[Day: Saturday, January 26th. Time: 8:00 P.M.] [Weather: Quite a bit of snowfall, but not much wind. Of course, it's very cold. Should lighten up later in the day] [Yesterday lotsa stuff happened; the gang met Jiro, Kyon went to a police station, Sho showed up, and of course, Shingo got beaten up again.] [Everyone's just now getting to school. The gates are still closed; presumably, class is cancelled after yesterday's incident. Chikako is sitting at a small table next to the gate, covered with an umbrella. She's handing out the school's newspapers.] [Session Start] [Should probably be noted that there's no sign of Shingo.] * Katie walks to school, idly brushing snow from her hair. She spots Chikako and waves. * Satoshi approaches the school and notices the closed gates. "Bah. Should've figured. I could've gotten some extra skating time in." * Chikako hands a copy of the newspaper to a student that just got there. The student walks off, and she notices Katie and waves back. * Katie heads over to Chikako. "Hi. School still closed?" * Satoshi notices Katie and Chikako, and starts heading in their direction. * Taki walks up under a small red umbella and looks up at the gates. "I thought so..." * Satoshi has no umbrella, and his hair is full of snow. He doesn't seem to notice. * Chikako nods. "Yep. Seiryuu's students are back in class, but we get another day off. Isn't that cool?" * Katie grins. "I guess. That the paper for today?" * Jiro gets to school and notices the closed gate. "...oh. Right." He looks around. "So what'm I doing here?" * Taki notices Satoshi. "Good morning." Mornin', Taki. * Chikako nodnods, eagerly handing Katie a copy. "Yup! It's so cool!" * Katie laughs and opens the paper. She steps under the umbrella as she starts scanning. They weren't gonna let me in the school, but I printed it up myself. Isn't that cool? * Katie nods absently as she reads. "You're very dedicated." Shall we go see what's news? ::points to Chikako and Katie:: * Satoshi starts heading in that direction with Taki. "Sure." * Jiro notices Chikako handing out newspapers and decides to take to heart all that stuff he's been told about needing to read more. * Jiro walks up to Chikako. "Uh, can I have a paper?" * Chikako nodnods and happily hands one to Jiro. * Satoshi (and, presumably, Taki) arrive. "Mornin', all. What's up?" * Katie doesn't look up. "Hi Satoshi, Taki. School's closed again." [The paper's more catching headlines: 1. School to resume Monday. 2: Investigation still underway. 3: School dance next week will not be cancelled. 4: Drug dealers still on the loose.] "Good morning Katie, Chikako, Jiro. How is everybody?" * Katie starts reading option number two. * Kyon rides his motorcycle slowly down the street, carefully navigating over the snow. He spots the closed gates, sighs, and surveys the group from behind his helmet visor. I got a lot of work done yesterday. It was cool! 'M fine, thanks. How're you? That's good to hear. I'm OK, I'm worried about Shingo though. * Satoshi peeks over Katie's shoulder at the paper. * Jiro nods and looks over the paper. Can I have one of thoes Chikako? * Satoshi turns to Chikako. "Yeah, one for me too, please." * Chikako happily gives out papers. * Satoshi flips through, notes the article about the drug dealers, and frowns. Thankyou. ::opens and starts to read:: [Article 2: Police are still investivgating the death of Miki Tanaka, a second year student at Seiryuu Girl's Highschool. Miki's body was found on the stage in Sakuragaoka Highschool's auditorium. She had been stabbed through the heart by, police suspect, a fencing sword. There were no fingerprints or DNA traces, so police are having difficulty finding possible suspects...] [... The murder weapon was found, however, but police refuse to disclose more information at this time.] * Kyon steps off his bike, locks it down, and strides across the street to the group, walking right up to Chikako. "Hey. Can you give me one?" * Katie hrms and flips to the article on drug users. [As Katie turns to that article, the paper is lifted out of her hands by someone to her side.] * Jiro reads the paper. Slowly. * Katie blinks and looks up. * Taki turns the page of her newspaper. * Saki scans the paper she lifted from Katie, scowling. * Katie stares at Saki, but manages not to back away. * Saki finishes, cursing under her breath. She shoves the paper back at Katie and stalks