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

[greennotgold]

Fletcher stared up at the screens. This was... a positive turn, he thought. Even if it was only because of the rain, people didn't have to fight! And he was a Player for this round again; for once, he didn't mind.

He actually smiled at the revelation.

[choseanidiot]

Was he supposed to be relieved at this revelation? Enki scowled up at the now-empty screens, for the moment clad in the school uniform (cuffs unbuttoned and hanging down over his knuckles, and no blazer), since his own clothes were still drying.

And if they disappeared at some point, that idiot was going to suffer.

Anyway. Scavenger hunt? What was that, anyway? The principle was clear, but the whole thing was kind of confusing.

[kendobishounen]

Sugata looked up at the screen and focused on his name for a brief while. It appeared that he was going to have a chance to see how this system worked. He was mildly looking forward to it.

That information gained, he turned to the crowd and scanned for either a familiar head of blond or red hair. While it'd be hard to imagine this place being able to pick up Wako, considering her inability to leave the island.

[gingabishounen]

Familiarity! Takuto would let out a breath of relief on seeing the back of Sugata's head, if it didn't imply that Wako was without both of them at the moment. He didn't really like that thought.

However, he was relieved anyway. "Sugata!"

[queenscheckmate]

Kallen turned away at the point where the woman said they didn't have to fight. That was okay by her. She did stop when she heard the riddle. She looked around and... did no one else hear that? Kallen figured that some people would have been saying something out of confusion, but weren't.

A handful of items had to be broken before they could be used. Riddles aren't good when there's multiple answers.

For a moment, the teenager looked around for anyone familiar.

[imperceptible]

"Again?" Kevin groused, crossing his arms and staring up at the screen with irritation. Was this a hint or were the people in charge just picking on him? Either way, he didn't plan to take part again, even if there was no penalty this time.

As far as he was concerned, fuck this game and good riddance to it. Even if he had been part of the last round, it had only been to pay back a favor. Now that his debts were cleared, Exaclan was permanently off his books.

So, with those thoughts in mind, he dismissed the rest of the announcements and began glancing out the windows to see if the weather had improved any. Naturally, it hadn't.

[lolisandminorities]

A riddle with more than one possible answer.

Xingke supposed they were attempting to be difficult in presenting alternatives but of the various possibilities that came to mind, Xingke began to eliminate them one by one in his head. Some were too ridiculous, others would be impossible to find in this sort of setting. So, realistically, there was only one true answer left.

Of course, that sort of reasoning followed the assumption that the school staff weren't being ridiculous and hadn't brought in specific items just for this game.

Regardless, Xingke stayed long enough to note the names on the player list (The Empress of Britannia? Someone had a poor sense of humor.) before straightening from where he stood near the back. If there was nothing else of note, he was going to return to the room before Lloyd could and make another mess.

[kings_thief]

Being a player might have been a concern for Locke, if he had bothered listening to anything that didn't involve the treasure hunt.

"Perfect."

He might not have been one for fighting, but hunting for treasure was his forte.

[kendobishounen]

Sugata turned, and found Takuto. His shoulders dropped slightly. While it was nice to see his friend after a week, it meant Wako was without protection. But he figured it was something they were both aware of, so it went unsaid. "Takuto!" he called back as he approached.

Now that he was closer, he could see that Takuto was dirtier and more soaked than others that had obtained umbrellas from the various school facilities. "Where have you been?"

[bitofafiction]

"I am very nearly impressed," Sherlock murmurs. "This round may in fact be tolerable."

He doesn't trouble himself about finding a Player just yet; he recognizes a few of those names and there will be time enough. First, he settles himself leaning against a pillar and starts writing down objects in his notebook that might fit the description on the screens. Anything with a seal on it, perhaps? Probably not letters. Likely not glowsticks either. He neatly crosses out every option that seems unlikely.

[gingabishounen]

"Eh... I lost my way to the dorm the second time. And it was too rainy," he rubbed his head, feeling somewhat guilty under the scrutinizing look from his friend.

