First Silver Spoon - Joint Post, Video/Action for New Bark

[shslasshat]

[The boy who appears on the other end of the feed is sitting outside, in New Bark Town, if the gently waving trees and the windmill in the background are anything to go by. He appears deep in thought. In contrast to this, a sharply-grinning face appears over his left shoulder, all teeth and claws and hard, cold, gemstone eyes. Since Sableye aren't native to New Bark Town, that must clearly be his starter.]

Out of one game and into another, then.

[Piercing green eyes meet the camera from behind white-framed glasses.]

I presume I'm far from the first person to come here. ...Perhaps, even, not the first from my world – since this obviously is not the world I come from. I may have catching up to do, but mark my words: Byakuya Togami does not lose. Anyone who stands in my way will fall. So remember my face, and don't waste your t—

[But then, abruptly, the feed goes wild and veers away from his face; hopefully nobody watching gets motion sickness, because if so, they might want to avert their eyes. But given the angle and direction of the camera shift, combined with the brief flash of the boy's astonished expression before it disappears completely from view, it seems that someone has just snatched the Gear right out of his hand.

Which would be an entirely accurate conclusion to draw, really. Suffice to say, the camera is now displaying a rather attractive shot of the tip of someone's boot and a fair expanse of slightly matted grass.]

Don't be so quick to sacrifice your anonymity with needless posturing. There's nothing to be gained from ceding that advantage — particularly not in a place where that name almost certainly means nothing to anyone.

[...Does somebody want to get this man some ice for that burn.]

[The aforementioned boy huffs in the background, his hand appearing on the camera as he tries to take it back like a nerd who's become the victim of a cruel game of keep-away.]

Have you even read the training manual? A place that asserts the goal of becoming "the very best, like no one ever was" is not a bastion of subtlety.

[Then, almost sulkier,]

When did you even get here?

[JUST WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS SAFE.

Eventually, though, his superior height and reach everything manage to get control of the Gear back, and amid the shuffle, the second voice speaks again.]

About twenty minutes ago. [A beat.] I've been looking around. Haven't you?

[Even when his gear is back in his own possession, he doesn't bother aiming it at his face. However, he will flash Johto a shot of the lovely, lavender-haired girl who so rudely interrupted his arrogant pontificating.]

I've been reading the materials provided about this place and the creatures who inhabit it. [A smug, punchable beat.] Haven't you?

I wanted to see what my own investigations turned up first. But it'd be useful to see how much of my evidence is corroborated by yours; turn that off and let's compare our findings instead.

[For the first time since the girl appeared, Togami actually pays attention to the gear, and he scowls at it before flicking the camera off as requested.]

Comments

[action!!!]

[throw_stone]

[It had taken Ramza a little bit to get oriented with this land - this far call from his own world, for sure. Just the warmth of this land had shocked him a little. Don't ask him about the fish-like creature he's got stored away in that orb once more - he needs more time to figure it out.

He couldn't help but notice not only the two people talking to both that odd device and themselves, but the gem-like eyes staring and sneering. Another monster? Taming monsters did seem common, but neither of those two looked like any clansperson he'd seen before. He approached, his serious look not wavering - and gave a bit of a nod to himself, before talking.]
Excuse me. But are you two not of this land, either?

Re: [action!!!]

[shslasshat]

[Absorbed as he was in his bickering discussion with Kirigiri, Togami doesn't really take notice of the passerby until they are addressed.

And the look on his face when he turns is, at first, a picture of holier than thou "what do you want".]

No, we're not. And you're not from ours, which adds credence to the theory that any time and place seems to be fair game for our captors.

[throw_stone]

[Okay, that look does make Ramza think twice before he speaks again. Is this man... some sort of nobility, in his own land?

He doesn't know.]
A meeting of many lands - it is different then what I expected of today. [A pause, however, as he stands even straighter. He is not your normal 16-year-old - he is clearly trying to look so very noble. While not trying to look noble. Ramza plz.] Though, 'time'?

