6/24: Jae-ha

[ Whatever had happened over the weekend felt like it'd taken years off Natsuo's life instead of just two or so days, and with words being thrown at him with no real understanding of it all, he extracts himself from the woods as soon as he can with the excuse that he needs a shower, so he can stalk back towards the castle, return to the fire dorm that doesn't have enough people to be angry at him if he bars the bathroom door for the next 4 hours.

He feels gross, really. Stiff and smelling like dirt, longing for those new baths that'd just opened up but he'll have to settle for a five minute cold shower instead. ]

6/24: Steph

[ He'd shouted a lot during the day, waking up and shouting himself hoarse and wanting to cry about everything that had happened. Nothing had turned out how he'd wanted— he was so sure it would, but it didn't, and now he's left behind to sort things out. Still alive.

There are things he can sort out by himself late at night, but there are things he needs people for- longs to be with people after not having that chance. Later in the evening, after dinner when people are fed and ready to wind down for the night, he goes to find her. ]

...Tell me about what happened. All of it. What went wrong, and what I can do to change that next time.

6/24: veronica

[ Throughout the day, he's heard bits and pieces about what had happened throughout the weekend. There are things that still don't make sense to him, things he can't remember or corroborate when people insist on it, just a giant leap from Thursday night to this morning when he'd opened his eyes to darkness and suffocation.

Late afternoon, after people disperse from the woods the execution was held, Natsuo did too but then he comes back. He'd gotten Dave's sword back. It hadn't killed him directly, but... Well.

He stabs it into the dirt in front of him, and then sits, a glower on his face. ]

6/24: eichi

[ It's later at night than he would have liked, standing in front of the wind dorm door— not even the door that opens to the bedroom he'd shared with Eichi and Akechi, but the dormitory itself, like it's the castle doors barred to him.

He has a partner now. He's no longer a stray, to be taken in out of kindness or pity or what he hopes was something of friendship. But he doesn't want to say goodbye, either- he'd made promises, after all. Even though he'd been breaking them left and right all week. ]

6/24: rapunzel

[ It's two weeks in a row now that he'd been forced to spend a good chunk of the weekend just lying there doing nothing, so a s soon as he's able to— maybe out of refusal to accept any of the situation as reality— he decides to take a walk amongst the trees. He never strays very deep into the forest, always keeping one or two rows of trees between him and the view of the castle, but he just needs somewhere secluded he can walk, find a rock on the path, and kick it as hard as he can so that it hits a tree trunk and shatters on impact.

This whole... dying and reviving and whatever crap doesn't matter to him. He still feels like he failed, like he feels every Sunday afternoon, but this time, it's a personal failure. ]

6/24: waver

[ It's hard to find a place that isn't full of people, but if he had to choose one where he doesn't think people would be able to find him very easily, it'd be the library. No talking in the library. No running in the library. Rules he always used to hate and so avoided the library on principle, he's glad for, now, because that means he can pick his way in between the bookshelves, ducking behind a row if he sees somebody coming, making his way towards one of the far corners where he sort of... paces back and forth, staring at the wall like he's waiting for something, or trying to figure something out.

He gives the wall a swift kick.

Nothing happens. ]

6/24: shirasu

[ The open grounds means for plenty of space to pace and it still doesn't feel like enough to work up the nervous energy that'd been building up in Natsuo ever since this morning. There's a sense of wrongness, a sense of relief, there's failure and duty and sorrow and ...overwhelming relief.

He's so relieved, to be alive, to breathe air again, to be able to see everybody, even though he'd chosen to remove himself from everybody and retreat to sit on the rooftop of the horse stalls where he can look down upon the sprawling grounds, like he's hoping to find answers amongst the grass, the gardens, the cold stone walls of the castle itself. ]

6/24: monika

[ Today was... a day. It still doesn't feel quite real, everybody making a big deal out of everything whereas for Natsuo, it'd just felt like a dream. Taking a nap Thursday evening so he can stay awake throughout the night- and then he opens his eyes and it smells like dirt and he couldn't move or breathe. That was more terrifying than anything— it felt like drowning, heavy, cold, and alone.

But the smell of dirt now is something he takes comfort in, finding his way back to the gardens he walked through earlier in the week, back when he was so certain and happy about all of this- as happy as he could get, anyways. He sits down in the middle of the path and then lies down, hands folded over his stomach and him squinting up at the darkening sky, waiting to get found and trampled on or forgotten or whatever it is he was hoping for. ]

6/24: nico

[ Maybe it's a bad idea. ...It's a bad idea, he knows it is, but he has to know. It's another late night patrol, not quite bedtime but getting there, with Natsuo pacing in front of the dorms, staring down at his feet and muttering to himself, down the hall, down the stairs, his feet bringing him in front of the ballroom. He frowns at the door for a second before reaching out and giving the handle a rattle: locked. ]

Did I not get this far? I must have...