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[b][color=B7CEEC]MENTIONS:[/color][/b] [color=D1D0CE][color=B7CEEC]Masashi[/color] [[@Zombehs]], [color=B7CEEC]Akira[/color] [[@DJAtomika]], [color=B7CEEC]Hoshiko[/color] [[@Fabricant451]], [color=B7CEEC]Akio[/color] [[@Lord Orgasmo]], [color=B7CEEC]Kenzan[/color] [[@PrankFox]][/color][/center] 
[color=D1D0CE]The feast that waited for them at Chen’s house had to be sublime. Crab rangoons? Spring rolls? Asumi could taste them already. It seemed like everyone else around her was hungry, too. She couldn’t help but giggle at the sound of Masashi’s yearning stomach, and it seemed like Kenzan was actually hungry enough to tag along. Yeah, they kind of had a crappy day, but that didn’t mean they had to go home hungry, even if it meant there wouldn’t be enough time to study afterwards. She perked up when Akira asked if they were going to cut up the body. [color=B7CEEC][b]”I think that only makes sense if the cause of death wasn’t so obvious,”[/b][/color] Asumi answered. [color=B7CEEC][b]”And it’s kind of obvious how he died, right? Some guy cut his throat wide open.”[/b][/color]

That was when Hoshiko had chimed in. It hurt Asumi to see her so crestfallen, and so she slowed her pace to walk next to the younger girl. [color=B7CEEC][b]”Hey… if there’s anyone we should blame, it’s me. I’m the one who stumbled over the body and freaked out, and I’m the one who suggested everyone get together to study in the first place. If I hadn’t done any of that, we wouldn’t be in this whole situation! Don’t get yourself so down, okay?”[/b][/color] She smiled broadly at Hoshiko, nudging her in an attempt to cheer her up. To anyone that didn’t know her all too well, they might get a bit caught off-guard over her willingness to take the blame for things she didn’t have any fault over. Her friends, on the other hand, very much knew she was just that type of person– the girl who would throw herself under the bus for others. Her parents warned her that she could get in a lot of trouble for that one day, and Nagi always called her out for her inclination to roll over and take punishment for the people she cared about. 

That whole thing with Okamoto, though… that was a completely different story. 

The smell of stir-fried vegetables wafted through the air as they got closer to Chen’s house. Her stomach roared even louder than Masashi’s. [color=B7CEEC][b]”That food smells so good! [i]Please[/i] tell me that’s your dad’s cooking.”[/b][/color]

Luckily for them, it was. 

The lot of them discussed what happened over dinner. Asumi, who had devoured the chow mein with all of the voraciousness of a hungry orphan, only punctuated their explanations towards Chen’s dad with rapid nods of her head. Luckily, Chen’s dad seemed like he understood the absolutely bizarre predicament that they had just gone through. When mealtime was over and the dishes were cleaned, they were invited to Chen’s room. She was surprised to see how big it was. Well, she had a big room too, since she was also an only child, but still. It felt nice to be in such a big space after spending so long in an interrogation room…

Stuffed with chow mein and other types of scrumptious Chinese delicacies, she let out a long sigh as she sat against the wall. Asumi tucked her legs close to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and set her chin on top of her knees. Last time she checked, her phone read that it was about 6:30-ish. That was about three hours before she had to be at home, which meant that there was ample time to kick back and chill before she headed out. Her mind went back to what Naoko said. What would actually happen if they were caught on the streets after ten? Would they get thrown in jail? She was pretty sure [i]that[/i] was worse than getting expelled. She shoved away the thoughts. No, she’d think about that stuff when she was with the rest of her friends. They were probably planning something while she was here. 

Asumi jolted in realization. That was right– she still had her snacks!  [color=B7CEEC][b]”Oh yeah!”[/b][/color] She took her schoolbag and turned it upside down, and a ton of wrapped candies and snack bags came tumbling out. Chocolate and strawberry Pocky, crunchy Sucorn, caramel Kit Kats… a variety of snacks were quickly sorted out in front of her. An excited spark reappeared in her blue eyes at the sight of them. [color=B7CEEC][b]”I still have the snacks from before. It’d be a shame if we all let them go to waste!”[/b][/color] She grabbed a bunch of them and held them out for them to take. Then, with a threatening yet over exaggerated glare, she added, [color=B7CEEC][b]”don’t take the strawberry Pocky, though. That’s mine.”[/b][/color]

They had just eaten, but who couldn’t make room for a yummy dessert? She knew she could!

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[center][h2][color=red][b]???[/b][/color][/h2][/center]
[center][b][color=red]MENTIONS:[/color][/b] [color=D1D0CE][color=red]Nagi[/color] [[@Psyker Landshark]], [color=red]Munehisa[/color] [[@Solace]][/color][/center] 
They were still in school, alright. Though, anyone with a drop of sanity in them would doubt that statement.  A sickly sweet breeze rippled through the halls again, as if someone had left windows open and allowed the perfumed wind to slip inside. Which would make sense, if there were any windows in the first place. As Nagi and Munehisa delved deeper into the wide-walled corridors, they might have gotten the sense they were being watched. Not watched in the [i]normal[/i] sense, like being eyed by a curious individual or a secret admirer. No, they were watched with all of the malice of a hungry pack of wolves.

Golden, hexagonal-shaped chandeliers swayed gently in the wind. To their right and left, honey-wax candles, perched delicately within sconces, flickered with amber flames. While the establishment was so different from their school, it also displayed eerie resemblances. Gaps in the walls, human-sized and honeycomb shaped, led into smaller rooms with smooth, off-white– yet, all the same, sticky– walls.  Desks that once lined the classrooms were replaced with giant, lumpy, yellow sacks, and whatever spherical objects that were encased inside the slimy pouches seemed to writhe and throb with intent. The deeper they traveled, the more overpowering the aroma became. The goop that covered the floors in a film stuck more and more to the bottom of their shoes and seemed to engulf their soles in honey. The viscosity of it might have even made it difficult to walk without losing their shoes, at times.

They couldn’t have walked for more than ten minutes before something stirred from the depths of the pools of honey that they had just walked past. Several globs of pitch black, slimy liquid slipped out of the gaps and slithered along the floors in hot pursuit of the two intruders. Steadily, more of the black slime-like entities plopped to the ground and tailed the pair. The final set of slime-like substances leapt out from the walls, right in Munehisa and Nagi’s path.

Hissing, the black puddles stretched up from the ground, their shapes wrenching and morphing until they finally solidified into [url=https://www.aidedd.org/dnd/images/hellwasp.jpg]hideous, bee-like[/url] creatures that were about the size of a medium dog. Their wings flapped rhythmically, producing a vicious buzz that kicked up the air around them and produced a storm of wind that lashed at their ears. They had become surrounded by about four or five of them, and little by little the circle the monsters had formed around them became smaller and smaller. Their faceted crimson eyes glowed with demonic energy. The largest of the devil-like bees, mandibles opening and closing in excitement, charged at Nagi with the intention of piercing her with its three-foot long stinger.[/color]