over his shoulder at Tatsumi, giving him another apologetic smile and checking on him. This must be... pretty rough for him after all. At least for Rantaro, he'd had a severe head injury so none of it had quite been physically able to overwhelm him at the time. ]

We'll be there soon. His house is that one right there.

[ He nods over at the house in question. It's not that far away by this point, and he knocks on the door when they arrive ]

Mayoi-san, We're here.

[tattsun]

[ Tatsumi meets the apologetic smile with a tired but genuine smile of his own. Today has already been one of the weirdest, most stressful days of his life, but it's not like that's Rantaro's fault. ]

Understood. Thank you again for offering me so much help.

[ Community is important, especially in stressful situations. The last thing Tatsumi wants is to do anything to discourage it, so an additional thanks is the least he can do. ]

[rottencactus]

[Mayoi got the text from Rantaro and there is both anticipation and terror in his veins as he tries to think who it could be that they've found. Of course he is wondering if its someone from ALKALOID. It could be someone from the outdoors circle...it could be. It could be Shinobu- No. No, if he starts to wonder like this he will spiral into an anxiety abyss he won't climb out of.]

I see. Thank you very much for taking care of him, Ranran-san. I will be there to receive you at the door, so I will see you shortly.

[He could have asked, but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead he comes down from his attic and gathers together some supplies. Things that might be needed upon arrival. He finds a few coats he had collected, varied in size, and waits anxiously by the door.]

[With a jolt, he hovers by the door a few moments before he finally opens it up, peering worriedly at who is on his doorstep. Ranran-san and ...and... Ah. His heart drops.]

Tatsumi-san...?

[It is the Mayoi Tatsumi knows, but he certainly looks like he's been here much longer than Tatsumi's last memories of Mayoi should allow. His clothing is very different, reminiscent of the rustic old feel of the town itself- and of course, jarringly, his hair is much shorter than it used to be.]

Tatsumi-san-- Tatsumi-san!

[Oh my god he's missed him so much??? He's here?? Mayoi absolutely just flings himself into a hug.]

Tatsumi-saaaaaaaaaaan...!!

12/24

[parhellia]

[ Hmm hm~ Hiiro had said something about... a second story bedroom? the attic? she can't remember, but she does remember the kitchen she'd found Mayoi in before, and after determining he isn't in there getting an early morning snack, brings herself up to the second story. Like magic.

She's going to peek inside each window that she can see past the curtains of until she finds something vaguely Mayoi-shaped, and then call out low and soft ]

Mayoooooooooii... Maaaayyyoooooii...

[ not unlike a ghost ]

[rottencactus]

[Mayoi, the dramatic goth that he is, does sleep in the attic and has a particular aversion to the early morning. It’s simply a part of his routine to wake up when Hiiro begins his usual rounds of “I LOVE YOU NIISAN”, have some tea, wrangle Hiiro (and now Tatsumi) for idol practice, and then to immediately go back to bed until noon.]

[Tatsumi shares the upstairs with him, but unlike Mayoi, he is a morning person and has since vacated it, leaving him alone and vulnerable to Ala’s whims.]

[He’s a light sleeper, so it does not take much to make him stir. Someone was calling his name…?]

…?

[It’s coming from the window…]

H-Hello…?

[parhellia]

Hi! Please open the window before I fall!

[ The attic is... way up there! higher than Ala expected, but she thinks maybe it makes sense for the winter since heat rises or something. She's got her feet on the windowsill and hands on the gutter, but she would quickly get bored if Mayoi just turned around and went back to sleep so please get up ]

un: AMAGIBIGDICK69 | before hellhounds pt. 2

[hanikamu]

[ Rinne's figured out by now that Mayoi functions better over text, so. ]

hey
this is pretty serious stuff so i'm not gonna beat around the bush
i'm gonna need some help from my cute little advisor
is he free?

un: clover

[rottencactus]

[He's very grateful for your accommodation.]



[Anyway Rinne in fact, not beating around the bush sets of several warning alarms.]

For the sake of my nerves, please confirm this isn't about someone turning up dead.

If it isn't then you may proceed, as I am quite free at the moment.

[hanikamu]

nah lmao
i talked to your leader about the void on the island
and i was thinking if we could do something else to save it
other than bleeding ourselves dry, that is!

some time early february

[cambium]

Delivery for Mayoi Ayase.

[ It's an unmarked envelope. Please, take it. ]

!!! [1/2

[rottencactus]

EEK!!

[Holy shit, Lark. At least warn a guy before startling them with an envelope.]

[rottencactus]

O-Oh... Hello, Lark-san.

[He will take the envelope.]

A letter?

[cambium]

[ You can't just SCREAM and then go "oh, hello" like nothing happened. His surprise surprises Lark in turn, teeth clenched and then relaxing when Mayoi goes straight to business, yes, thank you ]

Yes. It is a return letter to the one you had me deliver.

[cambium]

Delivery for Mayoi Ayase...

[ yes, another one... This time it's Lark knocking on his front door holding a wrapped bouquet of paper flowers. Do not perceive him. ]

[rottencactus]

[Oh...? Something for him once again? How curious...]

H-Hello, Lark-san. Wh-...

[Wait.]

Eh? Eh!? Are those flowers?

[cambium]

They are paper flowers meant to represent the real thing.

[ In case Mayoi cannot tell the difference between paper and plant. ]

Do you understand the meanings behind these flowers...?