off. * Satoshi looks up. "What was that about?" * Taki turns the page again. * Jiro looks up from the paper, frowning, and notices Saki just before she stalks off. He continues frowning. * Katie watches Saki leave blankly, then looks back down at the paper in her hands. "I don't know." * Taki looks up, "What was what abo...oh..." o.o Huh. Must be pissed about not knowing school's out 'till she got here, or somethin'. * Katie smooths the paper and shakes her head. [Article 4, by the way, explains that the dealer from Seiryuu police caught before was apparently not the only one, and there could be a larger number than they first thought.] She was reading about the drugs. * Chikako was too busy handing Kyon a paper to notice Saki. * Jiro frowns. "Uh... why would that make her angry?" * Kyon takes it and stands to the other side of Chikako to read it. I don't know. ::looks over the article:: * Chikako blinks. "What'd I miss? Was it cool?" * Satoshi shakes his head. "Nasty stuff. I told the guys on the team that if I ever caught them even remotely involved, I'd personally kick their ass." * Katie looks at the article more closely and shrugs. "Maybe she's involved with people from Seiryuu..." She blinks. Oh, Saki showed up and left, Chikako. She did? That's not cool. No, it's not cool at all. * Kyon looks over his paper at that, raises an eyebrow, and then returns to reading. It's all article 2 so far. And some of 3. She never read my paper before. She's an uncool person. * Jiro frowns and rubs his head. "What, y'think she's a dealer or somethin'?" * Katie flips the paper to article three. Wouldn't surprise me. But she didn't hit anybody this time, so maybe it does count twords cool. [The article explains that despite the murder, the school dance will still be held.] School dances, how fun. * Katie flips to article one. Yep. Love how they keep their priorities straight. Although before this, I was actually thinking about going. * Katie doesn't look up. "Is that so?" Oh? With who? [Article 1 reiterates 2, as well as explaining that while other schools would have reopened today, principal Quentin though it would be too hard on the students, so closed the school an extra day.] * Kyon finishes skimming two and three, and starts 4. Ehh, I figured I'd just show up and dance with whoever wanted to. I'm actually not that bad a dancer. * Katie finishes reading and absently rolls her paper between her hands. I think the dance is being held to try to help people cheer up. It's like raising the morale of an army. Isn't that cool? Ahh, that sounds like a good plan. Maybe I'll use it too. Why don't you just go together? And that's and even better plan. What do ya think Satoshi? ::smiles up at him:: * Katie glances over at them, then grins. * Chikako nodnods. "It'd be cool, like a date!" * Satoshi blushes. "Uh... um... sure!" As Chikaoko would say 'That's so COOL!' ::latches onto his arm:: * Satoshi goes very, very red. * Chikako grins. "It is, isn't it?" * Kyon finishes up four, glances at the headline for one, then folds it up and sticks it unceremoniously in his bag. He chuckles to himself at Satoshi's reaction. Uhh... yeah. It's cool. * Satoshi looks at Taki and smiles slightly nervously. * Katie laughs. Hee. ^_^ * Katie tucks her paper in her satchel, still giggling to herself. * Kyon looks at the couple, shakes his head, and walks back off towards his bike. * Katie watches Kyon leave. "So, what do you want to do now that school's out?" she asks, loudly enough for the leaving vice president to hear. * Jiro frowns at the paper, and stuffs it into his backpack. I'm gonna stay here for a while and hand out papers. Cool, huh? * Taki doesn't do anything with her paper because she'd have to let go of Satoshi. * Katie nods at Chikako. * Jiro looks up and only now trully registers the presence of the others. He blinks. "Oh, hey guys." * Satoshi continues to hold his paper because Taki is still latched onto his arm. * Kyon stops in the middle of the street and turns, regarding Chikako contemplatively. Hi Jiro. ::Decides to let go of Satoshi:: * Satoshi exhales, although whether it's in relief or disappointment, no one can tell. He puts his paper in his bag before turning back to Jiro. Heya, Jiro. Morning Jiro. * Kyon paces back to Chikako, and stands over her. He says something very quietly. * Jiro looks around. "So, uh, what're you guys doin' today?" * Katie shrugs. Nothing