she can't believe she's been drafted into the skeleton war (closed)

[ghostories]

WHO: Yuuko and friends!!! (some of these people aren't her friends)
WHERE: various
WHEN: June 2 onwards
WHAT: Yuuko regains her bones, a story in 6 parts
WARNINGS: cw: BONES and DEATH and all that

day 1 (afternoon, june 2, closed to nobu)

Yuuko is happy she still has the few friends she's made, all things considered. In retrospect, it wasn't wise to assume Nobu would do anything that would make her unhappy. After all, Nobu wasn't her father. But Nobu actually talks.

Talk can barely be heard over at the arcade where Nobu works save for the rowdier crowds cheering on players on the latest rhythm game. Interestingly enough, Yuuko's away from the commotion, instead choosing to try her luck at the UFO catchers.

Haha, luck.

"Akiiii." Her tone is wary. "I think there's something wrong with the crane machine."

day 2 (midnight, june 3, closed to karkat)

And on the seventh day, God rested. Karkat isn't God but he would probably kill to be one right now. It's midnight and Yuuko's being an inconvenience at the convenience store as usual, eating bags of chips before they even make it to the cashier. Next to Yato, she doesn't know which of them would be a fairer god but Karkat is probably the Old Testament kind. She personally thinks it's a miracle Karkat hasn't smote her with lightning yet.

"Relax! No one's around. I'm paying for it," she says as she meanders around the aisles without having spent a single cent. Yuuko?? "Let me get a drink."

That's when she looks into the cooler and completely loses her appetite.

day 3 (morning, june 4, closed to anya)

Anya's on her way to making it big, she hears. Recolle's no Tinseltown or City of Dreams, but Yuuko's full of confidence where doubt used to be. Her friend has come so far, she has her life together, and here she is, checking every box and shelf and stall in sight like a lunatic. The bones can't be following her, but if anyone finds them before she does she can't risk it.

Mrs. Vasiliev, please forgive Yuuko for checking your mail...

day 4 (morning, june 5, closed to chiyo)

"Good morning, Chiyo!" Yuuko's more chipper than usual.

"Don't you just love Mondays? The smell of coffee wafting through the halls, the zombie-like groans from idiots who treat Sunday like a second Saturday..."

Yep, that's not Yuuko. Regular Yuuko tackles Chiyo with a hug these days. This Yuuko seems to be talking her way into something, hovering around Chiyo's locker, trying to get a peek. Please let her have a peek.

day 5 (afternoon, june 6, closed to noah)

Look, Noah, she's not hanging at the back of the biology classroom doing something suspicious, but that's definitely what she's doing. Cabinets open and close as she searches for something, and it probably would have been a little more innocuous if she hadn't said something like,

"If I were a femur, where would I be..."

The skeleton model is right there.

day 6 (night, june 7, closed to ryoji)

[ Pick up your phone, Ryoji, because what she's about to say right now is an order. ]

Let's go on a date.

day 7 (morning, june 8, closed to grell)

[ This one won't be as short and sweet. In between classes, Yuuko sneaks in a phone call. ]

Good morning, Ms. Sutcliffe. Um, since you're on Retrospec, I hope this doesn't come as a surprise to you... I got something from the company recently, so I was wondering if you'd could look at it.

[ ooc: wrote the logs in prose because I didn't want to smalltext everything. i'm more comfortable with brackets, but feel free to tag in any style! ]

Comments

6/6 ryoji wakes up blearily, what time is it, some people like to sleep, yuuko

[appraiser]

[ Do they need a reason to go on a date? No, but every time, Ryoji has the compulsion to check a calendar for moon phases and they're three days off from the full moon. ]

Alright. Friday...? We can go somewhere after graduation.

DEATH NEVER SLEEPS but I am sleeping

[ghostories]

No.

[ She can't do this alone. She hasn't found the last of her bones today and she doesn't want to be the only one in the room when she does tonight. It's so much easier to be strong when you have someone else to think about. ]

Tonight!

