The Arrival

Azuma: "Right."

===================================

Taiyo: "Yeah..."

And so Taiyo begins gathering a handful of clothes and stuffing them in her backpack. She attempts to gather up her textbooks and other school related stuff unless it's too far gone.

Noct recounts the gist of the events, explaining the number of attackers, the weapons, and the events leading up to the attack with the mob of drunk guys generally being dick holes. She also left out the fact that she was carrying a knife of her own, seeing as how that might be a bit of a legally dubious thing to admit. "And then Lilith and Senthose showed up," Noct said, voice signalling the end of her summary, "And then the cops showed up. You being the cops."

Jane<I see...alright, I won't hold you up any more. If you just want to go home, you're free to. We'll contact you about the investigation later.>
=========================
*No book was completely untouched, but for the most parts, it's just a couple of stains & ripped up pages. Meanwhile, Euryale walks about, checking various places & the outside, on occasion. She checks her message.*

E"Thiera says she wants us to start checking in. I'm gonna tell her what we're doing here, & that everything's okay so far."

*She starts typing, glancing up periodically to look around.*
=========================
Cop<Right...well, let us know if you see him again.>
=========================
*Thiera pockets the picture, removing her phone, & begins texting.*

T"Alright, I'm going to start getting the word out. Is there anything we can help with while we're here?"

"Thank you," Gabe said, "Please catch these guys."

Noct nodded, and began to walk back towards the exit, the others following.

Azuma: "Nah, just that."

===================================

After filling her backpack she goes to Euryale.

*A week later, RENT is eating lunch at the cafeteria.*

R"So, are you & Taiyo, like, breaking up, or something?"

E"It's not that I want to stop seeing her, I just don't want her to come back HERE. People ransack her room, they spy on her through the windows, she has to worry about what's going on at home...no good will come of her moving back in with me."

T"Being together isn't a good thing."

E"Well, I obviously meant in the long term."

R"So, then, why is she not here now?"

E"Class. She should be here shortly."
====================================
*Grimm, as it happened, had woken up the next day in his church. No one looked for him. The pain eventually forced him to visit the hospital, where he was released after being treated for shoulder burns & fractured ribs. Henceforth, whenever he was in the church, he would spot glimpses of the Shadow out of the corner of his eye. Praying would just cause it to linger, & come closer. Any advertisements for help would disappear after he turned his back on them.*
====================================
*After the professor walks out, Senthose turns to Noctis.*

"You want to get the others together & see if they'd like to get lunch somewhere?"

Speak of the devil and she will appear. Taiyo comes in and sits down beside Euryale.

"Sure," Noct said, pulling out her phone, "Got any place in mind?"

--

Mortal and Sab are walking back to the dorms from class. "So, how are things going with Aroma?" Mortal asked.

"Great," Sab said, "She is great. I'm so lucky."

"Yeah, wish I could dorm with my lover," Mortal replied, "I'm stuck with Noct. God her taste in music sucks."

"That... isn't what I meant when I said I was lucky," Sab said, "And her music isn't that bad."

--

Gabe is showering, liek a bawz.

Hector and Eduj are finishing class.

Astarte is sitting by a window on campus, drinking coffee and looking out at nothing in particular.

Grimm, at a loss for ideas, leaves the church and heads for the university on foot.

"There's a general restaurant near the front gate. Has a large array of options. Burgers, steaks, pasta, vegetarian options for Aroma. Unless someone's in the mood for something specific, I think that's our best bet."
=============================
*Aroma joins them, exiting from a nearby building & clutching her books to her chest.*

"Yeah, it's...um...interesting...."
=============================
*It has not been very pleasant. She kept hearing squeaky floor boards while her eyes were closed, & she opened them to see her own shadow turning towards her.*
=============================
*Euryale puts an arm around Taiyo.*

"Hey. Everything still okay?"
=============================
*Astarte sees Hector & Eduj walking down 1 path, & Grim up another. The paths are about to intersect, next to a grove of trees.*

Astarte furrowed her brow at the sight and continued to watch.

When the three came face to face, Hector sneered at Grimm, "What do you want? You look flustered. I sure hope you aren't coming around to--"
"The monster is in the church," Grimm interrupted him. "I suppose it noticed my interest, and now it has come for me."
Hector and Eduj exchanged a glance, then looked around for other people listening. Hector spoke more quietly, "And what do you want me to do about it? You brought this on yourself."

Noctis nods, then sends out a mass text to those listed under a group she labeled 'Friends' reading, "Hey, Senthose and I are heading over to that restaurant by the front gate. Want to come along and have some lunch?"

Those in the group are Mortal, Sab, Aroma, Gabe, Astarte, and Senthose himself.

--

"That's one word for it," Mortal said with a chuckle. "Good to see you, Aroma. How was class?"

Sab smiled wide, and gave Aroma a kiss on her cheek, "Hello there."

Presumably, at this point, all three of them should ding, or vibrate in unison.

--

Gabe jumps a bit, then rubs her eyes to make sure she isn't seeing shit.

Taiyo: "Kitters urn hasn't turned up and it's not the same being without you, but nothing else has happened so far."

*Aroma returns the kiss.*

"It was nice."

*And so she checks her phone.*

"Did you both get a message from Noct, too? About lunch?"
==========================
*Meanwhile, Senthose is typing a message of his own when he is interrupted by way of having to delete a redundant message from Noctis.*
==========================
*Her shadow is still being a shadow, but the curtain moves a bit.*
==========================
E"Well, that's good to hear...that nothing else has happened, I mean."