much, yet. * Taki quickly puts her paper into her bag. "I've got no plans for today." * Chikako blinks and whispers back. * Kyon nods to Chikako and smiles. "Yeah. Thanks." * Chikako nods. "It's cool." * Katie blinks at Kyon and Chikako. * Kyon straightens up, and turns to look over the group again. Mornin', Kyon. * Jiro notices Kyon. "Oh. Hey." * Kyon strides over to the others, and gives them one last, contemplative look. "Yeah. Hey. What are you up to?" * Jiro rubs his head. "Uh, nothin'. I think." * Katie shrugs again and digs her hand into her satchel. "If nothing else, I was probably going to go home and get some whittling done." Good morning Kyon, I'm just finding out that I've got a partner for the dance. You? * Jiro turns to Katie and blinks. "Whittle?" * Kyon shrugs. "Nope, no partner. Got some plans, though." Kyon should go with me! It'd be so cool! Ahh. * Satoshi grins. * Katie nods. "Care to share?" She blinks at Chikako, then outright grins. * Taki smiles up at Kyon. "Was this one of your plans?" * Kyon turns back to Chikako, a light smile flickering across his face before turning back to his normal smirk. He nods to her. "Yeah. Cool. My pleasure." * Katie feels her grin turn into a smile. "This is a surprise." * Satoshi looks at Katie and Jiro, his grin widening. Yay! It'll be so cool! Hmm, all that's left is you Katie, and Jiro, and Shingo...We need another person! * Jiro looks confused. o_o * Kyon shrugs and turns to Katie. "Why?" Wait, what? * Katie shrugs lightly at Kyon, still smiling. I didn't think you were the type. Take care of my friend, okay? We'll have such a cool time! * Katie giggles. * Kyon smirks at Katie. "I wouldn't mistreat her any more than I would you." Of course not, Kyon. * Katie looks over at Chikako and hmms. "Well, school *is* out..." Are you going to have time away from the paper anytime soon, Chikako? Well, I can just leave them on the table for people to pick up. I was only handing them out because I like to talk to people. It's cool! * Katie nods. "Okay. Because..." She leans over and whispers in the other girl's ear. * Jiro decides to stop trying to figure out what's going on, and looks for somewhere to have a seat for the duration. * Taki wonders what Katie's telling Chikako, but smiles like she's got a clue. * Chikako grins. "Shopping? Yay! That'll be so cool!" * Katie laughs. * Satoshi prays that he doesn't get dragged along by Taki. So, when are you free? * Taki just grins. We can all go right away! It'll be so cool! * Katie looks at the boys, her eyes twinkling. "Yeah, it would." To the Stores! * Satoshi is doomed. * Jiro begins to wonder if he should be worried. * Kyon watches the conversation, and then settles back on his heels, turning to the two guys. "Before you run off. I could use some help today. You want to come?" Yes! I mean, ah, sure. Uhm. Help with what? Aww. I mean, I'd love to help. I really would. I just wanna know what I'm gettin' into, is all. * Katie almost looks disappointed. "You're not going with us, Kyon?" But it's cooler if we all go! Yeah, We'll find something fun for you to do. Chikako's right. It'd be much cooler. * Kyon shrugs. "I've got more important things to do today than shop." He turns to Jiro. "I want to go to Seiryuu." * Katie blinks, then frowns slightly. Wait... Seiryuu? * Chikako looks thoughtful. "Hm... Well, if you want, I can stick around here. Then you can come back later, and we can have a cool time shopping! * Kyon nods to Chikako. "Sure. If you don't mind waiting." He turns back to the others. "Yeah. Seiryuu. You know where it is, right?" * Jiro blinks and frowns. "Uh, why? Or is that not somethin' y'wanna talk about?" Nah. It's cool ^_^ * Kyon shrugs and rocks forward on his heels. "Not going to find much out here. So we'll go to the other end." * Katie has a seat at the table next to Chikako. She studies Kyon contemplatively. "If you guys don't want me in on this, I'll stay here with Chikako." * Taki ponders here or there...here or there. Do you think you might need my help, Kyon? Come or don't come. It's your choice. I already said I could use some help. * Katie grins. "Yeah, but you didn't ask me for my help, so I didn't know." Ok, I'll go with you then. Guys, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not go. * Katie blinks at Satoshi. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm just not getting a very good feeling about this. * Kyon looks coolly at Satoshi. "Like I said. Your choice." * Katie nods slowly. "Sure." Don't think you're backing out of shopping, though. Yeah! When I get back... * Satoshi grins nervously. "Aheh. Right." * Katie glances at Taki, then grins. "Chikako, make sure he doesn't try to run off, all right?" She stands and stretches. * Satoshi scribbles something on a piece of paper and hands it to Taki. This's my cell number. If you guys really need me, call me and I'll come. * Chikako nodnods. Else... *looks at Chikako* I'll be waiting right here. Cool! * Kyon nods curtly. "Fine. What about the rest of you?" * Taki takes the paper and pockets it. "Thanks, if I had a cell phone I'd give you the number to that." * Katie gestures Satoshi to the seat she was just at, then looks over at Kyon. "We going now, then?" * Satoshi sits. * Kyon shrugs. "Might as well get it over with." [And off they go!] [Time: 9:00. The group arrives at Seiryuu Girl's Highschool. Description to follow.] [Seiryuu Girl's High is quite a sight to behold. It lies in a grove of cherryblossom trees which would look gorgeous, if this weren't winter. The school itself resembles a European Abbey, complete with a large courtyard and belltower.] [There are no students around; most of them are in class.] * Jiro checks his backpack to make sure something's there, and, satisfied, puts it back on. * Taki boggles for a bit. "Why can't our school look like this?" Because we go to a public school. * Katie looks around. "What did you want to do here, Kyon?" ( Gawk at girls. ) ( Don't kill me! ) * Taki nods. "That's too true. Sigh." * Kyon rolls his shoulders. "I can't find out anything at Sakuragaoka now. But maybe I can here." * Katie smiles faintly. "What are you looking for, exactly?" * Kyon looks sidewise at Katie. "Information. Exculpatory evidence. Or leads." How? Walk up to some girls and ask them if they knew anything about Miki? * Katie nods as she brushes snow from her hair. "On what, or just anything we can get our hands on?" * Kyon smirks at Katie. "You know. Our case at the school. The easiest way to get past it is to show I didn't." * Katie nods again, a distant look appearing on her face. "You never did tell us how that went. Oh, and do you have an idea for going about this? We're going to stick out like a sore thumb." * Taki nods slowly. [The snow continues falling, and the cold continues being cold.] * Kyon nods. "Let's go inside, and I'll lay it out." He jams his hands in his pockets, and turns to walk towards the doors. * Katie hums and walks after Kyon, pulling out her ear helpers and putting them on. Uhm, right. [Inside, the school looks closer to normal, but the high ceilings and decorative archways are still quite a sight.] [There's a central spiral staircase going up and down, and two hallways. One goes to the offices, the other to the library.] * Taki tries not to gawk, but she doesn't do a very good job of it. * Katie just looks around and wait for Kyon to take care of it, since he said he would. * Kyon ducks to the side of the opening of the hallway that leads towards the offices. * Jiro does likewise, managing not to gawk. * Katie walks calmly after Kyon. * Taki walks down the hall after Kyon, and looks at the ceiling, and the walls, and then remembers not to. [The entrence to the office is obvious: a set of large wooden double doors. There's also a receptionist's desk.] * Jiro follows, humming to himself. * Kyon bends towards the others, and talks in a low tone. "All right. Here's what we'll do. As vice president of Sakuragaoka, I thought it fitting to lead some of our students over to Seiryuu to express our condolences. We don't need to do it as a big group. See if you can find out who her friends were. Once we have that, we'll try to talk to them separately." Ahh, I see. * Katie blinks, then nods once. "We'll need to find a good time to split up, though. Let's just see how this plays out first," she says quietly. Right. It'll be easier to do if we ask first. Let me go talk to the receptionist. Of course. After you. * Kyon knocks on the door to the office, and walks in with a bow. "Hello." * Katie steps in after Kyon, taking the office in. * Receptionist looks up from her desk. "Yes, can I-" She stops for half a second. "Can I help you?" * Taki walks in after Katie and bows before moving out of the doorway. * Kyon nods. "Yes. My name is Kyon Sorata, and