[appraiser]

[ There's only a handful of hours left of "tonight" but okay, he'd much rather pass the time with Yuuko than turn over thoughts in his head trying to make sense of things while half asleep.

There's the sound of running water and his voice comes distantly, on speaker, Ryoji slashing water on his face and wetting his hair before he leaves his room. ]

Alright. Do you have someplace in mind already? Otherwise, the park would be nice, just to walk around for a bit.

[ And it's chilly. He can put that advice to use. ]

the nobu prompt

[notbunaga]

[Now, it's not like she doesn't trust Yuuko or anything...

But she's explained before that while she's working, she can't really afford to hang out. She let her stay during the day while she was skipping school (she's definitely noticed that isn't really a thing anymore...) but letting someone stay without paying money is in and of itself usually something she has to be cautious about. But acting like she's a customer rather than an employee ticks her boss off.

So it's likely Yuuko tried a few times before to make up the odd excuse on the other side of the arcade, just to get her over there, right? And this could be one of those times. On the other hand, if there's something wrong, she'd get in trouble for not addressing it promptly...

She'll bite. She walks over and stares at the machine, trying to see if the problem is obvious.]

What's wrong?

poses seductively

[alienates]

[ he's so used to these late night visits that when he sees that it's yuuko going through the entrance, karkat immediately looks back at the magazine he was flipping through. he's technically not supposed to fuck around with the merchandise like this while on the clock but whatever. he doesn't care.

whenever she says something to him, he responds automatically, usually some variation of "stop leaving crumbs everywhere" and "i swear if you rearrange everything again."

it's when she stops talking altogether that makes him look up. not able to see her from his spot at the cash register, karkat goes around the counter to head over to where the drinks are kept. ]

Yuuko, you didn't fall in did you?

day 7.

[erythristic]

[when she gets a phone call, she takes it - given Retrospec, she's become more used to getting strange calls from people she doesn't know. but, something she got from the company she wants her to take a look at? that's new.]

Of course. Would you prefer to bring the item to me, or should I come and retrieve it from you?

[that determines how she can change her schedule to accommodate things.]

Might I also inquire as to what this might be? I understand if you don't want to say, but you can't fault me for being curious.

The Noah Prompt

[redarm]

[Normally Noah wouldn't care what other people did in the classrooms. But he's trying to finish up a project near the back of the room, so her digging around is more than a little distracting. Eventually, he'll turn around and look]

What are you looking for?

[ghostories]

[All of Nobu's concerns are valid. Yuuko's definitely played the troubled customer card before. But Nobu has to believe her when she swears she's not crying wolf this time. She keeps her eyes on the small door at the bottom of the machine as she asks,]

Is there an early Halloween promo I don't know about?

bones fall, someone dies

[admiringly]

[ Chiyo can't tell that Yuuko is more chipper than usual (yet), but her face lights up when she sees Yuuko at school. Most of Chiyo's attempts at getting someone to be less truant go to Mafuyu, but that Yuuko is there is the first sign that something is unusual. The second is the lack of hug.

Chiyo's hand hovers over the combination lock, pausing because she's puzzled. ]

Good morning, Yuuko! I'm glad to see you here, but... is something up?

[ Sorry, the locker stays shut for now. ]

1/3

[notbunaga]

[She crouches down in front of the machine to get a look, lifting the little flap covering the opening for prizes to drop into.]

Are you dumb? Even as far as early promos go, June is absurdly early for something happening months from no-

[notbunaga]

[notbunaga]

[Closes the flap.

Stands back up.

Tries to walk away-]

I don't know what you mean, I didn't see anything, there's nothing there--

[ghostories]

[ Grabs her wrist because Nobu, she swears to God— ]

You saw it too, right? The customer is always right, right?

[Don't leave her alone with a goddamn skull she thought you were better than this.]

