Morimori Mingle!

[not_that_sasuke]

Who: Everyone with an itch to explore.
What: DID SOMEBODY SAY EXPLORATION? Feel free to create your own starters as well!
Where: Morimori Academy, Heart ver.
Warnings: None; will edit as needed.

[The location is only too obvious when he awakens. How recently had he seen that bunk above him? And how often? Six months wasn't a long stretch of time comparatively, but when you've spent a good two years in complete darkness, waking up to such a sight definitely stands out. And even beyond that, there's something about the coloration here...

It doesn't take him long to notice a few key things. 1: that his body lacks any coloration, and 2: that the face peering out from inside the mirror - in full color no less - isn't his.

...So. It's his turn now. A sense of fear begins to constrict his heart, but he pushes aside the feeling as best as he can and makes for the door. The sooner it's over, the better...]

[A - the dormitory hallways]

[When he steps into the boy's dormitory hall to begin investigating, he freezes at the sight of the mirror down the hallway. Even though it's quite some distance away, he can see flesh tones in there, and somebody waving cheekily at the viewer.

His first instinct is to back into his room and try to see if he can't get past the mirror and out the window, but if someone spots him quickly enough, they may just be able to catch him instead.]

[B - the forest]

[Either way, he can later be found walking into the dense forests around the school, all the way to the barrier surrounding it. While he seems initially surprised upon hitting the barrier to the west of the classrooms, his expression quickly changes to one of contemplation. His hand curls up under his chin as he considers what all of this means.

It's definitely a smaller campus than he remembers. That, and... odd, too. Since it's his Heart, he would have thought it would be around... But if it cut off here, there's no way that could be in this World after all. How strange...]

Comments

[not_that_sasuke]

[When he notices Ken following, he starts picking out an intentionally simpler path, one that's less bramble and bushes. There's no trail to follow, but it's at least a bit easier to traverse.

As they walk, he seems to notice something - thin and silvery and quite easy to spot among all of the green. It's enough to make him stop mid-step, foot resting on an especially large root as the silver disappears.]

...?

[...What was that? It looked almost like a snake, but...]

[miseris_socios]

[Oh! It's something! Ken inches forward, sniffing the air. What does it smell like?]

... Snake?

[not_that_sasuke]

You saw it too?

[So it's not just him... He begins walking in the direction he last saw it, footsteps practically silent despite the abundance of plant life waiting to be stepped on.

It's this that makes it only all the more obvious when another snake rustles somewhere behind them, causing him to immediately turn - just in time to see it, too, vanish.]

[miseris_socios]

Yeah. Should we chase after it?

[Tail, no. Stop wagging so much.]

[not_that_sasuke]

[Well, at least someone's happy. He hesitates a moment before answering:]

You can try, but... if you catch it, try not to hurt it. It's... [How to explain...] It might be another student here.

[miseris_socios]

... Oh. Well... I guess I should have guessed, since... yeah.

[Tail. Ears. Etc.]

[not_that_sasuke]

[Yup.]

Just be careful.

[He'll leave Ken to it, though - he doesn't have Kurou to help him, and judging by the boy's sense of smell, he'd likely have an easier time of it.]

[miseris_socios]

[He nods and heads off, trying to chase down the snakes. If nothing else, at least he can kind of play. ... Even if he's supposed to be taking this seriously...]

[worldkeys]

[ Ken will indeed find a snake. It is only one snake, and it doesn't seem much for speaking. It is, much like the 'students' at the school, slightly see-through.

Noting Sasuke, it glances at him, and begins to slowly fade away, however. Even if Ken tries to catch it, or hold it, he will find himself incapable of keeping it in his hands or any other part of his body.

If he wants to talk to anything, he might have to come here without Sasuke, it looks like. ]

[miseris_socios]

[He jumps for the snake, but lands on his face, tail drooping. ... Oh no.]

Why'd it do that?

[not_that_sasuke]

[With all of Ken's scuffling about, he can't really see the way it fades out of existence. Instead, he just sort of follows curiously, trying to stand on an especially raised root to get a better look.]

Did they get away?

