week 8 - investigation

[vicedirector]

seven vices case 8 - investigation ♫ friday On Friday morning, nothing happens. It's 10AM, and there are no blackouts or explosions. There's no blood, no objects out of place, no missing guests. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The monitor in the lobby is silent, and Katerina doesn't seem to have anything to say on the matter. On the most desperate of weeks...could someone have actually not taken the initiative? >Mingle? cast setting

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[hopefragment]

Yeah... they might have gone looking on their own, which...

[Eugh. That's even worse. What if someone was injured but too far away for anyone to hear them call for hel--

Speaking of calls for help, at that scream, Hinata bolts. Please try to keep up with him, Roxy, it's time to Go.]

That's Hanyuu, isn't it?!

[He already knows Faize can run faster than he can, go get her, space elf.]

[muties]

Well, fuck.

[ She isn't 90% leg and doesn't have a weirdly high speed stat, but she can fly so that Helps. Better than being dragged casually through the mud. ]

[symbologic]

Stay together! [That's all Faize has to tell the two of them before he just full on bolts as fast as he can towards the boathouse. Which is pretty dang fast since he's built for speed, not for power. He knows Hinata can't keep up with him and Hinata is also skills: none so he can't be left totally alone either. ROXY, PROTECT THE BAGEL.]

[SO AFTER HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES HIM TO REACH THE END OF THE ROAD AND ARRIVE AT THE LAKE...what's he gonna find? Is there blood by the lake? A dead body? Body parts? What we got?]

[aumygoddess]

[ The scream is sudden, short, and isolated. When the trio reaches the boathouse, they'll find the general area a mess. But most pressingly, Hanyuu is on her knees in the snow just beside one of the larger trees at the edge of the lake.

Her hands are clamped over her mouth, eyes full of fear. There's someone hanging from a tree branch. ]

[symbologic]

[Oh good. Things are a mess. ALWAYS A GOOD SIGN. Faize looks around the clearing wildly once he reaches the end of the road.]

Hanyuu!? [Oh wait. There she is. PRAISE BE TO THE STAR OCEAN, SHE'S NOT A CORPSE. Faize rushes over, coming to a stop behind her.] Hanyuu, are you al--

[Oh, son of a bitch. There's somebody in the tree.]

[hopefragment]

Hanyuu!

[Hanyuuuuuuuuu!! Hinata running as fast as he can is still no match for Faize really trying, but he is trying!! Also maybe wheezing for breath because Listen, he's had a hard week training-wise, and he's not used to it. Everything hurts?]

What is it, Faize?!

[What do your elf eyes see?? He's running as fast as he can!]

[muties]

[ Hinata... you need to work out.

In fact, he is going Too Slow, so Roxy is just going to fly ahead and start dragging him forward. Who's the balloon now?? ]

Is she dead?!

[ Has blood been split this morning. ]

[aumygoddess]

It's--It's...she's dead...!

[ Although their face is obscured from their position, their head of bright pink hair makes them immediately identifiable.

Clover Field is dead. ]

[symbologic]

Hajime, stay back there. Please. [His tone is sharp, but the please comes out a little shakily. He knows Hinata and Clover are close and goddamn, he does not need to see her like this. He'll find out she's dead, soon enough, and he has no intention of hiding that fact. But seeing her body hanging like this...let's not give the bagel nightmares.]

[Faize will start climbing the tree. Because somebody has to cut the body down and Hanyuu is clearly in no state to do so and Roxy's flight won't last forever. SO FAIZE IT IS. Also he's still useless at this whole comforting thing so...sorry, Roxy...he'll leave Hinata and Hanyuu to you.]

[How high of a climb does he have to reach Clover, exactly?]

[hopefragment]

[UGH HE'S GOING AS FAST AS HE CAN you sword train for the first time in your life against Faize "SHSL Everything" Sheifa Beleth and then run really fast out of fear?! Being dragged does help, though, if only because that's embarrassing af.]

...!!

[And then he wishes he hadn't run this way. He ignores Faize's warning, as you do in murdertown, emerging onto the scene to first notice Hanyuu, not dead or even bleeding everywhere. That's a relief. But then--

hope's breaking noise.avi. Faize isn't wrong about how close they are, and if it weren't for Roxy flying and holding his hand, he'd definitely have fallen to his knees right beside Hanyuu.]

Clover!!

[It's a scream, because he feels like he'd just seen her a couple minutes ago. Just talked to her? How could this have...?!]

