[b]Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Agriculture Club | Monday, May 25 2015 - After School[/b]

Whilst Matthew busied himself with the flowers all around the room, the door to the clubroom quietly opened. Turning, Kotori saw the third member of the club enter before speaking up in greeting. Whilst the club president returned it in cheerful kind, another wry sort-of smile came across Kotori's face as the younger girl congratulated her on the midterm results. Wishing - not for the first time that day - that the results weren't posted publicly and thus putting her on the spot so much, Kotori also assumed that she probably didn't harbour any ill will in her words. [color=green]"Ah, uhm, th-thank you, Otonashi-san,"[/color] she said, the slight discomfort being masked by the usual quietness of her voice - only enhanced by the fact that she didn't really know how to return the compliments. Luckily though, Matthew made that worry obselete when he soon brought up a different topic instead and, as usual, taking up the majority of the speaking part in the conversations of the day.

[b]Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | Thursday, May 28 2015 - After School[/b]

"Well, that's all for today. Remember to review the material at home," the teacher declared as the bell rang; signalling the end of another schoolday. Kotori was thankful for it - though not quite as much as at the start of the week. Luckily for her, the excitement and interest in the midterms had rather quickly died down and was replaced by the usual daily life at school: worrying about upcoming tests, club activities, plans for what to do after school and the like. Finishing her notes before packing up, Kotori glanced out of the window - the skies were starting to take a slightly worrying colour. Though she had an umbrella in her schoolbag, she still hoped the rain would hold off until after she got home once agriculture club was over.

[b]Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma | After School[/b]

Kotori looked up at the sky again once she left through the school's main entrance. The sky had definitely darkened - it was definitely going to rain later today, though her hope of it only starting once she got home seemed to be holding up. She began on her way home, having no further stops planned after having just said her goodbyes to her two fellow agriculture club members for the day, as she let her thoughts wander on what to do with the evening. With her mother being most elated over her midterm results, she'd been more than happy to be cooking all through the week and even assuring her that she could take it easy and wouldn't need to help out at the shop for the moment. Any words to the contrary were rapidly shot down, thus leaving her with both free evenings and a slight feeling of guilt thereover.

Of course, there was the day's material and her notes to go over - with the new term starting, most subjects were starting on new topics or continuing on from previous ones. And just because she'd gotten particularly lucky on her midterms didn't mean she could just sit back in the new term, either - but even so, she could hardly just fill an entire evening with textbooks. Instead, she'd picked up another secondhand book or two (or six) at the local bookstore café, one of which she'd finished just the other day; leaving her to ponder which one to continue with today. There was that novel about the strange happenings in an old countryside mansion which had sounded rather intriguing - but on the other hand, there was that romance novel which, whilst sounding more than just a little cheesy, still had piqued her interest equally.

In her thoughts, she hadn't actually been looking where she had been going - not that it was necessary, seeing as she took this same route to and from school every day. Yet only now that she actually looked about did Kotori notice that there was something slightly odd about her surroundings - there were a lot fewer people about than usual. For a moment, she glanced about a little nervously - before shaking her head at her own silliness. She must have read too many mystery novels - of course people would prefer to stay indoors when there rainclouds were forming overhead. Yet at the same time, she couldn't quite shake the silly notion - even as she looked ahead and noticed a small group of people standing at the corner she would usually turn before reaching the shopping district. There was no real reason to suspect anything - but that little voice asking 'What if?' that always seemed to come to the fore whenever one hears a scary story or the like, no matter how unbelieveable, still made her take a turn slightly earlier and go down one of the alleys which would get her home equally as fast.

It was only when she'd gone a few steps that she let out a small sigh at herself. What was she doing, making herself afraid of a few people standing around? For all she knew, they might have seen her too and thought her most rude for turning away like that - she really should have just kept going straight on. Preoccupied with her own hangups, it would take her a few moments to notice that there was someone else coming up the same small road - if one could call it that, seeing as it was more of an alleyway. Moving to one side preemptively to let them pass by before they even got close, she kept on, her eyes lowered - only to suddenly stop in her tracks when she suddenly saw the person's feet before her. Looking up in surprise, she reflexively bowed before speaking a quiet [color=green]"Ah, excuse..."[/color] but not getting further than that.

Looking at the person, completely draped in dark clothing just standing there, she felt a small shiver down her spine - but before she could say anything else or even turn around, an arm suddenly wrapped itself around her waist and a hand was placed over her mouth. Kotori's eyes went wide, the confusion rapidly replaced by fear. Her cry, however, only came out as a muffled [color=green]"Mmf!"[/color] - as she realised that it wasn't actually a hand on her mouth, but rather a cloth which was pressed against not only that but also her notice. She tried to struggle against the grip, but to little avail - without the heart-pounding panic clouding her every thought and sense, she might also have noticed the rather odd smell of the fabric as she kept trying to free both her arms and her airways; the cloth stifling her breathing and only furthering her fear.

Her thoughts were racing - what was- who? Why? For... but... and-? She could barely finish even a single thought as all her instincts told her to get free, to run - even as an all-encompassing weariness came over her, both in body and mind. She felt herself slump to the ground, only avoiding a complete collapse due to the vice-like grip of her unknown assailant, even as her thoughts became slower, less coherent. Her vision started to go blurry, sounds became muffled and only now did she realise there was a strange smell in her nose - but it too was warped beyond any recognition as, finally, her mind drifted off into unconsciousness...