[Video]

[aquatically]

[The sound of smug and insufferable is thrillingly familiar, and Asahina is quick to scramble for her gear where he'd simply left it on to listen should anything interesting happen. By the time she gets a hand on it and right-side-ups it, there's that second face. Oh man wow.

So she's beaming brightly as she chirps out a greeting.] Kirigiri-chan! Togami! You're both here! That's great!

[Nooo wait. Save the investigation there's no timeline or trial here, let her love you properly!]

[Video]

[freshprints]

[It's a little while before Kirigiri actually makes it onto the network herself; presumably, between figuring out where the "new message" beep on the Gear was coming from and then having to engage in Mortal Kombat in a slapfight Togami in an attempt to get possession of his Gear back in order to investigate it (an attempt that ultimately failed because let's be real, the guy's got six inches of height and an arm's reach on her), she got delayed. But that also means that when she does come on, it's with her own account, and one thumb firmly over the camera so there's no video showing.

She recognizes the face, though, and that chirped greeting is unmistakable.]

Asahina-san?

[So she's here, too. Or so it seems.]

[Video]

[shslasshat]

[OF ALL THE PEOPLE TO BE HAPPY TO SEE HIM gosh Asahina you know how to make a guy feel special.

Which is why he looks a little surprised, but not unpleasantly so, when he addresses her message. That and the fact that anyone who he knows is a welcome sight, although he'd rather be flayed than admit it aloud to anyone.]

Asahina?

...How is that "great"?

[VIDEO]

[diamondo]

[...is that...

that's definitely a Togami, yep

and is that...?

yep, that's a Kirigiri

holy shit, two classmates!!]

No way, you guys arrived together?

[Guess who didn't think this through at all? This guy. Hopefully you two aren't too surprised at seeing a dead classmate!!]

[shslasshat]

[IT SURE IS A TOGAMI. Just what you wanted, happy birthday/nearest gift-giving holiday.

Far from the surprise that Mondo might've expected if he'd thought this through a little better, Togami looks weary when he replies (glancing out of the corner of his eye, his arm shifting to elbow someone offscreen - guess who)]

Unfortunately.

And you're back among the living. Will wonders never cease.

[VIDEO]

[freshprints]

[Holy sh—

How do you even—

What is the protocol for addressing someone who is d—

As stupid as it is to say, she's actually a little bit relieved that Togami is sitting next to her when she answers this, because for all her nerves of steel when it comes to examining corpses, having one hanging out chatting with her is an experience that's admittedly shaking her usually iron nerves.

But she knows that voice. It's not as though she could forget — not when she'd been there to listen to the screaming.]

Oowada-kun.

[She says it with a sort of flat finality — about the same way someone might pronounce, "He's dead."

Because, after all, he is.]

video

[readapts]

[Most of this video is actually taken up by what looks like hair at first--that would be a mane. A luxray mane. But Chihiro manages to fish his 'gear out from where he dropped it in shock right onto the pokémon that is probably far too big to just be sprawled over his lap, snoozing away.

Anyway, he's staring, eyes wide.]

Kirigiri-san... and Togami-kun too...?

You're actually here... Are you both okay? [Waaah he's pleased to see them! Er. Mostly pleased! It's good to see his classmates safe and sound, regardless of how actually close they are.]

video

[freshprints]

[Gosh, Fujisaki, the last time she saw you, you were crucified in a locker room courtesy of this asshole sitting next to her and oh, right, one more item to add to the "reasons to punch Byakuya Togami in the throat someday" list.

It's not a short list.

Still. That same unnerving feeling is lingering, the one that was clinging when she was speaking with Mondo — that sense that this just plain isn't right, because when people are dead they are supposed to be dead and even when it's horrible there's at least finality and closure and something reliable and consistent in that. The thought that death suddenly isn't all of those things is...

Well, it's...

...let's just talk to Fujisaki, then.]

You're looking well, Fujisaki-san. This place has done you good, it seems.

