Week 9.

[trustfellows]

WEEK 9 With another death to the timer and another double murder - accidental though that last part may have been - your numbers have been cut even further. Hibiki Ganaha, Sayaka Maizono, Alex, and Kyrie Ushiromiya are all dead, bringing those left alive from twelve down to eight. It's almost hard to believe this started with thirty-five people. There are so few of you now. Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; come Sunday morning, the clock chimes the hour at seven o'clock and there are no dead bodies to be found, so it can be assumed that all of you are safe for the time being. That said, you'll be feeling a little groggy when you wake up; it seems you've regained something that you didn't realize you'd lost... It seems that the pattern from last week is holding; there is no new floor to occupy yourselves with. It doesn't seem much else has changed, either - leading to questions that are uncomfortable but must be confronted. Namely, where do you go from here? Is there anything you can do? PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 8

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week nine of Trustfell! Feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget to save those threads for coins and the activity check!

If you'd like to get in contact with the Coordinators, you can do so through private meetings with Hilda!]

Comments

Investigation x2... Sorta...

[heritrix]

[When Rin opens her eyes, she swears she can still feel the breeze in her hair, and Shirou's hand warm in hers. "Let's go home," he said, in the wake of their greatest battle. Their victory, bittersweet and so bright. Her Holy Grail War has come to an end. She made the right choice after all, not acting last week. If she had, maybe she'd be home with him right now, but it would never sit right with her how she got back to him. Somehow, some way, she'll find her own way back to him.

"I have my answer. Don't you worry, Tohsaka. I'll try my best from now on, too."

Within the golden sunrise, the smile Archer had was like that of the boy's. The promise she made that let him smile like that; she's having a hard time keeping it than she expected. To answer the trust Archer put in her, and to see Shirou again; to get the seven people still alive with her through this, she'll try her hardest too.

To start, she'll be going around today wearing the second pair of silph scopes she borrowed from Elda, and looking a bit silly for it. While she's probably seeing a few of their friends on the other side, she's not actively looking for them, however! Instead, Rin is heading up to the third floor to look around both of the secret doors in the game room as well as that weird panel Susan found in the billiards hall with the googles. Maybe it'll be a bust, maybe the goggles will reveal something strange about them, who knows. Depending on how successful or unsuccessful it is, she might check out other rooms.

She's also got that stupid, indestructible box with her? MAYBE IF IT'S CLOSE TO THE OTHER DUMB INDESTRUCTIBLE THINGS, THERE'LL BE A REACTION.

After all of this is done, still with the goggles, she's going to head back to the dormitories and stop by Alex's room. She took her key, after all. This is technically a second investigation that might branch away from here, but doesn't need to go particularly in-depth. Rin's checking to see if Alex's ninety-seven hitchhikers disappeared with her or not, so if I could just get a yay or a nay there that'd be swell.

While she's in Alex's room, she ends up finding something else. Letters. There's one for everyone, and Rin will dutifully deliver each of these, however you'd like to assume. Either in passing in the halls or slipped discretely under your door. Rin doesn't let herself read her own yet.

...You know, there are even letters for the dead, so Rin finds herself delivering those too. Kyrie and Sayaka each get an envelope slipped under their doors, even though there's no longer anyone inside. And Hibiki's... Rin's surprised to find Hibiki's room is open when she gets to it. She goes inside.

...She's in there a long time.

When Rin finally exits, roaming in the hallways back to her room, the expression on her face is shellshocked. There's a thick stack of papers in her hands and her mouth is slightly twisted, like she's either about to laugh or about to cry. It would probably be good if she focused on what she was doing, because she bumps her elbow on a wall when rounding a corner, and the papers end up scattered across the ground everywhere, and photos too that look like Chie's. Rin curses under her breath and drops down to her knees to gather them back up. Little help?]

Hallways

[matchbreaker]

What, did you learn you lost your war?