[myblueskies]

Romeo spotted Fletcher and hurried towards him, he had seen the screans, and he could read off the screans for some reason and he had spotted both his own and Fletcher's names. He was just glad that this round was different and that they were not going to force Fletcher to fight, that would be unfair!

"Hello Fletcher!" He handed his friend an apple and took a bite out of the second apple he held in his hand. He looked at the clue again and frowned, he had no idea what it meant. And had no idea how to find what they were looking for unless he actually went round breaking things to see if they worked.

[greennotgold]

"Hi, Romeo!" Ah, another apple! Fletcher took it and smiled. "You're a Player too this round? I'm so glad we don't have to fight..."

[discarded]

Miwako looked around in confusion. What sort of riddle was that? Not a single answer came to mind.

She caught Kallen's eye and looked away shyly. "Er... do you have any idea what it means?"

[myblueskies]

Romeo was stood near the edge of the room looking at the screen, he was a player but he didn't have to fight, that was probably good. Though Romeo wasn't scared, after all he had fought the strongest member of the Wolf Pack and won. Still he had watched a few battles and he didn't even know what some of the weapons were never mind how to use them.

Still this scavenger hunt seemed hard, Romeo had no idea what would work if he broke it, and he didn't really like breaking things. Especially things that belonged to other people. He sighed thinking hard and ate his apple.

Then he had an idea! Even though battles were optional maybe he could find people to help him, then they wouldn't have to be discards and he would share his prize with them if he won!

That was a good idea! Chearing up a little bit Romeo started looking around for people to approach, looking for people he knew who were not on the list of players.

[goodtobetheking]

"It seems almost suspiciously convenient, don't you think?" Shouryu's smile as he approached Enki was bland, friendly, and therefore deeply foreboding. "Do you have any ideas? Something that must be broken..."

[choseanidiot]

Enki's first reaction was to simply grunt in reply as he put his hands behind his head and rested them there as he turned away from Shōryū. Then, almost immediately, Enki's back went rigid and he had to lock his knees. But, at least the rush of realization/remembering/revelation only brought the faintest urge-reaction to drop into prostration; besides the automatic knee-locking, nothing else happened.

Hah.

"That's the least of it. At least I don't have to..." Enki trailed off, his faintly relieved tone and bland face switching for a narrow stare in suspicion at Shōryū, and he had to fight the urge to inch away, because that smile, that faintest of reaction, was much too mild.

"What?" Enki snapped, for the moment ignoring the 'clue'; there weren't that many things that had to be broken before they could be used, and he didn't think horses or the various flying creatures or demons were something that the school had in mind. Besides that, Enki was uncertain what it could be, and there was something far more important to care about; Shōryū's reaction.

[queenscheckmate]

"Hm?" Kallen looked over in the girl's direction. "The riddle you mean?" The teenager walked over to the other girl. "I don't know that meaning is behind it, but riddles don't make a lot of sense when there's multiple answers involved."

[myblueskies]

Romeo nodded and took another bite out of his own apple. "I am glad too, I know you don't like fighting." Acually Romeo wouldn't mind fighting, though he didn't want to hurt anybody if they hadn't done anything wrong first. But winning meant getting tokens and he had promised Fletcher to buy him back a memory, and he still only had three tokens.

"That riddle though, it is really hard!" He frowned again thinking.

[trollofthree]

In other news, Gino had sidled up to him whilst he was occupied with thought.

"Hey, Xingke, right?" He was checking firstly because half the people here didn't remember their own name anyway, and secondly because it would irritate him. His hands tucked casually into his blazer pockets, he grinned guilelessly at the older man. "You free? I have a question."

[goodtobetheking]

Instead of actually answering the snapped question, Shōryū held out their PDA, the screen still showing the Seeking forum and the post he'd just carefully written and submitted. He knew that Enki would never willingly seek out a battle, but unfortunately for him, it was Shōryū who had the final say in whether he would put himself in harm's way for the kirin's sake, not the kirin himself. This was necessary, if rather ruthless, and he was entirely prepared for the fit that would probably ensue.

"I won't ask you to attend," he said, by way of apology, "But you will have to draw my weapon. Bring a book, perhaps."

[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."