[In short: hello, dead person whose secret I suppose we're keeping, why yes I have spoken with Asahina about that, also did you know you're dead.]

[shslasshat]

[Finding out that Fujisaki was here and actually getting an incoming message from Fujisaki were two completely different beasts, it seemed, for however much he tried to retain his composure, his back stiffened and his green eyes widened and a surprised intake of breath hissed through his teeth nonetheless.]

Fujisaki?

[He swallows and closes his eyes to recover his composure - but looking at Fujisaki's face on the screen of the 'Gear is also eerily similar to talking to Alter Ego, because this situation needed another complicating layer.]

We're as well as can be expected for having just been brought here against our wills.

[He's been paying attention to Fujisaki and Kirigiri's coded conversation, taking place about a foot and a half to his side, and he feels like he should do something similar, but there's this roadblock of "You didn't find out about the corpse-manhandling, did you?" that stonewalls any attempt at inserting a different meaning into anything he can come up with to say.

So instead he plays to Fujisaki's talent and field of knowledge. Flattery? Playing nice???]

What should we expect from the technology level of this place? Are these handhelds hackable? How protected can these video transmissions be?

[video]

[ardent]

[Ishimaru has gotten in the habit of leaving the device streaming while he's out training, and today is no exception; he's out dealing with the massive bundle of stat-based "what the hell" that is a newly-hatched Shuckle and trying to work out what the gently caress he's supposed to do with the stupid and...admittedly incredibly sturdy thing when the feed crackles to life.

He glances over at it without paying the video much mind - just verifying that that is, indeed, where the sound just came from before resettling his hands on his hips and turning back to the...wait.

Wait, wait, wait. That is some unbelievably familiar grandstanding - it's been a few months since he's heard it, yes, but it's completely and utterly unmistakable as coming from the heir to...

...to...

...to the thingo. Business. Thingo. Whatever it is the Togami Conglomerate actually does. He's never exactly been clear on that, outside of the knowledge that it's just really, really important and probably shouldn't be crossed. Either way, even if Ishimaru's never been the best with faces and voices and connecting them to people, that is most definitely Togami on the video there - after all, there are some that you just don't forget.

...and then there's Kirigiri, whose voice seems vaguely familiar but Ishimaru cannot place for the life of him until she actually physically shows up on the feed.

The Shuckle can fend for itself for now (really, if Caterpies haven't died out in the wild, he's pretty sure his nigh-indestructable bugturtle will be just fine); Ishimaru is quick to grab the device off of his bag where he'd left it sitting in the grass and start up a video feed of his own in response.]

Togami-kun! Kirigiri-kun! It's excellent to see the both of you here and well!

[...never mind the dose of inherent surreality presented by Ishimaru being, you know. Here and alive. And he most definitely is still alive and...well, still Ishimaru, if the volume is anything to judge by. Good lord, he's going to destroy the microphone on this thing one day.]

[video]

[freshprints]

[And thus arrives the shoutiest member of the local Dead Classmates contingent, which is saying something considering that Oowada-kun and Kuwata-kun is included in that number.

All right, then. Going by what Asahina-san had said, that's all three of the dead kids, which means the only namedropped classmate as yet unaccounted for is...

...Naegi-kun. doki

Still, as dead classmates go — or as classmates in general go, really — there are worse people to have showing up than Ishimaru. At least she can count on the fact that the resident students have been kept to some kind of order in her apparent absence, and he'll probably be at least somewhat useful for getting information. Moreso than, say, Fukawa or Hakagure might've been.

Though it's still hard to unsee the sight of him facedown with a dent in his head, that's for sure. Hard enough that she can't quite stop herself from looking, even though rationally she's pretty sure it won't be there.]

Ishimaru-kun. You've been keeping things under control here, I assume.

[...That should pacify him a little, right. Right.]

[shslasshat]

[It controls every world government and organization through some major shady bullshit is what it does. Togami comes from a proud legacy of shady bullshit and of getting his 14 older half-siblings exiled so he could inherit the family name.

Which you might've learned through free time events if you were the player character bothered to try to get to know your classmates.