I'm the vice president of the student council at Sakuragaoka." He hangs his head. "I was very sad to learn about your student, Tanaka." * Jiro follows in and looks around. * Receptionist nods. "I see. Yes, it was a tradegy that shouldn't have happened." * Kyon nods. "That's why I thought, as a gesture of our goodwill and sincere sorrow at your loss, that I would lead some of our students over here to show our shared loss to your students. It seems only appropriate." * Receptionist nods. "It's a polite thought." * Katie fidgets a little and mentally grumbles about the Japanese and their politeness. We don't have school today, and I could think of nothing better to do. But of course, I will only do so with your permission. I'm not authorized to allow you to do so, unfortunately. * Kyon raises an eyebrow, and bows slightly. "I see. We wouldn't seek to interrupt classes. Indeed, we would not dream of doing so. We would merely want to talk during a break between classes." * Receptionist thinks. "I suppose that wouldn't be a problem, as long as you didn't keep anyone from reaching her next class." * Kyon bows more fully. "Thank you very much. I appreciate your understanding. We'll do so after the current class has ended, if that meets with your approval." * Receptionist nods. That should be shortly. You've only got about three minutes to speak, though. * Kyon stands again, and smiles gratefully at the receptionist. "Thank you very much. I appreciate the ability to talk about our loss, even for such a short time." * Receptionist nods again. * Kyon turns, and walks out. "Thank you again." He gestures for the others to follow. * Katie bows and murmurs a thank you before scooting out of there. * Taki bows out. * Jiro follows out, idly waving at the receptionist on the way. * Kyon walks back down the hallway towards the entryway, and turns. "All right. We'll have to try to find things out quickly. See if you can spot the people who are the saddest when you talk about it. Or if anyone seems to have anything to say." * Jiro nods dumbly. * Katie nods and adjusts the helpers in her ears. "" she grins. * Kyon shrugs. "Tactics. You have to know what works." Right...::thinks:: must get English lessons. I didn't say it didn't work. Was just commenting. * Katie brushes at her hair. [At 9:55, the bell rings, and students start migrating to their next class.] * Katie looks around, listening for any interesting gossip. * Kyon nods. "Right. Tanaka was a second year. Find the sophomore classes, and talk to them. Let's go." He turns, and walks towards a group of likely-looking students. * Taki walks down the hall looking for sombody who looks the right age and sad. [Taki sees plenty of people. But it's only been a day since the murder, so...] [The students eye Kyon in a not-so-friendly manner. "What?"] * Jiro follows Kyon, keeping his mouth shut. * Taki keeps looking for a bit before changing tactics to looking for people who seem to be in shock. * Kyon bows contritely, and offers them a cute, sad smile. "Hello. My name's Kyon Sorata. I'm the vice president of Sakuragaoka." "So?" * Katie blinks and walks over to a different group. The group blinks as Katie approaches them and talk amongst themselves quickly. * Kyon crouches a bit. "After the tragedy that occurred at our school, I thought we should come and apologize. We feel very sad for your loss." Katie's group starts moving away. "Yeah. You're all tears." * Katie stops and looks after them with a rather sad expression on her face. She sighs. [Taki doesn't see many people who look like they're in shock.] * Kyon nods. "Don't think that I'm not shocked and saddened just because I'm not crying. To have such a thing happen at our school, it rocks me to the core." [0018] The girls glare at Kyon. "Yeah, right. We're the ones who've lost a friend. And you're the ones who m-" One of the girls quickly silences the speaker before she could finish. * Kyon blinks and stands up, addressing the girl who talked. "You don't think we had anything to do with it, do you? I assure you, no student I know would do that." "You're the vice president, aren't you? It happened in your school. You should have figured it out." They storm off before Kyon can speak! * Katie glances at Kyon, then walks up to a different, hopefully more friendly group and introduces herself quietly. * Taki starts panicking mentaly and decides to settle for the nearest