R"What's a Kitters urn?"

E"Not right now. Anyway, I wish we could be sure that the Shadow was gone for good, so that we could be sure everyone is safe."

T"Look who's talking. Look, I know you like to be the big strong mama bear--"

E"'Mama bear?'"

T"--but you're the only one living alone right now. Roatha rooms with Nero, Taiyo moved back in with her parents, & Lilith's been staying with me. If that thing came after you in the middle of the night, no one would know something happened until the next day."
==========================
*At the moment, there really isn't anyone else near the 3 Shitheads.*

Taiyo: "Isn't there somewhere you could go?"

And Azuma and Mimiru enter the scene.

*Cameron calls Astarte*
===
*Eve walks up to RENT*

<I'm alone as well.>
===
*Tirea is at the gym*
===
*Monu's in class, which he has over what would normally be considered lunch time*

Astarte sent her reply, Alright.
She looked back to the scene outside.

"Is it still coming after you? Are you still being attacked?" Grimm was raising his voice. "Do you have any more information about it?"
"Hey, quiet down, will you? I don't know anything about these things," Hector folded his arms, looking vaguely sympathetic but contemptuous at the same time. "Now, if you'll excuse..."
"'Things'?" Grimm moved into Hector's way as he tried to step around him. "More than one?"
"That is more than one thing, yes," Hector sighed.
"How many Shadows are there?"
"I don't know, there seem to be a variety of 'things', not just the Shadow thing, now... excuse me," Hector stepped around him, followed by Eduj. They went off to the bar.
Grimm stormed off towards the front gate.

Astarte started heading to the front gate, walking a short way behind Grimm. She answered Cameron's call.

Mortal and Sab both nod, but Sab is the one who says, "Yes. I think she might have sent a mass text... I kind of feel less special."

"Take away her sheep charm," Mortal suggested, sending Noct a reply that said, 'Sure.'

Sab shook her head, "I could never! That would be so--"

"Rude, yes, I know."

--

Noct sends two identical texts to Mortal and Astarte that say, 'Cool. See you soon.' She then looks at Senthose and smirks, knowing he was probably dealing with a redundant text message right about now. "Mortal and Astarte replied, but I sent the text to Sab, Aroma, and Gabe too. You going to invite Lilith?"

--

She inches away from it towards the wall, and takes a deep breath. In the week since her incident she had thought she got over her nerves, so she tried to just take this as rationally as possible. She reached out slowly, grabbed the curtain, and opened it with a quick swipe of her arm.

*Aroma giggles, then looks at Sab.*

"So, are we going?"
=======================
"Yes. I got her number under the pretext of keeping in contact for safety purposes. She's been staying with Thiera, but doesn't have much to do when her sister isn't in."
=======================
*Naturally, there is nothing on the other side. She's now spilling water all over the bathroom floor.*
=======================
*They are all going in the same direction as Grimm, which is to say to the downtown. Grimm would appear to be following Hectshit & Shitduj.*
=======================
T"Well, there, you 2 can room together."
=======================
*At some point, Monu clicks something, & a pop-up comes up. It starts as dark, grainy footage of the cabin, with text boxes designed to look like they were cut out of a notebook.*

Haven't seen us in a while?

*The footage then changes to grayscale of Euryale & Taiyo in Taiyo's room, from the previous night. It is shot from the vantage point of the window, once again.*

We've seen you...

*It next changes to grayscale of Kylie at the gym, the timestamp indicating that it was taken just a few minutes ago.*

Just fine.

*The footage abruptly cuts, & returns in fullscreen, now of a hallway. The shadow comes out of the wall, & the space around it becomes a warped shade of blue, as it drifts closer & closer. Once it dominates the screen, red orbs appear.*

Watching now.
Watching always.

*Everyone glares disapprovingly at Cameron as his computer starts making screamer video noises before shutting down.*

Taiyo: "I guess that works."

*Eve shrugs*

<I suppose that works.>
===
*Monu sits there stunned, before trying to turn his computer back on*
===
{Oh hey Astarte! How are you today? I...I.}

*Cameron sounds very out of breath*

{Got something for you.}

Grimm overtakes them as they walk at a much more leisurely pace.

"Oh?" Astarte replied.

"Yeah," Sab said, "Unless you don't want to or something."

"Noct probably invited that one girl," Mortal said with a sigh, "That means we'll have to be subjected to her awkwardly trying to act cool to get into her pants."

"Dinner and a show."

Mortal chuckled at that.

--

"So, how are things on that front?" Noct asked as she finished packing up her stuff.

--

Gabe let out a sigh, feeling silly. She closed the curtain, and finished her shower. When she got out she made sure not to bust her ass on the wet floor, and got two towels from the rack. She threw one on the floor to soak up the water, and used the other to dry herself.

<...So as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, today we will start intransitive verbs.>

*The computer boots up like nothing had happened.*
===============================
*Aroma tries not to laugh, & makes strange noises.*

"That's mean."
===============================
"All according to plan."
===============================
E"Well...alright...I guess it's an emergency...."

T"You sound reluctant."

E"Well, yeah, I only have 1 bed."

T"You could file for a room transfer."

E"I guess...."
==============================
*Gabe hears movement outside of the bathroom.*

Eve:<I can sleep on the floor. It's not really a problem.>
---
*Monu goes back to what he was working on, his face slightly pink*