June 17th - The Woods, Before Sunrise

[independent_dollmaker]

[As Alice meets up with the others, she can't help but feel that the woods seem even darker than usual.

Maria's dead. What the hell is going on?]

Do you know anything else about what happened? Why are we out here?

Comments

[itwasfeyt]

[A hushed silence swept over Maya as Osaka's words hit her like blows to the face. The words stung. Had she really felt that way all this time? Were they to blame...?]

Osaka...

[And then the world started moving again, and Nui was on Osaka like a rabid dog. She raised a hand in protest... but found that she couldn't move.

She could only watch.]

Nui!!

[all_onis_are_true]

[If it stung for Maya, it stabbed for Hiroshi. Every word, like a dagger. He thought he was smart. He'd been told he was smart -- no, he'd been told he HAD to be smart. Wasn't that what the acceptance had been? Just another stepping stone towards becoming a respected scientist, a member of the intellectual elite? That's how his father felt, right?

But the more he listens to Osaka, the more it hits home. He could have all the smarts in the world, all the great scientific discoveries... and it didn't mean a damn thing if he didn't know how to actually LISTEN to his friends, how to have any sort of empathy. How to read PEOPLE, not books. And now... this. So many people dead...]

Osa... N-no... Ay...

[And then Nui strikes, and he reels backwards, everything happening too fast for his brain to process. And there's blood. Everywhere.]

[fortunatetoaster]

[ it's probably a good job she's already emptied her stomach, because that bile and nausea is rising again and Chiyoko has to swallow hard to chase it down again. She wants to scream back, tell her to shut up, how dare she try and criticize them now when two people are dead -- but her words hit home and sting too much for her to make any kind of argument.

Not like she has time, anyway.

There's blood everywhere and all she can hear is screaming and it's

too much ]

STOP IT!

[ the scream comes out before she's even concious of opening her mouth and she's suddenly aware that she's started to sob, holding her head heavily in her hands. ]

Just stop it stop it stop it stop it!

[ohmygah]

[Osaka doesn't even have time to step backward in shock as the scissors strike and she collapses in pain. There's no time to do anything except experience Nui's brutal assault.

She should have expected this. Osaka had been so successful so far in defending Ayumu, they must have decided to do away with it. They didn't need her anymore.

But that doesn't make sense. Nothing makes sense. Why is is so hard to think? Ayumu is so confused and everything hurts. She knew that Osaka was the ninth person at the ritual, it was the only thing that made sense. But where did she come from? Why did her friends lie about Osaka's existence? Why was everyone so angry at her? She didn't do this, it was Osaka.

...Right? She... she was Ayumu. No, Osaka. No... who was she? Why couldn't they help her figure out who she was? They were supposed to be her friends why didn't they ever help? They deserve what they got. No. Yes. Wait. Damn these people. No, don't damn these people. No.... whatever.

Its hard to think, even more so than usual. Osaka- no, Ayumu, no... she... she's so tired. The pain keeps increasing with each stab and everyone's yelling its getting harder and harder to focus.

She's just gotta figure out who's fault this is. She can do if she just gets it together.

Get it together.

Get it together.

Get]

[flatview]

[ Eventually, she stops stabbing, letting the scissors clatter onto the forest floor. For a few moments, she does nothing but stare numbly at the scene before her. There was so much blood, someone surely died here.

It was on her hands. What was she doing here?

Nui can't tell if she stands up on her own or if someone else is hoisting her up. (Did she even stop stabbing? Maybe she was still doing that.) She was...doing this for a reason, right? Osaka....killed them.

Osaka.

Strangely enough, she trembles. Osaka was her friend. She feels no satisfaction. So, why did she.....? ]