Round 3, Day 1 [all characters and round announcement]

[utopiamods]

The storm doesn't let up through the rest day, but by the next day the power is back, the staff are looking moderately less nervous, and the weather is light enough that the usual announcement rings over the speakers in the morning.

"The announcements will start at noon. Will all students please report to the lobby for that time."

Umbrellas are now scattered around the campus at useful points, including the dormitory common rooms and the entrance to the school buildings. Helpful, because the rain is as heavy as ever today. When you arrive in the lobby, the screens are all lit and the receptionists are back at their desk and smiling at old students and new arrivals both.

At twelve o'clock exactly, a woman appears on every screen, smiling so cheerfully that several of the audience probably have an allergic reaction.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Good afternoon to our current students, as well! You all worked hard last week, and we're really very proud of you.

"Now, normally I would explain the rules, but you've all had a day to read the manual, and I'm sure you've met some of our helpful students since you arrived. Let's skip that! Besides, this week is special. That's because... Well! It would be difficult to fight in this weather, right? We're going to give you a break from battles. Isn't that nice? You can still fight each other if you want, but this week it's ~totally optional~.

"This week is a scavenger hunt! We're gonna give you a clue in a moment. The clue will lead you to a treasure, which you should bring back to our sages," the receptionists wave from their desk, looking a little sheepish, "And they'll give you the next clue! If you collect six treasures, you'll win the round and get a great prize, so work hard!

"Ah, one more thing... Players! You can have as many Weapons as you want this week. Winning battles or collecting Weapons won't count as a victory again until the next round, so have fun!"

She disappears from the screens, but her voice doesn't. "The first clue is... I must be broken before I can be used. What am I?"

The Player list scrolls onto half of the screens; the other half show the clue in flowing red text.

Players for Round 3:
Enki
Fletcher Tringham
Kevin Smith
Koharu Izaki
Kotarou
Locke Cole
Marino You
Mei Chang
Mizuno You
Nunnally vi Britannia
Romeo
Sugata Shindo

Comments

[choseanidiot]

Something churned in the pit of his stomach as he snatched the PDA and read the short sentence. Enki stared. Felt something twitch violently at the corner of his eye, near the temple.

He...

Of course Shōryū had said he'd do it. Enki... Well... It may have been foolish (childish) hope, but he'd somewhere held out for the possibility that Shōryū would have relented, at least the first time he had to be a Player.

But no. Of course he couldn't do that.

"A book. Is not. Going to make. Anything better," Enki hissed, his free hand fisting at his side, the other's knucles turning white on the grip around the PDA. But he didn't toss it.

It was a testament to, either his precense of mind, or the fact that he didn't want to have an actual loud argument like this in front of people who had nothing to do with it.

"I refuse!"

It wasn't often Shōryū had to do something like this. After all, usually he had thousands upon thousands of soldiers in his royal army he could move as he wished, the few times it had been necessary.

That didn't work here.

Before Shōryū said something as he opened his mouth again, Enki, against his better judgement, stepped close, hand fisting in Shōryū's blazer.

"Can't it wait until next time? Please?" Rokuta didn't often use that word, but... His rage was already gone, but the defiance was still there, despite the soft voice.

Enki hoped that by 'next time', they'd already be home, and the point would be moot.

[goodtobetheking]

"As much as I'd like to let you turn a blind eye to all of this," Shōryū's voice was quiet but implacable as he looked down at Enki. He allowed the grip on his blazer; rather than reaching up to remove the kirin's hand, he rested his hand on Enki's head - careful to avoid his forehead - and ruffled his hair instead. A gesture of apology again, because this was something that would truly hurt Enki as much as it was something that was entirely necessary.

"As much as I would like that, we don't have the luxury of time. En's future is in the balance, and I would rather not see five hundred years of work destroyed on the whims of ... well." He glanced at the nearest screen for a moment before his eyes found Enki's again. "'Next time' could be months away. Enki, as the King of En, I must ask you to obey me on this matter."

[choseanidiot]

Enki shuddered as those last few words seemed to sink into his flesh, forming chains that didn't exist but were more binding than any physical restraint could ever be, briefly chaining him to Shōryū in a wholly different way than normal.

He hated that feeling.

Swallowing, he realized he'd closed his eyes and bowed his head while the words did their thing to his insides, and grit his teeth, straightening. The move was careful enough, though, so that Shōryū's hand wasn't immediately dislodged.

"Fine. As you wish. You're finding me a book to read, though, and if it ain't good, it's gonna end up against your face," Enki finally said, having collected himself from the order.

He was studiously ignoring Shōryū's mention of their lack of time because he wasn't going to admit to trying to get a good look at himself each morning, looking for any traces of shitsudou, or trying to find out if he felt any different, any worse, from the day before.

[goodtobetheking]

The unpleasantness over with, Shōryū smiled faintly again. His shoulders relaxed back into more of a slouch, and he brought his other hand up to place against Enki's shoulder as he messed up the kirin's mane with more outward affection that he would normally show. It was to be saved for special occasions and emergencies, after all, and this counted as both.

"I'll do my best to find something good," he said. Not for the first time, he cursed the loss of the kirin's private name: it would have been more appropriate than the more formal name he had to use in its place. "Thank you, Enki."

[choseanidiot]

That lack of use of his name really rankled, and had made the order that much more unpleasant to hear, but it wasn't as if that was Shōryū's fault. Of course, nothing of this was Shōryū's fault, but he didn't have to (yes he did) order him, so it totally was Shōryū's fault.

Standing still for a few minutes, Enki then rolled his eyes and gave a firm push to Shōryū's midsection, more to propel himself half a step back than to push Shōryū away.

"Don't thank me, you idiot. You better get hurt as little as possible," Enki snapped, giving Shōryū a good poke in the stomach before stepping a whole step back (which was more like half a step away if comaped to Shōryū).

He'd have liked to say 'don't get hurt at all', but he couldn't demand that, now could he? Any hits against his sword would hurt him, after all, and Enki knew Shōryū would do his best to have any hits hit the sword, and not his body, since those Enki would feel.

No, a book wouldn't really make anything better, but hopefully it could provide some distraction.