[ Like she looks super lost now? Elda has been... well, she didn't get the Alex not yet, did you put it under Elda's door or you still got it in hand? Either way, she's seeing the girl's papers scatter and makes to pick them up now. ]

[heritrix]

[We can say the letter was dropped along with the papers. Rin hadn't finished delivering all of them to this hallway, so there's probably a few along with Elda's, along with notes. It seems like there's page after page of notes, all about Rin herself.]

No. [Like a rubber band snapping back into shape, Rin tries to pull herself together. She speaks crisply, but doesn't look up from what she's doing. She's fine. This is fine.] No. I won it, in fact.

[matchbreaker]

Oh yeah? Congratulations.

[ Though the response Elda gives doesn't sound fully sincere, or at least her heart isn't fully in it. To congratulate someone for winning a death game seems so trite right now, and then on top of that the girl clearly is strained by something. So she decides to just pick up the notes, looking over them a little as she does.

About Rin's actions? ]

[heritrix]

It turned more into a battle to keep a maniac from wiping out humanity by the end of it, but I'm satisfied. It should meet with the approval of the Mage's Association, too.

[Maybe even give her a little pull? It would be small, in the face of everything that's come about, but it could be something. Just like the report Hibiki worked (how long?) so hard on could be worthwhile.

Rin talks distractedly, gathering up any papers near her, but seemingly to look for a specific one. The cover letter to her. She flips over each paper she comes across, looking for it—there. Back around the corner. She's so focused on this though, she doesn't notice Elda's actually reading the papers she's helping her collect.

If Elda continues to do so or reaches for other papers, it's clear it's a detailing of everything that's happened here from Hibiki's perspective, with a focus on Rin's role in things. Everything's out of order, so some pages make less sense than others, with one in particular as a good example: a trial referred to in the future tense, and addressing a group called the Mage's Association.]

[matchbreaker]

Seriously? What the hell is your life, or is that sort of insanity normal for mages?

[ She says this almost distractedly though, because ... Mage's Association? She narrows in on this, skimming the paragraph. It's surprisingly formal writing, given that...

this is Hibiki's work, isn't it? You can read the love in it? She hums a little. ]

[heritrix]

[It is surprisingly formal. Hibiki had a bubble personality in life, so it comes across oddly, but she seems to have been trying to demonstrate a seriousness in her writing.]

No, it came as a major shock to me. That fake priest hinted at it during his trial, but I didn't know how twisted things had become until it was explained in my memories.

[That was a week ago... This is easier to talk about. It shakes Rin from her current thoughts enough that she can act normally, so she continues. It's a good distraction.]

Apparently the Holy Grail was corrupted a long time ago, and became a Monkey's Paw. Kirei's partner was going to use it to kill off most life on earth and start over. Magi can be extreme, but we generally like staying alive.

[matchbreaker]

Wow. I feel like every new fact I learn about that man just makes him more and more undeserving of that promise I gave at the last trial.

[ She says this with a near-apologetic sympathy. She did say it, so there's no taking it back now of all times, but the fact does remain that like... well, just yikes man, seriously. Eeesh. She shakes her head, looking over the notes more nakedly now.

She... ]

This is seriously a lot of stalking on her part. Worse than that journal collection I got off the vending machine a while back.

[heritrix]

[The comment about Kirei gets a suspicious amount of silence as Rin continues to pick up after herself; no comment on that man, huh? Not even the promise.

When she's gotten a pile together, she shuffles the papers in her hands and taps her stack on the floor, straightening them out. But Hibiki... Mentioning her notes makes a ripple in the mask, more reminiscent of the lost expression Elda noted when they bumped into each other moments ago.]

She was always taking notes around me... She came to me for help once a few weeks ago, for tips on how to investigate more thoroughly and work hard around here. When I saw those papers in her room, I thought it would be more of that.

[Not a catalogue of everything... To be fair, the notes on the earlier trials are sparse. There are places where Hibiki straight up says she can't recall details, making it clear the report wasn't started from the beginning of their time here. From the the things are worded, it seems like it was only done started a few weeks ago.]

hallways

[hesperos]

[ Well, he'll notice this happening and begin to pick up the papers that have fallen. ]

You need help with carrying these?