[miseris_socios]

They faded away. I can't get a handle on them. I don't know why... do you have any idea?

[not_that_sasuke]

Faded...?

[That's... odd. His hand goes to his chin as he thinks this over.]

...Students shouldn't have that kind of power.

[Maybe in later years, after acquiring wisdom and power, but...]

Maybe... it's just a trick of this Heart.

[miseris_socios]

Maybe. ... It's yours, isn't it?

[Since who else would know what students here should and shouldn't be able to do?]

[not_that_sasuke]

Mm, that's right.

[There really isn't any point in trying to conceal it, what with how his total lack of color stands out like a sore thumb.]

...There was only one snake in my class. Having so many out here is... strange.

[But then, Hinata had spoken of how his own Heart didn't exactly match with reality, so it's not entirely unexpected. He allows his hand to drop, beginning to pick his way through the forest again.]

...There's something I want to check. It might be easier for you to explore the school building.

[miseris_socios]

I'm not used to seeing people who are like this at all... not this many, at least.

[Had there been a few in the Tower? He can't even remember clearly now.]

I'm not worried about it being difficult and - ... I don't think I ever got your name.

[not_that_sasuke]

I'm not either, actually.

[His classmates all had a good enough grasp on the human form to basically either look entirely human or not at all. Kotarou's ears were a bit sharp, sure, but other than that...]

It's Sasuke Sagami. Just Sasuke is fine.

[Notably, he's giving Ken permission to skip any formalities with honorifics, too.]

[miseris_socios]

Huh. ... Weird.

[Oh. Well, that's fine. He'd dealt with enough people who didn't use honorifics in the Tower, though most of those were because they weren't Japanese.]

Ken Amada. You can just use Ken if you want.

[not_that_sasuke]

[It's easier to say and, honestly, he's not really deserving of any respect, so.]

Alright.

[...And that's all he has to say, apparently, because off he goes into the forest.

Silvery snakes can be seen in the distance often enough, but they all quickly disappear from view. Although it leaves Sasuke frowning at first, he eventually seems to ignore it in favor of navigating the forest itself.

Which is just as well, because eventually they bump up against some sort of invisible barrier. It's startling at first, but once he realizes what it is, Sasuke places a hand against the surface, causing ripples to appear in the air.]

...It's smaller than usual, too.

[Way too small. Then again, it sounded like Jabberwock was supposed to be much larger as well...]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken follows along, doing his best to keep up. Trapping things in the forests in the Tower had helped him with navigation in places like this, but this place wasn't as familiar as that one had grown over the weeks and months and years he'd been there.]

[When Sasuke stops, he stops, and creeps forward, putting a hand on the barrier as well.]

... There's got to be a weak point.

[not_that_sasuke]

The real one has seams, sometimes.

[Although even then, they were always random in size and location.]

...If the barrier is this close to the school, we might not be able to get to it...

[Unless its location was changed?]

...Mm. Maybe we should just go back to the school. [Even if it is around, he probably shouldn't bring Ken along with.]

[miseris_socios]

So there's normally a barrier? What's past it?

[He's not worried about the danger.]

[not_that_sasuke]

[It's less about danger and more about Sasuke being the solitary type.

How to answer that, though... he hesitates for a moment, trying to figure out a good answer.]

...What do you think this place is? In reality.

[As opposed to the version he's seeing now.]

[miseris_socios]

... Some sort of safe place for people who have animal parts, I guess. Or who are... some kind of spirit, maybe? I have no idea. I do know that a lot of people might be scared of them, if it's just a small population.

But... if there's a barrier here even in the version you know... it might be to keep them contained so they don't go and mix with others. Or it's a trap.

[It's... hard to say without knowledge of the world in general that Sasuke's from.]

[not_that_sasuke]

Close.

[But then, he'd tossed out quite a few possibilities there.]

...It's a school where animal spirits can learn to transform into and blend in with humans. The barrier keeps them inside so they don't run into humans until they're ready, and it keeps humans out so they don't run into the animals.

[That, and... protects humans from any animals with bad intentions who haven't been weeded out yet.]

I'm not... sure why all of you appear like that, though.