[muties]

[ At Faize's warning, Roxy begins to slow and drop back down to the ground at a run. She's half tempted to just. Block Hinata's passage at Faize's warning. There's a purple on the ground and a pink in the tree-- oh no, Clover. No one else could be so pink. ]

Oh f--

[ And then Hinata's screaming, welp shit. Goddamn it, why are you bros with half the town. Not that this would be any less fucked up for every other goddamn reason, of course because holy shit. Roxy's grip on his hand tightens.

Ok, wow ok Faize is. Sure going to cut down the body. Roxy's focus slides over to Hanyuu. ]

Did you just find her like this...?

[aumygoddess]

[ Hanyuu stutters for a few seconds before clearing her throat and taking a deep breath.

She's seen bodies in worse states, before. It's not like this is new. But to just suddenly find one was shocking and terrifying. ]

...yes. [ her voice is small and distant ] I was looking for Urashima-san, and she...this...she wasn't moving.

[hopefragment]

[Hinata's breath is coming hard through his mouth as he barely registers Roxy's question past the roaring in his ears. It's... there's no way. There's no way? He'd just been speaking with her. This is the island all over again, blinking and completely missing the death of someone he cares about.]

Clover...

[No, he doesn't have time to cry. Crying can come later, even if all he wants to do is scream.]

Did you... you didn't see anyone else around, d-did you...?

[He still sounds like he's choking back tears, but he's trying, releasing Roxy's hand to try to get a better look at the area. What kind of mess are we looking at, here? Hits △ to observe.]

[muties]

[ Is "carrying on through murder" a shsl talent because you have it, Hinata. She'll let you triangle button around without a death grip from her, instead kneeling down to Hanyuu and placing a hand on the tiny goddess's shoulder. ]

She can't have been here long-- and her ki-- [ Ugh fuck the small pink girl is dead she was so cool, why this. ] The other person couldn't have left all that long ago, right?

[aumygoddess]

[ a shallow nod ]

I saw something on the ground, so I went this way, and...

[ Shaking, she rolls up her sleeve and checks her watch. ]

It's only been about fifteen minutes.

[hopefragment]

[You get Hanyuu, Roxy, Hinata's off to Observe. It's... easier to do that than try to talk right now, honestly, because if he tries to talk, he'll just Cry.

Can he see the something? Or maybe a hint as to the True Culprit.]

[muties]

[ Who managed to fuck up so badly in fifteen minutes. Roxy can barely manage to get dressed in that amount of time some days. ]

You shouldn't have come out here alone, y'know.

[ JUST. SAYING. ]

Did'ya see anything else? Anyone just. Running past you looking suspicious as hell?

[aumygoddess]

[ Hanyuu shakes her head, looking a bit sick.

That said, the first thing he can spot is a broken jar in the snow several feet away from Clover's body. And it's glittery as fuck. ]

[hopefragment]

[Whoops comes down here. Ugh Clover... were you holding glitter. Did you die as you lived, coated in glitter??

What color is the glitter.]

[vicedirector]

[ Not much, she's actually within arm's reach, although the climbing does help get her down easier. ]

[symbologic]

[Oh good, even better. He's not actually going to cut her down immediately though. Sorry, Clover...but he needs to check for cloos first. Is there anything that stands out as weird about this hanging? Something out of place on her body or the rope or the tree maybe?]

[vicedirector]

[ Eeyup.

First off, the rope she's hanging from is...fairly ordinary rope, if thick enough to support her weight.

Secondly, there are multiple burned patches on Clover's body--her hair, the center of her chest, and the edge of her sleeve. ]

[symbologic]

[STOP BURNING PEOPLE. WHAT THE FUCK, YOU GUYS.]

[But alright, if the rope is clean, he'll focus on the burns instead. Is there anything weird about those? Is it possible to tell what might have made them? THEY AREN'T ELECTRICAL BURNS AGAIN, ARE THEY?]

[aumygoddess]

[ It's not really possible, no, they're just...burns. She's wearing a (very cute and pink!!) winter coat, though, so if he checks, her body itself is not burned, the coat took the brunt of the damage. ]

[symbologic]

[What a good coat. Taking the hit for Clover like that so she didn't have to get burned. Even if it probably would have been easier to tell what burned her if it HAD been her skin as opposed to fabric. Maybe. Who knows.]

[Failing to get anything out of the burns though, he'll focus instead on Clover's neck. Are there any rope burns and is her neck snapped? Or does he need to let her down first before he can determine that?]