[notbunaga]

[SHE WOULD'VE COME BACK OK

So of course she stops and turns back around.

...sigh.]

Well...do you think it's real?

[ghostories]

[CHIYO!!!!!]

Ah, well... [It's a good thing Yuuko's mind is quick.] I was wondering how that sketch was coming along! The one with the chocobos.

[ghostories]

[She nearly drops a jar of—what are these, actually? Dog kidneys? Anyway, that's not important. She juggles the jar a bit before replying, obviously flustered. ]

Noah! I didn't see you there. I thought you hated school...

[She will avoid answering that question until he forgets or so help her. She is not going to be the school's resident necrophiliac before the year is over!]

[ghostories]

Could you come over, please? I don't know how to get it there without looking suspicious.

[She could ask someone to help her transport it, but bringing the bones to her house was already quite the experience. As for Grell's next question, well. Retrospec already knows what it is, so the softness of her voice isn't for them.]

I have a skeleton, you see.

[ghostories]

[At this point, he probably already knows that she literally can't sleep. Most likely because she's a zombie, but she hasn't started decomposing so she's crossed that theory out. Something else has, though.

She backs up with her bag of chips on the floor and half a mind to run as far as she can.]

This again...

[Through the cool glass, a decaying and discolored human ribcage and spine lay in plain sight.]

[ghostories]

I have a fake skull on my desk. I know what fake skulls look like.

[Normally, she'd be the one to take charge and do the dirty work, but Nobu is here so she pulls her close and hides behind her.]

... You pick it up.

[notbunaga]

Ugh...

[She's...

Mostly making sure everyone is distracted. She's surprisingly okay with having to handle this if Yuuko won't do it, but she doesn't want anyone to see her holding a human skull. That's jail time.]

Give me your jacket, I don't want to get my prints on this.

[Or a scarf. Is she wearing a fashionable scarf? Whatever.]

[ghostories]

[She's definitely wearing a fashionable scarf. Which is why she's looking reluctant to part with it... She eventually does, since curiosity trumps fashion nearly every time.

Note to self: wash it when Yuuko gets home.

Anyway, she's standing near the flap to hide the deed from everyone else in the area. Thankfully, most people in this place have tunnel vision. Er, for now.]

[redarm]

[Okay that's a lot more flustered than he was expecting. He looks rather confused about that. ]

Uh yeah? I do. But I still wanna graduate, so I got to finish some make up work.

What are you doing here?

1/3 i decided to grab a regain instead

[notbunaga]

[Well, with some decent cover and something to hide the skull with, she takes the scarf in both hands and reaches into the prize slot. At first she only takes it into her hands through the fabric, mostly to get it out of the machine. Next, with it on the ground in front of her, Aki carefully wraps the skull inside of the fabric to conceal it from view. Sure, it might looks strange to carry a bundled of object under her arm out of the arcade, but it looks a hell of a lot less worse than carrying a skull.

Standing up and with the skull tucked beneath her arm, she reaches towards Yuuko with her free hand and leads her to the back part of the arcade.]

C'mon.

[She's just gonna lead her to the back entrance, out into the alleyway behind the building.]

[notbunaga]

[Before anything else, she takes one look up and down the alleyway to ensure they aren't being watched, or have unwelcome company.

...nope, all clear. Time to unwrap this thing.]

...okay.

[She actually looks...vaguely concerned...]

...let's take a look at you...

[She says...to the skull...

Once she's unwrapped it, she crouches down and lays the scarf on the ground in a little bundle (she's gonna wash it anyway, it's fine...) and rests the skull atop it.]

[alienates]

[ he opens his mouth to ask what "this" is, but then he doesn't have to as he turns to look at whatever she's staring at. it takes a couple of seconds for him to truly comprehend what he's seeing, because his immediate thought is that that can't be real body parts, right? there's no way.

but it's a little too realistic. ]

What the ever loving Christ shitting fuck is that.