[heritrix]

I just bumped my elbow, is all. [For the second time possibly, with that thread with Elda. She says this quickly.] It's not a big deal.

[...in one sense of it, anyways.

But while Yuri is helping out, he's bound to get a look at the contents that spilled. The pages are all mixed up now, but one sheet of paper seems to be a more personal letter (If you’re reading this, you’re probably Rin, aren’t you?), while others seem to be addressing a group called the Mage's Association. It looks like a report on... Everyone's time here, actually. Paper-clipped to the papers, here are even photos from some of the early crime scenes, and the executions performed by Alena.]

[hesperos]

[ Yuri does see the other pieces of paper, and then the personal letter. The one Hibiki wrote for Rin, and it makes him actually kind of go still for a moment. He actually feels rather guilty that his eyes have read over something so ... intimate, and it is a reminder that Hibiki is no longer with them. However, he does continue to assist with picking up the rest of them.

He is kind of amazed at the rest of the detailed information that lay in the rest of the papers and photos here as well. ]

... Yeah, but I can help you carry the rest of these. It can be a pain in the ass carrying a long stack of papers all by yourself.

[ ... ]

Guess I should also sort of say that it was a bit of my bad just now because I happened to have saw something pretty personal too.

1/2

[heritrix]

What am I, eight? [Huff.] But if you're offering free labor, I won't refuse.

[That's said a little distractedly though, as she turns over each paper she picks back up, eyes roving over the top of each one in a hurry. Where is it? If it was going to be like this, she should have glued it to her hand—]

[heritrix]

[Wait. What did Yuri just say? Freezing, red creeps up the tips of Rin's ears as she spies the letter in Yuri's hands.]

You read it?

[hesperos]

[ For a moment, Yuri thinks she might miss what he's saying, but... ]

...Yeah, I did. It was kinda unavoidable as I was picking it up.

[ With a finger he'll sheepishly rub his cheek for a moment. ]

[heritrix]

You didn't have to read the whole thing! Couldn't you tell who it was meant for just from the beginning?

[Immediately after saying this she shakes her head, like his answer doesn't matter, and holds out her hand.]

Nevermind. Just give it back to me!

[hesperos]

[ Yuri's about to answer but he doesn't get the chance. Better that he doesn't, honestly.

He hands it right over. ]

...Sorry 'bout that. Really.

[ ...he will try to salvage this by changing the subject. Kind of. ]

So, why were you carrying all of this around anyway?

[heritrix]

[It's hard to tell if that mollifies her or not and she takes it back, smoothing the wrinkles off the paper. She looks flustered, kind of in that weird sense of she doesn't know how to feel, and that irritates her, so in turn the ire is what's being shown.]

It's for me, after all. [Huff.] I have to ensure it's presented to the right people.

[trustfellows]

[First of all, Alex's ninety-seven hitchhikers are not here.

Secondly, you won't find anything in the game room, but in the billiards hall you'll find a hidden button not too far from the strange compartment Susan found!]

[heritrix]

[Good to know that's one less thing to worry about. But oho, that's a development! Let's push that button.]

Hopefully it'll open this compartment...

[trustfellows]

[Well done, Rin! The compartment pops open and inside is a purple card key!]

[heritrix]

[Rin lets out a little cry of victory, securing the card key. Susan would be so glad that they finally managed to work out the mystery of this. Probably happier if she were still alive, but well. Let's not think about that!

Remembering what Cabanela said when he revealed the door he found at the meeting all those weeks ago (and since she was just in the game room a little bit ago), Rin is going to head back there now and try the card key out on Door #1 in there. The one with a slot for it.]

[trustfellows]

[It works! The door slides open easily, revealing a dark hallway.

>Proceed?]

[heritrix]

[Heck yeah! Rin gives her eyes a few seconds to adjust, but then she'll cautiously brave forward. How dark is dark in here? Don't suppose she'll have any luck feeling for a light switch...]

[trustfellows]

[No luck, unfortunately! It's pretty dark in here, but your eyes will adjust eventually and you'll reach...

Another door. You can try to get it open, since it has a handle and everything, but it's locked.]