come out of hiding, i'm right here beside you

[barehands]

[A while after the execution has ended, everyone will find a simple note slipped under their door.]

If you don't want to be alone after everything that's happening, some of us will be in the dining room. Even if you decide not to come, please remember that you aren't alone here.

[The note isn't signed, but the handwriting is feminine and neat.

For anyone who decides to come, there's a good array of food laid out on the table. There are some small and simple cakes, cookies, and pastries, a healthy amount of okonomiyaki, okayu, and other Japanese dishes (with a focus on rice and eggs), along with curry. In addition, there are pancakes, and a large pot of soup. It looks like a few people collaborated to make enough food for everyone here.

Just like the meal they shared together earlier in the week, the candles from the storage room lend a more peaceful light than the fluorescent lights above.]

Comments

[imaginex]

[Well that startled a smile out of her]

I'd have to agree.

[The smile dies quickly, however. It's... hard to maintain]

Though I'm surprised anyone's able to eat right now.

[arebetter]

Yeah, well... you take comfort where you can get it, when shit goes south.

[imaginex]

Mm. That's true.

[A pause, before - hesitantly]

May I sit here, Miss?

[arebetter]

Sure thing.

[ And she will scoot over to allow more room for emphasis. ]

[imaginex]

[Sakura relaxes a fraction, surprised. The other girl kinda intimidates her (like most people), so she's perpetually bracing for rejection first. After that pause, she slips into the seat with a plate of food - the okonomiyaki in particular.]

Thank you.

[arebetter]

No prob. Sakura, right?

[imaginex]

Yes.

... Though I admit, I don't remember your name, Miss.

[arebetter]

That's for the best. Call me Pizzazz.

[imaginex]

Pizzazz-san then.

[Looking down at her food, untouched]

... Did you know Arietta-chan or Felicia-san well?

[arebetter]

I got into a fight with Felicia,t hat's all. But I liked Arietta okay.

[imaginex]

[A nod]

Arietta-chan was very sweet. [Felicia, too, but if Pizzazz and her got into a fight, Sakura isn't going to press that]

I hope she'll get to see her mother at last.

[arebetter]

[ That gets Pizzazz a little angrier, actually. ]

Her actual one, not... that thing.

[imaginex]

[Sakura agrees with that sentiment, at least - though she assumes Pizzazz is talking about the fake Liger]

Is that what will happen to anyone who gets sent down in that pit? They'll... see something from their past?

[arebetter]

That's my guess. The Risen just have a sick sense of humor or something.

[imaginex]

It's cruel.

They don't have to go that far for their experiment.

[arebetter]

Fucking cruel.

If we can keep someone from killing again, at least we won't have to worry about... that.

[imaginex]

I wish that were possible, but...

[Sakura's not optimistic]

There are so many people here who want to go home, and they're trained... professionals.

[arebetter]

Yeah. The best we can hope for might be hope they at least wait a couple weeks so we can figure some things out.

[imaginex]

[A nod]

It might help if everyone meets later. Maybe if we brainstorm ideas...

[arebetter]

A meeting sounds like a good idea. The more everyone acts like a unit about this the better.

[imaginex]

Yes. [Picking lightly at her food]

At least that way we can all work for a common goal. No matter how much we want to get out, I don't think anyone here wants to kill.

[arebetter]

No, I don't think so either. Unless we have a secret serial killer somewhere, but I don't see that in anyone here.