Right, so after meeting Fujisaki alive and well, Ishimaru ain't shit. If Togami is ruffled by YET ANOTHER dead classmate, he doesn't show it (in detail large enough to be seen on the small handheld screen).]

Well, we're here, anyway.

And you look... [you know. Alive. Not Ishida. Strangely happy to be trapped in a place that doesn't have a clearly dictated means of escape (however macabre that means may be).]

video;

[superordinary]

[ Since it was time for new arrivals to start showing up, Naegi's been on the lookout for more of his friends. He checks his PokéGear for new entries on the network as soon as he's off work and imagine his surprise when he's greeted by not one but two of his classmates. ]

Kirigiri-san...! Togami-kun! [ Her name is the first to come out when he starts up the video feed, naturally, but from the tone of his voice and the smile on his face he's clearly happy to see them both. ]

[shslasshat]

[...Wow, that smile is bright.

For the first time, Togami starts to believe the party line about this place being mostly safe. It could be that Naegi is just willfully refusing to see evidence in front of him, but dammit the optimistic boy's Hope is still as infectious as ever, nonetheless.]

Naegi. You're cheerful.

video;

[freshprints]

[Oh no, that smile. WHAT IS THIS FEELING STIRRING IN HER ICY KIRIGIRI HEART. By god, it might just be...

...hope.

And it appears that she's not the only one feeling it, if her surreptitious glances at Togami are any indication. But he's not important ever right now, frankly, because she's a little too busy NAEGI-KUNing at the moment.

Secretly.

tl;dr this world just got a little better because she now has confirmation that he is in it.]

Naegi-kun.

[And then, as if to offer proof of her mood's abrupt tilt toward the positive: ]

You'll have to give our apologies to Ishimaru-kun. We're late again.

video

[viiru2alert]

[Aww, look at these two, arguing like brats. It's always entertaining to watch newcomers get their bearings, and these two actually manage to bring a smile to Sollux's face, which the two of them can clearly see; it's a mocking smile, and true to expectations, he's sitting in a hotel room all the way across the bi-Regional area and acting like he's on top of the world.]

Sorry, girl, but it looks like Glasses got it right this time. You're in New Bark Town, and they tell you jack shit out there. Also, for future reference: if you're trying to diss him, don't go using so many huge words and loopy grammar rules, it detracts from the humor. Don't ask me why, it just does.

video

[freshprints]

[For a moment Kirigiri just kind of processes that little speech, because this is a decidedly unfamiliar face on the Gear and she's got more pressing concerns to preoccupy herself with than actually responding to what he was saying. Following that brief pause, though, she gets around to it, considers it, and summarily dismisses it.

Okay, so this guy talks about as much nonsense as Hakagure. Possibly useful, but with completely backwards priorities.]

I wouldn't say that. There's plenty to learn, for someone willing to look for it.

video

[topoftheclass]

[Here Togami have an incredibly unimpressed Keiko, because seriously you posture more than the psychotic self-centered pompous demon clown she left behind a month ago. You know what they say about first impressions, right?]

I think your friend has a point.

video

[shslasshat]

((DON'T YOU SHIT-TALK THE BEAUTIFUL SUZUKI gurl you is just jealous of dat weave))

[Togami raises an eyebrow. He doesn't particularly care what this seemingly random girl thinks of him, but who is she to tell him he's wrong?]

Do you now. And what point would that be?

video

[freshprints]

[You know, she doesn't really have a stake in this aside from the fact that she's apparently got an ally championing her side now, but what the hey, she'll eavesdrop on the exchange in pursuit of details that might arise because of it.]

[video]

[riastrad_ridire]

He's a pleasant one, ain't he?

[taste that sarcasm, dingle rumpers.]

[video]

[freshprints]

[...Sir, did you know your hair is blue.

Not that she's really one to talk and not that she hasn't seen some ridiculous hair colors in her life before, but...did you...know that. Because that sure is a thing, all right.]

That's one word for it.