student who looks the right age. "Excuse me, my name is Taki Shimeru. I'm from Sakuragaoka. A group of use wanted to come here and express our regret." * Kyon looks at their backs, and then turns to look for another group, walking to find another. The student blinks at Taki and politely but hurriedly excuses herself and moves away. * Jiro frowns as the one group storms off, but continues following Kyon. * Taki blinks. "Must have a short time to get to class." The group Katie approaches looks nervous, but they're polite enough to smile, stop and wait. And for convenience purposes, it's the same group Kyon approaches :P * Kyon comes up to Katie's group, then, and introduces himself politely, giving Katie a quick searching look. * Katie bows, still looking rather miserable. "My name is Katie Andrews, and I go to Sakuragaoka. We're really shocked about what happened to Tanaka at our school, and we came to express our sorrow." They eye each other and nod nervously. * Kyon nods sadly, and speaks in measured tones. "We know what it's like to lose a fellow student, and we can only say how sorry we are to hear of your loss." They murmer agreement and nod. Evidently they're younger than the other groups. * Kyon leans down slightly, and gives them an encouraging smile. "If there's anything we can do to alleviate your sadness, please, let us know." "Well, we didn't really know Miki that well. But her friends have been saying it was a Sakuragaoka student that... you know." * Katie nods. "I hope it wasn't. I don't know anyone who would do that, at least." They frown a bit, but don't say anything. * Kyon leans in a bit more. "Well, I'm the vice president of Sakuragaoka, and I'll make sure that no student there had anything to do with it." One of the students says, "They say Sakuragaoka's a problem school." The other students looked shocked at her. * Jiro frowns confusedly. * Katie blinks. "Really?" She looks worried instead of offended. One checks her watches and informs the others that it's time for class. They hurry on. [The hall's pretty much empty by this point.] * Katie looks around the hall as it empties out. "Well." * Kyon blows out a breath. "So. They think we did it." Of course they do. * Katie says quietly, "Anything else planned?" * Jiro frowns. "Why would they... oh." * Taki walks back from the hall she went running down. "I...I couldn't find out ANYthing." * Kyon stands up straight, and rocks back on his heels. "No. I need to get into the school to find out anything else. And I can't." * Katie nods and starts heading for the exit, removing her ear helpers on the way and tucking them into her satchel. * Kyon stalks down the hallway behind her, a contemplative expression on his face. * Katie holds open the door for the others. "Do you know anything about a girl named Remi?" she asks Kyon as he passes. * Jiro follows, looking confused, which is what passes for contemplative with him. * Taki walks out the door looking dejected. * Kyon thinks briefly, and shakes his head. "Doesn't sound familiar." Ah. She was mentioned in a conversation between some of the students. She go here? * Katie nods. "She took the day off. I think she was Tanaka's best friend. And she's very angry at Sakuragaoka." * Kyon cocks his head. "Wonder where she'd be." I was going to talk to those students about it, but... * Katie shrugs. It's not a good thing to be from Sakuragaoka, around here. * Kyon nods. "Well. She's not here. You catch a last name?" * Katie shakes her head. "It's not a good thing to be from Sakuragaoka anywhere. Those students were right; we do seem to be a problem school. People disappearing..." She looks up at Kyon. "No. I tried, but no." ( People disappearing, people who eat other people, an evil overlord for a principal... ) (Quentin, you jerk!) * Katie smiles slightly. "Maybe Saki knows." * Kyon shrugs. "We're no more a problem school than any of these other places." He smirks. "You can ask her, then." Not a chance. Ahh yes, "Good morning Saki! You wouldn't happen to know a girl named Remi? What no, I'm afraid I must decline dinner with you." * Katie giggles despite herself. Right. We can ask Chikako. If she doesn't know, she probably knows where to look. * Katie nods, and a grin spreads onto her face. "Does this mean you're going shopping with us after all, Kyon?" * Kyon scowls. "Yeah. At least till I find out what I can check next." [Session be ended!]